Elements: Rise of the Hunters

By Aaron Apodaca

A world that rises out of the ashes is the only world that Trest Ravenwood has ever known. Within the blink of an eye his life changes from one of basic survival, to that of a battle for the survival of the world.

After stealing an orb from a group called The Wardens, Trest realizes that this orb is a connection to the element of water. He begins a quest to harness this newfound power, along with finding those that can help him. By taking the orb, Trest unleashes The Hunters, elemental beings who will stop at nothing to reclaim the orb and perhaps his life.

Along with new friends he finds along the way, he searches for a secretive group of warriors called the Ka-il in fear for their lives and the survival of their world.

Little does Trest realize that the only world he’s ever known is not the only one that exists. As The Hunters grow in power, Trest and his companions desperately search the realm for a way to stop them from destroying their world. Desperate to gain enough skill, power and warriors of his own to face them, Trest faces challenges, worlds and situations he’d never dreamed of.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Newman Springs Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Sep 3, 2020
• ISBN: 9781648011306

Book preview

Chapter 1

It was twenty years ago when the meteors came down unto the planet. I was five years old when it first happened, it was a wonderful sight to behold to a child. Streaks of light cascading down toward the planet, it was beautiful. That was until they started colliding with the ground.

All I can remember is, it was loud and chaotic. Everyone was watching the streaks of blue light as if it was a normal meteor shower, it was too late when everyone realized they were coming toward them instead of across the sky. I remember the screaming while the impact of the meteors shattered buildings and scattered the broken rubble everywhere across the city.

Next thing I knew, I was running with my parents away from the chaos toward the forest; we lived on the outskirts of the city, which gave us the advantage of escaping. We later learned that it happened all over the world, not just to our city.

I will never forget the sight of a ruined and broken city as my five-year-old self looked behind to see the last sight of his home forever.

From then on it was all about survival.

Something happened when the meteors hit, because any and all mechanical workings stop being operable. As if it was some kind of permanent EMP (electromagnetic pulse) for any mechanical object. We had to survive on Mother Nature herself.

My parents died when I was fifteen from collapsing rubble from one of the old buildings in the city. I barely escaped with my life.

People were spread out back then, some in the old city, some in camps in the forest.

Now, at twenty years after the incident, people are in self-built communities and villages, they work on repopulation and rebuilding more and more. For now they only have simple towns with simple buildings, but some talk of their vision of rebuilding everything in the cities that once were. While all the uninhabited areas became overgrown and lush with the green of plants.

I look over this town from a hill on the surrounding countryside. The city of Khoal it’s called. It’s quite impressive I think to myself; people have been building it for quite some time.

My horse nudges me with his nose to tell me it’s time to go. I look up at him and can’t help smiling.

Getting restless, are you? I ask. He shakes his mane in response and looks at me blankly. Just hold on a second, I say.

I look at the busy city one more time before turning away, heading back to camp about a mile out. I never could live in a town again after what happened, campsites are where I like to spend my time. Outside the city, but not far away from it.

It was sunny and warm today, which is surprising; since the incident, the weather went crazy, and we usually get mostly rain—lots of rain.

I jump up into the saddle and ride my horse back toward camp, when the sky gets dark at the blink of an eye as if a magic spell was cast upon it, and the rain starts coming down—hard.

Well, so much for sunny and warm, I whisper to myself.

I pull my cloak out of my pack and pull up the hood. While my horse shakes his head to clear the hair on his mane of water.

It’s at this point when I see the dark figure up ahead.

He’s just standing there in the pouring rain, unmoving. He goes in and out of my vision almost as if I can’t see him correctly, I shake my head and think it must be the rain making me see things.

Are you lost? I yell out, as my horse approaches the figure. He stands unmoving, unflinching, no sound coming from his lips.

As I get closer, I am confused to see that he looks as if he is made of smoke, and trying to look at him is more unclear than ever. It’s almost as if he is…translucent.

Before I am able to ask him a second time, he’s gone. Just like that, disappeared. I look around for the mysterious figure, there’s no sign of him any longer.

I shake my head again and start to wonder if I’m seeing things. The horse suddenly gives an uneasy toss of his head, and I pat his head to affirm him that everything is all right.

My horse then decides that it’s a good idea to buck me off. I fly off of his back over his head, and land hard on my stomach with a loud smack. Spitting the freshly wet mud out of my mouth, I turn around with an angry look, and am just in time to see what looks like smoke go into my horse.

His eyes turn solid black, and he becomes very still. I stand up slowly and try to approach him. He then rears back and kicks me in the chest, sending me sprawling into the mud once again. I feel pain in my ribs once I’m able to suck in a breath from the impact. As I lie on my back, he rears back again as if to crush me once and for all. I try to roll out of the way, when I hear a whizzing sound from up above.

I look up to sea an arrow embedded in my horse’s neck. He rears and bucks over and over again before running into the forest like a madman, leaving me behind.

