"The Phoenix of Torgonia" by AkanaYukiani

pg1 pg2 pg 3 & 4 pg5 pg6

It was a dark night, save for the early moonlight flowing down on the valley below the cliffs. There were fire fights all around and all he wanted was some time to think on his own. Zenothais Torin had been watching as both sides took losses, but now was staring blankly toward the moon which had just begun to rise.
He was a tall and slim with long dark brown hair that was lightly confined in a strip of ribbon behind his back. He had violet eyes and wore all white clothing. He looked like an angel with his wings spread out behind him in the moonlight. Normally, the cloak would hide his wings.
He closed his eyes and raised his wings up higher behind him. The symbol that was on his forehead began to glow as he looked into the future to see if he could find anything that could give them hope of winning against Beniko Satsuki. There was a storm coming, though he had not figured out what it meant for his planet, be it a turn for victory or the loss of his throne.
He caught a flash of a face and it startled him, but before he could look any further, there was a bright light showing through his closed eyes. He opened them, saw that an assassin from Beniko's forces had found him and fired a rocket toward the cliff he was still standing on. He quickly jumped up in the air, just in time. He watched as the rocket hit the cliff side and it crumbled away.
He then quickly pinpointed the location of the assassin and soared right to him. There was a quick slash and he landed on the ground with his hand on the hilt of his sword. It was in its sheath, the head of the assassin fell to the ground. The assassin had never stood a chance; the blow was so quick that the sword did not even appear to have been drawn.
He looked over the body and saw that it was indeed one of Beniko's men. "Beniko..." He growled out. He grabbed the sash from the torso of the body and it had Beniko's symbols on the ends.
His people were in the middle of a huge war against Beniko and her followers. He was troubled by how fast she was gaining new followers and they desperately needed something to turn the tide of the war in their favor.
He looked around to make sure there were no other enemies in sight before returning to his safe house. He no longer stayed at the palace for it was now filled with spies and he didn't feel safe there. Even though it was still early, he was tired from the viewing he had done, however brief it had been.
He retired to his room and lay down on his side on his mat in the corner of the small room after tossing the sash down on a table near the door. He thought about the face he had seen, it was of a woman with golden blond hair, pointed ears and green blue eyes. She looked kind and true, even if she wasn't human. He wondered what it meant, for he had never seen her style of clothing, which was barely visible in the picture in his mind that he had seen.
As sleep overtook him, his last thought was on what her name might be.....

§§§

It had only been a few days since her child had been born. Lady Yukahime hurried toward the special room at the back part of the palace with her infant. Her husband Lord Fushi Tsubaku was out on the front line of the war that was taking place with another clan of demons and things were looking bad for them. If she didn't work fast then all of her people would be lost.
Once in the room she closed the sliding door behind her and all was dark. There were no windows in the room, so it was pitch black. She then lit the candles that were placed on the floor by raising her hand creating a flame in her palm before shooting it at all fight of them at once. That was when she first spoke to her baby,
"My darling Akana, I have a very special task for you, but time is short. When you are older your journey.....will begin."
She looked down at the pentagram she had made the day before in preparation for the spell she was about to perform. The candles which she had lit were placed at the ends of each point of the star outside the circle.
She said quietly, soothingly, even though she was tore up inside, "You must live......Only you can save your people from complete," she paused for a moment, for her voice started to break down in sorrow, "annihilation."
She placed baby Akana down in the middle of the circle, which had been sleeping, and was now waking up. She began to cry; missing her mother's warmth, but soon stopped and fell to sleep again.
Lady Yukahime then walked over to the shrine which was sitting against the wall in the corner. On top of it sat a good size crystal orb which she then picked up and walked back to her sleeping baby. Baby Akana woke again, sensing that her mother was near. Lady Yukahime said, still holding the orb,
"After tonight, you will be sent away from here. I am very saddened but also joyful that you will survive our downfall. You will not even remember us, but you will feel compelled to search for us in due time."
She began chanting and the orb rose out of her hands and floated just above her baby in the circle. She then said,
"Then, one day, you will find this orb, probably the only thing that will be left of our people. Once you touch it, you will be taken to a foreign land that you probably will not understand. At the same time, all the memories of the last moments of you being with us will be returned, as well as all the memories of your people in their last few moments. It will be painful, but do not fear, for you shall be a great leader one day."
The orb glowed brightly for a moment before setting back on its pedestal, the spell now complete. She picked her baby up from the pentagram and walked over to the door. Once she had opened it back up, she extinguished the candles and all was dark in the room once again. She walked to her room where she had prepared a special basket for baby Akana.
She placed Akana in the basket and then took the sword that her husband had made for Akana to use in the future. She placed the sword on the side of the basket where there was a special fitting made to secure it to it. She then placed the short letter to the one who would find her inside the basket with sleeping Akana.
Akana fell asleep quickly in the basket and Lady Yukahime closed the lid to it and secured it magically so that it would not open until it was found by someone who was kind and generous. It would also ensure that she would be safe on the journey down the river to the land far away from the fight.
She picked up the basket and walked out of the castle quietly. She looked off toward the north where her husband was still fighting. There was a glow on the horizon which meant that the fight was getting closer to the castle. She then turned and walked southward into the night, feeling sad that Akana's father wouldn't be able to see her off with her, to see that she was safe.
She walked through the dark forest; there was not a single sound to be heard. Once she reached the river, she placed the basket in it. As it floated away southward, she spoke her last words that Akana would ever hear,
"I am sorry that it must be this way, my darling, that you will never get the chance to know your people first hand. I wish you luck on your journey, and I know that you will be well cared for. I know that the one who finds you will do what is needed for you to become strong and prepare you for what is to come. I love you my darling, and I'll see you again...one day....."
Tears start to fall from her eyes as she watches the basket disappear from sight,
"Good bye, my Akana."

§§§

There was a young lord out on his early morning ride. His name was Atsuko Yukinai. He came near the same river which Akana had been floating on. After following the river northward, still on his land, he came across the basket that she was in. It had finally been washed onto the right side of the riverbank.
"Whoa..." He said to his horse to stop it. "What is this? I had better check it out."
He rose up and lifted his right leg over the horses back as he dismounted, landing deftly on the ground. He then walks over to the basket. Something moved inside it as he pulled the basket closer to him away from the river. His curiosity was peeked, so he opened it to find a small baby...demon. Still next to her was the letter explaining a few things.

He took it from next to her and began to read it,

This is Akana. Please take care of her. We had to send her away so that she would survive. The sword that is attached is our last gift that we were able to give to her.....

When he got to the part mentioning a sword, he looked on the side, and sure enough, there was a sword still attached to the basket. He then looked back to the letter, and finished reading it,

Teach her how to use it when she is old enough. We thank you; whoever it be that finds her.
Best Wishes,
Lady Yukahime
"Akana…" He said.
When she heard her name, she stirred, but didn't wake up. He quietly closed the lid back on the basket and then secured it to his horse. He needed to get her back to his castle where he could make sure she was alright. He kept the horse at a trot as to not jostle her around in the basket and so he did not arrive back to his castle until it was midday.
When he did finally arrive, his staff and adviser were in a fret. They had expected him back much earlier, knowing that he never stays gone that long. They looked at him exasperated and began fussing over his tardiness.
He apologized to them quickly and then untied the basket from his horse. He let a stableman take his horse and he walked quickly through his castle entrance to the kitchen area, with the basket still in his arms. He showed one of the cooks the sleeping infant and she instantly went off to find some milk that would be suitable for her, with a sad look on her face.
He knew exactly why she had that look. He had been married and had a lovely wife. They were expecting their first born a few moon cycles before. It was tragic; she died while trying to birth the baby and not long after so did his first son. He had been alone ever since then, but his kind heart had not been made bitter. He couldn't leave this child out there, she would never have survived.
He then told his staff that he would be keeping her as his own and she would bare his name, henceforth being known as Akana Yukinai, his princess....

As time when by, she grew older and he began teaching her about medicinal herbs and their uses. He taught how to use her sword in combat, as well as hand to hand combat. He taught her defensive and offensive techniques that could disable without killing.
By the time she looked like a teenager, he was much older and not as quick. She had learned much from him, ranging from how to find more useful herbs by the way they look and which ones were ready to pick at the right time to being able to beat his best fighters in combat. He had taken her to a nearby shrine where she had learned to use her spiritual energy. First she had used the same tools they used to concentrate her energy, but later on she had learned to focus it without using them.
Then one day, at the time she came of age as a demon, a horrific demon came to the castle. It killed everything in the village below and made its way through the castle. She had been too late in getting by Lord Yukinai's side and he fell in battle with the demon.
She looked around her and what she saw made her lose her self control. Her rage took over and she drew her sword, it transformed into a large claw shaped blade. The large, unnamed demon laughed at her. He said to her, with laughter still in his voice,
"What do you plan to do with that, you filth of a demon. You have the stench of humans all over you. It's disgusting. You'll never defeat me...."
He then lunged at her. She jumped up just in time, but the ground beneath her went flying up as his fist hit it and some of it cut at her arms and face, thus gaining a few cuts and bruises. She landed on top of the ruins of the castle and he lunged at her again. This time he missed completely as she jumped up and over him, landing on the broken ground behind him. She looked at him with the anger shining in her eyes and said,
"Just you watch me."
She raised her sword up behind her and had her other hand out in front of her. She created an orb of light so bright that it blinded him before she flung it at him. He moved just enough to where it only grazed him, but she then swung her sword at him. A bright burst of fire energy went flying at the demon hitting him right on the chest. It cut through him, cutting his body in half, but as it did, the flesh began to disintegrate and soon there was nothing left of him.
She then dropped to her knees and placed her sword in the ground in front of her. She then looked around and saw that their fight had destroyed what little had been left of the castle. She saw the lord on the ground nearby, so she rose up and walked over to him. She dropped down next to him and gently placed his head in her lap. Tears then began to form in her eyes, as she looked at him. Back then she did not know they had a healing affect. He smiled at her feebly as his last rattling breaths came to an end. The tears fell from her eyes and onto one of her hands which had been scratched in the fight. The first one that hit her hand cleared the scratch away and all other injuries she had sustained.
She was too full of sorrow to notice this. She got to work making the graves for all the people and lord who had been so kind to her all those years. They were like her family and now she had lost them. Once she had all the graves fixed and everyone buried, she turned from the place and walked away, never to return there again.
…….

