"Ted the Thygearist!", the watery voice screamed out through the disoriented lump of scrambling people. The irregularity of the voice heightened as the mass either ran away or were knocked down by the voice's possessor. "Ted. Stop running. No matter where you go. I'll always catch up to you.", The figure now stood fully visible. The presumed human stood about nine feet tall. It was dressed in all leather and wearing more swords than it could ever physically use. More bizarre than all that though was the fact that over the black leather and around the base of the neck was a bright green scarf that covered most of the being's face.

Everyone who wasn't already dead shielded their eyes. This fable of a beast known only as Truth struck fear into everyone. Though the pictures in the ancient scriptures all over the world drew it as an impish purple dwarf, there was no denying that the eyes were the same. The ancient eyes that were said to pierce through human souls were gazing over the landscape now. And they were looking for someone named Ted.

The bodies of the most recent victims of Truth turned to ash from his firm stare. Those cowering with eyes covered died without ever having a chance to scream. Truth reaches over his back and unsheathes one of his many swords. Stabbing the ground hard, he lets out one more watery groan. "Ted the Thygearist! The lives of these people don't mean a damned thing to you? Then why do I always find you hiding among them? I'll burn everything you touch. Everything will be turned to cinder because of you!"

Truth looks around at the many buildings around him. Almost like clockwork, every building's lights went out at the same time. The night sky darkened from the sudden change to keep up with the seemingly spontaneous blackout. Gusts of wind began to breeze by Truth becoming heavier and heavier with the seconds and city hall's bell began to ring. Dark clouds bellowed becoming thick from the chime of the bell. Booming thunder and lightening rang out and rain ensued shortly thereafter.

The fabled beast Truth laughed hysterically in the rain as he trampled every building the Thygearist had left behind. "You are more of a monster than even me Ted. If you always run, I will always chase you. No one escapes Truth."

A few miles away at the river's edge a man sits with his feet in the water next to a very heavy machine. Eating some warm chicken, he decides to take a nap under a tree. Though his clothing was tattered and he had no shoes the man's face was surprisingly worry free. Rain began to fall so the man wrapped himself in a hooded jacket and curled up next to the machine.

The next thing to disturb his nap besides the rain was the beat of hundreds of horses marching towards North Lavi Sorraha. The man who called Lavi Sorraha his home up until yesterday was once again a nomad. That was something that had become all too familiar to him.

The rush of the horses forced his eyes open and he peered past the intricacy of the trees up at the single path to Lavi. "They must be looking for this.", the man belched rubbed the huge mechanic mass that was propping him up. After taking a bite of his chicken, he spat it into the waving river. "I hate cold chicken."

A legion arrived at the gates of Lavi Sorraha about fifteen minutes later. About one hundred horsemen waited outside the massive stone gate. The rain was pouring heavily now and a watery murmur from the other side of the gate caught their attention. The door creaks open slowly from the inside. The looming figure known as Truth emerges. "He is not here. The one you seek has fled Lavi Sorraha."

A giant man, almost as large as truth gets off of his armored horse. He slowly walks towards Truth and gazes up at him. "The Metal Mage was here?"

"Metal Mage?", the watery voice shrills in the rain. "He is no mage or wizard. Just a petty coward, Thygearist. This town is already conquered feel free to colonize it as you see fit. General Franker Moon..."

The shrouded figure known as Truth disappears into the night leaving the army in shock. Franker shouts out orders to his men to seize the remains of Lavi C and looks up into the night. "How did that thing know my name and what in the hell is a Thygearist?"

Three lightening bolts cracked through the sky. At that very moment, the man and the huge machine which propped him up were gone.

Scorching through the night's sky at what must have been supersonic speeds. The gigantic flying metal apparatus let off a dazzling glow. Inside the metal hull the man with no shoes can be seen. His face is a little less care free now. For whatever technique he used to make the heavy machine fly was taking its toll on him. The speeds created a ringing in his ear that caused a little blood to trickle out. The stress of such high speeds on a human body began to show as the man strains to retain consciousness.

