Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 20:41:39 -0400 (EDT)
From: Rune Therain <mist_dark@yahoo.ca>
Subject: Harbingers - prologue

As promised here's the beginning to the sequel of Saga.  It'll take a bit
to get things going with the story.  But once I get going I'm sure that
everything will be fine.  I won't give a huge long speech on this one.  At
least I'm not going to purposely babble on and on and on.  You can send me
e-mails at either Mist_dark@yahoomail.ca or Mist_dark@hotmail.com

Thanks to everyone who has e-mailed me with comments, both good and bad.  I
love hearing from you guys and I'd like to keep hearing from you.  Special
thanks to Kenitra, Shade, Aeoros, Tom, Keif, Di, Matt and Hamado.  I do
have to thank everyone who has insisted that I write a book.  There are a
number of you that have that idea.  Not sure if I'll ever write one, but
it's a nice thought anyway.

Legalities: just like last time this story isn't suppose to imply anything
about the members of Nsync.  If you're too young or it's illegal in your
area, please leave.  If homosexual themes offend you please leave as well.
Parts of this story are based of the RPG Rifts.  All trademarks belong to
Kevin Siembieda and Palladium books.

This story will make far more sense if you read Saga.  Of course the choice
is up to you.  Enjoy the story.

Until next time,

Rune

July 15

	It's been six months since I came back.  And yet the pain that I
felt the first day after I woke up hasn't gone away.  It's still here.  It
stays with me and refuses to lessen.  I know it will never go away
completely, but it feels like it will never even begin to go away.  I guess
I should start at the beginning.  I haven't been keeping a very accurate
recording of what's happened to me.  But then who would believe it?

	It was about this time last year that it all started.  The guys and
I came home after our first night on our two-week break.  We don't get
breaks very often, so when we do we take advantage of them.  I don't
remember exactly what we did that night, but I know we exhausted ourselves.
We came back to Justin's to spend the night.  He insisted.  I remember
crawling into bed, not even bothering to change and collapsing into sleep.

	When I woke up I was in a forest.  That's where I met him.  Selvar.
He was an elf and a necromancer.  At first I didn't like him.  But as I got
to know him I fell in love with him.  It didn't take long for me to get to
know him.  He took me into his castle and treated me first as a guest, then
as a friend, and then as a lover.  Though I never did sleep with him.  I
wanted to at times, but we were both willing to wait until a better time.
Unfortunately better times never came.

	The guys were spread out all over the place as well.  Joey and
Chris were in what used to have been Canada.  Justin apparently appeared
somewhere in Mexico.  And JC ended up in the ocean of all places.  I forget
exactly which one he said he turned up in.  Eventually we all met up in
England at Selvar's castle.  A group of people called the Trinity wanted to
use us to get their lost power back.  Another group called the Acolytes
didn't want the Trinity restored and decided the only way to prevent them
from regaining power was to kill us.

	Selvar was great.  It was truly his hour to shine.  He organized
our entire defense.  He knew where to put the Werecreatures and the
vampires.  He knew how to organize his own undead troops to best defend the
castle and ultimately myself and the guys.  We all did out part in that
battle.  We all fought like there was no tomorrow, and for some of us.
There wasn't.

	Selvar died.  He was killed.  I don't know who killed him.  But I
do know that he died.  The moment he died a woman's voice entered my mind
and told me.  At first I thought it was Evelyn's voice, but it had a
different feel to it.  The woman just told me that Selvar had been killed.
She was sorry but there was nothing she could do to help.  There was
nothing any of the us could do.  The woman seemed upset in my mind, I think
we all were when we found out.  But by the time the guys knew we were
already back home.

I'd trade anything I have to be able to talk to him for a moment.  Just to
be able to hold him for an instant.  It hurts a lot when I think of him.
Knowing that he's dead and that I'll never see him again.  But I have to
move on.  He left me a note.  Apparently the Guardian of Death let him say
goodbye to me.  He also gave me a ring to remember him by.

I'll never forget Selvar.  I guess no one really forgets their first true
love.  I'm so young, but I've experienced love for the first time and my
life.  And honestly, I don't want to feel it again.  It hurts so much to
know that this person could be taking from you in an instant.

						From the journal of Lance
Bass













July 16

	I guess we're all coping pretty well.  All things considered.
Lance is taking Selvar's death pretty hard.  We all did.  He was a great
guy and he didn't deserve to have been killed.  But he was.  And as a
result Lance has been completely thrown off.  I can understand it
completely though.  I mean the guy was in love.  I've known Lance for
sometime now and I know that he doesn't enter into any relationship
lightly.  Not even friendships.  I knew he was in love the minute I saw
Selvar and him together.  Anyone could see that they loved each other.

