As the thread title states, I'm writing a book, to see what I've got so far, PM me your email, when your done, send me some feedback on this thread!

good work i hope to see your book soon

Dang, gotta post it chapter at a time... If my signature isn't at the bottom, chapter's not done...

Rebirthed





Prologue


It was the same room as before. I knew nothing in this barren place, but it felt all too familiar, as if I could call it home. It looked like it was made of stone, or sand, just like an Egyptian tomb. The light was dim, and there was writing on the wall. It was an ancient language, like one I had never seen, yet I felt as though I had spoken it all of my life. I wiped the dust from the wall and read the scripture.

“Vraal hon keeduvera” I muttered.

I felt a growing warmth on my hand. I looked down and found my hand wildly ablaze. I panicked, flailing my arm around and beating it into a wall, in a desperate attempt to extinguish the flame. Exhausted, I gave up my vain efforts, allowing the fire to continue on. It then hit me that the engulfing flame did not burn me. The fire dulled down, and then eventually sputtered out.

Bright red eyes grew in a dark corner in front of me, staring at me with a vicious gaze. A low growl rumbled from the creature. An uncomfortable silence fell in the room. Suddenly, the beast’s roar tore through the air, as light faded into darkness.











Chapter 1


I jumped up in my bed, in a cold, profuse sweat. I wiped the sweat from my brow as my alarm clock blared its daily wake-up call. My name is Steven, and this is my story.

It had been the same dream, every night, over and over. What did it mean? I searched my mind as I threw on my jeans and t-shirt. Nothing came to mind.

“Ahh well, looks like it’s gonna be one of those days…”

Outside was another serene day in Ohio. The sky was blue, birds were chirping, few clouds littered about in the sky, a gentle breeze flowed through the air. Peace and quiet.

I live in the suburbs outside of Toledo. I am sixteen years old and attend Springfield High School. It’s a quiet school, and nothing exciting really ever happens there. It’s a public school, so it’s a pretty normal place. Never changing; it’s the same thing, every week.

I grab my book bag and head out into the kitchen to grab something to eat before I go to school. There, my little twelve year old sister is sitting at the table, eating her morning cereal. Her curly brown hair kept landing in her face as her head twitched back and forth, watching our dog chase after a fly.

“Good morning Steven!” she said.
“Good morning Ashley…” I said in a low voice.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Meh…” I shake my hand a little, “Not a whole lot…” I said.
“Why not?” she said with a childish curiosity.
“Just eat your cereal…” I replied.

She was starting to do her daily interrogation of how I slept, again… Always… Every morning…

“Was it because of a bad dream?” she asked.
“Uhh…sure, and lets leave it at that.” I blurt.
“What happened in the dream?” she was obviously set on figuring out my dream.

“Nothing…” I muttered.

She started to smile. She knew she was starting to get to me. I quickly tried to think of a way to change the topic. Nothing came to mind. So I decided to get drastic.

“Bye mom! I’m going to school!” I called.
“But, what about your dream?” Ashley asked.
“See you later Sis!” I said.

I barely got out of that one. It was a three-mile walk to school, but I didn’t mind, it was a nice day. I walked along the main road, cars rolling by me. I stop to take in the scenery, and take a look around. Everything was as it should be. Calm, quiet, no problems at all. I saw out of the corner of my eye the small shape of what I thought was a man. He seemed to be standing on a building off in the distance. I turned to look at him, but he was gone. I shrugged and continued on to school, the image of the man floating around in my head.

I arrived at school, along with the buses full of kids, streaming out to avoid the crowds around their lockers, ending up creating the crowds. At least I got there before most of them. I headed down the hallway to my locker only to see a crowd around my locker. I attempted to reach through, but of course, I’m blocked off.

“Excuse me!” I said.

I give them ten seconds. No response. They had their chance. I pushed through the crowd, and to make it even funnier, people actually questioned why I was pushing through. Idiots... I opened my locker, threw my stuff in, and went to class.


















Chapter 2


I walked into my Algebra II class and sat down next to my best friend, Brandon. We’ve known each other since kindergarten and knew just about everything about each other. We were kind of like brothers; we’d look after each other and help one another whenever we needed it. We were so close that we could go behind a building, beat the crap out of each other, and laugh about it later, and we did. He was a taut little guy, he seemed small, but he could pack a punch. It was actually his punch that made us friends.
The vice principal walked into the room.

“Mrs. Probowsky, I need to see Steven in my office for a minute” he said in a monotone voice.
“Ok, he’s coming” she said, “You heard him Steven, go on”
“Good luck” Brandon said with a sneer.
“Yeah” I snickered, “I’ll try to come back alive”

As I left, I could hear Brandon burst out in laughter. That knucklehead... He always could find something funny in any situation. I walked down the hall with the vice principal in front of me, he remained completely silent. I followed him all the way up to the roof.

“Ok, I’m confused, why are we here?” I asked.

No response.

“Hello?” I called.

Still no response.

“Answer me!” I yelled.

Nothing… The sound of the wind whistling was all that was heard.

“Why won’t you say anything!?” I screamed.
“Because he doesn’t care…” said an unfamiliar voice.
“What the!?” I turned around and found a man in a large, black cloak. It had a fine red trim around it. He seemed to be not much bigger than I was. He unveiled his head from his cloak. He had spiky, blood red hair, with bangs that dangled in his face. His eyes also had a deep red color to match his hair. He snapped his fingers and the vice principal knocked me into a wall with ease. I sat up, looking at the other man in the eyes.