There was a mysterious voice whispering a strange language into the darkness, holding a clear, bluish orb that started to glow to the words. Then silence fell and it was placed back on its pedestal, still glowing a bright bluish light into the dark room, the only source of light as a dark figure turned and walked from the room, praying that it wasn't too late. Time was short and the Torgonians needed help against this new foe.

Akana looked around at her surroundings for she had been walking for some time now. She was in a forest just below a chain of mountains. They were thick; most of the sunlight didn’t even reach the forest floor. There were a few sounds of birds and woodland creatures up high in the trees. It seemed peaceful enough, but it did not last.
She tensed, sensing that something was about to happen. Then in confirmation of her instinct, there was a large boom that sounded off not too far ahead of her in the forest. All the birds and animals nearby went flying and scurrying away, and all the forest sounds fell silent. What ever it was, it was headed straight for her.
She jumped up into a nearby tree and put up a small barrier around her, hoping to mask her presence from them if it was a demon. She waited and watched in the direction that the noise had come from and soon she saw there was a group of humans trying to fight off a large demon without much success. They were getting punched and thrown out of its way as it continued to fight against the ropes that the humans had managed to get around it. She sighed, knowing that she needed to help them, in spite of what their reaction would be to her.
She lowered her barrier, and jumped down, from the tree she had been hiding in, in front of the humans who were still left. She raised a hand and cracked her knuckles, getting ready to fight the demon herself. The humans, in shock of her showing up, let the ropes go slack on the demon as they yelled “Aaaahhh, another demon!!” and some were thrown up into the air as the demon took advantage and swung an arm at her.
She jumped up quickly, the blow missing her as his fist hit the ground. She landed up in a nearby tree and said, in a quick shout, to the remaining humans,
“Please, get out of here if you wish to live. I will take care of this thing you call a demon for you. Now Go!!”
They then let go of the ropes that they had held onto, then turned and ran. She then jumped back down in front of the demon, to keep him from following them. She said in disgust,
“Well, well, like terrorizing humans do you and eating them as well? How pathetic of you. You really should have left them alone.”
“Really….just who are you to say what I can and cannot do…but, I think I shall snack on you instead.” He cackled.
He attacked her again, this time clasping both his large fists together and both came barreling down toward her. She quickly ran out of the way, having used her speed.
She laughed at his pitiful attack and said from behind him, “Too bad….I would have let you live if you had decided to give up your old ways. But I see you choose not too. You’re too slow to hit me.”
He turned around and looked at her in surprise, “What? How did you….Arrrrrrggg!!!”
He attacks her again, but this time, he fells some trees with a single blow to each one. She just smiled, jumping up and landing on the first tree, then as the next came crashing down, she jumped up again, and sped up as she did as each tree fell. Then while doing so, he managed to get in a quick punch while she had been focusing on the falling trees and she went flying through those that had not been felled. She hit a large tree, pushing into it, but not through it and bark and wood flew up around her cutting her face and hands.
She stood back up, with a more serious look on her face, and places her hands out in front of her and closes her eyes for one moment. A Cloud of dust rose and when it settled, she was in her battle armor; she would have more protection this way. She then ran back toward the large demon and did not even give him a chance to attack again. She began running around him in circles speeding up until she was barely visible. She began creating orbs and throwing them at him.
One by one, they collided with his body, his reactions too slow to stop all of them and soon the light was so bright that it seemed as if it was day. Some of the orbs flew back from him, but she was going way to fast to avoid getting hit by them as they came toward her, so she had to deflect them by her armored arms.
As each hit, they stung a bit, and the pain grew some, but she was other wise unharmed. In an involuntary move, she then snapped her fingers and threw balls of flames at him as soon as they formed in her hands. As soon as the fire balls were off, she back off a good distance and then there was an explosion, ending the reign of terror the demon caused for good.
She had not realized it, but tears had been welling in her eyes from the pain caused in her arms, but as soon as one escaped and touched her skin, the pain vanished. She looked down at her hands and noticed that the cuts and scratches were disappearing. She then touched her right hand fingers to her face and felt the wetness from the single tear, looking down at her hand, she figured it out. Her tears had been the cause of the healing.
She grabbed a small vial from one of her pouches and caught the remaining tears as they fell. She then turned toward the direction that the humans had fled and walked away from the carcass of the demon that was left behind.

§§§

He woke up with a start, and grabbed his sword from beside the bed. Then another knock broke through the fog of his still sleepy mind. He had to think of where he was for a moment, and then remembered that there were others in the safe house as well.
Zenothais relaxed his hold of his sword and said, his voice still thick with sleep, “Who is it?”
“Sorry to bother you, Sir, but there is someone to here to see you.” He opened his door and looked at the man, “One of our resistance leaders has sent a message and will only speak to you.”
He nodded his head and sighed, “Alright, give me a moment.” He closed the door and straightened up his hair, and placed his sword at his side. He then opened the door back up and stepped through. He closed it behind him and followed the man toward the room they used as a sitting room. He walked through and closed the door behind him, leaving the man to stand guard outside.
The messenger stood up and greeted him with a shaky smile, “Hello, Sir, glad to see these hard times find you well.” He nodded his head and sat back down on the chair he had been previously occupying.
Zenothais took a seat on another nearby empty chair and said to the young man, “So, what is this all about?”
“Well, Sir, perhaps you should read this, it will explain things better than I can tell you.” The young man said nervously as Zenothais took the paper from his hand. He opened the paper that had his most trusted general’s seal on it and read the following:

Prince Zenothais,

There have been severe casualties. It would seem that Beniko has a new follower. Someone from our resistance group has betrayed and slaughtered many of our men while they sleep. The said person has not yet been identified, and we need your assistance to figure out who it is. Please come to our safe house as soon as possible to prevent further loss of men. Thank you.

General Airi Kazuko


He tossed the paper down on the table next to the chair and slammed down his fist. “Damn it!! This is not good. How do we keep losing people to her?”
He stood up quickly, causing the young messenger to stand up, though he was a bit fidgety, as well. Zenothais then nodded quickly to the messenger and walked out of the room without another word. He took up his cloak and headed out of the safe house he was in. He didn’t want to waste any time in getting to General Kazuko, knowing that she must be tired and running out of ideas.
He walked out into the moonlight, seeing that it had only been a couple of hours since he had fallen asleep. The only way he would get past any of the patrols unnoticed was if he stayed in the shadows of the trees. He probably could have flown there, just as easy, but he didn’t want to risk being noticed. He stayed high up in the trees but far enough down to stay in their shadows. The moon was fairly high in the sky, but not yet overhead, so it was still easy enough to keep from being seen.
His thoughts were only on what Beniko was up to. With Beniko’s followers growing in numbers, she was bound to have more patrols on the look out for him, he was her most wanted of the resistance, since he was the heir to the Torgonian throne. He was her greatest threat and to eliminate him would be her easiest way to claim the throne.
She would have to catch him first. He wasn’t going to go down without a fight, he thought, sighing angrily as he jumped from tree to tree. He paused when he saw one of the very patrols that were looking for him. He took a deep breath and held it.
It was a group of four, three being male and one female. The female was the head of the group and she paused for a brief rest and to inform them of their patrol route before they continued. She had some papers unfolded out in front of her as she addressed the men,
“Alright...” She pointed to one spot on one of the papers, “This is where we are. We’ll make our way to the north, here.” She pointed to another spot on the paper, “We’ll break up into two groups, and spread out, covering each end and meeting here in the middle. Don’t forget to keep your eyes open, we might run into trouble. If you do, then blow your horn for reinforcements, don’t go in alone.” She nodded her head to them and motioned with her hand toward the north, “Now, let’s move out.”
They began walking away, the woman leader staying back from the rest for a moment, as though she knew they were being watched. She shook her head and then followed after her men. When they were all out of sight, he released his breath. He had gone unnoticed.
He continued his journey to the west and soon arrived at the secluded and well hidden safe house where General Kazuko was staying. There were two guards standing outside in two different look out trees. There was no way to get past them without being seen as there was only one way in or out of the safe house. He cautiously approached and the guards noticed him, they both said in unison,
“Halt! Who goes there?”
Zenothais jumped down to the ground and paused, and said quietly, but loud enough for them to hear, “It is I, Zenothais Torin, heir to the throne of Torgonia. I have come here in reply to an urgent message that was sent to me not long ago. I must be allowed to enter.”
“And we are supposed to believe you are who you say you are because?” asked one of the guards.
The wind blew through his hair and revealed the mark on his forehead which glowed slightly with his impatience. The second guard noticed it and looked quickly to the other guard, saying, “It’s him, we must let him pass. I’m sorry your highness.”
He began to move the lever that was also at his post. The first guard also began moving his lever and the gate that protected the only entrance began to rise.
Zenothais nodded his thanks and passed through the gate before it had been fully opened, and then it lowered back down behind him. He walked to the now clearly visible building and knocked on the front entrance, and waited for someone to arrive at the door. The door’s eye hatch opened and there peering out at him was one of the general’s blue eyes. It widened and she quickly opened the door to accept him into the premises,
“You’re Highness, glad you could come so quickly, I had not expected you so soon.” She stepped to the side and extended her left hand inside, “Please, come in.”
He smiled briefly and walked in, saying as he did, “Now, now, I couldn’t very well ignore your plea now could I? You are a very dear friend Airi, so don’t you forget that and would you please not call me that.” His face went serious as he went on to talk about business, “So, you say we have a traitor in our midst. I want to know all you have found out.”
She sighed and began, as they walked toward the room she used as a briefing room, “Well, Zenothais, I just found out about an hour ago that we are missing some of our men that were supposed to check in for duty. When I went to check on them, I found them in their rooms with their throats cut. There was no sign of struggle so they had to have been killed in their sleep and by someone they knew. The trouble is we have not found the weapon that was used or the person who’s responsible for doing it. We were hoping that you could help us by using your talents to find out who it is and stop this from happening to any more of our men. And if we do not act quickly, our position will be compromised.”
He sighed and sat down in one of the chairs at one end of the large table that was in the middle of the room. He leaned forward and clasped his fingers together leaning his arms on the table and his face on his hands. He seemed to be lost in thought and then turned toward General Kazuko with a grim look on his face, “I’ll do it, but I need to rest a little more. I had done some viewing earlier tonight and still have not completely recovered. Can you spare a couple of hours? Make sure that no one leaves the building and keep them confined to their individual rooms. If even one refuses, punish them and place them in the prison cells.”
She nodded her head and said, reverting to her combat training, “Yes, Sir.” She turned on her heel and walked out of the room, leaving him to think in silence. This was turning out to be one bothersome night….

