

Legend of the Elementals

Book 1: Reintroduction

by

Kyle Timmermeyer

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Copyright Kyle Timmermeyer 2012

Smashwords Edition License Notes:

Thank you for your interest in this e-book; its copyright is the property of its author. This book may not be reproduced, copied, or distributed for commercial or non-commercial purposes without the author's official permission. See the author's website for more information. Your support is greatly appreciated.

Table of Contents

Devidis' Foreword

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Summon of the Elementals

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Elementals Onward

To Be Continued

Devidis' Foreword

There was a young man, and I was that young man.

There was a mistake that I made on purpose.

There was a power, and I took that power.

I became the god of my own world.

There was a great struggle, and I wanted that struggle.

I made my own adversary, my own heroes.

There was a universe and I was that universe.

And so I knew everyone, but mostly that man.

I learned my lesson and left my legacy.

I lived my fiction in between.

I am the legend of the Elementals

These words that survive here are mere incidentals.

Here I forget myself again...

Chapter 1

Jason:

He had slammed on his brakes, and I didn't have enough time to stop. It should have been just that simple: a fender-bender, nothing to lose sleep over. This was LA, after all. It could have been almost normal, less than news, a "by the way" around the dinner table. But he wasn't going to let it play out like that. He was a bottomless pit, a black hole, and he was going to drag everything to himself, swallow it, and leave nothing behind. It shouldn't have been that way. It wasn't normal, it wasn't right, and it wasn't my fault. But that's the way it happened. He was the beginning of the end of everything.

My head rocked back stiffly. I opened my eyes and peered anxiously through the evening haze into the vehicle ahead. I made out long hair, a face in profile, a shadow framed against the black car's interior light. I was suddenly aware of the tightness in my neck and forced the muscles to relax. Looking lower, I noticed the black car's quarter panel newly decorated with a scar, a deep dent. _Oh_ _,_ _no_.

"You!" The shout from the driver ahead was muffled through the glass.

His stringy white hair and thin nose framed two intense, dark eyes. I winced and drew back. The eyes were predatory, vicious. It seemed almost silly at first, but I felt like prey... like it was only a matter of time.

"You! Look at me!" said the man in the car I had just rear-ended.

I swallowed hard. The insurance card in the glove box crossed my mind. What would I say?

Reluctantly, I cranked down my driver side window, and realized that my music was still blaring when it began to compete with rushing cars and furious honks. The electric guitar vanished with a click, and left behind the breath of traffic. The flow of vehicles was still able to make a wide pass using the lanes on the left. I tentatively stuck my head out into the cool night air.

The man was there, staring back at me. His black eyes were hungry. I broke away from their gaze. Breathing hard, I found myself hoping against reason that the wild-eyed driver ahead would leave me, and find some other animal to stalk. I mustered my courage and looked back up, trying my best to meet those dark eyes. A few seconds passed with nothing said.

Finally, my mouth slacked open, and I asked, dumbly, "Should we pull over to the side? If we can?"

The man gave a careful nod, along with an insidious not-quite-smile that highlighted the wrinkles in his face. "Yes... you should follow me."

His face vanished into his car, and his emergency lights began to flash, yellow on black and chrome. I grimaced; it was a very expensive car, with a very creepy driver. While no one was passing on the shoulder, the old man pulled the car to the far right.

My own cruddy car was still in gear, still drivable. And the shoulder was comfortably wide, since we were at the peak of an on-ramp. Small favors in a bad situation.

As I carefully pulled in behind the old man, I reminded myself that I shouldn't let him leave without getting his car insurance information and giving him mine. My dad had that well-drilled into me.

Dad! He _was_ still on duty. I grabbed my phone from the central console and forced my shaking hands to dial 9-1-1.

"9-1-1. What's your emergency?" a calm woman's voice answered.

"This is Jason Trudeau, son of Officer Trudeau. I've been involved in an accident near..."

I looked behind me for the nearest exit sign and took note of the long ramp winding down from the overpass into the streets of Los Angeles. I gave our location and information, said no to the ambulance, and ended the call with a stutter and a beep. My phone dropped to the dirty seat cushion as I popped open the glove box. My chest heaved slowly as I sorted through the trash, searching for the insurance papers and a pen. I had to substitute two largely unused napkins, one to offer the old man, and the other to record his information. With the paperwork, pen, and napkins in hand, I clunked open my door and stepped onto the rough pavement.

A swift, cold gust ruffled my hair as I turned toward the old man's dark vehicle. I picked the black machine out from among the night's shadows ahead of me. The driver side window displayed a light gray, leather-bound interior, but no driver.

The old man was leaning over the edge of the guard rail, arms folded, clutching a long tan coat against his body. With his pale-whiskered chin thrust into the open air, he seemed to be scanning the intermittent life in streets and buildings beyond. The closer I got to him, the more uneasy I felt. Perched on the edge of the overpass, eyes downcast, he seemed every inch a predator, a hawk ready to launch.

The lights of the city burned warmly below. I wished that I were anywhere else out there, but thoughts of a jacked-up insurance premium and a grounding from my dad smashed those daydreams with what then felt like heavy consequences. I flexed my shoulders, already too tense, as I focused on the tan coat. _Just get it over with, Jason_ , I told myself. _Stay cool_ _._ _After all, he's just an old man_... a weird, black-eyed, old man with a really nice car... a car he stopped in the middle of the highway for no apparent reason.

Then the frown crossed my face. _No attitude, not this time._ It was my dad's voice in my mind. _This guy deserves the same respect as any senior citizen_... any rich, weird senior citizen who had come to a screeching halt in the middle of the freeway for no apparent reason. The voice had become my own again. I shook my head and sealed my lips, letting my feet do their work, trying not to think about those strange eyes.

The paperwork, the pen, and a napkin appeared at the driver's elbow, but he didn't look down.

"...Sir?" I asked politely. Fortunately, his eyes were still focused with great interest on the city.

"You can put those things away," the old man finally said. "We won't be needing them." His voice was clear and firm, shaken neither by age nor by the wreck.

_Oh, great. A certifiable old eccentric._ I coughed to interrupt the unhelpful thought.

"Well, actually..." I started to say, leaning against the guard rail, trying to sort through the old man's cryptic words.

"You don't feel it, do you?" He swiveled toward me, and pierced me with the full intensity of his dark-eyed stare.

The sudden motion, and the strange way he emphasized "feel" surprised me. My hands snapped to my sides. I found my feet scuttling backward two full steps.

"Feel what?" I shot the question back at him, more nervous than I should have been.

"I remember what it was like to be so ignorant. It's almost a shame..." His sentence drifted, and so did his eyes, back toward the city.

"Uh..." I checked myself, wary of any blunt rudeness, though this old man seemed intent on hearing some.

"Since I have little time to spare, then, I will make things very simple for you. I intended for that minor crash to happen, and its results are worth far more than some sports car." He dismissed his expensive vehicle with a flick of the wrist.

"Results...?" I repeated. My shoulders suddenly relaxed. The thought of a hidden-camera game show crossed my mind. It seemed, at the time, strange enough to be true.

"What kind of results?" I asked.

He crossed his arms, high and proud against his chest. His dark eyes burned as he slowly selected his words.

"I have been looking for... people... like you, for a long time." A conspiratorial smirk twitched at the corner of his mouth.

Cars flew by beside me. No one else was stopped. There were no cameras, no camera people. I spread my feet and planted them against the asphalt. Where were the police? I began to regret leaving my phone in the car. Strange was something I could deal with, but this type of crazy was making me more than anxious.

I tore my eyes away from his dark gaze and rehashed his words in my mind.

"Wait..." I said. "You _intended_ for the accident to happen? And—"

He gave a slight nod, his dark eyes wide. "You will never know me to make a mistake."

"And you intended for me, Jason Trudeau, to crash into you?" I spread my hands in confusion. This guy was off his rocker.

"Jason Trudeau..." He seemed to consider the syllables. His black eyes turned upward in thought. He was committing the words to memory. I immediately regretted giving him my full name.

"Yes," he finally said. "I told you that I do not make mistakes."

"Well, hey, tell that to the cops, that this whole thing was your idea, and you won't hear any more complaints from me." I threw up my hands, then leaned back against the guard rail, wondering how I had been unfortunate enough to have crashed into a crazy man.

The old man's heavy boot hammered against the pavement, the crack of the impact jerking me back to attention.

"I have no patience for police, and no interest in the enforcement of fools' laws." The old man's angry words blasted forth. "This is what will happen: I will tell you what I want you to hear, and then I will get back in my nearly undamaged car and carry out the rest of my plans for the evening."

I took a calming breath, avoiding his burning black eyes. Paranoid, moody... This guy was on some kind of drug... or three.

"Alright," I said, taking another step back. "that's fine with me; just sign me a note saying that you won't hold me liable for the accident, give me your insurance information, and you can tell me whatever you want." I looked down at my insurance papers, glad that copying my information onto the napkin was a great excuse to avoid the old man's gaze.

"I see that I do not have your full attention, Jason Trudeau," his rough hand suddenly grabbed me by my jacket collar and twisted me toward his deep black eyes.

Fear crept upon me. Those dark eyes... There was something else about them... It was as if they were sucking in the light. My fingers slipped. The napkins were whisked over the guard rail into the night sky.

I shoved his hand away and scraped several steps backward. My fist tightened protectively around my remaining insurance papers.

"My father is a cop, a veteran on the force," I warned the old man. "He'll be here any time soon."

"That's very interesting..." The old man rolled his hollow eyes upward in thought. His smirk broke into a smile across his thin-lipped mouth.

The senior citizen's deceptively strong hand suddenly disappeared into the deep pocket of his tan coat.

"Well, I'm sure that I will be able to get your full attention then," he said. It was an omen.

"What are you tal—?" I said. My eyes lowered. The hidden hands made me more nervous than the reaching one. I took another step away from the old man with the black eyes.

"I'm talking about recruitment. I'm always looking for people with talent." He smiled, clearly contemplating some nasty secret.

I backed away, but he pressed on, dark eyes burning as he asked, "Do you believe in the supernatural, reality beyond logic?"

My pen clacked to the concrete, and my insurance papers followed with a flutter. A car's horn blared into silence.

"That's it. It's not funny anymore." I said, raising my voice, trying force away the shock.

He continued his advance. Backing away wasn't working...

"Supernatural, huh?" I said. The adrenaline seemed to flow from my heart to my knuckles; I rolled back my long sleeves. "Well, if you're going to try to predict my future, or guess my card, I'll show you what's up _my_ sleeve, and have you read my _palm_ while I'm at it. I don't care how an _tique_ you are."

The old man stood there, stock straight, locking his knees. A strange breeze sent a chill across my back. Despite myself, I turned almost completely around.

"You grossly underestimate me, but that is no surprise." Black eyes widening, he made me well and truly nervous.

"It will be quite unfortunate for you," he continued, "but the officer who comes to your assistance will also come to mine. Whoever it is, it will do. It's been a long drive, and I've been hoping for an excuse for some exercise."

I watched silently, waiting for the slightest move of aggression, struggling to grasp, and then trying to dismiss his threats. He was just begging for an excuse to... No, I would have to be careful.

The wind pulled the man's long coat toward the traffic, but he didn't budge. There was nothing to do but wait and hope to keep my distance from the rich creep, and keep a lid on the anger rising in my throat.

Finally, there came a shrill whistle from the distance behind me, growing louder. Sure enough, it was a police siren. Thank God.

"You're going down, psycho." I growled at the old man, glad that someone was about to settle the situation. "The cops aren't slow on picking up crazies, especially the maaagic ones." I fluttered my fingers, imagining the pixie dust that the man with the absurdly wide pupils must have inhaled.

"It's talent, not magic," his voice was calm as he raised a finger, posing for a moment as the most disturbing teacher ever. "And don't forget it. We have much in common, Jason Trudeau, but there are lifetimes of experience separating us."

"Experience? Oh, you've done time in the crazy house," I snapped at him.

"No," his voice rose. His dark eyes bulged as he stepped toward me. "This world is crazy, and the wise find themselves prisoners here... because the wise know the universe beyond. Beyond, there is truth... far from insanity, clear of foolishness, outside natural reason."

His black eyes then suddenly shut away. His head dropped crookedly toward the ground.

The siren had cut out, and the sound of a door slam drew my gaze behind me, toward the calm aura of my father's partner, James, and the reassuring gleam of his badge. Good. My dad, though still in the car, wouldn't be so hard on me after he met _this_ lunatic.

"Huh... I'll bite... what truth is that?" I decided to demonstrate for Uncle James' sake, pointing with an open hand, to let the old man's insanity speak for itself.

There was a pause. I glanced from the officer back toward the madman.

"The truth is that.... beyond reason, there is endless possibility," the old man's voice rose higher, his black eyes huge. "And ultimate power!"

My reaction was interrupted by a surge of wind that threw me to the side with a roar. I banged against the old man's black car and fell to the ground. The air had become thick, heavy enough to taste, almost thick enough to see where it weaved in and out of itself. When my focus returned to the old man, I measured a full foot separating him from the asphalt below.

His coat ruffled over faded brown leather boots. He swung through the air—I guessed he was on a cable... one I was unable to find. He moved above and past me, slowly advancing on my father's partner.

"Uncle James, watch out! He's insane!" I shouted. Insanity: it was the only thing that made sense about the situation.

A gust forced my head back against the side of the car.

"What the..." my father's faint voice barely broke above the tempest.

"Stop right there! G-get back on the ground; lay face-down on the pavement!" James shouted against the storm. His pistol was drawn and raised against the flying old man.

"I think not," replied the twisted man with the black eyes. He swept his hand across his chest. The sidearm flew from the Uncle James' fingertips, flipping beyond the edge of the overpass, gunmetal glinting in the moonlight just before dropping out of view.

The gust had followed the old man's hand...

The villain must have heard me gasp. Black eyes pivoted to absorb my gaping stare with a malevolent grin. I turned away. I could just barely see the shape of my father, banging against his car's passenger-side door, struggling to get out of the police cruiser that had been shoved up against the guard rail by the gusting wind.

The old man, too, turned back... and settled his gaze on my father's partner... who had begun to rise into the air, his hand slipping away from his radio, his body rotating clumsily, following his gun's path toward the edge of the elevated highway.

"Andy! Jason!" Uncle James called for my father and me. His eyes met mine for an instant that I knew—I knew—would be final.

"No, no, no, NO!" I screamed. I tried to get to my feet, but a wall of wind held me back.

The gusts shoved my arms back, against my face, and when the moment was over, James was gone. Despite the raging winds, I thought I heard the sound of brakes squealing, a hundred feet below.

I choked, struggling to keep my emotions down, to figure out what to do. Dad! He... the lunatic... he killed...

A gunshot cracked through the churning air. I saw my father's shining blue cap hunkered down beside the railing, with the—finally!—open door of the police cruiser set firmly between the officer and the criminal. The old man laughed from his stance in the sky, extending his arms toward my father, my last defense.

A loud squeak sounded behind my car. In spite of my fear, and the force of the wind, I leaned away from the car to see what was happening. My father hadn't moved; he seemed to be squished, now, between his police car and the guard rail!

The old man raised his hand. There was another bang, and my dad's smoking pistol clattered to the ground. I lost sight of my father, as he cut around behind his police car, and suddenly the entire vehicle tipped toward the abyss, all its weight resting on the passenger-side tires. It skidded against the guard rail, the sturdy metal groaning.

The vehicle was now angled high enough that I could see my dad getting back to his feet some distance behind the cruiser. When the railing didn't give, the winds howled even louder, lifting the metal tonnage, in a slow second, above the hurdle. The old man was still floating, his arms raised, as if he was holding the car up himself.

The undercarriage was flecked with oil and mud. I watched the front tires spin as the vehicle rolled, tipped over the side of the elevated road. My father's fallen sidearm seemed to jump after the police car. Then the winds faded into silence with a slight whoosh. The thick sky cleared. The sound of twisted metal and crushed glass broke what, for just a moment, was a silent night. Some car rushed past, all too quick to leave the matter to the police.

The old man had returned to earth with a thump of his boots, boots that disappeared once more in the shadows of his long tan coat. A key ring jingled from the villain's pocket as he walked past me.

"Repeat! Man down! Man down! Suspect is extremely dangerous..." my father called into his radio.

I stood up and backed away slowly from the old man's car. The lunatic seemed to forget completely about my father and I for a moment, as he calmly unlocked the door of the lightly dented vehicle. Before I could turn and run, though, the old man's eyes were on me. I didn't dare to move.

"If you want answers, meet me in Japan, at the top of Tokyo Tower, within the week." The old man presented his demands slowly, precisely, his black eyes burning into me. "They will send a large police force, and it will make international news, but unless you come yourself, you'll never see me again. And that, I promise you, would be the more regrettable thing."

The car spit exhaust in my face as he sped away, and then my father, at last, was at my side.
Chapter 2

Jason:

The flow of events turned to dark molasses, and my mind seemed to grow sluggish... as if I were going through withdrawal, away from the power of those black eyes.

I was numb, dumbstruck as another cruiser transported us to police HQ, as we watched the fruitless helicopter chase, as the evacuation of Santa Monica beach gave way to the old man's complete disappearance. I vaguely remember describing the fateful encounter to a friendly-looking policewoman... and finally crawling into bed sometime after midnight.

And then the loss hit me, hard and fast. For every birthday, holiday, any day, whenever we needed him, Uncle James had been proof positive that the brotherhood of the police force was a bond of strength unlike any other. My father wouldn't let me get away with saying it, but I felt it. I felt it then, and over and over... every day, every sleepless night: Uncle James died protecting and serving, for the public good, for the force, for his brother in blue, but, in particular he had died for my sake.

I made myself a promise as I dropped a shovelful of dirt onto his casket. The country had a duty to its protectors, the police had a duty to one of their own, my dad had a responsibility to his partner... and I had a responsibility to my uncle. There would be justice for James.

Most people might have experienced those following days as a slow crawl. For me, it was more of a blur, a dark haze. I felt grief, guilt, hugs, and squeezes on my shoulder from friends and family lending me their strength. But it was like a river, rushing around me; I felt like a boulder plunked in the middle of it, like I was rough, dull, and useless. Still numb.

And so I made a choice: I decided that I wouldn't be worn down by the torrent of tragedies that was too much for me to control. I decided that I was being carved, sharpened, shaped by the flow of the big events, those done, and those yet to come. And then, more than anything, I started to feel that I had been set apart, that, maybe, if I simply weathered the flood... then, just maybe, some greater purpose was waiting to wash over me. With that, the black waters took on some clarity. There would be justice for James.

The LAPD had sent its own men to Japan, of course, and the police who could be spared in Tokyo were willing to help. The leaders of the investigation were kind enough—or at least smart enough—not to insist that my father stay at home and recuperate. Dad hadn't even tried to make the case for me staying back in LA. He heard me when I said I had to go, and somehow he negotiated me into his part of the international investigation. I realized I was grateful.

"We'll be among good men. We'll be prepared," dad had repeated, again and again, to my mother.

No one mentioned that getting me out of the country meant that our family and friends wouldn't be in harm's way if the old man got restless and decided that I hadn't taken him seriously enough. I was glad to accept the responsibility and risk, wordlessly, the way that, for Uncle James and my father, risking their lives had always been a simple daily routine of putting on a uniform and a badge.

"Strength is whatever remains," he told me toward the end of the eleven-hour flight to Tokyo. "The beauty of a mountain is that it holds together, no matter what happens."

"It's a little over-the-top," my dad had continued, "but it makes me feel better at times like this. That's what we're here to do, Jason... for James' sake, for the sake of those people the murderer crushed with my car, and a little for our sake, too."

We landed in Narita International Airport. We slept restlessly as ever. And then finally, backed up by a Japanese SWAT team, we came to the twisted remains of Tokyo Tower.

Strangeness upon strangeness. When the old man had made his demands, Tokyo Tower had already been rusting in a heap of twisted metal for months. In a way, it was easier now to get to the top of it, in the wake of the horrific earthquake.

As we scanned the metal corpse in the all-too-quiet neighborhood, predictably enough, there was no sign of the villain.

It was a joke, a trick, I knew. We stayed there for hours, but I knew it after only a few minutes as I walked the length of the wrecked tower. The old man wouldn't show himself.

"Maybe we should check the Skytree..." one of the officers suggested in a thick accent. "It's still standing, after all."

I was the only one who laughed. I cut it short, though, when I caught a glance from my dad.

"You should go home now," the Japanese officer finally said. "It's not safe, especially if that killer is around here."

I remembered my father's poker face. My dad had nodded to appease the officer, but I knew his plan. He called in his favors. We stayed in Tokyo, as part of a smaller, less official investigation unit.

And a few days later, after I had given up, and our guard was down, the old man grabbed me, pulled me away from my father in the dark, neon-spotted streets of ruined Tokyo...

Damaged bulbs spat erratic, angry shadows into the dark streets. The glowing tubes of the Japanese store sign would not reach back to illuminate my face against the dividing night. My father squinted, shielding himself from the inconstant flicker. He searched desperately across the four directions of the intersection, only a single story and a hundred feet from me.

"Jason!" my dad cried out.

The unmistakably dark voice of a black-eyed old man whispered a warning into my ear. "Quiet, Jason Trudeau. You don't want him hurt, do you?"

With the old man's hand clamped over my mouth, I was in no position to argue. I forced myself to remain stone-still as I struggled to decide my next move.

"Let him go, Jason. If he interferes, I will cut him down more quickly than I killed the other officer," the old man continued the warning. All the more frightening how my internal struggle was clear to him.

I twisted, but the villain's grip only tightened.

"Silence." He hissed.

My father's feet swished in the street, following the noise. He waited several moments, but was unable to pinpoint its source. Apparently, he heard or saw something else, because he suddenly turned and dashed out of the intersection, disappearing behind a building, into the teasing catacombs of a collapsed metropolis, Tokyo that had fallen when the earth shook.

And there the realization struck. My dad was out of the line of fire for now, and the murderer was standing right behind me. My elbow hurled backward toward the old man's stomach.

Turning back to grab his falling shoulder, though, I instead found the old man's deep black eyes unmoved, staring at me without a trace of a flinch. The smooth leather of a glove resisted the increased pressure of my elbow, and, as I reached my leg back for his ankle, to trip him, he let me topple myself against a crumbling plaster wall. I brushed the chalky dust from my face and gritted my teeth. My feet were anchored for a fight. But the old man was already three steps down the staircase.

"I'm glad to see you haven't changed your feelings about me," he said, disappearing into the inky shadows of the stairwell.

I dashed after him, leaping down the steps to the ground floor. Scanning the first floor of the looted convenience store, I hopped over an upended magazine rack and dashed into the intersection where I had last seen my dad. Breathing heavily, I turned to search as much as the faint moonlight would allow. This bad guy was quick.

The black-eyed old man detached himself from the shadows under the sparking neon sign. "Your instincts were right, you know. The bad thing about not changing your feelings, though," he stepped toward me, the tips of his ghostly hair twitching in the wind, "is that it suggests that you haven't changed your mind, either."

He grinned, exposing a target of unnervingly white teeth. Hoping that they weren't dentures, my fist exploded toward his mouth, and bounced away with a pulsating crack of pain. When I forced my eyes out of their wince, I saw the cement block settle gently to the ground. The man's flying tan coat darted around the corner across from the crumbled department store. A trailing chuckle died away. Shaking the pain from my knuckles, I tore after him, adrenaline drowning my questions, my better judgment.

He had paused around the corner, a long block away.

"Remember: it's not magic. It's better than magic," he called, black eyes burning as I rushed after him. "Without wires or mirrors or cards or hats. Without wands or pots or tongues or spells. Just talent, and the will to use it."

I skidded to a stop just in front of him, the crazy old man. He was a murderer, insane, not to be listened to. The wind whistled harshly between us, and, remembering how he had used it before, it might as well have been a concrete wall. I hardened my fist once more, pretending that more punishment would numb it. But, he wasn't moving, and I had to remain.

"Why are you doing this?" I said, remembering my question and the knife in my pocket, trying to meet his black eyes in front of my wavering fist. I would need to find the right moment.

"We should get better acquainted. But not here," he said, and now his dark eyes were glancing down another street.

When he moved, the tan coat blended into the shadows. "Keep going until you're in the intersection with a blinking stoplight. From that intersection, turn right and continue on until the building blocks your way. Or, try to find your father, get lost in an unknown, destroyed city, and never see me again, never get any answers, no justice." The old man smirked.

He wore the same heavy boots as before, and, despite their weight, they made only the lightest click-click-click as he sprinted ahead of me. I leaned forward, but held my ground for another moment. Ahead, over his shoulder, I picked out a blinking red light from among the neon splashes that wrapped the buildings.

_This is wrong_ I told myself. _I'm on my own, with no plan!_

I shouldn't even be here at all...

The flood of support was cut off, but someone had to do something. There was no one else...

Powers aside, though, he was manipulating me too easily. He was crazy, but he was smart.

The old man seemed to read my mind as he continued on. "A piece of advice for the troubles to come: question your purpose on your own time," he said over his shoulder. "When action is necessary, doubt is failure."

