Completed Element (Now with obligatory TCoD references!)

[Superbird]

I am doing this for NaNo. Once it starts, updates will be more frequent.

Background information about the story itself:
I started this on notebook paper about two years ago. I recently finished it on Notebook paper, and decided to try to type it for NaNoWriMo. It's probably not gonna add up to 50,000 words, but...What can I say. I'll also be posting it here for critique. So thanks in advance.

~~~

[size=+3]Prologue[/size]
The Shadow​

A boy walked into a dark room.

He was a teenager, maybe fourteen or fifteen years of age. He was wearing a full-body set of white clothing. The clothing seemed to glow, lighting his dark surroundings a little.

The boy was holding a rod, made from two smaller rods that twisted around each other. At the end was a white globe. This globe was glowing with an intense light.

As he walked forward into the pitch-black room, he noticed it was very bland. The walls were made of stone, connected like bricks. The stone seemed especially grey and cold, partly due to the room’s low luminescence and partly due to the design. The room’s only light sources were the few torches, spouting black fire, which bordered the room’s walls. Even though the torches were spouting fire, the boy reminded himself, it was bad fire. Dark fire. They did not diminish the darkness and the chilliness in the room.

Suddenly, unexpectedly, a cool dark voice came, seemingly out of nowhere. “So, you’ve finally come, have you?”

The boy jumped, and frantically began searching for the source of the voice. It was this voice’s bearer he had come for in the first place.

The voice continued. “About time you got here. It’s actually surprising that someone of your skill level managed to get this far.”

The boy was becoming annoyed. “Stop taunting and show yourself, coward!”

All of the room’s shadows condensed into a single, shadowy figure, which levitated a meter or so off the ground at the back of the room. Actually, it was more of a stick figure than an actual human. Its body was a pitifully thin stick-like line, as well as its legs. Its arms followed suit, and were crossed against its chest. Its head was a large, grey globe, a tiny bit larger than the size of a normal human’s head. Though the darkness in the room made it hard to see anyway, the figure seemed to be wearing sunglasses.

It smirked. “I expect you came here to challenge me?” The figure chuckled. “Of course, you’ll fail, just like all the others.

His only reply was a faint grunt and a small nod.

“Fine then,” the figure replied, “let’s cut the chit chat and progress to the good stuff. The figure, still smirking, took a fighting pose.

The boy was ready for this, however, and sprang into action. The globe on his wand started glowing, and he swung it through the air in the direction of the shadowy figure. From it, a crescent of light emerged and flew through the room toward the demonic figure. It hit, and then the figure disappeared.

Suddenly, the wand was knocked out of the boy’s hand. Upon hitting the floor, it disappeared inexplicably. The shadowy figure seized the boy from behind, and held him down. The boy, although he tried to use all of his strength, could not move.

The figure laughed. “You need more practice,” it said, and raised one stick-figure hand. It glowed with a black light.

The boy braced himself.



NOTES:
Prologue=short. Extremely short.
Badass stick figure, yeah!
Vagueness FTW—You'll find out at a later time.

~~~​

Well then...As of time of posting, I already have chapters one and two typed out, but I'm just gonna put this up for now. Others up later—Comments, anyone?

...For the record, I have the entire thing written out next to me on about fifty sheets of notebook paper.

 

[Phantom]

Re: Element

Isn't it cheating to use something that you already have written down? (speaking of NaNo) Or have I completely lost my mind?

 

[Superbird]

Re: Element

Well, I'm still typing the entire thing. Technically, the paper thing is a rough draft.

 

[Superbird]

Re: Element

[size=+3]Chapter one[/size]
The Scream​

Kenji was bored.

There was just no other way to put it. After living there thirteen years, Aqaic Village just had nothing to do that hadn’t already been done enough times it wasn’t interesting any more. Fishing was boring. Playing soccer with the seven- and eight-year-olds in the village was even more boring. Being as small as it was, Aqaic didn’t actually have a library. All the books in the city belonged to individual villagers, and Kenji had already read all of them anyway, so reading wasn’t an option either. He couldn’t even practice his wind skills, the task that took up most of his free time, because he was past the point of learning.

Kenji was, as people called them, an Elemental Magician. Magicians could always control at least one natural element. Elemental magicians were usually born with their powers. Kenji himself was a near master of the wind—he could easily manipulate air currents with his mind, even strongly enough to levitate himself.

Most elemental magicians were only gifted with a single element, however, and were unable to learn to control other elements. Kenji, though, had had so much time to practice his skills that he could adapt other elements into the wind; creating thunderclouds was an example. Kenji was so good at elemental magic that he was traveling to Motrepolis, the biggest city on the continent, in a week. There, he would learn proper control over his powers.

A week was too long! Kenji wished he could have gone earlier. Unfortunately, he was burdened by the normal paranoid parents that quite a few people have. They just couldn’t trust him to make his way down the safest road in the country to Motrepolis without a professional escort.

The week’s waiting could have been better, if only Kenji had another kid in the village his age. Then he could talk and actually have fun with someone.

Sometimes, Kenji hated living in the middle of nowhere.

A shout broke Kenji out of his daydreams. It was from his dad. “Hey, Kenji! Wanna come help me clean these fish?”

“Sure,” Kenji replied, more to have something to do than because he actually wanted to.

Kenji’s father was a fisherman, like most people in Aqaic. After all, the village did border on the ocean. Fish were the primary export of his village, and the only way for the seven or so families that lived there to obtain services from outside the village. Kenji might have frequently gone swimming there, but he really didn’t like the salt in the water.

Since Kenji’s house was especially near the ocean, he didn’t have far to walk to get to the pier. His father had tied up his fishing boat, a cute little thing, and was waiting for him.

Apparently, his dad was interested in having a conversation. “So, you’ve been getting pretty experienced with the wind, eh? He smiled expectantly.

“I guess…”

“How about showing me a little?”

This was an unusual request. Kenji had never gotten a request to show of his skill before. Most people just thought it wasn’t anything special. “Sure,” he answered.

Kenji decided to start off with the easy stuff. He concentrated, and pointed one palm at the ocean. Within seconds, a current of wind became visible, rippling the water’s surface, in a circular pattern. It steadily got stronger, and before long it was picking up seawater. Within seconds, the tornado became a swirling tornado of water—a potentially deadly weapon. Peaking at a height of about twenty feet, it was rather large compared to what he usually worked with. He could work bigger, though.

Kenji thought about his powers. It was widely accepted that Wind was the weakest of all the elements. He strongly disagreed. Wind, the way he used it, was able to combine the other elements—Kenji had practiced several attacks unknown to the standard wind-user; all of them were affiliated with a certain other element. The air he used had its strategic advantages also. He could alter the location of atoms, and as such could do a multitude of other things, such as craft invisible walls and midair platforms. In addition, he could use such things to make himself float in the air—a skill that, if his skill level was high enough, could be used for flight instead of just levitation.

The problem with that was the dismount. Landing hurt if he wasn’t prepared. That’s why, in his training, he practiced a fair amount of gymnastics. It was unfortunate that there wasn’t a sage of wind.

The Elemental Sages were the masters of the Elements, and were the governors of Aemana. Or, Kenji thought, they used to be. Not any more, though, since Dakar came along. Anyway, the Sages were said to be the creators of the elements. As scary as they seemed, though, they were supposedly docile. Kenji had never met one.

It was then that Kenji realized that his dad was talking again.

“…getting virtually no money at all for these fish. Dang, the economy here is horrible—not just here in Aqaic, but all over Aemana. I tell you, ever since that Dakar guy started ruling this country, the economy has dropped like a rock.”

Kenji’s thoughts returned at the mention of Dakar. Lord Dakar, as he was called, was the evil dictator of Aemana, and he had been for about seven years. After overthrowing the Elemental Sages, he had started a dictatorship. Then he’d started shipping all the region’s money off to somewhere else; No one knew what he got in return. Most people believed that he just gave the money away. Since very little money even existed in Aemana, people had resorted to material trade among each other—Dakar had also cut off contact with other countries.

“You know,” Kenji’s dad continued, “I’ll bet you could defeat him, Kenji.”

This made Kenji recoil in surprise. “Me? What do you mean?”

“I mean exactly what I said. I bet you could defeat Lord Dakar and restore peace and prosperity to all of Aemana. So what if Dakar’s really, really evil? How bad could it be?”

“I would get killed! Dakar, obviously, is the one who people consider to be the lost sage of the element of darkness! Light is strong against darkness, not wind!”

“But you’re such a master—”

Normally, the argument might have continued for much longer. But then the scream came. It slowly got louder, as the source presumably came closer.

“[size=-3]AAAAAAAAAA[/size][size=-2]AAAAAAA[/size][size=-1]AAAAAAAAAA[/size]AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