Great. Like the end of the world wasn’t enough, now we got black-eyed horses running around like maniacs. I sigh to myself and look around for the shooter of the arrow that saved me. It’s hard to spot in the rain, but I see a dark figure a bit down the road. I stand up and brush what mud I can off my cloak and walk toward the figure.

I approach carefully, and see the figure is still pointing the bow in my direction.

Can you put that down? I would like not to have an arrow in my throat as well, I yell out cautiously, feeling uneasy.

The figure lowers the bow slowly, but still keeps it drawn. As I walk up to whoever it is, I see that I’m not able to see the figure’s face because of the hood.

Thank yo— I start to stay as she lowers her hood. I am in shock. It’s a girl, but not only is it a girl, it’s a very, very, beautiful girl, looks about my age. Long, black locks of hair roll down her shoulders with deep blue eyes and an icy white face.

She looks at me with suspicion. Can you speak? she asks.

I quickly cough and regain my composure.

No, I quickly respond, I mean yes. I just wanted to thank you for saving me from my horse…by the way, do you have any idea what that was all about?

She looks at me very seriously and replies, I’ll tell you back at my camp.

I shrug not knowing what else to do. Lead the way, I say, waving for her to do so.

I realize as we get there, that it’s my camp. I look around and then back at her and ask, Is there a good reason that you are staying in my camp?

She quickly looks around and back at me. Well, I found a camp, and no one was here, so I decided to stay here.

So you just didn’t happen to think that, whoever stayed at this camp, was just gone for a bit and would come back? I say with a bit more seriousness.

I watched this camp for two days, and no one came back to it at any point, she retorts.

I was…exploring, I say quietly.

Well, we can share the camp now, she says, there’s plenty of room for the both of us.

Fine. I sigh. I guess it’s the least I can do for my savior.

We rest for a while as the sky gets darker. We eat some stew I quickly threw together with the supplies I had at camp. We don’t talk much until after the food is finished. I move to sit closer to her so she can hear me over the sound of the pouring rain. At least trees are partially covering the camp, I think to myself.

As I sit down by her, I ask, What happened to my horse?

She looks at me quickly and then looks away. A time of great evil has come unto this world. It’s not anything that any of us could have expected.

As if twenty years ago wasn’t anything bad at all, I say, a little too angrily. Wondering if she’s mocking me.

She looks at me sadly with those deep eyes. I’m sorry, I have lost much since that time as well, and that is not how I meant it. I meant that since the incident happened, we have been in a phase of rebuilding the past world, to get back to how it was for the future generations. Even with the loss of everything mechanical, everyone is learning to rebuild anew, starting from simple villages like Geathe, to what we now call a city, like Khoal. Everything is still simple, and all the buildings are still made from wood and stone, yet everyone keeps getting bigger and better. So what I mean to say is yes, what happened twenty years ago was bad, very bad, but since then, things have gotten a lot better, and we are in an age of getting things back to where they were.

Yeah, I know all this, I have been alive and here as far as I can tell for the last twenty-five years, I say in response.

You and everyone else knows this, but what no one else knows yet is that there is a new evil. It comes from the meteors themselves. No one has seen a meteor since when they first came down, don’t you think that’s a bit strange? She looks at me quizzically.

I nod my head for her to continue.

That’s because they are scattered far around, they have been moved, and they are guarded.

Guarded by whom? I ask with confusion.

By a group called the Wardens. I do not know why they guard the meteors, but I seem to be the only one who knows they even exist in the first place. There is a great evil that came from the glowing meteors after the incident. For some reason, it has stayed hidden until about a month ago, and what you saw today was a Wraith.

A Wraith?

A creature made of the glowing substance within the meteors, the substance makes the entire meteor glow blue, yet I’m not sure what it is. The creature is almost impossible to fight, let alone kill, it consists of some type of smokelike aura and is difficult to see. Although as you have seen, they can take control of other living beings, and they can be killed if their host is killed, because without a host from time to time, the Wraiths will slowly fade away.

I almost start laughing then and there. Her face stops me, I can tell she is dead serious. I then remember the dark, black eyes of my horse when the smoke entered it, and I realize laughing would have only been cause to wave off my uneasiness.

I believe you, I reply without looking at her, but I have to ask, what exactly are they after?

That is a question I cannot answer. I don’t know the answer to it myself. All I know is that they have hurt people, and they attack others, like with you today.

I see, I say, while drifting off into my own thoughts, I want to thank you once again for saving my life, and may I ask what is the name of my heroic savior?

My name is Tali, she says, and yours?

I look at her gorgeous blue eyes once more and respond, The name is Trest.

We decide to share camp, even though I feel like she invaded it. Her help today earned her my utmost gratitude. It finally stops raining so I decide to sleep outside close to the now-lit fire. I spread out my bedroll across the fire from Tali and lie onto it. I hear the rustle of the leaves as the breeze blows through them, and I stare up at the stars in the beautiful night sky. There’s no moon to be seen tonight, so the stars are the only lights visible in the pitch-black darkness of the dense forest.

Where were you headed when you helped me? I quietly say to Tali while keeping my gaze on the night sky.