The moon was right over head now, leaving little shadow to hide in, except in the trees. She stared down from her spot, crouched down on one knee on a tree branch, at a group of patrollers.

The wind blew through the trees, causing her long dark brown hair, which looked black in the shadows, to rise and flow behind her before settling again against her back. Her clothes, which were mostly black, was leather trousers and a close hugging shirt with white flowing sleeves, made it nearly impossible to see her. All faded into the darkness of the shadows around her, all except for the sleeves of her shirt.

As the patrollers drew closer, Jen studied them, seeing that it was three men and one woman. This was not the first group she had come across that was of the same set. She gleaned what information she could without being noticed and had learned that they were keeping a look out for a man named Zenothais Torin. He was supposed to be Torgonia's heir and that he was to be killed on sight if possible. She had also learned many of the patrol routes and was able to avoid them whenever she didn't want to find out more about how things were going. She was pretty good at staying hidden.

Along with her two brothers, she had been a part of a squad undergoing secret missions only suited to high ranked ninjas. The missions helped create the warrior she is now. However, having been betrayed and set up by peers that looked down on her as a joke, she was made an outcast and lost respect from the people around her home town. She had always been treated different though, all due to the fact that she was a woman. Whenever she thought about it, it angered her.

Only her family and close friends had stood by her. But after a while, it even came to the point where her father would no longer send her on high ranked missions. It would seem that he too had been brain washed by fellow ninja who carried out missions along side Jen, even though there was no denying her ability. She kept up and held her own. In the end, she broke away from her home town, leaving her family, the back stabbing of her fellow ninja and disappointment in her father behind. She was to start a new life, to have the freedom she wanted. She became a rouge ninja, following no ones orders but her own. With no set course in mind, she set off in search of her destiny which had brought her to where she was this night.

As the patrollers grew closer, she heard that Zenothais had been spotted earlier. The one that had seen him attacked and failed in killing him. He was now dead, his head cut clean off, and they knew it had been from Zenothais' blade. They never dared to attack him openly or at close range, for they knew they would have no chance. The only way they would have a chance at killing him was to catch him off guard, try to plan a trap and hope that their efforts were successful. If not, they knew not to linger or the consequences would be just as bad as it had been for the one who failed.

Every time they failed, their leader, Beniko Satsuki, she had learned, grew more angry and anxious. The longer it took for them to get to him, the longer she had to wait to claim the throne. She didn't like the sound of the woman, but she didn't care how it went either way. It wasn't any of her concern as long as her family was left out of it. She had heard, however, that Beniko was gaining more followers quickly every day and that was something she was concerned about. She only hoped that Beniko had not found their hidden village, Kurseon.

She looked down at them as they continued the conversation and pausing for a break. The leader of the group, the woman, was saying, "If we don't find Zenothais soon…" she dropped off into silence, taking drink of water from her water can before continuing, "To find out that we lost another one of our finest to him and Beniko finds out about this before we find out where he is, I don't want to think of what's going to happen." The woman shuddered as though really thinking of what could happen. The men just stared off not saying a word as they took drinks from their own water cans.

Jen smiled, and knew, from what they said, that they would never find him so easily. It was almost as though he were a ninja, knowing how to stay hidden and out of sight as he usually was. There had only been few occasions where she had heard about one or two of them seeing him before losing him again.

They started moving again, their break was over. She waited until they were out of sight before jumping through the trees silently, trying to find a place that would be suitable for her to rest until the next night. As she jumped from tree to tree, her hair flowed freely behind her as she picked up speed.

She finally came to a small building and paused on the tree branch she was on. She opened two of her pouches and drew out a couple shurikan from one and a kunai from the other. She threw one of the shurikan toward the front of the building at a nearby tree and the other toward the other side of it at another tree. After no one raced around to see what was going on, she decided to move in slowly, keeping her eyes out for any suspicious movement in the tree line. She was still holding her kunai closely in front of her as she approached the entrance to the building.


Airi paused outside the door she had just closed, she had just finished checking on the last member of her squad, making sure they had all went into their rooms as ordered. She closed her blue eyes and sighing in frustration at the situation at hand, but at the same time relieved that Zenothais had come here to help.

They had been close friends since childhood and when she was older her feelings had grown for him, beyond friendship, though she had never told him. She would be rising above her station to do so. Instead, still wanting to continue serving him, she joined the military forces. She had been a quick learner and moved through the training fast.

Her final scores had been one of the highest in history, but she had never thought she would become a general at such a young age, it had all happened so fast. She had been off duty and had been spending some time with Zenothais in the gardens when it had all taken place in the palace.


……It had been Beniko's first move, and it had been a surprising one. She had come into Terrago, the city where the Torin family ruled over Torgonia, as a meek young woman with blue grey hair and grey eyes. She was dressed in a burgundy top with a fairly short dark grey skirt. She was cloaked in a burgundy cloak as well, and she had an odd looking pendant around her neck. None of them had known that this seemingly harmless young woman had such terrible power.

She had managed to get to Terragona, the palace in which the Torins' lived and the surrounding city had been named after. She had been seeking an audience with King Orindu, but the king and his highest military guard had been in a meeting, and she had been denied. During that time, it was said that an evil grin crossed her face as she raised her hands toward the two guards, slaughtering them outside the throne room without even touching them and before they could even raise the alarm.

She then swung open the heavy doors as though they were nothing and entered the throne room. She went about throwing the first guards hard against the great walls of the throne room only raising her hands toward them. One guard had gone flying out the window, screaming as he did, and landed hard on the ground below just outside the throne room, killing him instantly. The remaining guards had tried to protect the king from her and died.

There was only one guard and King Orindu left by the time she was finished. She took only enough time to toss the guard out of her way and then raised the king high in the air. The guard stared back at her in terror as he watched her torture his majesty from where he had been tossed.

She tightened the invisible rope against his throat and said in a voice that would not fit a young woman, "Relinquish your throne to me, or die."

King Orindu shook his head adamantly and said in a strangled, raspy voice, struggling to get the words out of his mouth, "Never…..I'll…never…give…you…the…throne….Do…what…you…want…it…won't…..change……anything."

She wagged a finger at him and tightened on his throat some more, saying, "Tsk, tsk….Are you sure you don't want to change your mind? I'll give you one last chance." The king just shook his head again, and this time, she gave no mercy, killing him before the one guard.

The guard then lay there where he was, pretending to be dead, until she left the room. He then snuck away, and went out into the gardens searching for Zenothais. He searched all the likely spots and soon found him in the labyrinth maze, talking to his now superior officer, Airi Kazuko. He briefly told them what had happened and said that for a few days, he should go somewhere else to be safe. Airi decided to go with him, to offer him some protection, even though he didn't really need it…..

As she made her way back to the room where she had left Zenothais, her thoughts lingered on that day and everything that happened, but now she need to focus on the present. It had now been a few hours since she left him, and she hoped that he would now be ready to do what he came to do.

She came to the door of the room and quietly opened it. When she closed the door behind her, she looked toward him and saw that he had fallen asleep.

Her heart skipped a beat, and a brief look of joy mingled with sadness crossed her face. To have him near was wonderful, but her love was an unrequited one and she knew it. She would always love him, not matter what happened, but she could not say the same for him. He loved her as a brother would, and as a friend, but nothing more.

She quietly walked over to him, knowing that it would not be wise to shake him awake. She laid a hand on his shoulder and spoke softly into his ear,

"Zenothais, sir, wake up. It is time; everything has been done just as you ordered."

He slowly woke up, raising his head up from the table where his arms had been supporting his head like a pillow. As he looked over toward the only window in the room, there was much brighter moonlight shining in from it, showing him that the moon was now high in the sky.

He then turned his head and looked up at Airi and said with a sleepy smile, "Thank you my dear friend. I now feel as though I can continue my task at hand." He stayed where he was, but motioned for her to sit down on the other side of the table. "Please, go sit. This shouldn't take long."

She did as he asked and watched him from across the table with her hands folded in her lap. He closed his eyes almost as though he was about to fall back to sleep, but the symbol on his forehead began to glow. His head turned to one side and he began to speak in a saddened voice,

"I see the face of a young man in a daze, overlooking one of the members who are now dead. He does not even realize what he is doing, as though he's being controlled by someone else. He cuts the man's throat and moves on to another room. There, he kills another and then continuing on to the last…" His eyebrows scrunch in a frown at the sight of the young man unknowingly killing his comrades. "Now I see him walking back toward his room. The block number showing on his room's door is 3-87." He then opens his eyes and says, "He's in block three, room 87."

