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Category:
Action/Thriller
Type: Fiction
Pages: 150
Copyright: Feb 12, 2005
If you had the power to do anything, even fly, would you get it at any cost, even if costs your current life?
Find out how a buch of teens get this amazing power and the trouble they run into once they do and what they learn when they find out theres another side to there powers that even the gods fear.
Light Warriors
Crystal of Light (book 1)
Chosen by the Light
“It’s just a dream,” Ashley said out loud to herself as she walked through a mist-covered forest. The trees where old pines and maples with massive trunks, some so wide you couldn’t wrap your arms around them and touch your fingers together on the opposite side of the tree. White green moss hung on every tree limb, making the forest look like it was covered in snow. The fog was so thick that the sun wasn’t even visible, just a faint glow where it would be in the gray sky. Green moss covered the ground and roots, which intertwined with each other like old rope used in fish netting; completely concealing the dirt they grew in.
~Where am I? This cant be somewhere on Earth, it’s far too big and there doesn’t seem to be any sign of other people~ Ashley though to herself as she walked farther into the woods. Places like this would be under constant protection and people wouldn’t be allowed in it to preserve the wildlife, but there’s no way a place this big could be left, most Wildlife Preserve sites had been shut down years ago.
Within minutes she came upon a river that was flowing steadily to her right. The forest floor dropped steeply a good two feet to the rivers pebbly beach. Ashley followed the water and soon came to a rock outcrop where she was shocked to find that the river dropped into a hug waterfall, disappearing into the forests trees bellow where she couldn’t see where it continued. She spotted a small trail that led to the side of the waterfall and decided to fallow it, feeling that there was something important there that she needed to see.
As she climbed down to the waterfall she noticed that there was a small opening behind the waves of water that rolled off the cliff.
~A cave, wonder what’s inside? ~ She thought numbly as she climbed down so she stood in its entrance.
The cave was large with a high ceiling so she could stand without worrying about hitting her head on its rocky surface. The room was round, lit by strange crystals that where sitting in holders on the walls. The lights where a light blue glow, not enough to light the whole cave, but enough so you wouldn’t step into a hole without knowing it.
At the end of the cave there was a circle cut into the stone. It was covered in strange scriptures that where also carved out of the hard rock. The inside of the carving had a flower shape symbol in it, curious; Ashley reached out and touched the symbol, feeling its smooth surface. As she did this, the symbol glowed like the crystals that filled the room. Its symbols shined as the stone suddenly separated from the wall and moved to the side to reveal a tunnel.
Ashley walked down it without hesitation, something told her not be afraid. She felt like she was walking into the depths of the earth, it was dark and wet; mist seemed to cling to the rock walls that were covered with green moss. She followed glowing stones, similar to the ones in the cave. Other dark, unlit tunnels turned off of hers, she shivered as she looked at them, and hurried farther down the lit tunnel.
She soon entered another room; this one was much bigger than the small cave she entered before. Its ceiling was shaped in a perfect circle and had layers missing that made its hight rise till there was a hole, leaving no roof in the center of the room. The room was flooded with dark water that conceiled the depth of the acual floor. Stone pillars lined the room, leaving its center empty. Another flower symbol with a ring surrounding it was carved out of stone, and sat in the middle of the chamber. Water surrounding it and inside it, leaving only its outline visible on the surface.
The top petal had the decorations of the fire element, on its right was the earth symbol and on the left was the air symbol. On the bottom was the water symbol. The center peace represented the elements of light and dark. The petals reached out to about 7 or 8 feet and their tips touched the ring that surrounded them. It was filled with 28 crystals that spread evenly around the large symbol.
Ashley carefully walked around the large flower to look at the crystals that were in the ring. As she approached the fire petal, the crystal directly in front of it began to glow. She carefully pried it from the rock and felt suddenly weak. A white light illuminated from the crystal, blinding her, when she opened her eyes again she realized she was standing in the center of the flower. The deep ancient rock that was carved out of the floor, glowed white like her crystal, its light lit the dark room, making wriples in the water.
Ashley felt herself grow weak again and struggled to drop the glowing crystal from her hands. She fainted from the effort and collapsed with the crystal still clenched in her hand, the last thing she saw was the dark bubbles of the water when she fell in.
Ashley woke to find herself in her room.
“Just a dream,” she sighed with relief. Then she felt something hanging on her neck; she looked down to find the same crystal hanging on a thick metal chain.
“How is this possible?!” She quickly reached to remove the necklace but as she did she felt that same weak feeling from when she first held it. It started to glow and she dropped it down fearfully, letting it rest on her chest.