She takes a minute to reply, but eventually does, I was on my way to Khoal to get some supplies for my journey before setting off.

And what journey is that?

I’m trying to find a group of warriors called the Ka-il. For it is said there is one warrior who has a mechanism that—

A mechanism? How is that possible?

Yes, a mechanism, she says, ignoring the interruption. It is said he has one that can intake the smoke energy of the Wraiths and destroy it, and that it can also suck a Wraith out of its host, and trap it inside of the mechanism. Once the energy of the Wraith is inside it, it transforms it into a light energy, and can be used as a weapon. How he received it, I do not know, but it’s the best hope I have.

Hope? I respond after thinking it through. For what exactly?

For stopping the Wraiths and whatever it is they are after, because so far, it only seems like they are after death, she says.

I didn’t know you had that intention from when we spoke earlier, I reply. Why do you want to stop them so badly?

It takes her so long to reply that I thought she fell asleep. Eventually she quietly says, The Wraiths killed my sister, Trest.

I’m…sorry, I reply.

I wait, but don’t get a response. I roll onto my side and take my gaze off the night sky. Sometimes I feel as if the stars in the sky are the only good thing left in this world, one of the only things that hasn’t been taken away.

This last thought goes through my head a few more times before sleep takes over my body.

Chapter 2

Darkness.

That is all I see when I open my eyes. I start to look around to see what’s wrong. Something feels very wrong…

I realize it’s still nighttime when I awake, although there is some type of blackness that has darkened the air. Even the stars are no longer visible in the night sky. Tali still lies not too far, her breathing deep and even; she’s still sleeping.

As I peer into the gloom, that’s when I see it.

Eyes. Glowing red eyes.

I look around, and realize that they are all around us, staring right at me. I begin to get up when I hear Tali whisper harshly.

Don’t move!

Guess she isn’t sleeping. I slowly relax back onto my bedroll and wait to see what happens next. I’m not sure what to do besides wait, but waiting is pretty hard when you’re scared out of your mind.

I hear a low growl coming from one of the pairs of eyes.

Tali suddenly leaps up out of her bed and grabs her bow that she put beside her before going to sleep. As she does so, something big and bulky leaps out of the darkness right at her.

Tali quickly draws and fires before I can even process what is happening. There is a loud yelp, and the beast quickly changes the direction of its course and runs back into the forest.

Now the growls are beginning to get louder and coming from all directions. Tali shoots another arrow in the direction of a pair of eyes, and there is another loud yelp before the eyes disappear.

They all start coming out of the trees, and I realize there’s too many for Tali to take on by herself. I quickly stand up and run toward her. I hit something big on the way, and it jumps onto me knocking me onto my back. I try to push it off of me as its teeth snap at my face. I’m unsure what to do except try to push the beast off me, when an arrow goes right through the beast’s jaw. It falls over to my side, and I quickly spring to my feet and see that Tali is getting quickly overwhelmed. I pull out the arrow from the beast that just attacked me, and I run toward Tali once again, this time jabbing the arrow into one of the beasts on the way—instead of running into one. I feel the arrow sink into flesh, but I don’t waste time on looking to make sure.

I finally reach Tali, grab her, and start to run. She quickly shrugs me off and keeps shooting arrows at the beasts. I can see she is about to run out of arrows.

What are you doing! I yell at her.

These things killed my sister, Trest, I’m not going anywhere till they are all dead, she responds.

You won’t be able to kill anymore once you’re dead, Tali!

She finally shoots her last arrow and reaches back for another, realizing that there aren’t any arrows left. She dodges the oncoming attacks from the beasts. She turns around sharply and starts running, I quickly catch up, and she looks at me angrily and just says, Fine.

We sprint quickly in between the trees, with the beasts in quick pursuit. They start gaining on us a foot at a time. I quickly think of something we can do to escape as I realize there is no way we can outrun four-legged creatures.

I also realize that it’s pretty hard to think of ideas when you’re running blind into the dark forest for your life. Adrenaline is helping, but I’m starting to get tired, and I can see Tali is starting to slow as well.

I start to wonder if the beasts are nimble enough to climb the trees after us, when the ground disappears from underneath our feet.

Falling into the unknown sucks. I don’t recommend it to anyone thinking of trying it.

We were running when all of a sudden the ground is gone, and we plummet into the darkness. It’s so disorienting I can’t tell what’s up and what’s down. I have no idea if Tali fell as well or what happened to the beasts. All I can feel is the wind rushing across my face as I fall.

These thoughts all happen within a second.

I feel my body hit fast flowing water. I sink in deep, and the current pulls me back and forth. I try to get a breath of air in between the somersaults in the water. The raging river pulls me back and forth without rest. My right shoulder hits a jagged rock, and I feel sharp pain course up through my arm.

I am finally able to surface for air once the harsh rapids turn into a slow stream. I try to focus on breathing and stay afloat. I look around for any sign of shore, and see land to my right going up into the forest. I swim as quickly as I can with my uninjured arm to the beach, and collapse onto my back breathing heavily.

I feel like sleeping and staying there forever.