“Who are you?” I managed to fumble out between gasps.

“My true name is Canthon, I am the ‘recruiter’, as you might say” he said calmly.
“What do you want with me?” I asked, a little nervous.
“Oh, it’s not what I want, it’s what King wants.” he said with authority.
“King? Who’s King?” I asked.
“King is the soon to be ruler of the world, that’s all” he stated nonchalantly.
“Well, whoever this retarded, dreaming, maniacal, water-head is, he’s not getting me to work for him.” I stated clearly. He fell silent for a moment. That silence was quickly filled up with rage.

“How dare you make a mockery of…” as he approached me and raised his fist, he was suddenly tackled by another man. They crashed into the vent against the door leading downstairs, leaving nothing but a pile of rubble. The mystery man jumped away from Canthon, grabbed me, and jumped off of the building. I screamed the whole way down.

“Run!” he yelled.
“Who are you?!” I yelled back.
“Just run dammit!” he screamed.

I ran faster than I probably ever ran in my life. My track coach would have been proud. The wind rushed through my short brown hair, while it made his slightly longer blonde hair wave a little. I noticed he had a scar that looked like an X on his right cheek.

“Where did you get that scar?” I asked. He glared at me for a few seconds.
“I’d rather not talk about it…” he said. We had been running for two miles.
“Do you think we lost them?” I asked.
“Better safe than dead I always say” he chuckled.

We stopped to rest at a public pool. We sat down, I was gasping for air, while he looked like it had been no problem at all.

“Who are you?” I asked again.
“If you really need to know, my name is Mark” he said, slightly annoyed.
“Wait a second…” I said slowly “Mark Lawbree from the junior class?” I exclaimed.
“In the flesh” he said. I was kind of shocked to see another kid from my school was involved in this mess as well.
“How did you get involved in this?” I asked.
“I really got involved when you were taken to the roof” he said bluntly.
“Why do they want to recruit me? Is there a war going on?” I blurted.
“Oh…” he muttered “You have no idea…”

Chapter 3


We headed back to my house after a few hours to act like nothing had happened at school, but I had brought home a friend. I introduced Mark to my family, and they seemed to like him. I guess that’s good. Mark motioned to me, and I told my parents Mark and I were going out to mess around.

“Where are we going?” I asked.
“Just follow me” he commanded.
“What are we going to do?” I asked intent to get this guy to talk.
“Just shut up and follow me I said!” he said in a commanding voice.

Sheesh, this guy was a prick. I figured I might as well follow him. What else did I have to do?

We walked for what seemed like hours. I followed him through the city until we reached an open plain. It was a flat, stony area, with sand scattered about; I didn’t know this place was in or around Toledo. Won’t complain though, looks like a great place to…

“Hey!” I exclaimed, “Did you bring me here to teach me how to fight?”
“Pretty much” he said.
“I already know how to fight! It’s not that hard” I challenged.
“Really?” he said with a smug, “Why don’t you show me a few moves?”

Ok, he asked for it… I charged at him with a loud yell. Running as fast as I could, I threw a right hook towards his head. He simply turned ever so slightly and stuck out his foot. I hit the ground with a thud. He smirked as I thought of my next move. I put my weight on my hands and attempted a flying dropkick from the ground. He tapped my feet upwards and hit me with a direct hit to the gut. I cringed as I landed, clutching my stomach. How did he do that? I noticed my position to him and was hit with an idea. I wrapped my legs around his and threw him to the ground. I quickly stood up and held my foot on his back. I heard him snicker for a second, I look down, and he’s gone…

“What the hell!?” I screamed with surprise.

I looked up and saw a little shadow in the sky. It kept growing slowly, gaining the shape of Mark. I realized that he was flying down from the sky at me. How did he keep doing this? I jumped out of the way as his fist slammed into the ground with an enormous boom. Rocks flew through the air upon impact. As the dust cleared, I saw Mark standing dead center in a crater the size of a house.

“What the? How the? Huh!?!” I babbled.
“Nice reflex” he said with a smirk, “That’s one reason they wanted you”
“What are you?” I asked, utterly baffled by the feat he had just pulled.
“What am I?” he asked, “Why, I’m just like you…” he said with a slight smile.
“What do you mean you’re just like me? I’m just a kid, and you just plummeted two-hundred feet out of the sky at me!” I screamed.
“Well, you can do it too, you know”
“How can I do that?! It’s not like I can just jump up there!” I yelled.
“Oh, but that’s just it, you can” he said with encouragement, “You can do that, you just haven’t learned how to yet”
“Wh-wh-what?” I stuttered out, “That’s not possible to do, yet you just did it”
“Not humanly possible” he said with a half smile.

Was this guy crazy? What did he mean humanly possible?

“What do you mean humanly possible? You just did it! What, you’re gonna tell me that you’re not human?” I asked, completely confused.
“Yes” he said plainly.
“What do you mean that you’re not human, you’re standing right in front of me!” I said with a laugh, “We go to the same school, how are you not human?”
“You want me to prove that I’m not human?” he asked.
“Yes!” I challenged, “Prove it to me!”
“Ok” he said with minor joy, “Could a normal human do this?”

