Silversound Chronicles #3: Tale of the Tongues

This next piece is one of the bards' songs from the game Skyrim. I hardly did it justice, but I got some practice with creating songs that don't repeat very much, and the experience from making this helped greatly when I was working on Hide and Seek. The violin towards the end is a bit harsh, and my creativity kind of goes down the drain after the first several stanzas. Nonetheless, I've made worse, and I'm looking forward to revisiting this piece, and other songs from Skyrim in the future!

Download Tale of the Tongues from Sendspace

Children of the Planet Book 1 - Chapter 3: Best Friends Forever

This one seemed a little shorter, and I had surprisingly little editing to do. Big fights in the coming chapters!

Chapter 3: Best Friends Forever

Carinthia softly blew on her tea, and took a gentle sip.

“Ow!” She exclaimed. “Darn, still too hot”

“Mine too…” Elena said from across the table.

It had been a year since Carinthia and Elena had been caught after playing outside, but it had hardly been the last time. They often slipped out to practice swordplay, archery, and Carinthia would practice her alchemy as well. As their skill grew, so did their friendship. Carinthia was the daughter of the King and Queen of the Steam Nation, a princess. And, as was the case with many other royal children, her parents found her a friend. Elena was the daughter of a farmer who had not been able to care for her as well as he wanted too. So, when the queen asked him if would like to have his daughter raised in the palace, he jumped at the opportunity. And so, Elena grew up as a servant and companion to Carinthia. Her father would visit her every few weeks; these were fun times for the girls, as he would bring whatever simple gifts he could. Sometimes, it would be a fresh apple. Other times, he would have made straw dolls. But whatever the gift was, it was always a delight for Elena to see her father.

“Elena, isn’t your father visiting today?” Carinthia asked, stirring a sugar cube into her tea as she spoke.

“Yeah, I can’t wait!”

“Me neither! Oh, here, let me cool of your tea.”

With a wave of her hand, Carinthia lowered the temperature of both her tea as well as Elena’s, and they both took sips.

“Ah, perfect!” Carinthia said in delight.

“Mine too, thank you, gentle Carinthia.” Elena remarked, pursing her lips, and making her best impression of an adult.

“You’re most welcome, my Lady Elena.” Carinthia replied.

Then, both girls giggled, and continued to sip their tea.

A few hours later, Elena’s father arrived with a bag of fresh fruit from his orchard, and spent an hour with the girls. They snacked on apples together, and shared stories of the past few weeks. Elena and Carinthia related how they had snuck past Margaret to get fresh cookies from the kitchen earlier that day. Elena’s father laughed heartily at this, and then told them about how he had caught a boy in one of his trees and spanked him. All three began to giggle uncontrollably at this point, and still had trouble finishing the fruits afterwards. Finally, it was time for Elena’s father to leave, and he said goodbye, gave Elena a hug, and, leaving the remaining apples with the girls, left the castle to return to his farm.

Later that evening, as Elena and Carinthia were getting ready to go to bed, Margaret stopped them and, with a stern look on her face, asked, “Oi, you two. There were several cookies missing this morning. You stinkers didn’t have anything to do with it, did you?”

The girls just looked at each other, then turned back to Margaret and shrugged. After glaring at them for a few moments more, Margaret huffed and left. The girls looked at each other, then burst out laughing. Margaret turned and glared them, and the girls stopped laughing and ran off. Later, as they were getting into bed, Carinthia turned to Elena and said, “Elena, what do you want to be when you grow up?”

“I don’t know.” She replied.

“Me neither, but I know that whatever I do, I want to do it with you!” Carinthia said with a smile.

“That sounds good to me!” Elena said.

“Best friends forever?” Carinthia asked.

“Best friends forever.”

Queen Mary stood on the balcony, gazing out at the moonlit city beneath her. The palace was a very large building, and one could see the entire capital from the balcony. A cool night breeze blew her long hair back, and she closed her eyes to enjoy the moment.

“Mary?” A strong voice behind her inquired.

“Yes George?” She replied, turning to her husband.

                “The time is drawing near when we need to tell Carinthia, about her destiny.”

                “I know. She’s ready, I just don’t know if I am. She’s still my little girl.”

                “And mine, but the sooner the better. We don’t know what will happen in the coming years. If our research is correct…”

                “I know, I’ve been following the research. It’s just…I don’t know. I don’t want to lose her, to destiny, or the disaster, or anything.”

                “I know, it’s alright.” George replied, embracing her. “I love her as much as you do, but she needs to know…”

Jethro stared in unbelief at the pictures of his dead Aunt and Uncle on the TV screen. How did this night become so twisted? He had David Forun in his grasp, and had let him go. And now, he had paid the price. His shock turned into a fierce anger, and Jethro decided to hunt David down. He threw on his running clothes, strapped his old machete to his back, and left the house to join the search for David Forun. His first stop was the police station, where he tried to find as much information as possible. As he entered the building, he saw his old friend Marcus speaking to another officer. Jethro had known Marcus since they were in elementary school together. They had been friends for a while, but had gone their separate ways when Jethro displayed an interest in music and the arts, while Marcus wanted to go into law enforcement. They joked that if Jethro’s clubs ever got too loud, Marcus would let them off easy.

“Hey, Marcus!” Jethro called out.

Marcus turned, and upon seeing his old friend, a wide grin crept onto his chiseled features. His light brown skin glinted in the brightly lit police station.

“Jethro! It’s good to see you!” He said, grabbing Jethro’s hand and giving it a vigorous shake.

“Hey, I’m so sorry about what happened to your Aunt and Uncle, we’re doing everything we can to find Forun.”

“Yeah, about that. I’m actually going to do a little hunting of my own. Is there any info you can give me?”

After a pause, Marcus replied, “Jethro, look, I know you’re upset about losing Jane and Michael, but you can’t just go kill the guy.”