It was followed by a loud crash.

~~~​

Chapter notes:

I called him Kenji because I felt like it.
It wil alllllll be explained later.
That string of A's is supposed to start at size 5 font and steadily move up.

 

[Superbird]

Re: Element

NaNo started about 7 hours ago...Let's see how much I can do in how little the time. Chapter two is basically the chapter of conversation, mk. 1.

[size=+2]Chapter 2[/size]
Harris​

“What in the Fire Lord’s name was that?”, shouted Kenji.

“I think I…” His dad struggled to reply. “Did you see that streak of light in the sky, during the scream?”

Kenji and his dad were running toward the village square, the place where the crash presumably came from. Actually, the village square wasn’t really a square so much as it was just a clearing in the middle of the village. Like everything from Aqaic Village, it wasn’t really far from anything.

They arrived at the field, only to find almost every single resident in the entire village crowded around the center of the square. As Kenji tried to push through the crowd, one of the eight-year-olds recognized him.

“We were playing soccer and then we saw a bright light in the sky and I told everyone to look at it and we al looked up at it and then it got bigger and we heard a scream and we ran away and that g—”

But Kenji had already moved on. Ah, that Ezekiel, always talking in run-ons. He’d heard the story, though, or at least the important parts, and was now trying to push and shove his way to the center. Most people, knowing who he was, easily moved out of the way, knowing that he may have been able to do something. Finally, after a few minutes, he reached the center of the crowd.

He gasped.

In the center of the crowd, lying on the ground was a teenager, maybe fourteen or fifteen years of age. He was wearing a white tunic, and white pants. He almost seemed like he was glowing. His skin was ripped in many places, and fresh blood was flowing out of the wounds. Quite obviously, he had lost a huge, fierce battle immediately before.

Kenji barely thought before acting. Immediately, he pulled a ball-like object called a Heal Capsule out of his pocket. It was pink and red, and had a pink heart-shaped icon on the front. He knelt down, held the capsule over the boy’s heart, and pressed a button on the front of the device.

The capsule opened, and a pinkish stream of energy immediately formed a connection with the boy’s heart. Pinkish energy seeped into his body, and his wounds slowly started to heal. A few minutes later, no trace of any injury remained, not even the blood. His eyes opened.

He blinked.

He slowly pushed his body off of the ground, and quickly dusted himself off. With a confused look on his face, he looked around.

“…wha?”

Suddenly, the boy was struck with a sudden realization. “Ah! Dakar! Wait…what? Huh?

Common sense told Kenji that he should do something about the boy, and helped him up. He could recover at Kenji’s house. “Come on,” He said to the boy, “You probably want some privacy.” He then tried to drag the boy out of the crowd.

• • •​

A fair amount of shoving, a shower, and a change of clothes later, Kenji and the boy were in the guest room of the former’s house. The boy was sitting on the bed, still looking a little confused and flustered, and Kenji was standing beside him.

The boy decided to break the silence and introduce himself. “I’m Harris, Just so that you won’t have to ask later on.”

“Oh…” came the surprised reply. “Hi…Harris.” Kenji smiled. He liked that name. “It has a nice ring to it.”

Completely ignoring Kenji’s comment, Harris started asking questions. “Sorry for the trouble, but if it isn’t too obvious already, I’m really confused right now. First off, where are we exactly?”

“This is Aqaic Village, in Aemana. Where did you come from?”

“Dakar’s castle. I guess I los—”

“You…You WHAT? You fought Dakar?”

“Uh-huh,” Harris nodded, “Even with the power of light, I guess I lost.”

“You’re a light practicer?”, exclaimed Kenji.

“Obviously!”, came Harris’s reply. “It’s impossible to even stand a chance against Dakar without it!”

Kenji scowled, making a mental note to chew out his dad later. Then he spoke.

“Well, something must’ve happened, because you came flying in with a pretty hard landing.”

Harris sighed. “I need more practice…” He suddenly straightened up. “Wait, when is it?”

“When’s what?”

“When is it now?”

“3:17 PM, on Wednesday the eighth. Why do you ask?”

Harris jumped up. “Oh my— I’ve gotta get to Motrepolis!”, he exclaimed.

Kenji suddenly remembered that he himself was scheduled to travel to Motrepolis next week. “What for?”

“There are people expecting me. Besides, I need more training.

Kenji thought a little, and then came to a conclusion. “If it’s training you want,” he said, “then I challenge you to an Elemental Duel!”

Now it was Harris’s turn to be surprised. “You can use elemental magic?”

“Is that so unusual?”, Kenji replied in a challenging tone. “I like to call myself a master of the wind!”

“Wind, eh?” Louis smiled. “In that case…Bring it on!”

 

[Superbird]

Re: Element

[size=+2]Chapter 3[/size]
First Fight​

The exact moment one of the eight-year-olds heard about the battle that was about to take place, he told all of his friends, and they all ran out in a multitude of directions to notify the rest of the village. Within minutes, a crowd had gathered around the city “square”, a football field in the middle of the village.

On one edge of the field stood Harris. He looked calm, and confident, and stood straight, with his arms crossed. He’d obviously gone through the entire procedure many times in the past. He was smirking, probably sure he’d win.

Wind was generally considered the weakest of all the elements, which was probably why Kenji’s opponent was so confident. The thing was, Wind barely had any offensive power. None, in fact, short of blowing heavy objects at their opponents. Wind’s main strengths lay in countering—Any attack, pretty much, could be absorbed by the winds and thrown back. But that was all, unless one used Kenji’s strategy.

On the opposite side of the field stood Kenji. His eyes were open, and he was standing in an offensive pose, nervous and unsure exactly what he was supposed to be doing.

It wasn’t exactly obscure, but Harris must have noticed Kenji’s nervousness and lack of knowledge. He held up a square device that, Kenji noticed, had been equipped to his belt. A ripple spread around the field, around Kenji and Harris. It looked like glass, but made of energy. As townspeople tried to push on the invisible wall, it didn’t budge. Huh. Kenji would have to get an explanation from Harris later.

Harris spoke. “This will be a single match, one-on-one. Both parties will be artificially healed after the match to their condition prior to the match. No healing will be allowed during the fight.

Well, why was he re-stating the rules? Kenji and Harris had discussed the rules they would use before they came out. Was he telling them to the audience so that they would know? Maybe so, but what was the point? Did the audience really care?

Kenji made up his mind to ask Harris about that later. But now it was time to battle.

“Get ready!”, someone yelled from the crowd.

Kenji got ready to fight. He started to examine his opponent, who was taking a battle pose.

“Battle…BEGIN!”

The moment the command was issued, Harris was off like a bullet. He rushed toward Kenji as something appeared in his hand. Its handle was like two rods, intertwined in a spiral, and stretched for about a foot before ending in a globe maybe four inches in diameter. The globe glowed white, and Harris swiped it at Kenji.

Kenji, unprepared and ignorant of his opponent’s tactics, immediately tried to spin out of the way, and only just barely succeeded. As Harris spun around and lunged again, Kenji did a backflip over him, landed behind him, and delivered a hard punch to the area between his opponent’s shoulder blades. In retaliation, Harris spun around and clubbed Kenji on his arm with his rod.

Kenji hopped back, recoiling from the harsh blow. “Nice weapon you’ve got there!”, he taunted. “Now, why don’t you fight me hand-to hand?”

Harris ran forward and almost succeeded in clubbing Kenji with his wand again, but Kenji dived out of the way and used his powers to create an invisible platform high in the air for him to stand on.

Harris called out, “With a wand, I can do this!”

He swung his rod through the air, in Kenji’s direction. From it was generated a sickle-shaped scythe that cut through the air and sped toward Kenji. Kenji gasped, and jumped out of the way and on to another artificial platform he’d created. Well, two could play that game!

Harris sent another scythe of light at Kenji, but this time the target didn’t dodge. Kenji pointed his palm at the quickly approaching blast of energy, and concentrated. A fierce wind shot out from his hand, and within seconds the Light Slash was headed right back at its original creator. Harris’s eyes suddenly bugged out, and he rolled to the side, out of the way. Unfortunately for him, though, Kenji had taken advantage of his distraction.

Kenji was flying down, right at Harris’s head. As he got close, Harris only had time to gasp as he looked up at his opponent soaring down at him. But he dived out of the way. Kenji suddenly realized that his target had moved. And instead bounced off of the ground back in front of Harris. Ha! To think he thought the Wind was useless!

Harris sent another scythe of light in Kenji’s direction. Kenji used the wind to jump over it. Then he realized where it was headed.

The crowd! The onlookers were in danger! As the citizens in the blast’s path tried to scatter, Kenji could do nothing but watch the blast rush toward them. But it suddenly stopped and disappeared. What?

It must have been the invisible wall—It must have been created not only to create a boundary, but also to keep spectators safe. Relieved, Kenji turned back to the battle, only to be blasted by another blast of light energy. He was thrown back against the invisible wall with considerable force.

He tried to get back up quickly, but Harris seized his inactivity to raise his wand and create a shield of light around himself. Now he was practically immune to energy attacks. He could only be damaged with projectiles.

Fortunately for Kenji, that was his specialty. Tiny specs of gray floated into the battlefield from above. Due to their small size, Harris didn’t notice them until they were inside his shield. Then, Kenji just moved them close together, and they suddenly bolted electric currents to each other. Harris gasped as he was surrounded, and electrocuted, by the electric cage. He cringed, and sent out a small wave of light to eliminate the thunderclouds.

“That was cheap!”, Harris yelled.

Kenji just laughed. “Not as cheap as your rod, though!”

“It’s a wand!”, Louis called back as he sent a few intricate Light Slashes at Kenji. Kenji, with a series of stylistic acrobatics, jumped through them, closed his eyes, and spoke two words.

“Firaga Camma”.

All he had to do now was wait, until his plan was ready. He used his powers to create a tornado shield, and it absorbed all of Harris’s attacks. As soon has he sensed the right time had come, he released all the light energy in a huge blast back at Harris. Harris screamed, and thrust his wand in front of him, swiping it quickly in a diagonal line. Then the blast immersed him.

Kenji was surprised, though, when yet another blast of light shot out at him. Was Louis, like, immune to Light or something? Elemental magicians weren’t usually resistant to their own element…

He noticed that the arena had suddenly become several degrees warmer. Finally, the wind he had called had arrived. Took it long enough!

Kenji started a tornado, small but deadly, at the edge of the battlefield. The wind he’d called, burning hot from the Frysrae Desert, had finally arrived. He continued to dodge attacks as the hot wind kept being sucked into the tornado. Just a little more…Done!

He condensed the tornado, and all of the burning air inside it. With all the fire, it turned into a full-fledged gigantic ball of fire. He jumped behind it, and blasted it with a huge gust of wind. Instead of extinguishing it, however, the wind propelled the ball incredibly quickly at Harris. Even his energy shield only cut a little bit off of the attack. He yelped, and was then engulfed by the blast. Ouch, thought Kenji.

Kenji let go of the force pulling the fiery wind, which had before been gradually sapping his energy. Even so, he was getting a little tired. Hopefully that was the last blow. He shrunk back to a safe distance away from Harris.

Harris spun out of the fire, his clothes singed as well as his skin. The expression on his face expressed pure rage. He lifted his wand, and his light shield got sucked into it. The area suddenly got darker. What was he doing?

Harris pointed his wand at Kenji, who noticed it was slowly absorbing energy. He smiled.

“Say your prayers, Kenji!” The wand absorbed a final burst of energy. “Lignt Beam!”, he yelled.

Suddenly, a gigantic beam, made completely of Light energy, blasted out of Harris’s wand, toward Kenji. Kenji gasped. Light Beam, the strongest of all elemental attacks! How would he get through this one?

Well, he had only one chance. Opening his hands and pointing both his palms at the incoming beam of light, he released a cylindrical beam of wind at the beam. “Tornado Beam!”, he yelled.

The Light Beam slowed…then stopped in place. A pin drop could’ve been heard as everyone watched in awe. Then, the energy beam started curling back on itself, swirling back the way it came. Harris gasped. There was no way he could avoid it. He was hit by the beam, and lost his focus on the rest of the energy. Kenji reflected the rest of it, then stepped back, panted, and saw what he had accomplished. Harris fell to the ground, his wand disappearing from his hand. Tired but energized, Kenji raised his fist in victory as the crowd cheered.

The invisible wall flickered away.

~~~​

-When I say "Football", I mean Soccer.
-This is one of the longest chapters I'm prob'ly gonna write; It's a whole page and a half longer than it is in the rough draft!
-Comments, please? I'd really appreciate advice.

 

[Superbird]

Re: Element

I'd better get some really good advice once NaNo is over. >:(

[size=+2]Chapter 4[/size]
Department from Aqaic​

A magical, soft pink light came out of Harris’s pocket, and split into two parts. One part flew to Kenji and the other to Harris. Each light then encircled each boy quickly, until it turned into a blur, and seeped into the boys’ body.

As the light entered his heart, Kenji felt a chill quickly spread through his blood vessels, soothing every muscle in his body. It felt…so relaxing! Within moments, he and Harris alike were both feeling completely refreshed.

Harris used what looked like almost no effort to push himself to his feet. He walked to the center of what had been their arena, and held his hand out to Kenji. They shook hands.

After the battle ended, the crowd had begun to dissipate. Now, it was almost completely gone, and Harris and Kenji walked away in the direction of Kenji’s house, leaving the eight-year-olds to continue their football game.

Harris decided to start a conversation. “Amazing battle—That was the best one I’ve had in a long time! Your electric barrier took me completely by surprise! But I thought you were a wind magician?”

Kenji was flattered. “Thanks so much! And they weren’t really electric bolts—they’re tiny thunderclouds that I blew in. When they get close enough to each other, the electricity discharges.”

Harris stroked his chin. “Pure genius! How’d you come up with that?”

“Lots and lots of free time on my hands. With bigger clouds, they’ll connect greater distances, and even shock opponents from a distance. It all comes together pretty easily if you train enough.”

Harris smiled. “Well, you’re way better than all of the other
Wind magicians I’ve seen.” Suddenly, his face lit up. It looked like he’d gotten an idea. “Okay, so we’ve already established that you’re stronger than I am, but you just mentioned training. Have you ever considered going to Motrepolis?”

“Believe it or not, I’m scheduled to leave for Motrepolis on Tuesday. According to my parents, some chauffer is coming then to pick me up. ‘So you won’t get hurt’, they say.”

Louis recoiled in surprise. “They’re afraid of you getting hurt? Talk about overprotective parents! You could make it to the eightieth room of the Training Challenge in Motrepolis. There’s absolutely no chance of you getting hurt just travelling around the country, even with Dakar’s minions on the loose!”

Kenji was unsure how to respond. “Uh…what’s the Challenge Trial?”

“A massive training course over in Motrepolis. I got to room forty-seven. Anyway, though, that’s irrelevant. What I’m trying to say is that there’s no danger at all. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to persuade your parents to stop being so overprotective.” He started to sprint off, but almost immediately spun around and came back. “Hey. Which one was your house again?”

Kenji sighed. This guy was nuts. “Eighth one on the left,” he said, pointing toward the road his house was on.

Harris was again off like a bullet, mumbling something along the lines of “thanks,” as he ran off.

Kenji rolled his eyes, and slowly walked after Harris. Why did he even bother? But in the very back of his mind, he was sincerely hoping that Harris would actually succeed in his mission, and he would be able to leave for Motrepolis immediately.

• • •​

Kenji heard as soon as he walked into his house that Harris had started the debate.

“You’re absolutely sure it’s safe?”