He pointed his palm towards the sky, with a single swift motion. I could feel the air to get slightly warmer. His hand started to glow. What was he doing? Suddenly a glorious flame erupted though the sky. It lit up the entire plain with an enormously bright light, warming the surrounding area. He kept a serious face throughout the whole blaze. It started to shrink and then eventually ceased its rage.

“Is that enough proof?” he asked in a smart-alecky tone.

I was speechless. I then started to question how he did that, what made him able to do that, if there were others like him, and if I really was able to do that.

“Those answers in order are I started combustion in the air from my palm, I’m an alchemic, yes, and you can too” he said.
“Huh? Did you just read my mind?” I accused.
“Yeah, how many times can we go through this before you get the fact that we are not normal humans?”
“What do you mean we? I’ve never pulled off anything like that before!” I yelled with confusion.
“Ok, I’ll prove that you’re alchemic too, repeat after me, ok?”
“Ok, fine”
“Repeat after me”
“After me” I said.
“Smart-ass…” he said, “Repeat: Vraal Hon Keeduvera”

Hold on a second, those were the same words I said in my dream? Were my dreams meant to be signals? I guessed I’d figure out soon enough.

“Ok, Vraal Hon Keeduvera” I said.

My hand started to feel warm. Oh god, here I was, about to have my hand set ablaze. I looked down, and my hand was on fire, and it still didn’t hurt. I looked up at Mark, and he had a priceless smile on his face.

“Good job, now, I want you to control the fire, move it a little” Mark said with excitement. I waved my hand around a little.

“Umm, I meant to actually control it genius” he said, slightly annoyed.
“How do I do that?” I asked.
“Focus your mind on the flame moving around, picture the image in your mind” he explained, “Focus on the image, then make it happen”

I pictured the flame swirling around from my hand with a beautiful radiance. I focused the image in my mind until it was the only thing that I saw. The image burned in my mind, literally. I quickly opened my eyes and forced the fire to swirl out of my upturned palm.

“Good, now, launch the fire upwards!” Mark yelled.

With everything that I had, I pushed the fire out of my hand. I watched in awe as it erupted towards the sky in a pillar of flames. It didn’t come even to close to matching Marks amazing tower. At least I know now that I’m different.

Chapter 4


With a great feeling of pride, I started to head home. With a long walk ahead, I asked Mark if he would take me back, because embarrassingly, I kind of forgot the way home.

“I can’t believe I’m an alchemic! I can’t wait to tell everyone!” I exclaimed.
“Whoa there big guy, you can’t exactly tell other people that your alchemic”
“Why not?” I asked, “No one would ever defy me and I’d be so popular!”
“Because” Mark explained, “You would be feared, shunned, and hunted down by the government, and we’ve already got our hands full with a war on the alchemic plain. We don’t need one with the humans too”
“You’d back me up, wouldn’t you Mark?” I asked.
“Nope, cause then people would find out there were more than one alchemic still alive, and then we’d all be hunted down from one of the weaker ones getting caught.” Mark said without hesitation. “Swear to me you will never expose yourself, or I will kill you where you stand, understood?” he commanded with authority.
“Understood” I said, “I swear to never expose myself, no matter what” I stated with a solemn face and my right hand balled into a fist on my chest.
“Good” Mark said with a smile, “I hereby take you into apprenticeship”
“What’s that? Are you gonna teach me alchemy?” I inquired.
“Ehh, sort of…” he said, “I’m gonna train you, not necessarily teach you”
“Well, let’s go” I suggested, “Show me the way home please”
“Ok, follow me” he ordered.

It was a long walk home, but I had time to spare. I didn’t have to be home for three hours, so Mark decided to take the scenic route without telling me. I’d kill him later for that. It was worth it though, I saw all sorts of animals I normally didn’t get to see near my house. All sorts of squirrels, birds, plants, it was like walking through an urban zoo.

We had been walking for about an hour when it hit me. Something didn’t feel right, something was wrong. We hadn’t seen a single animal for the last ten minutes. I felt like we were being watched. Mark stopped me from taking another step. Wind started to whistle around us. I saw a look of seriousness flash upon Mark’s face. The sky above us started to rumble.

“Take cover!” Mark yelled.

A blur in the sky crashed into the ground in front of us as I dove behind a tree. The air was filled with shards of wood and rocks flying about. The debris was cleared in a single gust as another man stood in a crater. He wore the same black and red cloak as Canthon. This man already had in head unveiled, his long grey hair flowing in the gusts. The wind ceased and his face was revealed, barely obscured by a few long strands of hair. He seemed to be in his early twenties, his eyes filled with a sort of cockiness, backed up by experience.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Ceal” Mark said, “How are you this fine day?”
“I’m doing great Mark, how are you?” he asked with a strange friendliness.
“Hold on!” I yelled, “You know this guy?”
“Sadly, you could say that” Mark said with an angry look.
“I am Ceal, God of Lightning” he said with a smirk, his arms held out to his sides.
“I’ll show you god of lightning!” Mark challenged as he charged the man, his hand glowing with sparks.

Mark threw his punch, and it connected perfectly with Ceal. He was sent flying through the trees, snapping them in half. I thought it was over, I was wrong. I turned around and found Ceal staring me in the eyes. That gaze was quickly replaced with a fist to my face. The punch had an unbelievable amount of force that I never thought was humanly possible. I flew over one-hundred feet through the woods, smashing through the trees and then tumbling through the grass. I could barely stand. I couldn’t believe the level of power this man had just exerted, without even showing any signs of effort. I felt electricity flowing through my body, keeping me from moving. I really hated this guy. Ceal started to approach me, walking through the trail of debris I had left.