“Yeah, you’re right, I am upset. But I don’t plan on killing him.”

Marcus’ eyes widened a bit, but Jethro quickly replied, “No, what I mean is…look. I can’t just sit around and do nothing. I want to help too, but if I find him, I’ll turn him in. That’s all; I need to do something.”

“Than what do you need that machete for?” Marcus said, raising an eyebrow.

With a chuckle, Jethro replied, “Heh, it looks good on me. Besides, it’s not like I’m ever really unarmed, right?”

“True.” Marcus said with a nod, “You’re alchemy never ceases to astound me. Well, here’s what we know. Forun is definitely hiding, maybe in one of the local thug hideouts. We have teams in all but one, and we’re putting together a crew right now. It’s the old house, you know, the one near the hospital? You can go ahead if you want. But remember, he’ll need to be tried, we don’t want him dead.”

Marcus gave Jethro the exact location of the hideout and sent him on his way. With a clear goal in mind, Jethro steeled himself for the coming confrontation, knowing that it would be up to him to make the right decision for everyone.

Mei had lived a very fine life. Her father being the royal inventor, and her mother being one of the top scientists in the world, their family of three had more money than they knew what to do with…sometimes. Their mansion was closer to a palace, complete with a staff of droids servicing the multiple facilities they had. These included kitchens, training stations, and VR rooms. Mei had also received some of the best education in the world, learning almost everything from home. Her teachers were her mother and various Virtual Reality programs. Their family owned some of the best VR technology the world had to offer, including official military training programs, theories on astronomy and biology, and more. She was often left to her own devices, as both her parents led busy lives, and though Mei was prominent in the online gaming community, she had no real friends to speak of. So, it should be no surprise that one night, she decided to take a night on the town. Grabbing her gauntlet, she decided to start with a walk down the street.

It was a beautiful night, it was just becoming the cool season in Asia, and the cherry blossom trees dotted around her house were as beautiful as ever. A chilly evening breeze blew through her hair, and she shivered. Drawing her jacket closer around her shoulders, she continued her stroll. Then, realizing she would never reach Tokyo on foot, she drew the wind around her and rose up into the air. Flying was always an enjoyable experience for her, the rush of the wind in her face, the feeling of power as she gazed at the world underneath her. After a few minutes she reached Tokyo, and landed in front of one of her favorite restaurants. After enjoying a meal of sushi and fried calamari, comfort food for her, she stepped outside again. Looking around her, she noticed the large digital clock on one of the buildings to her right. Realizing she had been out much longer than she had expected to be, she leapt into the air and flew towards home.

As Mei flew through the air, she closed her eyes to enjoy the cool night air. Then without warning, she felt a rush of wind fly past her. Her eyes flew open, and she turned her head to see a masked man dressed in black flying a few meters from her, wind surging around his clenched fist. She looped up as he shot another blast of wind at her, missing. Then, she sensed a blast of heat coming and threw herself backwards, watching as a fireball flew past her. Turning, she saw another man, dressed the same as the first one, but with a jetpack strapped to his back, and holding a fire ball. She looked from one to the other, and then shouted, “What do you want?”, her voiced straining as she tried to shout over the wind. The two men did not respond, and instead flew closer together. The one in a jet pack summoned another fireball, but this time threw it at his companion. The other man caught the fireball with a gust of wind, combining the two elements into a swirling orb of electricity, which he launched at Mei. She barely caught it in her armored right hand, and redirected the bolt into the night sky above her. It looked like she was in for a rough fight, and it wasn’t going to end well, for them at least.

Mitchell stood on the sidewalk, drinking his tea with slow graceful sips. Tokyo was a fun and bright city, and the people here were civil to their neighbors from the Steam nation. However, he still preferred Europe’s tea to the cup he held in his hand. He almost dropped this cup when he saw a flash of purple light up the night sky. Could it be her? Mitchell didn’t know, but he had to be certain. However, he had no way of getting air-born. ‘This place has a vending machine for everything, if only they had one for jetpacks’ he thought to himself smiling and shaking his head. Then, his eyes suddenly widening in surprise, he watched as a woman across the street stepped up to a machine, swiped a card, and put on the jetpack that had emerged from its steel frame. He quickly closed his hanging jaw and ran over to her, dodging the sleek cars that whizzed past him.

“Excuse me miss.” He said, speaking the native language of the Lightning nation with ease. “What exactly do these do?”

“Well, they’re basically jetpacks. You’re from the Steam nation, right? If you’re a fire, you can propel yourself using fire alchemy.” The woman replied.

Thanking her, Mitchell pulled out his credit card, swiped it down the reader on the machine’s body, and picked up his newly acquired jetpack. He quickly read the directions, then after a running start, sent a surge of fire into the jetpack and took off into Tokyo’s night skies.

Silversound Chronicles #2: Front Two Knuckle

So, this next one was another of my weird mash-ups. It's a mix of hip hop and chiptune, but somehow manages to be neither of those. In any case, it's a solid song, and there were no major flaws, so I'm happy. Enjoy!

Download Front Two Knuckle from Sendspace

Silversound Chronicles #1: Cadere in Umbra

Alright, the first song of my 2013 album. Wow, it's hard to believe I've come this far. Cadere in Umbra, which means, "To Fall into Shadow" in Latin, was meant to shadow (no pun intended) Queer Symphony, and shares both it's strengths and faults. The primary sound in Cadere in Umbra is the hypersaw. While this gives it a rich and powerful sound, the song becomes very blurry, and can be hard to listen to. However, the composition itself, in my humble opinion, is very good, and rivals that of Queer Symphony. All in all, it is one of my better songs, and was a great way to start off the album. Enjoy, and remember to check back for the rest of the album, and the rest of my book over the coming weeks and months!

Download Cadere in Umbra via Sendspace

Children of the Planet Book 1 - Chapter 2: Em

Chapter 2: Em

    Isaac slowly twirled the pencil around his fingers as his teacher droned on.

