Chapter 1: Kane

“Stay calm, these trees camouflage us well. They can’t find us up here.” Ana held Kane’s shoulder. He have her a reassuring nod, but he was still completely frightened on the inside.

“I’m glad you got me out of the house, but did we have to go through all of this?”  

The girl shook her head, reassuring him to stay quiet. 

"Check the trees!" A voice called out from below. They watched as trees randomly shook throughout the forest.

Their tree shook, and Kane’s heart went rocketing. He heard some faint talking accompanied by the fading sound of footsteps. 

"Alright, keep moving."

It was over. They were gone. Kane fell back and slapped his hand over his head. 

“Phew! That was--”

CRACK! 

The tree rattled. Sounds of angry chanting could be heard below. Their time to catch a breath was cut short. 

“I thought I told you to be quiet!” she grunted. The tree leaned sideways, sending chips of wood flying as it crashed on the ground. Luckily, they flung themselves away just in time. They scampered away on foot, and the voices and trampling seemed to fade out of earshot. Things got quiet again. As they ran onward, the terrain was changing. Something came into view.  

Ana rolled her eyes when saw a huge chasm materializing. A smirk came across her face. “Too easy!” She shouted back to the voices. Kane wasn’t so confident, but kept running. 

With an artful leap, Ana shot over to the other side effortlessly.She took several steps before she realized that she was running by herself.  

“Come on, we don’t have time!” She swung back and shouted, her black locks kicking up in the wind.

From the other side of the cliff, Kane emerged from the dark forest. He skidded  to a stop before reaching the edge. His vision doubled at the sight of the cavern. 

“I can’t do this! It’s too far across!” He spouted.

“You can do this! We’ve trained with your dad for so long!” Ana turned away with a clever smirk. “Besides, they’re coming.” She snickered rather rhapsodic and walked off. It was her signature move, the ‘pretend to shun Kane so he comes right back to you’ maneuver. 

Ever since they were toddlers, it was a proven method to get Kane to come with her wherever and whenever she needed. Aside from Ana’s timid eyes, and sweet voice, she was known as a fearless girl who wasn’t one to take “no”, or “I can’t” for an answer. Her looks are so attractive anyway, people had a hard time refusing the things she asked for.

Kane wasn’t falling for it. Instead, he took her little pretend gesture as a game, and snickered. 

“I’ll just wait!” He crossed his arms, and lifted his chin up, proud as can be. His eyes quickly flared open when the cracking and swishing sound of tree branches neared him.

“WE CAN SEE YOU, KANE!”

Worry zapped through the boy’s veins like sparks. Now, he had to choose: jump across an 800 foot deep crack in the earth, or face what was coming after him and keep his the smug look on his face.

“Remember how your dad taught us to get across the cliffs around here? Just make the wind carry you across!”

Kane, unable to rationally think, shook his head. “I don’t think I’m ready for that kind of stuff!”

“There isn’t much time for you to think, now is there?” Ana yelled out. This time, she actually decided to leave.

The moments were shortening. Goosebumps rose on his neck. His body jittered. He could just feel something creeping up from behind, but he forced himself to keep a forward gaze. 

Squinting at her, Kane took a chest heavy breath. He looked down and saw his bare toes. A chill burst in his chest as a few loose pebbles took their fall. Eyes shut tight, he started to back up. 

As soon as Ana heard Kane moving, she rushed back to the cliff. Her lavender eyes grew, waiting for him to just jump already!

Not a single word was muttered, he just dashed forwards. Fear exploded in his eyes. With each step, the sound of his feet hitting the ground got louder and louder. Grumbly voices were catching up with him. It was the only thing on Kane’s mind in those short moments. 

At the ledge, all he could feel was his legs gliding over a lengthy nothingness.

Don’t freak out… you can do this. He tried to psych himself up. Ana was watching with bated breath from the other side.

Her lip biting expression was fading into a fearful one. Kane wasn’t gliding like he was supposed to, he was falling!