“So, this is the man who was supposed to be the key to winning the war. Some fighter you turned out to be” he said with a scoff. “I guess I can take your weak self back to King, and report a mission accomplished”
“No…” I heard Mark say from a distance.

With a blink of an eye, he appeared in between Ceal and I. He pulled back his fist and unleashed a single punch at Ceal’s chest. A little blood spattered on Mark’s face and arm. He had punched Ceal through his chest, holding his still beating heart on the other side.

“King, will never get Steven, no matter who he sends, he will never win this war” Mark whispered to Ceal with a calm anger in his voice. As he finished that sentence, he crushed Ceal’s heart. Ceal screamed as his face lit up in the pain, lost its color, and then Ceal fell to the ground. He was dead.

“Well, let’s get going” Mark said with a smile.
“What the hell was that!?” I screamed, “How can you just kill a guy and act like nothing happened!?”
“You get used to it” he said, “Besides, years ago he betrayed me during a battle, causing me to lose my entire team, so he kind of had it coming. Karma” he said with a chuckle. In the distance, I heard a faint scream. It sounded like that of a little girl. I quickly realized the source if that voice.

“Ashley!” I yelled with distress and anger. Faster than I ever did before, I ran to my house at full burst. My vision was blurred by rage. I had no idea what was causing her to scream, but I would find it and stop it. I ran for three minutes before my house came in to view. I could see to figures in front of my garage. One was larger than the other, holding the smaller one in the air.

“Steven!” the voice called, “If you value your sister’s life, you will show yourself immediately!”

That voice…could it be? It was; Canthon. I thought I was done with him after Mark plowed him into the wall at school. I guess he was tougher than I gave him credit for. At top speed, I shot up to my house and stopped feet in front of Canthon, Mark directly behind me.

“What do you want with her Canthon!?” I yelled.
“Oh, she is nothing to me, but she is everything to you, so I decided to use her for ‘motivational’ purposes” he said.
“I will never join you, ever” I declared.
“I thought you’d say that” he said with a smirk.

With his free hand, he placed his hand on the ground. An array glowed brightly on the ground. He raised his hand in front of him, a glowing orb floating in front of it. It started to take a form. It morphed around and took the shape of a katana. It solidified in the air; he snatched it, and put the blade to my sister’s throat.

“Either you swear allegiance to King, or the girl dies” he said with a serious tone.
“You put her down, she has nothing to do with this” I said
“But she could change the outcome of the war” he said as he tightened the blade to her throat. She whimpered.
“No one…” I said with a clenched fist, “Messes with my family!” I ran towards him, screaming in rage. He started to raise the blade to my sister’s throat, when suddenly, Mark appeared beside him. He knocked the blade away from Ashley and out of Canthon’s hand. He looked at Mark.

“Say goodbye” he said as he took Ashley out of Canthon’s hands.
“What?” Canthon asked.

He turned to see me, right in his face.

“Tell Ceal I said ‘hey’, ok?” I asked
“Huh?” he said, confused.

I gave him an uppercut full of rage to the jaw, sending him flying into the air. I raised my hand in his direction and focused all of my anger into my hand. A glorious pillar of flame erupted out of my hand toward Canthon. He screamed as he realized his immanent death. The blaze hit dead on, incinerating him upon contact. The flame died out, along with my consciousness. I collapsed, and passed out in my front yard.

Chapter 5

I woke up lying in my driveway, feeling like a train had been parked on my head. I slowly opened my eyes, and saw Ashley and Mark standing over me. Ashley was looking extremely worried, while Mark wore an uneasy smile.

“That,” Mark said “Is what is called a limit. Try not to pass that so often”
“What happened?” I asked in a low, muttering voice.
“Let’s just say you were an engine at 75% working at 125%” Mark said.
“Is he gonna be ok?” Ashley asked Mark.
“Yeah, he’ll be fine, now look at my finger” Mark said.

His finger had a bright white ball glowing at the tip. He tapped Ashley on the head with it and she fell to her knees. She held her head with her hand as she stood back up.

“What happened?” Ashley asked Mark.
“A couple of guys tried to kidnap you” Mark explained, “Steven here heard you scream, ran here, and fought them off for you”
“Huh?” I said to Mark with a little confusion. He quickly answered me with a quick nudge with his elbow.
“Why can’t I remember any of this?” she asked, completely confused.
“You got hit in the head by one of the guys, and you passed out” I said.
“Oh, ok, thanks Steven” she said with gratitude.

She jumped up, gave me a big hug, and then ran back inside. I couldn’t believe that just worked. What did Mark do to her?

“How did you just do that?” I asked him, hoping he didn’t harm Ashley’s mind.
“Oh, that?” he held out his index finger, “That is a basic technique known as a Mind Wipe” he said in a teaching kind of voice.
“Did you alter her memory?” I asked, now intrigued.
“No, that’s too much work, she just doesn’t remember the last five minutes”
“Ok” I said, still wanting to know how.

I couldn’t believe that Canthon would sink so low. Going after someone’s family is completely wrong, and he should have known that it would only make me madder. Mark told me to go inside, get some sleep, and to meet him at the same plain tomorrow. I had another strange dream, but this one was different from before.