That was his mother’s voice. Definitely. Figures she’d be the main arguer.

“Completely sure. Positive, even!” This was Harris’s voice. “The leaders of Motrepolis make it their duty to keep all paths away from Motrepolis completely safe for a twenty-mile radius! Kenji, if he traveled there, would be completely safe, even if he didn’t have Elemental magic on his side!”

Kenji’s dad started to say something, but Harris cut him off.

“…Which brings me to another point. Kenji has the best Elemental skills I’ve ever seen, even more so than the guardian of Wind in Motrepolis. Even if by the unlikely chance something came along, Kenji would have no problem dealing with anything possible, minus Lord Dakar himself.”

Kenji’s mom spoke up. “But what if Dakar actually comes?”

Louis scowled in annoyance. “Why would Dakar even do that? What reason does he have in the first place? He has better things to do. Trust me, I know. Plus, I’m even going back there soon, so I can accompany your son. With the two of us, there’s nothing that could possibly happen on the way there. I don’t see the real point of paying so much extra money for an unnecessary service that—“ He stopped when he saw Kenji. “Oh, hey.”

Kenji’s father stepped forward. “Harris, was it? I fully understand and accept your argument. Unfortunately…No, wait. Before I say that, I imagine you won’t take ‘no’ for an answer, will you?”

“That depends. Does Kenji still want to get out of here as soon as possible?” He turned to Kenji.

“Uh…” was all Kenji could manage at first, being unsure how to respond. “Yeah, I guess…” he eventually stammered.

Harris turned back to Kenji’s dad. “Then you are indeed correct. I will not take ‘no’ for an answer.”

Kenji’s father sighed. “You know, you’d make a good salesperson. You win.” He turned to Kenji. “I guess you can go pack your bags, then.”

Kenji chuckled to himself. Little did his dad know, he’d been so eager to leave that he’d had his bags packed for a few days already. He ran to his room, and quickly retrieved the small backpack located there. As he came back down and announced that he was ready, his mother recoiled in surprise.

“Are you absolutely sure that’s enough?”

Kenji sighed, for the umpteenth time that day. “Yes, I’m completely sure. You know that MotreWare catalog we order? I saved up my money and bought a pocket minimizer. Trust me, I have absolutely everything I’m going to need—money included.” He turned to Harris. “Let’s go, then.”

They walked with excitement to the city’s exit, Kenji’s parents trailing behind. A few minutes later, the boys were exiting the city, leaving behind many villagers waving. On Kenji’s face was a new look, of exhilarated excitement and determination.

• • •​

A black, shadowy stick figure with a gray head and sunglasses floated a few hundred feet away, high in the air. In the broad daylight it was completely obvious and noticeable, but all of Aqaic’s residents were focused on Kenji and Harris. The figure was carefully watching as well.

“So, he’s back,” the figure muttered to itself, “I should have killed him when I had the chance…” It sighed. “Ah, well. I guess it’s time for reinforce-ments, then.”

It teleported away in a flash of blackness.

Back on the ground, a, eight-year-old turned around and noticed a strange, shadowy figure in the sky. He turned around again, and it was gone. He decided it was just his imagination and turned back to the two departing boys. He soon forgot all about the strange occurrence…

~~~​

Chapter Notes
-This is...one of the shortest chapters in this story.
-I have chapters 5 and 6 done, but I'm going to work on something between 4 and 5. I'll post everything else then.
-Feel free to comment!

 

[Superbird]

Re: Element

Okay, here's the deal. An interlude is basically two things in one: (1)More words, and (2)A good way to explain the laws of the universe to a reader, to help them understand more. Like this one:

[size=+2]Interlude 1[/size]
The Elements and Their Origins​

Aemana is a country in a strange yet secluded world. Not many countries even exist, and currently, all contact with countries outside of Aemana as completely forbidden—Dakar has sealed the borders with his dark magic.

However, Aemana’s secluded nature provides many benefits for it. The main benefit of these is the fact that its citizens are gifted with Elemental power. This power is a strange one indeed, allowing certain gifted people, born with the power already in their mind, to control any one of the natural elements.

One of the most common of these is the element of Fire. Users of Fire can create the stuff any time. Various abilities associated are the ability to shoot a steady stream of fire from one’s hands (or wand). Another one of a Fire magician’s abilities is usually to immerse him or herself in flame. This flame, of course, is controlled to only burn opponents. Many other forms of attacks can be formed from the element of Fire.
Another common element is Electricity, or as it’s more commonly referred to as, Thunder. While users of Fire can shoot streams of fire, Thunder magicians can launch bolts of lightning, which cover less ground but have more precision. Electricity can also be used to electrify one’s body, effectively causing recoil to any physical attackers. More advanced abilities include the ability to shoot a wave of electricity, unfocused and not very powerful but having a wide attack radius, and the ability to paralyze opponents in one place.

The third widely-practiced element is Ice. Strong to fire but also weak to it, Ice magicians have the ability to control the temperature of the air. They also have control over pure energy, which they can release in freezing blasts to attack. They have the ability to lower an area’s temperature at will, and generally shoot concentrated beams of pure energy, coated with the freezing essence of the element itself. Advanced magicians can gain the ability to literally freeze their opponents in place, freeze the air around them, and even freeze time in certain situations. Most Ice magicians are unaffected by colder temperatures.

Now, if the elements were all there were, order would be lost among their users, who would constantly compete and eventually destroy society with their powers. In order to prevent this from happening, three extremely advanced elemental magicians, many thousand years ago, prayed to the gods to have their power amplified. These brothers were given the essences of the elements themselves, and granted immortality if they agreed to uphold peace of the Elementals in the world. They agreed, and were each built a fortress, in a metaphorical sense, in which they would reside. The three fortresses eventually became natural formations, and now rest in a triangle in Aemana. The Frysrae Desert is the resting place of the Fire Lord, the Autarch of Fire. Mount Sifirce, an extremely tall and snowy mountain in the north of Aemana, is the home of the Ice Mage; master of the element of Ice. Thunder Tower is an extremely tall tower, the top of which is always stormy and is the location of the Thunder King, the emperor of electricity.

However, there are elements besides the three common elements. Wind is the combination of Fire, Ice, and Electricity, able to uphold qualities of all three. Once upon a time, wind used to be the most powerful of all elements. The Elemental sages, once in power, took this strength away—All magicians of wind had been abusing the skills. Today, Wind is regarded as the weakest element, because all of its power had been taken away thousands of years ago. However, the Wind is incredibly unique among the elements. Though there exist no offensive techniques directly utilizing the element, Wind was still left with a gift when its powers were taken away. The Wind can manipulate other elements in ways the elements themselves cannot—It can trap energy, and blow it around with the air currents. Additionally, while the legacy of Wind was destroyed, it was still left with special ability—The ability to absorb elements. If experienced enough, magicians of the Wind can absorb any element thrown at them, and store it within their own power if channeled correctly. Once enough of the energy accumulates, the power becomes accessible to the magician, allowing them to permanently control the absorbed element in addition to their original element. Because of its original power, Wind is incredibly rare among Elemental Magicians, all of whom get their elements from birth. Wind is an example of this, but nothing has changed about its genetic rarity since the element was created.

However, Wind is not even the end of the list of elements. Also existent are Light and Darkness.

Light is widely considered the strongest element of all, said to have been created directly by the gods thousands of years ago. Light is rare among magicians, but not as much so as Wind. In truth, Light is incredibly well-rounded, and is associated with the most abilities of any single element save Darkness. These abilities can range from offensive to defensive, but first, how exactly does Light get its power? Light is essentially pure energy, taken from the air and returned in utilization. When released, it takes a pure white form. Light users can do a wide range of things, from creating shields to blasting beams of energy. Light Shield is a defensive skill that creates a spherical shield of energy around the one who casts it. With radii of approximately three meters, Light Shields critically weaken the power of other elemental attacks, forcing opponents to resort to projectiles and close combat. Light Wall is another defensive skill that allows a magician to create a solid wall by dragging their hands or wand through the air in a diagonal, from which a rectangular, impenetrable wall will form. The wall will completely block all attacks, including elemental skills, projectiles, and physical combat alike. The cost of ultimate impenetrability is that a Light Wall will fade away after a few seconds. Light Heal is a very advanced skill, one which few magicians ever learn. The power of Heal Capsules is influenced by this skill, which channels raw energy into a creature’s body, providing the target with enough energy to heal wounds, return to consciousness, or even to restart one’s heart, depending on how much energy the magician in question expends. Another skill commonly attributed to Light Users, an offensive one this time, is the Light Slash. The most basic of all skills of Light, all it requires is for magicians to pull energy from their body, and swing their wand or hands across the air in a curved line. From the spot the magician chooses, a scythe-shaped blast of pure Light energy shoots out at a high speed. A Light Slash usually has a fair amount of power behind it, enough to be classified as a viable attack for all intensive purposes. Yet another skill many magicians of Light acquire easily is the ability to, at the expense of very small amounts of energy, create a source of light. The closer to one’s body or wand, the less energy it takes. Usually, this skill is used to light up caves and other dark areas, as it is easier to control than Fire, but it also comes into use for temporarily blinding opponents in battle. Light can also be used, but only by the most advanced of magicians, to freeze time itself for a few seconds. This can be enough to charge an attack, or to launch another one. Another attack, discovered fairly recently with the advent of Focus Wands, is the ability to create a rope of light and tie up an opponent with it. Borrowing a little power from the Wind, a magician must throw his or her wand at an enemy and guide it around so that it leaves a trail of light behind it, encircling the opponent in question. When the wand returns to the hand of the magician who launched it, the chains of light collapse in and tighten, completely immobilizing an opponent until the energy dissipates. The final technique of the element of Light is the Light Beam, widely considered to be the strongest attack of any element. Though it takes a while for a magician to gather the necessary energy for the attack, the execution is a massive beam of energy, up to a meter in diameter, that can be sustained for huge amounts of time if the Magician that formed it is willing to exert enough energy. Since it is almost impossible to guard or reflect, and can be sustained for anyone who tries to slip out of the way, it almost always results in an instant defeat if successful.

Light has a lot of virtues, yes. But what about its counterpart? The element of Darkness is the polar opposite of Light, and much more powerful. The thing is, Darkness is unknown to anyone—Or at least, it was until Lord Dakar came along.

Darkness was originally created to be hidden, and the only beings who ever knew it existed were the Elemental Sages, after they were told about it. It is a balance to the other elements, and has the means to defeat anything—Dark replications of any imaginable attack of any element. There is black fire, there are black thunderbolts, and every single existent Light attack has a nearly identical Dark counterpart. Darkness was born with almost twice the power of any known element, and that even stands true today.

Darkness, however, was sealed away to be called upon only in times of great need. Over time, though, the darkness came to life on its own, and slowly came together to create a sage of its own—Lord Dakar, as it calls itself. Made completely of pure darkness, Dakar has developed thinking capabilities, and abused his power to the point that he has destroyed almost all there was of the old Aemana. Perhaps the most frightening of all Darkness’s abilities is its power of mind-control. This can be stopped, though, by either absorbing the Darkness from a victim of mind-control, of by washing their soul out with Light Energy, effectively eliminating Dark Energy. Darkness and Light are opposites—They destroy each other, and each is the other’s only weakness. This could be the only key to stopping Lord Dakar…

 

[Superbird]

Re: Element

[size=+2]Chapter 5[/size]
Etiquette Tutorial​

Motrepolis was about twenty miles from Aqaic. That was equivalent to about a day’s walk.

The boys had left about an hour ago.

Needless to say, they had a long walk ahead of them.

In the meantime, Harris was teaching Kenji some main rules of courtesy in elemental fights.

“In a formal match, it’s customary for both of the battlers to exchange information about their elements. You know, just so that both participants know what to generally expect. Well, that wouldn’t work with you, but…” Harris sighed. “Well, you know what I mean. After that, either one of the battlers or a referee usually state four customary regulations. You know, like rules.

“First, the match type. It can be either single (one on one), double (two on two), Multi-participant free for all…the list is practically endless. Quite obviously, a single match is more common.”

Kenji had pulled out a notebook and was scrabbling down all of what he was being told inside of it. Harris paused for a little, to allow Kenji to finish writing. When Kenji nodded his head, he went on.

“The second rule deals with post-battle conditions. Basically, it’s what constitutes the end of a match—unconsciousness, time limit, death or whatever—and whether participants will get healed afterward. For the healing part, the rulemaker must state whether both parties get healed, one party only, or no post-match healing at all. Any post-battle healing will only rejuvenate battlers to the condition they were in before the match, by the way. Oh, and healing both can’t be enabled in a fight to the death.”

Kenji was scribbling furiously. Thirty seconds later, he paused and shook his hand out.

Harris continued. “Rule number three deals with healing during the match. It’s really basic—either healing at will, none whatsoever, or only a certain number of times.

“Finally, rule number four specifies any other restrictions. That means stuff like banned elements, attack restrictions, et cetera. Saying anything goes means that there are no more restrictions beyond what the other three rules specify.”

Kenji stopped writing, finally. His hand was about to burst into flames. “What was that thing you held up during our fight?”

“Oh, that.” Harris pulled the square device from his pocket. It was maybe an inch thick, and four inches in length and width. On one side it had a large red button; the other contained some sort of speaker.

“This is a…” Harris paused, unsure of how to describe it. “I like to call it a Fight Machine, but it’s technically called an ARES. That stands for ‘Automatic Rule-enforcement system’. It does exactly what its name says, and moderates battles. All you have to do to get it activated is press the red button on the side, and just say what you want. If there’s a rule-breaker, it will lash out at them, and basically make their life hell. So yeah, a rulekeeper. Oh, and it creates an invisible wall around the specified arena. For safety, you know. So no spectators get hurt. It’s really a very useful device.

“What’s even better, though,” Harris continued, “is that it also hs battle-sensing functions; when it senses a battle is about to start but no competitors have stated rules, it just starts a rule-less free-for-all—With an invisible border, that is. Here.” He tossed the device to Kenji, who barely managed to catch it, accidentally dropping his notebook on the ground.

“What?” asked Kenji, plainly confused. “Why? Are you just giving this to me?”

“It’s always useful to have one,” Harris replied nonchalantly. “Once you’ve got one yourself, you can give it back. I have one of the previous model.” He paused for a second, then his face lit up. “Hey, I just thought of a really interesting attack you could use!”

This was actually interesting. “Really?”, Kenji responded eagerly. “What is it?”

“I’ll tell you…”

The pair spent what was left of the daylight travelling and conversing about possible new battle techniques. They continued until night fell, Kenji pulled out and de-minimized his sleeping bag, and they slept a few feet off of the road.

• • •​

Sniff.

Sniff. Sniff.

Slowly, Kenji’s eyes opened. What was it, two in the morning? He checked his watch, and turned out to be exactly right.

He put a hand on Harris’s shoulder. “Harris, wake up.”

“Ugh…”, came the groggy response. “…Whatsit…”

“Do you smell smoke?”, Kenji asked.

“…Smoke…?” Suddenly he was on his feet, fully awake. How did that happen? “Fire? From where?”

Kenji was already minimizing and repacking his sleeping bag.

“From the northwest! Th—That’s Motrepolis!”, Harris shouted.

Kenji and Harris were now both in a state of alarm. The two boys started sprinting towards the city.