	I'll be the first to admit that I was a little unsettled when Lance
told us that he was gay.  I don't know why I reacted the way I did.  I was
a complete ass about it.  I've apologized to him about it repeatedly, but
he keeps brushing it off.  It hurt him and I know it, but he'll never admit
to that.  What actually turned me around was Justin telling us that he was
gay as well.  That was like a slap to the face.  I stepped back from the
situation and looked it.  These guys were two of my best friends.  I
couldn't hate them because of who they are.

It took some time, but I did get used to it.  Lance never really dated
much.  He had the occasional one here and there.  And of course both he and
Justin dated women to throw the press off.  But it was really Justin that
played the dating game.  We never had a problem with people leaking things
to the press, but it certainly took a bit of getting use to have Justin
come home with a guy.

That's why I knew Lance loved Selvar.  He never acted that way around
anyone I've ever met before.  I'm also convinced that what Justin and Pyre
had was love.  It's true that Pyre didn't die like Selvar did.  Or at least
to the best of my knowledge he's still alive.  I didn't see him after
Justin picked Joey and myself off the roof.

After what I did to Lance about being gay I deserved to lose him as a
friend.  I'm glad I didn't.  But I did deserve it.  I guess I also deserved
to lose Justin for the same reason.  But again I didn't, and I'm very
grateful for that.  All I can do is be there for my friends.  Justin is
taking things better then Lance is.  And even Joey is doing remarkably
well.  I know that Selena was killed.  I was the one that had to break it
to Joey.  Evelyn told me why she had called Pyre off the castle to carry on
the fight in the air.  But she didn't tell Joey.  She had sent Joey to me
to keep him occupied.  I did my best.  And I guess I did alright, because
he didn't know until I told him.  It was hard.  He cried a lot.  I was
there to hold him while he grieved, and so was Chris.

Chris was upset that he wouldn't be able to see any of our new friends
anymore, but other then that he seems fine.  I'm really glad that he didn't
break down.  I needed him to be strong for me.  It's selfish, and I know
that it is, but I can't help it.

We will get through this.  It will take a while, but we'll do it.

							From the journal of
Joshua Chasez












July 17

	I miss him.  I really miss him.  It's been six months and I still
miss him like the first day.  Pyre meant so much to me.  He still does.
Time after time I would wake up during my adventure in his world and he
would be there to comfort me.  Or just hold me.  The memory of his touch is
still enough to cause shivers to run up my spine.  I loved that touch.

	It's amazing when I stop to think about it.  I lived and traveled
with that man for months.  I fell in love with him and I didn't expect for
an instant that he was a dragon in disguise.  But I guess that was the
point.  I honestly don't care that he's a dragon.  I fell in love with him,
and not what he was.  He was so afraid I'd turn away from him when he
reveled himself to me.  I could see it in his eyes.  I wanted so badly to
reassure him, to take him aside and tell him that nothing he could do could
ever make me hate him.  To show him how much I loved him.  But we didn't
have the time.  I wish I'd take the time now.

	We consummated our relationship on a few occasions.  The few times
we made love were incredible.  I can't even begin to explain them.  How
they made me feel.  Let alone what they did to me physically.  Sometimes
they would last for what felt like an eternity, but whatever the time spent
I didn't care.  And neither did he.  We were as close as two people could
be.  Physically, mentally and emotionally.  I'm always going to remember
those times.  I don't think I could forget them even if I wanted to.  Which
of course I don't.

	I've forced myself to recover from my losses.  Mostly for Josh's
benefit.  He worries about me.  A lot.  And I know that Lance is trying not
to worry anyone, but he needs to let it out.  He needs some time to
himself, and at the moment Josh isn't going to let him have that.  I guess
Josh is just afraid of what Lance will do if he's left alone.  We all love
Josh dearly, but every now and again he gets a tad overbearing.  But we
love him anyway.

						From the journal of Justin
Timberlake







July 18

	You know what's really funny?  We were gone for at least six
months.  I forget the exact date that we came home for our two-week break,
but we spent almost a year in that other world.  Give or take.  I mean it
was kinda hard to keep track of the days, but it was roughly a year.  When
we came back no one seemed to notice.  Yeah they knew we were gone for six
months, but nobody seemed to be upset that we'd just up and left.  They
knew we were at Justin's house and then after that they had no idea where
we were for six months.  I'm not complaining too much.  I didn't want to
have to explain where we'd been for that time, but it's weird.

	Another thing that's weird is the fact we still have our powers.
They're not as strong as they were in the other world, but they're still
here.  It takes a lot more for me to be able to do something as simple as
lighting a candle, but I can still do it.  It takes almost everything
Justin has to be able to fly, but he's still stronger then anyone I've ever
met.  We try to make sure nobody sees him lifting the couch by himself
though.  It just leaves to many questions.