“C’mon, do it! Like you practiced! Draw out your power! Make your thoughts clear!” She screamed in slight anguish. The accelerating speed of falling made everything look blurry. The only thing he could see were the jagged stones prodding up from the earth. The fear nearly paralyzed him for an important few seconds.

Just in time, he came to; realizing what was happening. 

Focus on not dying… He thought to himself, trying to keep his composure among the jittering in his body. He clenched his fist, and white slivers of mist embraced his arms and legs. Kane noticed he was still heading for the ground faster than ever. He closed his eyes and braced himself.

…There was a silence. 

…A really long silence. 

Ana couldn’t see him anymore. The silence left her confused, yet ever vigilant. There was no bang, no splash, no noise… nothing. She became squinty eyed as she tried to scan the bottom of the crevasse.

Kane was about an inch away from hitting a swordlike rock when gravity seemed to reverse. Air was picking him up just as fast as he was falling! Before he knew it, he was shooting far above the cliff with speeds that rattled the trees.

Ana’s smile grew back, and she was almost blown backwards when Kane shot up right above her.

“You did it, Kane!”  She called up to him. Even though he was several feet above her, she could see the smile on Kane’s face. Like a feather, he floated down gently on the other end of the cliff with Ana.

She turned into a happy little jumping bean when she saw him come back down. Kane scratched his head and smiled, “I guess it’s not that hard to do when you’re about to die!”

“Well, we can’t keep coming close to things like death just so that you use your powers correctly.” Ana laughed.

“I’ll be able to get this down in my mind eventually, but now, let’s just get as far away from here as possible.” He nodded. 

They didn’t even take two steps forward before the voices were growing nearer. 

Kane shuddered. 

“Okay, here’s a perfect example of how to use your powers quickly.” Ana closed her eyes, and wisps of energy dipped into her body. 

Kane kept looking behind his shoulder. This really wasn’t the time for Ana to be giving him instructions. 

“Be sure to focus your powers clearly! Like this.” Ana grabbed him by the wrist and…

ZIP! She was off! 

Her sandals were hitting the ground repeatedly with the speed of a machine gun as they trailed alongside the cliff. Kane was almost flying out of her grasp, and his cheeks were flapping like a fly’s wings. 

A giant silhouette could be seen far back in the distance. It jumped over the chasm, landing with a thud that shook everything.

With wonderful timing, Ana stumbled on the shaking ground, losing hold of Kane. He fumbled in a wheel for a good few rolls and landed flat on his back. 

Ana was traveling so fast that she couldn’t stop right away… 

“Here’s your chance!!!” She yelped while her voice faded out. “Use something speedy! Catch up to me!”  

The little rocks on the ground kept hopping up from the heavy thumping that was coming up from close behind. Kane hopped up and started running immediately as the vibrating earth got more intense.

Something speedy? Think, think. He snapped his fingers repeatedly until some fire flickers emerged. Once bright sparks were coming from his hands, he knew what needed to be done. Kane had never done this before so it was risky, but if he wanted to keep moving, he had to.

He clapped his hands to his legs. The sparks ran wild.

In less than a second, Kane’s lower half was on fire! A shiver of astonishment came across his face when he looked down. Surprisingly, the heat didn’t seem to burn at all, in fact, he couldn’t even feel it! 

Thrilled about his success, he pumped his fist in the air. He shouted and hollered in excitement before lunging to the sky. The fire covered him even further, making him look like an actual human rocket. He eventually shot up to Ana who was still a bit ahead of him with her speed. 

“Hey!” Ana actually seemed happy that her friend was on fire. “You’ve got two of your skills down! We’re almost into Centro City! Just hang in there for this last stretch!” She pointed out. 

“Good!!” Kane happily shouted “I’m glad all of this training I’ve been doing finally paid off!”