I clenched my reddened knuckles, certain that I was playing into his hands, into his fortune-cookie suggestion. But he was a talker _,_ I reasoned. He seemed to want my attention more than my blood. The more I followed him, the more I would learn, and assuming I survived this encounter, any information I gleaned would be useful to the police. And how far away was my father? _No_. I shook away the thought. If the super-powered old man did intend to kill me, well, not even the police could help me or my family anymore, and so it might be just as well that my father wasn't around. I released my clenched fist and looked ahead. As I should have expected, he was gone.

If the crazy man didn't have magic, he had something close enough: mad skills. _Talent_ , he had said. I frowned. Was I already prepared to buy so much into his words?

With a growl of resignation, I broke into a run. Fighting my conflicting thoughts the entire way, I quickly reached the designated building... blocked by rubble. A dead end. Another trick? My legs ached, so I fell to my knees. Above my head, the heap of ruined building stretched four stories, and the walls were even higher on the right and left.

My head drooped and I opened my mouth to scream, to cry, but, when I did, I found myself wanting to laugh. It didn't make any sense, so, of course, I had to try it aloud, "Why am I here? Why is all this happening to me?"

I flinched as one of the surrounding piles of debris crumbled away, revealing a huge, dented drain pipe. A reply emanated from within. "Using your head, Jason Trudeau?" the old man's haunting voice drifted from the darkness inside. "Indeed, why would anyone go to all this trouble if he didn't have a point?"

I didn't allow myself to hesitate. "You promised answers," I challenged, crouching into the pipe. "What _is_ your point?"

The air inside was dry and hot. I fell to my hands and knees, crawling after the waving light that bounced around the old man's bent arms and legs. "I promised nothing, but the answers I implied are just ahead." His voice was low.

The light became bright and clear before me. I scrambled forward, scraping my jeans and T-shirt against the tight metal. The air tasted clear and fresh as I broke into the expanse outside. The hum of distant conversations reached my ears. Other people! Help!

The old man grabbed my shirt and pulled me to my feet beside a strangely stable corrugated steel wall. We were standing just outside the pipe, at the end of an alleyway between a ruined building to the right and the surprisingly clean metal structure to the left. With a slight creak, the old man pulled a section of the metal away from the corner where it met the ground. The knife in my pocket came to mind again, and I wondered how much good it would do against one bending metal like it was nothing.

"What are—" the slap of the old man's heavy glove over my face crushed my question.

"It would behoove you to shut up." Pressed up against him, the old man's pupils seemed almost as wide as eyeballs, the dark consuming the light. His voice was just above a whisper. "There is a man with a gun here, guarding this place. I have plans for secrecy, and I assume you have plans to stay alive. Although... I'm more than happy to give up my plans if you are willing to throw away your life."

He pulled his hand away and watched me expectantly.

I balled my fist—he would kill me to avoid getting captured here, but maybe this was my best chance to...

No, I had blinked, and he had already moved inside, beneath the peeled steel, into what turned out to be a large, dimly lit room. My focus shifted toward taking in the new surroundings. The ground went from dust to uneven sidewalk and cracked asphalt. The entire room seemed to be square, maybe half a city block. The walls of the makeshift storage area were lined with boxes and bags, numbered and labeled in mysterious Japanese characters.

I turned to the old man's gleaming white smile and followed his finger toward the far wall. My gaze centered on a crystal that shone clear and bright from inside its plastic bag, reflecting the light from the fluorescent lamps. Tugging on my arm, the old man approached the crystal slowly, weaving between metal racks and shelves. Stopping in front of the glowing crystal—a cube, I realized—he let go of my shirt, and I pulled away. His brow furrowed, shaping a sinister frown. Black eyes burning, the old man gestured for me to come closer.

Stalling for time, I scanned the space around me, stopping briefly to eye a large red switch, an alarm. My intentions all too obvious, the old man growled, and reached for me. There the impulse struck me, primal instinct. He was trapped, confused. It was time to surprise him. Instead of going for the alarm, I pulled my knife and thrust it toward his neck.

The blade stopped, though, just before biting the skin. The old man gave me a pitying look. My hand was paralyzed in his, the knife-edge a hair's breadth from his throat. He certainly did have talent. His reflexes were superhuman, and his grip on my wrist was as inflexible as stone.

He pulled me a step away from the alarm. "You've shown strength, Jason. For that, I'll let you see me bleed."

The evil old man squeezed my aching knuckles and jerked the knife slightly upward. A drop of blood ran down the side of his neck. He squeezed my hand again, and the knife clattered to the concrete floor, accompanied by a tiny whimper: mine.

I had completely lost control of the situation. My knuckles, so recently tenderized against a concrete brick, were now pulsating with fiery pain. With my wrist still in his hand, the old man thrust my fingers toward the glowing crystal cube. The bag was open.

"Take it," he ordered, emphasizing the words with a vicious squeeze of my broken hand.

As I touched the glassy surface of the gemstone-like cube, the reflections of the fluorescent lights flared and reached out to me, white, red, blue, and green. The colors changed and split apart.

Confused, afraid, and overwhelmed, I fell to my knees. The colors became images, pictures of tortured souls slicing back and forth in my head. I saw wide-eyed children in chains, men pinned to the ground with swords, and women tossed to the side of a desert road. Through it all, the old man was watching, his dark eyes flaring with an evil joy.

Suddenly, the crystal was cool and dark in my fingers, and harsh reality returned to cut through the terrible visions. The old man pulled the supernatural vessel away protectively... but it was no longer a clear cube. It was black, smaller, a pyramid.

"Devidis..." I said. The syllables were new to my lips.

The evil old man dropped to a low crouch to meet my eyes. My fists were clenched helplessly on the floor near his ankles. He leaned in closer and then closer still, his eyes looming wide, staring into me. It wasn't just shadows playing tricks: the lunatic had black eyes—broad black circles on white orbs with no irises, no other color. They were hungry black holes, consuming my focus, my thoughts, my mind.

He put his palm to my forehead and grabbed my hair. "You saw it too, didn't you? Yes. Those visions are true, or, at least, they will be."

The old man's breath was hot and harsh on my face. "But the cube has split again. Where have the four gone? Have you done something with them? I wonder..."

His hungry eyes scanned the room briefly, before returning their piercing focus to me.

"It's a cruel world, boy, and getting crueler by the moment," he said.

He put his mouth up next to my ear. Dark eyes wide and wild, he continued. "Much, much crueler. Now that you know my name, your choices are simple: see how far you get by fighting _for_ me, or..." He chuckled, deep in his throat, and shoved me away, "see how far you get by fighting _against_ me."

"OK, OK," I said, stalling for time, scrambling desperately to my feet. This man Devidis was just about done talking. "Let me just—"

He followed my eyes toward the panel on the wall, and guessed my strategy once again. Desperately, I moved, crashing against the shelves, pushing away from the falling boxes to reach the red switch, the alarm. I pulled away the cover and slammed the illuminated lever. The old man had my answer. It was bright, and red, and shrieking.

Angry, my adversary threw his weight against a nearby desk. The metal bulk hurtled with supernatural speed, tripped with a crunch on the uneven ground, and crashed against my legs. Before I was able to react, I found myself pinned against the doorway.

"Well, well, that's the most intelligent thing you've done all evening," he offered the twisted compliment, dashing back toward the way we had entered, with the black pyramid clasped tightly in his hand. "You might make yourself an Elemental after all."

As he vanished behind the metal wall, I pushed with all my strength against the metal desk. Jammed, it held me tight between the shelves, while the alarm filled the room with panicked red light and sound.
Chapter 3

Ryan:

I caught myself again staring. I looked out across the collapsed metropolis that was almost real enough. Why it was still so surreal to me? I had formed a faint idea about the greater purpose behind why the Japanese capital had fallen. I had seen the hope and shared humanity shining in the eyes of the survivors. I heard ambitious stories of building bigger, better, and cleaner. But why was it _me_ there, really? Anyone else could have smiled when faced with the barrage of foreign syllables, and most people would have taken the sight and stench of dead bodies better. Looking at the broken buildings, I wondered why I had been accepted to the volunteer program. Was she part of the answer?

Turning shyly as we walked through a street that now snaked back and forth at broken angles, I watched her again. Erin's long, dark hair had a little brown in it. When the sun hit it right, it looked red on the fringes. Her shining eyes had flecks of green in them. She was taller than me, thin but strong, and... just.. beyond words. My opinion of her had only grown from the moment I had seen her first wipe away the black asphalt dust from her face, giving nothing but positive signs after living through one of the worst natural disasters in human history. She amazed me, but at the time, I didn't have words eloquent enough to tell her so.

Instead, I asked her, "So, how much further are we going?"

"Just two more blocks. You aren't tired already, are you?" She chided me with only the smallest trace of her native accent. I had been convinced that she was from the States when she first answered me in English. She could have easily passed as one of my classmates in high school back home.

"You're asking me if I'm tired? I just finished serving your dinner," I said. "You and everyone else. Working the chow line for a thousand people isn't exactly a vacation. I have a right to be a bit tired."

She gave me a mischievous smile in return.

We moved quickly, practically sliding down the side of one of the steeper hills of debris, and looked toward to the obstacles ahead. It was all downhill from there, not as steeply, but just enough to make walking easier. Though not particularly high, the hill might have afforded a good view of Japan's capital city before the earthquake. I might have been able to see the emperor's palace, or the Skytree. Where was that, anyway? But now, in the dust and darkness, it was all the same flattened mess.

"How was the food, by the way?" I asked.

She chuckled. "I've had better, but, you know, under these circumstances, it was pretty good." She tightened her ponytail, adding. "You might be tired, but I hope you're glad to be doing something more with your night than watching the city collect its own dust."

My smile stretched a little wider. Though I had encouraged her to go on to the evacuation centers with the others who were being rescued, she had begged to join the relief effort herself and serve as a useful English-Japanese interpreter. Fortunately for me, she hadn't been assigned elsewhere; the site coordinators made arrangements for her to stay near her parents and her Minato Ward neighborhood. And, as a further bonus, she was quick to introduce me to her friends.

"Remind me about this girl," I said. "She's a geologist's daughter? Where's she from?"

"Yeah, don't worry; we'll be able to, you know, communicate easily," she said. "Kris's parents are originally from Peru, I think, but she was born in the States. She's anxious to show me, show us, some of the cool things that her mother found. Her mom is, yes, a geologist, one who's been in the rift a number of times."

"Great. And which building is hers?" I asked, realizing that we were close.

"This one on the corner." Erin pointed. "Wait here."

I obediently stopped, leaning on one of the larger chunks of cement as my friend made her way over the next rubble heap. Against my hand, the concrete was cold and grainy, not fit for a casual lean. I put my weight back on my feet and looked at a cardboard box pinned to the ground nearby, trying to make sense of the Japanese characters. For a moment, I wondered what it felt like for Erin, climbing over the ruins of so many places that must have been so recently full of life, and so familiar for her. I had to stop myself, though. The thought was just too sad. Anyway, this was only one part of a big city. Better not to think on it; I'm sure she'd agree.

A loose knot of people passed by with a few courteous nods. I returned one of my own before returning my attention to the slightly downhill view. From where I stood, it was all scrap and darkness, except for where a few stoplights blinked. I scratched my head. Despite the vastness of the destruction, for some reason, some lights still had enough power to flicker. Overhead, the stars were mostly invisible in the dust cloud that never seemed to settle. I grabbed my nose to stifle a sneeze, and listened for the murmur of voices in the nearest building.

Erin returned after a few minutes with the geologist's daughter in tow. The petite girl brushed off her jeans and greeted me with an energetic "Hi!". Her face was defined by a warm smile that started with her light hazel eyes. I had to make an active effort not to, rudely, check her out from head to toe. Fortunately for me, the cute girls seemed to gravitate toward each other.

"Ryan, this is Kris. Kris, meet Ryan." She gestured quickly between us.

"It's nice to meet you," Kris said in a soft, sweet voice that put me instantly at ease.

"You too," I nodded, shaking her hand. "So, which way are we headed?"

"This way," Kris answered, taking us in the direction of the rift, the canyon that had opened without warning in the middle of the city as a result of the horrendous earthquake. The buildings that looked to have fallen almost sideways pointed out the way.

"Have you gone down into the rift yet?" Erin asked as we made our way over the decreasingly bumpy ground. Though going down was easier, paying attention to both girls while keeping my footing was tricky.

"No. My mom wouldn't let me, anyway," Kris answered. "None of the geologists trust this quake. And it's not just that the aftershocks haven't stopped. The fact that some things randomly stayed standing, the weird way that most of the buildings fell... and that so much of the city still has electricity, even with a busted power grid... It's not exactly natural. The strange melty silver rocks that are coming out of the rift are even better proof that traditional geology has no good way to describe this disaster. So many apparently impossible things..."

"Times like these make me really think that anything's possible, bad or good." I said, with a glance at Erin as she tucked one of her bangs behind her ear. Her face showed no reaction to my lame attempt at positivity. So I gave changing the topic a try. "Kris, you're going to show us some of these melted rocks?"

"Well, there's one in particular I like. It's just a really beautiful gemstone. There are others you might like, too—"

The wail of a siren interrupted her.

"What the...?" I imagined a crushed bank alarm springing to life.

"No way." Kris's voice rose in the direction of the screech. "That sounds like it's coming from the protected storage area."

"The what?" Erin asked, looking with annoyance in the direction of the sound.

"The place we were planning to go," Kris clarified.

"'Were'?" I hit upon Kris's use of the past tense reflexively, and both girls gave me looks. They had picked up my implication just before I recognized it myself.

The frown on our geological guide told me that going forward was not at the top of her list of options, but I sensed a little excitement in Erin's expression.

As foreign volunteers trying to help Tokyo's desperate victims, my team leader had emphasized that a good first impression could be very powerful. I decided to make use of that rule now.

"Maybe... someone needs help," I suggested.

The girls, together, gave me another weird look. Too vague? With a shrug, I cut to the point. Go big or go home. "Maybe we could go see what's happened," I said more decisively.

Taking a short step in the alarm's direction, I turned to see how they would react. The decision of our geological guide pushed me forward: "Well, I suppose I could go. Sometimes the alarm can be a little too sensitive," Kris said.

In the lead, I broke into a trot. So did the girls.

The question finally flashed across my mind: _Do you know what you're doing? It could be dangerous!_ But, with two capable and pretty girls quick on my heels, there was little room in my head for thoughts of slowing down. I was already committed, so I set my jaw and stepped a little faster, to give them more room behind me, as we moved across the treacherous ground. Traversing around and through the tiny piles of broken cement, the siren grew louder a bit faster than I expected: we were close.

"This is the place." Kris grabbed my shoulder and pointed to a large, newly constructed building nearby. Slowing a bit more, I let our geological guide take the lead,.

The storage facility was a small, sturdy metal structure, one of many that had been put up for hospital rooms, communications offices, and to serve other essential purposes. I began to wonder how the geologic researchers could justify needing an alarm for a tiny building in a city without reliably running water.

_So there's definitely more than rocks inside,_ I told myself, a confident smile spreading as I counted off the bonuses: taking the chance to possibly impress Erin, meeting Kris, and seeing what this juicy excitement was about.

And then, just over the shrill alarm, the faint sound of something heavy grunting inside the storage shed caught my attention.

"Ron? Is that you?" Kris raised her voice. She was looking, not toward the sound of the grunt, but off down the street.

I gave her a confused look.

Erin said, "I might have seen someone go around a corner, that way." She pointed down the street toward where Kris had called.

Before I had the chance to say anything to either of them, the grunting grew more insistent. It was quickly followed by a banging sound.

"Hey, whoever you are, help me! I'm stuck, and—" the speaker's voice was muffled. With the alarm blaring from roughly the same location, I wasn't able to understand anything else he was trying to say.

Erin and I looked to Kris. Rushing to the nearby door, the girl punched in a code. The lock clicked, the alarm died, and the way was open to us. Inside were shelves filled with boxes, many marked in English—with long geological-sounding words—but most were coded in Japanese. Half of the shelves along one wall had collapsed. A black guy, about our age, was half-covered by an overturned desk, one that had somehow trapped him between a shelf and the wall behind him. He gave Kris a look of desperation as he shoved against the heavy metal desk.

"Oh, thank God!"

Kris stepped closer to this new guy—another geologist?

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I got suckered into being here, by the same guy who killed my father's partner," said the guy, American from the accent. "Let me go; let me catch him!"

Kris, Erin and I all traded uncertain looks. What should we do?

"Listen, I guess you haven't heard, but my name is Jason Trudeau," he explained, his words rapid-fire. "My father's a police officer; his partner was the one killed by the flying cop car. Your armbands... You're all aid volunteers, aren't you? You must've heard the story..."

I nodded slowly, and Jason continued. "That same guy is the one who just stole the crystal cube, who pinned me here! Please, you've got to help me get out of here _now_ so I—so someone can catch him!"

Erin's eyes went wide. "Yeah, it's you! I saw your picture and your father's... Andy Trudeau! Ryan, help me here."

We both grabbed the desk and started hauling at it. I took a second look at him; his face did match, and his eyes were honest: afraid but determined. Kris joined in. With us three pulling, and Jason pushing, we got the mangled piece of furniture to budge just enough. The desk was crooked, as if some gigantic hand had squeezed it, bent it out of shape.

"I can move; I think I can climb over it," Jason said. The next moment, he was up and over the desk. His feet touched ground, and he winced. His pants were ripped. There looked to be deep cuts on his legs. His arm was bleeding, too.

"You're really hurt," Kris said, taking a handkerchief from her pocket.

"Forget it," Jason said. "Call the cops....I don't know why, but he stole some cube, too."

"Cube?" Kris turned her attention toward the far wall. She pointed toward one of the high shelves. "You're talking about the clear cube that was on the top shelf there?"

"Yeah... How did you know that?" the guy asked Kris, slowing momentarily as he headed for the door.

"This police stuff is just on the other side of the geological stuff," Kris gestured. "It's hard not to notice the cube after looking at so many other crystals and rocks. And they asked—"

"That's the one, though I think he broke it." Our new injured friend cut her short as he reached the doorway.

Erin was outside first, jogging just ahead of him "I did see someone go off down the street, that way," she said, pointing out into the darkened city.

Kris pressed me forward and I followed Erin and Jason.

The geologist's daughter seemed to be talking mostly to herself. "Where's Ron? This is too big of a coincidence. They asked my mom about the crystal cube just last week. It was giving off some weird radiation, they said. If they think my mom or I was involved... Where _is_ that guard?"

"A guard!" I repeated, my eyes darting between Kris and Jason. "If he can—"

Outside, Jason was done listening. He was off like a shot, headed in the direction Erin had pointed, toward the mystery figure.

Kris interrupted, "Ron has a radio, and he can... wait." She turned to Erin, "The person you saw going off that way..."

"He was in uniform, white and blue," Erin answered.

"Then he was chasing the thief!" Kris said, her hand squeezing into a fist. "I have to help Ron, help Jason."

With that, Kris took off, her footsteps echoed between the buildings. The city seemed even emptier than before, beneath the specks of starlight.

"Kris, wait!" Erin called, and then she was off, after her friend, the geologist's daughter.

For just a moment, I had been left behind. But abandoning the girls was, of course, out of the question. Within seconds, I overtook Erin, and now we all were running after Ron, after Jason and the mystery criminal. _No more hesitation_ , I told myself. I was responsible for bringing them here. Kris, our guide, had even been reluctant to come. And Jason was hurt already. We were in this together.

Looking ahead, I saw Kris vanish around the corner of a building. I suddenly realized how easy it would be to get lost. I looked back, though, and sure enough, there was Erin, not two steps behind me. Her eyes were focused ahead, and something about that was clearer than any road sign, pointing after Kris and Jason, and Ron.

The next block opened up onto a main street. There was movement in the distance: Jason had taken another turn. A blinking blue stoplight illuminated Kris kneeling over something. Erin and I quickly caught up to her. There was a burning stench in the air.

"It's Ron's radio!" Kris said, showing us the object of her attention. There was a big scratch down one side.

"You don't think he..." Erin's voice trailed off.

"De-vi-dis!" a strange cry broke through the night air. I recognized Jason's voice in the distance, ripe with rage. What did it mean? Well, whatever it was, he needed help. I looked at the two girls, then snatched the radio from Kris's hands, moving as fast as my legs would carry me toward the sound of Jason's call.

"Hello... hello?" I squeezed the talk button between heaving breaths as I ran. There was no sound, no response from the device. Broken? I gave up trying to talk and run at the same time. Something banged along an intersecting street. I took the turn, noticing the girls behind me. There were even fewer buildings ahead: we were getting close to the waterfront.

When we took that next turn, I suddenly was unsure whether we had last taken a right or a left. Was I lost? I looked behind, and there were Erin and Kris. My legs ached, but I decided to keep moving.

"Did you see them?" I gasped.

"We were following you," Erin replied.

"That way." Kris pointed.

We reached the end of the street, and there was Jason, running into a long, flat building, one that looked to have only half-collapsed during the earthquake.

A warehouse? It seemed particularly ominous. Erin and Kris dashed ahead of me, and, before I could suggest anything about keeping them, or any of us, safe, Kris had begun to make her way inside the imposing concrete shell. Erin was close behind her. I squeezed the radio's talk button, let it go, put the receiver to my ear... nothing. It was dead.

I looked up. The area around the warehouse was lifeless, too, abandoned after the earthquake. I glanced around again, but, sure enough, there was no one else to help us, to help Ron and Jason. There I was, out of my depth... but there was nothing to do now but go with it. The radio went into my back pocket. Erin's feet crunched in the distance across the gravel-strewn ground. She was inside now, too.

I ran after them, wanting to shout a word of warning, but suddenly afraid we would find the dangerous thief waiting for us, and that any loud noise would give us away. I had to actively stop myself from second-guessing going forward once again. I would never have forgiven myself if I had let them go in by themselves. If something happened, and I wasn't there... I shut off my fears of the worst and rushed after Jason Trudeau and the girls, into the dark warehouse.

A dozen footsteps inside the cavernous space, there came a pop-pop-pop. The girls were nearby, and they ducked immediately. Erin bit her lip, and Kris was breathing particularly hard as I hit the ground beside them. Wooden crates were blocking the view for me, and I knew it was time for the girls, at least, to leave.

"It's not safe. Get going," I told them. "You know the area better than I do, and you can find—"

"And you'll stay? We're not going to just leave you here," Erin whispered her reply.

"Jason is... Well, at least one of you should run back and call or wait for help, point them this—"

Suddenly lights snapped on, full and constant, no flickering here. A shiver ran through my shoulder blades, left to right. The three of us ducked lower behind the crates. The lights cut faint shadows in a circle around Jason as he took cautious steps toward the middle of a concrete area exposed to the night sky. Overhead, only a few thick structural girders stretched across the space where the warehouse ceiling should have been. The shape of a bird's wings beat through the starlight above.

How were the lights on? Why now?

Kris let out a horrified gasp, and I looked ahead toward where Jason had picked up a bloody pistol. A meaty arm in a shredded blue uniform slumped to the ground, where a red, wet helmet wobbled in the dust. No doubting it was Ron, had been Ron.

I took the radio from my pocket and squeezed the buttons, panicking.

"Help, help, help," I whispered desperately. In Japanese, I added, "Tasukete!"

While the radio remained lifeless in my hands, Jason, who had been scanning the room, froze in his tracks. He raised the gun in his hand. My breaths came short and fast. Before I had another chance to say, "We really should leave," there was a shadow, and a deep, predatory voice:

"Who do we have here?"

I looked up into horrifyingly black eyes. The old man didn't seem to have any irises, just wide, deep pupils. Jason's gun swung toward the speaker, the barrel pointed just over our heads. Erin grabbed Kris and I by the shoulder and pulled us down closer to the ground, still behind the crates that separated us from Jason. Looking back up toward the old man with black eyes, I wasn't sure that going beneath him had been the safest direction. The crates were packed tight, though, to our left and right. We were trapped!

Erin shouted, "Jason, put down the gun!"

There was a pause before the police officer's son called out, "Step away from them, Devidis."

"Slow down, Jason," the old man said. "It was you who brought your friends, on a long, tiring chase. Don't just send them back; it's impolite."

The old man's voice was soft and sinister, like a snake across swamp water. His tan overcoat swished as he crouched down to meet us.

Keeping low to the ground, I peeked around the side of a crate toward where Jason stood, gun now lowered slightly, aimed away from us.

"Let us go. You don't need us between you two," Kris said. Her voice was calm. My hands were shaking.

She nodded to Erin and I, and started crawling away, around the old man Devidis' legs. I followed.

"It's equally rude to leave without so much as an introduction," the old man growled.

On instinct, I started to get to my feet, to run, but the crates, the same ones we had been hiding behind, had now slid in front of us, blocking the path back out toward the street.

I turned, and saw Jason raise his gun toward the old man with the black eyes, who now had no cover of his own. The girls were already scattering, squeezing through the narrow side-aisles between the crates.

"You three, get out of here!" Jason called, and opened fire at the old man.

THUD THUD THUD

Again, I dropped to the floor. As I rolled onto my back, I saw that a fat pile of gravel had somehow risen between Jason and the old man, blocking Jason's bullets. Stumbling to my feet, I pulled Kris by the arm toward where Erin was already running for cover. More crates moved to block our path. Looking for another way out, I glanced behind me to see the gravel pile collapse in a rumbling wave, a spill that knocked Jason to the ground.

"Run!" Jason shouted to us, as he scrambled across the tiny rocks for his weapon.