“Shit, now what am I going to do? This stupid thing doesn’t even want to come off.” ~School, oh crap, I'm going to be late~ She thought suddenly and rushed to throw some cloths on and get downstairs for some late breakfast.
School was normal, friends to talk to, teachers to deal with, and food to buy. It was Friday so the weekend was right around the corner. The necklace was still around her neck on the ride home. She hid it from view under her shirt. She took it out during that hour-long ride to look at it. The crystal wasn’t glowing anymore but she felt a great energy in it that seemed to flow through her veins, making her spine tingle. There was something different in her mind, some kind of magic and when she tried to touch it she was shocked to find that in her hand was a glowing flame. It was small, with a dark blue center with white tips. The fire didn’t emit any smoke but seemed to just sit there in her palm, not burning her. On her palm, the same symbol that was on the cave floor, glowed brightly. She again, tried to touch the magic in her mind and the flame reseeded. ~Well could this day get any weirder~ she thought as she rushed of the bus when it got to her stop.
She decided to see what elts she could do with this new power. After some experimenting throughout the next week she discovered many things about her new talent. First of all, the necklace seemed to hold her spirit inside it so she couldn’t remove it without passing out. She didn’t want to try and fully remove it, fearing that she wouldn’t wake up unless someone put it back on. The magic itself was triggered from within her and was somewhat controlled by her emotions. At one point, she touched another part of power besides the small flames that came from her hands. Again, the flower symbol appeared but this time under her feet and she felt her back shoulders give a strong pull. All of a sudden, great feathery wings sprouted from her back. They were huge, easily 8 feet in length on each side. As the flower disappeared and the glow from the crystal faded, the same thing was happening to 27 other teens in her area.
Her first clue that this was happening was when she spotted that same light glowing one night in the yard of her neighbors down the street. Curious, she slipped outside to investigate, not worrying about being caught since it’s been a regular thing for her to go out at night. She occasionally snuck out to practice using her wings and was always amazed when they seemed to disappear into thin air like her fire.
As she approached the house she spotted a brown haired boy standing in the yard with the same white wings as she had, coming out of his smooth back. Chris was her age, and they have met before but never really talked to each other. They were from two different sides of the high school world. He was the popular, yet quiet type, and she was a loner, never really tried to make friends with his type. They both had dark brown eyes, almost the same height, and both turning 16 that year. They were alike in many ways yet so different at the same time.
Ashley gasped as she also noticed his own crystal glowing on his chest. Its chain was thicker and the design on the metal clasp was also different. ~Is that the air symbol~ she thought, but was suddenly shocked to find that her own wings had come out, white light also coming from her own crystal. He spun around sharply to face her, fear in his eyes, but slipped clumsily in the mud and fell hard on his back. She slowly approached him, just to make sure he was okay. He seemed to have fainted from exhaustion and shock. Using the magic did take a great toll on the body and Ashley learned, that if over used, it could cause you to go unconscious. Ashley watched him for a while, and then left when his wings disappeared.
For the next couple weeks, she discoed a total of 5 other kids with the same crystal as hers. She didn’t show that she knew what there secret was. It was a weekend in May when she finally decided to confront Chris and some of the other kids. The other five were Greg, Rachel, Michelle, Andrew, and D (short for Dave). She first told Michelle, her best friend, to meet her at an old Maple Tree that marked the halfway point between there houses. They lived on the same street, so it wasn’t uncommon for them to meet like this. That day she explained everything to Michelle, the dream, the crystal, and the magic. Michelle took it surprisingly well, and explained her own story, which turned out to be almost exactly the same. After a good hour of discussing there powers, they both decided to get the other five kids to meet them the next day in the field next to the maple tree on the side of there street. Unfortunately only three could show, Michelle, Greg and Chris, since they lived on the same street.
As they gathered in the field, Ashley decided to fly there and hide nothing from them. Circling over the field, she realized that there was a lone figure in the field with a crystal hanging from his neck. As she flew closer she recognized Chris, he was watching her coming, taking a couple of steps back towards the woods that lined the field. She landed clumsily on a rock about seven feet away and let her wings disappear, just in case someone spotted her.
“It was you,” he said more to himself then to her. “That night, a week ago, you were there when it happened.”
She smiled and asked, “So, where did you get your crystal?”
“I-I don’t know, there was a cave and a white light. I can’t remember, where did yours come from?”
“Same way you did, I thought it was a dream but then I woke up with this crystal so-”
“So, why the hell am I here again?” Greg said as he made his way over to them. The crystal wasn’t visible, but tucked under his shirt. Ashley smiled in her mind; Greg always made her smile with his insults and cursing.