I was in a large, long room, with a large, deep blue carpet leading to a tall chair. It seemed like a throne room, from the medieval times, only a little more modern looking. The room was literally lined with gold and modern art. I looked up at the throne, and saw a man sitting there in a black robe, much like Ceal’s and Canthon’s, only with a shimmering gold trim instead of a deep red. The hood of his cloak completely blocked his face, yet he seemed to see everything. He seemed not only to stare right at me, but right through me, as if I was really there. He raised his hand, and I raised mine. I launched a pillar of bright fire that ended up colliding with an equivalent pillar of black. It was hot like fire, moved like fire, didn’t look like fire, but it must have been fire. I figured that out when it exploded after a few seconds of ramming mine. I was shot back across the room, eventually slamming into a wall. I fell to my knees, then onto my face. As I started to lose sight, I heard a voice say “Do not anger your King”

I woke up on the floor of my room, with a huge pain in my back. I looked at the floor, and there were little pieces of drywall on the ground. I looked at my wall, and saw an impact as big as me, riddled with cracks all around it.

“Oh god…” I sighed, “How do I explain that one?”

Just as quickly as a chill ran up my spine, my mom called out to me. Busted.

“Steven?” she asked as she approached, “I heard a crash, are you…?” she stopped as she entered my room.
“What did you do?!” she yelled hysterically, “How did you do so much damage?”
“I tripped? Saw a fly on the wall? Teen angst? Which one sounds right?” I said sarcastically.
“You’d better clean this up today,” she said with authority, “Or you’re going to be stuck in this room for a while, staring at that hole in the wall”
“Ok mom, I will” I said with an almost suck-up tone.

I heard a knock at the door. It was nine in the morning, who could that be? I opened the door, and was surprised to see Mark already dressed and ready to go.

“Why are you here so early?” I asked groggily.
“Time for me to train you some” he said, as if I already knew.

We headed out into the same field as usual, but once we got there, we kept walking. Why would we pass the training ground when we were going to train?

“Umm, we just passed the training field, are you lost?” I asked.
“No, that’s just not where you’ll be training today” he said with quiet authority.

We kept walking until we found a river. It was calm, but I couldn’t tell how deep it was. He kept walking calmly towards the river, as if it wasn’t there.

“Careful, you’ll fall in!” I warned.

He ignored it completely. He kept walking towards the river. I waited to hear a splash, but never did. I looked up to see what had happened, and saw Mark standing on top of the river. I figured he’s alchemic; I am too, so I should be able to do that. I walked towards the river in an attempt to copy Mark’s actions. Failure. I fell right in to the river, and was up to my neck in freezing water.

I crawled back onto the bank, shivering from the cold water. I looked up, and Mark was rolling around on the ground, busting out in laughter. He could have at least given me a hint on how to do that.

“Hey!” I yelled, “Is that anyway for a mentor to act?!”
“Actually, yes” he said, barely containing his laughter.
“Isn’t a teacher supposed to, I don’t know, teach!?”
“I’m not, I’m supposed to observe your training and help a little when you ask”
“So why didn’t you tell me how to walk over the water?”
“Two things” he said, “One: it was funny, and two: you didn’t ask, you ran blindly into it, only thinking you could do it. On a field of battle, if you rush in, only halfway knowing what you’re doing, it could cost the lives of you and your team”
“Huh, I never thought about comparing anything like that, but whenever I’ve fought, my life’s never been at stake” I stated bluntly.
“That’s because you’ve never actually had a serious fight” Mark replied, just as bluntly.
“Well, can you tell me what I need to know in order to walk on the water?” I asked kindly.
“Nope” Mark said quickly.
“Why not?!” I yelled in angry confusion.
“Cause, some things need to be learned on their own”

Why must he torment me so? Ok, let me think. In order to learn how to control fire, I had to imagine myself actually controlling the fire. So if I imagine myself walking on the water, I should be able to do that too. I approached the river once more, and stood right be side it. I took a deep breath as I pictured the feat in my mind. I exhaled slowly and took a step onto the water. Failure. I fell in again, completely re-soaking myself.

“Rejected” Mark said with a snicker.

Ok, apparently that technique doesn’t always work. How did he learn to do that?

“Ok, I give how do you walk on water?” I asked, slightly humiliated.
“Fine, but it would’ve been better for you to learn it on your own…” he said with some disappointment. “What you have to do is focus your energy under your feet, almost trying to solidify a barrier between you and the water, try it”
“Ok, fine” I nodded.

I focused all of my energy and effort towards the soles of my feet. I could feel an energy flow rush through my body. I took a step onto the river, and I actually was able to stand. I put my other foot on the water, and it stayed up too.

“Good job,” Mark said, “but how long can you hold it?”

I was pretty confident in my ability. Three minutes passed; and I was still holding up. Mark was actually surprised at how long I was maintaining it. Two more minutes later, I could feel my control wavering. I started to feel faint; I slowly started to sink into the water. As the water rushed up to my waist, Mark pulled me out and set me on the bank again.

“Nice job” he said with a half-smile.

I shook a little as I stood back up. I regained my balance and looked Mark in the eye confidently.

“I think I’m starting to get the hang of this stuff” I said with a calm grin.
“Good,” Mark said, “Now you can start doing this on other areas of yourself”
“Huh?” I said, mouth agape.
“Allow me to demonstrate” Mark suggested.