I searched desperately for a clear exit, but the crates kept sliding in front of me. I had no idea how he was manipulating the big wooden boxes, but the old man seemed to be shifting his attention easily between Jason and the three of us. He had no fear of Jason's weapon, and he had no intention of letting the rest of us leave. The girls were close behind me, silent. The wave of gravel continued turning against Jason.

"Don't go for the gun again," the old man commanded him. "As a threat, it's not even interesting."

The policeman's son was half-buried in the tiny rocks. He seemed to have given up struggling against the living pile. The crates all around us shifted faster, as if endowed with new purpose. The mobile walls pressed all four of us toward one another, closer and closer to the old man with the black eyes.

"But you may have a redeeming quality or two, Jason. You were kind enough not to make me wait for more volunteers. There are four talents, and now four of you... Perhaps you are here responding to some kind of call, the 'summon of the Elementals'?" An evil grin crossed his face.

"Where does it come from? Does no one else hear?" he mused, talking to himself. "Will the gems come to you, or will you find them for me?"

The old man held my gaze with his black eyes, as an equally dark gem appeared in his hand. "Perhaps we'll find out."

I leveraged all my weight against the crates, and I heard myself sob as the evil old man grabbed my hand. He planted my fingers against the side of the obsidian gem. My arm went numb—paralyzed—my fingertips stuck to the mysterious talisman of power. There was a quick struggle, but the man with the black eyes snatched the hands of Jason and the two girls, securing one hand from each against the remaining three sides of the dark pyramid.

"You'll never—"

"Never what?" Jason was cut off by the villain.

In the stillness that followed, I heard Jason's heavy breathing, and nothing from the mouths of Erin, Kris, or myself. Our tormentor had all the time in the world.

"Never eat solid food again... not after I'm done with you," Jason said. A crazy, vindictive smirk crossed his face.

"I appreciate sarcasm, but less when it's too late." Devidis gave a slight shrug. "Now, be silent."

The vicious old man held me with the blackness in his eyes. "Show some respect for the victims," he said. "A new world is beginning."

I thought to kick out at the villain beside me, but now my legs were as stiff as whatever force was binding my fingers to the black pyramid gem. The crates around us fell away, and I felt a strange sort of electricity flowing through the air. I tried to say something, but my mouth wouldn't bend. My head, my neck, my whole body was frozen.

I watched the old man place his hand on the skyward-facing point of the dark pyramid. Closing his black eyes, he seemed to be guiding the arcane power. Drawing himself up to his full height, he tilted his chin toward the gaping hole in the warehouse ceiling. The night sky felt as if it were pouring into the tight space around us.

He shouted:

"Lost prisons of talent, open for all!

"To the four Elementals, these forces recall!

Slowly he intoned, "Wind, fire, water, stone..."

A shock went through my system, and there was only the sound of his voice.

"Only to the chosen these powers are shown."

Wishing I wasn't so helpless, wishing that there was some way to save Erin and Kris and Jason, I watched as the world seemed to... unravel. For a moment, everything had gone to ribbons, ribbons that seemed to wrap and warp around the old man with the black eyes, but then they sprang at me, at all four of us. The ribbons flipped over, and showed me visions of myself flying, fighting, running. And then, these words sprang from my lips:

"Swiftness of wind, with wisdom to hear."

"Mystic talent of fire, to burn away fear," Erin followed.

"Agility of water, life's joy to renew," Kris said.

"Most resilient stone, to stand strong and true," Jason said.

As my visions faded to black, our four voices blended together.

"For now the darkness has risen to fight,

"Spring now forth as the power of light!"

...Then all was silence and sleep.
Chapter 4

Ryan:

The air was heavy with moisture. I inhaled, and coughed at the strong smell of dirt and leaves. My eyes were sweaty, so I wiped them with the back of my hand. Blinking, I peered into the overgrown forest, through every shade of green, broken up with a little bit of brown, and, at the top, the suggestion of a blue sky.

The feeling of cold glass faded from my fingertips. I rubbed them together sleepily. My bones felt stiff, and someone was pulling my arm. I was leaning on the man and walking. That was okay. He was a man with bushy white eyebrows, a short white beard, and a flowing white robe to match. His stern eyes were focused on the path ahead. We ducked under a branch.

My mind was groggy.

"Where are we going?" I asked him. My voice sounded strange, like my mouth had gone numb. I worked my lips to restore feeling.

"Somewhere safe, with food," he replied, in a strange accent.

"Oh." I sighed. "That sounds good."

I didn't want to question. My mind was still groggy... from something.

"What just happened?" I asked.

"You leaned on me. I decided to take you somewhere safe where there's food," he answered.

I was waking, I realized, waking up from a long, deep sleep. What was the dream? I didn't remember leaning on him. I realized that my feet were dragging and shifted some of the weight back to them. The old man slowed down for me. I didn't remember letting him lead me, or what happened before.

Then I did. All the memories came back.

I shuffled away, and backed into a tree that stopped me, leaves shaking. The bark was rough against my back. "Where am I? Where's Erin, and Kris, and... Jason. Ron is dead..." I was breathing hard. I didn't even want to form the last name on my mind.

The old man was watching me, studying me, with a serene look in his eyes. "There are three others on their way to the same place that we're going." This old man had irises, brown ones.

"Where's that?" I demanded.

"Somewhere safe, with food," he said slowly, crossing his arms. He seemed to be growing impatient.

I pivoted away from him, around the thick trunk of the tree, and stared into the shadowy leaves, looking for an escape, or anything familiar. "'Somewhere safe, with food'? That's not very reassuring."

"At the Sun Tower, not that you'd understand the reference. You should have started with a better question." His voice was as uncompromising as his gaze. "For example: 'What can I do for you?'"

"Who are you?" I squeezed the tree bark, rough and sappy in my hands.

"Call me Sensei," he said simply.

"Sensei? Like a teacher?" I tried to make my stare as accusing as my voice.

He nodded his approval. "Very good. You know some Japanese."

"What's going on here? The old man with the black eyes, what did he do?" I threw out my arms, wishing for a way out, for something, anything familiar.

The man held up his arms, a calming gesture, and his eyes took on some of the confusion I was feeling. "Black eyes? I've... heard of a man with black eyes. Tell me more, and I may be able to help you better."

I started to speak, but stopped. What if this was the black-eyed old man in disguise? "No. I'm not going anywhere until I know what's going on. I'm not going any further into this insanity." I took my chance peering again into the distance, searching for any sign of civilization beyond the jungle-like forest. Where had it come from?

"I want to help you, young man. Who are you looking for?"

I closed my eyes and held my head. I remembered the insanity, the intimidation, when I first came to face the destruction, the wounded people, when I landed in Tokyo after the earthquake. Panic would not help me here; I knew that. I took a deep breath.

"You talked about three others," I said.

The man nodded, folding his hands into his wide, white sleeves.

"Two girls, one boy, my age?"

"Yes," Sensei said. "My men found three young people like yourself all within the last few hours. Did they also see this... man with black eyes?"

"Yes," I said slowly, still wary of revealing too much. "Where are they?"

When the old man smiled, his face now seemed warmer, and genuine. His voice had assumed a very teacher-like tone, wise and patient. "The safe place with food. It's this way. Why don't we save the talk until we arrive?"

Sensei pointed forward. There seemed to be a clear path before us. Taking a break from speaking would be welcome. I gestured for him to go ahead. He led the way, and I followed.

After a few minutes walking down the path, I found myself simply admiring the view. The trees were interesting. I had taken notice of a few Japanese trees in my months since I landed, but these didn't look Japanese. I wished I had paid more attention on my elementary school nature hikes back in Kansas. It wasn't as if there were a lot of trees back home, but these here seemed thinner, with darker bark and broader, greener leaves.

"We're not in Tokyo, are we?" I asked.

"No," he answered. "We're a long way from Tokyo." His intonation was flat. He was giving away no extra clues.

I started with another question, but Sensei quickly interrupted me. "It might help me to know more about you, and what exactly happened with this black-eyed old man, so I can frame my answers correctly."

"How can I trust you?" I stopped in my tracks, putting a hand up to steady my still-woozy head.

He stopped and pointed to me, frowning. "By giving me the opportunity to be trustworthy, for one. I don't know what's happened to you. Maybe if you just tell me exactly what happened, then this will be easier for both of us." He turned swiftly back to the path. "I'm going to hurry because I'm hungry, but you can take your time."

He got a few steps farther before I jogged to match his pace. "My name is Ryan. I'm from Kansas, in the United States. I went to Tokyo after the earthquake and met a Japanese girl named Erin, who introduced me to another girl named Kris. Those are the two girls I hope you found. Kris took us to see this... gem, or was it a cube..."

I growled. So many confusing details, mixed up in my head.

"But an old man with black eyes stole it. He seemed to... lock me, and Kris, and Erin, and a guy named Jason to it. Then he said something like a magical spell. I think we joined in. We had to. We had no choice. And now I'm here."

I looked at Sensei. He seemed intent on the path before us, but he nodded, listening.

I realized how crazy I must have sounded.

Neither of us spoke for a few moments; we just kept walking, an easy pace. I thought maybe he wanted more details, something to make it more convincing, but maybe I had already said too much. I kept my eyes on him. He was focused, but serene. Not all old men were evil. But he hadn't said anything. He gave me no clues to read. I took a breath to calm myself.

"Did you understand anything I said?" I tried to keep my voice from cracking in desperation.

"Most of it, but I'm still trying to process it all."

I nodded, trying to roll with his game. "Which parts did you understand?"

"The part about a man with black eyes taking a gemstone, or a cube, perhaps. I've heard of the United States, too." He said the last part with a bit of a smirk.

I stepped behind him as a tree narrowed the path. He had understood the _crazier_ part of what I said? "Wait, you're speaking English... but you've only 'heard' of the United States?"

"'English' is an archaic word... and the United States is... gone."

"English is archaic? Wait, then what do you call the language that..." I realized there was a more important issue at stake. "And what happened to the US? How long ago...?" Exasperation kept me from finishing the question. Then it clicked in my brain. "How long has it been since the man took the cube? That's the last thing I remember. How do you know about that?"

He stopped in his tracks and countered with a question of his own. "What color was the gem you touched? What size and shape?"

"It was black," I said. The memory came back, sharp. "It was small enough to fit in your hand, and triangular, four-faced... a triangular pyramid. Equilateral, too, maybe."

This old man turned and resumed walking. "All I know for sure is that the first time anyone around here saw Devidis, the old man with black eyes, carrying the black spear, tipped by the black triangular gem... it was around a century ago."

"Devidis," I repeated the name, and followed after the Sensei. It was the name Jason had called. Then finally, "A century??"

He nodded in recognition. "We're here." He pointed ahead, and I saw a light gray stone structure peaking out above the trees. "Are you hungry?"

I was starving. I was out of my mind. I tried to study Sensei, then looked back at the path we had just taken. Covering my eyes with my hands, I asked. "What happened immediately before you started walking with me back in this direction?"

"Now that is a question I can answer easily." The old man was encouraging me. I sensed sincere appreciation in his voice. "I found you. You appeared out of nowhere, frozen, with your hand out, like you were touching something, at about waist-height." He held out a hand to approximate. "I had you lean on me as soon as you were responsive. I started bringing you this way. It's not safe to be out in the forest, paralyzed like that."

I rubbed my forehead, still woozy. The answers and my memories didn't add up. Then I had an epiphany, and held up a hand to stop any further explanation. "You know what? This doesn't make any sense to me, and I realize you're being very patient. Maybe I'm crazy, but, all the same, you, my stomach, and I agree that I should probably eat something, so let's do something about that."

"Well-reasoned." The old man smiled. He clapped me on the back. "Once again, the food is this way."

We walked together toward the stone structure. As the trees parted, I saw that it was a wide tower, jutting into the air, like some medieval skyscraper. It was a gray brick-and-mortar cylinder, long and straight from the base to the roof, with only a few staggered window openings, and some jagged battlements at the top.

Sensei led me past the last of the trees into a generously-sized clearing around the tower. There was a woman sitting on the massive steps leading up to an entrance bordered by thick, wooden double doors. From the gun on her hip, I guessed that she was some kind of sentry; she examined Sensei and I before giving a permissive nod in my direction. Her clothes, though, looked rough, like they had been home-made. Sensei hadn't paused; I tried to imitate his casual stride.

"This is the... ?" I started to say.

"The Sun Tower," he said. The rays of the tower's namesake reflected off the smooth, gray stone walls, straight into my eyes. I shielded myself, blinking in disbelief.

"The Sun Tower." I repeated the words and shook my head. Of course, the name wasn't familiar. I checked myself. " _Should_ I be familiar with this place?"

"Not necessarily," he answered as we approached the tower's broad doors.

"Oh, good," I replied. "That makes me feel a little less awk—"

The door creaked open. A bald man with dark green, mottled skin, a long, thin nose and small, fan-like ears greeted us in a slightly high-pitched voice. "Welcome back, Sensei, and... your stranger-friend."

I might have said, "Nice costume," but I was too shocked. I did my best not to stare at him as he passed outside.

Sensei's hand was gently resting on my shaking shoulder. His eyes looked like they were trying to beam some composure directly into my brain. His other hand held the door half-open. I had stopped halfway inside.

"Was that a...?"

"A friend? A goblin? Yes," Sensei said. "We'll have a seat and answer more questions later."

He gestured toward a table. I gave up trying to make sense of things, and walked forward.

"Good man." He gave me another clap on the back. As my eyes adjusted to the dimmer light inside, Sensei offered some short advice, a little piece of wisdom, one that remained with me forever afterward. "Accept the unexpected."
Chapter 5

Ryan:

Sensei led me through a massive dining hall. There were only a few people eating at the long wooden tables, but most of them stood up to track our progress as we crossed the room. The benches scraped across the smooth marble floor, and I heard the banging of pots and pans nearby. I saw what looked like another goblin. The green skin was a dead giveaway. Looking closer, I noticed that their eyes were mostly yellow, but at least they had brown irises.

"Sensei, is he the last one?" One man asked from across the room. He was muscular, with wild blonde hair. Apparently everyone but Sensei wore thick, tough-looking clothing that matched, more or less, the sentry outside. Leather and fur, gloves and straps and buckles.

"Later." Sensei brushed off the comment as he led me toward another door.

My stomach tightened in expectation of another surprise. The old man must have seen the look on my face. He stopped and gestured for me to enter. When I hesitated, he only gave a more emphatic wave of his hand. He would have me open the door this time.

"Quit stalling," he said. I heard his robes shift as he crossed his arms. "I believe your three friends are on the other side. That's also where your food is, by the way. And, as I said, it's safe."

There was no point in going back. I grabbed the handle and pulled the door wide. A chair scraped on the floor, and I saw Erin and Jason bolt upright from where they had been sitting at a long table. Erin ran to me and gave me a big hug. As she embraced me, I found Kris, seated and calm, her smile as warm as it had been when she first introduced herself.

"It's good to see another familiar face," Erin said quietly. Her dark brown hair had a reddish tint in the light of the candles. I recognized its smell.

"Same here," I told her, mustering up a smile of my own.

After a moment, feeling a different kind of awkward, I let her go. I felt suddenly very tired, and collapsed against the hard back of the nearest, empty chair. Sensei didn't sit down, even though perhaps ten other high-backed empty chairs lined each side of the table that took up most of the room in the tight, rectangular hall. I turned my attention from the bare stone walls to the clay plate in front of me. It held a brown cut of beef in a darker brown gravy. The smell set my mouth watering.

The meat came accompanied by a soft roll and some crescent-shaped green vegetables, like nothing I had ever seen before, even in Japan. I hesitated, watching Erin return to her seat, the one beside mine. Jason and Kris sat across from us. Jason seemed to be a little more relaxed than the rest of us, with no trace of the injuries to his legs or hands, though his jeans still looked torn. All four of us appeared to be wearing the same clothes as on the night that Devidis, the man with the black eyes, glued us to his black gem.

"Did you guys get any clear answers?" I asked. "Sensei here wasn't too forthcoming."

"If we're still in Japan, we're in a part I've never visited before, or heard of." Erin shook her head. "I don't recognize anything. And I don't need to tell you that there are no goblins or kappa—er, fish people—in Japan, no real ones, anyway."

"They haven't told you anything either?" I asked Jason and Kris, ignoring the fish-people comment for the moment.

Kris answered in her soft voice. "Well, we went over a few details we picked up before you got here, and Jason... he says there's more to the story."

"Remembering that the black-eyed old man threw both my uncle and a car from an overpass," a sad smile crossed Jason's face, "this doesn't surprise me so much."

The policeman's son turned to Sensei. "And nothing seems crazy anymore."

He waited for a response from the old man in the robe. When Sensei didn't answer, Jason pounded the table and said, "OK. That's enough patience. Tell us what you know about Devidis. The man who brought me in here said Devidis was the enemy of your Sun Tower, an evil ruler. But what about his abilities, his 'talent,' and the 'Elementals'?"

As I tried to process the keywords Jason was throwing around, a strange look crossed Sensei's face accompanied by a slight grin. The old man took a moment before saying, "That is a large request. Tell me, where did you hear about the Elementals?"

"Devidis mentioned them when he stole the black pyramid," Jason said.

"And don't forget the magic words, the spell he began, the one we finished when we were... frozen to the black gem," Kris added.

"A poem?" Sensei asked. "I know nothing of spells."

"Yes, I remember," Jason said. "That heavy feeling when he said 'stone'... Devidis said, 'Lost prisons of talent, open for all. To the four Elementals these forces we call.'"

"'Recall.' I think what he said was, 'To the four Elementals these forces recall.'" Erin corrected him. "Then he said, 'Wind, fire, water, stone: only to the chosen these powers are shown.'"

"...And the words just came to me: 'Swiftness of wind, with wisdom to hear.'" I remembered, the sentence falling in rhythm.

"'Mystic talent of fire, to burn away fear,' was my part," Erin said.

"'Agility of water, life's joy to renew,'" Kris said.

"That's right, the word was 'recall.' 'Most resilient stone, to stand, strong and true,'" Jason finished. "And what did we say all together? 'For now the darkness has risen to fight. Spring now forth as the power of light.'"

Kris, Erin and I nodded in agreement. We had all shared that moment, that feeling of power and helplessness. That much we could trust.

Sensei's eyes were tightly shut. He seemed to be lost in thought.

"It means something to you, doesn't it, Sensei?" I said.

"An astute observation, Ryan," he replied. "I'll do my best to explain, but it is difficult, using words alone, to explain a concept that, for those learning it, is radically new. We should go upstairs, where I can properly demonstrate what the terms 'talent' and 'Elemental' mean. They are not concepts to be approached lightly, but once you understand those, you will be able to understand more about emperor Devidis." As he walked toward the far end of the room, I stood to follow him, with a regretful look at the aromatic presentation on my plate. Erin, Kris, and Jason also stood, rising above plates at least partially clear.

Sensei paused at the door and held up his hands. "There's no hurry, now. You've been through a lot already today. You would be wise to take a free meal whenever you are able. Especially in these times, a good cut of meat well-prepared is often hard to come by. More specifically, what I must show you will be on the top floor of this tower. From the looks of your faces, you will need your energy for the long climb, and I want you to do me the favor of carrying a few things with you."

"What will we be carrying? Why?" Jason asked, with a suspicious frown.

"Easy now," Sensei raised a calming hand. "Just humor an old man who doesn't want to bear the weight. Someone will leave the items by the other door." The elder teacher had stepped outside the dining room. "Be advised that they are weapons, though I do not expect you to use them. Simply bring them to the top floor when you're finished. Thank you." With the curt conclusion, Sensei's white robe disappeared around the stone doorpost.

Confused, I sank back into my chair and looked at the food. The others were exchanging weary glances.

"Weapons?" Kris asked.

"Emperor?" Erin directed the word toward Jason.

"Fish-people," I added softly.

Jason shrugged his shoulders. "I was just repeating what I heard. Sensei confirmed it, but..."

"He told me that the United States was gone," I said, "and that we're a long way from Tokyo."

"Gone?" Jason shook his head. "If that's true, then..."

"Emperors and missing countries. Too big to worry about, not right now, not all at once," Kris said, with authority in her small voice.

"Panic won't help us. I think that, waking up in this jungle, we've had enough of it." Erin, the daughter of devastated Tokyo, had a nervous intensity in her voice. "Anyway, we're supposed to get more answers soon enough."

After that, no one said anything for a while. I suppose we were each lost in our own thoughts. I looked at our plates; my friends had definitely been eating earlier. Why would it be poisoned, anyway? Suspicion would be healthy, but so was food.

I grabbed the nearest two-pronged fork and tore into the juicy meat. It was tender, a little spicy, and delicious, though it didn't taste like the beef it looked to be. I washed it down with some clean, fresh water from my clay cup, and followed it with the roll and crunchy vegetables. Once everything was gone, I wiped my mouth with a towel and threw the rough cloth onto the middle of the table. With a full stomach, things were starting to look better, somehow. At least the food had distracted me from larger worries.

I looked over at Erin. With her head hung down, she stared at her half-eaten food.

"Erin, are you alright? The food..." I began to worry again about wolfing down the strange meal.

"It's not that. It's everything. Everyone seems to know an awful lot about Devidis, but," she sighed, "I suppose there's not much use in guessing at what's to come." She gave me a small smile, a brave smile, a fake smile. "We'll just see what this man has to say, and then, once we know where we stand, maybe I'll feel like eating more."

Kris finished chewing a bite, then shook her head. "It's weird. I should be really frightened, but I've seen too much insanity today to be scared by these people, or their magic."

Jason let out a little laugh. "It's not magic, Devidis said. He called it talent, made a big point of it. And so did Sensei." He tossed his fork onto the plate. "We might as well start picking up on the local nomenclature. ...And don't I wish I had a talent for throwing crates and police cars like that black-eyed old man. Let him pick on someone his own size..."

In spite of myself, I traded a smile with Kris before my attention was drawn to the door. Two men set some shiny metal items on a side table. "Be careful with these," one said before the pair walked out of the room, boots clomping.

With nothing more to eat, but plenty of nervous energy, I walked to the far end of the room where the items had been set. Gleaming and smelling of some kind of chemical— polish?—they were four, no, five weapons, laid with care, as if on display.

There was a beautiful, thin sword that seemed to flow with confidence from its double-edged tip straight down to its rounded pommel. Near the hilt, which was bound with red leather, the edges of the sword turned upward, the steel body curving into two small, thrusting prongs. Jason drew it partway from its dark red sheath, part of a larger black apparatus that looked like it was intended to stretch across the wielder's back. He clicked the sword back into its case, though, drawn to the next weapon.

That next piece of equipment was a war-hammer, a massive, blocky thing with a rectangular head. As he picked it up with a grunt of exertion by its shaft—wrapped with, green leather—I saw that the hammer's blunt face was about as wide as Jason's own, and overall, if the hammer head were a box, it could have fit my head inside, along with Jason's. There were no marks on the flawless stone, and I wondered if these weapons had ever been used. Jason hefted the weapon at the neck, near the head.

"This looks like it's the heaviest," he said. "I'll take it."

The smallest weapons were a paired set, I realized, when I pulled out one from the wide, black leather belt separating them. They reminded me of sharpened boomerangs, except for the handles, wrapped in blue leather. I turned my head, and from the right angle, they looked each like capital As, only flattened a bit, with the horizontal bar of the A as the handle, and each of the three points of the A sharpened to a stabbing, cutting point.

I was drawn, though, to the last weapon, a long scythe with thin sickle blades on either end of the shaft, each blade the length of two hand spans. One blade curved down from the top, and the other curved up, opposite the first blade, from the bottom. It reminded me of the complementary curves of the yin-yang symbol.

I didn't hesitate to pick up the double-headed scythe, knowing that one of us would have to carry it. Putting one end of the shaft on the floor—careful so that the blade wouldn't cut my foot—it stood about as high as the bottom of my shoulder. Beneath the weapon lay its complicated leather holster. I reasoned that, of the two belts, with their wide, scythe-shaped sheaths, one would go across the waist, and the other would go from over the right shoulder around under the left arm, like the sword belt that was now in Erin's hands. I put down the scythe for a moment and concentrated on the belt. After successfully buckling the black straps across my waist and back, I felt a sense of accomplishment.

Kris stood beside me, over the paired blades. "Well, I think I got the lightest pieces... I wonder if Sensei is trying to tell us something."

I shook my head. "I wouldn't count it out, after all the other crazy things we've seen," I said. Reaching to grab the scythe I had left on the table, I realized it was separated into two sections: one thick half, and one thin. But no, it was actually two equal pieces, screwed into one another.

Jason had already secured his belt and slipped the hammer into its holster on his right hip. "What are you looking at, Ryan?" he asked.

"I think it can come apart, or something," I said.

"Hmmm," Jason mused. "It disassembles for easy cleaning?"

"No, I don't—" I gave the weapon an experimental twist, and the upper section came loose with a squeak.

"Oh no," I said, my voice's own pitch matching the weapon's squeak. The upper half was sliding freely in my hands. Afraid it would drop and cut me, I grabbed both pieces, held the double-scythe steady, and guided the high, loose end as it slid down into the half below. As the thin half disappeared into the thicker section, there was a faint clang.

I thought for a moment, and said sheepishly, "I hope I didn't break it."

Erin walked up to us just as I began to imagine what a leader of goblins would do to someone who broke a precious weapon.

