Chapter 1

A Chapter by Baird Wahlander

I made my way down the street, a faint breeze holding traces of the oncoming fall blew against my face and whipped the collar of my jacket. I hunched my shoulders, bracing the uncomfortable chill and shrugged my bag making it bounce against my lower back. My hands were shoved deep into my jacket pockets and my arms were pressed to my sides. The five piercings in my left ear weren’t any help either. Summer was coming to an end. “Man its f****n’ cold,” I muttered. I passed a book store, catching a glimpse of my reflection in the window lined with books; a skinny girl wearing a mix of dark purple and black clothes with even darker spiky hair. My mom hated it. She says that it makes me look like a punk rocker, which I don’t mind. I rounded a corner, looking hopefully in the sky for one patch of blue in the gray sea of clouds above.

I was headed to the park, which thankfully had clear skies from where I was looking. Another breeze bit through my clothing and I shivered. After walking the familiar path and finding my favorite willow tree, I sat down with my backpack beside me and rested against its trunk. A ray of sunshine bravely poked through the clouds and sent warmth to my face. I welcomed it. I rustled through my backpack and pulled out one of my favorite books: Cujo, by Stephen King. I unfolded the top of the page that marked my place and started reading.

Three pages in there was a rustling in the bushes to my right. I raised my head suddenly and stiffened. An orange blur darted from the bushes and hid behind my legs and hissed in the direction of the brush. A cat. I relaxed and let out a sigh. “Jeez kitty, you nearly gave me a heart attack,” I said to it. The cat replied with a meow and another hiss. It crept over to the bushes and looked back at me with eyes full of… pleading? Maybe I was imagining it. The ginger cat meowed again and sort of pointed with its paw to the forest area of the park. Curiosity won over confusion and I put the book in my backpack, sliding one strap over my shoulder. I got up and walked over to the cat waiting impatiently at the brush. “Ok, let’s go see what the fuss is all about.” With that, the cat darted back into the woods with me trailing close behind.

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I picked through the underbrush and tree branches, following the strange cat that kept pausing at times to let me catch up. Eventually I reached a clearing and the cat rushed behind my legs hissing at… something. I looked down at it and then back up to scan the clearing. “What are you so afraid of you silly furball?” I said to it. As if to answer my question a ball of flame came flying out of nowhere and hit a tree right next to me. I flinched and cried out, while the cat screeched at the opposite end of the clearing. Then, a girl soared out of the woods and landed hard on her back. She looked about my age with long, blonde hair and was wearing a white blouse and torn jeans. She groaned and tried to get up, but coughed blood onto the ground. “Oh my god,” I shouted. I rushed over to the girl and knelt beside her. “Are you ok?!” Laughter sounded at the other end of the clearing and the cat, which had appeared at my side, hissed at it. A man with long dark hair and dressed in all black strode out from the trees, clapping slowly. He wore a dark sleeveless suit jacket, dress pants, and a hat with a large circular brim that cast most of his face in shadow. Decorating his arms were strange wave-like tattoos the curled around like snakes coiled to strike.

“Bravo, child,” he purred, “I never really expected you to last this long.” The blonde girl sat up painfully and rubbed her neck. I gasped at the wings that sprouted from her back through two small rips in her shirt. They were a translucent purple with flecks of silver, and glitter floated around them and slowly disappeared like snowflakes. How in the hell? The man looked to me. “Well, well, well. It seems we have a guest and her little cat too.” The ginger cat spat next to me and flexed its claws.

“You stay away from them!” The girl with wings shouted. She was now on her feet, cracking her neck. The man chuckled softly.

“Oh please, what do you expect to do in your condition, fairy trash?” The girl gritted her teeth.

“Why don’t you go hang upside down in a cave somewhere, half-breed!” She shouted angrily. The cocky smirk on the man’s face was gone and replaced with look of disappointment.

“Much unlike you goody-two-shoes faerie folk to be so judgmental on ones’ race,” he said grinning, mockingly wagging his finger.