“Now, I’m sure you all know most of the facts I’m going to tell you, but just in case nobody has listened since 1^st grade, I’ll go over it anyway. First of all, Em is the energy that we use to power alchemy. Every person has their own amount of Em, even if that amount isn’t enough to use alchemy. Alchemy, as you all know, is the name commonly given to elemental manipulation. Here in North America, we have Water and Wind alchemists. Oh, yes, and Mister Isaac, our very own Ice alchemist. Now, on that note, why don’t we take a quick look at geography. Of the seven continents, six are home to the great nations. The Ice nation, ruled by our sovereign King Washington the IX, is in North America. The Steam nation, ruled by King George and Queen Mary is in Europe. Asia holds the Lightning nation, ruled by Emperor Sasuke. South America is home to the Wood nation, ruled by their Council of Three. The Sand Nation is ruled by Nero, the God-King of Africa. And finally, Australia is the domain of President Maxwell of the Lava nation. Now back to alchemy. There are four primary elements: Fire, Water, Earth, and Air. Any two of these elements can be combined to create one of the six combined elements…”

    “Ha!” Mei thought as she looked down at the form in front of her. “This is ridiculous.”

She scribbled her name, birthdate, and the current date, August 9^th 2018, on the paper. Had it really been eighteen years? If she had been born in Australia, she would’ve been able to vote this year. Mei looked down at the test in front of her.

    “What are the six combined elements?” The paper read.

    “Obiviously the six elements are Ice, Steam, Lightning, Wood, Sand, and Lava. Water and wind form ice, water and fire form steam, water and earth form wood, earth and wind form sand, and earth and fire from lava.” Mei could create lightning on her own because she had been born with the ability to use both Fire and Wind alchemy, but her parents had to use their alchemy in conjunction in order to create lightning. The same went for any alchemists of two different elements.” She quickly sketched her answer on the paper, and moved on to the next painfully easy question.

    “The only exception” Isaac’s teacher said, “Is Antarctica. Antarctica has become the home of many people who were born minimal amounts of Em, though there is no real form of leadership there right now. Antarctica has no primary element, but the people there have been able to absorb Em from the world around them and channel it into pure energy. More on that next semester. Now, a quick biology note. Generally if a person from one continent has a child with a person from another continent who uses a different element than them, the child will not have any Em. For example, if a fire alchemist from Europe were to have a child with an earth user from South America, the child born will most likely have very little Em, but there is a chance that a child will be born with Em who will be able to use one of its parents’ elements. However, if the fire alchemist were to marry a water user from South America, the child would almost certainly have Em and an element, as water is also an element from Europe, and vice-versa. Well, that’s all for today. I expect to see you all tomorrow for the tests.

    Carinthia and Elena stood shamefaced as their nurse impatiently tapped her foot, her tall menacing frame constantly demanding one thing, “What did I tell you two about sneaking out at night? I would expect as much from a peasant brat like Elena, but you Carinthia? I think Elena is having a poor influence on you.”
    “No! She’s my best friend! Look, it was my fault, okay! I…”
    “Is something the matter?” A voice from behind them asked.   

Both Carinthia and Elena turned around to see a tall middle aged woman, her messy blonde hair draping over the shoulders of her nightgown.

    “These two were…” The nurse began, but the woman cut her off.

    “I would like to hear from my daughter if it’s quite alright with you Margaret.” She said.

    “Mom, I took Elena out with me and we played at the fountain.” Carinthia mumbled, her head down.

    “Oh, that’s all? With the fuss Margaret was raising, I thought you had burned your bed or something.”

The girls couldn’t help but giggle at this comment.

     “Well, you need your sleep. If you want to play, you can play during the day. Good night ladies.”

With that, Carinthia’s mother returned to her room, after a quick smile and a subtle glare at Margaret. The girls returned to their rooms, tucked themselves into bed, and quickly fell asleep.

    Ajani trudged across the desert, each step more difficult than the last as the wind battered his body. He had tried to move it past him, but tired quickly and had to stop. The sand swirled around his body as he took step after step. He didn’t know where he was going, he just needed to go somewhere. He stopped when he heard a scuffling noise behind him. He turned his head to see if something was following him, but he saw only sand dunes. He kept walking, but after a few moments, he heard the scuffling sound again. He decided to keep walking and pretend he didn’t notice. Then, in a swift movement, he swung his staff around, sending a blast of air behind him. When the sand cleared, there was still nothing. Then, he saw a shadow looming in front of him. He turned around, and a giant scorpion was staring him right in the eye. Ajani leapt back, throwing a blast of sand at the monster as he went. Not having put much effort into the attack, it merely passed over the scorpion, and it shook its head. Then, it ran at Ajani, its pincers grabbing for him. As it snapped at him with its right pincer, Ajani ducked and swung his staff at its front-most right leg. With a crack, the staff hit its joint square on and the leg collapsed. With a screech, the scorpion batted him away with its left pincer.

As Ajani recovered, he heard a whoosh of air, and barely rolled out of the way as the scorpion’s pincer landed right where his head was a moment ago. He stood up and knocked the next strike aside with his staff. As the scorpions third strike sped towards him, He ran toward it and jumped on its back. The scorpion reached back with its pincers to try and grab him, but Ajani merely knocked the attacks away. Then, with a sharp movement of his hand, he shot a spear of sand up from the ground into the body of the scorpion. It screeched and writhed in pain as Ajani continued to stab it. Finally, Ajani pulled up a pillar of stone from deep below the earth. It came up underneath the scorpion so quickly that it snapped its body in half, its head and upper body bent at an awkward angle against the rock. Panting, Ajani jumped down from the beast and continued his journey. He strained his eyes for something, anything that could serve as shelter, and saw a black speck in the distance. Deeming it better than nothing, he began to walk in its direction.