"Ryan, how could you have broken it?" she said. "It's a weapon. If it's any good, it should be designed so that you can't break it, or not break it without trying, at least."

"Though why would the old man give any good weapons to dumb teenagers like us?" Jason asked.

I nodded and looked again at the double-scythe. "Good point," I said. "I twisted it before it came loose. Maybe I unscrewed it."

I gave another twist to the top of the thinner section. There was a click. I slowly lifted the weapon. Yes, the pieces were no longer sliding freely. I smiled, and recalled the short size of the straps across my back. "OK, so maybe it doesn't come apart for easy cleaning, but it contracts for easy storage. That's good to know... I hope. Thanks, Erin."

"No problem," she said, picking up the thin sword. With the sheath strapped to her back, she looked around to make sure Kris and Jason weren't anywhere close before trying to sheathe the sword over her shoulder. She missed the first time and gave the tiniest shriek of fear, but her grip was firm and the sword didn't cut her. More careful the second time, she put the blade away smoothly.

With my two scythe-blade sheaths angled in different directions, one toward my neck and the other at my thigh, I winced at the prospect of trying to put away the double-bladed weapon on my own. It was too awkward to carry, but if it were its original length, I might be able to heft it like a walking stick.

I looked at the seam between the two pieces of metal and gave the double-headed scythe another twist. Pulling the scythe back out to its full length, I gave it a final turn, in the opposite direction. It clicked again, and locked. I took up the re-extended scythe and felt its balance, walking a few steps with the dangerous blade at the top pointed ahead of me and toward the floor. The blade on the floor curved backward and upward at my right. As long as no one was walking too close in front or behind, it would be safe enough. I gripped the scythe toward the top. Taking it up stairs would be a challenge, but, again, someone had to carry the weapon.

I turned and watched Kris slide the A-blades into the holsters at her sides on her black belt.

"I guess we're done eating." she said. "Shall we go upstairs?"
Chapter 6

Ryan:

The scythe grew heavier and harder to carry as I went up flight after flight of tall steps. The staircase pushed the four of us in a tight, vertical spiral through the flickering shadows of the candle-lit tower. Several times I looked over the wooden railing toward the ground. Fortunately, I had little energy to worry about a fall into the dizzying depths in the center of the stairwell; all my attention was focused on my scythe, and making sure I didn't cut myself or anyone else on the steps.

I lost count of the unlabeled doors as we went up and up and up. I began wondering how close we were to the top, and suddenly the air tasted fresh again. The fading rays of daylight streamed in from the rooftop, now close by.

"Did Sensei mean the top floor, or the roof?" I asked.

"Let's try the one that means a shorter trip," Erin said, gesturing toward the nearby door.

The hinges creaked as Kris worked the bronze handle. A panoramic view of an orange sunset greeted us as we stepped through the doorway into the massive room. A few mural-covered exterior walls blocked less than a quarter of the landscape, vibrant green trees below and high brown cliffs beyond. Tall bronze lampstands stood near the columns, as yet unlit. The setting sun was slowly changing the color palette in favor of black cliffs, purple trees, and an orange and pink sky.

"It's beautiful," Kris said.

One of the lengthening shadows moved. Sensei was at the edge of the balcony. "You carry those tools like you have some idea of what you're doing," he said with a small smile. "I wonder how you chose which you would carry?"

The soles of my sneakers squeaked across the floor as I moved toward the old man, who stood out toward the edge, where the floor became the balcony. The others came just as quickly, but the Sensei's brown eyes seemed to be focused on me.

"Wasn't the double-scythe shorter when they left it downstairs in its holster?" he asked.

"Well," I said, "it was out of the holster. I collapsed it, but... then I decided to carry it like this."

"Hmmm, it would have been better to make use of its holster, but good enough," Sensei said. "Come to the edge here and look down." His eyes turned to meet each of ours. "When you have a first-hand understanding of talent, you will be better prepared to understand the Elementals."

After a pause, he added, "I think we would all be more comfortable, though," he gestured toward a nearby table, "if you laid aside the weapons you carry."

He waited as we unbuckled our leather straps. I carefully twisted the double-scythe, retracted the shaft, and returned it to the carrying straps. Stepping away, I felt like my hands were a little too light and free. _I would like to meet the owner of that weapon_ , I thought, _and see what he can do with it._

When the four of us had gathered around him, Sensei put his arm around me and pulled me so that I was looking over the edge.

"It is time for a demonstration," he said.

The wind whistled, cold and mournful. The tower seemed taller than it did from the outside. I gave Sensei a look and saw that he had another arm over Jason's shoulder, while the girls were standing on Jason's left. Then the old man let go of Jason to point a bony finger straight down.

"Whatever happens, I want you to stay calm," Sensei ordered, "and watch closely."

I peered through the thickening shadows for signs of anything interesting, but there was nothing there, except the green-black ring of grass that surrounded the tower.

"Are you going to show us your talent, Sensei?" Erin's voice came from next to Jason.

"Hopefully not," Sensei answered in a little more than a whisper. He pulled back his arm and said, "There, look!"

I put more weight on the railing and bent lower, encouraged by Sensei's excitement. As hard as I tried, though, I saw nothing but dark green. And the next thing I knew, my knees were scraping over the railing.

I fell. I twisted on my back and watched Erin, Kris and Jason draw away in horror from Sensei, whose arms had tossed me over! The world was spinning, around and around and upside down. It was a long, dark way down, getting shorter every moment.

_A dream!_ I hoped, but no, this wasn't like any dreams about falling. I didn't wake up. I felt the wind tear through the space between my tensed fingertips. Breathing was like inhaling a roar, a scream against the inside of my mouth. My eyes wouldn't close. I was spinning. I saw the blur of gray stone and orange sky and black forest. I was moving further from the building. This was the end. After all the crazy things that had just happened, this would make sense.

I suddenly remembered that in a high-speed collision, tightened muscles tear more easily, so I relaxed. Now, I could close my eyes. I inhaled a prayer... and suddenly felt something I could hold onto. Instinctively, I grabbed at it.

It wasn't in my fingertips and it wasn't in my skin, though I felt it across my whole body: power, energy, potential of some kind. It felt like a billowing sail wrapped around me. I was suddenly no longer spinning. Though my eyes were closed, I knew that I was now falling face-first, spread-eagle, toward the ground.

It was like a sail... No longer just grabbing, I pulled.

A blast from the below hit me full in the face. Plummeting backward, I opened my eyes. My hands were balled into fists, but there was nothing in them but my own skin. Pulling again at the mysterious force, in the opposite direction, I flailed about in a lame attempt to stabilize, as the dark world of the setting sun shook about me.

I slowed, and my direction seemed to shift. The cliffs were ahead of me. I was in a standing position. I noticed a massive circle of gray sticking out from in the dark green as I hurtled over it. Something had thrown me backward, over the tower. What was this? Twisting my body to see where the arc was taking me, there came the whoosh of wind, and I found myself falling again. I spread my fingers to pull once more at whatever had saved me.

I shut my eyes against another loud, forceful burst of air. This time it was a bit more moderate; I wasn't pulling as hard. This feeling, whatever I was pulling on, helped me realize that I was rising again, spread-eagle. I pushed with my arms this time, as if swimming, and I stopped rising. After a few moments, the hum of the blowing air didn't seem so frightening. I found the courage to open my eyes.

"If you're worried about Ryan, let me go." It was Sensei's voice, very close. "...so you can grab his arm and pull him in," he said.

I turned and saw Erin, Kris, and Jason rush into view on the balcony immediately below. The tower seemed to be bobbing slightly, like a boat on the waters of a lake, in tune with the whine of the air that blasted beneath me. I felt something brush my foot—someone's hand?—and I went off-balance, spinning, slowly this time, in midair. The side of the tower was coming closer. I reached out, afraid I would bust my head against the stone, pushed off from it, and threw my arms down. It was as if I was holding onto the currents and only needed to assert my balance.

The next moment, I was standing straight up in the air. There was Jason's arm outstretched. Kris and Erin were there, too, staring at me wide-eyed. Sensei, though, seemed unsurprised. He stood with a satisfied half-smile, his arms tucked into his wide, white sleeves.

Jason's hands closed around mine, and I immediately fell. The faint roar had finally stopped; I swung heavily against the side of the tower. There was a thick smack, and wetness began running down my chin. My left arm twisted painfully in its socket as Jason dragged me over the stone balcony. Scraping over the rail—in the right direction this time—I fell in a heap. Static buzzed in my brain, and my stomach sloshed. I rose to my feet beside my friends. Jason looked at me and flexed his dusty hand. I grabbed my chin to stem the bleeding.

"How... did you do that?" Kris asked.

Erin helped me to my feet. I looked between the girls and said, "I just... just...." With a shake of my head, I turned to Sensei.

"Talent," Sensei asserted, his voice ringing with authority through the cavernous room. His brown eyes were calm under his bushy white eyebrows.

"An affinity for the air. That is the instinctual, supernatural talent you have, Ryan," he continued. "In fact, the four of you should find yourselves very talented indeed. Wind, fire, water, and stone. Four ancient elements. Individually, you are powerful. Together, you must be something more."

"Elementals? Is that what you're getting at?" Kris said. She looked from Sensei to the rest of us.

The old man nodded. "It is a title of grave importance, and not one you have yet truly earned, but from everything that you have told me, and everything you have shown me, I believe that you are to become the Elementals."

Erin seemed anxious to ask something, but instead bit her lip. After a long pause, she finally said, "If Japan, the US, the old countries... if they are gone, and people can have these... supernatural talents... what's the world become, then?"

Sensei shook his head. "I know very little from the old world, beyond the fact that it has faded into memory. Vanished, we believe, in the same cataclysm that brought about talents like the ones you possess, a dark time brought about by a dark-eyed man named Devidis. To put it simply, you will have to make the best of the new world, for now, at least."

The four of us looked at each other, speechless. Jason's face, dusty from hauling me over the stone rail, was creased by a frown. Kris's eyes pointed low, but I could see a bit of hopeful wonder in them. Erin's mouth was a thin horizontal line, a mask over the sadness and confusion we must all have been feeling. I eventually rested my gaze on the bearded face of our mysterious teacher. He seemed to be waiting for us to say something.

"Wind, fire, water and stone. So we got this... talent when Devidis made us touch the crystal?" Jason summarized, with a look at Kris.

"I believe so," Sensei said, "unless there is something you haven't been telling me."

"You believe so?" Jason threw Sensei's words back at him with an aggressive step forward. "If there's something we're not telling you? You're the one who's in charge here, who knows things, not us. What do you mean when you say you 'believe' so? Aren't you the expert? And what's this about earning the title of Elementals? Devidis implied something similar, and I never want anything to do with that evil-eyed old murderer or his plans."

Sensei turned away and answered calmly, taking the anger in stride. "I know what I know, and when I don't know, I do my best. Sometimes that means saying, 'I don't know,' and putting my energy elsewhere. Your involvement with Devidis is certainly suspicious, but I am giving you a chance. I expect you to offer me the same courtesy." He delivered his measured words along with an accusing glare, a stronger reflection of Jason's aggressive approach.

Sensei's look softened, though, as his eyes moved on toward the rest of us. "As I acknowledge the uncertainty of all this, I strongly urge you not to go about my Sun Tower casually announcing yourselves as powerful Elementals. With that said, I do believe some confidence is in order. For example, Jason, I watched you as you pulled Ryan over the ledge. Was that not a strain for you? If one of my men were to haul another person's weight like that, his face would typically show some stress. On your face, I saw surprise and concern, but not strain or stress."

Jason rolled his shoulders, and flexed the arm that had pulled me up. "Okay, so Ryan here is a little on the light side, and I had my adrenaline pumping..." He paused, his own expression softening. "But, that big war hammer didn't feel too heavy either. What's your point?"

"I would expect the Stone Elemental to have tremendous physical strength, to be as steady as stone," Sensei said.

Jason opened his mouth, then closed it, apparently lost for words. Only for the moment, though. "What else would you expect from a Stone Elemental?" He crossed his arms.

"Let's try to address all four of you before getting too caught up in specifics," Sensei said. "The one who spoke the line about fire... It was you, wasn't it?" He looked at Erin.

She nodded. "Yes, that's me." After another pause, she said, "You're Japanese, aren't you?"

Sensei smiled. "Yes... I am fairly sure that I am Japanese, though it's been a long time since that's been relevant. Come with me. Would you mind trying to light one of these lamps?" He walked toward one of the bronze lampstands.

Erin watched him go, for a moment not following. "You aren't going to push me off the balcony, are you?" she asked.

"No," Sensei replied. "Please believe me when I say that I would have used my own talent to catch Ryan if he hadn't caught himself. I wanted to begin in dramatic fashion, to be sure I had your attention. This fire experiment will be much less dangerous."

She walked toward him, muttering something angrily in Japanese. Sensei seemed surprised, then spoke to Erin. I didn't understand it, but I had been in Tokyo long enough to recognize the sound of their language. Jason and Kris both looked at me. I shrugged and followed the Japanese pair.

Erin seemed to be thinking of a response for a moment. "Well, then we'll speak in English," she looked back to us, explaining, "since that is 'the common tongue' here."

Returning her focus to Sensei, she continued, "But you don't know where we are in relation to Tokyo, where the four of us just came from? And you don't want to tell me how dangerous this might be for me?"

Sensei folded his arms back into his wide sleeves. "I know you are frustrated. I am as well. I'm sorry I don't have more information for you. We are all learning here, getting to know each other. As for where we are in relation to Japan... There are no countries, really, not anymore. There is only the empire of Devidis. Let me say, for now, that the nearest city is called Shix. Have you heard of Shix?"

Erin shook her head. "What about places beyond the empire? Surely there's more to the world than that," she said.

"Well, there are small, out-of-the-way holdouts, such as our Sun Tower, as well as the so-called Free Kingdoms to the south, but, really, everything in our known world falls under Devidis' rule, and has been under his control for as long as we have any reliable record. I found myself here when I was about your age, transported much like you were, perhaps, and I haven't been able to leave. The Sun Tower is surrounded by a forest, so-called the Forbidden Forest, in a canyon from which there is no escape. I'd be happy if you four considered us all in much the same situation. Can we agree that we're all trying to find a way out?"

He searched our faces. We were all looking at each other, for a moment, but no one so much as nodded. I took a few steps back toward the balcony. Sure enough, in the deepening darkness, I could still make out the rim of a canyon. It seemed to encircle the Sun Tower.

"I'm sure we are all in a hurry to get out and go home," I said, finally.

"Yes, I think we can start with that point of agreement," Sensei nodded.

"And if that's not possible?" Erin said, folding her arms near the lampstand.

"Oh, nothing's impossible," Sensei said. "But if your home of the past is beyond our reach, then we can try to make the best of it together. Now," he continued, raising an instructive finger, "Erin, would you like to see whether or not there was any meaning in what you found yourself saying about a fire talent? I promise your safety."

When she didn't object, the old man picked up two long, square-headed nails from a nearby table and presented them to Erin, before removing the nearby lamp's glass bulb. The candle inside was exposed, unlit. Sensei sat the cover on the side table, next to the weapons we had brought, and crossed his arms again, waiting for Erin. The Japanese girl looked at the nails, then at the exposed black wick of the lamp.

"What am I supposed to do?" she asked.

Sensei made a scraping motion with his hands. "Make a spark. Light the lamp."

Erin nodded. The stand was a bit taller than she was, so she got on her tiptoes and rubbed the two nails together. After two or three strikes, there was a massive orange spark.

Erin, surprised, took a step back to catch her balance, but Sensei encouraged her, "Yes, just like that. Another strike or two and it should be lit."

His prediction proved correct; Erin leaned forward, and the next strike caught the wick ablaze, illuminating the dark space left in the wake of the setting sun.

Erin the fire-starter held out the nails to Sensei, to return them to him, but he hesitated to take them in his hands. "We might want to let those cool down for a while..."

I stepped in closer and saw that the iron pieces were giving off a faint glow. Jason held out his hand to take one, and Erin let him have it.

"So these fire-starting sticks have talent, t—Ouch!"

One of the mysterious metal pieces clanged onto the floor. Erin looked at the nail in her hand. In the darkness, bright orange marked where her fingers had gripped to strike the spark. The metal looked as if it had been in a blacksmith's forge. Jason squeezed his fingertips. When he opened his fists, big red blisters were already forming. He quickly squeezed them together again.

"Sorry, Jason," Erin said, looking at Sensei.

"You could've warned me." Jason's frown was likewise focused on the old man once again.

"You both need to pay better attention," Sensei said. "I didn't think I needed to explain that glowing metal is hot."

Jason looked ready to say something else, but the old man held up his hand. He sighed. "We will all be more careful next time. We are continually learning about each other, are we not?"

Jason closed his eyes for a moment. "OK, so Erin can hold those... fire sticks because she's... the Fire Elemental?"

"Those were _nails_ ," Sensei said, "large nails, and nothing more. I have never heard of talented fire sticks; a flint and tinder is just as effective, and simpler to come by, I would say. Though I suppose one could fashion such a talented tool. Implements of that nature, items infused with talent, are always hard to acquire, just as talented people are quite rare. Even so, you have been fortunate enough to carry four—no, five—such tools already." He gestured toward the weapons on the side table.

"So I heated the nails... just by holding them?" Erin asked, rubbing her fingertips and looking at the still-glowing nail in her hand.

"It took an act of will on the part of yourself, a person of talent, but yes, you could say so." Sensei nodded.

"That's great," Jason said, squeezing his hand, "but right now, I could really use some first aid. I mean... water would be fine." His eyes came to rest on Kris.

"Would it be possible for Kris to... talent up some water for Jason's hands?" I asked the old man. Speaking of first aid, I put my hand to my face and checked. The blood on my chin was still a bit wet, but not dripping. I would be just fine.

The old man stroked his short beard. "That's... for Kris to determine, really," he said. "Otherwise we would have to go back down the stairs to get some water the regular way."

Kris quickly stepped toward Jason, "I would be glad to try. Those burns don't look good," she said.

Sensei urged the two closer together, positioning Jason's palms, outstretched, under Kris'. I caught a look from Erin, worried, and tried to give her an encouraging smile. I must have looked goofy with my bloody chin, because she smiled back readily. I turned to Jason, trying to think of something more useful to do, but his face already seemed to be showing some relief. His eyes were fixed on Kris. _Well, she is pretty_ , I thought to myself.

"I want both of you to relax," Sensei said.

"Kris," he turned to her, "you may be interested to hear that I've known a water talent or two that also had a talent for direct healing. But, what I want you to concentrate on right now is the idea that water is all around us. In school, long ago, I learned that there is a lot of water in the air, and even in the human body. And Kris, wouldn't it be nice if we had some of that convenient water to cool Jason's hand?"

Both of them gave surprised gasps. Water was trickling from Kris's hands to Jason's.

"I feel better already," Jason said, a silly grin spreading across his face.

Our friend's good mood was infectious. Sensei was smiling, too. I think we were all feeling better. In a strange way, things were starting to make sense. I checked myself. _Or maybe I'm just a bit more comfortable going a little crazy._

"Good," the old man said. "I think that's enough for today. It's getting quite dark, and Jason should have some bandages. If you'll indulge me by grabbing those weapons you brought with you, we'll go down to where you'll be sleeping."

"Sleeping?" Erin said. "Shouldn't we be going..." Her sentence trailed off.

My smile, which had crept up on me, immediately faded. I remembered that we were someplace completely new, that the man called Devidis had stolen our reality away from us. If Sensei was right, then there were no homes for us to go back to. No family. No countries, even. Here was this second old man, telling us we had nothing, and tending to us straight away. It was awfully kind and convenient. There was nothing to do but listen to Sensei. But to trust him? No.

As panic threatened to take over once again, I looked to my friends. There was Erin who I felt I knew, and two faces only slightly newer than those of Sensei and Devidis. But Kris and Jason, along with Erin, I knew I could trust them. The four of us had all been forced to touch that crystal together. Devidis... Sensei... Flying... Today had been all too real, but it was still so much like a dream. Crazy.

Kris led the way to the table to retrieve the weapons. With some help from Jason, I sheathed the dangerous double-scythe. Sensei headed for the stairs, and we followed, weapons strapped out our backs. Was that why the old man had asked us to carry these things? He was telling us that it was a dangerous world, but also telling us that there were ways to be ready for it, to protect ourselves...? I shook my head. It seemed too generous an assumption in the context of our unkind circumstances. It wasn't fair. We were too young for this.

I swallowed a lump in my throat as I fingered the double-scythe and its harness. _If I don't find the positive_ , I told myself, _then I really will go crazy, and I won't survive. Erin and Kris and Jason will be that much more alone._ I took a deep breath.

_It seems so much like a dream right now_ , I said to myself. Tokyo had seemed like a dream, too: the strange, fallen metropolis across the globe, halfway around the world, about as far from home as a person can get.

Japan was a strange new culture, just as this was. For months, 'going home' had meant little more than returning to a tent on a lot in a foreign land. _Tonight, I suppose, I will at least have a solid roof over my head._ And Sensei's words about the old world being gone... well, they hadn't been anything absolute. He emphasized what he didn't know over what he did.

_Tonight_ , I thought, _maybe I'm not in Japan. Maybe I'm not 'halfway around the world.' Maybe, just maybe, I could already be a little closer to home._

I could admit that I was stretching the truth to myself, but the thought was keeping me from the verge of tears, at least. That would have to be good enough for now. I put one foot in front of the other and continued on.
Chapter 7

Ryan:

"What fuel are these torches using?" Erin asked, with a look at the lighting along the walls of the staircase.

"Oil, I believe," Sensei said. "Why do you ask?"

"The fire seems to be moving... a little slowly," she said.

I looked at the torches as we continued downward. There didn't seem to be anything special about them. They seemed pleasantly predictable, even normal, at least when compared against everything else that had just happened.

"Perhaps, now that you have discovered your talent, you are seeing your element more clearly," Sensei suggested.

I considered his words. When I was flying, the air had seemed thicker somehow, like layered blankets, or waves. As I recalled that feeling, I observed the air in the stairwell. I guessed there was a slight breeze, tending upward, hot air rising, with the smoke and heat from the torches. Dry air. _Whoa_. If there was something positive to be found, maybe this new awareness, this talent, was part of it.

I misplaced my footing and nearly tripped. Erin's hand was on my arm. "Careful," she said.

"Sorry," I said, readjusting the strap chafing my shoulder, careful not to let the scythe slip.

"I was trying to look at the air like you were looking at the fire," I explained.

"What did you see?" Sensei asked.

"It's going up, I think. Smoke and heat," I said with a shrug. "Nothing special."

"The wind may show you very little in tight spaces like this," Sensei said, "but if you learn to listen to it, you may find yourself hearing a great deal."

"Hey, I feel like I can almost see through the walls, the stone walls," Jason said from behind me. "There must be a chink, a larger than normal gap between stones. If I knew more about buildings, I might say the stress is going to be uneven."

I looked at him, amazed. There was a pause.

"How did I know that?" Jason said.

"Fish swim. Birds fly. Men survive. The talented try," Sensei said, his rhythm almost sing-song as he continued downward, his voice echoing through the stairwell. "I have one friend who knows how to turn what she sees into a painting, another who might make a beautiful song out of an everyday object, and another who coaxes water out of the earth. Everyone has at least one talent. Some talents are rarer, and some talented people are more practiced, but all are useful. In some ways, all are equally inexplicable. Intuited, not explained."

"Intuition," Kris said. "That I can grab onto."

"I find that talented women are especially intuitive, in general," Sensei said, stopping at a door. He knocked.

The door opened a crack, and out stepped an older woman in a long nightgown. "Sensei," she said, bobbing her head respectfully. "I take it that these are the two girls we discovered today?"

"Yes," Sensei replied. "Kris, Erin, I would like you to meet Narin. She is in charge of the girls' dormitory."

"I've been anxious to meet you both," Narin said in a sweet voice. "You four have begun some gossip already, with Sensei speaking directly to you so quickly."

Sensei was about to say something, but Narin held up a hand. "Oh, of course, I don't want to overwhelm you. We have some beds available, fresh linen of course, and I understand you didn't bring any other clothes with you? We'll get you a fresh change and see about your laundry before bed. You must be exhausted."

Kris was ready with a smile. Erin was less enthusiastic. She glanced toward Jason and me. "Where are you taking the boys?" she asked.

"The boys dormitory is the next floor down," Narin said. "You'll meet up again during tomorrow's training, I'm sure."

"Training?" I echoed.

"Yes, of course," Sensei said. "That is what we do here. The area surrounding the tower is quite dangerous. New faces appear all the time, like you four, though many are unfriendly. I hope you will consider joining us."

"Well, it doesn't seem like we have much choice in the matter," Jason said, his voice cold.

Sensei turned away, with a shake of his head. "A fair point, and vital observation," he said with some reluctance, as he continued slowly down the stairs. "You still have some important decisions to make, but they can wait until morning. Let's go down to your dormitory. I hope that a night's rest will rekindle your curiosity, and my patience."

I found myself sending Jason a slight frown, and immediately focused back on Sensei, to follow the old man down the stairs.

"We'll see you tomorrow Ryan... and Jason," Kris said.

I returned a wave before the girls disappeared behind the door.

Sensei had stopped on the next floor. The door was open, and a stern-faced middle-aged man in a light robe had stepped out to join him on the landing. Sensei pointed us out to the man, who I took as the dormitory supervisor. He had a prominent, bushy mustache that extended up into his sideburns.