“Because we all have the same crystals, and don’t try telling me you don’t know what I’m talking about, I know you have one.” She told him.
Greg looked at her in shock but it quickly turned to a smile as he glared at her. He gave a nervous glance at Chris, as if to question whether it was really safe to trust her. He finally responded though, his voice was calm but his features made him look ready to run.
“So you had that dream too”
“Yeah, I think so” she answered looking back at Chris.
“What can you do?” Chris asked her.
“You mean the magic, not much, I can fly, and create fire.” She told him calmly.
“Really? I can only fly” Greg exclaimed.
“Could you show us the other thing, the fire?” Chris asked.
“Umm, I guess so.” She answered awkwardly and held one of her hands out in front of them. The crystal glowed on her hands out in front of them. The flower appeared on her palm and a small flame sprouted from its center. She let the flame grow with increasing power till its branches reached toward the sky, waves of heat coming off of it as it flinched from the passing wind. The two boys watched it, staring at its royal blue center. Greg moved his hand to touch it but quickly pulled it back when he was only a foots distance from it.
“Why doesn’t it burn you?” he asked, eyes still glued to the flame.
“I don’t know,” wondering to herself how hot it felt to them.
All of a sudden her back pocket vibrated. ~My phone, mom must be calling~ She quickly closed her hand into a fist and the flame disappeared without a trace. She reached for the phone and talked to her mother, telling her she was with some friends down the street and would be home soon.
She left that night, agreeing with the other two that they would keep quiet about the magic till they learned more information about it. Two more weeks passed by until it was close to June. The group had come together after school a couple of times to discuss there powers and any information they find out.
Surprisingly non have been able to create that same fire as Ashley had. She seemed to always have the ability to discover more powers or talents either in herself or in others. The group grew also, to about ten students, most of which were the same age. The group consisted of Ashley, Michelle, Rachel, April, Casey, Chris, Greg, Andrew, D, and Mike. Each had a talent for something. A couple could move things with their mind, some became very strong flyers, and some had started to feel the emotions of those around them. Ashley was strong in all of these and seemed to be able to sense someone’s very being, which explained how she found so many of them with the same magic.
6-6-6, the day of the apocalypse and of death, it was only three days away. Ashley knew this and was very uneasy. Her powers were started to get very strong as the day neared. The group was now up to twenty-eight people and it’s been that way for three days strait. There powers were in full swing and the large groups of kids were forced to meet outside of school more and more.
At a meeting the day before the day of the triple six, they tried to decide what to do with a problem they had been discussing for the past few days. They decided to all meet in a construction area next to the first mountain that surrounded the lake in that part of town. It was close to Ashley’s house, about a mile and a half away.
“We cant just keep hiding it, its who we are, and besides it will show eventually,” explained D, a boy with dark, almost black hair, and a stern face but calm voice that never changed in tone.
“This problem isn’t very easy to solve, we cant just pretend to be normal, but we cant go and have scientists stabbing us for DNA either,” stated Jess, Ashley’s very close cozen.
She was new to the whole thing but was catching on fast. She and Ashley were best friends as well as cozen. Jess had pale skin and dark brown straight hair, which was the only visible difference in the two.
They continued to discuss and debate about the problem for a while. Ashley just soaked it all in, not bothering to put her words in because she knew that they wouldn’t listen. She never voiced her opinion very much.
“What do you think Ashley?” Chris asked her, expecting her to know some way to solve the impossible problem.
Taken by sunrise, she saw 56 pleading eyes on her.
“I…I don’t know, lets just wait a little longer, maybe the answer will come to us in the summer break,” she said shakily.
That night, Ashley found herself in that area with the same cave as her dream. ~ Another dream? ~ She wasn’t sure, but it didn’t feel like any normal dream. Recognizing a path she headed toward the cave, ~perhaps there’s a reason I’m hear again~
As she neared the river, she spotted someone ahead, standing on its shores.
“Chris,” she whispered, almost to softly for him to hear. He turned slowly, he had sensed she was coming, somehow he knew.
“Is this real, or is it just another dream?” he asked her.
“I don’t think it’s just a dream, if we are both here.”
“The others, they are coming, we should meet them and go to the cave, perhaps we are all here for a reason,” he told her, looking at the trail that followed the river.
Before she could answer him, someone clasped their hands on her eyes from behind.
“Guess who.”
Ashley sighed with relief, “Greg,” he had scared her, making her jump when he touched her.