    Annie woke up the next morning and winced in pain as she immediately noticed the bruise on her cheek from the day before. She used the restroom, threw some clothes on, grabbed her belt, and went outside. Time for work. As she walked down the block, she noticed a group of people up ahead. She went up to see the commotion was. They were gathered around a stand where a man was giving the most recent news. They didn’t have too many TVs in Australia, but there were stations dotted around the Lava nation where journalists and the like would receive news, and then would send people out to tell the various towns and cities.

    “The Steam nation is investigating a group of young people called the ‘Children of the Planet’. Please report to the nearest news station if you have information on any myths or stories related to them, or relating to the use of combined elements.”

    ‘I wonder what that’s about…’ Annie thought to herself.

Her thought was cut short when she was roughly grabbed by the shoulders and shoved to the ground. She turned and looked to see Tom glaring down at her; he had 6 other men behind him.

    “Well, long time no see Ms. Black.” He said with a chuckle. Then he punched her in the face.

    “Well, that’s familiar.” Annie said, spitting blood out. She rolled back, drawing her baton as she did so and threw a fireball at the thug who was running at her from behind Tom. The fireball hit a wall of earth the thug had barely raised in time, and the crowd around her ran in panic. She swung the baton at the wall, and as she did, she manipulated it so that it lengthened, allowing it to hit the wall from where she stood, shattering it. Then, before the thug could recover, she formed a whip with the baton and slashed the thug across the forehead, leaving a bloody gash and leaving him unconscious. Then, swinging the whip around her head, she called up several chunks of stone and hurled them at the group of Tom’s thugs with a crack of her whip. A few rocks hit one of the thugs in the head, knocking him out, but the other four and Tom dodged them and rushed her. She ducked a swing from one thug, and slammed her baton into his gut, knocking the wind out of him. She swung around and kicked him in the head, turned the kick into a backflip, and leapt over another thug who was charging her. He continued to charge, and she whipped her baton out, wrapping it around his neck and breaking it. The thug she had kicked was recovering, and she quickly threw a slab of stone at his legs and broke his knees. As he screamed in pain, Annie was grabbed from behind in a strong bear hug, trapping her arms. She struggled to break free, but couldn’t get out of the grip. She shot her head back, but only hit the man’s chest. Tom walked up to her and punched her in the gut, causing her to cough up a mouthful of blood.

    “You took out three of my men Annie. I’m going to have to teach you a lesson. Oh, that’s right, I also need to repay you for humiliating me in front of my boys yesterday.” Tom said to her.

Annie could only manage a groan. Tom raised his fist to punch her in the face, but she ducked her head down just enough so that the blow missed her and hit the man that was holding her. His grip weakened and she slipped out. She gathered a shell of rock around her hands, and punched the man in the side, breaking several of his ribs and knocking him a few meters away. She then turned and shot the two shells at the remaining two thugs, hitting them in their heads, bashing in the face of one, and splitting the skull of another. She then swung her baton around and smacked Tom, who was sneaking up behind her, upside the head. He fell to the ground, and she placed a boot on his chest, keeping him still.

    “Well Tom, looks like you lose again.” She said with a smile. “But you know what, I have an offer for you. Instead of killing you, I think I’ll let you take me to your boss.”

    “What?” Tom asked, surprised and confused.

    “I said take me to your leader you…”

    “I heard you. But, why?”

    “You aren’t exactly on a need to know basis. So, you going to take me, or am I going to smash your face in?”

    “Ok, ok, fine.”

    “And no funny business, I beat up you and six of your boyfriends. Now that I think about it, there actually isn’t anything you can do to me anyway.”

With that, Annie lifted her foot and allowed Tom to sit up. He got to feet and began shamefully stumbling down the street. Annie followed him, keeping a close eye on his every movement. As she did, her plan formed…

Song of the Day: K.K. Cruisin'

Another song from Animal Crossing, this one has a number of remixes on Youtube, so I have a few different videos for you today. The first two songs are from the original game, and are fantastic in their own right.

K.K. Crusin' (Aircheck)

K.K. Crusin' (Live)

Then, I found a sweet Jazz ensemble arrangement.

K.K. Cruisin' - Jazz Ensemble Arrangement

Finally, there was a good cover I saw while watching the Jazz arrangement.

K.K. Cruisin' True Remix

I would like to do a cover of this in the future. In fact, I tried (unsuccessfully) to do so this morning, but it wasn't working out too well. So, I'll come back to it at a later date. In any case, I hope you enjoyed the songs, and remember to check back today for another chapter of Children of the Planet!

Children of the Planet Book 1 - Chapter 1: "And Six There Shall Be"

With November fast approaching, it's time for me to start thinking about the next NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). Last year, I wrote 50,618 words of magic, action, and plot holes in Children of the Planet Book 1 between November 1st and 29th. This year, Lord willing, I'll be penning Book 2, and I thought a good place to start my preparation would be in the editing of my first book. I literally haven't touched it since I finished it in November, and now would be as good a time as ever to get editing over and done with. And so, over the next weeks and months, I'll be editing it, one chapter at a time, and posting the chapter here. I'm considering posting more than one chapter at a time, and will certainly be posting my other usual stuff along with these, so remember to check back frequently.

A few notes. First, while I certainly encourage you to read this, it is a bit long. Secondly, I wrote this as a book for teens or young adults. It would be considered PG-13, and contains a fair level of violence, but is devoid of any language or sensuality. Nonetheless, I would read it before showing it to any younger siblings if I were you. Finally, blogspot kills all my paragraphs when I paste it, so while I tried to put indents back in, it may still be a bit hard to read. In any case, I hope you enjoy, and please leave comments and tips!