As Akana followed the scent of the injured humans, she noticed that there was something following her. She stopped and looked around, but not seeing anything in view, she wanted to dismiss it. She caught a new scent mixed in with the scent of blood from the humans and said loudly, “Come out, whoever you are, I don’t have time to waste on you. I know you’re there, I can smell you.”
She waited a moment, but nothing happened, no one showed up in reply to her inquiry. She knew there was something so she made like she was continuing on her journey to give her enough time to pinpoint the location of the owner of the new scent. Then she turned on her heel quickly and jumped right up into the tree, grabbing hold of her follower.
It squealed in surprise more than fear, and squirmed trying to get free, until she lengthened one of her nails that was on her hand that was around its neck, it getting sharper and more bird claw like. It went still and she got a good look at the creature.
It was a small creature with golden-brown fur and looked as though it were a cross between a monkey and a cat; the head and front arms like a monkey’s and its hind legs and tails looked as though it were from some kind of feline. From the form of the hind legs, though they were in cat form, it seemed that it could probably walk up right if it chose to.
Other than its odd looks, it really didn’t seem like a threat so she said quietly, “I’ll let you go if you don’t go screaming or running off.” It nodded its head fervently, so she loosened her grip and said as she was about to release it, “I just want to know why you are following me.” She let go completely, setting it down on the branch that they were both on.
The little creature looked up at her apologetically, if it could even have an apologetic look, then bowed its head to her and said in a child like voice, “I’m sorry milady, I’m Garschel. I’ve been in this forest for a long time, as part of its protectors, but that demon had proved too much for me and my family. It killed my family and I barely escaped alive. When I saw how you took it upon yourself to stop him for those humans, even though you didn’t have to, I wanted to see what you would do next. May I ask you a question? Why are you now going after the humans? What do you intend to do now that you’ve taken care of the demon?”
She looked grim for a moment as she thought about the damage that the demon had caused and the injuries that she was sure more than just those who had fled. She then smiled briefly at Garschel, “Well, I need to go see how many of those humans are injured. I’m sure that there are more than just those few who fled from sight when I took over. I intend to do anything I can to help them, you see, I have something very special that can take away their pain. But if I let them see me when I get to their village, I may never get the chance to use that special item if they are all locked away in their homes in fright.”
She reached into her kimono and took out a vial of clear liquid from one of her hidden pouches. She took off the stopper and held out her other hand toward him, “Now, you’re injured aren’t you, I can smell it so you don’t have to keep trying to hide it from me. I can help you, the same way I intend to help the humans.”
He looked at her a bit surprised, but grabbed a hold of her hand with both his, squeaking a little at the pain as he did. He then raised his body up and landed on her shoulder. She held on to one of his little arms and tips the vial over it, letting only one drop fall onto it before raising it back up. He didn’t really understand what she was doing at first, but after a few more seconds, his pain started drifting away. She put the stopper back over the vial and replaced it back where she had retrieved it.
He grew excited and hugged her around her neck, screeching in her ear, “Thank you. Thank you. I feel much better now. How can I ever repay you, milady?”
She smiled at him and said, “It’s not necessary, really. I do not need payment, your thanks was enough.”
Garschel shook his head and said, “No, no, I cannot go without doing something for you in return, you probably saved my life just then. I did not know if I would survive the injury I had sustained, I was beginning to fall behind when following you as it was before you healed me. I will follow you where ever you go, from now on, until I die.”
She just laughed, but then sighed, “Very well. I’m not sure that it is suitable for you to go where I may end up. I have no home so I wander around helping those in need, if you wish you can follow, but I warn you…” she paused and took a drink of her water from her flask, then offered it to him, “I often end up in situations that would be of great danger for one such as you. You may not survive long in such situations. But, with that said, your company would be a nice change from the solitude I’ve led these past years.”
He was still on her shoulder and bowed down to her in respect and said, “I’ll do as you say, I promise you….” He looks up at her, “Please, tell me, what is your name, milady?”
“My name is Akana Yukinai, the last of my kind. Now we must get a move on, I have a lot of work to do ahead of me.”
He nodded his head as he said, “Yes, Lady Akana.”
She just smiled and touched a hand to his back as she began walking toward the direction of the scent of blood that came from the humans. She hoped that things would not be too serious there, and she would only be using her tears on those who were fatally injured. The rest, she hoped, would be able to find help with their wounds, because she knew they would never let her get close enough for her to help them herself.
Once she got close enough to the village, she waited until there were few mingling about the wounded. She bade Garschel to wait outside the village while she took care of the humans who needed immediate attention. He did as she commanded but got to where he could watch the villagers. He stared in awe as she did so with such speed that they never even seen who had helped them drastically heal. They were turning their heads back and forth, looking in wonder at their miraculous recovery.
She then returned to Garschel and walked away from the village. He went about chattering to her about how great her ability was and everything else about that day as she continued to walk away from the village.
She never went out of her way to help those in need, but if they ever crossed paths, she always took time out to do so. She smiled and listened to Garschel, fading into the evening fog that was moving in, the villagers never even aware she had visited their village.

She woke up suddenly, feeling a bit shaken and sweaty. The dream she had woke from has seemed so real, the images still vivid in her mind though a few minutes had already passed. She sat up and scooted back to lean against the pillow, bringing up her knees to her chest to rest her head on them, trying to calm herself down, the dream being all she could think about. Then a voice broke through her thoughts, coming from down stairs, " Caliera....It's time to get up sweetheart. Its about time for school."

She raised her head toward her door, "Alright Mom," she yelled back as she threw back the covers off her legs and swung them over the edge, "I'll be right down as soon as I've had a shower."

She walked over to her closet and grabbed out her school uniform, and as she slid the closet door shut, she caught a glimpse of her face. Her eyes widened, for a moment, she thought she was looking at someone else. She closed her eyes tight and shook her head, trying to shake it off, then took another look. It was still the same, yet different. She didn't really understand it, but didn't really want to take anymore time thinking about it, so she tried to shrug it off, but it did make her wonder about it.

She made her way to the bathroom, taking her school uniform with her. She took a quick shower to rinse off the sweaty feeling she had from the dream and dressed quickly. She hobbled down the hallway toward the stairs as she put on her socks and shoes and then ran down the stairs toward the kitchen.

As she rushed into the kitchen, she saw that her mother had already finished with fixing their breakfast. She quickly walked over to the table, said thanks and scarfed down her eggs and hash browns. As she headed toward the door upon finishing, she grabbed her back pack from her mother, kissing the side of her cheek as she passed. With a quick "Bye Mom," she flew out the door. The kitchen's screen door slammed against its frame behind her as she made a run for it toward the road just as the bus to school had arrived. She boarded and they were on their way.

She was in her last week of school, it was her senior year and she wanted to hurry up and get the exams over with. She had applied for several colleges, and with her high scores in school, she had been accepted with scholarships to each one of them. She just hadn't gotten around to choosing which one to go to, since her strange dreams had started. They were more frequent now, and for some reason, they seemed to always start back where they left off.

She leaned her head on the glass of the window of her seat as she thought to herself that she would tell her mom about the dreams she had been having after graduation. Her mom could probably tell her what they meant since she was after all really into the supernatural and had deep spiritual beliefs.

The bus started to slow and so she raised her head off the glass focusing her eyes on the scenery outside, seeing that they were at the school. She had no more time to think about her dreams in earnest as she stood up taking her back pack and walking toward the bus as the other few kids were herded off of the bus. She saw her friends as she was on the last step of it, them waving to her to join them as they walked up the steps to the school.

As she finally made her way to them she said, "Hi girls. Where's Sylvia?" looking over their shoulder for the one friend who was still missing.

Alexis, the wittiest of the group said, "Oh you know her. She's probably still asleep after the part she went to last night. She'll probably show up about the time that school is over."

The other two, Cassandra and Dominique just snickered.

Caliera just raised an eyebrow and said, "Really..." as she started walking on up the steps. The other girls followed, noticing that she was quiet...again. They had noticed that Caliera had gotten more quiet and withdrawn as the school year progressed, but they didn't have the nerve to ask her what was up, nor did they really care. They just looked at one another confused and shrugged their shoulders as they continued on into the school building and into their home room class.

Caliera went to her usual seat in the class room and sat down. She thought yet again that it was a bit odd that she be so distracted and still do well in class. Then again, she did have an uncanny ability to remember anything, getting high scores without even trying. It was more than photographic memory though, things came easily to her, and sometimes she didn't even have to read the entire page of content that was in front of her to know the rest. It was just something else that she didn't really understand, and it was something she had always had.

As the day drew on, all anyone seemed to be doing is studying for the exams that would come at the last half of the week, and preparing for graduation. She could hear the excited buzz of students talking about graduation that would be on the Monday next, one week away. They were talking of their college plans, their graduation dress choice and other summer plans. Anytime one would ask her what she was going to do, she just smiled and said, "Oh I'm going on a summer trip." but never said where she would be going. It was the same every time anyone asked her what she was going to do, but other than that, she kept mostly to herself and tried to study. However, she was really never able to concentrate on that with the growing number of dreams of the same things. And she was really unsure that she would be going anywhere, let along somewhere cool like the others were bound to go to.

As the last bell for school rang, she gathered her things and headed out into the hall. Her friends had actually left her alone for most of the day and now caught up to her smiling, seeing that Sylvia had finally shown up about mid day. They were all chatting and looked up as they saw Caliera and started laughing at Sylvia’s comment.

She looked at them confused and said, “What?”

They just shook their heads and Cassie said, “Oh, we were just talking about Sylvia’s adventure from last night. She had gone to a party and got so drunk that she doesn’t even remember returning home.”

They all just laughed at it some more, but Caliera had a concerned look on her face and said, with the concern showing in her voice as well, “Sylvia, why do you keep doing that to yourself? You know, one of these days, you’re going to end up doing something that you regret, if you haven’t already, and you won’t even remember doing it.”

They just looked at her like she was crazy, not expecting this kind of reaction from her, as she used to join in the laughter too. Alexis said, “Cali, are you alright? You know this is nothing new, why are you harping about it now?”

She sighed and said, “Because, we’re not kids anymore, and we’re about to go to different schools and I’ll worry about you guys. When are you three going to grow up?”

With that she walked off quickly, not waiting on them to catch up to her. They just stared off toward her in surprise and then started walking out of the school building to their own rides. She shook her head and wondered if they would ever grow up or just stay the way they were. She didn’t have time to mess around with silly things like that anymore.

She hopped onto the bus and took her usual seat. She stared off at nothing in particular, her thoughts still on the dreams. She then sighed, leaning back against the seat and closed her eyes, falling asleep as the bus started up to take the student’s home, hers being the last stop which took some time to get to. Now on her way home, she slept fitfully, and the dream started up again….


Zenothais and General Airi took a couple of men and walked to the room that he had specified when he was viewing. They had kept things quiet as to not let the young officer or any of the others know that something was amiss any more than it already was.

Airi knocked on the young man’s door and said she was coming in with Zenothais. She then quietly told the men to stand guard outside the room in case the young officer tried to get away from them and then turned back toward the door as she turned the knob to open it.

If they were lucky, they would be able to get the spell that was over him removed before any more damage was done. If not, then they would have to imprison the young officer. She really didn’t want to have to do that, but it was the only other way to ensure that no more men were lost because of Beniko’s treachery.

She opened the door and peered into the room saying, “Officer Callis? Hello, this is my friend Zenothais and we just wanted to talk to you. Will you comply?”

