The Destroyers

"Sorin, look out!"

I feel it, this infinite coldness, pierce my body, seeking only destruction, only rot and cold and to free me from this body. I am shadow and soul, I focus on that, keeping it together as the coldness tries to rend my flesh away from me. Shadow and soul.. the shadow spirit clutches tightly as the other shadow seeks it out from the coldness, seeks to tear that part of me away and my soul and leave my body to freeze, in horror and in coldness and in death.

Then, light, orange-tinted light flooding my senses, warming me, strengthening me, driving the coldness and its shadow away. I reach my blue hands down to my dropped gun, pick it up, aim carefully, and another wave of orange is released, driving the coldness back, showering the ground with gray powder.

"Sorin, are you okay?" Fiwveda looks at me worriedly, her gun dropping to her side.

"Don't worry, Fiwveda, I still have enough Amatsi to protect me. Thank you for that gift, long ago."

She smiles, and comes closer, her gun banging against mine, down at our sides as our lips meet. I look to my right.

"The Ghanfre is departing, Fiwv. I think I shot its shadow out. It may be back, but not for a while."

"You always know how to directly hit the heart, Sorin." Our guns bang together again, and then drop to the ground, rolling down the hill together.

God, I hate the Outer Season

It's that time of decade again, time to take all our great human achievements, the honor we've earned, and all our independence from the other sentient species, and throw them into the fucking compost heap.

Look, I know our Orange supply is low, that happens every Outer season. And I know without an Orange supply our civilisation will collapse, and yes, I'm concerned that my family doesn't get left out of our heat rations, but for Sela's Sake, why did they have to pick ME? I'm just a farmer, ill equipped to negotiate with my scythe, much less another sentient race that I've already pissed off before.

Yes, I ate a phoenix. I'm not proud of it, I deeply regret it, and I honestly had no idea it was the Phoenix Elder.. But I was hungry, last Outer Season. Very hungry. I know you're supposed to check the bird before you shoot it, but it didn't have flames! How the hell was I supposed to know it was a phoenix? I mean, yeah, it was orange-tinted, but many birds are. And yeah, I suppose it DID talk to me, but I just thought my lack of food was making me hallucinate. So I shot it, nearly got my village wiped off the face of the Ljenetra, and now they're making me go back to negotiate with them! Do they really want to be fed to the Ghanfre *shudder* that much?

Still, I am stand-in leader for our village, at least until the elder and his family and closest friends get back. I often wonder where they've gone, and why they were in such a hurry to leave after they sent me on my way. But I come back with the Orange, yes, a hero and an Elder to boot!

The closest Phoenix entrance on Selmu is this mesa-looking thing. It stands out in a land covered mostly by forest and tall grass, its caked structure falling away, dust storms dancing nearby. Carved into this mesa is a cavern, leading only a few feet back to a teleporter to their section of the world. The Phoenix, although Orange by nature, dabbled in Torquoise, first as a matter of necessity to link their cities together. But soon, as the elements combined into one of the most powerful elements of all, they rose in stature to the dominant race on the planet, unique as birds and not men, the fires of their city burning forever.

I need their fire, but I sure don't need their wrath...

The First Lesson

"Focus, Kev 4116. Concentrate. Block out where I might be and focus on where I must be."

I turn my head to look at him, but his form vanishes, leaving behind a slight red fog. I see him from the corner of my eye, turn, and he is gone, to haunt another corner of my periphery.

I concentrate, as he has said many times, blocking all distractions from my mind, focusing only on my Teacher. He appears to my left, but as I so much as focus out of the corner of my eye, he disappears again, leaving behind faint traces of red. Thoughts keep popping up, faster than I can suppress them.

He appears right in front of me, then, hand outstretched, the Egwetsi in his hand, its torquoise crystalline structure right in front of me. I reach for it...

"Hahahah, come on, Kev! What have I taught you about the Red?"

I sigh. Another lesson learned perfectly in class, and so utterly useless in the field. "The Red, Teacher, is the magic of illusion, presided over by Illa, the g--"

"Yes, yes, Kev, that is good! Illusion is key, for despite all your looking around, I have always been right here!" The red cloud vanishes, and I turn behind me, to see him, arms outstretched, laughing.

"You know that only Torquoise could have seen me, and it's torquoise you hold within you, boy. Your essence brims with its power, but until you learn to use it, Egwetsi will be no use to you. Still, take it as a memento that you still have much to learn." He flicks the Egwetsi at me, and I catch it, staring down at its torquoise crysalline surface, feeling it with my hands. I look up at him, smiling, but he stares wide-eyed at me, occasionally glancing down, trying to suppress something.

I look down, and see my Egwetsi turn into an ordinary rock. The Teacher explodes with laughter. It's true, I still have much to learn.