The voices were still hot on their trail, somehow keeping up with their speeds. Luckily, both friends made it into the main city which was teeming with people. It was friday, and the merchants came out early to set up shop. Everyone was already filling the shops, practically clearing out the shelves.  

Centro City, while bustling and utterly stunning, was set back a few decades from the outside world today. People used their powers to propel simple hovering carriages in the air instead of driving cars. Fortunately, the old wooden machines mixed in with the rustic style of the enormous buildings. Stars of all races could be seen socializing and moving about Centro City like worker ants. Each building was more extravagant than the last. It looked like something out of an abstract artist's sketchbook. 

With a colorful city like this, it was easy to hide without really trying.

“Okay…where do we go now? We’ve gotta hide!” Kane stopped in the crowd of bustling city goers. Ana crossed her arms, and tapped her now mangled sandal on the ground. She gazed up at the green and blue skyscrapers thinking it would be too suspicious to walk in and ask if there was anywhere to hide. The bakeries would bee too hard to hide in, because she would be too tempted to forget the whole thing and start eating. 

 “I know!! We’ll go see Emett in his jewelry shop! It’s right around the corner from here! That shop’s full of little spaces to camp out for a while.”She snapped her fingers. Kane had an uneasy look on his face.

“Hey, Ana, do we have to go see him? Maybe we should just go home.”

She turned around with a sharp gaze, getting tired of his flighty attitude. “Look.” She came back over and held his arms tight. “You have to toughen up. I know it’s your first day out away from mom and dad, but you need to relax. There will be plenty of times when you will need to make decisions, and they can’t be based on fear! Do you understand? You’re going to need to take charge and--”

“Okay!” Kane shook her off of him. “Let’s just… go.” 

“Good idea!” She smiled. Kane watched her disappear into the crowd of people. 

She’s right. He scratched his buzzed scalp. I’ve gotta be tougher. I’m that age now. But do we rally have to go and see Emett?

Emett Fontineau is the island’s jewelry maker. His ability to summon precious metals and gems from his bare hands has made him quite popular. Emett is a year older than Kane and certainly superior in height. He and his father run the busy jewelry parlor appropriately named ‘Fontineau’ where they make a pretty decent living.

Emett came to know Ana and Kane after both of their parents became frequent buyers of the Fontineau’s precious jewelry.

Emett, Ana, and Kane are all good friends now. The only problem is Kane sometimes gets a bit lost with words around him, and he isn’t sure why. 

After quickly pushing through shoppers, Kane made it to the famous Fontineau building which shined brighter than any of the other bright-colored buildings on that street. 

Ana looked back at Kane and smiled. She was glad to see that he didn’t take her stern words too hard. She made a hand signal, telling him to look to the side. They were still being followed. Pretending he didn’t see anything, Kane ducked under the standing ocean of people, and slid into the store’s archway. 

Inside, the environment seemed to have the same feel as the outside. The display cases were ambushed with people trying to get a peek at the latest fashion accessories crafted by Emett and his family.

“Oh, there he is! Our little jewelry maker!” Ana made no effort to stay quiet while running up to him.

Emett strutted up to the two clad in a smudged apron. “Hey, Ana! You came just in time.” He wiped his hands off with a rag. 

He put his hands on his hips and leaned over to Ana’s ear and whispered. He stopped talking and peeked at Kane. 

Awkwardly, Kane smiled and waved.

“You finally did it? It's made! It’s about time!” She cheered, and hugged him across the counter. Kane watched them, and wasn’t sure what was going on. 

Did it? Did what?

Emett caught Kane staring and let go of Ana. Emett smiled, and nervously tried to get back to work.

“So, why are you guys hanging around my shop?” He asked in a playful tone.

“Well… Emett,” Ana looked around, and tried to be a bit more inconspicuous this time. “We need somewhere to hide out for a minute…” She gave him a nod, hoping Emett was receiving her message.

“Oh, that is why you’re here. You’re trying to hide.” He smiled and shook his head, somewhat relieved. He turned to Kane and leaned in.