They had just stepped through the door and closed it behind them by the time she had finished speaking. The officer had been sitting on the bed, in a daze, but when she had mentioned Zenothais name, the young man seemed to perk up as if on cue. He jumped off the bed rushing at Zenothais with a knife raised, his eyes glazed over. Airi yelled “Officer Callis!!” while Zenothais was quick to move, avoiding him altogether and pulled Airi back as well, but the knife caught her right arm. Zenothais then let go of Airi and knocked the young officer down, knocking him out in the process, having hit him on the back of the neck with his hand. He then opened the door and got one of the guards to help him drag the young man back to his bed and laid him down on it.

After that, he turned and walked toward Airi, looking at her arm, the blood staining her white uniform from under her hand that was covering it. She was holding it but did not say anything or complain about any pain, she just looked at him expectantly. He smiled briefly, knowing she was in pain, then looked more serious and said, “You had better go get that taken care of. I can take care of Officer Callis. He won’t be causing anymore trouble tonight.”

She nodded her head and said as she turned to go to the infirmary, “Yes Sir,” then walked off.
Zenothais turned back toward Officer Callis, as he now lay completely unconscious and unmoving. He walked over to the side of the bed and pulled up a seat. He sat down, placed a hand on the young officer’s head and closed his eyes, letting his third sight figure out what kind of spell was placed on him. It depended on the type and strength of the spell to determine if he would be able to break it or not.

As he searched, he furrowed his brow upon finding it, knowing that it would take him fully rested to break it, which would be difficult to say the least. He’d found a binding curse, one of which Beniko had somehow gotten hold of something from this young officer in order for it to be so strong. He just hoped that the time it would take for him to be fully rested would not be too late for him to save Callis; he needed at least another day to be ready to try it. He let his hand drop and opened his eyes as he stood up to leave the room. He walked to the door and then told the guards to lock it and don’t leave their post until morning, when another two would come to take their place.He walked to a room that Airi had always proved for him anytime he was in the area. He was too drained to check up on her to see how she was now, so he walked to the bed and lay down. He fell into a deep sleep, like he always did after viewing, not evening moving once while he slept since he didn’t dream…


She was jerked awake as the bus hit a small hole in the road not far from her home. As the bus slowed down to stop to let her get off, Caliera stood up, taking her back pack with her, and walked toward the front of the bus. The driver looked at her and said, “Have a good day Caliera,” as he opened the door upon stopping completely in front of her house.

She turned toward him as she stepped off, smiling and said, “You too, Mr. Franks.” She waved good bye to him and then turned back toward her house, walking up the path in her front yard to her house and up the steps. Her mother hadn’t returned home from work yet, so after she unlocked the door with her key, she went to the kitchen and prepared herself a snack, laying her back pack on the counter next to the door. Once she had everything fixed, she then headed to her room to rest.

She didn’t really have any homework except to study for the exams and that wasn’t really on her mind. She was still tired so she took her cookies and milk over to her bed and sat down on it. She ate a few and a couple of sips of her milk before lying down on it. She stared up at the ceiling, wondering when the dreams would stop, if they would ever stop, so that she could get back to her normal life, as she would call it.

She turned to her side and sighed, closing her eyes, knowing that they were too frequent to just ignore any longer. She slowly drifted off to sleep, knowing that her dreams would continue, and trying to delay it as long as possible, for when she did dream those special dreams, she felt more drained than when she had fallen asleep.


After making sure that the building was secure, she set about making a trap parameter around the building so that she would know if someone was coming. Upon finishing the last one she went back to the building to get some rest, which she really needed. If the traps didn’t stop them, at least they would alert her and slow them down. Jen walked into the building and found her a spot in which she could watch both the entrances comfortably and still be able to act quickly upon any intrusion.

Once settled in her spot, she took out what little food and water she had left, knowing that she would have to find somewhere to re-supply soon. She took a few bites of the dried meat and crackers, eating slowly so that they would be more filling. She then sipped some water from her can, only enough to wet her throat enough to swallow the dry food. Then after a few more bites, she put the rest away, trying to ration the food to last her till morning. She knew she was close to some compound where she could find food, even if the patrollers didn’t. Still it would take a couple of hours, and she would need some more energy before moving on in the morning.

She then leaned back to get a little more comfortable and closed her eyes to rest them. It was only a few hours until dawn and if she could rest until then, she would be happy enough. She dozed for a while, not really sleeping, but it would be enough for her to feel a little better. Then just as the sun started to rise, the forest around her went quiet…too quiet.

The silence was deafening and she opened her eyes, her skin tingling with the sensation that something was about to happen. She looked at both entrances warily, when suddenly one of her traps was set off. There was a loud boom and then a yell of some men and a woman. One of the men had triggered one of the trip wires she had set up, setting off one of the smoke bombs that were attached to it, and was coughing as they tried to move out of the smoke.

She knew she had to act quickly and move out of the building before the smoke cleared; being cornered in the building would not be the best place to be. She made sure that there were no traces of her stay in the building and went out the entrance that was opposite of the explosion. She jumped up into one of the trees moving up high enough to hide but also have a good view of the patrol group that was now running toward the building. They thought they were going to have their culprit, but they were mistaken.

They searched the building to find nothing and they all came out with angry looks on their faces. Then the sun came up just enough and blinded Jen and the sun also had caught just enough light on her pants to glint. She moved quickly out of the sunlight and brushed up against some smaller limbs as she did. The group heard the movement in the trees and headed toward the rustling sound she had made when she moved. She sighed at her carelessness which was growing from the lack of sleep and knew that she had only one way out as she had even set paper bombs up in the trees around the parameter.

She just hoped that she could trick them into going the opposite direction and set off one of the other parameter traps while she escaped in the other direction. Fortunately, the side of the parameter they had set off initially was from the direction of the compound. To throw them off, she would throw a kunai knife toward one of the paper bombs that was set behind her…hopefully it would be enough to draw their attention and think that she had tried to escape from that direction.

She took out one of her kunai knives and prepared to throw it from where she was hidden. She paused, watching them carefully as they searched on the ground below her for signs of their pursuit, and then threw it when she was certain they weren’t looking up. As the knife passed the area where the paper bomb was placed, the paper began to burn and she moved to a safer distance as it would probably set the others off that were nearby. Then the blast came and one of the trees on the outside of the parameter began to fall, grabbing their attention. It seemed that her plan had worked perfectly, as they started toward that area, hoping to find who they were looking for, and she jumped from tree to tree away from them.

However, she hadn’t been counting on one of them staying behind at the part of the parameter they had come in through. He spotted her as she jumped from one tree to the next and sounded his horn, causing the rest to turn back before they had even gotten close enough to set off another one of her traps. She cursed to herself for her work getting sloppy. She was tired and hungry, and that caused her to not be at her best.

She sighed and jumped down in front of him, hoping to take him out in a matter of seconds before the others could get to him. She was nearing the point of total exhaustion and did not have the strength to fight off all five of them at once. He drew out his sword and said with a cackle and ugly smile on his face, “Well, well, well, what do we have here….what is a pretty lady like yourself doing all the way out here alone. You could get hurt being all by yourself.”

“Ha, we’ll see who the one who gets hurt is, now won’t we. Your arrogance is astounding…”


The sound of her mother’s voice woke her up, calling to her from down stairs. Caliera got up and headed downstairs. Her mother was in the kitchen getting ready to start preparing their dinner. She kissed her on the cheek as she walked by her heading toward the table. She said as she sat down, “So how was work today Mom? You are later than you normally are in getting home, have any trouble?”

“A little, dear, but it’s all taken care of now, thanks for asking. So, what would you like for supper, I was just about to get started on it.”

“It doesn’t matter to me Mom, you can fix whatever you like, and I mean that in the best possible way. You always do such wonderful dishes that I like them all. Of course, they are such strange dishes, at least compared to what other parents’ do, where do you get the recipes from?”

Her mother smiled, “Well, I think perhaps it is about time to show you something very special. I also have something very important to tell you. You may not accept it at first, but it is time, I’ve kept it from you long enough.”

Caliera looked at her with her eyebrows scrunched up in question to her mother’s odd words. She could not sit there and not wonder what she was talking about, she stood up kind of quickly, “So, what is all this about all of a sudden Mom?”

Her mother stopped cutting up the vegetables and walked over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder, “I think you should follow me, supper can wait a little longer.” She raised her hand off her shoulder to touch the side of Caliera’s face as she turned to walk toward the closet under the stairs. “I just want you to know Caliera that no matter what comes of this; I have always loved you and always will.”

She had followed her to the closet and now that she heard these last words, it made her a bit worried and confused, “What are you talking about Mom? You’re really starting to make me worry.”

“I’m sorry sweetheart…” she took out a very large book that had strange markings on it, “It is time to show you your true origins.”

On the front of the book, it looked to be a language Caliera had never seen before, but she was somehow able to read it. On the front it showed a picture of a phoenix looking bird and had the words “The History of Torgonia” on the front. She touched her hand to the book at the ornate decorations on it, and then looked at her mother, “What is this, how am I able to read what it says, yet I’ve never seen this language before?”

“So your powers are developed more than I thought….” With that said Caliera’s head shot up in surprised confusion, “You see, that book tells of the place you and I are from. However, I am not your real mother. I was ordered a long time ago to bring you to this world and take care of you until you were of age, when your powers would be nearly fully developed. Your mother, Lady Akana, a sweet, kind, and wise woman, helped us all so much, that I could not refuse.”

“But….why didn’t you tell me this before Mom?”

“It was because I had to wait until it was on the eve of your eighteenth birthday, which is tonight. This book has all the history of Torgonia and your mother right up to the point where you were born. It is time to get you back to your home, for there is more than just being from a different land…you are the heir of the Torgonian throne, it is time to start preparing your more openly for your duty. You’ve been having a lot of dreams lately haven’t you…?”

Caliera looked at her in surprise, she hadn’t even gotten around to telling her and she already knew. She nodded her head silently and let her continue,

“I see, I figured you were, with the way you haven’t seemed like you’d been rested much lately. There is no reason for you to continue to go to your school here, as you will not need most of the education you gained from this world. And seeing as you’ve been dreaming a lot, you will more than likely not have to read this book entirely. Tomorrow, on your eighteenth birthday, your powers will be complete and your family symbol will show up on your forehead. I think it is time that we move to a more secluded spot in this world where you can learn to use your powers undisturbed by the humans of this place.”

She looked at Caliera and smiled softly, knowing that it was a lot to take in at once, “Now, if you will let me, I will fix our supper and fix something extra special so that you can have a good night sleep for a change and let your powers mature. You may go to your room and get some rest or look at the book; I’ll call you down when supper is ready.”