"We'll talk more tomorrow," Sensei said to him.

"Leave them to me," the bushy-mustached dorm supervisor acknowledged. He immediately turned to us with the simple introduction: "I'm Hugo."

Sensei disappeared around the bend of the stairs, and, with a clap on the back, Hugo ushered us inside the dormitory. "We've got beds, and some bedclothes for you, though you'll have to wait until tomorrow for a wash."

The voices inside the sprawling bedroom grew quiet for a moment before returning to a low murmur. There might have been fifty bunk beds along the outer curving wall, with perhaps a hundred guys in robes matching Hugo's.

"There are two beds together, about halfway back," the dorm supervisor said, with a gesture. "If they look unoccupied, take 'em. Robes should be there. If you have any questions, ask the guy next to you. ...Hey, Cullin, what about that laundry?"

He left us there.

We walked back, and got a few incredulous looks from the guys nearby, though most seemed focused on getting ready for bed.

When we reached an unoccupied bunk, Jason said, "I got bottom; fly-boy goes on top." He smiled.

"Ha. Fair enough. Stay close to the ground." I put a hand and foot on the ladder, but Jason touched my shoulder. I turned around to meet his anxious look.

"Seriously, though, we need to get some things straight," he said. "What do you think of Sensei?"

I rubbed the temples of my forehead with my free hand. "I'm... not sure. I guess we know where the guy stands, more or less," I answered, letting my optimism show through.

"I'm not so sure," Jason replied. He nervously tapped the leg of the bunk bed. He seemed to be waiting for me to say something.

"Well, I mean, Sensei showed us our talents. It really seems like he wants to teach us, to help us," I suggested.

"It could be all an act. We don't even know this guy." He was thinking aloud, I realized, talking mostly to himself. "It's too coincidental: the old man Devidis zapping us with... whatever that black crystal was. And now here's this other old man calling himself Sensei..."

"Well, yeah, I thought it was a pretty big coincidence... and we know that Devidis is not exactly our friend, but we've got to trust someone," I said. "Not all old men are like Devidis."

Jason shook his head, frustrated, and grabbed the robe from his bed.

Not wanting to leave the matter unsettled like that, I added, "Hey, I don't like it either. Sensei deserves a chance, though. But you're right, too. It's suspicious."

I looked around. The guys near us seemed caught up in their own routines, but I made sure to keep my voice low as I said, "It's like you said. We don't have much choice. This is all pretty insane. Especially the talents part. I'll tell you this, though: no matter what happens, we're in it together. It's you, me, Erin and Kris." I stuck out my hand.

Jason hesitated, leaning on the bunk. "Elementals," I added, just above a whisper. It was a word of grandeur, and I was unable to keep a straight face.

The larger boy gave me a harsh look, that broke into grin. He grabbed my hand and shook it firmly. "Well, like the man said, we're not ready for that title... but I guess we'll see how things look tomorrow."
Chapter 8

Ryan:

Upon waking, we agreed to participate in a few of the classes. All four of us were placed with the youngest training group. We stood out: too tall and completely out of sync with the rest of our classmates. I was pleasantly surprised, though, to find myself not exhausted throughout. I had been anxious, but it turned out to be more like gym class than I would have expected, just longer, more intense. It wasn't long before I was doing more push-ups, stretches, and sprints in a few hours than I had in years, but I still had breath and strength left in me.

_It's the air_ , I told myself. _It feels different, smells stronger, tastes fresher_. And I realized, yes, I was seeing it with new eyes, embracing it with my new-found talent.

The four of us took a break for lunch in the cool shade of the lower dining room. I expected Jason to bring the girls in on the talk we had last night. My new friend was distracted, though, by the tools we had been given during practice. They were small, unassuming things. They reminded me of tweezers, and of long flat needles with little handles.

"I wonder how you're supposed to pick a lock with this thing," Jason said, referring to what we had heard in class.

Meanwhile, I was concentrating on my gravy-covered meat. Was it from some exotic creature? I decided I didn't want to know, and took a bite. It tasted like chicken.

"You really are new, aren't you?" One of the nearby boys in our class joined in. "We won't learn about locks for at least a year. They don't want us hurting ourselves... or breaking the lock on the basement door. They say there's monsters guarding the only exit from the valley down there, but I know it's just where they store the guns."

"How long have you been here?" Kris asked.

"What kind of question is that? We were all born here." His blue eyes flashed with a certain pride when he said so. "You may be taller, but the way I see it, you're a lot younger than me, so pay attention, and don't ask silly questions."

I looked away from the kid who thought a lot of himself. Kris and Erin seemed to sink a little lower on the bench. The trainees nearby, who had been listening in, looked away. None too friendly. I was grateful, then, for the gruff voice that broke the uncomfortable silence.

"You four, Jesen, Eran, and, uh, Kris?"

My three friends raised their hands. The gruff voice belonged to a short man, a bit younger than Hugo. His curly brown hair shook as he nodded. "You're to come with me to the West Field. Some of the talent instructors want to meet you personally before afternoon classes begin."

He looked at me. "Are you Ryan, then?"

I nodded. "Yes."

"You're instructed to head to the roof to meet with Sensei."

"Hey," the blue-eyed kid interrupted, "why does the new guy get to skip class to meet Sensei? He's the worst one of them."

I kept my mouth shut. No point in flaunting status I hadn't really earned yet. Sensei's advice made sense at least that far. The gruff-voiced man looked at the loud-mouthed kid long enough to give him a frown before returning to me. "Is that understood, Ryan?"

I stood up. "Yes, sir."

"Good," the man said. "You should head out now. Leave your lunch. Sensei doesn't like to be kept waiting. You three, follow me."

I parted ways with my friends and headed up the stairwell.. I was stopped and questioned by the house guard, but they let me pass quickly once I told them I was going up to see Sensei.

I hesitated at the door we had used just last night, but the man had been clear when he said ' the roof.' Continuing up one more flight of stairs, I broke out into the sunlight, and caught my balance. The hatch had opened to reveal a roof that was totally flat, with no guard rail and only a few small, squarish battlements to mark the edge. I felt a little wobbly on my feet in the high wind as I noted the four lookouts standing precariously close to the edges of the tower, to the north, south, east, and west. Sensei stood along with them. The lookouts all turned when I set foot on the roof, but quickly redirected their eyes back outward to the forest that surrounded us.

As Sensei approached me, he held out his hand and gestured toward the landscape. In every direction a steep cliff marked the furthermost edge of the forest, rising at least as high as the tower, before flattening out into rolling plains beyond. Further off in the distance, to the north and east, I could make out great blue mountains.

"Night comes quickly in the Forbidden Forest," Sensei said. "Do you understand why?'

He must have been following my eyes. "Yes, I think so. The shadows from the canyon walls must grow very quickly."

He smiled. "You are a smart boy, Ryan. The others look up to you, you know."

He gestured toward the west. Looking down, I saw a few people mingling, near the edge of a large lake. I adjusted my glasses. Was that Jason, Erin and Kris?

"It's a shame about those glasses," Sensei said. "They won't help you when it comes to flying, or fighting for that matter. You'll have to tie them back, and be very careful with them. There are very few indeed who would be able to repair lenses like yours, much less make a new pair for you."

"Fighting?" I said. "You're expecting me to fight?"

Sensei let the question hang. It was a moment before I noticed that his attention had shifted. He crouched down at the very edge of the tower, peering intently into the trees. I walked over beside him, as the old man beckoned for the nearest lookout.

"There's movement in that grove. Have you been watching it?" Sensei asked.

I squinted into green, but either their eyes were that much better than mine, or they were looking at something I didn't know how to see.

"I think it's the ogres," the lookout replied. "They've been thereabouts since yesterday. They seem to want to hold that position. I might have mentioned it, but it was my understanding that you wanted to maintain the lull in the fighting."

"Well, I'm here now. I might as well take a look." He turned to me. "Ryan, wait here... No, we should take advantage of this." He gestured me forward. "Come with me. We're going to take a closer look at the ogres over there, and return to the tower. A very quick surveillance mission, if you will."

I squinted harder, and did notice some movement, but it was a fair distance away. There would be nothing quick about going that far. My eyes widened. Unless we flew.

Sensei gave me a little push between the shoulders toward the edge. "We'll jump together, and I'll catch you if necessary, but I want you to try following me."

A sudden gust sent a howl across the roof. I pulled away from the edge. More than the surge of talent I had felt yesterday, what I remembered most vividly was the desperate fear that sent me grabbing for the invisible power.

"I, uh..." I stuttered.

The old man dropped to one knee, his body oriented toward the disturbance in the grove beyond. His eyes, though, were on me, severe under his bushy white brows. "Ryan, you must understand that here I am Sensei, not only a teacher, but master of Sun Tower. If you wish to remain in the relative safety of the tower's auspices, then you must follow the rules of order. Part of our discipline states that, as a youth, you must train, to defend against common attacks, and surveillance is a key part of defense. I do not have time to explain things further now."

I was too afraid to answer. Surely there was something else I could do instead...

Unsurprisingly, the old man insisted. "If you wish to remain under my protection, you will have to trust me," he said firmly.

The concerns I had shared with Jason bubbled to the top of my mind, but as I looked into Sensei's unclouded brown eyes, I felt sincerity, hard and determined. His demeanor had been consistent with his words. He was a leader, and everyone here was following him. I had awoken yesterday to a dangerous world, but he was offering me a way to get above it, literally. And so I desperately wanted to trust him. _If he can show me how to fly..._

"OK," I said.

The old man smiled very briefly. "We jump together." He grabbed my arm, surprising me once again with his strength. "Three, two, one."

The next thing I knew, I had fallen three stories. This time, though, I immediately began looking closely at the air, feeling for something to grab onto. Stretching out my arms, I found that same something from before, pulled it under me, and began rising.

"Well done," Sensei said, from slightly above.

It happened much more quickly this time. I not only heard but saw the air rushing from below to support him.

"Stay behind me, and don't go lower than I do," he ordered.

With a whoosh of cool air, he took off in a wide arc. The trees looked different from the lower perspective, and I began to worry. I hoped I would see the ogres, whatever they were, before they saw me. Sensei flew flat on his chest, with his arms and legs slightly spread, away from his torso. His white robes snapped in the updraft. I held my body likewise, and tried to follow his dip and turn.

Wobbling right, left, and losing altitude, it reminded me of trying to ride a bike. And so I quickly began steering with my body, rather than trying to pull too hard on the wind. I spread my arms and legs wider, caught more air, and regained altitude, constantly trying to maintain altitude, just above Sensei.

He dipped toward the trees, and his arc curved into a tight circle. Crusty gray monsters were moving between the branches. So these were the ogres! The harder I concentrated on watching them, the more wobbly my flight became. Sensei was heading back to the tower, and I was uncomfortably close to the tops of the trees.

Pulling harder, I completed an anxious turn, and was relieved as the tower, my destination, came into plain, unobstructed sight. Gently tapping my wind currents to the left and right, I was able to bank up and down, fishtailing my way back to the gray pillar.

Sensei's feet dropped low. I watched him pull backward on the wind before landing on the near edge of the roof. Landing: there was something I had yet to try. Straightening my approach, I floated in a little above the circle of stone, and decided to aim for the middle. By the time I had dropped my feet to touch down, though, I had almost reached the far side. Too high, too fast!

I dropped heavily to the stone surface. Pain shot up my ankle, and I rolled toward the edge. Someone caught my hand, and when I opened my eyes, one of the lookouts was pulling me up. She had stopped my skid only a step or two away from the brink.

"They're moving, toward the tower!" another lookout shouted.

Sensei rushed to one side and shouted down, "Talented, to the north field; ogres are advancing!"

By the time I had crossed the roof and rejoined Sensei, maybe a dozen warriors from the tower side of the lawn had assembled, facing the forest to the north. One of the lookouts had loaded a bolt to her primitive-looking crossbow. I dropped to one knee and massaged my ankle, a welcome distraction for my eyes from the battle I knew was imminent.

A roar erupted from below and demanded my attention. The gray ogres broke from the trees. I looked to Sensei, ready to drop once more from the roof, but this time the old man's arm held me back. The ogres carried massive axes. A tree cracked and fell. Swords were drawn as more tower warriors joined the fight. Where were the guns? The lookout fired her crossbow. One of ours jumped, and there was a bright flash. Amid the confusion of the battle, my thoughts turned to my friends. I hoped that Erin, Kris, and Jason were safe. I didn't have long to worry, though. In less than a minute, there were nine craggy gray bodies facing up toward the sky.

"They must have been desperate," a lookout commented.

"I was hoping to give them a little scare," Sensei said with a shake of his head, "but they ran the wrong way."

"How awful," I said. The goblin I had first seen crossed my mind. The ogres were human, too. (Humanoid?)

Sensei smiled. His eyes on the lookout, he said, "Ryan shows empathy for the adversary. A proper reaction! He has a good heart, does he not, Verax?"

The lookout's smile had a trace of bitterness. "I suppose so. A little naive for his age, though," she said.

I bit my lip. I hated it when adults talked about me like I wasn't there.

"You both make excellent points. One of the reasons I brought you up here, Ryan," Sensei took my arm, and walked me away from the lookout, "was to explain to you the nature of our existence here. Look again at the canyon around us." He turned me in a circle, his hand gesturing outward, away from the bodies of the fallen ogres. The tower really did seem to be in the exact center of a roughly bowl-shaped canyon.

"Those of us who live at this tower do so mainly because there is no escape from this canyon. The closer one gets to the canyon walls, the stronger the gravity. Did you notice it as you were flying?"

I thought for a moment, then slowly shook my head. I had been too busy between watching the ogres and trying not to crash to notice whether or not the gravity was any stronger.

"Fair enough," Sensei said. "Believe me when I say that the further one goes away from this tower, the heavier everything feels. It starts slowly at first, but, at those sloping canyon walls, only those with the strongest physical talent are able to bear the weight of their own bodies. I have tried countless times to fly, even to walk close to the canyon edge... but the fact is that we are sealed, imprisoned by Devidis' design."

He paused, took note of the confusion in my eyes, and continued. "It's true. The one who brought you here by force is the one who keeps us all here now. There are those of us who would resist him, but that is a tall order when survival in this place is such a challenge."

He pointed to the closely cropped green trees at the edge of the clearing around the Sun Tower. "Strange people and things are constantly appearing. Sometimes we are fortunate, and people like you, kind-hearted and smart, materialize out of nowhere. More often than not, though, nightmarish things find us.

"Some of them may come out of... nowhere, like you and your friends did, but usually dangerous criminals are thrown in here by Devidisian soldiers who patrol the rim of the canyon. The soldiers are guardians in name, but, in truth, they are spectators to our struggles, criminal versus criminal. We prisoners are, on the whole, killed and replenished with grim regularity.

"Many of our fellow prisoners are too awful to be kept in Devidis' empire and no less dangerous here, but, then again, every so often we find a friendly rebel. Bound together by necessity and resentment of the heavy hand of the emperor Devidis, those prisoners, who are peaceable and willing, continue to build the community of the Sun Tower, little by little."

He examined my expression, my reaction. I tried to keep from betraying any weak emotion, after panicking earlier. "Your fellow trainees," he continued, "those born here who know almost nothing of a wider world, may be able to take comfort in the simple tower life, but it will not be so with you and your three friends. This place is in truth a prison, but as long as this is our best option, we prefer to think of it as our refuge, the Sun Tower a triumphant symbol, standing tall and bright in the face of oppressive Devidisian rule."

He turned to the female lookout, "Lorna, what would you say is the goal of our Sun Tower discipline?"

She rested her crossbow across her shoulder and scratched beneath her fingernails before answering, "We defend our Sun Tower family, work for safety, peace, and comfort. We search for outside help, hoping that someday we will find a way out of the canyon, a way toward a just victory over Emperor Devidis, who, lest we forget, is our captor."

Sensei smiled. "Very eloquent," he said.

Turning back to me, he continued, "And so I understand you have chosen to stay with us for a time, to train, defend, and prepare for the possibility that one day we may find a way over the canyon walls. Your alternative is freedom from the tower." He spread his arms wide, directed toward the dark jungle below.

"You would be free to fend for yourself," he continued, "for however long you may last, though I do not recommend that path. Without proper training, I promise that you will not survive long, your obvious talents notwithstanding."

I looked off in the distance. Against the canyon walls, the blue sky seemed suddenly far away. Swallowing, I said, "We have missed out on a lot."

And with that admission, the questions, the fears, came pouring out. "Will no one come to help us? What about my friends? If I say yes now, is that the last word, forever?" I asked, my voice nearly cracking.

"Wise questions worth considering. Your decisions are each your own," Sensei said in a deep voice full of ominous authority. "Your friends will be approached soon, and they will give their answers. You must decide individually, though you will be treated a team for the foreseeable future. As I said before, none of us here is sure of the state of the world beyond Devidis' reach, for our informants on the outside tell us the empire has grown truly wide. I promise that the training we provide here will better equip you to search and survive in the Forbidden Forest, and perhaps, one bright day, it will help you survive in the wider world, independent of the tower's safety. No one will force you to stay forever. You always have the option of leaving, though the option of staying is at my discretion, and the discretion of my council....You will stay, then?"

"Sounds like one way or another, we're going to need some training," I said with a sigh. "I'll stay."

"Good," Sensei replied, clapping me on the shoulder. "Then we fly together."
Chapter 9

Ryan:

We came in knowing nothing. And so the months of serious training began. Sometimes we four were with the regular classes, and sometimes the four head talent experts would each take us out on our own. As our old clothes wore out, we adapted to the rough training gear of the Sun Tower—whites, browns and greens, lots of earth colors, leather belts and bronze clasps. The girls came across a few brighter, more feminine colors, especially when the water and fire talent girls gave Kris and Erin blue and red tops, the official colors of their respective elements, as a welcoming present.

The teachers said they were taking it easy on us at first, making us clean and pack all the implements essential for hypothetical life beyond the bounds of the Sun Tower. Wearing the packs, we took charge of the chamber pots.

"You can't be serious," Jason had said immediately after we were tasked with transporting the waste of the entire tower population to the compost heap in the forest just beyond the lawn. We learned the proper way to bury and hide the foul smelling stuff, to minimize the tracks we might make in the forest. It was degrading, in a way, but after a while, I was glad to do it, to earn my keep, and not be simply indebted to Sensei for the attention he had optimistically bestowed upon us.

And we ran to and from the compost heap. With the loaded packs we ran, to build up endurance and so that we would learn to feel, to appreciate, whether or not we had prepared our equipment correctly, balanced and tightly secured, to keep track of our footing instinctively so that, at the very least, we wouldn't get too much pee and poo on ourselves. A day later, we would be doing the same thing, except that we would climb trees after our sprints. Up and down, up and down.

Then they let us use the knives. Draw, cut kindling, sheathe. Draw, cut, sheathe. Climb down the tree. Run, run, run. "Drop the packs!" "Knives out; be ready to defend your supplies."

It wasn't long before we set the knives aside, and learned how to throw a punch, keep our guard up, duck, dodge and weave. Then they started hitting us. It was a shock at first, but we could understand their reasoning. There were bad men, goblins, ogres and more in the forest. We had to be ready to face the dark things. I remembered Devidis' black, burning eyes. I never wanted to feel so helpless again.

The rough training hurt less and less every day. We learned how and where to take hits, with fewer and fewer connecting as the weeks passed. Bruises were our study aides.

"What about guns?" Jason asked one day.

"Those are the most dangerous," said Ganic, the stout, brown ogre—and resident stone talent expert—spreading his thick stony arms to emphasize. "We take out those enemies first, with stealth, and mostly hide those weapons away. The Forbidden Forest is too tight for a prolonged gun battle. If one of our defenders lost a firearm to an enemy... the risk is too great."

"The best defense is a good offense," Jason said. "Is fighting guns with guns any more dangerous than fighting blades with blades?"

Sensei slapped his outstretched hand with a branch.

"Ow!" Jason pulled back, fists up, ready to fight.

"Good instinct, good reaction," Sensei said, holding the stick out to him. "Hold this. Pretend that it's a gun."

Jason frowned at the stick, not particularly gun-like.

"Point it at us, try to get a shot off," Ganic said.

Jason took a step back, out of range of both men before pointing the stick at Sensei, "OK, Ban—"

Sensei had moved out of the line of fire and knocked the stick from Jason's hand.

"What do you do now?" the old man asked.

Jason held up his fists.

Ganic nodded. "Learn your basics first."

"But he does have a point. Are we not holding them back? They are making acceptable progress," said Fain, the long-limbed female goblin, the fire talent expert. She put her hands on her hourglass hips, and leaned in to give Sensei a charming smile. She was pretty—I mean, for a goblin.

Cor, the water talent expert, shorter than Kris, joined the conversation. "Shall we have them moved to weapons training?"

Cor was a Sefaloid, a light purple humanoid that was mostly tentacles. Every time I saw him, I was convinced that it was only his water talent that allowed him to support his jelly-like body on dry land.

(When Kris had commented on his resemblance to Cthulhu, tentacled mouth included, Jason had added the observation to his running list of fantasy and science-fiction tropes. Sensei told us his best educated guess, "There is much to do with adaptation, as Sefaloids, like Atlantians, are native to the sea. But, indeed, the myths of the old world seem to have come true in the new. In the cataclysm, the release of talent allowed first people out of the old world to remake themselves as they saw fit. That is one theory.")

Whether it concerned theory or practice, as always, the conversation was geared toward our training. "Fine," Sensei said. "They'll train with weapons together. No guns." He held up a finger toward Jason. "So you'd best forget about them, at least for a while. Knives, staves, batons, then maybe swords and maces..."

"If you expect me to teach Kris how to use those special blades quickly, even knife fighting won't be that useful for her," Cor said, tentacles crossed.

"She will train; they all will need to be able to understand how their enemies might come at them," Fain said, with a flash of her fiery temper.

"So we're going to teach them how to fight with wolf teeth, too, before we teach them what we expect them to be using?" Cor drew himself up to his full height and stepped up to the much taller lady goblin.

"They move to weapons training," Sensei repeated his decision. At a wave from him, the two teachers stepped apart. "You may pull them from classes as you see fit, but it is your responsibility if they lag behind. Keep me updated on their progress. When their offensive techniques begin to develop, we will test them again as a group."

My heart sank. I knew it was the beginning of days of further separation. The other kids seemed to resent the special treatment the four of us received, and the enthusiasm with which the teachers cut us off from the rest seemed only to enforce our isolation. Eventually, we gave in and only talked among ourselves, and to the teachers. When some of the lower-ranking instructors gently questioned the approach, Sensei only encouraged it more explicitly. "You are a team," he said. "You have to learn to depend on each other before anyone else. You may find yourselves truly isolated one day, sooner than you think."

It seemed especially harsh at first, but from what I saw and heard from the other kids, it was no better and no worse, on the whole. Maybe we didn't exactly like each other, us four and the other kids, but we all respected each other, and there were still times when we all could share a laugh, like when someone disarmed our overbearing weapons teacher and made his goblin fan ears blush with shame. We trainees had much in common, after all, sharing beds and food, clothing and weapons. I soon began to think of us as a tight community. I began to relax, to lose myself in the routine, more than I would have dared to imagine before. Even when I didn't see Erin or Kris, or even Jason, except for just before we boys collapsed into our beds, there was happiness to be found at the Sun Tower, in a new skill learned, in a floor I had cleaned swiftly and well... Simple joy.

I only became well and truly frustrated when I thought of home. We all did. Kris said something, though, that put my mind more at ease. "We might want to fight it... or run away from Sensei and the tower... but how would that help? It wouldn't be easier for our families or a supposed rescue team to find us if we're wandering around aimlessly. There's no use worrying over it, not without some more guidance, more information. And we promised each other: we four are a team. We will not forget where we came from, and we will be searching for a way back... but in the meantime we should take what they give us, and do what they ask of us with some gratitude. Hanging on to bitter feelings will only make things harder."

That kind of practical logic was everywhere, especially in weapons training. "Take your shots when they're open, only then and always then. Too much enthusiasm will lose you a limb. Too much hesitation will lose you a life," Fain said.

True to his word, Cor pulled Kris out from weapons training before we had finished knives. Staves were my favorite part of training. We were free to swing more widely, since we weren't dealing with anything sharp. The wooden poles were thin and flexible, and I was surprised to find that they typically weren't longer than I was tall. Still, at full arms' length, even the shorter staves could be far too long, especially when I was on the receiving end.

The general weapons teacher, though, said I was a natural. After a slow beginning, I eventually won the majority of my fights. I found the courage to cut a length off my staff—so that it was no longer than the distance from the heel of my foot to my shoulder, just as long as Sensei's double-scythe from many days ago. The teacher didn't hesitate to express displeasure—since I had essentially ruined a piece of equipment—but he toned down the volume once I got the staff spinning, really spinning, in a fight. The shorter length made it easier to rotate from the middle of the staff. All of my sparring sessions ended even more quickly, and the other kids started considering a sparring session with me as a punishment.

"This is really a problem for the more advanced classes, but you should be holding back on your wind talent, if only for the sake of your sparring partners," the teacher warned me.