He walked up to the river, and cracked his neck. He jumped onto the river, just like before. He did a half-cartwheel and stood on his hands. He lowered his head to the water and placed his hands parallel to the water. He balanced on his head, still on top of the water. Slowly, he started to rotate on his head. As he started to pick up speed, he raised himself up onto his hands again. After gaining a little more speed, he put one of his hands back to his side, balancing on one hand. He decided to show off; he went from his one hand to just his index finger. After about ten seconds on his finger, I felt a rush of wind blow from Mark, as I watched him launch fifty feet into the air. He did a couple of spinning flips and landed on the river in an odd-looking stance, on top of a leaf. He had his index and middle fingers up in each hand, one hand up above his hand, the other at his chest; fingers towards the sky. His right knee was raised to his waist; his left leg straight. His head was slightly bowed, his eyes were closed. He slowly opened his eyes, and looked at me with a dramatic intensity.

“I want you to be able to do this by the end of the week” he said with intensity.

My jaw was gaping at the sight of the technique he had just performed. I pushed my mouth back into place, and scratched my head.

“You want me to do that…in a week…” I said slightly confused.
“Yep, this is your training for the week” he nodded. “If you can do this, other techniques will come to you a lot easier than they normally would. It’s an energy strengthening and control exercise”
“You’re insane…” I said with a blank expression.
“I know” he said with a smug look on his face.
“I guess I’d better get started”
“Don’t worry,” Mark assured, “When you mess up, I’ll be here to laugh!”

Chapter 6


I walked back onto the water, after resting for half an hour to regain my strength. I stood back on the water, which actually seemed easier than before. I crouched down to test to see if my hand could stay above water. As I focused by energy, I placed my hand on the water, which was able to stay above. The other hand worked for me in the same way. I put my weight onto my hands and lifted myself upwards, and aligned myself vertically with the water. I swayed back and forth a little but I quickly regained control. I was now completely balanced, but, how do I spin?

“I’m balanced, but, now what?” I asked.
“Get on your head, did you not pay attention?”

I focused my energy towards the top of my head. As I put my head to the water, I noticed my balance was fading away from my hands. I quickly redirected my flow back to my hands. Ok, now I had to figure out a way to get on my head without falling in. With all of my power, I focused my energy to my head and hands. I set my head on the ground and eased my hands from strain. Letting only minor energy flow to my hands, I attempted to spin. I pushed off with both hands. One of my hands pushed a little harder than the other as my energy died out. I fell right back into the freezing river. I resurfaced, gasping for air and sprawling back on the bank.

“Ok, that’s enough for today” Mark said as he clapped his hands together.
“That’s it?” I exclaimed, “I want to try it again, I almost nailed it!”
“No, when I say that you’re done, it’s over” Mark said in a commanding voice.
“Fine,” I said with a sigh, “Let’s go home”

We walked a different path than normal. Mark was constantly looking around, as if he was looking for something. Did he expect to find someone out here?

“Are you looking for someone out in this barren forest?” I asked slightly annoyed.
“Funny you should ask…” He said, still searching.

He seemed to keep glancing at a nearby hill. After about three seconds of staring, a small movement on the hill caught my eye. A bright figure grew rapidly as it approached us. Before I could blink, the same figure appeared in a blur directly in front of Mark and me. He wore a cloak, designed much like those of Canthon and Ceal, but it was white with a shimmering golden trim. I’ve had my share of crap from hooded guys, so I decided to take this one out before he could react. I lunged toward him with a fist ready to strike.

“Idiot…” I heard him mutter.



He parried my punch to the side, just inches from his face. As his eyes met mine, I saw his right eye flash red. Within that same moment, he delivered a swift knee to my stomach that sent me straight to the ground. Clutching my stomach and gasping for air, I slowly pushed myself back onto my feet.

“I see we’ve got a determined one, eh?” The cloaked man said.
“Yep, he’s supposed to be the key fighter, and I’ll see to it that he gains the power that is his” Mark said, almost proud.
“He’s got a long way to go…” the man said.
“Why are you associating with the enemy?” I accused.
“Oh, I forgot to introduce him…” Mark said, scratching his head, “Steven, this is Jacob, also known as Ra, the sky demon. He’s with us”
“Then why did he just attack me?” I asked in anger.
“I defended myself, you were the one who assumed wrong and attacked me” Jacob said, as if it was all my fault that he had kneed me. “Lucky you, we’re on the same side, otherwise it wouldn’t have just been a knee”
“You did jump to conclusions…” Mark agreed, “Besides, don’t you think I would have destroyed him if he was a threat to me, well more you than me…”
“You’ve got courage; I’ll give you that, but you’ve got a lot of work to do before you can come close to me…” Jacob said with a smirk.
“This is the guy I’ve been looking for; for quite some time actually” Mark said.
“What can I say” Jacob shrugged, “I like to stay out of the way”
“So, are there others like you two?” I asked Mark.
“Yes, but nowhere near as many as there are against you” Mark said grimly.
“What do you mean?” I asked, a little shocked.
“King leads a massive army, capable of stomping out all of existence with its sheer numbers” Jacob stated clearly.
“How many people do we have?” I said, almost frightened.
“We have about…uh…fourteen others I think?” Mark said as he counted on his fingers.
“Fourteen!?” I screamed in disbelief, “King has hundreds of thousands of soldiers and we only have fourteen!?”
“We’ve never lost a man” Mark said, “King has lost thousands, that’s the difference between his men and ours”
“Wow, we’re that good, huh?” I said with a smile.
“Yes, we’re that good, you’re not quite up there yet” Jacob corrected.