~~~​

Chapter Notes
-Obligatory Dialogue Chapter, Mk. 2. Hopefully it's interesting enough to keep the readers' attention...I'd love advice on this.
-VERY short chapter. I'm sorry.

 

[Superbird]

Re: Element

[size=+2]Chapter 6[/size]
A Metropolis on fire​

Motrepolis was a metropolis. It had a low yet beautiful skyline, black against a perfectly orange background. The orange background was not provided by a sunset.

Kenji was stunned with two different kinds of amazement. Motrepolis was so beautiful! On the other hand, how the heck had a city made of marble caught on fire in the first place?

As he and Harris approached the gate of Motrepolis, they found two of the city’s guards awaiting them. On the guards’ faces were expressions of mortal terror.

“What in the Fire Lord’s name,” Louis asked loudly, “is going on?”

“Exactly him,” said the first guard. “He’s been wreaking havoc around here, and he’s being controlled by Dakar.”

Kenji was stunned. The Fire Lord was behind all this chaos? But…he was the god of fire! How could Dakar make him do that? “The Fire Lord is responsible for this?” he cried out in obvious surprise.

“Yes,” the second guard replied, “and he’s looking for a Light Magician named Harris.” He turned to Harris, probably because of his white clothing. “You wouldn’t happen to be him, would you?”

“Sure,” Harris replied nonchalantly. “I wonder what he wa—” the guards had picked him up, and were carrying him into the city. “Wait, who are you—Wah! Put me down!”

Kenji ran after him, mind full of questions. Why would the Fire Lord want Harris? Why would Dakar need him to do it? How could a city whose buildings were all made of stone even be set on fire in the first place when there were no flammable objects?

Kenji’s thoughts stopped for a few second, though he continued to chase after the guards who had abducted Harris. An idea had come to him. Quickly, he stopped and created a strong wind throughout the city, not strong enough to damage anything but more than enough to put out the fires throughout the city. He sped up, desperately trying to keep pace with the guards.

They arrived in the city square, the only place that had apparently not been burning before they had come. There were torches lit around the edges.

One of the citizens noticed the guards and Harris. “Oh, thank the Ice Ma— No, he’s probably captured too. Thank whatever sage isn’t captured right now. Anyway, is that the guy the Fire Lord was looking for?”

One of the guards told her the answer.

Another person spoke up. “Oh, good. The Fire Lord has defeated nearly every battler in the city—Even the Ice Magicians! He must be too used to all o our elements. But…He’s out for us!”

People started to chatter about whether they should exchange Harris for their city. The guards didn’t think twice—they just threw Harris unceremoniously out into the square. “Great lord of fire!”, one of them shouted. “We have brought you the offering you have asked for! Please, give our fair city a respite!”

“Thank you…” came a voice. “You have done well. Now, Harris, you will see the true power of Lord Dakar.”

A strange fire started in midair in the arena. From it emerged a large being, which floated out ominously. It was the Fire Lord. His body seemed to be made of many plates, in a somewhat geometric pattern. With no legs, it floated above the ground with a hefty body. Near its head, which was like a metal torch with diagonal eyes and a mouth, its arms branched off, much thinner than its body but still being a good eight inches thick. They were covered in the same geometric pattern of plating as the rest of his body. His hands seemed to be made from metal prisms, with each finger having several joints. Its head was on fire, from an opening in the top like a torch. Its entire body was the color of molten rust.

Harris’s eyes were wide, and his face showed the same expression of terror as the faces of the guards that had carried him there. “I have been waiting for you—you should not have taken so long to come. Lord Dakar has instructed me to kill you…as he failed to do before.”

Harris still said nothing, but slowly and stiffly stood up.

“Good,” the Fire Lord said. “Now, puny human! Face me in mortal combat!” His eyes flashed black, a definite sign that Dakar was his master. Kenji cried out, and rushed forward.

The air rippled before him, and he crashed into an invisible wall placed before him. All Kenji could do was watch in horror as Harris took up the hopeless fight.

Harris sprang into action with a sudden flash of energy. Quickly, his wand appeared and he swung it through the air, its tip glowing with Light energy. A Light Slash, as the scythe was called, emerged and flew straight into the Fire Lord. The target didn’t even move. Instead, he raised his hand and sent flying a gigantic ball of fire. It collided with the Light Slash, and there was an explosion. He sent another blast of fire at Harris, who spun out of the way and raised his wand. Mumbling something along the lines of “Layto Gardo”, his wand emitted a flash of light and created a transparent shield around him. Kenji realized that it was the same technique he had used in their battle.

Unfortunately for Harris, though, the Fire Lord had another trick up his sleeve. His hands detached from his body, and both went flying at Harris, who knocked them away with a quick spin of his wand. Though they had been knocked away, the Fire Lord flailed his arms a bit to get them back on. They immediately shot back off again.

Harris made a diagonal stroke through the air with his wand, and from it an invisible wall appeared, visible only because of the light it reflected. The hands smashed into it, creating a huge noise, and fell to the ground. They were both immersed in a quick burst of fire, and returned slowly to the Fire Lord’s arms.
The Fire Lord just stayed where he was, apparently just staying in his position. Harris took advantage to breathe a little energy into his wand and threw it at the Fire Lord. His opponent reached out to block the blow, but the wand went around them. As it started trailing a stream of light, it began circling around the Fire Lord. After about four revolutions, it flashed back into Harris’s hand. The ropes of light it had created condensed on the Fire Lord, trapping him in place.

All this time, Harris had been gathering energy, just like in his battle with Kenji. His shield was sucked into his wand, as well as the Fire Lord’s bind, as he pointed his wand at the Fire Lord and a gigantic beam of light burst out. Light Beam.

But it wasn’t quick enough. The Fire Lord thrust his hands out in front of him, and a huge beam of reddish energy even bigger than Harris’s came out. Harris only had time to gasp before he was hit with his opponent’s blast and launched back against the invisible barrier. As he fell to the ground, unconscious, the barrier rippled once, and then vanished. Kenji gasped.