Chapter 1: “And Six there shall be”

                With a flick of her wrist, Carinthia wreathed her body in strands of steam and disappeared into the night. Elena quickly raised her sword in a defensive posture, straining her eyes to find her opponent in the murky darkness of London. However, she was unprepared, and Carinthia found her first. The vaporous warrior rushed passed Elena, her blade making a shallow cut in the girl’s arm along the way. First blood had been drawn, and it was up to Elena to even things out. She watched closely as Carinthia leapt back into the darkness, quickly sheathing her weapon as she did so. Her eyes darting back and forth, Elena’s hand slowly reached for her back pocket, and when she saw a wisp of steam, she leapt to the side. As she had expected, Carinthia once again dashed at her, and Elena threw a handful of small orbs in the sword mistress’ path. Quickly drawing her weapon once again, Elena barely blocked Carinthia’s attack as she sped past. Then, the balls burst, sending out a powerful gust of wind and blowing away the steam that pervaded the streets.

   With her target in sight, Elena rushed at Carinthia, ready to finally start their duel. Elena made a quick jab at Carinthia’s shoulder, but Carinthia merely ducked and let the blade sail by her head. In one quick movement, Carinthia slashed at Elena’s abdomen, and then slashed at her head as Elena jumped out of the way. Elena blocked the strike, but was caught on the wrist as she brought her arm back. “Sorry…” Carinthia mumbled, and continued her assault. She stabbed forward, her blade gleaming in the night, her brow dripping with sweat, and her opponent matching her blow for blow. Elena slashed at Carinthia’s chest, but Carinthia brought her sword across her body, the tip of the blade pointing towards the ground. Carinthia followed through with the block and brought her sword around, making a downward slash at Elena. Elena swung upwards, blocking the strike.

   There they were, locked in deadly combat. Shadows swirled around them, just as beams from the nearby lamps shone through the murk. The cobblestone was cold and uncaring beneath them, as solid as it was supposed to be. Drops of blood and sweat had been shed as evidence to the battle taking place. The benches and bushes around them were witnesses to this fierce duel, and looked on in silence as the two quietly pushed forward, each attempting to knock the other back out of the lock. Finally, their blades parted when Carinthia jumped back, sheathed her sword, and shot a forceful blast of water forward in one quick, sudden, and violent movement, rolling onto her back afterwards. Elena was knocked back onto her bottom, and just sat there in surprise.

   “Come on Carinthia” Elena said in an exasperated tone after catching her breath, “Using alchemy isn’t fair. You know I can’t use Em like you!”

   With a grin, Carinthia replied, “Oh, for goodness sake Elena, we were at a stalemate.” Suddenly worried as Elena rubbed her eyes, she asked, “Are you alright? I didn’t hurt you or anything, did I?”

   “No, no, I’m fine. Really.” Elena said with a smile, I just had dirt in my eye.

   “You’re sure? I could’ve sworn I hit you earlier.”

   “Ok, yes, you got me.” Elena admitted, “But it was just a cut. If anything that blast of water hurt the most; thanks to you, my butt’s going to be sore for a week!”

   “Why you…you’d better start running before I make it hurt for a month!”

   Giggling, the two girls ran out of the palace courtyard and into the night. With screams of delight, they splashed one another with water from the nearby fountain. Now soaked, they decided it was time to end their midnight fun, and snuck back into the castle. What awaited them would turn the night sour.

   Isaac slowly rubbed his eyes as sunlight invaded his room. With a yawn, he laxly raised his feet over the side of his bed and stood up. After a long and luxurious stretch, he made his way to the kitchen. Pouring himself a glass of milk, he situated himself on the counter and proceeded to drink it. “Isaac?” a female voice called. “Get ready for school. Your father already left for work.”

“Yes mom…” Isaac replied in an impatient tone.

   With a sigh, he chugged the rest of his milk, placed the empty glass in the sink, and returned to his room. He grabbed his backpack and made his way to the bedroom door. His room was littered with an assortment of clothes, video game cases, empty bags of snack food, and a variety of other junk. After a quick glance to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything, he jumped downstairs, opened the front door, and ran out into the chilly air of the Massachusetts. He suddenly stopped, turned around and ran back into the house. After grabbing his grey hoodie, he pulled it on and once more stepped outside.

   After a short running start, he leapt into the air, and sailed towards the bus stop. Using wind currents to carry and guide him, it was only a few seconds before he reached the stop at the end of the street. The bus was just coming up to the stop, and kids around him were piling into the bright yellow vehicle. After obtaining a place in the crowd of bodies, he finally stepped up into the bus and sat in the first seat he could find. He closed his eyes, hoping to get a bit more sleep, but his rest was interrupted when another boy plopped down beside him.

   “Hey, you’re Isaac right? The guy that can use Ice Alchemy?”

   With a sigh, Isaac replied, “Yeah, I’m him. Why?”

   Suddenly very excited, the boy let off a barrage of questions, “Hey, how do you do it? Like, is there a secret? Can you make snowmen? Can you help me with water Alchemy? Hey, how about my friend, he’s a wind alchemist, maybe you can show us how to do it? Hey, maybe…”

Isaac cut him off by raising his hand. “Hey, hey, slow down. Look kid, I’m just another person, okay? Go find someone else to bother. Or at least shut up”

   However, while the boy closed his mouth, he resolutely remained in his seat. Isaac closed his eyes once more, and finally reached the point of sleep, but his rest was broken when the bus slowed to a halt. “Please don’t tell me we’re at school already…” he muttered. “Ugh, we’re at school” a girl said as she walked passed him, making a lackluster effort to exit the bus. With another plaintive sigh, Isaac got up and made his way to the bus doors. Several minutes later, he sat down at his desk.

   “Welcome class. Today is review day. We’ll be going over some basic alchemy and geography in preparation for the test.”

Settling into his chair, Isaac put his head on his hand, and promptly fell asleep.

   Annie was knocked to the ground as a huge fist pummeled her in the face. Tenderly rubbing her jaw as a new bruise appeared, she grimaced and stood back up.

   “So what’s it going to be? You going to pay up yet babe?” The thug in front of her said with a sneer.