Of course, that isn’t an option. I slowly plop over onto my stomach, and I lift myself onto my knees with my good arm. I check my surroundings. I’m on a small dirt beach with the river slowly drifting down behind me. There is a wall of looming trees in front of me heading into who knows where. To the sides of me seem to be a continuation of the shore, and the wall of trees. My night vision has adjusted enough for me to see this but not much else.

I slowly stand to my feet and test my shoulder. I try to extend and roll it out, and I feel the pain once again pass sharply through the muscle. I can’t tell what’s wrong with it. I’ll have to try to make a sling for it if it doesn’t pass quickly.

I’m not sure what to do at this point. None of the beasts came down the river after me, and there is no sign of Tali. The only thing I have left on me, besides my clothes, is my small knife. I lost almost all of the gear I had, and I’m not sure how to get back to camp. I look at the sky to check the progression of light cycle and figure it’s around the middle of the night, which means it’ll still be dark for a little while.

If I go into the forest, the tops of the trees will be too thick for any light to shine through, and even with the night vision, I’ll have trouble seeing. I would also rather not go swimming again.

The only thing left to do is follow the shore in either direction. Downriver could lead me out of this whole forest area and into a path or to a city. Upriver means I could have a chance of getting back to camp if I went high enough up the mountain, and could find a way to get across to the other side. For now, only cliff is visible on the opposite side of the river.

I make the decision to go upstream and try to find my way back to camp, while also avoiding the beasts, maybe I could even find Tali again. I start walking along the river. My boots crunch in the sand and dirt. The land slowly starts to incline to go up onto the cliff opposite of where I fell.

Eventually, as I near the top, orange and yellow light starts to seep through the darkness. Finally, the sun is deciding to come up, I think to myself. I get to the top of the cliff, and I can see the opposing one across from me on the other side of the river. After walking a couple more minutes, I can see the part of the cliff where I think I most likely fell. I look around for any sign of a way to get to the other side, with no luck. I look down to the rapids and remind myself not to fall into that anymore.

I decide to continue walking and see if there is any source of the river, that way I can see if there is a way to get across. By the time the sun has fully shined its light upon the earth, I get to the source of the rapids. Which is a giant waterfall, all the water pummeling and falling to the river below.

I walk until I’m well behind the waterfall to see if there is a safe point to get across. I’m in luck, a ways up from the falls are a calm pooling point of the river that will be easy to cross.

I start across slowly and steadily. The water is clear and freezing, having just sat here during the cold of night. I try to keep my cloak out the water to not get it wet.

Halfway across the river, I see one of the beasts.

I quickly stop moving and stare at it, and it’s staring right back at me. Red eyes glowing, teeth bared to the open, fiercely. Although I notice it seems to get more and more translucent as the sun shines brighter upon its gray fur.

I keep watching with no movement as he slowly fades fully away. I can’t see it anymore, and it starts to worry me. I can’t tell if it’s gone or if it’s now just an invisible threat.

I slowly start forward while keeping my eyes trained on the spot I last saw it. I get to the beginning of the shore on the other side, and I keep searching for any sign of him. I see none.

I relax and start quickly walking toward the area where I calculate camp is. On the way, I run into our footprints. I can tell that they are ours because of the dozen sets of fours behind ours. I see mine go straight off the cliff, doesn’t look like a smart idea, but I couldn’t see in the dark, so cut me some slack.

I find Tali’s not far to the side and see that they slide off of the cliff instead of completely disappearing like mine. I can’t tell if she could maybe have sensed the drop and tried to stop herself, or maybe she just slipped off.

I decide to go back to camp to gather some things before looking for Tali. Maybe she’s even there. I follow the trail of footprints backward until I reach my camp. There’s dark blood everywhere, I assume from the beasts, and some streaks of red around where Tali was standing. I didn’t realize she was hurt, the urgency of the situation picks up after that. I quickly gather a few knives I had plus a small medical kit that I find. I grab a canteen of water and throw some food in my mouth on the way out.

Quickly, I jog back along the path of the footprints until I reach the cliff once again. I decide to walk downriver from there to see if I can find any sign of Tali. After about half a day’s uneventful march, I stop and rest under the shade of a big dark tree. I scan my surroundings, make sure I’m safe, and close my eyes for a quick rest.

Rain.

More rain.

When I open my eyes, that’s all I see. I spring up to my feet and wonder how long I’ve been resting. I soon realize that springing up to my feet was a bad idea as pain once again shoots through my shoulder. I shrug it off, wrap myself in my cloak, throw my hood on, and set off into the rain, keeping my arm tight against my body.

The rains pours hard around me, and I’m soaking wet in no time. I just sigh to myself and continue to trudge continuously into the now muddy terrain. This side of the river continues to be high in altitude from the rapids below, and I don’t reach a decline for quite a while. When I eventually do get to one, it takes me a tedious amount of time to get down the muddy and rocky terrain. Plus the hard rain isn’t helping anything, and I can’t find any sign of Tali along the bank of the river.