Harris had lost.

~~~​

Chapter Notes
-I really like writing battle scenes, and I think they're the most fun for the readers to read.
-Next chapter is going to be an awesome and epic battle of epic proportions.

 

[Superbird]

Re: Element

[size=+2]Chapter 7[/size]
The God of Fire​

The Fire Lord’s body grew a little bit grayer, like it wasn’t as molten. He floated over to Harris’ unconscious body, and picked it up by the scruff of Harris’s neck.

Harris’s eyes quickly opened, then closed. Then opened again. He was obviously struggling to stay conscious. He had lost. What would happen now? Was the Fire Lord going to kill him?

“Pitiful,” gloated the Fire Lord. “Is that all the power you can muster?” He let out a burst of laughter. “I believed you to be a serious threat to Lord Dakar. Perhaps I shouldn’t have. You are so pitiful that you don’t even deserve to live.”

Suddenly, without warning, the Fire Lord released Harris…at a high speed, toward a wall. Harris screamed. Kenji gasped.

Harris hit the wall hard and dropped to the ground, defeated. He was obviously fighting to stay alive.

The Fire Lord laughed again, and pointed his palm at Harris. Kenji flinched as a gigantic fireball flew from the Fire Lord’s hand into the air, speeding toward Harris. It was speeding, getting closer to Harris’s dead body every second…And then, just as it was about to hit, it veered off-course, turning forty-five degrees and exploding against a wall.

All of the citizens of Motrepolis just stared at the spot that the blast had hit. No one noticed a lone figure step between Harris and the Fire Lord. When they turned back, all of them were surprised to see another boy in the place of Harris, in front of the Fire Lord, staring challengingly at the god of flames. The Fire Lord looked at Kenji in annoyance.

“So,” the Fire Lord said, “Another challenger?” He closed his eyes and shook his head. “You wish to protect that insolent fool, insolent fool?

Kenji just nodded.

“Before we fight,” the Fire Lord began, “I implore you, tell me why you defend that pitiful failure. He isn’t even worth the powers he has been gifted with!”

“You’re being controlled by Dakar,” Kenji said solemnly. “That needs to be changed, and the only way for me to do so is to defeat you.”

The Fire Lord sighed. “Fine then,” he replied. “Now, tell me…which element do you attempt to defeat me with?”

“Wind,” came Kenji’s nervous reply.

Everyone, the Fire Lord as well as the spectators, burst into unstoppable laughter. Kenji heard cries of “Wind?”, “Way too weak”, and “Pitiful!”.

Through his laughter, the Fire Lord choked out, “Are you playing a joke or something? Wind? The weakest of all elements?” He slowly stopped laughing. “Well, if it’s defeat you’re asking for, I see no reason not to oblige. You, of all people, shouldn’t even last more than five seconds. Well,” the Fire Lord floated back, and took an offensive pose. “Enough expository banter! It’s time to fight!”

An invisible border shimmered to life in a large circle around the Fire Lord and Kenji.

Kenji started off the battle by sprinting forward, toward his enemy. The Fire Lord took the opportunity to shoot a ball of fire at him. Kenji, however, had predicted the attack, and jumped over it, using air currents to propel himself over the Fire Lord. If he predicted where the invisible wall was…Yes!

He kicked off of the invisible wall before the Fire Lord had a chance to turn around. He backflipped, so that his feet instead of his hands were facing his opponent, and flew into his foe at a high speed, his foot colliding with the Fire Lord’s body.

The Fire Lord was thrown back as Kenji bounced off of him, but the battle was still in its early stages. The Fire Lord shot both his fists out at Kenji, who crouched, preparing to guard against them. But instead of coming straight on and hitting him, the hands each veered off to the side. From one side, one hand shot a ball of flames, and at the same time, the other hand did the same. Kenji was essentially in the middle of a crossfire.

Well, there was an easy way to deal with that, wasn’t there? Kenji jumped up, higher than a normal person would be capable of, and spun. At his will, the fireballs below swerved away, and toward the Fire Lord himself. The balls of fire crashed into the demon, but when Kenji looked on, no notable progress had been made. Dang it, he was immune to fire. That just made his job a bit tougher.

Well, he was probably experienced at dealing with Ice, from the necessity of being able to counter his weakness. Therefore, Kenji resorted to the next-best thing. Within moments, Kenji was running around, using his superb agility to dodge the blasts of fire that the Fire Lord’s hands were constantly pelting him with. He had maneuvered a large electrically charged mass of gray water droplets into the arena. The Fire Lord stared at the cloud, and proceeded to see what he could do about it. While the Lord’s hands stopped focusing on Kenji and started focusing on the thunderclouds, Kenji thrust his hand up toward the sky, mumbling a few words.

“Camma Aiso!”

Kenji then averted his attention back to the thundercloud, which had thankfully been unaffected by the blasts of fire the Fire Lord had shot at it. One of the Fire Lord’s hands rushed into the cloud, coated with a veil of fire. As it entered, though, the cloud exploded in a flash of sparks. The Fire Lord yelled out as his now-blackened hand fell to the ground, seemingly lifeless.

Enraged, the Fire Lord let out a fierce war cry. His still-functional hand returned to his arm, and he let out a gigantic wave of hot air, singing Kenji’s clothes and skin. Ow! Unavoidable attacks were cheap!

Well, Kenji decided to give the Fire Lord some compensation for his nasty blow. He brought down another thundercloud, even bigger this time, and, while dodging the vicious assault of the Fire Lord, split it into six small clouds of equal proportions. He immediately moved them in a favorable position around the Fire Lord, and let the voltage flow. The Fire Lord was trapped by fifteen bolts of electricity. Suddenly, without any warning, Kenji moved them even closer together. The Fire Lord’s metal body would turn out to be his downfall in this fight!

Kenji grinned as six bolts of electricity coursed into the Fire Lord’s body from the clouds. His opponent screamed in pain, and his other hand dropped to the ground. Kenji summoned one more thundercloud while the Fire Lord was immobilized, and covered his enemy’s other hand with it. Like the first hand, the Fire Lord’s other hand exploded in an array of sparks. It actually looked rather sightly, like fireworks. As the display ended, the hand turned out completely blackened, like the other one before it.

The thunderclouds surrounding the Fire Lord ran out of electricity and faded away, and the temperature of the arena dropped a few degrees as a wind blew in, carrying cold air from Mount Sifirce. With the cold air circling the arena, the Fire Lord was getting weaker and weaker by each second that passed.

“You think I’m done…” the Fire Lord choked out. His body covered itself in a dark aura. “But you’re wrong! Very wrong!” His voice was starting to sound sickening. His hands suddenly immersed themselves in fire again, and floated back up to rejoin the Fire Lord’s arms, completely free of the black crusting that they had contained moments before. His body burst completely into flames. It was time for the true fight.

Eh, No big deal. Kenji barely even had a scratch from before. He could easily handle what was to come next, he thought. Very wrong. He soon found himself staring at a gigantic fireball, at least twice the size of the ones the Fire Lord had used earlier in the fight, and travelling almost twice the speed. Kenji dived out of the way, barely avoiding the blast. But here came another one. There was no choice. Kenji shot a blast of wind at the fireball. Instead of wind, though, he shot freezing air, completely disintegrating the blast instantly. That’s right! He had almost forgotten about the cold air that he had called earlier.

Kenji instantly started running, full speed, around the arena, barely dodging gigantic fireballs as he channeled energy out of the air. Quickly, or else…

Suddenly, Kenji went soaring through the air, a crippling pain in his shoulder. He’d been hit! Oh, that did it. Time for the Coup de Grace! Quickly, or else…

Kenji went soaring through the air, a crippling pain in his shoulder. He’d been hit! Oh, that did it. Time for the Coup de Grâce! Ignoring the pain in his shoulder, Kenji ran forth, straight t his opponent. He jumped over a final blast of fire—He was suspended in the air, directly above the Fire Lord’s head.

Gathering all the energy he could, Kenji suspended himself in place, and released all of the energy from the freezing air in a gigantic Tornado Beam, aimed straight at the torch on the Fire Lord’s head. As the freezing air and energy collided with the flames, the Fire Lord gave a bloodcurdling scream. Kenji hovered back, a few meters away from his opponent. With one last flash of darkness in his eyes, the Fire Lord dropped to the ground.

Kenji knelt to the ground, breathing hard. Then, after a few seconds of regaining his energy, he rushed over to Harris, and immediately opened his pack, searching for a Heal Capsule. He found one, and immediately opened it. Pinkish energy flooded over Harris, immersing him and revitalizing him into at least a state of sure life. Soon, he was joined by a woman in a white dress. She seemed to be glowing, like Louis had been. Kenji motioned to the fallen Fire Lord.

“See if you can get the darkness out of his body!”, he gasped. “We’re in better condition than him!”

The woman heard, and rushed over to the Fire Lord. As a wand not unlike Harris’s appeared in her hand, a rush of Light flooded from it to the Fire Lord’s body. There was a flash—Two flashes—and a flash of blackness. An eerie scream that Kenji dust knew had to be the darkness being eliminated. Then everything went black...

Kenji collapsed on the ground.

~~~​

Chapter Notes
-Personally, I think this was a good chapter. It's almost as long as Interlude 1, and it has a lot of action that I think is stimulating and fun to read.
-However, I'm unsure about the ending of it, and would really appreciate peoples' opinions about this chapter. What do you think of the battle? What about the chapter's ending? Should I elaborate more on that?

The Fire Lord:

 

[Superbird]

Re: Element

...I have no excuse for not posting this earlier.

[size=+2]Interlude 2[/size]
Aemana​

Aemana (pronunciation ay-MAH-nah) is a quite small country, secluded in the depths of a lonely continent. Before the advent of Lord Dakar, Aemana had established contact with many other countries, most of which were several hundred miles away by sea. These links enabled semi-frequent trading between the countries, and Aemana was peaceful and prosperous.

Sailors were held in high esteem back then, and most Wind Magicians grew up to acquire the profession; being able to maneuver the wind was a godsend at sea. But then Dakar came.

When Lord Dakar came into power, he immediately abolished all contact with other countries; Ships couldn’t leave or come, and most all sailors starved to death upon having to turn back around. It was a horrible time.

From the inability to trade, need for farmers increased, and grew to inherit many Fire magicians, as well as those of Light. Elemental magic became a sport, and Focus Wands were developed. People trained their Elemental skills against each other, and got stronger. Eventually, magicians of Light began to challenge the leadership of Lord Dakar, who had built himself a castle in the farthest reaches of the country, even past Mount Sifirce. Imbued with Dark Magic, the castle began to float, and is even still level with the peak of the mountain it faces. Nearly impossible to reach, need for magicians of Ice to freeze the air into platforms increased.

But then, Lord Dakar took the trespassers into his own hands, and began to mind-control the three Sages, as so not to let anyone by. Even so, people were determined to get by, and only Light Magicians, who were not weakened by any of the Elementals’ skills, were able to go all the way. This time saw the advent of Levitation Packs, full of energy that could levitate a person at any height for up to ten minutes. Magicians started to use those, and Light Magicians started swarming into Dakar’s castle in droves.

Dakar, obviously, was not pleased, but there weren’t any more stops for him to pull out.

Except the last one.

Dakar unleashed his true power, and started to fight any challenger that came. His power was fantastic, and even against Light magicians he barely took any hits. As fewer and fewer Light Magicians were left alive, fewer and fewer challengers entered Castle Dakar. Until one, that is.

Harris was a skilled magician, but very naïve, and barely even strong enough to get all the way to the castle. Avoiding the Elemental Sages, he made his way stealthily up to Dakar’s castle, and got in using a levitation pack. He fought Dakar.

But, obviously, it didn’t exactly end well. Only moments after he’d entered Dakar’s throne room was Harris defeated by only one attack. Dakar prepared to kill him, but Harris used the last of his consciousness to create a weak barrier of Light. Though it did nothing to stop the attack, it weakened it by just enough to make it nonlethal. Harris was sent flying, so hard he was thrown all the way across the country—More than sixty miles. He landed in the square of Aqaic.


Aemana lays on the edge of a huge continent, its actual size unspecified by anyone. The unsettled part of the continent, or at least the explored but unsettled part, consists of savage jungles, quite dangerous to trek through. Residents of Aemana haven’t even tried to settle outside their settlements—Partly because of Dakar, but also partly because of the fact that it was unnecessary. Aemana does not have a skyrocketing population—The country already has all the space it needs.

The southern part of Aemana is coastline; the coast moves in a slightly jagged ellipse, much wider than the country itself. Bordering that coast lays Aqaic Village, once-thriving port town. Now, all of its industry lies in fishing.

Approximately twenty miles north-northwest of Aqaic is Motrepolis, the largest city in the region as well as the hub for all elemental magicians, for training and fighting. Made almost completely from marble, the city is a beautiful white all over, and was constructed thousands of years before Dakar came along.

Another twenty-five miles north of Motrepolis is Frasteraunt, a gigantic forest, at the center of which lies Frastaela, the city of trees. Frastaela’s buildings are all made out of wood, and many houses are located high in the treetops. The city is beautiful, and its residents very warm and welcoming.

Frasteraunt is also the circumcenter of the three resting places of the Elemental Sages. To the south, exactly between Frastaela and Motrepolis, lies Thunder Tower. To the west-northwert lies the Fryerae Desert, home of the Fire Lord. To the northeast is Mount Sifirce, the region’s unthinkably tall mountain. Though only about twenty thousand feet high, it is extremely difficult to climb. Inside it rests the Ice Mage.