Caliera nodded her head and took the heavy book with her up the stairs to her room. She sat down on her bed and leaned back opening up the book to the first few pages where it showed her family tree. The list was large; her family had been there since the very beginning. She sat there resting on her bed and looking through it, touching the book with care and reverence, for, with its size it had to be respected. She looked through the different names of the family tree until it came down to where she saw her own name, and beside her name was a last name that was unfamiliar to her, yet at the same time like it belonged. Torin was the name and it was the royal name of her bloodline.

Beniko paced the floor right in front of the throne in the throne hall. She had all but taken over the palace and had near total control over the entire planet. There was still one thing that bugged her….the resistance and its leader, Zenothais. She had thrown nearly everything imaginable at them and they still kept on fighting. As long as Zenothais was around she’d never gain complete control to become queen of Torgonia and somehow he kept eluding her traps set for him. “Damn you and your family, Torin!” she screamed out in frustration, “I vowed I’d get your family back….”

The yell echoed throughout the throne hall and the neighboring rooms. She had thought that surely her latest tactic would catch him off guard, but once again it had failed. She was beginning to run out of ideas and didn’t know what she was going to do if she didn’t take care of the problem soon.

Just as soon as she started pacing again, trying to think of a new plan, a messenger rushed in and interrupted her train of thought. He was obviously not aware of her foul mood or he probably would have steered clear of her till she calmed down. She stopped abruptly and turned to see who would dare bother her. She growled out ferociously, “What is it this time…” thinking it was just more bad news. The messenger froze in fear, now regretting having entered the throne hall at all. “I told you messengers before, NEVER come to report a failure….” And with that she began to raise her right hand toward him.

Knowing he had little time, the messenger quickly bowed to her and said with his head down, “Yes, Milady, but what I have to report isn’t exactly a failure….(not a complete one anyway)….” This caught her attention and her hand froze halfway up. “Oh? Then out with it, I don’t have all day.” She then waited for him to continue, impatiently tapping her foot on the floor with her arms now crossed over her chest. “Ummm…” the messenger stammered as he looked at her briefly before bowing his head again, “Well, Milady, it would seem that while searching for Prince Torin, one of our patrol groups came across a ninja. She injured a couple of them in the process but she was nearing exhaustion so she was easily subdued and captured. They are now resting in the building near where she was found and waiting for your orders. They are group 47 in the Forest of Caleon.” He took a breath and continued, “What are your ord—…” he trailed off noticing the sudden silence. “Milady?” he said as he took a quick look around and his call was left unanswered. Beniko was no where in sight and the messenger sighed in half disappointment and relief at the same time. He would get to continue living for now.

…………..

The compound and the ground nearby shook at dawn, caused by an unknown explosion. It woke up everyone who had been resting in the compound, even Zenothais who had been resting in his own room. Now an hour later, he was getting ready to head out and investigate the reason for the explosion and would be taking with him a small group.

Ordinarily, General Airi would be heading such an investigation this close to the compound, but Zenothais thought it would be better that she stay and let her arm heal. It was just a minor injury and she even had some accelerant medicine given to her, but it would still take a few days for her arm to fully heal. With that in mind, he gave her the order to stay put and take it easy.

She had done well for her being so young…he thought as he walked toward the compound’s gate. He looked at the resistance fighters training in what could only be considered as the courtyard. She’s done well indeed…Most of them were younger than him and younger than he would have liked, but they didn’t really have much of a choice. They needed anyone willing and able to fight against Beniko, be it young or old. As he walked by, many of the trainees stopped and watched him in awe and even some had a look of envy in their eyes. Why they would want to be in his position, he didn’t know. He just gave them a brief nod and turned his attention to the unlikely group that would be going with him on the investigation.

It was made up of the most unlikely trio imaginable; a young boy, Kenron Boshin, the explosives expert, Kyalorae, from the Lycodraag race, having dragon and wolf DNA mixed with her human DNA, their best tracker and stealth expert, and Mesoneme “Bisen”, their human bulldozer for his great strength. They certainly weren’t a very inconspicuous team, but they were the best of the best and each of their skills would be necessary for this investigation.

He had never worked with them before, but he thought it would be as good a time as any to get to know them, however brief it may be. “Well, I already know who you are and you know who I am, so is there really any need for introductions?” He was greeted with silence, “I thought not. Now let’s move out, we need to be as quick as we can. It is nice to meet you all.” He then started toward the gate once again. “Yes, Sir...” They all said as they moved out behind him.

……………

Jen Nara smiled, they fell for it….she had just enough energy left to create a clone of herself to use to fool those patrollers. There was no way, no matter what state of being she was in, would she give in to them so easily. She just sat there and watched in the safety of the tree she was hiding in as one of the patrollers came out of the building she had just been in not long ago.

To her surprise, a young looking girl that appeared out of nowhere and approached the patroller. Well, well, what is this? Jen just watched quietly. From the patrollers surprise and fear at the sudden appearance of the girl, she gathered that it must be Beniko. Something just didn’t sit right with the look of her. How could she look so innocent and yet be so terrifying all at the same time? She couldn’t hear them, but the patroller quickly led Beniko inside the building, where they held her clone captive.

Once inside, Beniko smiled wickedly, seeing it as an opportunity to try something different on Zenothais, “Well…this might just be a turning point I need,” Beniko’s smile grew wider. Jen could see a trace of something else in her eyes, but couldn’t quite figure out what it was. She tried to ignore it and focus on the task at hand, but it still nagged at the back of her mind. “So, tell me, what would a ninja be doing in this part of the woods? You’re far from home aren’t you?” Jen didn’t open her mouth and kept silent. “Not much of a talker, are you? No matter, I have other ways of getting the knowledge I need from you.” Jen just smirked, that’s what you think.

Beniko then spoke in a bazaar language, one not heard in over a thousand years, “Kowa shi saa, fein cu lei, tala mei shu haisho kolo, wono koinah…” Translated it would mean this; Through the depths of darkness I seek, searching for a trace of that which I lack, come forward to me, that I might have victory...

However before she could finish, she was interrupted by the sound of a fallen tree crashing to the ground after having been moved out of the way. Beniko and the patrollers that were unhurt left the building to see what was going on. Beniko sensed a presence she hadn’t counted on and halted where she was. Unprepared for the encounter, Beniko panicked and turned around, howling as she started to disappear again into thin air to go back to the safety of the castle, now frustrated more than ever. “I will get you Torin, just you wait!!” She cried out as she dissolved.

Jen smiled in relief, knowing that only one person could get her that frustrated and distracted enough for her to get away. The patrollers had started toward the sound, but as soon as they noticed that Beniko was no longer with them to help them, they bailed right into the other remaining traps that Jen had set, too scared to face the only person they knew could make Beniko leave. The two that had stayed inside guarding Jen’s clone, strayed outside to see what the commotion was about, only to see Zenothais and the other three come into the clearing. Knowing all too well what would happen to them, the retreated in the other direction, more careful than the others to avoid any other traps that might still be set by Jen.

Now with them out of the way, Jen felt her remaining strength leave her and she was no longer able to maintain the clone inside the building. It vanished just as the four reached the building’s entrance, leaving it empty. But they had seen it briefly before it had vanished. She heard Zenothais say, “Spread out around the clearing and search for her, she can’t be far away, to have used such a clever tactic. But be careful, there are probably some other traps not set off that she placed around the parameter still.”

She thought with wonder, how could he know about all that with just a brief glimpse of my clone before it vanished….unless he knew more about ninja than she thought. With that thought in mind, she knew that it would probably be useless to try to get away from them, because she could tell that Kyalorae would just follow her anyway. Though she herself was great at stealth, Kyalorae’s kind was even better. She quietly jumped down from the tree she was hiding in and dropped down into the clearing, landing gracefully on her knee before passing out.

………….

Once at the building the four split up just after Zenothais warned them to be careful. Bisen stayed near the building since he would have been more likely to set off any remaining traps, due to his size, no matter how careful he was. Kyalorae went inside the building to pick up the lingering scent of the patrollers' captive. And Kenron, well, to say the least, stayed close to Zenothais to ask questions, unafraid.

“So, sir, you obviously have a good idea as to what likely happened here, do you mind sharing it? The residue I found on the fallen trees we had to move out of the way is nothing like anything I’ve ever seen for explosives and-“
“You’re not likely to see it again….” Zenothais interrupted, “I believe that we’re dealing with a ninja, but not just any ninja, so you had best keep up your guard. One this far north can mean only one thing…a rogue.”
“So I take it that “rogue” is not a good thing, sir.” Kenron interjected.
“Perhaps…but it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is a bad thing either. It just means that things will be unpredictable and may or may not turn out bad.”
The boys eyes glimmered with excitement of the news, “Wow, I’ve never met a ninja before, let alone a rogue one at that…this shall be—“

He was interrupted by the half howl-screech from Kyalorae. She had found something. They wasted no time in moving to the part of the clearing where she was. What they saw there was Jen passed out on the ground a few feet from the tree line. Zenothais was a little perplexed, for it hadn’t been for the kunai holder band on her leg or the pouch on her, he wouldn’t have thought her to be a ninja.

He called Bisen over to carry her back to the compound. He bound her hands and feet to keep her from fighting back if she woke before the made it back to the compound and made sure he disarmed her well, even the concealed weapons were removed. He didn’t want to risk a betrayal if Beniko had already gotten to her, knowing that she had actually been there.

Bisen lifted her up and over his shoulder gently like a sack of potatoes and followed the rest of them back toward the compound. He trudged along as carefully as he could to keep from waking her up. Even bound, she would probably prove difficult in controlling if she were conscious. They needn’t have worried about that though, for she never once stirred from her unnatural sleep state.

Once at the gate the four used a special pass code that was given to them so that they could pass through quickly. Once inside, Zenothais ordered that a holding cell be readied for they were bringing in an unknown. Bisen took Jen to it and carefully laid her down on the mat, with surprising gentleness for his big hands. There they left her to sleep off her exhaustion and Zenothais would return once she awoke to find out more and provide her with food and water.

…………………….

There was a disembodied scream that echoed throughout the castle, signaling Beniko’s return. Everyone about who heard it scurried out of sight, knowing that if they came across her now, they probably wouldn’t live to see another day.