“It depends if said half-breed is a total a*****e!” The fairy girl growled, and then coughed up more blood into her hand. The man smiled.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” He raised his right hand and snapped his fingers. The tattoos on his arms glowed a light green and an arc of similarly colored electricity shot towards the fairy. She raised her hands in front of her and a wall of pale purple materialized in front of her, but shattered when the bolt of lightning hit it. She stumbled a bit and spun a one-eighty, countering with a jet of purple dust that surged from around her arm. It hit the man in the chest with surprising force and he almost fell backward. Blood blossomed from under his jacket. “Well, it seems you still have some fight in you,” he grunted, “I’ll fix that!” The man’s tattoos now glowed a cold blue and frost began to form on his finger tips. Sublimation came from his hands as he took aim with his right arm. “Come quietly or I’ll make you an ice statue.”

“F**k you!” The girl spat. “Do your worst.” The man smiled evilly under the shadows of his hat and his eyes flashed red.

“With pleasure,” the man said, his words dripping with poison, “except I’m not going to do anything to you, Pixie.” He swung his arm in my direction. “Let’s see how much your little friend here likes the cold. It’s a shame this is all your sister could find to come to your aid.” He flicked his wrist outward and several spikes of ice flew towards me.

“No!” The fairy girl shouted, and cast a shield of translucent violet in front of me, shattering the ice. The man laughed cruelly.

“I got you now! No fairy can resist protecting the weak!” He rushed at her, tattoos glowing green, and struck her in the stomach with a shockwave that sent her flying upward and back down again with a sickening crash. The cat cried out in a tortured mew and ran towards the fallen girl. “Stay where you are!” The man said, annoyed. He shot frost from his fingertips and froze the cat’s paws to the ground. The cat yowled in distress while the man in the suit brushed snow from his hands and looked at the trapped feline with disdain. “You and your sister both are turning into more trouble than you’re worth.” He glanced lazily at me. “This has nothing to concern you with girl,” he sighed, “get out of the way or I’ll deal with you myself.” I was still kneeling, and I was shaking from head to toe. What was he? Who was that girl? This creep called her a fairy at some point, but that was… impossible! That stuff doesn’t exist! What about the cat? Why does this guy want it so bad? Did he call it and the fairy girl sisters just now? “Times’ up,” I looked up at the man, his arm pointed at me and crackling with electricity. “Now you die.” There was a loud crack like a whip and my body tingled with static. The man’s palm was covering my face and I squinted my eyes shut as jolts of voltage went through my body. It hurt. It felt like someone had cut me open and was punching my heart over and over.

‘No’, I thought. ‘I refuse to die. Not here, not now!’ The shocks stopped, and my heart started to beat faster. Not in fear, but more like I’d been injected with pure caffeine. I started to laugh. I was laughing and I had no idea why. I stood up and the man backed up, eyes wide under the brim of his hat. I felt myself grin and I pointed a shaking, excited finger at him.

“Hey mister…” I said quietly. I laughed again under my breath, and lifted my head to look him straight in the eye. “NOW IT’S MY F*****G TURN!” I shouted gleefully. I had no idea what was wrong with me, but my heart was jack hammering against my ribcage and my brain was on full overdrive. A thrilling shock went from my stomach, up my side, and out my arm, sending a bolt of blue lightning out of my hand and hitting the man in the chest. It sent him flying back ten feet, slamming him against a tree. Suddenly all the energy I had had drained away and I slumped to my knees. I was now tired somehow and I tried to stand back up, but only made it a few steps before crumpling to my side.

“Derock!” It was the fairy girl, she was back up and she looked pissed. She started to walk briskly over to where the man was struggling to get up, but stopped beside the ginger cat that had led me here in the first place. “Macy! Ok, hold on. I’ll get you out of this.” She stood up and made an X with her arms, then quickly swiped the air with blue dust trailing her hands. The ice cracked, and then broke into pieces. The cat, Macy, danced on the tips of her paws then curled up in a ball and started shivering.