Finally, Dakar’s castle. Lord Dakar’s floating castle, imbued with the power of darkness, floats directly north of Mount Sifirce. Only reachable by levitation, the gap between the peak and the castle has discouraged many of Dakar’s possible challengers…

~~~​

Chapter Notes
-I really need to expand this. Any suggestions on how to do this would be very nice.
-I don't really like this interlude.

 

[Superbird]

Re: Element

[size=+2]Chapter 8[/size]
Motrepolis—For real​

Kenji’s eyes opened slowly. Ugh…Where was he?

He sat up and shook is head. He felt like he he’d been run over by a car. Around him were cream-colored walls, undecorated. There were two large beds, on one of which Harris was sitting, bandaged, eating food off of a tray. On closer inspection, it was cod. There was a cup of tea beside it.

Tea and cod. Who eats that? Weirdo.

The Fire Lord opened the door in the corner, and floated into what Kenji now realized was a hotel room.

"Ugh,” Kenji groaned, “What happened?”

Harris answered his question. “The MotreStar hotel. We got a free room for saving the city.” He took another bite of his cod, then another sip of tea. “They serve really good tea and cod.”

The Fire Lord scowled at Harris’s comment. “For the record,” he grumbled, “I was fully conscious. I just couldn’t do anything because Dakar was controlling my body.” He sighed. “It’s been that way for many, many years…”

Harris grinned. “Eh, don’t let it hurt ya too much…We understand.”

Kenji spoke up. “Yeah, we do, but most of the citizens here might not.” He paused, and then closed his eyes. “Maybe you should flee back to the desert.”

The Fire Lord sighed. “But wouldn’t that put me at risk of getting possessed again by Dakar?”

“Okay,” Harris said, “Look at it this way: Would you rather be killed by a riot, or be repossessed by Dakar?”

“Okay, okay,” the Fore Lord grumbled, “I get the message. But if you’re attempting to go for Dakar’s castle again, my brothers will do everything within their power to still your progress.”

Kenji nodded. “Of course they will. Don’t worry,” he said confidently. “We’ll take care of ‘em.”

The Fire Lord was starting to become annoyed at Kenji’s extravagance. “I hate to burst your bubble,” he said, “but it’s not exactly that easy. However misleading it may be, I am actually the weakest of my brothers. Both Thunder and Ice are stronger than I.” He closed his eyes. “Be warned.”

“Before you go,” Harris said suddenly, “Could you enlighten us on Dakar’s hypnosis?”

The Fire Lord perked up, glad to actually be helpful. “Well, I don’t really remember that well, as it was many years ago,” he said, “but I’ll tell you everything I can remember.

“Dakar showed up at Thunder Tower one day, many years ago, while my brothers and I were meeting to discuss how to get rid of Dakar. We inquired why he had come, and he replied smugly that his work was getting too hard, and that he wanted us to help. Then, he revealed his plans to hypnotize us and use us as puppets to stop trespassers to his castle.

“Hearing this, we all got ready to battle; but even though it was three-against-one, it was hardly a fair fight. As we were all defeated, he hypnotized all of us at the same time, and we have been under his control ever since.”

Kenji and Harris both nodded.

“Thanks,” Harris said, gratitude in his voice. “That’ll help a lot in our assault against Dakar.”

The Fire Lord grinned sheepishly. “You’re welcome.” Suddenly, his gaze turned serious. “Kenji and Harris…I’m counting on you.”

In a whirlwind of flames, he teleported away.

• • •​

If nothing else, Motrepolis had a gigantic shopping center. It was a series of shops bordering each side of Sheclud Street, each store selling something different, or competing with another. As chaotic as it was, it was still somewhat relaxing, and it was perfect for the break that the boys needed.

As they walked down the street, various merchants called out from kiosks scattered around, advertising their products and how much better they were than their competitors’.

“Ultra Luck Charms! Such luck, you’ll never lose!”

“The new ARES version two-point-five! It’s the best version yet!”

“World class recovery! The new and improved heal capsules!”

Kenji looked as Harris. “So, we’re here. What now?”

“Just shop!”, replied Harris happily. “Shop, resupply, or even just browse. Relax, have fun. At least…” He laughed. “That’s what the shopkeepers want you to do!” He suddenly stopped walking. “Hey, you might want to check out that shop over there,” he said, pointing to a small building to the boys’ right. “It served me very well indeed.”

Kenji nodded. “All right then. So…” He paused and thought for a few seconds. “We split up, and meet back up at the hotel...when?”

“One hour,” Harris replied. “Oh, and don’t forget to pick yourself up an ARES!”, he called as he walked off.

• • •​

The store, called “B.I.’s Emporium”, had a wide variety of fancy and not-so-fancy knickknacks. Looking around, Kenji spotted an ARES for sale, pretty cheap. Remembering what Harris had said, he walked over and picked it up off of the shelf. He kept looking around, and saw a few other interesting items; a defensive booster; a jetpack; a holographic technology transmitter, whatever that was. He took a closer look at the defensive booster, but the price tag shattered his hopes of succeeding in that respect.

Then, something caught Kenji’s eye. A few feet away was a small display stand. On it were many wands, of varying sizes and designs, all looking very similar to Harris’s wand. Near the top of the stand was a sign.

“Energy Focus Wands,” the sign read. Wondering what it meant by that, Kenji read the description below. “Focus Wands are amazing devices which greatly increase physical power, but which also offers assistance in control of Elemental powers. They have the ability to establish a spatial link between themselves and their user, and can then be moved in and out of existence at the user’s will. They will adapt to any element at all!”

Mmm. Well, one of those was sure to come in handy. Looking at all of the different varieties, Kenji settled on the cheapest—a wand looking much like Harris’s, with a white stem and a perfectly clear globe at the end. It cost 39€, which was pretty cheap. Yeah, that wand would be very useful indeed.

He then walked away from the display stand, and toward a case of healing items. He picked up a Heal Capsule, and headed for the check out counter.

• • •​

Far off to the north, barely visible from Motrepolis, was an extremely tall tower. It was said that the top of the tower was constantly plagued with lightning bolts, and from a distance, the flashes of lightning in the clouds around it gave no falsity to that statement.

At the top of the tower, known only as Thunder Tower to the residents of Aemana, laid a huge being, about the same size as the Fire Lord. Its blue cape was torn, and sparks shot out from its head. It was covered in a black mist. Across the tower top from it was a black stick figure with a spherical gray head. Even though the only true source of light were the intermittent thunderbolts, the creature wore sunglasses.

It grinned to itself. “Why your sudden insolence?”, he asked the figure on the ground. All it could do was grunt. “Yes, I thought so,” the stick figure said. “So, the Fire Lord has been purified?” He shook his head. “Curse you for breaking out now, or else I’d still have enough energy to go recapture him.”

It frowned inquisitively. “The boy has gotten strong…” the stick figure said, and then disappeared in a sudden flash of darkness.

~~~​

Chapter Notes
-Phew, a lot of page breaks in this one.
-[size=+2]OBLIGATORY TCoD REFERENCE[/size]. Can you find it?
-More tomorrow—I'm out of time now.

 

[Superbird]

Re: Element (With obligatory TCoD references!)

Changed title to make it more enciting.

[size=+2]Chapter 9[/size]
To Thunder Tower​

“Thunder Tower, you say?” Kenji said. “I bet I know who we’re going to see there!”

Harris grinned. “Of course! The Thunder King. But what about actually getting to him?”

Kenji frowned. “Good point. That tower must be really treacherous. How exactly are we supposed to get up there?”

“You could create a wind platform and fly us up?”

“Too dangerous. The last time I tried going higher than a thousand feet, I almost died.” Kenji shuddered. “The air is way to thin up there, and this tower has got to be at least two thousand feet tall.”

“We could just go around and head straight to Dakar’s castle now,” Harris suggested, “and pray he doesn’t find us?”

Kenji sighed. “Dakar’s definitely heard about the Fire Lord by now. I seriously doubt he would leave the path unguarded.” He paused. “But it’s worth a try.”

Harris didn’t say anything.

Kenji spoke up again. “Although it looks like a fight is going to be unavoidable here.”

Harris rolled his eyes. “Hopefully, I won’t get my butt handed to me this time.”

Kenji laughed. “Oh, come on! At least we’re expecting it this time!”

Harris smiled. “Personally, I’m starting to think you’re getting a little too optimistic, considering the situation.” Then, he suddenly stopped and turned to the side. “Het, did you see that?”

Kenji tilted his head. “Did I see what?” He looked over to where Harris pointed, and saw a lone ball of electricity. It was just floating there, and held together by a mysterious force. Kenji’s wand appeared in his hand, and he pointed it at the ball of electricity and launched a Tornado Beam. The creature disappeared. “Haunted house tricks?”

Harris noticed it was starting to get dark. “Possibly. But maybe that was actually a monster. You know, one of the Thunder King’s minions?”

Kenji nodded. “Yeah,” he said, “That makes sense. But why only now?”

“Maybe we just got in range?”

Before Kenji could reply, though, he felt a slight shock from behind. He spun around, and as his wand appeared in his hand, he swung it through the air at the ball of electricity that was there. The creature shrunk away, only to appear again in front of the boys. Then another appeared next to it. And another. And another.

Even more of the lightning balls kept appearing, until they formed a wide circle around Harris and Kenji. The boys backed up into each other, so that Harris was facing north and Kenji was facing south.

“Uh, Harris?” Kenji said.

“Yeah?”

“I think the Thunder King wants us dead.”

“Really?” came the sarcastic response. Harris’s wand appeared in his hand.

Immediately, Harris raised his wand and created a shield of light around the boys. Kenji started a tornado, centered on the first ball of electricity. It immediately got caught up, and Kenji moved the tornado around until it captured even more of them. Soon, all of the creatures were caught up in the tornado. Harris sent a Light Slash into it, and as it spread throughout the vortex, the electricity quickly disappeared. Kenji let the tornado go, and a wave of light spun out from it. Kenji made a mental note to remember that strategy.

Then another ball of electricity appeared. And more, until another circle was formed around Harris and Kenji.

This time, however, all of the bolts rushed toward Harris and Kenji. Harris gasped, then found himself ten feet above the ground, thanks only to Kenji’s quick thinking. “Thanks,” he said to Kenji, relieved.

“No worries,” Kenji said, “Except for that thing where we just were.” Indeed, something new was taking their old location, seemed to be formed from the balls of electricity. Kenji heard a beep from his waist, then an invisible wall rippled to life around them and the creature.

The creature of electricity slowly formed itself into the shape of a human. When it finished, it shot a warning bolt of electricity at the boys. Thanks to Harris’s Light Shield, they only felt a small spark, but it still hurt enough to make Kenji mad. “All right,” he said. “I’ve had enough of this guy!” He motioned to Harris. “You take offense; I’ll defend!”

No sooner had he spoken than the electric man fired another bolt of electricity, stronger this time. Kenji shot a Tornado Beam at it to keep it away.

Harris, on the other hand, was quickly slashing away, Light Slashes flying through the air and hitting the monster. It howled, then started to charge energy. Soon enough, it released a combination blast of several individual bolts of electricity. This was more than Kenji would be able to handle.

At the last second, Harris dived in, and created a Light Wall just in time for the bolt to crash into it, doing no damage at all. He began charging energy, and the arena got a little darker than it already was.

Meanwhile, Kenji dived forward and started slashing directly at the creature, keeping it at bay while Harris finished generating energy for the Light Beam. As soon as Harris gave the ready signal, Kenji jumped back, clearing the path for Harris to point his wand at the electric man and release the familiar gigantic beam of energy.

Kenji began to cheer, but apparently he had started too soon. The monster instead vanished into a small but dense ball of energy, and shot behind them. With no way to turn around, Harris let the Light Beam go, and spun around reluctantly.

Kenji created a tornado to the boys’ side, and motioned for Harris to attack it instead of the creature. Confused but sure Kenji had a strategy in mind, Harris obeyed and started to redirect his aim.

Meanwhile, Kenji released yet another tornado beam, blowing the creature back. It made a strange motion, comparable to a taunt. Kenji took the challenge and stepped up for some hand-to-hand combat, as the creature’s arm formed into a sword of sparks.

Kenji started off with a stab at the creature’s arm, but was blocked by the shield of electricity. Thank goodness his wand wasn’t made of metal! He jumped back, ducked under the next blow, and spun around, his wand crashing into the creature’s hip. He immediately shrank back, barely dodging a blow at his head from above.

As he stood back up, he attacked again, only to be guarded once more by the creature. They continued for a fair few minutes more, until Kenji was hit and thrown back. In addition to the searing pain of the electricity, his skin had been cut. Thank goodness he hadn’t been electrocuted.

He didn’t plan to change that. Kenji pointed his wand at the now completely white tornado, and condensed it into a dense ball of energy. Harris winked and hit the ball of light so that it was sent straight in front of Kenji. Kenji hit it upwards with his wand, and leaped up higher than it. After raising his wand over his head, he brought it down with all the force he could muster, sending it flying into the electric man.

There was a huge explosion.