   “Heh, like that’s ever going to happen!” She replied with a chuckle.

   Annie leapt into the air, her fist flying into his open mouth right as he started to retort. She drew her hand back, and a few of his teeth dropped to the ground as he staggered back in pain and surprise. With a cry of rage, he flew at her, his arms swinging wildly. Realizing she was now in control of the situation, Annie deftly dodged each blow he threw, returning with one of her own after every swing. He threw a high hook punch, but Annie caught it with her wrist, guiding the arm over her head as she swung around with a spinning hook kick. Annie frowned when she realized her attack missed, and leapt back, arms raised. The thug grinned, pulling his arm back for a punch. With a snicker, Annie quickly stretched her hand out, and a wall of stone emerged from the alley bricks. Before he could stop, the thug’s fist slammed directly into the wall, and he staggered back, clutching his bloodied hand. Annie leapt onto the wall, crouching in a catlike position, and nonchalantly flicked her finger out, slamming a pillar of stone into the man’s temple as he stumbled. He flew across the street into the wall behind him and sagged to the ground, either unwilling or unable to fight. His two companions slowly backed up, and their retreat turned into a mad dash for safety when Annie conjured up a fireball in her hand. She gathered some dirt into it, and threw the small ball of lava at their feet; they ran even faster for the safety of anywhere that was away from her. Grinning, she walked back to her fallen opponent, grabbed his hair, and said, “Now look, Tom, I don’t have a problem with you, so long as you leave me alone. Now, I’m going to take this cash, and you’re going to take your sorry butt back to your boss and tell him not to bother me anymore. Got it memorized?”

“Yeah…got it…” Tom mumbled.

   With a grin, Annie let go of his head and walked back in the general direction of her house. Her black skinny jeans were tight against her legs, but her slim appearance was balanced out by the thick leather combat boots she wore, and the belt strapped around her waist that sported a metal baton. She had on an orange A-shirt that with an artistic volcano emblazoned on it. Her once brown hair was now dyed a bright red, and fell back in a ponytail. Using the earth underneath her to catapult herself across the town, she finally reached her own house. She burst past the door, took some money out of the leather pack that hung on her back, and tossed it on the counter. “Mom! I’m home! There’s some cash on the counter for groceries!” Annie shouted.

   “I’m right here Annie” a voice behind her said quietly.

   Annie turned around and saw her mother sitting at the kitchen table. With a look of annoyance displayed on her face, Annie walked over and took the only other seat that was there. Her mother was not smiling either, and with a frown began speaking. “Annie, what have I told you?”

   “I know. But mom, really, what else can we do? I’m strong. In fact, I’m the strongest.”

   “Yes, but there are other ways of getting money than stealing it.”

   “How do you know I stole it?”

   Annie’s mother simply looked at her, and with sigh, Annie replied, “Okay, you got me. I stole it. But it was from a thug who picked a fight with me, ok?”

   “You got in another fight? Oh Annie, what am I going to do with you? Ever since your father…”

   “Don’t even. Don’t go there mom, ok? It’s just you and me now. He’s dead and gone.”

   “Yes, you’re right. It’s just that it’s dangerous this far out. Even with the Lava nation’s soldiers, Australia is hazardous for everything that lives here. We need someone to look out for us.”

   “So what are you going to do, find a new boyfriend?”

   “Annie!”

   “Well, you said it yourself! You want a guardian, and obviously I’m not good enough to look out for us!”

   “Annie, you know that’s not what I meant!”

   “You know what mom, I’m done. I can’t live like this anymore.”

   “Annie, what are you saying…”

   “Go find yourself a new husband, I’m leaving.” Annie shouted, stomping towards the door.

   “Annie, wait!” Her mother called, but girl was already gone.

   Mei deftly operated the controller, moving the control stick and pressing buttons without a second thought; it was instinct. Her hands controlled the deft movements of Tordelmos as he leapt about the screen, slashing apart goblins. She had played this level thousands of times, and knew it so well that she could easily perform algebraic equations in her head while she played. However, she was so caught up in her activities that she didn’t hear her mother calling for her. When her mother finally stopped calling and burst into her room, Mei stopped where she was, looked up, and said, “Is there something I can help you with mom?”

   With a huff and a grin, her mother replied, “Yes, actually. Your father has something for you to try out.”

   Mei’s father was an inventor, so it wasn’t unusual that he had something new for her to play with. Her mother tossed a metallic sphere to her, and as Mei caught it, it opened up and wrapped around her hand. Mei was unperturbed, and watched with curiosity as it settled down. The sphere had become a metal glove that covered her hand and a portion of her arm. As she turned her arm around, she looked up to her mom and said, “It’s cool, but what does it do?”

   “Well, your father says that it’s part of a power suit he’s working on. He’s making it for you actually. Asia’s finest will have to wait.”

   “Awesome! Well, do you want to go downstairs and find out what it does?”

   “Alright, I’ll follow you!”

   Mei stood up, put on her purple jacket, pulled back her shoulder length black hair, straightened her glasses, and stepped out of the room with her mom.

   Mother and daughter flew through the mansion that they called home, using air currents to keep them afloat, and eventually reached the elevator that led to their basement, which doubled as the family’s lab and training facility. Mei walked toward an empty section of the basement, passing huge computer consoles, training droids, and turrets as she went. As she was walking, she saw a small blue button on the glove, and pressed it. Without warning, the glove expanded even further, reaching all the way up her arm, and created an armored spaulder that covered her right shoulder. Caught up with fascination, Mei didn’t expect or dodge the blast of air that hit her in the back.

   “Come one Mei, pay attention!” Her mother jeered.

   Still unaware of what the glove did, Mei decided to throw a blast of wind back in retort. She thrust her arm forward, and as the air surged forward, she noticed energy surging forth from the glove. As the blast of air shot ahead, she saw that it was unusually laced with blue energy. Small explosions burst out as the air hit her mom, and the small woman took a step back in surprise.