“I don’t know what in the hell is going on,” The man, or Derock I assumed was his name, was limping towards the blonde fairy. “But this,” he coughed twice, “is getting to be quite annoying.” His hands caught fire and struck without warning. The girl had to dodge quickly to avoid Derock’s flaming hands as he swung at her again and again. My muscles were numb and I commanded them to work but to no avail. Everything was fuzzy, dots dancing in the corners of my vision. None of this seemed real. It shouldn’t be real. “Give up!” He shouted.

“Make me!” The fairy shot a blast of purplish energy at the ground and flipped backwards. Derock slid back from the force of her blast, covering his eyes with his left arm from the dust and his hat blew off. The blonde girl formed two purple orbs in her hands and when she landed she brought them together and shot a ray of bluish - red at the man. I had just sat up and the light blinded me for a few seconds. When my vision cleared I saw Derock hunched over bleeding, clutching his wounded chest. Opposite him the fairy girl had her hands on her knees panting like crazy. “How…how you like that d********g?” The girl wheezed. Derock growled at her but said nothing and stumbled a little. He doubled over and puked up blood which then sent him into racks of coughing.

“I’ll kill both of you!” He snarled. “All I need is Macy, you two are expendable.” Derock put his hand to his mouth and coughed again. I walked slowly toward the fairy, holding the side of my head because it was throbbing like a mother.

“You alright?” I asked.

“I’ll live.” She rasped, dusting some dirt off her shirt.

“I’m Emma by the way.”

“Awesome, I’m Moon.”

We both looked at the man clad in all black clap his hands together and press them to his chest. Red wisps gathered around his wound and I watched as he regained his composure and the cool calculating look returned to his eyes, as if nothing had happened. “You got blood on my favorite suit.” He said simply.

“I’m getting real sick of this dirt bag.” Said Moon.

“Yeah, same here,” I agreed. “Let’s send him packing.” I was surprised at my own words, but what I just experienced before - the power that I used - should have been impossible. But I guess nothing is impossible. ‘I’m not going to die,’ I thought. If it worked before, then it might as well work now.

“Let’s make this quick.” Said Derock. The tattoos on his arms lit up crimson and he shot a ball of fire our way. I got in front of Moon and I caught it. I caught it. I watched in amazement as the flames in my hand were absorbed into my palm. Once it disappeared, my arm felt warm and heavy. I smiled and looked at Moon.

“Looks like I can fight fire with fire.” I looked back to face Derock who stared at me mouth agape. My entire arm burst into flames and I charged him. I brought back my arm and swung it like a baseball pitcher. The flames grew brighter and a torrent of fire shot from my outstretched arm like a missile. Derock quickly put up his arms, palms out, wrist touching vertically. The man caught the flaming projectile, but the power of the catch made him have to bend his elbows and bring the ball of fire closer to his body. It exploded, and the force sent him stumbling backward. He had a fit of coughs as steam came off his body, and pointed a badly burned finger at me and Moon.

“This,” he panted, “this is not over…” He clapped his hands together which caused him to wince and Derock disappeared in a cloud of inky black smoke. The fairy suddenly sat down in exhaustion and her wings were absorbed into her back. She heaved a huge sigh.

“Thanks.”

“Uh, no problem I guess…” I sat down cross legged opposite Moon. “So who the hell was that guy?” I asked.

“That ‘guy’, was Derock,” Moon said in disgust, “Also known as ‘The Hirokata’. He’s a half wizard half demon bounty hunter.”

“Hirokata?”

“It means ‘Phantom’,” Moon explained. “It’s a name given to him by the islanders of Ishaca.”

I chuckled. “I don’t follow.”

Moon shook her head. “I don’t expect you to. Earth isn’t exactly the most magical place to exist.” She massaged her shoulder then clapped her hands together and rubbed it again. Purple strands of light wrapped around her wound then disappeared into her skin. “There we go.” She rotated her arm.