After the dust cleared, Kenji looked into the newly formed crater. The electric man was nowhere to be found. Good. They’d defeated him. With a quick glance at each other, Kenji and Harris sprinted side-by-side into the dusk, toward the ominous Thunder Tower in the distance.

~~~​

Chapter Notes
-I liked this chapter, but ways to make it less boring are escaping my mind. I'd love suggestions on this...
-By now, you may notice that, of the two protagonists, Harris is the most pessimistic. I like this.
-Once again, I do not have time to post another chapter right now. But I will. When I have time.

 

[Superbird]

...And more.

[size=+2]Chapter 10[/size]
Flying up​

The boys paused at the foot of the tower. “What now?” Harris asked.

Kenji noticed it was getting dark, and checked his watch. “Yeah, it’s seven fifteen now. You think we should set up camp for the night?”

“Nah,” Harris replied, “More sparks will electrocute us in our sleep.” He sighed. “You think we should go around?”

“Definitely not,” Kenji replied. “He’ll send another group of electric things to stop us, without a doubt.”

“Well,” Harris said somewhat sadly, “I guess that means we’re out of options…we’ll have to ascend Thunder Tower.” He sighed, and looked at Kenji. “You’re absolutely positive you can’t lift us up with your wind?”

“Do you value your life much?”, Kenji said sarcastically. Then seriously, “I can try, if you’re willing to take the risk.”

Sixty seconds later, they were three hundred feet high. As they kept ascending, Kenji acquired more and more beads of sweat—It took more energy at higher heights to bind together the thin air.

“Nice job,” Harris complemented, though in a nervous tone, when they had gotten about half way to the top.

“Don’t look down,” was Kenji’s response.

After what must have been three hundred more feet, their speed slowed. “Kenji”, Harris asked, “Why are we slowing down?”

Kenji didn’t reply, just grunted. Obvious mental effort showed in his face, as he painstakingly exerted more and more energy to raise their platform. The higher he got, the more the platform wanted to split apart. He had to keep that from happening.

Four minutes and four hundred feet later, their progress slowed even more. They were almost there, though. Only three hundred feet to go.

Harris looked at Kenji. He was trying as hard as he could, and probably not even physically conscious any more. That was what happened sometimes when magicians concentrated extremely hard. Harris was starting to worry if they were actually going to make it. He looked down.

He almost screamed and jumped back, but he didn’t want to possibly disturb Kenji. The path below was scarcely visible from this high. It would be horrible if they fell...

Why had he even suggested they do tins in the first place?

But they were still getting higher. Another five minutes and they were up another hundred and fifty feet. Harris willed Kenji to succeed, and suddenly came upon a way to help. His wand appeared in his hand, and he pointed it at Kenji. Slowly, raw energy seeped out of his body and into Kenji’s.

“No!” Kenji suddenly croaked. “Even after we…get up…you’ll…still…have to…fight…him…”

Normally, Harris wouldn’t have listened, but he feared Kenji would let go if he continued. He continued to will Kenji on, with all his might.

As they got closer to the tower top, their progress continued to slow, until they were maybe twenty-five feet from the top. Now, Harris could see, it wasn’t the thin air that was holding Kenji back, but his lack of energy to keep up the effort. Kenji kept struggling, as Harris looked up. Suddenly, a head poked over the side of the tower top. The next thing Harris knew, he had created a Light Shield to dodge the bolt of electricity that had been launched at him. Kenji had to get to the top soon!

Suddenly, Harris had an idea. He pulled out one of the heal capsules he had bought in Motrepolis, opened it, and let the pink energy wash over Kenji. Their progress continued, suddenly increasing in speed, and Kenji quickly opened his eyes and nodded a thank-you. Within seconds, they were at the top. Standing at the edge of the tower’s top was a tall figure.

It was wearing a moving crown that seemed to be embedded with the power of lightning itself. It also had on a bluish-purple robe, covered in yellow stars and comical bolts of lightning. Though its arms weren’t showing, Harris assumed they were hidden under its cloak. It frowned, but seemed to glow with a dark aura. Harris gasped. This was the Thunder King!

“I don’t think so,” it said. “You have cheated.” Then it shot a gigantic blast of electricity at Harris. Instinctively, he put up a Light Wall to guard the attack, but at the last second it veered into Kenji. Kenji lost his grasp on the platform, which dissipated.

They fell.

Harris screamed as they fell down, the ground rushing toward them. It suddenly crossed his mind that if they had gone up this fast it would have been much more efficient. But this was not the time to think about that! This was the time to watch your life flash before your eyes. Wait, why wasn’t his life flashing before his eyes? He was in free-fall! Toward the ground! Wasn’t his life supposed to flash before his eyes if he was supposed to die?

He closed his eyes as the ground rushed up to meet him. He prepared for the impact which he somehow knew wouldn’t come.

He turned out to be right.

He rushed to a stop, and lightly bonked against the ground. When he opened his eyes again, it was dark. Was he dead?

Then, he heard Kenji’s voice. “Harris?” he called. “You okay?”

“Kenji?”, Harris asked, “Are we dead?”

“Light up your wand, moron.”

Harris lit up his wand. They were on the grass next to the road to Thunder Tower. So, he wasn’t dead. That was useful to know. “So what happened?”

Kenji shook his head in a shameful manner. “Sorry…”, he said, “I-I failed. I lost concentration at the last second.”

Harris walked over and put his arm around Kenji’s shoulder. “It’s okay. At least we’re alive now. Sorry for making that happen.”

Kenji was silent.

“The Thunder King said that we cheated. What do you suppose that means?”

Kenji looked up, toward the flashes of lightning above. The sky was black with night now. “It means,” he said, “that we need to go up…” He gulped. “Through Thunder Tower."

~~~​

Chapter Notes
-Up...And down...Well, that's one heal capsule wasted.
-I personally like this chapter.

 

[Superbird]

[size=+2]Chapter 11[/size]
The Traps of Thunder Tower​

Thunder Tower’s door was gigantic. About fifteen feet wide, each door measuring seven and a half feet. Though it was tall and dome-shaped, it had engravings of lightning bolts on it.

“So…” Kenji said, “We’re actually going in there?”

Harris nodded.

“But it’s so dark…” Kenji complained. “Good thing I have you or I’d be done for.”

As they walked in, Harris lit up his wand. The ceiling of the first floor was maybe twenty feet high, and the room’s walls were planked with wood. There were, unsurprisingly, no decorations on the inside. It seemed like this tower was meant to be as un-homely as possible.

Near the corner of the room was a staircase to the next floor. As the boys walked toward it, they suddenly heard a rush of air behind them, and a thud. Kenji spun around, and gasped.

“Uh, Harris…”

Harris turned around also, and shared Kenji’s reaction. The door had closed. He ran over to it and tried to pull it open. After a few seconds, he sighed. “It’s no use. We’re locked in.”

Kenji just walked over to the staircase. He turned around, waiting for Harris, but Harris didn’t move.

“Where is it?”, Harris asked.

“Where is what?”

“That cliché ominous voice that’s supposed to say 'This tower will be your grave'.”

Kenji grinned and chuckled. “Sarcastic as always, eh? Well, you sure know how to lighten the mood.” He turned to the stairs. “Come on. Let’s go.”

Harris followed, and they ascended to the second floor. As Kenji walked forward, he was almost struck by a bolt of electricity streaming from a wall. Suddenly, something beeped, and the entire room was suddenly covered in bolts of lightning, almost like trip wires.

Kenji frowned. “Well, dang. This stinks.”

The boys carefully maneuvered through the electric bolts, being careful not to touch anything. After about a minute, they were both on the other side safely. They ascended the stairs, only to find themselves in another abandoned room. Harris started to start forward, but Kenji stopped him.

“Wait a sec,” Kenji said. “Let me try something.” He blew a wind through the room, and, sure enough, no less than seventeen solid barriers of electricity crackled to life. “So I thought,” he said.

Harris’s eyes grew wide. “I think you should do that for every floor from here on out.”

Kenji agreed, and they moved on. Floor three was full of even more electrical traps, and by floor four they started to form mazes. By the tenth floor, the boys were exhausted.

Thankfully, the Tenth floor had no traps in it. Thankful for the breather, the boys sat down and rested for a few minutes.

Floor eleven held one spark ball, as Kenji had begun to call them. The twelfth held two, the thirteenth held three, and each floor until the twentieth held one more—Floor twenty was another breather room, which was good, because the boys were really starting to tire from the combination of lack of sleep and energy exertion.

Floors twenty-one through twenty-nine held even more mazes, each with spark balls in them. Thirty-one through thirty-nine were challenges of speed, with all of the traps advancing too quickly to strategize. The forties were the same, only with electric obstacles also in the way. By floor fifty, both the boys were completely exhausted.

“Ugh…” Kenji shuddered. “I really can’t take any more of this…”

“It’s all right,” Harris consoled, even though he was becoming tired as well. “You know, we each ought to take a Heal Capsule…”

Kenji agreed. “Yeah…I’m getting really tired.” He pulled out his second-to-last heal capsule, opened it, and basked in relief. Harris did the same.

“Let’s get going,” Harris said. “We’ve still got fifty floors to conquer!”

