Beginning, End

         I remember this place; this place from the before time. Where it all started, and where it shall end. If I think back far enough I can almost remember. The memory is there, I just have to reach it. I just have to remember hard enough.

         I was a man among men, but a mere child to what I have become. There were three of us at the Pool of Enlightenment. We had been chosen from all over the land to be given the gift of magic. There was Pavel, whom I considered to be a dimwit. There was Annabel, who was perhaps the strongest of us all. And there was myself.
         I was the first to gain both my powers and immortality. Jafir walked with me into the pool. He looked me in the eyes and asked a question I did not yet understand.
         "Do you give your life for that of this land? To both protect and guide it as a mother does her young?"
         I answered that I did, even as I wondered how I would give my life by gaining eternity. However, I did not get much time to ponder before Jafir grabbed me by my neck and plunged me into the ice cold water. My response was to gasp for air, allowing the water to enter my body. I struggled for a time, then it became almost peaceful. I had not given thought to my environment. But it was beautiful. Through the blue sheen I could see the majesty of the cliff above the pool. I admired green of the trees and the snow cap mountain in the distance. Then I slumbered for a time.
         I awoke on the bank, coughing up the water from my lungs. I could feel a warmth within me, reanimating my body. I could feel the awesome power that I had gained. My senses were heightened, and as I sat up, my body moved quicker than it should have. I looked over into the pool to see my eyes had changed from the steely blue that was common among my people, to the gold that they are today. Jafir asked me how I felt and told me to wait on the top of the cliff above. My first reaction was to tell him he was mad. That I lacked the strength to climb after my ordeal. But his golden eyes told me not to question him.
         I looked to the top of the cliff and wondered how I would gather the strength to climb to the top with no rope or climbing gear. Then I was suddenly transported there. I was confused as to how I had managed this feat. But then I realized...the power. I had the power to travel as I saw fit. I flushed with pride and arrogance.
         When I looked to the group below I saw that Pavel was already under the water, thrashing about. With my heightened senses I had no trouble seeing him thrash about. His gangly arms flailing every which way, his green eyes open in shock as his mind sought a way to escape. It was not long before he too had stopped struggling and fell to Death's embrace. Only he never awoke. Later Jafir would inform me that some lack the fortitude to live through the process.
         Annabel was last. She looked stunning as the light hit her red hair just right. Her graceful movements and nubile body glided to the pool, then without any force, she seemed to stare directly at me as she laid under the water. She did not fight , nor did she panic. She simply laid there until Death came for her. She joined me on the cliff minutes later with Jafir in tow.
         "After your final test, you shall go east to the Isle of Nar. There you will be taught to utilize and control your newfound powers by the great ones," Jafir informed us.
         "And what is our final test master Jafir," she asked, her voice almost a trance.
         "To kill me, or die." With those words Jafir launched fire in my direction. The training of my people saved me, for I quickly rolled to the left. Annabel immediately disappeared. Jafir laughed as he again sent fire in my direction. This time I followed Annabel's lead and transported behind him. But he was ready for me. As I materialized behind him, Jafir was mid swing. The force of the punch sent me flying off the cliff. I thought of myself safely on the ground and suddenly I was there.
         So was Jafir. He sent another bought of flame towards me. This time I was ready and imagined water sprouting from my hands, meeting his flame just in time. Steam erupted where the two forces of nature collided. We sat there locked in our battle of will.
         It was not long before I realized that I was loosing. His flame was pushing back my water. I was to committed to the fight to back out, lest he set me aflame as I tried to flee. I felt the heat of his awesome power upon my face and knew that I was dead. My hands began to scorch as he overpowered my magic with his. I fought back with all of my might, but it was not enough.
         Suddenly, right before his flames could overtake me, Annabel appeared above him. She shot white hot flames towards our master before he could react. I will never get the screams of his agony out of my mind. Death no longer bothers me, and I have seen much of it. But that day, his agony, shall always remain with me.
         Annabel and I did not speak. We merely looked each other in our golden eyes and began our journey east to the Isle of Nar. She was my closest friend and confident from that day forward. It was a shame when I killed her. Of all the women I have loved and all the lives I have had to end, her lost is what I regret most.

         Now I am here again, where it all started. I have lived many lifetimes. I have seen kingdoms rise and fall, I have seen my people extinct, and I have seen how the world shall end. There is only one thing I can do to stop it. I must destroy the Pool of Enlightenment. I do not know the ramifications of my actions. I have not been able to see that far into the future. I know only that the pool must be destroyed. No more Golden Eyes may come to be or the world shall come to know terrible hardship. Please forgive me Annabel, but this must be done. I only wish you were here to witness. I can feel all of my power flowing through my body. I take in as much as I can, feeling almost as if I will explode from the awesome might I gather.
         I take one last look around at this beautiful landscape. The serene blue pool, the lush green landscape, and the waterfalls cascading off the cliffs. Then I release my magic. The pool becomes dry before my very eyes, the mountain and cliff begin to crumble as the grass and trees wither around me. I force my magic out me and into the landscape around me.
         Suddenly an explosion of great magnitude erupts from my body. When the blinding light has gone and I can see once again the land is barren. Devoid of all life and beauty. The once blue sky has darkened as if the sun will never again shine upon this part of the world. I suddenly have realized my error. In my arrogance I failed to believe that I could be the one who set them free. I knew that I could save the world, and instead I have doomed it. But there is still time. Perhaps.
         I must warn them all of the peril I have caused. I must end their petty squabbles before it is to late. And so I set off. I do not know what the future holds. I saw the future once and it doomed the world. I will never make that mistake again. I must seek my redemption, for I am Hoth, God of the Fallen and I will see them ended.