He unveiled his head revealing his face. He seemed to be the about nineteen years old, yet he had a much more mature look on his face. I noticed that the iris of his right eye was red, and his left eye was of a deep blue. He had tan skin and dirt brown hair, cut short to fuzzy spikes on his head. He wore a good-sized golden ankh around his neck on a shimmering golden chain. He was clearly of an Egyptian descent. He noticed me staring in confusion at his eyes.

“Can I help you?” He said in an angry tone.
“Huh? Oh, why do your eyes have different colors?” I asked, completely intrigued.
“It was a ritual I performed in order to be able to read my enemies flawlessly, and then be able to counter attack in a split second, without hesitation. Unfortunately, I am unable to mask the constant red eye, therefore rendering it visible to all” he stated with a mixed tone of pride and regret.
“Oh, I didn’t know it bothered you to talk about it” I apologized.
“It’s fine, it really doesn’t annoy me, because it’s an advantage that I have over everyone else” he said in a lighter tone.
“Good to know…” I said with a smirk.
“Now that you to have met,” Mark announced, “Ra, you can now take him under your wing and train him in the ways of alchemy”
“What!?” Jacob and I screamed simultaneously.
“You heard me…now do it!” Mark commanded.
“Why are you dumping him on me?” Jacob questioned in anger.
“I’m in the middle of a mission and you have nothing better to do” Mark explained, “Besides, you can teach him some things that I can’t, you always were the better trainer”

As his hands started to glow, he clapped his palms together. He slowly spread his hands outward, creating a bright beam of light in between. The beam took on a flowing form, still glowing as bright as the sun. In mere seconds, the light solidified into a white cloak, exactly like Jacob’s. Mark quickly donned the cloak and looked at me.

“May your souls be guided by The Light” Mark said with an encouraging voice.
“You’ll be coming back, right?” I asked slightly worried. He smiled at me, nodded his head, put his hood over his head, and disappeared in a gust of wind.

“Well, it looks like I’m stuck with you, so let’s get right to work, shall we?” Jacob suggested, “Since you are now under me, you may only address me as Ra or master, understood?”
“Yes Ra, I understand, so what are you going to teach me?” I asked, almost excited to be taught something new.
“Oh, I’m not gonna teach you, first I have to make sure you are able to learn”
“Huh?” I said with a confused face.
“First I’m going to test your reactions to certain situations”
“How are you gonna do that?”
A smile grew on his face “Simple, don’t get killed”
“What!?” I yelled out in disbelief.

He floated up into the sky until he was beyond the clouds. I heard a rumble from behind me. I turned around and saw a hill completely detach itself from the earth and fly up past the clouds.

“You’ve got to be kidding me…” I muttered.

A small hole in a cloud appeared above me. A large rock was quickly making its way to the ground, with me underneath it. It made its way towards me at an incredible pace. I ran away as fast as I could before it collided with the ground. It made an incredible crater, with my shaking at its edge. I couldn’t believe that I got out of that one.
I guess I celebrated too soon. Just as quickly as the last boulder arrived, three more came to take its place. The first two crashed into the ground without hesitation. The last one seemed to follow me in the air. Ra must have been controlling it. I gathered my strength into my hand and prepared to let it loose. Too late. The boulder split in two and quickly surrounded me. I had to get out of there. I quickly pointed my charged hand toward the ground. I jumped into the air and let the fire burst out of my hand, acting as a quick rocket boost upwards. Just as I launched up, the boulders slammed together. I continued my blaze until I was level with Ra and saw him staring right at me. Using my other hand, I created a blaze, causing me to propel myself directly at Ra. In the blink of an eye, I was about to hit Ra dead on. He instantly threw out his hand and caught my head. His speed was amazing, and with power to match. With all that I had, I pushed myself into Ra with an incredible force from my flames, all in vain. Refusing to budge, he used his free hand to deliver a crushing blow to my head, sending me plummeting to the ground.

“Oh god…” I thought to myself, “I’m going to die…”

Mere seconds before I hit the ground, I saw a figure fly out of the clouds at an unbelievable speed. It quickly swooped me up onto its back and flew me safely to the ground. I recognized Ra’s face, but I’d never seen those wings before. He set me upright as I gazed in astonishment. His wings were metallic and golden, shimmering in the sunlight. They were each three times the size of Ra himself. He stretched them out with an enormous flap, and then withdrew them back into his body.

“What? You’ve never seen a man with wings before?” he asked sarcastically.
“How did you do that?” I questioned with my jaw almost unhinged and hanging.
“This is what is known as a Demon Integration. It happens when you and your inner demon can work as one, you gain properties and abilities from it”
“Huh…so, when will I be able to do this?”
“When you actually get good and figure out how to find it” he said sarcastically.
“Well, I’m pooped, so I’m gonna head home”
“I didn’t say you could leave…” Ra said with authority.
“Are you serious…?”
“Ok, you can go now” he said with a smile.
“Jerk…” I said with a snicker.