I was surprised. I hadn't realized the advantage I had been using until he pointed it out. But I didn't really have much of a chance to process the realization before we had moved on to clubs and batons. Jason and Erin were both relieved. After the dynamic nature of the staff, though, I had a hard time sparring with a weapon where the proper hold seemed so... static and predictable. My classmates took a little revenge before Sensei pulled me out of class.

"I see you, uh, modified your staff," he said, holding my personal weapon horizontal between his outstretched palms. "That is a very good length for you, isn't it."

"Yes, Sensei," I said.

"We've heard what your teacher said, but I'm going to have you practice integrating your wind talent more explicitly into your fighting style," the old man decided. "You may not have been aware, at first, of how you were manipulating the air, but we are going to develop techniques that will leave no doubt."

Holding out his hand, a gust propelled another practice staff into his grasp. Stepping into his fighting stance, he commanded, "Disarm me."

Certain that the harsh master of the Sun Tower wouldn't take it easy on me in what I immediately recognized as our first sparring session, I lashed out, full force. I whipped and hammered my staff, pivoting left and right, swiping down and up, but every blow either met thin air or bounced off his stick.

In seconds, I was sweating, and the butt of Sensei's staff knocked me smack in the center of my chest. Backpedaling, I nearly fell, but recovered myself and managed to mostly hold my ground. I took a breath and embraced the chance to decide where to strike from next.

"Stop wasting time and losing ground," Sensei said. "You may be asking yourself how I do it, but I want you to forget about the 'how.' As you demonstrated in your lower-level class, for a talent like you, the wind is an extension of your body. No thought, but action!"

His staff came flying at me, thrown like a spear. I sidestepped it and took the opening, swinging my weapon like a baseball bat. There was a tingling on the back of my neck, though, and I instinctively bobbed away from Sensei. I ducked, ready to roll, but never made contact with the ground. I had flipped through the air! I was forced to check my swing as Sensei's thrown staff hurtled back into his hand—it had narrowly missed the back of my head. He made wide swiping motions, and the gusts connected to them pushed me away. I jumped over his staff as he swung it at my ankles.

"Good," he muttered.

With a hop, he was airborne. He seemed to slide, hovering left and right, before sailing over me, too fast. The staff cracked across my back, and I fell sprawling in the dirt. My own staff smacked the ground and went rolling away.

"If this were a true battle," he said, "I would have hit you harder."

I rolled onto my back.

"I don't think you would have been able to get up," the old man said.

I pulled the wind in low, and pushed myself to my feet. When I was just about to get my balance, another gust came in and knocked me down.

"I said, I don't think you would have stood up, not quickly, anyway." Sensei's staff was raised for a decisive, "killing" blow.

I rolled to my stomach, and felt another twinge in the air. The wind under Sensei's control was turning back again. I pushed up, grabbed his gust, and channeled it toward where I wanted to go. I slid backward, then flew away, out of range of Sensei's attack. When I looked back toward the ground, Sensei was standing there, his staff almost relaxed at his side, his gaze stern upon me.

"So the match is done for the moment," he said. "Come back down."

I settled in for a landing, and Sensei said, "You do have some real talent. That was a decent start. However, the only excuse you have for that final display, fleeing from a fight, is that you did not start the battle. Running from a fight is not good practice. I do not want to see you wasting time with too much distance like that again."

I rolled my shoulders. My back was throbbing. "Yes, Sensei," I said.

He moved in close, with a commanding finger right in front of my nose. "When you have identified your opponent," he said, "choose between fighting and running. Only enter a fight if you are ready to finish the fight, by disabling or killing your opponent. Only run if you are ready to be chased. Only allow yourself to be chased if you are able to finish the chase with another fight. Do not waste time or energy."

A question popped into my mind. "What if I can just avoid the opponent completely?"

"Avoidance is another word for running," Sensei said, moving back a bit. "Whereas a person or opportunity that does not force you to fight or run... that is an ally, and is sometimes better than a friend."

"Better than a friend?" I asked.

"Yes. A friend is a person or opportunity that will fight and run with you. People and opportunities are always risks, but especially when they become friends. Risks are worth taking in the same way that friends are worth having." He paused.

"Of course, there is a danger that 'friends' may only appear to be supporting you. Or perhaps, while the intention may be genuine, their actions may actually handicap, weigh you down, like too much equipment, or the presence of an innocent on the field of battle."

He gestured with the staff, drawing circles—a Venn diagram—indicating the different groups. "Allies, on the other hand, are friends who have proven themselves useful and reliable in the crucible of battle. Everything is an opportunity. A great warrior, then, is he who knows..." Sensei concluded with a flourish of the staff, spinning the weapon and then slamming one end into the ground, in the middle of the tiny "allies" circle.

"Everything is friendly to me."

From then on, I had to divide my mind. There was the civilian past, and there was the warrior to become. Focused on my training, and on the future, it was easier to let go of my fears and my sadness, tied to the old world. I understood the warrior's philosophy, accepted it, and, as a force, it grew within me. By forcing myself to consider that everything was friendly to me, I began to see allies everywhere. I was making my peace with my new life.
Chapter 10

Ryan:

Sensei taught me to walk, jump, and float with the wind. The more I practiced, the easier it became, second nature to dance away from a strike and bring in a breeze to knock my opponent down. I was fighting warriors older than me, much more experienced, and winning. Most of them, though, exhibited no supernatural talent.

Almost by accident, one day I discovered that by converging two winds on a single point I could create explosive pressure, not just picking up and tossing a target, but dealing damage before it even hit the ground. Sensei seemed especially proud.

By that time, everyone had been pulled out of regular classes by their talent experts. Kris showed us her ability to squeeze herself smaller, bend at incredible angles, agile as water. She was also closing cuts, healing small wounds, whenever the medics gave her a chance.

After graduating to the heaviest mace available at the compound, Jason regularly tested himself by rearranging the massive dining room tables. The crowd returning to classes after lunch would often stop to watch him, and cheer him on. And we regularly caught Erin sparking a fire from her fingers, with little more than a gesture. She didn't talk that much, and never showed off, only practiced. More than any one of us, it seemed, she missed home.

I wished for a way to comfort her myself, but Kris told me not to worry. "There's not much time to talk except just before lights-out. She and I talk, like you and Jason talk. She knows you care. Don't worry."

I tried to hide my reddening cheeks. "I didn't mean to act so serious..."

Kris gave me a knowing grin and left the issue alone after that.

Focused on developing my own style, I spent days, it seemed, throwing my staff and trying unsuccessfully to bring it back. Finally, once I tried pulling on it long before it hit the ground, I started to make real progress toward catching it. Once I could do the simple throw-and-catch reliably, Sensei had me spin it, then, and bring it back spinning, boomerang-style, a much more difficult task. Once I could do that well enough, Sensei told me I had graduated to another weapon. He showed me a staff with curved wooden panels on each end. Its resemblance to the double-scythe from my first day at the Sun Tower struck me immediately. I felt honored. It was the most tangible symbol of my progress, and the closest thing to an award given by the teachers at the Sun Tower.

"It's a one-of-a-kind weapon, quite dangerous if you don't know what you're doing," Sensei warned.

Every time he caught me hitting myself with a wooden blade, he made me stop, bind the area as if it were a serious wound, and continue practicing as if injured. In some ways, the painful monotony of repetitive, unnecessary bandaging was a better motivator than the idea of cutting myself accidentally. But I quickly grew tired of the drills.

After a week of no self-inflicted injuries, Sensei gave me a special challenge. He brought me a deck of playing cards—strange to see something so normal from back home that was also apparently normal here—and scattered them on the grass of the Sun Tower field. Binding my hands behind my back, he told me I had the whole day to get the cards back in a stack. I didn't dare ask if I could simply turn a flip and use my hands. I spent most of the day creating and honing a technique to get the cards to cooperate. Sensei returned after sunset, fed me a little bit of cold dinner leftovers, and planted a torch at my side. I knew better than to complain.

About 45 of 52 cards toward the finish, a giant scorpion, about as large as a house cat, emerged from the night shadows. I jumped to my feet, set my back to the cards, and called in a gust, blowing the creature on its side. As its eight legs wriggled helplessly in the air, four more scorpions appeared. Very carefully, I sent in a pair of precisely aimed gusts, and, with a pop, the intended pressure bubble hurtled three scorpions into the shadows.

The last scorpion was quickly closing in on me and my cards, and the original scorpion was back on its feet. I formed a breeze around the first scorpion, and launched it into its remaining ally. My aim had been good. The first scorpion's stinger bit deep into the last scorpion, and the two began fighting, stabbing and nipping at each other, until both were motionless on the lawn. I drew a sigh of relief, and closed my eyes, listening to the wind for more enemies coming from the trees. There were none.

Returning to the cards, only two had been slightly upset. I carefully returned them to the deck, and, energized by my victory over the scorpions, finished the remaining cards quickly. Sure that Sensei had gone to bed, and wouldn't be happy about being awakened, I realized that I had no way to prove I had stacked each and every card with only the wind.

"It's the spirit of the law, not the word," I whispered to myself. Floating upward, I raised my knees and pulled the rope that bound my arms under and up. My shoulders were almost numb, but I ignored the feeling. Releasing the wind, I settled back to earth and reverently picked up the cards in my bound hands. Slowly I returned to the tower dormitory. Jason would untie me. Defeating the scorpions had been a good experience. I had a story to tell. Sensei would approve.

The next day, in the light of the hot sun, in a circle of dirt near the lake, removed from the main tower lawn, we began sparring with each other. Erin and I had the first match. Our weapons were wooden—my pseudo-scythe against her practice sword—but we were free to use our talents as we saw fit, remembering, of course, that the goal was simply to disable the opponent. We stepped toward the center of the dirt circle. She was nervous, breathing hard, and I must have been as well.

"Begin!" Sensei boomed.

I started, arms thrust forth, with a gust of wind, and she went down in the dust, but as I went in to disarm her, a fireball—huge—erupted at me, unbelievably hot. I was able to avoid the full force of the blast, but was so surprised that I allowed it to absorb all my attention. I followed it with my eyes, and it was too late. Erin jabbed me in the side with her sword, and before I had the chance to defend myself, Fain interrupted.

"Decisive strike. Erin wins."

And with that, the match was over. Erin withdrew her wooden sword, a cocky smile on her face as she stepped out of the ring. I followed suit, slowly.

"Ryan! Accept the unexpected!" Sensei called.

Kris and Jason were sparring next. Neither looked in any hurry to hit the other.

"Begin!" Sensei boomed.

Jason's attacks were heavy, wide and sweeping, right to left, left to right, high, then low. Kris let most of the attacks miss in dramatic fashion, and only a few came close to hitting her. She deflected one strike, and on the follow-through, her wooden A-blade touched his back.

"Decisive strike. Kris wins," Fain said, raising a willowy congratulatory arm.

"Wait for an opening, Jason," Ganic said with a disappointed snort as the pair vacated the circle. "And if I see you doing less than your best again, extra drills instead of dinner."

Jason and I fought next. On "Begin!" I struck out with a wind gust. Jason didn't budge from his fighting stance. Wary of the ground under me, I took to the air, and tossed my scythe. It spun viciously, a hovering saw blade, but a rock pillar thrust up from the ground, and the wooden weapon snapped against it. I found myself defenseless, and it cost me a precious opportunity to move. Jason swung his hammer at the pillar and it exploded. On the verge of panic, I dropped below the trajectory of the rock fragments, and before I could grab at the broken scythe, Jason's hammer tapped my chest.

"Decisive strike," Jason said.

"Jason wins," Sensei confirmed. "Ryan, confidence. Don't toss away your weapon so quickly. Take up those pieces. You and Kris are next."

Kris stepped up, and I took a deep breath. On "Begin!" she was circling me, making the most of her agility. It was time to test that against my speed. Half-scythe in each hand, I broke into a run, circling her in the opposite direction. Faster and faster I moved, practically flying. I tightened the circle. She struck and missed. I was already behind her, and popped her on the side of the ribcage. She rolled in the dirt.

"Decisive strike," I said, skidding to a halt. Instinctively, my hand went out to pull Kris to her feet, but I pulled the courteous gesture back. No one had said, "Ryan wins."

"Make sure she's down," Sensei called.

I swung both arms and Kris twisted, but I had pinned her between the flats of my wooden blades.

"Ryan wins," Cor called out, the strength of his voice belying his short stature. "Keep moving, Kris. Change direction. They might be faster or stronger, but if you keep changing direction, they'll trip up."

A victory at last! And a great opportunity to take a break. Jason and Erin stepped into the ring. Within seconds of "Begin," dust and flame filled the air. I had no idea what was going on. Both yelled out "Decisive strike!" The commotion died down. The smoke and dust cleared. And Jason and Erin stood there as if frozen in time, her blunt sword across his neck, and his hammer resting on her head.

I started laughing, and Kris joined in. The teachers cracked smiles, too.

"What do you think, Kris?" Cor asked, tentacle arms crossed.

She shook her head. "It's a draw, isn't it? No one wins."

"You're right: no one wins," Fain said, idly rubbing her long nose. "But it's not a draw."

"You're both dead. You both lose," Ganic said with a clap of his stony hands.

After that, sparring was a daily exercise. We fought each other and the most advanced students. After drawing crowds, some adults from the guard squads and search teams challenged us. Only the seasoned veterans and the talented were able to beat us.
Chapter 11

Ryan:

We were soon put together on a mock patrol team. The Forbidden Forest was small, but we were given access to a detailed map of where patrols were allowed to go. The map demarcated the territory of the goblins, ogres, elves, and human tribes, and the few mixed factions. Our orders were to keep our eyes and ears open for anything unusual, and stay away from hostile camps, where territory was literally staked out. If the thought of pointed stakes weren't ominous enough, such spears were often topped with skulls, and removing them out of respect for the dead could be a dangerous gamble. There was always the possibility of an assault, and we were reminded repeatedly and explicitly of the need to protect ourselves at all times. Ganic skipped what he described as the typical speech discouraging unnecessary violence, since, he said, we had proven ourselves to be a calm group. We were then given the opportunity to choose our route. When the rest of us shrugged indifference, Erin insisted that we head directly to the closest edge of the canyon.

Once Fain had suggested a relatively clear and straight path to the cliffs, we packed our supplies. Though the goblin fire talent wouldn't be joining us, Ganic and Cor completed our party at six members. The teachers made it clear, however, that they had come to supervise as a last resort, and would be the last to speak or jump into any theoretical battle.

"Who's holding the map, leading the way?" I asked, just as we were about to shoulder our packs.

None of my three friends said anything. No one was anxious to be leader, out in front. I grabbed the map from Fain and handed it to Jason, "You have the best sense of direction, stone talent," I said.

"I guess that, uh, makes sense," Jason said.

"I'm sure Ganic and Cor will refuse to be rearguard, so I'll take that job," I said. "How about if we keep the teachers in the middle?"

"I'll follow after Jason," Kris said.

"I'll hold the line in front of you, Ryan," Erin said. The bright look in her pretty eyes told me she had some faith in my suggestion. I broke our locked gaze, slightly embarrassed by the attention.

"Since we've got that settled, you'd better take your weapons." When Fain stepped aside, she revealed the arms that we had carried on our first day to the top of Sun Tower, as polished and shiny as I remembered them.

I found myself unable to suppress an excited smile as we strapped on our equipment, the works of martial art, followed by our packs. I turned to the wide main door of the Sun Tower. Though we had used it many times before, I was reminded of the feeling I had when I first stepped through the portal, a feeling of apprehension and wonder.

And thus we set out, six marching in a line that weaved between practicing classes, our fellow trainees watching us, not without some envy, I knew: the way I had watched older groups before. With the weapons from our first day finally strapped to our backs, I felt useful and important as we stepped beyond the Sun Tower Field. We had been judged worthy, truly deserving of the attention Sensei had offered us at first glance.

The teachers had been hard on us, treated us differently, because they expected something extra from us, I told myself. That's what they said, and I believed it. I wasn't sure why they wanted us to complete our courses so quickly, but I wasn't going to be quick to complain about the welcome change in the tough routine, the decrease in drills in favor of a little adventure.

The walk toward the canyon wall was hot, humid, and uneventful. It felt strange that, in a few hundred steps, we were the further than we had been away from the Sun Tower since we had first arrived. For all that, though, there were more trees... and that was about the only difference. I had been surprised to learn, initially, that there were no poisonous plans, for example, in the immediate area. Still, I kept my eyes and ears open toward anything that moved.

Birds chirped and fluttered, and a monkey or two moved somewhere in the distance. Our boots tread quietly between leaves and twigs in the dirt of the path. The wind was calm—nothing unusual—all the way until the shadows of the trees opened toward the sky, and the canyon wall was plain and clear, a shadow stretching beyond the green canopy. I suddenly felt tired, like I was carrying much more weight.

"It's definitely done with some kind of stone talent," Jason said, staring up at the bare walls of the canyon. "It really is... a gravity field?"

"It's far too powerful for simple ol' me to understand," Ganic said, shaking his massive head. "It's there. It keeps us here."

It felt as if I was carrying one of Jason's boulders on my back. "We should play it safe on our first outing," I suggested. "Let's stop and rest here."

"I'm fine," Jason countered. "Let's keep going."

Cor seemed about to say something, but stopped himself, and instead exchanged a meaningful look with Ganic. Conflict... not good for a team. That's what they must have been thinking. A simple solution popped into my head.

"Jason, you're the strongest. If you want to go on, go for it. I'll wait here. Erin and Kris... and Ganic and Cor, you can choose. If everyone else wants to keep going, though, I'll go as well."

Kris stepped out of line, toward me, and dropped to a crouch, giving her back a break. "No, I think this is far enough for me. I don't want us to be needing a rescue on our first outing," she said. It was obvious that she was feeling the gravity more than the rest of us.

Ganic and Cor gave Erin a look as Jason took a few excited steps forward. His eyes, though, were still on us. Erin joined Kris and I at the side of the path.

"We'll stay with Ryan, and we'll be here when you get back," Erin told Jason. "If you need help, give a shout."

"Hmm... I don't like the idea of the party breaking up," Cor said. I got the feeling that his jelly-like constitution was giving him at least as much trouble as Kris was having, though the seasoned expert would be hiding it better.

"You stay here, and I'll go with Jason. This is good for a stone talent," Ganic said, offering an indulgent smile on his craggy face to the water talent expert.

"Alright." Cor nodded, tentacles waggling. "The four of us will go back a few steps and wait for you. I don't like our chances in a high gravity fight."

"Good," Ganic said. He followed Jason, saying, "But if it were only the four of you, you would have been wise to go no further."

A look of shame crossed Jason's face briefly, before Ganic gave him an encouraging smile. "Good thing I'm here, huh?" the elder stone talent said.

Both men started jogging closer to the wall. The four of us, left behind, moved back a few paces, and the difference in gravity was striking. Kris had a look of relief on her face, but now Erin was the one looking low.

"Are you OK?" I asked, coming in next to her.

She forced a smile, but the corners of her eyes wet. "I'm fine," Erin said. "It's nothing."

Feeling powerless, I immediately turned to the talent expert. "Is this far back enough?" I asked Cor.

"Well, it looks like you're the leader," he said cryptically. I was no expert on the body language of squid-people, but he looked to be slouching, relaxed and indifferent. "You tell me."

Trying to ignore the implications of the word "leader," I turned back to the girls.

"Erin, are you OK resting here? Is it the gravity that's—?" I started to ask.

"It's fine. Don't worry about me. Just give me a moment," she said, huddled next to Kris.

"I'll be a few steps closer to Ganic and Jason," Cor said. "Call out if anything happens."

Crunching leaves underfoot, he moved toward the canyon wall. I glanced at Erin and Kris, and scanned the forest, remembering to keep my guard up. Erin had me worried, though. I took a deep breath and approached the two girls.

"Oh, really. Don't worry, Ryan," Erin said with a bit of a sigh. "You always do that. I'm just being silly."

Looking at Kris, she added, "I'm a little sad, and a little bit happy that the canyon wall and the gravity field are just like they said they are. Sensei and Fain and the rest of them have been honest with us... but we really are trapped. This is about the farthest we can get from the Sun Tower, and maybe the closest to home. It's all so... strange." She cleared her throat and wiped her eyes.

I racked my brain for a proper response, but the best I had to offer was a nod. I didn't know what else to say.

"Let's not think too much about it," Erin said. "Let's just focus on keeping ourselves safe out here. We'll stay busy. We'll watch the trees while we wait for Jason and Ganic."

"I'm rearguard, so I'll watch the rear," I said with a helpless sigh, turning back in the direction of Sun Tower.

"Of course, oh fearless leader," Erin said. Both girls giggled, teasing me. I was glad that, with my back to them, they didn't see the blood rushing to my cheeks.

A few minutes later, Jason and Ganic returned, sweaty and wheezing.

"It's amazing," the stone talent expert bragged to Cor. "We went as close as I've ever been to the wall... and it's his first time."

Ganic's heavy hand clapped Jason on the back. His deep voice was flush with pride. "That's my student."

"Then it's about time we head back to the tower?" Kris asked.

Suddenly, everyone's eyes were on me. "I'm ready to go," I said.

"Then let's go," Jason said. "I could use some time out of this gravity field."

We reformed our original line. This time, we were basically going backwards, and that meant I was in the lead. I couldn't keep the smile off my face. A great first mission.

Then, suddenly, Kris called out, "Wolves!"

"Packs in the center, weapons out!" Ganic said.

We tossed our supplies at the teachers' feet. The double-scythe seemed stuck in the sling on my back for a painfully long moment. The wild dogs, a dozen of them, at least, appeared from the shadow of the trees. The creatures had surrounded us, snarling. I pulled again, and the double-scythe was in my hands. Too short. The edge of panic set in. How had I extended it before?

A spitting growl came from behind me. I pivoted back to see Jason knocking the blur of teeth and fur away with his heavy hammer, and I almost missed the second wolf, jumping at me. I whipped my scythe down, and the beast was on the ground in a pool of blood, almost cleaved in half. Gripping the double-scythe with both hands, I remembered the break in the metal, and gave the weapon a twist-pull-twist. There! That was the right length.

A third wolf jumped, far too slow. I easily lined up my swipe, and impaled the beast on my scythe. The body was still stuck there when the other wolf leaped. I ducked and turned, letting my momentum free the fresh corpse from my bloody blade. The pouncing wolf sailed overhead, landing off-center, and stumbling. With more wolves behind me, I continued my spin, and sliced through two of the dangerous beasts in one wide swing. The body I had thrown had distracted another wolf, and Kris took it down with the slash of her A-blade.

I stood up, facing my friends; all of them seemed to be waiting. I set my back to them and stared into the darkening woods. There were no more growls, and the wind suggested there were only six friendly breaths being taken.

"Is that all of them?" Jason asked.

"Looks like it," Erin said.

"Is anyone hurt?" Kris asked.

Erin stepped over to the water talent. "I got nicked, a little," the fire talent said.

"I'm fine," I said. "Jason?"

"I'm good," he said. "That was... fun."

Looking at the teachers, I saw no blood on either of their weapons. "It looks like we—I mean, you—won the battle," Cor said. "What now?"

"Kris, once you're done with Erin's cut, you two help us skin the wolves. They'll make some warm coats... or blankets, at least," Jason said, examining some deep cuts in the bodies. His hammer was at his side; his knife was now in his hand.

"There are, uh, a lot of wolves here," Ganic said. "We'll help you skin them. Two wolves each, I think."

With darkness descending, we quickly separated the fur from the flesh, wiped off our weapons, gathered our supplies, and continued back to the tower.

"We're late," Kris said. "Let's go, double pace!"
Chapter 12

Ryan:

Erin looked proud, and Jason was positively beaming as we piled the furs just outside the dining hall door. It had been a long time, Cor had said, since so many pelts had been scavenged at once. People were practically lining up, it seemed, to offer us congratulations.

"Those are the Great Weapons on their backs. I knew it!" a voice called out. I turned to get a fix on the voice, and one of the younger students, who was usually much shyer, rushed up to Jason. "Are you going to save us?" she asked.

"I... uh..." Jason stammered.

Kris dropped to a crouch, leveling her eyes with the little girl. "Hi there," she said with a smile.

The little girl looked away bashfully, but Kris pressed on, "What do you mean about saving you?"

"As I have said before, it is neither wise for us, nor fair for these four students that we expect too much of them," Sensei's commanding voice appeared to come out of nowhere. The group of onlookers, naturally, parted for him, as he stepped closer to us four. "Based upon the circumstances of their appearance," he continued, "these four were watched closely, challenged, and have shown great promise in their training. I will say nothing more for now."

He approached the stack of wolf pelts, and gave them a cursory glance. "How many wolves were there?" he asked Cor. The old man's voice had lowered.

"Twelve," the water talent expert replied. "Two for each of us, though Ganic and I left the killing entirely to these four."

"Quite impressive for a first outing," Ganic said with a toothy smile. "Especially considering how close Jason ventured toward the canyon wall."

Sensei gave the small crowd a stern look, and, when they began to disperse, he stepped closer to Ganic. The old man whispered, "How close?"

"I think the boy might have tried to touch the wall if I hadn't stopped him," Ganic whispered back, with a proud look toward Jason.

A pensive frown crossed Sensei's wrinkled face. He said nothing, though I took a hint at his thinking from his strong objection to the people that had gathered, the expectation that had shown in their eyes. I looked from the shy girl who had spoken up, from her backward glance as she headed toward the main stairwell, to the slightly distressed Sensei, and my stomach started to churn. Something important was about to happen, I knew.