   “Well, that was cool!” Mei said with smile.

   “Agreed.” Her mother replied. “But I don’t think I want to get hit by it again if it’s all the same to you.

   “Ok, no problem. I’ll just work on some of the droids then.”

As her mother headed back towards the elevator, Mei flew over to a computer console, entered a few commands, and watched as three training droids rose up from the arena to her left. The droids stood resolute, ready to receive any command Mei gave them, but they would only serve as targets for now. Mei decided to see what else she could do with wind alchemy. She flattened her hand, as if preparing to do a karate chop, and sliced it horizontally through the air, aiming for the head of the leftmost droid. A current of air flew from her arm, again laced with blue energy. As it hit the neck of the droid, blasts of energy sent the head flying once it was severed by the wind. Impressed, Mei decided to try fire next.

   She called the elements around her into her hand, and a blue fireball formed. Mei raised an eyebrow, as all the fire she had used before was usually red or orange. Though she could adjust the heat of her flames to create different colors of fire, she had not done so recently, so Mei assumed that it was due to the armor on her right arm. She tossed the fireball at the droid on the right, and it exploded in a burst of blue flame. The droid was thrown back by the blast, and smoldered in the far corner of the room, its metal frame melted by the flames.

   Finally, Mei decided to use her favorite alchemy, lightning. Since Mei was the only person in the world who was able to use lightning alchemy on her own, it was an ability that she savored every moment of. Sparks curled around her gloved hand, energy pulsated around it, and the violet sparks become deep blue streaks of lightning. She shot her fingers forward, and the blue lightning coursed across her arm and into the torso of the last droid. As the last of the lightning entered its body, it shook violently, and then flew across the room as an explosion of blue energy blew it apart. Impressed with the capabilities of her incomplete armor, she decided to head over to the lab to see how her father was doing.

   Jethro closed his eyes and smiled as he skillfully operated the DJ panel in front of him. His black dreads hung loosely, and his hazelnut skin was soaked with sweat as the crowd around him partied. He controlled the crowd with his music, deftly arranging loops in whichever way he saw fit. He saw one woman blow a kiss to him, screaming his name. He had a responsibility as her musician, but Jethro was an athlete at heart, and part of him wanted to be down there, on the dance floor with her. In the end, the temptation won out. He set up a loop and jumped down to the dance floor. Anyone could shake their head back and forth, but it took a true dance master to do what he did: Capoeira.

As his limbs twirled around in the air, the crowd looked on in wonder at the mysterious dance. Twirling around on the palms of his hands, his legs were a flurry of movement. The floor was made of tall rectangular bricks set deep into the ground, and he would pull these up with earth alchemy, sometimes standing on them, sometimes jumping between them, and sometimes launching himself into the air using their upward force. He ended his performance by running up one of the bricks, somersaulting backward into the air, and landing on the palm of his hand, before pushing himself once more into the air, spinning into flip, and landing on his feet. The crowd roared in approval, and he raised his hands to them. Shouts of ‘encore’ resounded throughout the club, but he was done for the night. So he grabbed his earphones and exited the building in a blaze of sweaty glory.

   Jethro walked back towards his home, still sweating in the muggy South American air. He saw the back of the woman who had called his name; she had left a few moments before he did. Cars and motorcycles rushed passed him, full of people who were going to clubs like the one he had just left, ready to drink and party to their heart’s content. “It’s a sad world we live in” Jethro thought to himself as he continued down the path. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks when he heard a piercing scream come from the building to his right. He spun on his heels and burst through the door.

   “Hello, are you alright?” He shouted up the stairwell. There was no answer. He ran up the stairs and found himself in a long hallway. Another scream echoed, but he couldn’t tell where it came from. He began barging into door after door. One was empty, one contained an older man watching football, but none of them contained a woman in distress. There was only one door left, towards the end of the hall. It was locked, so he began pounding on it. “Hello? Where are you? Do you need help?” Jethro called out. His reply was a scream and the sound of a gun being cocked. With this warning, Jethro used alchemy to call up several sheets of wood from the paneling to act as temporary shields, and bashed the door open. As the splinters flew, a gun fired and a bullet whizzed into one of the shields he was controlling. As it shattered, Jethro saw a woman on the ground, as well as the wielder of the gun. The man dropped the gun and shot a chunk of stone at Jethro. The shields in front of him stopped the rock, but Jethro didn’t drop his guard. While keeping the wood in front of him, he called up an earthen fist from the walls and floor around him to grab the thug, holding the man’s arms to his side and lifting him into the air. The earthen fist pulled back and held him against the wall while Jethro ran to check on the woman. It was the same woman who was at the club, and she looked up at him in thanks. Jethro turned back to the man and said, “You have one chance to get the heck out of here. Run.”

   The thug was dropped to the ground, and ran for his life. Turning back to the woman from the club, he asked, “Are you ok?”

   “Yeah.” She replied. “I think he broke a rib, but aside from that, I’m alright. Thanks.”

   “By the way, I don’t think I caught your name back at the club.” Jethro said with a smirk.

   “Mara, my name’s Mara.” She replied.

   “Alright Mara, let’s get you out of here.”

   Jethro walked Mara out of the house, down the street, and to the hospital, where he checked her in. A few hours, and a quick stop at a bar later, he arrived at his home, which was graciously shared with him by his Aunt and Uncle.

   “Aunt Jane? Uncle Mike? You guys home?” He called out. But there was no answer, so he assumed they were out. He flicked the light switch on, grabbed a bowl of chips, and turned the TV on. The news channel was on, so he decided to watch.

   “This is a special report, a mass murder is on the loose.”

   “Heh, I bet it’s that guy I fought tonight.” Jethro thought to himself, half joking. But as he watched, his mirth turned to horror as the description of the murderer matched the description of the man he had fought perfectly. He almost fainted at the next report.