She turned and looked at his pure blue eyes, and glared at him when he smirked at her, “where are the others?”
“They are already in the cave, but we can’t get the door open, its sealed shut.”
“But that cant be right, it was open the last time we came here,” Chris exclaimed as he climbed out of bank.
“No that’s not true, I had to open it the last time I came,” Ashley told them.
“Then you will have to open it again,” Chris said, as he turned to make his way toward the cave.
As they entered the room with the sealed door, she realized that all 28 members were there, assembled in the cave. They were all discussing what was going on and why they were all there. Silence filled the room as she walked toward the door, Chris and Greg followed her quietly. Chris glared at the staring figures, ~ what! Give the girl a break~
Ashley sensed the hour of 12:00 coming quickly and her body seemed to force her to move faster, as if she was being timed. Once she reached to door, her crystal and the seal for the door glowed. The door of stone moved slowly to the side, revealing a long dark tunnel. Everyone started to move forward, there stones glowing also, heading down the maze, turning and twisting, guided by the light lanterns that where on its walls.
As they entered the room with the high set ceiling, they all stood in a circle, where there crystals once were, in the giant symbol on the floor. Ashley looked and spotted Chris in the Air section on her right, Greg was directly in front of her, fighting, in the Water section, and Jess was on her left in the Earth section.
“What now Ash?” Piper asked her. Piper is just her last name, she actually is also named Ashley but Piper is her last name so that’s what she’s called to prevent mix-ups. Piper, a girl with Asian blood, which is why she has dark skin and black hair, is also one of the kids in Ashley’s section, the Fire element.
“Perhaps we are here because we are suppose to do something in this room, maybe the crystals are the reason,” Liz explained. Liz was a grade A student and a cheerleader back at school.
“The crystals, maybe we are suppose to do something with them,” Ashley said, more to herself then to the other kids. She knelt down and put her crystal back into its hole. The other kids did the same after a few minutes of thought. ~What am I unleashing by doing this? ~ She asked herself, maybe they weren’t suppose to do any of this.
At that moment, all the crystals glowed, making the circle symbol glow and then a great wind flew straight up, as if coming from the earth itself. The light increased to the point where there was nothing left to see. Ashley’s eyes burned when she tried to look too hard into the light. Her eyes glowed with white light, just like the 27 other figures surrounding the crystal symbol. Her last thought was what the date was, 6-6-06.
Pain ruptured into her mind as she regained consciousness. Hard stone was pressed to her face, making her skin sting. As Ashley opened her eyes the suns harsh rays blinded her. Once they adjusted she realized that she wasn’t in the cave anymore but she wasn’t in her room either. She sat up with shock, and took in her surroundings. She was on top of one out of 4 crowns of a huge stone castle. Each block was as high as she was when she stood at full height. The surrounding grounds were mostly field, an ocean beach was on the south side, forest of dense pines and maples to the east, and cliff edges with a mountain peak in the distance to the west. The castle itself was surrounded by green grass, a 70ft. cliff drop was on the ocean side of its wall that continued as a ravine that surrounded the castle, and a small river followed the ditch on the bottom. A beautiful white sandy beach lined the ocean bay from the castle to the woods.
Ashley stood shakily, looking for the others, worried that they had landed somewhere dangerous. ~ Landed, from what? A portal, was that what the room was for back in that cave? ~ She wasn’t sure, but decided to figure it out later, when she found the others. The first person she found was Andrew, a short, muscular guy with a tan and buzz cut hairstyle. His attitude was a little better then Greg’s, he had respect for some lucky people, but his language was no better. He finally started to wake after three or four minutes of trying to wake him. His head was bleeding a little from the fall, since he also landed on the stone built crown that Ashley landed on.
“Hey, are you okay?” she asked anxiously, nervous about were the other kids could have landed.
“Fine,” he managed to grumble through clenched teeth, as he struggled to sit up.
“Where are we?” he asked, looking at the stones and open sky, which was all he could see from sitting on the floor.
“I don’t know, we have to find everyone elts though, they may be in more trouble than you are,” she stated worriedly.
Using her solder for support he managed to stumble to a stone door, which opened when there crystals glowed. After what felt like hours of struggle they finally got down a very long flight of stone stairs that spiraled down inside the crown. As they reached the bottom, Ashley let Andrew slowly sag to the ground in exhaustion. She knows he was too tired to keep going.
“You just stay right here, I’m going to have a look around,” she quietly told him as he drifted off to sleep right were he collapsed.