One such poor soul of a servant such as this failed to make his disappearance in time. The moment Beniko laid eyes on him was the moment his body fell to the ground in a heap. She wasted no time toying with her victim like she often like to do before killing them. She was much too angry for that and remembering how she failed the first time didn’t help either. Damn the Torins and their sacred guardians. I would have been successful if it weren’t for them.

It had been many-many years in the past. She was a sorceress of the old kingdom and had infiltrated the castle by acting as a magical advisor to the young king. She had a loyal assistant Fushi Tsubako, who she shared her greatest and most horrible ideas with. At least she though he was loyal.

The time had finally arrived that the king had chosen a bride and was getting ready to marry her. Beniko had often prevailed in talking him out of it when he showed any interest in a woman, but not this time, it would seem he finally met his match. She had known it was only a matter of time and had prolonged things as long as she could to make sure she had everything she needed for her hideous plan. And now that she had finally gained enough followers who would accept her as queen, it was time to put her plan into motion. She would get rid of the king and his soon to be queen.

But before she could even make her first move, they came and took away everything she had worked so hard to get. They locked her away in the dungeon till after the kings wedding. Afterward they took her before him and his queen and the scribe began the dictate of her crimes against them, but she hadn’t really heard much of what was said, for she saw only one thing. The one she thought her most loyal of subjects was standing not far off behind the king and queen. It turns out that he was the leader of the sacred Phoenix tribe and sworn guardian to the Torin family.

The scribe had just finished the list of crimes and was now getting to her punishment as ordered by the king. “…You shall hereby be banished from all of Torgonia and stripped of your powers. You shall be forever imprisoned in a crystal prism provided by the Phoenix tribe….”

She looked at all of them in horror, for it could mean only one thing. The Phoenix tribe had a special ritual that could separate the mind and body. Looking at Fushi one last time, she hung her head down in defeat, for with the special dampening chains on her, there was no hope for escape…..

Beniko shook her head to clear the memories away and growled out in a loud yell, “For fifteen hundred years I was stuck in that damn crystal, forlorn without hope of ever escaping. But as luck would have it, I got a second chance thanks to this girl who somehow released me, for even I did not know the answer. Now, the bloodline of the Torin family is all but extinguished and not even the Phoenix tribe can help you now…I never make the same mistakes twice.” With that said, she looked down at the servant’s corpse and smiled. With renewed elation at being free she walked to her quarters to think of a new plan.

……………………..

“Caliera??” a voice called, penetrating through her dreams, “dinner’s ready.”

She stirred and slowly opened her eyes, feeling even more tired than before. She sat up and stretched, then looked down and saw the large book. It was open on a page that showed a picture of Beniko, the real Beniko. I sure wish these dreams would end…she thought absentmindedly as she closed the book. She walked down the stair to the kitchen and looked at the woman she had always thought of as her mother. The woman looked up and smiled at Caliera.

“Good you’re finally awake. But I must say, my dear, you really don’t look anymore rested than when you went up.” She patted Caliera’s hand as she sat down at the table after washing her hands. “But I’m sure that will not be the case after this specially prepared meal. Now, eat up and enjoy your meal.”
Caliera smiled at her but realized that she didn’t really feel all that hungry. She ate a few bites but mostly pushed the food around her plate, lost in thought.
“What’s bothering you, dear.”
Caliera looked up from her plate to see curious and worried eyes watching her carefully. “Oh it’s nothing really. I just fell asleep without really even realizing it and then when I woke up, I noticed the book was on a page that I don’t remember turning to. It showed a picture of a beautiful woman named Beniko.”
The woman’s face hardened at the name and stiffened up a little as she said, “I see, dear, what about her?”
“Well, I noticed that she looked different than how she did in my dream. She looked more like a girl from here. Why is that and is it even possible?”
Now the woman chuckled and said, “My dear child, in time you’ll see that things you once thought to be impossible just may actually be possible. Now, don’t worry about any of this anymore tonight. I want you to enjoy your birthday meal. Eat up, you’ll feel better I promise.”
“But—“
“No buts, just eat.” She said in a kind yet firm tone of voice, letting Caliera know that the matter was closed for now.

Though Caliera didn’t like that she was left unanswered, she did feel a little better and ate most of what was on her plate. After cleaning up her place, she thanked her for the delicious meal and headed back up to bed, still tired. Once in her room she fell into a deep sleep, not the type of sleep that she usually went into when she had her visions within her dreams. For once she slept normally since the first day she had turned seventeen.

Jen woke feeling disoriented and thirsty. Then she took a look at the bare surrounding of the cell and sighed. There was nothing she could use in the room that would aid in her escape. Just great, now I’ll have to bust my way out. She reached down for her pouch but found it emptied of all its contents. Every weapon she normally had on her was missing as well. Very good, you must know quite a bit about my people, but that will not stop me. She tried using some of her ninjutsu, but even that didn’t work. She sighed and slumped down on the mat. She heard a chink-chink sound when she did and noticed some bands around her wrists. Ah, you are very clever. I guess I have no choice now but to wait and see what you have in store for me. But she decided to try one more tactic.

She got up and walked up to the door, the least she could do was try to trick them into opening up the door for her. “Hey!” she yelled loudly, “You mind getting me some water and maybe some food?” Silence greeted her call, except for the echo of her voice. “Hello?” Again, silence and she sighed. You think they would treat a prisoner better than this… She sat back down on the mat and waited for what seemed like hours, but in fact had only been a few moments, when she heard a hissing sound and the door slowly swung outward as it opened. She quickly jumped up, thinking that perhaps she had her chance and started toward the door but didn’t even make it past the doorway.

Every time she came close to passing the threshold with her arms, the bands reacted, as if they were magnetized to the room and she could move no further. She tried several times till she was out of breath from the strain. Damn… She hung her head in defeat, her hands clenched at her side in anger, upset that she couldn’t get away no matter how hard she tried.

“Are you done?” Her head shot up like a rocket at the sudden voice and her anger still shone in her eyes, but she said nothing. Instead she just turned around and went back to the mat and sat down. “Ok then.” Zenothais smiled briefly, “I’ve brought you some food and plenty of water.” He lifted up the tray of food that he had which had enough to feed two. “I thought we could have lunch together.” He moved closer to her. “You’ve been asleep for more than a day now. We were beginning to get worried that you wouldn’t ever wake up.” She just looked at him with her anger stare, not flinching or moving an inch. “I’ll just sit this here so we can both reach it.” He gestured to the floor near where she was sitting. He sat the tray down and then sat down on the floor himself watching her carefully as he did. “Please forgive me, I’m—“

“I know who you are, there is no need to tell me,” Jen interrupted. She didn’t try to make a move on him for she knew he was well trained in the art of combat and would likely beat her if she tried to fight him. “I must say that I’m impressed. You must know a great deal about us to be able to take such effective measures in disarming me.” She said in even tones. “You must be so proud, “ she added sarcastically.

He ignored her last comment and said, “I am sorry, I truly am, but I had to be certain that you were no threat.”

“You mean, one of that lady’s henchmen. Don’t make me laugh. I would never work for such a coward. The way she ran away was pathetic.”
“Even if you wouldn’t have willingly, she still could have made you do her bidding.”
“Perhaps to a weak minded fool…” she stated haughtily, feeling insulted he would even insinuate she was weak. “I know quite a bit about her, just as I do of you.” With that she fell silent and eyed the food suspiciously. She was hungry but still didn’t trust him even though she knew a great deal about him. As if reading her thoughts, he picked up a piece of bread and took a bite. “There’s nothing wrong with the food I assure you. It may be a little dry but it’s otherwise fine,” he said between bites. “There’s enough here for both of us, why don’t you go ahead.”

Finally she decided it was okay and grabbed a piece of bread and some cheese. After the first initial bite her hunger took over and all her decent manners was lost for some time. She gulped down the rest of the bread and cheese and drank two glasses of water before she regained her composure. She looked at him guiltily but she was nothing but understanding in his eyes. She took some fruit from the tray and ate them more slowly. It had been a while since she had anything like this and now felt better.

“So still think I’m under Beniko’s control?” She said in between bites.
“No I don’t. There would also have been some physical signs visible if you were.”
“Then why not let me go.”
“Because I am still trying to determine if you are a threat or not. While you may not work for Beniko, who’s to say you don’t work for some other enemy. I have come across others like you and the only ones that come this far north are usually rogue. They usually work for the highest paying customer and care not for what purpose it is for or what kind of person it is. Who’s to say you’re not the same.”
“I see. It is true that I am rogue, but I would never do any work just for the money….” She started feeling uncomfortable at the memories their talk was starting to dredge up. Her anger started flaring up as she just wanted to forget all those memories and she looked away from him as her face hardened into a scowl.

Zenothais took this as a very touchy subject and decided he’d come back later, “We’ll continue this conversation another time. However, until I fully trust that you are no threat, you will not leave.”
She looked at him in disdain, “How am I to keep up my training if I am stuck here in this cell.”
“I will have them set the bands on your wrists so that you will be able to go above to the courtyard to train and the mess hall. You will be restricted from the armory, briefing area, and the gate, so don’t even try anything.”
“And what of my weapons.”
“They will stay in my possession until I feel certain you will not try anything.” Zenothais got up, picking up the now empty tray, “Now, I have to go. There are many other things that still need to be done before the day is over. Someone will bring you your dinner and you should be able to roam more freely by then. Good day, miss…” He headed toward the door. As he waited for it to open he turned his head toward her, “I didn’t get your name…”
Jen snorted in discontent, “You never asked.” She pondered for a second on whether or not to tell him before deciding to and said, “The name’s Jen. Jen Nara.”

………………….

It had been some time now that Garschel had been with Akana. He was no longer the same small creature she first came across, he had grown in size. However, his childlike enthusiasm was still there and it often made her smile, but she knew it also left him vulnerable. He used to ride on her shoulders, but now he was too big for that, so now he often leaped and trotted ahead in whatever direction she happened to be going.