They continued. The sixties were filled with Electric Men, each requiring a short battle to take out. The seventies were speedy electric traps with obstacles and sparks. The eighties contained more electric men. The Nineties were an all-out battle course, with Electric Men and electrical speed traps, as well as obstacles. Finally, floor one hundred came. With a slight breeze blowing from the staircase, Kenji and Harris each used a heal capsule, and got ready for their battle against the Thunder King.

~~~​

Chapter Notes
-I feel like this chapter is necessary for the story to be complete, but I can't find any way to say it really the right way. I'd really appreciate help here...
-Short chapter.

 

[Superbird]

Up next...Epic battle scene mk. 2!

[size=+2]Chapter 12[/size]
The Thunder King​

Kenji and Harris ascended the final staircase, only to find themselves on the roof of Thunder Tower. The Thunder King was standing on the other side of the roof, his back turned to the boys.

Without warning, a slate suddenly appeared over the staircase, preventing anyone from going back. Dang, Kenji thought, what was it with this place and traps?

With a whoosh of his cape, the Thunder King turned around, and floated toward the boys. Up close, he was even scarier-looking than from a distance. His face was long but rounded, and on his head was a golden crown, with purple and blue gemstones embedded in it. The crown seemed to crackle with sparks. His cape was dark blue, and decorated with drawings and ornaments of lightning bolts. His arms now hung out, in sleeves decorated similarly.

“So, you’ve come again?”, he said, in a low, ominous voice. “And the fair way this time. Congratulations on making it through Thunder Tower. All of those traps were created by yours truly, and it is quite interesting to see someone who has come out alive. “His hand rose, to point at Harris. “So, it was you who escaped Dakar alive?”

Harris nodded. “Yes, and also the one who’s about to free you from Dakar’s hold.”

“Well then…Time for a fair fight, yes?”

Kenji stepped forward. “Sorry to disappoint you,” he said confidently, “but I’ll be your challenger for tonight.” He took a fighting pose.

The Thunder King only laughed. “Ah, the wind magician. What a challenge.” He paused, and smiled. “Did you know that wind was once actually strong?”

Kenji shook his head. “That hasn’t changed.”

His opponent floated back again. “Well then, please allow me to show you exactly how weak the Wind is.”

As Harris stepped back, an invisible barrier started to cover the borders of the tower top. The battle had officially begun.

Kenji raised his wand to the sky, and mumbled the familiar words that would call the desert winds. Almost immediately after he finished the last syllable, he was forced to dive out of the way of a bolt of electricity.

“Is that all you’ve got?”, Kenji taunted. “Try showing a little skill for a change!”

This enraged the Thunder King, who proceeded to raise his hands to the sky. No sooner had he done so than a gigantic bolt of lightning stroked down from the sky, focusing on Kenji, who jumped back at the last second. The bolt left a mark of blackness on the tower’s concrete top.

Well, Kenji decided, it was time for a little retaliation. He ran forward and jumped. As soon as he reached his desired height, he slammed his wand down on the Thunder King’s head. The Thunder King let out a yelp, and Kenji went flying upwards from the force. Flipping in the air, he once again raised his wand above his head and as he fell, brought it down on the Thunder King’s crown. The impact, once again, made him fly backwards, where he landed nimbly.

The Thunder King roared, and gathered energy quickly. Without warning, he let out a shock wave, made of electricity, which covered every inch of space in the arena. Kenji could do nothing but brace himself and take the attack. Thankfully, it was somewhat weak, or at least weaker than a thunderbolt would have been, anyway.

Kenji felt the temperature rise a little, and cheered. His heat wave had arrived, and he was going to make the most of it. With a stroke of his wand, the heat energy in the air was absorbed into a ball in front of Kenji, which steadily grew with each second that passed. All the while, Kenji was dodging well-aimed bolts of electricity from his opponent. Soon enough, his ball of fire was ready. He thrust it upward with his wand, jumped upwards above it, and hammered it as hard as he could in the Thunder King’s direction. Not stopping there, however, he made himself rise higher on a platform of the air. He had a plan.

Upon impact with the ground near the Thunder King, the fireball burst, and a gigantic explosion engulfed the Thunder King. Kenji jumped down from above, and by the time the explosion had faded away, Kenji had whacked his opponent on the head, with enough force to crack a normal person’s skull.

Kenji looked on at his opponent, whose robe was now singed and burning in parts, and whose expression was of pure, true anger. Somehow, he didn’t think this fight was going to end any time soon.

The Thunder King sent several more waves of electricity at Kenji, each one progressively hurting more. Kenji realized that if he kept taking them, he’d definitely lose. Finally, the Thunder King raised his hands to the sky yet again, and called down a bolt of electricity from the heavens. Kenji barely dodged, and attempted to capture the bolt in a vortex of wind, to no avail. He cursed. What could he do to beat this guy?

The Thunder King sent more bolts of electricity Kenji’s way, and Kenji attempted to shield himself with a tornado. The plan worked, and all of the Thunder King’s attacks were absorbed by the vortex of wind. Happy at the results, Kenji started up his fire wind again, as well as a wind from Mount Sifirce. He had gotten an idea. Maybe if he could get the Thunder King to get hurt by his own attacks…

As Kenji condensed his tornado and knocked the ball of energy at the Thunder King, he wondered if it would actually cause damage. His question was answered immediately, when the Thunder King held out his hand and the electricity entered. Kenji cursed again. What did it take to beat this guy?

He started a tornado around the Thunder King himself, trapping all of his opponent’s attacks and preventing him from seeing outside. Then, Kenji felt a hot sit, and a cold air. Letting his tornado around the Thunder King go, he started a different tornado in the center of the battlefield. There, both the flames and the ice were condensed, the ice melting to form water. Kenji grinned. This was the strategy he had been waiting for—it was foolproof.

As more and more water was condensed into a ball, Kenji continued to dodge the Thunder King’s attacks, every so often coming in with a hit from his wand. Before long, the Thunder King had completely forgotten about the ball of hydrogen and oxygen above. Kenji jumped back, and started to move the ball of water over the Thunder King’s head, and suddenly let it go, droplets of water dripping all over the Thunder King, soaking his cloak and crown. Perfect!

Now, Kenji thought, it was time for the real stuff. He maneuvered his wand from above to below, calling in thunderclouds from above with flashes of gray. Once he had accumulated about fifteen, and while the water trapped the Thunder King, he condensed them into one gigantic cloud that he quickly blew over to the Thunder King.

The Thunder King gasped, and Kenji cheered. It had worked! The water on the Thunder King’s body had prevented him from using any electrical attacks, in fear of electrocuting himself. Kenji had done it for him, and the entire maneuver had worked perfectly.

The Thunder King screamed in pain. Kenji laughed, and stuck his wand up in a triumphant pose. The Thunder King raised his arm one last time before falling to the ground without consciousness. A bolt came from the heavens, even bigger than all of the ones before. Kenji gasped. He had no way to dodge that—he hadn’t been expecting it! His wand, the highest thing on the tower, was the target of the bolt. Kenji screamed in pain.

But he didn’t pass out. Through the pain, Kenji could make out the invisible barrier around the tower top fading. But why was he not dead yet? Suddenly, he felt a wave of electricity course through his body, numbing every part of it. His muscles failing, he fell to the ground. The pain started to soften.

Harris ran over to Kenji, concerned about his well being, but Kenji waved him off to the thunder King. Harris understood, and streams of light poked out of his wand and into the Thunder King’s body. After a few seconds, there was a flash of darkness, then another. A bloodcurdling scream pierced the air, and there was one last flash of darkness. The dark aura faded from the Thunder King’s body.

With that done, Harris rushed over to Kenji’s aid. He took hold of Kenji’s hand and helped him up. His muscles still gradually regaining strength, Kenji nearly fell again. Harris, though, helped him keep his balance.

“What happened?”, Harris asked. “Are you okay?”

Kenji let go of Harris’s hand, wobbly on his feet. “Yeah…I think so.” He paused, and suddenly fell. Harris caught him at the last second. “I’m not quite sure what happened.

Suddenly, the boys heard sparks. Kenji looked down at his wand—it was crackling with electricity. The globe at its end was glowing, with a yellow hue.

Harris stared. “Kenji,” he said, “Is that natural?”

Kenji just stared also, and then pointed his wand off the side of the tower. “Tundra Balto,” he said. A bolt of electricity shot out of the wand, just like the Thunder King had done. Kenji gasped in amazement. “I…” He almost fell over again, caught by Harris. “I…I can…control electricity?”

Harris was silent. He was confused also.

Kenji thrust his want toward the sky. “I can control electricity,” he said again. Then he said it again, more enthusiastic. “I can control electricity!”

He cheered. Looking off into the distance, the rising sun could be seen, the perfect end to such a chapter of the boys’ adventure. They both stared at the sunrise, and both were warmed by its beauty.

Neither of them realized that the sky above their heads was getting less stormy, and was starting to clear of clouds.

~~~​

Chapter Notes
-I really liked this chapter. Oh, and it deviated from the rough draft a bit.
-However, I'm a tiny bit unsure about my grammar. Any help?

-EDIT: Character art has been added for the Fire Lord. Now you know what he looks like.

 

[Anomaly 54]

No problems that I can see.

Kenji is pretty resourceful, I'll give him that. Although, if he gains the element when he beats the master, how come he can't use Fire Magic, even though he beat the Fire King dude?
Apart from that....*bookmarks*

 

[Superbird]

^That's the thing—He hasn't gotten Fire yet. See, the only reason he absorbed the electricity was that it hit his wand in a large amount; Nothing like that happened in the battle with the Fire Lord, which was before he had a wand. But you'll see. I actually have up to chapter 19 written, and will post next time I have time.

 

[Superbird]

OMG I ACTUALLY HAVE TIME TO POST A CHAPTER

[size=+2]Interlude 3[/size]
Lord Dakar and the Element of Darkness​

Lord Dakar is the evil dictator of Aemana, the one being that Kenji and Harris are trying to defeat and whose plans they are efficiently foiling. However, Dakar used to be nothing at all…

Way, way back when all of the elements were created, Darkness was created with them. However, the element of Darkness was not meant to be used commonly, but only as a counter-balance of other elements, to be called upon only in times of great need. Its nature was such that it would possess any who came in contact with it, infusing its power into them no matter what their elemental affinity. The Elemental Sages were the only beings in existence that knew that darkness even existed, and it was their job to keep it a secret from anyone who wanted it.

However, after thousands of years of being sealed away under what is now the town of Frastaela, the darkness began to develop a will of its own, through spontaneous magical power. It attracted to itself quickly, and before long an entire entity was developed.

Over the following thousand years, the darkness began to develop human functions, such as a brain and heart, and a mouth. Soon enough, it rose into what it thought was the form of humans; what we think of today as a stick figure. It called itself Lord Dakar.

Soon, though, Darkness became corrupt with its own power, and Dakar started to decide that just being alive wasn’t enough; he had to show the power of darkness to the world! He promptly battled the three elemental sages, and by utilizing the overwhelming power of his element, defeated them and took control of Aemana. He built a castle, and made it float in the northernmost regions of Aemana, challenging all to attempt to fight him.

Many did; all failed. Eventually, Dakar’s weakness to the element of Light was revealed; Light was then considered to be the strongest element, and was originally created as a peacekeeper element, gifted to only a few worthy magicians. Then it was soon discovered that Darkness was strong against Light as well. However, that didn’t stop Dakar’s incoming challengers.

Eventually, though, Dakar started becoming annoyed with the hordes of challengers he was being obligated to face so frequently, and he decided that it was because the country had too many resources to help them. He immediately cut off Aemana’s contact with other countries, and isolated the populace. In doing so, nearly all of Aemana’s wind magicians were wiped out. Dakar soon enjoyed a nice respite from challengers for a while…until they started appearing again. Enraged, Dakar used his power to hypnotize the Elemental sages, and force them to stop the oncoming challengers and kill them. Due to the power of Darkness, none could resist, and Dakar was again without challengers.

Periodically, however, one of the sages would break free of Dakar’s grasp, usually with the help of a Light Magician. All he did then was re-hypnotize the sage until it obeyed him again. The main drawback to this was that hypnosis took an enormous amount of energy to maintain. As Dakar’s power grew steadily, a natural occurrence for any element, he started imprisoning the Sages with more force than ever. They were bound by his will, and unable to stop following him.

Then, there was a long hiatus of challengers. That was not to say that there weren’t any, but all were killed by the Elemental Sages before they came anywhere close to Dakar.

Over time, the masters of Motrepolis came up with a plan to defeat Dakar: One must occupy him, and then rid the Elemental Sages of their hypnosis. After that, Dakar would not have enough energy to re-hypnotize the sages, so he could be fought fairly—and with multiple Light Magicians fighting against him, he would be defeated easily.

In theory, it was perfect. However, everything fell apart when the plan was put into action. Many of the best sages in Aemana all worked together—Some to distract Dakar, while others freed the Elemental sages at the same time. That part worked perfectly. However, when the sages of Light went up to finally defeat Dakar, they were unable to harm him with any of their attacks. Confused and helpless, Dakar eliminated them all in record time.

At that point, nearly all hope for the rebellion against Dakar was lost. Citizens of Aemana, upon hearing the news, just gave up. Before the Ice Mage was re-hypnotized, however, he managed to send a message to the citizens of Motrepolis. “Dakar’s shield is of Gray Energy,” it said, with no other information.

Obviously, all the world’s citizens were baffled by the meanings of this, with no clear meaning attacked to it. Scholars studied hard to determine the true meaning, but to no avail. No one could figure it out.

That was, until one fateful day. A magician of wind, though not a fighter, mixed some paints. By mixing red, yellow, and blue, as well as white, he created gray. Suddenly, the answer to the puzzle came to him. The element of grayness was actually the power of all elements together.

The new mystery was, how could that be achieved? Obviously, Dakar would have to had taken all elements at once, but in separate blasts wouldn’t work. There was no way to launch simultaneous attacks in such a way that it would break the shield. The mystery was still underway, with no solution for real at all.

No one knew about the true power of Wind.

• • •​

Darkness, as an element, is essentially all-powerful. Almost every attack that Darkness possesses is a duplicate of another element’s attack.

Shadow Scythe is a cutting attack. Similar to Light Slash, a sickle of Dark Energy is launched. However, unlike a Light Slash, the energy cuts, not explodes. This makes it a quite effective method of one-hit-KOing.

Next is Dark Blast, the true equivalent of Light Slash. Launching a blast of Dark Energy, the attack sears into an opponent with an explosion of dark energy.

Also in existence is Shadow Shield, a skill that casts a border of darkness around the user, protecting him from elemental attacks. Note that if it takes enough hits from Light, it will disappear.

Then, there is Dark Wall, which creates an invisible barrier, completely solid, blocking absolutely anything but only lasting for a precious few seconds.

Dark Beam is an incredibly powerful attack, which can be sustained for extended periods of time if the user is willing to exert enough energy. The attack is a wide beam of pure darkness, which requires charging. It bears similarity to Light Beam.

The Dark Wave is another skill, which allows the user to release a wide wave of darkness around himself. Though not as powerful as a concentrated blast, it will barely ever miss because of its wide attack radius.

Dark Thunder is an attack that allows the user to shoot dark thunder at an opponent. This thunder carries the element of darkness, but acts like a regular thunderbolt.

Dark Fire allows the user to shoot a blast of black fire, made of darkness but with properties of fire, at an opponent. This can also be maintained in a stream.

Dark Chill allows access to a beam of freezing energy, except it carries darkness instead of ice.

Shadow Wind blows darkness through the area, and can reflect attacks if used correctly.

Darkness also contains the abilities, all of which are self-explanatory, of Hypnosis, Teleportation, and Invisibility.

~~~​

CHAPTER NOTES
-Yes. I really like the first part of the interlude, about the history.
-However, the second part is just a list of attacks. Any way I could improve this would be much appreciated, because I'm just not sure.