"The last classes of the day are finished, and most of you have cooking duty," Sensei said to the few members of the crowd who had remained nearby, trying to look inconspicuous. "I suggest that you make yourselves busy. If anyone remains here staring, I will assume he has free time... with which to properly clean and prepare these hides."

That got everyone's attention. The remnants quickly made themselves scarce, occupied at cooking stations and with setting plates and utensils. I was about to leave for my own cooking duty, when Sensei said, "Not you four. I think the time has come for some answers."

Erin, Kris, Jason and I exchanged glances. The girls seemed excited, keenly interested. Jason's face, though, reflected my sense of worry. Why was Sensei so tense, as if everyone was wrong to be excited?

"Finally. I knew you were holding something back," Erin said.

Sensei pointed a finger of strictness at the fire talent. "If any one teacher ever attempted to tell any one student everything he thought he knew, both would die of boredom and exhaustion, under the weight of so much useless information. I held back in no small part because I had no way of knowing whether my hope was pointless or not. And you would do well to remember that you are not the only ones looking for answers."

With that, Sensei turned to Cor. "Find Fain," he said, "and have her put the guard on high alert, just in case. Once she is done with that, she should meet us in the basement. When you have delivered that message, I want you to gather the rest of my council in the dining hall. They are to ensure that everyone but the guard is at dinner tonight. Finally, I want you to personally watch the basement door. Understood?"

"As we planned," Cor said. "Of course." The tentacled humanoid vanished, swift as a the course of a stream, up into the main stairwell.

Sensei exchanged nods with Ganic. I swallowed hard.

"What's happening?" Jason asked, his eyes grim and resolute.

Sensei put a finger to his lips. "Keep your voice low. For this challenge, you do not want an audience."

"Downstairs, children," Ganic got behind us and, with his big, sweeping arms, ushered us past the main stairwell toward the basement door, a portal double-locked, where we had been told that the guns and other dangerous arms were kept. I had asked Sensei what else might be kept in the elaborately sealed dungeon, and he had demurred from the question with silence and a shake of his head. He and Ganic each pulled a key from a chain about their necks. Perhaps only these two actually knew what would await us on the other side of the basement door.

Ganic brushed away a cobweb from about the locks. Regular cleaning intentionally missed the doorway. There had been concern that some prankster with a penchant for lock-picking might take advantage of the access to the portal.

The two senior teachers each took a deep breath, slowly inserting and turning the small brass keys. There came a loud CLICK KA-CHUNK and Sensei pulled on the handle. The door opened outward, slowly, with the groan of ancient, unused hinges.

The shadows deepened; there were no torches in the basement stairwell.

"Erin, give us a light," Sensei said.

The room was dark and cavernous. As the keys had turned, my wild imagination had filled the space with a dungeon, complete with dripping, mossy walls, and perhaps a bit of lava flow... but, as Erin's fireball burst to life—suspended between her thumb and index finger—the stairway before us appeared to be only dark and musty, steps winding slowly around and down into the depths of the earth. Ganic pulled the door shut behind him with a bang. Erin's light was all we had.

Then I noticed the shelves of weapons, some of them crossbows, but most of them firearms out of the old world: pistols, rifles... I even thought I saw some semi-automatics. The guns, though, we had been told about. What else was down here? What had Sensei brought us to see? My attention turned to the middle of the room, an empty clearing, a circle of flattened soil with only a tiny, green pyramid in the center.

"That green stone there... it has something to do with the gravity field, doesn't it?" Jason said.

Sensei and Ganic let the question hang as they stepped onto the circle of soil. The four of us followed Jason, as he moved out in front of us. He knelt down for a closer inspection of the glittering emerald pyramid. I expected Sensei to stop him, but the old man held back, keeping his distance from the mysterious stone. Instead, it was Ganic who crouched down next to Jason.

"Sensei told me that you asked him once about the expectations placed upon the Stone Elemental," the giant brown ogre said slowly.

Jason met Ganic's eyes in silence. It had been a long time since the word "Elemental" had even been used around us.

"It's not so much expectation... as it is hope," Ganic continued. "We believe that a strong enough stone talent might be able to remove this... instrument of stone from the earth. If you do that, then perhaps, as your talent sense suggests, the gravity field will be affected.... maybe even... removed entirely."

Jason's brow narrowed. He stuck out his hand toward the pyramid, but hesitated. "Do I just pick it up?"

"There's more than what you see on the surface, a root, we think." Ganic said. "Muster all your strength, then grab it and pull!"

Without hesitation, Jason got to his feet, centered himself over the gemstone, dug his heels in, and forced his fingers into the dirt around the gem. Ganic stepped away. A rumble shivered through the earth. Dust fell from the dark ceiling. Kris looked up at the staircase, toward the exit, ready to run, but still held her ground. And I realized I was thinking the same thing: dash for the door if things get out of hand. Erin's expression remained firmly upon Jason, and I drew confidence from her.

"Don't let anything distract you," Ganic called to his stone talent protege. "Do it!"

Jason's arms twisted, and a cloud of dirt spit up from the circle of soil, enveloping him. There was a collective gasp. The room seemed to be filled with the powdery earth. I spread my hands, and took control of the air in the room, forcing the choking dirt away and down. The dark cloud had dissipated...

And there was Jason, the Stone Elemental, standing triumphantly with an oblong gray object in his hand, raised high above his head. The stone carving was strangely notched, almost like a huge key. On second glance, as Jason turned the object over in his hand, it reminded me of a knife. As Erin brought the light of her fire closer, I saw that it had two unique sides. One side of the long stone piece seemed to converge, indeed, into a knife edge. The other side had the irregular notches of a key. Jason adjusted his grip. If the stone object was a knife, then the pyramid—not green but now gray—was the pommel, with a handle between it and the knife-key part.

"Wow," Jason said.

"Ganic, check the gravity field and report back. Run. Sprint!" Sensei commanded.

The gruff ogre bounded up the stairs into the darkness above. With a creak and a bang of the door, we were left standing there. Sensei turned his back, mumbling, apparently talking to himself. Erin brought her fireball closer to Jason's stone knife-key. Kris and I drew closer as well. Jason held it out to me and I took it. It was a rather simple carving, clean and blunt, but heavier than it looked.

"The gravity field is gone. I can feel it," Jason said to Sensei's back.

Sensei's mumbling continued uninterrupted, unintelligible.

"I mean, I don't feel it... anymore. I felt it before, and now, there's nothing. What is this thing?" He turned back to me to take the key.

"That stone key?" Sensei shook his head, finally addressing us. "I have only known it as the green stone pyramid until now."

The old man took a deep, steadying breath and put a hand to his forehead. "Long ago, I found that vessel of stone talent in this ground, and guessed that it had been used to create the Forbidden Forest's gravity field, from whence this canyon itself no doubt took its shape. I believe that Devidis was the one who originally placed the green pyramid here, and that it might in fact be the Stone Emerald, one of the four Elemental gems."

The master of the Sun Tower seemed to anticipate our question and continued, "As far as I know, the four Elemental gems would all be pyramids of a size similar to the green point of that stone key, similar to the black gem which Devidis forced you to touch, I believe."

"Devidis did mention gems, just before the whole poem-spell," Erin said, taking a step closer to Jason to examine the key. "But why did it... change color?" she gave Jason a questioning look as he extended the key toward Sensei.

The old man held up a hand. "That fire is quite warm, Erin. A little space, please."

"Sorry," the fire talent said, taking a step back. She transferred the illuminating flame to her left hand and touched the stone key with her right.

"I would assume the Elemental gems are the ones Devidis referred to. I know of no others that would excite any desire in the emperor of the known world." Sensei's arms were crossed. "The fact that this does not now appear to be the Stone Emerald is undoubtedly another one of Devidis' tricks. It may be the Stone Emerald disguised, or it may be a trap. Either way, I fear it is too dangerous for you to keep." He stretched out his hand. After only the slightest pause, Jason handed Sensei the Stone Key.

"So the green pyramid transformed into this Stone Key," Jason said. "Well, the gem that Devidis took... it had been a clear cube before he made me touch it. The two transformations could be related..."

The old man secreted the Stone Key away in the folds of his robe. "Hmmm.... Well, we can worry about this talisman later," he said. "Once Ganic returns, we may have another mission for you, a mission both urgent and unknown."

"What can we do for you?" I asked dutifully

Sensei gave me an approving look. "There are some trustworthy allies who live beyond the constraints of the Forbidden Forest. In the empire of Devidis, they are known simply as the rebellion. They are the ones who have passed news of the outside world to us, and have sometimes been unfortunate enough to join our community here as our fellow prisoners, as you may have heard. In one recent message, the rebellion operative mentioned someone who may know the location of the Wind Diamond."

"But the gravity field would stop... or," I said, looking at Jason, "the canyon walls... but no, if the field is gone, I could... we could fly to..."

"You can fly, Jason can climb the rock face... and if nothing else quicker, you two can carry the girls," Sensei said, "IF the gravity field is indeed gone... You would need to move quickly, in the darkness after midnight tonight. We only need to make an initial assessment of the situation and gauge the reaction of the Devidisian guard. The other people and things trapped here with us will undoubtedly have interesting reactions of their own."

"Before dawn tomorrow?" Erin echoed.

"Just the four of us?" Kris said.

Sensei nodded.

"How will we...? We don't know anything about the outside." Kris spread her hands in confusion.

Sensei was watching the basement door now. "You've no doubt heard a few things from the men who were thrown in here as punishment. They traveled."

"None of them traveled that much, and their supplies, their maps were all taken away before being thrown in here, right?" Jason said. "You mentioned Shix, a city a few days walk from here—east, maybe?—but there's nothing else around but tiny farms as far as I've heard."

Sensei nodded. "Then you go east until you reach the city, and get directions there."

"When will everyone else leave?" I asked. "Surely we wouldn't be the only ones headed toward the city..."

"I don't think you appreciate how long the gravity field has been here," Sensei said with a shake of his head. "Once any Devidisian finds out about this, word will immediately go up the chain of command, telling of a new power that appeared—or rather disappeared—in the Forbidden Forest. I fear that when Devidis learns of it, he will suspect the Stone Elemental, just as I suspected you."

"But only if the gravity field is really gone," Erin added.

Jason gulped. "I, uh, suddenly hope it's still there."

As if on cue, the door above boomed open. Ganic almost fell down the steps. "The field is down!" His eyes were beaming with excitement, as if he were barely able to keep himself from shouting it to the entire compound. "I threw a rock, and if I had been any closer, it would have gone over the canyon rim."

Sensei's stern face broke into a broad smile. He grabbed Jason's arm and seemed to almost collapse with shock. "Jason, think of it: we are free. We face danger here every day... and there was no end to be seriously trusted in. Now we can begin to think of an end... a day of peace, free of danger. And the fact that you were able to take down the gravity field, free the Stone Key... is a sign that you four really are the Elementals!"

But then a distressing thought seemed to cross the old man's mind. He withdrew his hand from Jason and slowly stood up, reclaiming his balance. Sensei suddenly seemed much, much older. "If you get over the canyon wall in a timely manner—you four, a small group indeed—can practically disappear. You'll head toward the city and enter... You will be little different than runaways from the nearby farming families. We can guess that much."

Sensei stroked his short white beard. "I will tell you what you need to know to find the rebellion informant who we suspect has the location of the Wind Diamond... and if the trail goes cold, I would lay no duty upon you other than to find a way to move yourselves beyond the reach of Devidis. What better revenge against the one who put you here than breaking free?"

"What would I, we, do with the Wind Diamond?" I asked. It was so much, so fast...

Sensei shook his head again, slowly. "Keep it from Devidis, at the very least. If possible, though, I would have you return it to me. I believe the Wind Diamond as well as the Fire Ruby, the Water Sapphire, and the Stone Emerald," he tapped the bulge in his robe, "can be used against him. Devidis once bent the Elementals to his evil uses, but they fought back. I believe they—I mean, you—might be able to fight back again."

"Fight back? Fight Devidis?" Jason answered reflexively, his adrenaline still clearly running high. "For my uncle... For sending us all here... maybe the odds are a bit more even now..." He formed a fist, flexing, then looked to Kris with a confident smile.

She gave him her characteristic warm smile before turning to share it with Sensei. "We owe it to you, all our friends, all the good people of the Sun Tower, to seek a way to peace and justice," the water talent said in her soft voice.

"I don't like the idea of joining a rebel uprising in some unknown country," Erin said, putting a protective hand on Kris's shoulder. "But since no one from around her has ever heard of an international governing body..." She cracked a slight smile. "Since no one even remembers a time when Devidis wasn't the ruler... I'll fight for my freedom, our freedom."

I nodded. "This whole situation is wrong," I said. "We deserve answers. There's got to be a better way than this, and that's worth fighting for."

Our pledges came quickly, with little hesitation, almost practiced, and I realized that the others, like me, must have been hoping and praying—harder than we realized—that our training really would culminate in a moment like this.

"Sensei, everyone is in the dining hall. Students are finishing their food early and wondering why we won't let them leave." Cor's voice could be heard from above.

As Sensei started back up the stairs, he called to us. "Elementals, you have not disappointed me yet, and I have faith that you never will. I will announce your accomplishment to the assembled Sun Tower, and we will begin our arrangements. Cor will call you when we are ready for you."

Sensei sped past Ganic up toward the basement door. The dark space no longer seemed so foreboding.

"Wait! Announcement?" Erin shouted up toward the door, but he was gone.

Ganic started up the stairs, at a much more leisurely pace.

"We're supposed to wait here, in the dark?" Jason asked him.

"Ceremony," Ganic said. "We all want to show you the proper respect. You've seen squad commissioning ceremonies before. We're doing it like that. Just be sure to have your, uh, squad leader go first, and announce your names... Ryan."

Ganic, along with the light at the top of the stairs, disappeared with the slam of the door.

"Wha??" I said, staring up into the darkness. Then I looked at my three friends. For a moment, their expressions had all turned to little smiles, each pointed at me. Where was their confusion, their surprise?

"Hang on. I know we've all been hoping for a moment like this, but I-I'm not the leader..." I insisted. "Jason, you were in front today. You took out the key..."

Jason held up his hands and stepped back. "Whoa, no. I was just doing what you told me, what Sensei and Ganic asked of me."

"I do think we should have a leader," Kris said, after a short pause. "Someone needs to have the final word, and, Ryan, you always make sure to hear from everyone."

I started to object, but Erin stopped me. "You did a pretty good job of throwing around orders today, fearless leader." In the light of her fireball, the teasing smile she offered made me melt a little.

"OK, fine." I made myself look away, into the darkness, pretending it was the full dining hall. Surreal. It was all surreal. But _accept the unexpected_. This was the way things were. How should I respond? What would I say?

Spreading my hands, I began in the formula I seemed to remember from the other ceremonies I'd seen at the tower, "Citizens of the Sun Tower, we are pleased to accept Sensei's commission as, uh, reconnaissance team..."

"We don't have a squad number. How about 'commission as Elementals'?" Kris suggested.

"Sounds fine to me," I answered, throwing up my hands.

"Ugh," Jason said. He was sitting in the dirt, near the hole from where he had torn the Stone Key. "Truth be told, I don't like the idea of a big announcement. Enough of this special treatment, especially since we're on our way out."

"You're just nervous, caveman." Erin punched his shoulder. She was clearly energized, perhaps more than she wanted to let on.

"Well, maybe," Jason said, "but it seems to me that making a big deal about our names before sneaking away is a bad idea."

"Like maybe we could give them some fake names, to confuse them?" Erin said with a chuckle.

"That's not a bad idea," Jason said. "We're going to have to think like that in a country where we're... illegal."

"Well, who do you want to be?" Kris asked.

"Seismic," Jason said, rising to his feet. "And you can be Whirlwind, Torrent, and Blaze." He pointed to me, Kris, and Erin in that order. He held up the finger and waggled it. "Don't tell me you haven't thought about your superhero names."

"How subtle," I said, almost to myself.

"What was that, a whisper?" Jason stood up and put me in a headlock.

"I don't know if we want to be so blunt, advertising our powers with our names," Kris said.

"Blunt is good. I like being blunt," Jason said, releasing the headlock. "...Not when we talk to people on the street, but if we're fighting or something, and we want to keep our real names hidden... to just keep the Elementals separate from Ryan, Erin, Kris, and Jason."

"OK, Blunt," Erin said, "But I'm Flare, not Blaze. And, yes, I have spent a proper amount of time deciding my superhero name."

No one said anything for a moment.

Kris spoke next. "It's a little goofy, but Torrent sounds nice."

"Blunt?" Jason looked at Erin. "I guess I walked right into that one, but..."

"How do you spell 'seismic'?" Erin challenged him.

"S-I-E, no, S-E-I... i before e..." Jason thought for a moment. "Yeah, too complicated. Blunt it is. Like my hammer. I am Blunt, aren't I?"

"Huh, I don't remember how to spell 'seismic' either," I said. "Yeah, simple is best. I'd rather go into Devidis' world as a whisper, and leave no trail, than a whirlwind," I said.

I turned and looked toward the door, the assembled citizens of the Sun Tower waiting above us. "Call me Whisper," I said.

We sat in silence, then—Ryan, Erin, Kris, and Jason—until the door opened and Cor called us up: Whisper, Flare, Torrent, and Blunt.
Chapter 13

Ryan:

The cheers from above were audible even before we passed through the doorway. And when we let the light in, all our teachers were there, pounding us on the back, shouting congratulations. I led us around the corner to the main dining hall, where all of our classmates, the guard and search parties, everyone was on their feet. The stones of the Sun Tower were ringing with excitement.

"Tell us who you are, and how you will keep the Sun Tower standing tall," Sensei shouted to us.

I felt my chest puff out with pride. Carried away in the moment, my gestures were broad and elaborate. "Citizens of the Sun Tower, we are pleased to accept our commission from Sensei as Elementals!"

Another loud cheer. "I am especially honored to have been selected by my fellow Elementals as leader. If Sensei approves, we will proceed as such," I said.

Sensei seemed to be raising himself higher as well. His arms, tucked away in their sleeves, bobbed as he nodded. "So be it," he said. "Give the citizenry your names, so they know their protectors, and you know your responsibility to them."

"I am R—" I stopped myself short. "Call me Whisper. I am the Wind Elemental, leader of the Elementals."

Erin was next. Beaming, she stepped forward. I gestured toward her, saying "It is my honor to be joined by Bl—no," I gave her a sheepish grin, "Flare, the Fire Elemental."

Flare touched her hand to her lips, as if to blow a kiss, but it was a burst of fire that came from her mouth, filling the massive hall with bright light. She bowed, and the crowd applauded before she stepped back.

Kris took her place. "And my good friend Torrent, the Water Elemental." Torrent smiled and offered a humble wave of her hand. More applause.

"And finally, a great man... I am honored to present to you Blunt, the Stone Elemental, who removed the gravity field."

Jason just stood there with a satisfied half grin as two full-figured girls presented him with flowers. The applause was wild. Some students were standing on benches, clapping and cheering their hearts out. Sensei came to the center of the raised dais and gestured us away. He began speaking to the crowd, but the words didn't really register. A woozy feeling had suddenly swept over me, a feeling that was disturbingly close to the one I had after first awakening in the Forbidden Forest Valley.

With my speech finished, I realized that the community, the family I had joined here, who was embracing and congratulating us so heartily now, would be gone before the sun rose. We were forced once again to bid farewell to the good and familiar in favor of the uncertain and dangerous, all because of Devidis. Too much, too fast. As Jason gave away his flowers to the youngest girl trainees amid whoops and hollers, I set my mouth into a grim line.

Fortunately, I didn't have a lot of time for self-pity. What followed was a blur of activity. We were seated with the senior teachers and scouts, who immediately began making hurried plans for an escape, pointing at different areas of a map of the Forbidden Forest Valley. But we were quickly pulled away from the arguments of our elders. Those who had joined us most recently were called upon to brief us on the state of the wider world. The empire outside seemed to be at least as alien as the Forbidden Forest had first been.

"Devidisian soldiers serve everywhere as police, market overseers, tax collectors, on streets and highways... every significant aspect of public life is liable to be monitored," one woman said as she stuffed a length of rope into my pack.

"The safest way to survive," she concluded, "is to be forgettable, Whisper."

"Most of the Devidisian enforcers are human, armed with automatic weapons that blast hot bullets," a grizzled old soldier told me as he handed me a freshly sharpened survival knife. "You'll know them when you see them, in black uniforms bearing the silver insignia known as the claw-fist, and walking with a sense of entitlement, the blaggards. There are more goblin and ogre enforcers in the south, but you won't see mixing like you do here. "

"Did you mention the Dark?" a younger man with a missing eye asked, pushing his way into the crowd about us four. "The Devidisian golem, humanoid in shape, made of metal, but bent, not fully formed, in an imperfect smelting process. Some say they are reanimated corpses, but I've seen the insides of 'em." He shook his head. "Those robots are best avoided, but, if you meet them, their dull wits are usually satisfied with short, simple answers, as long as they don't catch you doing anything outright illicit."

"Aye," the older man continued. "The gun-toting golem spread along with the radio towers. Communications are improving. Devidis' fist is tightening. The enslaved elves keep churning out the minerals from the mountains of the north, and the numbers of the Dark keep growing."

"Show them your fingers, old man," the younger nudged the elder.

Shoved up next to me by the press of people helping us get ready, Erin tensed uncomfortably. The older man, we saw, was missing both pointer fingers, the nubs covered with purplish scar tissue. "Get caught too many times? You'll get fingerprinted, and bounty hunters will be after you. I was fortunate, I suppose; usually they'll cut 'em off after you're dead... but my associates were... sentimental." He shook his head.

"Thanks to you, though," he continued, "I might be able to get out and get revenge... With my connections, I might be able to register as a bounty hunter myself and collect on some Devidisian trigger fingers."

On the other side of me, Kris's groan was audible. Our grizzled adviser caught onto it quickly. "I'm grateful to you, Torrent, and so I will give you my straight advice. You'd do well to prepare your tender heart," he said to her sternly. "The outside isn't much better than it is in here, truth be told, 'n' thanks to our great Sensei... but it might comfort you to know that they will give you money for the wolf eyes, for example. Dangerous animals are a threat to everyone, politics aside."

Fain appeared, and slipped the four of us each a small vial of light red water. "Keep yourselves healthy, well-rested, and fed, and your talent won't fail you. But if you find your talent exhausted, tonics like this can help refresh your supernatural abilities. Cor knows how to make these, but on the outside, don't just casually go looking for them. Being talented itself is dangerous out there. Devidisians are always recruiting talents, and being talented one of the best ways to make a living, it seems, in the empire. So those talented who are recognized and aren't anxious for the opportunity to serve the emperor... They will undoubtedly be viewed with suspicion."

"It's true. Your talents themselves will be suspicious enough. I had never seen nor met a talent before I found myself here," the younger one-eyed man said.

I swallowed hard. We would have to be very careful not only of avoiding conflict in general, but of limiting the use of our talent in particular.

Though I did my best to pay attention to all the advice thrown at us, amid the din of excitement, I found myself distracted by an argument that erupted suddenly among Sensei's planning council.

"How will we get the elderly and crippled over the walls?" one asked.

"The Forbidden Forest is no longer a prison," one senior watchman said. "We can fend off the worst things. They won't be so violent now that they can escape as well. Why should we abandon our home?"

After a while, it was Sensei who ended the argument, saying, "I will give up the tower with the last of us, and not before. Those of us who evacuate will do so in gradual waves..."

As the night deepened and torches were lit, the search parties prepared to formally assess the reaction of the Devidisian guard and the other groups who occupied the Forbidden Forest. One worry that plagued us all: How quickly would Devidis find out? How vicious would his response be?

Soon enough, our bags had been packed, and the advice had abated, from a flood to a trickle. I made my way through rushing knots of people and asked Sensei for permission to join the reconnaissance team. I was surprised when he refused absolutely. "There are other talents who can scout the way for you. You will need your strength. You four will be the first to leave this prison of a canyon."

I was surprised to see that Jason had followed behind me. "What about the guns in the basement?"

"Unfortunately, we have few true firearms experts," Sensei said, "and all of them are occupied, so it is too late for you to learn. Your talents and the methods for gathering information and avoiding detection that you learned here will serve you better than any automatic weapon."

"My father, my family, was in law enforcement... in the old world," Jason insisted. "I bet I know as much about those weapons as some of your experts."

Sensei waved us away as a council member shouted for his attention. "You have my permission. I'm sure the guards at the door will give way for you. Take your pick."

Jason's eyes lit up. He was a kid on Christmas morning. He grabbed my shoulder and pulled me toward the basement door, stopping briefly to collect Kris and Erin on the way. The two sentries at the ancient portal parted, smiling, as we approached. Erin snapped her light to life as Jason turned the handle. His luminous smile was infectious.

The stone talent dashed down the stairs, rubbing his hands in anticipation as his bright eyes scanned the racks of weapons. My eyes were drawn to a rocket launcher, but before I had even placed a hand on it, I stopped with a little sigh. The thought of carrying a heavy, volatile explosive on my back that I didn't know how to use was a quick and potent dissuasion.

"I know that feeling, man," Jason told me. "I'd like to take one of these high-caliber automatics..." his hand stretched out to a particularly large and lethal looking gun, "but I realize that, even though the weight wouldn't be a problem for me, personally... it's not been maintained... and it would just be too much." He shook his head and handed me a pistol. I wondered where to put my trigger finger, since I obviously wasn't ready to shoot it.