“Milady, how soon shall we reach the next village?” His voice still carrying that wondrous awe at her giving nature.
“At this pace, I think we shall reach it by nightfall tomorrow.”
“Do you think there will be anything interesting happen there?”
“Perhaps, but you find most things interesting,” Akana said smiling.
Garschel laughed and agreed, “True. I do find humans to be a most interesting species. They have such a variety of emotions that many of the supernatural beings like us lack, aside from you of course. You are something of an oddity to me.”
“And why is that, Garschel?”
“Because you act just like a human, and yet, you are capable of so much more.”
“I thought I already told you I grew up among humans.”
“Yes that you did, on several occasion. But even so, you could have grown up so very differently. I’ve seen it, even among the human children.”
“Yes and I pity them for having lived in such cruelty. I was lucky to have been raised by some of the more kind and generous of humans.” A trace of sadness flickered across her face at the memory. “I just wish I had been able to save them, but I was so young then…”
“Is that why you save other humans, even the ones who show you no kindness in return? I’ve seen the way many look at you, Milady, and wonder why you would continue helping such ungrateful beings.”
“I have to try. I need to prove to them that not all of our kind is evil, even if it seems fruitless. If I didn’t then there would surely be no hope of our survival in times to come.” She stated seriously.

Garschel said nothing in reply, seemingly satisfied in her answer. He had learned over time that she like to be left alone in silence after such a conversation and crawled forward by her side, watching her intently. After walking for a while in silence, Akana stopped in a secluded spot. The sun was setting and she thought it would be a good place to rest for the night.

It was a warm night so Akana didn’t bother making a fire and that suited her just fine. The less she left traces of her presence the better. She found a nice big tree and settled down on one of its large branches. Garschel climbed the tree with ease and settled down in her lap for warmth as the night would surely cool down some. From where they were, the stars were as clear as day and could be seen sparkling on the watery surface of a lake not too far ahead.

Akana looked at it and briefly saw its beauty before her thoughts took over. She felt something deep down and she knew she was almost to whatever it was that was drawing her near. The feeling had grown so strong that she could no longer ignore it. The sound of Garschel’s snoring interrupted her thoughts and she looked down at him. As much as she had loved his company, she couldn’t take him with her all the way. He needed to be with others like himself. He may have lost all his family, but there were others of his kind still out there. She didn’t want to see his family blood line extinguished because of her, so in the morning she’d have a talk with him. If things went the way she hoped they would, then they would part ways in the next village.

The next morning, Akana woke up to a boom in the nearby mountains. Garschel also jumped awake at the sound scratching her legs with the claws of his hind legs. They weren’t very sharp claws so they were only superficial. She ignored the pain and got up to investigate the source of the sound. She could now here the ring of a warning bell and could tell it was from the village that they were headed toward. “Garschel follow me.” She headed toward a large clearing where she then transformed and ordered him to climb onto her back. She lifted herself up into the sky after he had done so and flew as fast as she could as safely as she could with him on her back and reached the village in a matter of minutes. She landed just outside the village, in a deserted area, not wanting to scare the villagers, but everyone was so busy scurrying about heading toward the foot hills of the mountains that they didn’t notice her or Garschel.

She stopped one of them just long enough to gather that there had been a collapse in one of the caves they used for storage. There were a few villagers trapped inside and so they wasted no time in going to help their fellow man. Akana thanked the man and stated briefly that she would do everything she could to help them. The man started back on his way, then paused to look back with a confused look on his face. But she wasn’t there to see it, she had already headed toward the cave after ordering Garschel to stay behind out of harms way.

Once at the cave, she entered it and as she made her way to the collapse, she asked that everyone move back. Many looked at her as if she were crazy, but when she turned her head to talk to another, they backed away. Not from her request, but rather out of fear of her. Soon word of her had made it ahead of her and so they made way more quickly to let her pass and fled as soon as she had. At least this makes it faster for me to get to the collapse she thought.

When she reached the collapse she pulled out her sword and the remaining villagers looked at her in fear. They had moved much of the rubble, enough that she was able to tell those on the other side to take shelter away from the collapse. She wanted to be sure that no one would be harmed by what she about to do next. She raised her sword with one hand and kept the other out in front of her, ready. She knew that this would probably make the place more unstable so she would use her barrier ability to steady it. She swung her sword at it yelling “Phoenix Claw” as she did. A bright flash of light went hurling toward the collapsed rocks in front of her. As the light hit the rocks, they disintegrated into dust and the cave began to rumble.

The few villagers that had braved their fear of her now began to fear another collapse, one more life threatening than the one before. But nothing happened, to their amazement for just as Akana had suspected, it had become more unstable, and so she kept the cave roof from caving in over their heads with her barrier and the rumbling stopped. At last the light had dissolved and had broken through the last of the rubble. The trapped villagers came racing forward and she said to the others still standing there in confusion, “Hurry up and get out of here, all of you. I will not be able to hold this forever.”

Hearing her yell at them broke them out of their trance and they raced toward the cave entrance, not waiting to see what she would do to them if they didn’t listen. The injured took a little longer, but Akana used all her strength to prolong the barrier’s effectiveness. Just as the last had finally made it out, the rumbling of the cave resumed and then a thick cloud of dust plumed out of the cave. No one had seen Akana exit the cave before it happened so they thought she had been caught in the cave in as they sent whispers and rumors about it to one another. And just as all had thought she had perished, out of the clearing dust, Akana came walking out of the cave.

She had not a single scratch or tear on her or her clothing and they all gasped in wonder and fear. She made it halfway through the throng of villagers before collapsing to the ground unconscious, he barrier had weakened her for having held it up so long without a spell. They would have left her there for dead, except for one of the village elders noticed her sword and the small engraving on the end of the hilt. He recognized it immediately from stories and pictures his grandfather had shown him and told several villagers to pick her up and bring her back to the village. “Take her to my hut and I will take care of her from there on myself.” Then said to himself, “Bless me, I thought they were just old myth stories he was telling me about…”

Many of the villagers looked at him like he had gone crazy but did as they were told out of respect. He hobbled along behind them as they carried her, apparently lost in thought so he never noticed those looks. Garschel, who had stayed behind as Akana had asked, now watched them carefully place her in the old man’s hut, wondering at why they would show her any kindness when they were obviously afraid of her. All except for the elder that is. Garschel entered the hut after the villagers left and waited at Akana’s side for the old man to reach his home.

……………………..

The next morning Caliera woke up feeling rested. It had been nice to rest without all those waking dreams she usually had. But it wasn’t just that, she felt different, but couldn’t quite put her finger on it. That is, until she got up out of bed and looked in the mirror. She gasped at her appearance, for she looked completely different. There was what looked like a tattoo on he forehead as she had been told would happen, but that wasn’t what really surprised her, it was her hair. It was now all the way past her shoulders.

She touched a hand to it to be sure she wasn’t dreaming and it felt real enough. She pinched herself just to be sure. How… she though, how could it possibly have grown so fast? It was so different and she was used to her shorter cropped hair that she had went to bed with the night before. Now it was as if a year or two had passed in one night.

She turned to get dressed in what had been set out for her, it was decidedly different too. As she turned she noticed another oddity, something she knew had not been there before…This one looked more like a birthmark than a tattoo and was shaped like a bird on the back of her shoulder. She shrugged her shoulders and thought to herself, I could get used to that, it looks way better than the bulls-eye on my forehead. She sighed, she had been hoping for an uneventful birthday, but it was looking less and less like her wish was going to come true. She put on the dress and turned to look back in the mirror.

“Hmm…not bad.” The new outfit seemed to fit the new look perfectly. “I suppose I could get used to it,” she said to herself. After one last look in the mirror, she headed down the stairs toward the kitchen for breakfast. Her “mother” wasn’t in there as usual, but she had left her some food on a hot plate. She wondered why she wasn’t there as she usually was, then looked at the time. 9:00 stared her in the face. No wonder she isn’t here Caliera normally woke up with the sun, but today she had slept late and her “mother” hadn’t woke her up. She picked up the hot plate and walked back over to the kitchen table to eat. There she found a note:



She sat down and ate her breakfast in silence, not yet taking note that it was unusually quiet. She took her time to enjoy the silence, as it was not always so. Once she finished her breakfast, she went up the stairs to her room and grabbed the big book off her desk and sat down on the bed to look through it some more. As she thumbed through it, she came back to the page that had the picture of the woman she had woke up to see the night before. “Beniko Satsuki” was written right under it with a few other names she had not noticed before.

Beniko was a menacing blond haired woman. There was a man standing next to her in this picture and she looked down under the picture again to read what was said, “Fushi Tsubaku” It didn’t really seem all that important to her so she dismissed it, not realizing she was looking at her grandfather.

It was then that she finally noticed the eerie silence that normally didn’t accompany the neighborhood in which she lived. She left the book on the bed and walked over to the window. She had been expecting to see an empty road in front of the house aside from the few drivers that passed but was surprised by the image that met her eyes. There were rolling hills and mountains, a lake in a valley and a stream that passed by the house leading to it. She gaped in wonder as she took it all in when Sypheera had silently stepped up to her door.

“Lovely, isn’t it? This planet has such beautiful landscape, reminds me of home. It’s a shame they keep destroying it.” She smiled at Caliera when she jumped and turned her head to look at Sypheera. “Sorry dear, for startling you and for the sudden change, but it was necessary, for your friends would have been full of unnecessary questions had they seen you like this.” Just then Caliera started to speak but she held up her hand, “You want to know how? Well your mother taught me about magic and spells that would work here on this planet. It took years to find everything I needed to make the spell successful, but it was finally ready last night.” She paused and took a good look at Caliera, “You look so much like your mother. And as expected you’ve now got the Torin family crest, though I must say that it all suits you. I am a little surprised by the hair growth, but should have expected it. You did after all go through quite a transformation last night, and that there would be physical effects of that transformation.”
“Really? I’m still trying to get used to it all, it’s hardly believable.”
Sypheera chuckled, “How so, my dear, I know you’ve always known you were different from everyone else in some way. This should be a relatively easy adjustment for you.” Caliera gave her a look of doubt. “Well, don’t you worry about it right now, dear, just enjoy the day.” She turned to walk back down the stairs, “I’ve got something special planned for tonight. Why don’t you go for a walk, explore the area a bit and get to know the place. You’re going to need it,” she added as she walked down the stairs and out of sight.

Caliera wondered what she meant by that, but shrugged and thought a walk would be nice. It was so different here, so open and free that she couldn’t resist it. She walked down the stairs and out the door enjoying the fresh air that blew through the trees. She thought as she walked by the stream, This just might turn out to be a good day after all…