I walked home, completely exhausted from all of the work I had done with Ra’s training, but I felt as though I walked away from it a little stronger. I had school tomorrow, so I figured I should get to bed.

Chapter 7



I woke up that morning, feeling a lot better and rejuvenated. I had school today, and I then knew that Mark and I were the badasses of the school. The bad part was that we couldn’t let anyone know that. I went into the bathroom and turned on the water for the shower. As it warmed up, I walked back into my room and grabbed a grey t-shirt and some slightly torn jeans. I set them down on the toilet next to the shower, stripped down, and stepped in. I contemplated my current situation as the water ran. I’ve been thrown into the middle of a war, and I’m somehow the key fighter. Both sides know I exist and both have tried to recruit me, some more often than the others. I have chosen the side of light, because they could probably make me into the fighter that I’m supposed to be. Because of what Canthon tried to pull off, I will never even consider working for King after seeing the dirty tactics that his fighters use. How long will it take for me to live up to my fabled potential?

“Steven!” my mom called as she knocked on the door, “Get out of the shower, you’re going to use all of the hot water again!”

I quickly rinsed off and jumped into my clothes. I slung my book bag over my shoulder and quickly walked to the kitchen. I was greeted with a big hug from Ashley, a smile draped across her face.

“Morning Steven!” she exclaimed, full of glee.
“Good morning, I’ve got to go now, see you later!” I said quickly.

I patted her on the head, grabbed a donut, and headed out to school. It was a nice day outside, almost picture perfect. There was a warm, gentle breeze, not a cloud in the sky, few cars on the road I walked on. Everything seemed to be as it should be. Then it hit me; it was too perfect. I took off running at full speed in an attempt to get to school as fast as possible. As I jumped over a parked car, I looked back; nothing was moving at all, no wind, no people, and no cars. Suddenly, I saw an enormous, glowing, serpent-like creature quickly emerge from the trees. It was flying after me faster than I could ever hope to run. It looked almost like a ghost-dragon hybrid sort of thing. It charged me with an unbelievable level of speed. I barely got out of the way in time. It crashed into the ground next to me, creating a huge crater in the ground and sending me spiraling through the air. I landed on my back and had the wind knocked out of me. I looked up and saw a man wearing a tattered leather vest and biker jeans. He had short, messy blonde hair and seemed to be in his mid twenties.

“Who are you?” I asked.
“I’m just an alchemic” he said calmly.
“What? Which side are you on and why aren’t you wearing a cloak like everybody else?”
“I’m on my side; I’m what you’d call a rouge” he stated proudly.


“What was that thing chasing me and why was it trying to kill me?”
The man’s eyes flashed white. “That was me” he chuckled.

As he said that, he jumped into the air and released a blinding flash of light. When I looked back up, I saw the same white ghost-dragon staring me down. I looked to the right and could see the school. Someone was waving at me, and it was Ra!

“Run!” he screamed.

As I took off running, I remembered a part of my training. I remembered the water walking, and the propulsion off of it. I focused a large amount of energy into tiny spots on the bottom of my feet. As the dragon started to gain on me, I released the built up power in my feet, propelling me at an incredible speed directly at Ra.

“Grab onto something!” he commanded.

Just as soon as I had gotten a hold of a flagpole, Ra hit his hands onto the ground, projecting a gigantic barrier around the entire school. Within the same split second, the glowing beast rammed face first into the solid defense around the school, and hit the ground. It transformed back into the man and stood back up.

“Remember the mind wipe that Mark used on your sister?” Ra asked with a serious face.
“Yeah” I answered with a nod.
“This is the advanced version” he aimed his right palm and fingertips at the man on the outside.
“Mind Crush!” Ra called out. Within seconds, the man’s eyes went from anger to sheer terror. He sharply inhaled and clutched his head, screaming. He fell to his knees from the immense pain, quivering at the power of the technique. Ra clenched his hand into a fist. Instantly, the man stopped screaming and thudded onto the ground, dead. Ra pointed at the body, then down to the ground. The moment that Ra pointed down, the body sunk deep into the earth. The barrier ceased, and life continued on as normal.

“Wow, when are you going to teach me that?” I questioned with enthusiasm.
“You have to realize there are certain levels of learning,” he explained, “And you are on possibly the lowest one of them”
“Ok, I get it” I admitted, slightly hurt. “So, why are you here?” I noticed that he was wearing normal clothes instead of the usual cloak.
“I’m gonna blend in here as a new student, so I can stay near you and keep you from being ambushed. Plus, I can train you here too”
“How are you gonna blend in? You’ve got one red eye and one blue eye, and red isn’t a natural color you know”

Just as I finished that sentence, his red eye slowly faded into blue, matching his other eye.

“How did you do that?” I asked in awe.
“I simply altered the pigments in my eye, creating a matching blue color”
“You speak as if I can understand what you say” I said sarcastically.
“Don’t get smart with me” Ra said sternly, “Now let’s go in”

As we entered the school, Ra pulled out his schedule. I looked down at it and noticed that it seemed to look a lot like mine. The only differences were personal information and the student I.D. number.

“How did you get this?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Let’s just say that I’m good with computers and leave it at that”
“Got it, so this is how you’re going to keep me under watch, by being in every single one of my classes with me?”
“Yep”
“And you don’t think people will find that a little strange that the new kid is in every one of my classes?”
“Nope”
“You’re the expert I guess”