	Joey's the same way.  He can still read our minds or lift just
about anything he wants with his mind.  But he can't do as many things at
once.  It really pissed him off when he tried to carry five cups from the
counter and dropped all but two of them.  It was funny for the rest of us,
but he didn't really like it.  He's gotten better at covering that up.  He
sort of juggles them now.  He'll sort of drop one object to grab another
and move it.  Then he'll quickly grab the first object.  It's interesting
to watch.  He's gotten pretty good at it now.

	Our concert ticket sales have been incredible since we got back.  I
think we owe that mostly to Josh.  After our little adventure his singing
is magic.  We all have to be really careful not to listen to carefully to
what Josh is singing during the performances.  If we do we'll just stop to
listen.  The audience though is completely taken in.  The look of pure
bliss on their faces is fantastic.  I love performing, but now it's gotten
even better.

	I miss Evelyn a great deal.  She was like a mother to Joey and I.
I can't imagine what we'd have done without her.  The fact we won't see her
again hurts.  But what really hurts is that I never got a chance to say
goodbye to her.  I know that she knows I love her dearly, but it's not the
same as being able to say goodbye to someone.

					From the journal of Christopher
Kirkpatrick







July 19

	Everyone is recovering from our adventure slowly.  Lance the most
slowly of us all.  But I can understand that completely.  It's taken me a
while to get to the point where I can talk about this.  It's easier to
write it out and I think I'll do that a lot more before I really sit down
and talk to someone about it.  It's moments like these that make me wish
that I could talk to Evelyn.  But she's not here right now.  I wish I'd
gotten a chance to say goodbye to here.

	Selena and I were getting close.  We weren't on the level that Pyre
and Justin or Selvar and Lance were on.  But we were working our way there.
I enjoyed just talking to her.  I preferred being able to hug her or kiss
her, but just talking was great.  I can't really describe what she did to
me by just saying one word.  I was falling in love very quickly.  I hadn't
fallen head over heels for her, but I wasn't far off.

	But she died.  She was killed in the battle that we were forced to
be a part of.  I hated the fact that she died, I still do.  But what I hate
the most is that I didn't know until we got back here.  Evelyn didn't tell
me.  I know why she didn't, but I still wanted to know.  If I'd known I
would have gone nuts and tried to get to her body to try to save her.  I
couldn't have done anything.  But I would have given everything I had
trying to do something.

	I don't know if I'll ever find a girl like that again.  I imagine
that winged females in this world are hard to come by.  But a guy's got to
have dreams.  I loved Selena, and a part of me always will.  But I also
know that I have to start moving on.

						From the journal of Joseph
Fatone






Dear Lance,

	I'm not sure if you will ever read this letter.  It's been over
five years since you've left here and since Selvar died.  I buried him
below the castle in the crypts.  I searched your room for something of
yours to give him in death.  You had forgotten to put your silver cross on
the day of the battle.  It was still on the bedside stand.  It was painful
for me to do it, but I put the cross around his neck.  It's not much, but
it was all I could really do for him.  I lost a great friend that day.  One
I had known for countless years.

	I have watched over the castle since that day to see if you would
ever come back.  You haven't so far and this is why I'm writing this
letter.  The castle is yours.  I have to leave.  A number of other master
vampires have decided that I have to be executed.  I'm taking what remains
of the vampires I was given and fleeing.  I'm not sure where I'm going to
go, but it's going to be far from here.  I hate leaving Selvar's place like
this, but I have to do it.

	If you're reading this then you've obviously returned.  The minions
of the castle are still alive, so to speak.  They'll protect the grounds
from any intruders.  They'll listen to you and any of the other guys.
Anyone else they attack, unless ordered not to by you or your friends.

	Take care my friend.  I wish I could be here for you when you read
this.

								Your
friend, Maria


	Maria folded the letter neatly and placed it in the center of the
desk.  She wiped a layer of dust from wooden top before standing.  Sighing
she looked out the window and left the room.



	The robed priest bowed his head in the darkened room.  His features
were hidden behind the hood of his dark blue robe.  He dropped to his knees
and began praying.  After a moment he looked up toward the far wall of the
room.

	Against the wall was a throne.  Above it hovered a dark ball of
energy.  It gave off a very faint glow and seemed to twist and turn in on
itself.  The energy lazily twisted and turned, as it seemed to regard the
priest before it.

	"The time is almost upon us," a rasping voice filled the room.
"Soon chaos will be all that exists in this world and any other."

	The priest nodded his head.  "Yes Master."

	"I want you to collect a few followers.  The Gemini should do
nicely.  The others you can pick as you see fit.  But do not fail me.  The
Guardians will be completely distracted shortly.  When they are we will
begin making our move."

	The priest nodded again.  "Yes Master.  I will do as you ask."


TBC


What do you think?  Let me know.  The good and the bad are appreciated.

Rune