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.
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