   “David Forun has killed eight people in the last month, his most recent victims being Jane and Michael Phelp.”

   Ajani had lived a very lonely life the past fifteen years, and as the harsh African sun shown down on his dark head, he contemplated his life. His mother and father had died when he was just a child, and he had been cared for by the rest of his tribe. More specifically, he had been raised by the mother and father of his best friend, Kimbwe, and though they taught him many things, he had learned one very important thing in particular while he was raised by them. Never, under any circumstances, give commands to the Wind above you or the Sand around you. His tribe believed that when a child was born who could move the sand, it would bring destruction to the world. So if anyone knew he could do such things, he would be disowned and cast out of the tribe, perhaps even killed. But he had practiced in secret. Even though he was restricted to earth alchemy while with the tribe, he would sneak out at night to practice with the wind and the sand. It was on these nights that he felt alive; he felt free. The life he led now was not a life, it was a prison. His foster father had told Kimbwe and himself horror stories about the people outside of the tribe. Strange beings that could control water and fire, and could even bring down death from the sky in the form of deadly thunder and lightning. Ajani was curious about the outside world, and one day, he would find it. But he would not let it control him, not like he was controlled now.

   As he was caught up in his thoughts, he felt a wad of mud hit him in the back. Spinning around, he saw Kimbwe holding several more mud balls in front of him. Ajani threw up a cloud of dust and bolted off. As they were throwing mud at each other, they both screeched to a halt when they heard a scream. Vaulting themselves into the air, the two boys saw a group of heavily armed men coming into the camp.

   “Those are Jinto’s men!” Kimbwe said in alarm.

Jinto was a bloodthirsty pirate who roamed the desert, forcing villages to give him food and valuables. He had been here before, when Ajani was much younger. That was how his parents had died, defending the village from Jinto.

   “Kimbwe, we have to fight them. That man killed my parents.” Ajani told his friend.

Kimbwe stood still for a moment, then shook his head. “What can we do? The only way we could fight them all off is if…”

Ajani’s dark brown eyes took on a steely  glint.

   “No…no Ajani…you know that if you use…”

   “There’s nothing else we can do.”

   “But you’ll be killed! If not by Jinto than by the tribe!”

   “Kimbwe, this may be the only chance I have to avenge my parent’s deaths. I need to take it.” Ajani said, a hard note in his voice.

   With a sigh of resignation, Kimbwe nodded. “Then let’s go. We don’t have any time to waste, brother.”

   Ajani and Kimbwe ran back to their hut and went inside. Ajani grabbed his polished stone staff, and Kimbwe grabbed his sword and sling. They snuck around the hut and peered around the corner.

   “I said to give me your food and your women. Is there something wrong? Or perhaps you just didn’t hear me.” Jinto told the leader of the tribe with a sick smile on his face.

   “Take whatever you need, you will find no resistance here.” The elder said.

   “Ready?” Kimbwe asked.

   “Ready.”

   With a shout, the two boys sped at Jinto’s group of bandits. Kimbwe slashed one across the back before he had even turned around, while catching another around the legs with his sling. Ajani meanwhile had quickly disabled a bandit with three quick and precise blows from his staff. He twirled it around and caught another across the jaw, breaking his neck. Both Ajani and Kimbwe then turned and leapt at Jinto, but were blown back by a powerful blast of wind.

   “Most impressive. I didn’t think you were capable of such trickery old man.” Jinto said with a laugh.

The elder, as surprised as anyone else, harshly said, “Ajani, Kimbwe, what are you doing!? You are endangering…”

   “I am avenging my parents’ lives!” Ajani shouted. “The lives that you stole from me!” He said, turning to Jinto.

   “Oh, yes. Those two. I can see their features in you. I had quite a bit of fun with them.” Jinto said with an evil grin.

   Ajani threw his staff to the ground, pulled his arms back, and threw them forward. As his arms pushed forward, a wave of sand surged forward. Several bandits were buried instantly. The bandits were stunned, but quickly split into pairs of wind and earth alchemists and parted the sand as it came down on them. While they were occupied, Ajani used wind to pick his staff up and used the currents to guide it along the ground. It furiously spun, and Ajani moved it through the legs of the bandits, breaking all their shins and knees in a matter of seconds. He pulled his staff back as the sand buried all the bandits except Jinto, who had run out of the way. He turned to run as Ajani walked towards him, but was stopped by blasts of wind pushing into him from all sides, trapping him.

   “Please, I have a family too, don’t kill me!” Jinto pleaded.

   “Really? Well, then I’m sure you’ll be glad to hear that they’ll feel just like I did for the past decade.” Ajani said, his voice and eyes cold despite the blazing sun above him. With a wave of his hand Ajani called forth a pillar of sand in front of Jinto.

   “W-what are you doing?” Jinto asked, terrified.

   Without saying a word, Ajani raised his hand. Jinto was confused at first, but then he felt a small sting on his left cheek. Then he felt two more on his right arm. He realized it was grains of sand when one flew into his eye and he screamed. The sand slowly flew at his body, gaining momentum and volume with each passing second. Soon, the grains stopped hitting him and started going through him, puncturing blood vessels. Then his lungs were pierced, and he started choking in his own fluids. He screamed in pain as he was slowly ripped to shreds by the sand, but a few moments later, his screams stopped. There was nothing left to scream, only a bloody skeleton, its jaw hanging open. Ajani let the rigid pile of bones fall to the ground. He turned around to see the looks of shock and horror on the faces of his tribe. Even Kimbwe had a look of surprise on his face. Then someone cocked an arrow and fired at him. Ajani caught the arrow and threw it to the ground, but he knew his time here was done.

   “Kimbwe, will you come with me?”

   Kimbwe stood there slack jawed. Then he slowly shook his head. Without another word, Kimbwe threw a cloud of sand into the air, and ran off into the harsh heat of Africa’s vast desert.