I eventually get to the bottom where the river opens up into a big lake surrounded by more forest. The lake is at a very high tide on the beach because of all the rain. I walk toward the water and see if I can find any sign of Tali anywhere. Nothing.

I keep walking close to the water around the lake for a while. No sign of any life, let alone the one I’m looking for. The opposite side of the lake is visible, so I don’t have to cross to search for her. The lake itself is big in a more oblong way, not very wide.

I start to feel despair in the fact that I can’t find any sign of Tali. I’ve been alone and surviving on my own since the death of my parents, and she was the only companion I have had since, let alone someone who was nice to me—for that matter, she saved my life, twice. I had just met her, but I felt a connection right away. All her talk of this new evil in the world seemed to almost give me a purpose. Before, it was all survival, now it feels as if I truly have something to go after.

I decide at this moment that even if I never see her again, I will find out what’s really going on in this world, and I would do my best stop it, I need to do something bigger than myself.

The problem is I’m not sure where to start. I go over to the biggest tree I can find and sit under it to shield myself from the rain. I think for a bit about the group of warriors she mentioned before we fell asleep. What was it? I can’t remember the name. I shake my head and remind myself to pay more attention to important things like this in the future.

I get up and start pacing around, trying to brainstorm ideas of where to go from here. Should I continue looking for Tali? Or will that just end in despair, since I’ve looked everywhere and can’t find her? I feel that I have to find her though. I owe it to her for saving my life the day before. I can’t just leave her alone.

I ask myself these questions and am just about to turn to pace the other way, when a splotch of red on a tree catches my eye.

I move to find out what it is. I wipe my finger on red splotch and take a closer look.

Then I realize it’s…

Blood.

Is it Tali’s?

How bad is she hurt?

Should I follow it?

These and about a million other questions race through my mind in a matter of a second, and without hesitation, I follow the trail. The trail of blood is a big one though. Whoever it’s from, they lost a lot of blood. Although it’s a big trail of blood, it’s fading very quickly. The treetops are very thick with branches and leaves, but the rain is still getting through a little at a time and washing the blood away.

I speed my following of the trail, and stop when the drops and splotches start to turn into streaks. I haven’t learned much about tracking, but I do know that when drops of blood turn into big streaks, it’s definitely not a good sign. At this point I can’t tell if whoever this is, was being dragged or if they were crawling, or kept falling.

Either way, the trail is still fading fast, so I once again quicken my pursuit of the trail.

Then I hit the mud.

I desperately search the mud for any sign of the blood, with no luck. The rain is too much at this point. The ground is all muddy and has washed all the blood away. I sit down on a nearby fallen tree and once again feel the despair of never again finding my new companion.

I hold my head in my hands and make sure my cowl is pulled high enough to fully cover my face. The rain is starting to get on my nerves at this point. It isn’t helping anything.

I am about to lie down and let myself drift off into sleep and catch up on the night’s rest—yeah, right—when I start to hear noises. I quickly sit up and cup my ears to get better hearing.

I start to hear what sounds like growling, then a yelp of pain, and more growling and the snapping of teeth. Sounds like one of the beasts, and the sun isn’t out, so that explains why it hasn’t faded away. When I hear a female-sounding cry of pain from the same direction, I quickly jump off the fallen tree and sprint to the location that I heard all the noise coming from.

I sprint hard and jump over the rocks and the logs that are in the way. I have to keep stopping and listening to the sounds of the growling and yelping to make sure that I’m on the right track. I have to make sure I get to the right area no matter how much I hate stopping to listen.

I finally sprint into a clearing in the forest, where it seems the rain is coming down the hardest.

It’s there that I see the beast, snout bloody and red, and blood in his teeth staring at me.

Standing over a bloody and unmoving Tali.

Chapter 3

Iquickly pull out the knife I grabbed from camp, getting ready to strike at the creature if necessary. I slowly walk toward Tali and the beast, ready to swing at the creature at any moment. The beast, on the other hand, moves its gaze away from me and just turns and runs off into the forest in the opposite direction.

Odd. I think to myself. Usually they seem to be viciously intent on tearing everyone’s throat out.

I sprint over to Tali’s unmoving body and check if she’s still breathing. Her chest and stomach are still and unmoving as ever. I lower my ear to her mouth and can barely make out a shallow breath, very far apart and infrequent. I look over her body to see if I can spot her injuries. I see random cuts, scrapes, and bruises but nothing too severe. Her other injuries must be somewhere that’s not easily visible at the moment. I’m reluctant to touch or move her, but I know that I’m going to have to; I can’t just leave her here.

Gathering her into my arms, I pick her up gently. Until I can find a good area far enough from here and any other beasts, I’m going to have to carry her.

It takes the better part of an hour or so. I don’t want to take her too far from the lake, but it isn’t safe here, and there is no good spot to make camp. Eventually I find a part of the forest that is less clustered and more spacious with its trees. I set her down softly under the protection of a big pine, and I set out to build a small shelter.