“What’s the special occasion, Kane? It’s weird to see you so far away from home. Your mom and dad usually have you cooped up training all the time. It’s even weirder to see you without your fancy clothes. You look like one of us for a change!” He slapped Kane’s arm and smiled.

Ana swooped in between the two. “You should’ve seen him! He was such a scared little boy at first, but after some words of encouragement... I think he’s ready now.”

“Ready?” Kane withdrew for a second. “Ready for what, exactly?” He saw their smiling faces and got worried. 

“You’ll see tomorrow.” Emett snuck in a smile. “By the way, you guys can chill out back there.” He pointed his thumb to the back of the store. He exchanged a prolonged glance with Kane before continuing with his work. Kane couldn’t help but smile at Emett's olive eyes. Ana grabbed him and raced to the back.

A few minutes passed by, and both of them were still  in the back of the jewelry store chatting and entertaining themselves. Emett was tending to the front counter, when a very husky man accompanied by a beautiful older woman came to the entrance. The big man ducked under the archway and entered the boutique. 

The man’s royal looking robes lined with jewelry made everyone in the store turn around and stop what they were doing. The jewels were from Fontineau’s, so everyone stopped and stared in awe. The accompanying woman, who couldn’t have been a day over 44, gave everyone very close stares; examining each one of them carefully.

“Shopkeep?” The husky man’s voice was deep like a toad’s; his face was plump and clean shaven. He peered straight at Emett like he had seen him before. 

“You mean me? Shopkeep? Well, no. That’s my dad. I can still serve you though!” He scratched his head nervously. Their eyes beamed into Emett, making him tremble.

The other woman stepped around the giant man, greeting Emett with a nicer approach. “Have you seen prince Kane Weston, and his friend Ana Ferria.” Her graceful voice soothed Emett’s chill.

Emett recognized her immediately. His response sounded something like a babbling. The shoppers now became an audience, waiting to see what exactly was happening.

The woman’s name was Samantha. She was the sage around town. A well respected woman with gorgeous features. As Emett walked away, both the sage, and the large man noticed that everyone was still looking at them.

Samantha gave a squinty smile. “Oh. Everyone, please resume your shopping.” 

The noise of the people slowly swelled to the way it was before, and the customers went back to their rather assertive ways of shopping.

Emett peered his head through the beaded doorway and alerted Ana and Kane of their visitors. Ana and Kane looked up like scared squirrels; ready to flee. 

And, that’s just what they did!

Both of them tried to dash away, leaving the strings of beads flapping up in the air. Kane clearly wasn’t fast enough, because the man caught him with one hand, then Ana shortly after. 

“Prince Kane Weston, the King wants to see you. Ana, the same goes for you too.” The man said happily.

“That’s Prince Kane Weston!?” A woman shouted.

“And Ana Ferria!” Another added in. Soon, the whole store was filled with whispers and gasps. It’s true, Kane is a noble prince. He didn't really like calling himself a prince. People treat him differently. Ana on the other hand, loved having the recognition. They’re both celebrities where they live. 

Where do they live exactly? They live on a little speck of land known as Limahu Island.

Reviews

[Tomislav Petricevic]

I really like the characters, you made them extremely interesting. The superpowers are cool, and the tension in this chapter could be greatly felt as they were running away. I didn't expect Kane to be a price; it was a good twist.
You're doing a great job with this book, and I encourage you to keep doing so.

[Taylor H.]

He have her a reassuring nod---gave

effortlessly.She took several steps before she realized that she was running by herself. ------effortlessly. She


hitting a swordlike rock when ----sword like


It was friday-----Friday


The bakeries would bee too hard to hide in---be

I’m that age now. But do we rally have to go and see Emett?---really

A great chapter. read it over for spacing issues

[RG]

Amazing! I honestly din't expect they would be Celebs, especially a prince or princess :D And i appreciate the idea of using the theme of rooks.
Keep writing!