"First and most important rule of gun safety," he said, handing two more guns to the girls, "is don't point it at anything you don't want shot, regardless of whether you think the thing is loaded or not, and keep your finger off the trigger until you're ready to shoot."

"I'm more confident in a fist fight than a gun fight," Erin said, holding the gun as if it were a rotten toad. "I say we stick with the plan of avoiding trouble. If it comes down to it, I'd rather make it a _real_ fire fight."

"Well," Kris said, "if guns are common out there, we might as well have an idea about what kind of firepower we could be facing. Having some basic knowledge wouldn't be a bad idea."

Jason gave her a grateful smile. "There's a bunch of these here," he said, "so I guess it's safe to assume these pistols are fairly common out there. And that should mean that ammunition should be plentiful."

Turning toward the circle of soil, he put his hand in the dirt, and slowly there emerged a pillar of earth from the indentation left in the wake of the Stone Key. The Stone Elemental drew a rough bulls-eye on the mound with his finger before stepping back.

He deftly ejected the magazine of his pistol, apparently checking the bullets, before replacing the clip and cocking the weapon. A loud POP, then another POP echoed across the tight rock walls.

"It's old," he said, "and dirty, and I'm out of practice."

I looked ahead at the target, and saw two impact points, both wide of the center. Jason waved us forward, and together we four each took a few practice shots. The stone talent went on to give us a basic understanding of the safety mechanism, and how to load and unload the weapons, but, amid the encroaching darkness of the basement, we found ourselves talking about what was more familiar.

Erin put her weapon back with the others on a shelf. "I think, as things stand, the gun and ammo are going to weigh me down more than anything else," she said.

"Yeah, well, going back to what Kris was saying, shooting's not so much the problem," Jason said. "It's getting shot. And aside from pulling up a stone wall, I've been working on a way to harden my skin and get rocks to stick to it... though I'm in no hurry to try it out against bullets."

"And I can partially liquefy," Kris said. "I've been thinking that the bullets are so fast that they just might pass right through me, and I can re-solidify a moment later with no damage... not that I'm in a hurry to experiment." She held up her hands. Turning to Erin and I, she added, "It's not like bullets would stop fire or air."

"I don't know how you two do it, but I don't like the idea of trying to... vaporize myself," I said. "It's hard to concentrate, and the breezes I can normally brush off seem like they have the potential to scatter me. I hope my speed will keep situations like that to a minimum... and by 'minimum' I mean zero." I formed the round number with my hand. "But I think keeping a gun on me isn't a bad idea."

"Yeah, heating my hands, sword and breath is about the closest I want to get to turning into fire," Erin said, with a wave of the fireball suspended between her fingers, "Too easy to get snuffed out otherwise. Though I've been working on a fire-boosted jump..."

"Well, trying new things is our new way of life..." Kris said, almost accusingly, as she raised her pistol toward the bulls-eye. There was a POP, and an impact close to the center of the target.

"Nice shot," Jason congratulated the Water Elemental.

"But let's leave off for now," I said. "Sensei wants us to get a good night's sleep."

"Whisper us off to bed, huh?" Jason said, as he collected a full magazine, and left his empty one on the shelf.

We ascended the stairs, sharing a little laugh.
Chapter 14

Ryan:

We had collected our packs in the dining room, and Cor had waved us off to bed. An hour later, lying in the top bunk, I gave a quick glance into the bed below. Was Jason asleep? It was too dark to see, and if he was in dreamland, I didn't want to wake him. Why wasn't I asleep? I would need my rest... but my mind wouldn't stop working. _Here we are, four kids against an alien world, ready to go out to risk our lives against some evil emperor... and we're all excited. Are we supposed to be?_

W _ell, we shouldn't be scared._

I thought about being the leader. "Fearless" Erin had said. No way. I _was_ scared. _I don't know anything about this land we're going into. I've got powers that I don't even begin to understand and I'm supposed to lead these other three kids, and somehow not get us captured or killed._

And then a little paper airplane floated in through the window and hovered over my bunk. I snatched it out of the air and read, "Ryan, if you're still awake, meet me on the roof. —Sensei."

I smiled, relieved. No more pretending to sleep. I quietly made my way out of the dormitory and up the winding stairs to the roof. The sentries were gone, everyone either resting or occupied with preparations to leave. There was only a single shadowy figure toward the edge of the battlements.

"Sensei?" I raised my voice in the calm night air. As I came closer, I saw he was sitting on the raised stones, cross-legged, with his knees hanging over the edge, playing with the wind. I saw it, felt it, the rhythmic motions in the sky. After a moment, he let the breeze go its own way, following it with a sigh. I was surprised at what I read from it, frustration, resignation, regretful acceptance.

"Ryan, I always knew you'd be the leader," he said, back toward me.

I came up and joined him, sitting down on the square battlement at his left. I shrugged and yawned. "I suppose that someone has to be."

He gave a little laugh. "You'll be a good leader, don't worry."

I stretched my arms, and realized how tired I was. I decided to be direct, "What is it you wanted me here for?"

He exhaled slowly, heavily. "I have a... most difficult challenge for you."

It was the first time I had heard Sensei struggle to find his words. I stopped stretching and turned more to face my teacher. "How could this be crazier than anything else you taught us?" I forced a smile.

Not looking at me, he raised a stray pebble in the wind and hurled it toward the dark forest. "This is different. There really is no easy way of saying it."

He paused, evidently judging my reaction, but, still, he wouldn't meet my eyes. I followed his gaze toward the moon and stars spread through the night sky across the valley, and I wondered if he wasn't more delirious after today's developments than I was.

"Everything matters, Ryan. You believe this too?" he asked.

"Yes," I answered. It was a simple response, easy enough.

He gave a little smile and nodded. "Everything matters, Ryan, and this is... something, at least. Look out there, at the forest down there, those mountains in the distance, that air, that moon. All of it is just as real as it seems, and less real than it might be."

He paused and crossed his arms. "It is all a bit too much, is it not? Think back to when you first met Devidis. Jason first called his talent 'magic.' All four of you were drawn to Devidis in various strange ways, and he tricked you, trapped you, for reasons unclear. And then you awakened in a place where his name has an even more powerful, more sinister meaning."

He turned toward me. "A place," he continued, uncrossing his arms and leaning toward me, "where you have... unlikely powers... talents, we call them, for they are like the useful, coordinated manipulations of muscles, words, tools, numbers, and other such things. Yet what the Elementals have shown and seen is a different kind of talent, supernatural. You knew, from the beginning, that it was unreal. Magic. Tricks. Illusions."

He paused again, studying me intently. "I imagine that you've changed your mind somewhat."

I blinked, and said, slowly, "Yes. I've learned a great deal."

"Truly learned, or simply accepted a different perspective? I suggest that you consider your words carefully," he said, waggling a stern finger. "I believe that this world is not subjective, but at the same time, I believe it's all in someone's mind."

"God," I said with a nod. "I am familiar with how that philosophical argument works."

A sad smile crossed Sensei's face. "Then who is God?"

He let the question rest, and I wondered where he was going with this.

There was a whoosh. I turned back to see my teacher; he was floating in the air at a distance from the roof, part of the night sky. "Some people in the wider world, I hear, may believe that Devidis is a god. I don't believe that, but I do believe something stranger. I believe that this world literally IS Devidis' mind. I believe that the land we know is a manifestation of the events and actions of the thoughts of the man called Devidis."

His arms spread, then dropped slowly to his sides as he floated in the gentle geyser of air billowing below him. "Get off of that roof and join me. I want to make sure you are paying attention and that you at least have the chance to hear me in the full embrace of this world's unreality."

Thoroughly bewildered, I pushed away from the Sun Tower and pulled the air up beneath me. Floating a good distance from the roof, I hoped that there was no more surprise in store for me, other than the mental exercise.

"I believe," Sensei continued from his stance in the sky, "that the only place where Devidis could even come close to being a god, the only place where a power like his would exist and submit to him, the only place where he could be the emperor of the known world... is in his mind.

"Think back to our early training sessions," he continued. "I told you to forget the question 'How?' when you first learned your talent, and to accept your affinity for the air like you accept control of your arm, your hand, and your fingers," Sensei said as I floated level with him. "Now I want you to remember those questions, and question your talent like you might question the way you control your arm, your hand, and your fingers."

I obediently looked at my hand and wiggled my fingers as I floated in the air against the backdrop of the dark forest. I looked down at wind below, supporting me as I stood up. The physics were wrong, I had told myself. And yet, there I was. Looking at my teacher, I said, "Yes, Sensei. How is this possible?"

"I believe," Sensei continued, hovering around me in a slow, teasing circle, "that the only supernatural power that Devidis ever truly had is the power to draw people inside the illusive reality of his mind." He stopped our revolutions. "The black gem you touched in Devidis' hand is real, I think, but showing visions of possibilities to those who choose to look into it is, I believe, its only real power."

"'Choose'? 'Vision?'" I repeated, bobbing in the air, struggling to control my hover while devoting most of my attention to Sensei's words. "You asked me to select my words carefully, so please understand my confusion," I spread my arms in helplessness. "Devidis forced us to touch his black crystal. How then did we choose to be here? If it worked that way, then wouldn't I be gone just as soon as I chose to leave?"

A gust of wind surprised me, tripping me end over end in the air, then bound me fast, with my feet dangling up toward the star-speckled void. I reached out into the air and forced it apart, flipping right-side-up and glaring at my teacher, the aggressor.

Sensei held up a hand, urging me to wait. "I warn you not to patronize me. I am sad to tell you that I have watched some try the truly foolproof method of escaping Devidis' vision. All that I have seen and heard lead me to believe that death, the foolproof escape method, looks the same to us all."

"Basically," he continued, "you have not chosen to leave. Choose not to use your talent right now, and the hard impact on the lawn will be your selected route of departure from this world of illusion.

"It is not as simple as wanting to be somewhere else. Choice is limited, and not an idle fancy of the mind. Reality and our perception of it are mostly forced upon us, just as I demonstrated, flipping you through the air."

"How can you be so sure of all this?" I asked.

Sensei shook his head sadly. "The short answer is that I'm not sure of it. Sometimes I think that I'm crazy. I know you ask your question to try to discover some proof, one way or another, and I have none for you, only a disjointed memory of Devidis and the first Elementals."

"The first Elementals? Who-what happened with them?" I asked.

He continued shaking his head. "I am an old man now. The vision is too... unstable for me to relate it properly. The persistent presence of Devidis, my wind talent, and the green pyramid, both here beneath the Sun Tower and deep in my memories, lead me to believe I'm not entirely crazy, just confused. I have a vague image of my life as a youth in Japan, but my first truly reliable memory is from when I came to my senses in the forest. I saw the man I instantly recognized as Devidis throw down the green gem—the talisman that we now know as the Stone Key—which sank this forest into a valley with the power of its gravity field. Together with a stone talent, one of Ganic's predecessors, we harnessed the power of the tiny emerald pyramid to build the Sun Tower, to keep it strong and stable, and I told our community what I believed about the Elementals, though I kept my confused memory of the Stone Emerald, one of four Elemental gems, largely a secret."

Sensei swept his hand over the darkened trees beneath his floating feet. "And I grew old in the Forbidden Forest. When things and people emerge in this jungle, as you four did, it is as if they, too, are from a dream, or a nightmare... as if Devidis is remembering them, as I believe he remembered me, if only vaguely. I suspect that Devidis himself sunk what we now call the Stone Key into the ground as an attempt to lock away his memories. His men watch this prison closely, reporting on what emerges. Perhaps there are things that even a man as seemingly powerful as Emperor Devidis wishes were forgotten, forbidden from crossing beyond the confines of this jungle."

He hovered in close to me, his gaze piercing, as if trying to search my soul. "Those forgotten things may include a promise from my distorted vision of the past, a promise that I believe may bind the emperor... 'As long as Devidis remains spreading his evil, there will always be Elementals.'" Sensei seemed to be quoting the line.

"...including a Stone Elemental," he continued, "a stone talent powerful enough to remove what I thought could be the Stone Emerald, and by removing it, he might take away the gravity field."

He held up a finger as he bobbed ever so slightly in the wind. "That is the story I've thus far only hinted at. The community of the Sun Tower knew that I believed there might come one day four Elementals, talents of exceptional power in the four disciplines who might possess the power to somehow break the hold of the gravity field set in stone by Devidis himself. Though they also knew I didn't fully trust the belief myself, in this small family my faith evolved into something of a legend. And the legend of the Elementals has done its part to sustain me and the Sun Tower community, for generations. It was why we forged the Great Weapons that you four will carry, and left them unused, until now. Now that my faith has been vindicated, now that the legend lives, you have learned more than the others know."

I tried to sort through all of the information, but it was a bit too much. "Well," I admitted, half-joking, "the idea that me and three other teens are the stuff of legends would make more sense if it were all an elaborate trick."

"If nothing else," Sensei said, "it might be doing some good if the idea keeps you humble. You and the others, and I, are too powerful to have our egos go unchecked."

"So, if you are right," I said, "you must know what we Elementals should do. How should we fight against the emperor... of illusion?"

Sensei smiled, spreading his arms with a slight whoosh of wind. "I would have you use your powers as Elementals to ultimately save the world, to stop Devidis."

After a short pause, I said, "And by 'save the world,' you mean 'save Devidis' mind'?"

He nodded solemnly, turning slightly in the air toward the distant canyon wall. "Ideally, I would have you help me take on Devidis, to save not only all of us, but him as well... save the man from himself and his illusions. I believe that, in defeat, these illusions may be breached."

My eyes widened. I hovered closer to the old man. "Breach the illusion... Do you think there's a chance, then, that we could go back to our real homes, back to Japan, the United States, the world of the past?"

Sensei sighed into the wind. "The removal of the gravity field makes this a time of great hope, and though nothing is impossible, I would not rest your hope near any of Devidis' twisted power, his twisted promises."

I touched down back on the edge of the tower. "Exactly. I don't know about you, but I am here because Devidis tricked me into touching the black crystal as he blasted the whole world. He's the last person I'm interested in saving, and—"

Sensei settled himself down once more on a battlement, hanging his knees off the edge, a meditative pose. "Do not doubt my resolve. I expect that great violence will be necessary to breach Devidis' veritable fortress of illusions, but if this world is in Devidis' mind, as I suspect, then the wrong kind of attack or approach could prove fatal for all."

He gave me a piercing look as I sat at the battlement beside him. "I tell you this," he said, "not so that you reach my same conclusion, but so that you might have more information about your enemy and his mind-bending talent. Defeating the ambassador of evil will not be as simple as using enough power during the right opportunity with the right intention. Should the empire survive the emperor's death, for example, the leaderless aftermath could easily prove as bad as the current state of affairs.

"When the time comes, I believe that the truth of the matter will make itself clear, with the help of the Elemental gems. In truth, I hope it is I who will be able to fight Devidis... Still, it is better for the most trustworthy to have the most information, even if it prove untrue, just in case I do not survive to see the day that Devidis is defeated."

A yawn snuck out of my mouth.

Sensei smiled as he looked back out over the forest. "You have concerned yourself with this issue enough for now. Go get some sleep. If this conversation has been important, you will remember the important parts when the time is right. If it is not important... well, if anyone must face this issue, it is myself... and Devidis. If you can collect even one of the lost Elemental gems, we may have enough power to make that confrontation happen," his expression darkened toward sarcasm, "though I would not hold out hope for victory unless somehow all four could be gathered."

"You're not very optimistic about our chances," I said quietly, "even though, for all we know, the Stone Key is the Stone Emerald... transformed?"

Sensei bowed momentarily to give a cynical chuckle. "The Stone Key is a good example of Devidis' will to conquer and deceive: if my memories hold true, it is not half as powerful as the Stone Emerald. If anything, I'm afraid I'm a little too realistic about Devidis' power, twisting the world to his personal ends. I hesitated to tell you all this because I know how he's twisted me."

I nodded solemnly, then paused, wondering if I should have tried to defend my Sensei's dignity from his perhaps overactive humility. But the moment had passed.

"Well," Sensei continued. "As good as this day has been, it is difficult to be too optimistic in this pre-dawn darkness. We should quit while we're ahead. Until a more optimistic hour... goodnight, Ryan, leader of the Elementals."

I forced a polite smile and managed a "Goodnight."

Tired, my head drooped. I watched my footing, unnecessarily, all the way to the stairs. As I touched the first step, though, I turned back and called out impulsively, "But, what about the four of us as we leave?"

I found myself walking back toward him. "Why won't you come?" There was a hint of desperation in my voice. It was suddenly all too much. "You could lead us four... better than me, that's for sure."

"I believe in you," Sensei said with a smile. "I must stay here with the many more who wish to stay, and wait for you, draw attention away from you in the meantime. Perhaps, as I have indicated tonight, I have thought things through too much in my old age. You, though, must go out and learn while you are young. You do not learn with others making decisions for you, but whenever you need help, I have faith that you will find it. Those with a heart for justice and truth will seek you, and they will find you. The rebellion are not few in number, and you have three other brilliant minds to help you. You are not alone."

I sighed and nodded submissively, pausing before I said, "That's true, but I won't have you. You always wisely told me to focus on asking the right questions. In case I never see you again, I have to ask you the question that was keeping me up tonight."

Sensei nodded gravely. "So ask."

"How can I lead people into something I don't know about myself?" I chose my wording carefully.

The old man drew in a long breath.

"I have been asking myself that question... for decades now," Sensei said with a smile. "Lead carefully. Lead boldly. Lead as well as you are able."

He spread his arms and showed me his empty palms. "I have no real answer."

His off-kilter grin somehow made its way to my face, too. When I turned and finally continued down the steps, I was, somehow, feeling better. He had confided in me, not just man-to-man, but leader-to-leader.
Chapter 15

Ryan:

I opened my eyes, and it was still dark. Jason was slipping into his boots below me. I stripped the Sun Tower standard-issue blanket, sheet, and pillowcase before jumping down to the cold stone floor. Hugo had more than enough to do without being left the task of our bedding. I sighed. There was nothing of myself to leave behind in this place of friendship and family. And worse, I knew the next I slept, it would probably be on the hard ground.

Waiting for me on the side table was a simple cup of water. The cold wetness brought me fully awake as it splashed onto my face. There was no telling when I would get my next bath, and no time for one now.

Fastening the tough straps of my armor took longer than it should have. We had been issued a few metal pieces instead of the mostly leather gear we were used to wearing. A worry crossed my mind: how much would this slow me down in the air? It was one of many concerns I had to shrug off for the moment.

Looking at my loose-fitting white over-clothes, I suddenly realized how much they reminded me of Sensei's white robe. The tunic and pants, extra-large as they were, didn't catch quite as much wind as the old man's heavy robe would, but I was still fine in the air. Over the clothes went the belt. The knife in the left sheath was now somewhat balanced by a pistol, loaded and holstered, on the right. I made sure the firearm was strapped in tightly, safety on, and shook my head. In a tight spot, my first instinct would be to go after my double-scythe, then my knife. And, anyway, as long as I could identify a foe from a distance, my wind gusts would serve me well enough. I strapped on the black leather scythe sling, and slid the double-headed weapon into place. I expected that I would next draw it to kill something. Sadness crept upon me like a rising tide.

It was a good thing I was busy. My pack was already prepared, of course, and I fitted it over my shoulders. Jason dropped his hammer into the tight loop at the side of his belt, and gave me a go-ahead nod. We grabbed our bundled sheets and headed for the door. I noticed that many beds around us were empty, a rare occurrence. A good number of our classmates were graduating early to guard duty, ready or not.

I wondered who I should tell goodbye, but Sensei would take us to our point of departure, and I had, at most, spoken only a few words with my classmates, aside from the Elementals. No one would miss me too terribly. Everyone would understand. The ceremony last night would have to be enough.

Even so, it was Hugo who opened the door for us, as we gave him our linen. I told him simply, "Goodbye."

He said, "Thank you," and closed the door behind us.

A few steps down the stairs, I heard another door creak. Jason and I turned, waiting. A minute later, Kris and Erin came down the steps. I considered telling them about my encounter with Sensei, but I knew it wasn't the right time. Together, the four of us made our way toward the main dining hall. As the cooks had promised, we were greeted with the thick smell of warm pastries. The berry-filled treats were a rare delicacy, and, as such, were especially delicious, a fitting final breakfast as citizens of the Sun Tower. We Elementals sat down and finished the treats alongside Sensei, Ganic, Cor and Fain.

Fain had already cleared her plate. "You're early," she said. "That's a good sign."

Sensei wiped his mouth. "You have your destination, a place called..."

"Thorn Rock," Jason said.

"Good," Sensei said. "You will get your directions after entering the city called..."

"Shix," Kris said. "It lies to the east, and we should be able to see it after a two-day walk."

"There should be a road appearing after the first day's walk," Erin added. "And we'll enter the city from the north, so that we appear to have come from the farms facing the mountains."

"And when you find yourselves near Thorn Rock, and in the presence of someone you believe trustworthy, a rebel sympathizer, you will say:

"Our trail we carry; our fears fall behind.

"That which Elementals seek is the end we will find," Sensei chanted.

After a pause, he continued. "If you feel it is wise, you have my permission to tell them about your teachers, and whatever else you think will be helpful, but those specific words are important."

"Why must you be so secretive now?" Erin asked.

"Secretive? Like you, I know very little of the world beyond, and I am not certain of whom or what I should trust," Sensei said. "I do not know who will find you, exactly, but you should be able to recognize allies by how much more helpful they are than I. This mission should make things clearer for all of us...

"Our trail we carry; our fears fall behind.

"That which Elementals seek is the end we will find," he repeated.

"Remember those words, and I believe your friends will show themselves, as well as the way to the gems. Repeat them to me now, one by one."

Each of us did as he asked, and everyone made a mistake or two.

With the pastries gone, the old man sighed and said, "Let's go. Repeat the words, correctly this time, in your minds as we approach the canyon walls."

This time, the four of us walked in the middle of the group, with two teachers each, in front and behind, watching out for us. I scanned the dark trees anyway, relying more on the wind for information than my eyes. Rustling noises caught my attention, but nothing aggressive was waiting for us in the forest.

The trail curved upward sharply, then abruptly ended. In the fading moonlight, the teachers stopped in the shadows of the forest ahead of the tree-line, the point where gravity had been too strong to allow growth. Only now, I hadn't felt any increase in weight. A smile sprung to my face.

Sensei appeared at my side to douse my enthusiasm. "What have you been repeating?" he asked, a harsh whisper.

"Our trail we carry; our fears fall behind.

What Elementals seek is the end we will find," I told him slowly.

"'That which Elementals seek,'" he said. "May God help you if you continue to forget important information at this rate."

I cringed, and repeated the correct version back to him.

"Do as the words command. Leave behind your doubts and fears. You will lead, and the Elementals will be great," Sensei said. "So I believe."

"Good-goodbye," I told him with a stutter.

"Goodbye," he whispered, clasping my hand, a gesture of friendship and respect, man-to-man, leader-to-leader. "Go now."

My teammates each bid quiet farewell to their respective teachers. Kris gave Cor a hug before hopping onto Jason's back. Running, the Stone Elemental powered himself up the side of the cliff, with a long series of light crunching sounds as his hands and feet dug leverage into the sheer rock face.

Erin hooked her arms around my neck, and her feet latched around my ankle. There came the whoosh of a massive downdraft, then up the wind came. I rocketed us toward the canyon rim, then slowed to a hover just above the flat ground. The land seemed to stretch forever, no cover in sight. I quickly touched down.

Erin and I ducked low, just ahead of where Jason and Kris would pop up, and we both put hands to our weapons, waiting in the darkness in a silent crouch. My heart beat like a frantic war drum. Dawn would come much more quickly outside the canyon. The scouts had told us that the Devidisian guards hadn't been spotted any closer than usual to the rim—they usually preferred to keep a healthy distance to avoid a nasty fall. But could we really avoid being found?

The crunch-crunch from below became louder, too loud, it seemed, and then stopped. I nodded to Jason and Kris as they emerged from the canyon prison, and pointed the way forward. Kris and Erin, bending low, ran ahead. I checked behind me, and saw Jason kick a stone back into the depths, a sign to the teachers that we were away, safely. Our last farewell. Then Jason and I were hot on the girls' heels.

And so the four of us put the Sun Tower and the Forbidden Forest behind us, heading east, in a hostile, unknown country, toward the Devidisian city of Shix.
Elementals Onward

When hands of hate turn dark and tragic,

Virtue makes for more than magic.

Ever since the world was new,

They rise, always, a worthy few.

When tyrants fill the land with death,

And innocents draw in final breath,

Warriors noble step from shadow,

With powers hidden, end the battle,

Committed to win, to do what they must,

Defending good hope against the unjust:

In spite of danger, doom, and doubt,

Before these few, darkness burns out.

This timeless history is beget

To show how light with darkness met:

Their legacy may not be seen,

But we recall wits and weapons keen

That warriors sharpen and apply,

By courage and talent live and die.

And so hope we have, in darkest night:

The good find a way, and a means, and light.

...LEGEND OF THE ELEMENTALS continues in BOOK 2: RELEASE...

where the Elementals seek the first Elemental gem...

...and in THE COMPLETE SERIES available on Smashwords...

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