I am finally able to gather enough wood and leaves to make a makeshift table with a small roof to at least shield us halfway from the pouring rain. I make sure the table and roof are steady, then walk over to Tali. I pick her up and set her gently onto the table. The wood creaks under her weight but holds. I rest for a minute to regain my composure and my mental energy. I have to tell myself that she will be fine, I just need to take care of her until she recovers enough to be her good old self. Some of the blood has washed off of her from the rain, and it’s more easily clear to see where her actual injuries are. Small cuts and scrapes sit throughout the layout of her skin. I wonder if maybe her worst injuries are internal and not visible to the eye. I wouldn’t be surprised to find that she has some severe head trauma.

Then I finally find it. It’s covered by dirt and grime, but there it is. A deep gash on her stomach barely visible from a small tear in her clothing.

I tear off the clothing covering her stomach and inspect the gash. The cut itself is not too wide but looks horribly deep. She must have been cut by one of the beasts. I try to funnel some of the rain leaking through the roof onto her stomach to clean the cut. I then find and tear off the most dry piece of clothing I can find on myself. Which isn’t saying much. I’m completely soaked. I wrap it around her, gently lifting her hips up to do so; I make sure I do it tightly and hope that it can stop some of the blood flowing out of the gash. I also take off my cloak, wrap it up into itself, and elevate her head on top of it. I assume she has head trauma to be unconscious in such a manner, and this is the only way I can think of helping. I have to take a second to sit down and wipe my face with my shirt.

Deciding what to do next isn’t easy. I have very minimal medical training. I can tell the gash has to be sowed up to be able to close and heal, but I don’t have any equipment to try and do that. Let alone the fact that I’ve never done it. I just sit and watch her for a minute. Even in such a bad state, she looks beautiful. So calm and peaceful. Unfortunately in this case, that type of calm isn’t a good thing.

I have to find to find a way to either get her to somewhere with supplies and someone that can help her, or I have to go get supplies myself somehow and bring it back here to her. I am faced with indecision. I can’t carry her that far while having no idea where Khoal is or any other city or village. I have no idea where we are at or any relation to somewhere we could be. At the same time, I can’t just leave her lying here by herself defenseless against those beastly creatures for that long. I will decide in the morning. For now, I need to get some sleep after the busy and eventful night. I just hope the beasts don’t come again. Although at this point I am almost too exhausted to have a care in the world. I tear off some branches from the nearest tree that has the most leaves. I spread out the leaves as much as possible next to the makeshift table that Tali is on top of. I lay myself down onto it. Not the most comfortable but it will have to suffice. I keep my knife drawn and in my hand. Raindrops coming from between the branches of the quickly made roof splatter onto my face as I close my eyes and drift off into the welcome embrace of sleep.

I awake from my slumber and see that it seems as if nothing has changed. I have no idea how long I have slept, but it’s still raining, and Tali still isn’t giving signs of life. It’s not dark, but it’s still cloudy as ever. It could even be the next morning as far as I know. I stare at Tali for a second and decide that I’m going to have to take her with me. Even if I would be able to find my way to a town and my way back, she would be in danger the whole time I would be gone. Which could be too long a time. Carrying her in my arms would be a problem. Not only would I get tired quickly, but it would be hard on her. Maybe if there was a way I could make a type of sled out of some thin branches and leaves…

I walk to some of the trees around the area to see if any of the branches would be the right type. I start gathering the ones that look as if they would work. I’m just about to head back to Tali, when I turn and see the beast is in between me and the small shelter.

This one looks different, but it’s definitely the one that was standing over Tali when I came upon her earlier. Something is off about him. He doesn’t seem aggressive or vicious. I do notice its fur is white, unlike the darker colors of the other beasts. I wait to see what its next move is going to be, but it just stares at me with what almost seems like interest in its eyes. Its eyes are focused on me, its ears are perked up, and its posture is high and alert but focused.

I slowly take a step toward the creature, and I pull out my knife. It doesn’t move or give any sign that it even noticed. I take another and then another. Then it just turns and walks over to where Tali is lying on the makeshift table. It looks back at me as if for reassurance. I walk over toward the shelter and stare at the beast. I now notice that it looks like the others except for the loss of aggressiveness and the white fur. It’s muscular and sleek at the same time. It looks powerful and fierce. Almost looks like an evolved and enhanced wolf creature.

I’m not sure what to do in a situation like this. It doesn’t seem to have any intent of attacking, yet I keep my knife out just in case. The creature just licks Tali’s hand, which is hanging off of the table. I start to think that maybe this beast isn’t the one who hurt her. Even if it was standing over her…

I decide to put my knife away for the moment. I go around to the opposite side of the table and take Tali’s hand into mine and just try to transfer some life back into her.