The castle was surprisingly large and open, with at least six or seven stories of rooms. Ashley stuck only to the main floor, which consisted of a dining area, living room, and other large rooms. She started to leave the living room where great wooden doors blocked the exit to a drawbridge, and the outside world. Andrew was left next to the spiral stairs in the corner of the room.
A groaning sounded behind her as she went to leave the old room. She spun around and was shocked to find Chris on the floor, under a great stone table; he seemed to be fine except a small burse on his shoulder from the fall. She rushed over and helped him get out from under the table.
“Are you okay?” She asked checking that he isn’t bleeding anywhere.
“I’m okay, what about you, your head looks bruised.”
“Ill be ok, common, Andrew is in the next room, he’s hurt.”
As hey came into the room, she left Chris’s side and quickly ran over to Andrew, his head had stopped bleeding but he still seemed weak.
“Feeling any better?”
“A little, hey you found Chris,” he said.
“Yeah, what do you think happened back there, in the cave,” she asked Chris.
“And where the hell are we,” Andrew said as he winced from sitting up straight to see him better.
“I think it was a portal that brought us here, but I have no idea where we are, I don’t think were on earth though,” he said as he thought for a moment.
“Yeah, I think your right,” she said, relived that someone elts knew what happened.
“Where is everyone?” Andrew asked.
“Lets go outside, they may be out there,” Chris suggested.
“Lets just hope they landed on grass instead of the bottom of the ravine,” Andrew said, wincing as he tried to stand. Ashley lent him her solder again. Chris tried to open the doors but they were too heavy.
“How are we suppose to get outside?” he asked.
Ashley held up her crystal and made it glow, the doors showed a strange shaped keyhole in its center. Ashley stuck the crystal in the keyhole. It glowed brightly and the doors slowly swung open reveling a drawbridge that went across the twenty-foot wide ravine around the castle. After carefully crossing the bridge, Ashley put Andrew down to let him rest for a while on the soft grass.
“Hey you guys!” someone cried. They turned to see jess running towards them from the fields to the north.
“Jess, have you seen any one elts around here,” Ashley asked while she looked at her cousin to make sure she didn’t get hurt in the fall.
“Yeah, I have D and Michelle with me, common, we can go back to them right know.”
As they headed back to where Jess emerged from, Chris explained what they thought might have happened when they were in the cave. On their way back they discovered Tim and Mike heading there way from the woods to the east.
As they reached the spot where D and Michelle where waiting they noticed another ravine separated the lush fields from a barren desert of sand.
Tim was a short but heavy built person with a good sense of humor. Mike was a short boy with a buzz cut hairstyle. His body was almost identical to Andrews.
“Is everyone okay?” Chris asked as everyone started to group together. They were lucky to find that only the three that came from the castle where hurt. They all agreed that the idea that the symbol in the cave brought them there but were “there” was still a big question.
The group consisted of Ashley, Andrew, Chris, Jess, Michelle, D, Tim, Mike and Megan, who joined them soon after meeting at the ravine. Megan was strong built, with beautiful green eyes and brown and blond hair.
“We are still missing Greg, Jones, Rachel, Rob, Mat, Kevin, April, Casey, Liz, Karin, Kayla, Rachel, Lauren, Candice, Brit, Lauren M., Mitch, Cory, Troy, Piper, and Spenser,” Megan stated.
“Its getting dark, we should find somewhere to sleep that’s safe,” Ashley suggested, “lets go back to the castle, at least we will be protected from the wind and rain.” Everyone agreed with curiosity and excitement at the chance to explore the building that you could only glimpse from were they stood.
That night everyone slept in the same room, for security of each other’s company than safety. The castle was cold at night and the stones were an unwelcome type of cushion for a bed but they were so tired that it didn’t matter.
The next day the headed out to explore the land, search for the other half of the group. Ashley decided to fly out to the northern desert. As she flew she neared a small stone monument in the center of the sandy land. It seemed very dark despite the hot sun that shined on the surrounding ground. The statute looked like a cross except its points were sharp points and it had a scraggily circle behind it. A red gem was stuck in its center. A figure was leaning against the statue, shrouded in darkness.
Excerpt
Nausada snarled in rage, screeming at him, "Why! Why do you fight this, its your Destiny to eather die or join us! I could give you anything you've ever wanted."
Chris laughed hoarsly, and stared coughing, blood sprayed out of his open mouth, onto the dry dirt on the ground. He looked up at her with a glint in his eye, They were a deep brown, but she saw a hint of red in them.
"You ask why, you should know by now, why i fight, I will fight forever, until the day i die, I WILL FIGHT FOR HER!"
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