"I must be over the oceans by now", Even though his body was succumbing to compacting G forces, his mind was still very acute. How many times had he run away? How many countries had been ravaged by those searching for him? These are the questions that leaked slowly through his mind. The speed of the heavy flying machine was slowing down. The man's face turned complacent once again. He reached into his jacket pocket and began munching on the cold chicken and muttering to himself "For a moment I actually believed that Lavi would be my home forever. I assumed that hiding my intelligence and ingenuity would be enough to keep HIM away. There are no simple answers for me. I'm tired of running. But if HE catches me, I'll have to do something I promised I never would."

The machines decent happened abruptly! Dropping through the clouds, the giant hulking metal mass brushed up against a mountain and begins sliding again. The man inside closes his eyes and extends his arms outwards. The machine reacts with the man's movements and the metal hull splits in two. Gears, wires and steel pipes protrude from both sides and locked it's self into nearby rocks. Stopped for the moment, the man let out another big belch and began rubbing his wrist and meditating. Looking through the clear glass the man stares at the lush tropical surroundings. "Mis Le Mis. After all this time. I've finally found my way back home."

The rain settled down after a few hours. Franker Moon and his men set up a temporary base inside some of the buildings that managed to survive the attack. Fires were built and most of the men were eating dinner or feeding their horses. The other members of the brigade split off into teams all over Lavi searching for any survivors.

Franker was in the town's center watching over everything. General Franker Moon was a broad man with a painted face who often fashioned large furs or leathers. His weapon of choice was a battle axe mounted on his metallic horse. The Axe actually looked heavier than the horse but was probably very light. He takes a step past a statue mounted in the town's center and has an ominous feeling. ‘The Metal Mage has many tricks I see."

Franker motions for a few men to come to the statue. When they get there they pull out these long metallic devices from around their shoulders and began waving them over the ground. As they moved them devices back and forth the rods seems to vibrate right next to where the statue stood. "General Moon, sir…this is strange. The concentration of Tungsten here is more than I've ever seen." Franker Moon gets on his knees and brushes his hand against the surface. "Dig here! Get everyone over here and have them dig! I don't care if it takes the rest of the night. The secrets of the Metal Mage and Lavi Sorraha will be mine."

The morning sun crept up over the mountains of Mis Le Mis reflecting brilliantly against the wedged metal mass. The hull was empty now and the man who used the metal flying machine to fly clear across two oceans in mere hours was gone. Down below the clouds at the base of the mountains, groups of people began to gather.

Almost all of the men, women in children wore gold jewelry and silk fabrics. There hair was styled and conditioned not like typical people of the Mis Le Mis region. Though clothed in rich men's garments, most carried various broken bits of metal and machinery in the palms of there hands. Others had bigger metal objects stuffed into wagons or totes behind them.

Each person standing at the base of the mountain, comfortable in their non islander appearance, stared straight up at the mountain. The look about everyone staring up into the burning sun was that they would stand there for an eternity if they had to.

"How in the hell are we supposed help someone who's all the way up there?", a young boy blurted out killing the solemn moment. "Norte, shut up this is a great opportunity you've been given and you're ruining it.", a stern and much older voice growled. Don't forget that everyone here and not just you in an excellent Calculator. We all predicted that Lord Vosce's son would come back one day to liberate us."

"I already know that but why did we bring all of this metal?, "Norte whines as rivets pop out of his hand. Norte scrambles around while the old man berates him some more. " Lord Vosce's teachings show that if you hold metallic objects in your hands, around you and close to your heart then the son of Vosce will love you."

Norte stands straight up from scrambling having gathered all the bits of gadgetry back into his hands. Looking up again at the metal hulking mass. "What if we don't hold metal close to our hearts papa?"

"I don't know son. Now stay sharp? If our calculations are right, the son of Vosce should be here any moment." The old man's gaze turned upwards towards the mountains again as well.

Very ritualistically, the men women and children, all sharply dressed, stood up clutching shiny things close to them with smiles on their faces. Most of them smiled but Norte just stared up at the sun wondering why he was even up this early on a Saturday.

Metal began raining onto the mountainside as the huge hunks of the hull seemed to rust rapidly and break away. The onlookers scattered towards the water and within seconds every part of the machine that was wedged inside the two mountains was on the beach now.