I look over at the beast, who is already staring straight at me. I look deep into its dark-green eyes, and all of a sudden, it’s like a wave of understanding comes over me. This isn’t the beast that hurt Tali at all. I’m getting glimpses of visions of events. I see Tali walk out of the lake holding her head in pain and walking into the forest for cover. Next, I see her fighting one of the dark beasts off of her with her bow. The wood snaps in half as she hits it over the head, she then drops it as the beast jumps into her and slashes her across the abdomen. She cries out in pain and falls onto her knees, her arm hugging her stomach. I then see the white beast jump from the surrounding shrubs and attack the beast that hurt Tali. They go down in a whirl of fur, teeth, and claws snapping and biting at each other fiercely. Finally the white beast emerges on top and bites into the ribs of the dark one. It yelps in pain, must have been what I heard. The dark beast throws the white one off of himself and limps as fast as it can back into the forest while the white one snaps and growls at it. Tali looks at the white one and whispers thank you before falling onto her back, unconscious.

I come back to reality now understanding that it actually protected Tali, it never attacked her. I look right at the beast as my eyes come back into focus. His eyes have now become fully gray and blank. Slowly they come back to the previous dark-green color.

At this point I am speechless. I have no idea what I could possibly say. Not only did this brave white wolf save Tali’s life, but somehow he communicated with me. This is very strange. For some reason I start to feel a kind of bond start to develop between us. I can’t explain it, but it starts to feel like I am connected to this creature in a way. This wolf creature is very powerful, I’m not sure how just yet, but I intend to find out.

I then come up with an idea. I look into the creature’s eyes and make an attempt to communicate my thoughts. I attempt to transfer my thoughts of the idea of me leaving and going to get supplies so that the creature can watch over Tali while I’m gone. I only get a blank stare and nothing in return. All right, apparently that didn’t work. I decide to try talking instead. I am leaving, I say while making a walking motion with my fingers, you watch her until I get back and keep her safe. I point to my eyes and motion to Tali. I don’t really get a response, but he walks over toward the table and lies down with his head and ears perked up. I scratch my head and wonder if he even understood anything, or if I just look ridiculous—doesn’t matter, there’s no one watching anyway. He’s my best option, and I don’t really have much of a choice. I’m interested and don’t want to tear myself away from the thoughts of wonderment of who and what this beast is. Unfortunately, I have to leave the both of them.

I look over Tali’s gash and realize I have to do something before I head out. I don’t have much equipment, but I have to do what I can. I quickly try to close the wound as best as I can. I get some vines that I found and use some soft leaves from a plant I recognize to bandage the wound as best as I can.

I gather some leaves and roll them to use as Tali’s headrest and quietly say a quick goodbye to her. I take my cloak back and wrap it around myself and throw the hood on. I look at the beast and I say, Look after her for me.

I start to stalk off into the trees, and then I look back one more time, and tell the beast, By the way, I think I’ll call you Sariel.

I use the stars in the dark of night to the best of my ability to track my movements and direction. I can tell I’m heading north away from the lake and the river that rushed into it. My best guess is that Khoal is going to be in this direction and maybe a little to the west. I attempt to keep track of my movements as much as possible and constantly set signs of travel so that I can find my way back to Tali and Sariel.

It never seems to stop raining, never does really, so I keep my cloak constantly wrapped tightly around me and my head deep into the back of my cowl.

I only allow myself to sleep during most of the day. I climb the trees for fear of being set upon by the dark beasts. They don’t seem to ever be out during the day anyway, but I do it just to be safe. As far as I know, they will fade away when the sun is shining, but the constant rain and clouds keep that from happening. Seems as if the world is just a nice playground for those things. I only walk in the darkness after sleeping, that way I will be wide awake if I’m ever attacked. I keep my hand close to the sheath that has my knife. My eyes are constantly scanning the shadows. I am careful in this manner, yet I am not worried as much about being spotted, for my cloak is jet-black, and I would be surprised if someone could spot me in the darkness.

I see movements here and there throughout the nights, but I never know what its source is. I don’t know how long it might take to get near another town, but I get worried about being gone too long. My only source of food is the edible plants I find along the way, that I knew of from the teachings of my parents before they were gone.

On the third night, a thick fog settles into the forest. I can barely see much as it is in the pouring rain with it being dark. The fog makes it impossible. I slow my movement drastically and look around. I can barely see my hands at arm’s length in front of me, let alone any trees or surrounding environment.

I extend my arms out in front of me and walk forward very slowly. I need to find a tree that I can use to either sit under, or maybe climb and try to see if I can get a look out of the fog, over the top of it. I continue to walk forward, when I start to hear the whispers.

Quiet voices start to come from all around, I look back and forth and see nothing. I call out to anyone who might be hiding in the fog. No response. I continue to slowly walk forward, and as I do, the whispers get more and more intensified. It sounds as if more and more join with every step. Speaking directly at me. I have no idea what they speak of or their intention. I just try to brush it off and continue on my path forward.

As the voices get more intense, they start to sound angry and upset by my intrusion into them. I feel no force or any sense of presence, just the noise all around me.

Then, just as soon as it was there, it’s all gone—just like that. The fog was lifted from the forest, and it just vanished. I look around and see that I’m in a clearing, it’s still pitch-black as ever. Except for the midsized boulder, a little less than a full-grown man, in the very middle of the clearing. It’s giving off a faint blue glow from the very center, and it’s then that I realize it must be one of the meteors Tali was talking about!