“That’s amazing!” I gasped. Moon shrugged.

“Just a basic healing spell, will just about fix anything from broken bones to paper cuts.” There was a meow behind her and Moon and I turned our heads. The cat came strolling up to me and nuzzled my arm, then went over to Moon and climbed into her lap. “Hey Macy,” Moon greeted the cat. She motioned to me. “Emma, Macy, Macy, Emma.” She scratched the cat behind the ears and it purred.

“So that guy,” I said. “Derock. He said that cat was your sister?” Moon nodded and then caught my doubtful look. She sighed.

“It’s a long story,” She rolled her eyes. “It was this one’s fault.” She gently nudged Macy’s face with a fist and in return got a halfhearted perturbed mew and a swipe of a paw. “Oh shush. You’re the one who burned down that Hag’s cottage, so you get the curse.” Macy snorted. “Anyway…” Moon lifted Macy out of her lap and stood up. She offered me her hand and I took it, pulling me up. “Now I got another mystery to solve.”

“What do you mean?” I asked. Macy circled Moons legs as she bit her bottom lip. “I just find it weird that - in my time of need - Macy goes off to find help in a world of non-magical beings and comes back with you. Who by the way turns out to be totally badass.” Macy meowed in agreement and I shrugged.

“I didn’t know I was magic until now.” I said.

“And you’re telling the truth?” Moon pursed her lips.

“Why would I lie?” I said, putting my hands in my pockets.

“I’m not getting any readings on you… weird.” She muttered with her chin in her hand. “That usually doesn’t happen unless…”

I sighed. “What the hell are you talking about now?” Moon put up her finger and shushed me. She looked me up and down like a scientific specimen, and it made me squirm a little.

“There’s some kind of wall…”

“Ok moon,” I said, frustrated. “I’m gonna ask again; what are you talking about?”

“Magical beings give off an energy,” Moon explained. “Like an aura. I‘m able to see and read that aura, but I’m having trouble finding yours.” Auras, magic, fairies? This conversation was just too bizarre, but this girl, this fairy; Moon, treated like as if we were talking about a hard section of the mid-terms.

“So say you could see my, aura.” I said. “What would you get from it?”

She shrugged. “Stuff like: place of birth, species, powers, origin power…”

“What’s the difference between powers and origin power?”

“Most magical beings can learn all sorts of spells, charms, and powers, but the origin power?” Moon pointed to my chest. “That’s the magic you were born with, the element that you are the most powerful using.” She bent over and picked up Macy and started scratching the cat between the ears. “My power is a form of psychokinesis, where I can make solid objects out of pure energy and can see auras without any magical conductors or spells.”

“And mine?” I asked.

Moon shrugged. “That’s the problem, I can’t tell. Your aura is totally blocked from me. You might be a witch; you most certainly look the part.” She laughed. “You also used some serious destruction magic back there.”

I folded my arms. “What does that have to do with anything? Is that a ‘witch thing’ to do?”

Moon waved me off. “I think we need to talk about this later. I got some urgent stuff to take care of, very important.” She set down Macy and stepped closer to me. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t stay in touch. Now hold still, this is gonna sting a bit.” Moon pulled up the sleeve of my jacket and placed her palm on my arm. The spot Moon covered got warm, and then turned to a burning sensation.

“Ow!” I shouted and recoiled sharply. There was now a black mark left on my arm that looked like a tattoo. My skin felt raw.

“Don’t worry, it goes away after awhile.” Said Moon. I pulled my sleeve back over my arm and winced. “That mark will help me find you later,” She smiled. “Well, see ya!” With that the fairy girl turned on her heel and headed off into the woods with Macy by her side. As soon as they disappeared from sight I felt like a bucket of cold reality was being dumped on my head, as if the fight with Derock, meeting Moon, and being led through the woods by a strange ginger cat was all just a dream. I pulled up my sleeve, nope, not a dream. The black tattoo was still there.

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