I hear voices from the left of the clearing, getting louder as they come closer toward the clearing. I quickly fade back into the tree line and wrap my cloak around me to blend in with the surrounding darkness, out of reach of the light from the glowing rock. I watch closely as four hooded figures walk out of the trees and walk over toward the glowing rock. They don’t seem surprised by the existence of it in the clearing. The figures gather around the rock as if in four corners, facing each other.

Once they gather around it, each of the figures places both of their hands onto the boulder. It starts to glow brighter and fill up the clearing with its blue light. I take a couple steps back to make sure I still can’t be seen.

I then realize that it looks as if the blue light is going into the hooded figures. Their entire hands are glowing a dark blue, and I almost think they became translucent. Each of the figures are quietly whispering words out of earshot. They then stop their whispers and take their hands off of the boulder. The blue light seems to fade into their skin instead of going back into the rock. Slowly they turn and walk off once again together back into the forest.

They must be the Wardens that Tali had mentioned. She said they guard the meteors, but what were they doing to it?

I don’t know, but I intend to find out.

The meteor is still giving off its peculiar blue glow. I walk out of the trees toward it. It now almost seems completely translucent, unlike a normal boulder from a distance. From close up it looks very clear like glass, and in the center of it, I can see a glowing blue orb. The orb seems to be sending waves and streams of the light throughout the meteor.

Timid, but determined to know what this is, I slowly place my hands onto the meteor. Nothing happens at first, but after a several seconds, the light starts to flow into my hands. It’s a warm and comfortable feeling, except of course for the fact that my hands are all blue and almost completely see through. Doesn’t freak me out at all…

Besides the warm sensation and the color of my hands, nothing seems to happen. There has to be some reason the Wardens were doing this. Maybe it has something to do with what they were muttering.

The very top of the glass meteor slides open.

I look in surprise and look inside through the top. The orb is floating in the middle right in front of me. I look around me to make sure no one is there and that the Wardens are gone from the area. No sign of anyone.

I reach inside slowly, and all the blue light waves immediately flow right to my hand, the warm sensation returning with a new intensity. I continue to reach in until my hand is touching the orb. It’s solid on the outside, as if the same material as the meteor. I clasp my hand around the orb and pull it out of the meteor. The blue glow is completely gone from the inside and only shining outward from the orb I hold.

The warm feeling is stronger now, and the orb has an essence of strong power. I feel an overwhelming feeling to just take the orb and run. I stuff the feeling down a little and observe the orb. It’s made out of the same glass consistency, yet it doesn’t seem fragile. I look it over and try to examine it further, but I hear the whispering voices again coming from the woods. It’s the Wardens coming back! I quickly hide the orb in the hem of my cloak without thinking and run back toward the tree line. I hide far and low this time to make sure I’m completely obscured from sight.

The Wardens whisper among themselves as they walk out of the forest. I notice there are only three this time around, maybe even a different group of them. When they walk out, they stop very suddenly and stop talking among themselves. I see them glance at each other, and run toward the now dark meteor. They look as if searching all around it, with an air of despair.

As desperate as they look, I almost feel bad for taking the orb. I almost want to walk back out and give it to them, unsure of what it really is or what it can do. I steel myself and remember that they are guarding an evil essence, something in this orb is giving the Wraiths power. I’m not sure how or what this orb can do, but I intend to find out. If I can stop the Wraiths somehow with the orb, then I need to take it with me.

The Wardens have stopped looking and searching. I watch, intent on finding out their purpose. The three of them join hands, and their entire bodies start to give off a blue glow.

The blue essence starts to flow outward from their bodies and become streams, the three streams meet and connect. They start to form a big ball of the blue energy. I start to wonder if they are making a new orb to put into the meteor. The ball of blue energy starts to bubble and change. It suddenly turns black and is almost hidden in the darkness. I’m about to look closer and see what shapes it’s making when the ball of black bursts, and bright light floods the clearing for a second.

I’m blinded and can’t see for a minute. My vision returns to normal after a moment, and I see nothing but the Wardens. The glass meteor is gone. The Wardens stand still in the clearing as if waiting for something.

Nothing is happening as I sit and wait. I stand up to walk away from the area and the Wardens. I need to go find out what this orb is.

As soon as I take my first step, a strong gust of wind hits me and makes me fall to the ground. All the leaves and dirt are getting sucked in toward the clearing with extreme force. I dig my feet in the dirt and wrap my arms around the nearest tree. As soon as it came, it was also gone. The vacuum disappears.

I look out back in the clearing, and there is a giant bird-shaped creature flying above the Wardens. It looks translucent, and it’s as if it’s made of moving air that stays in the form of its body.

I then feel the ground shaking. It’s an earthquake. Great, I think to myself, just what I need. As soon as the thought enters my mind, it’s gone, because the quake ends abruptly as well, just like the wind.

The ground caves in at an area in the clearing, and a huge lumbering creature climbs out of the hole. First, it’s hands, head, and then the rest of its body. The whole thing is made