Young Writers Society

Zire

I thought for a while, We were in the Space kingdom *Right?* one of the only kingdoms other than Death and Darkness that no one entered for fun or for exploration. On the other hand even those of the Kingdom of Space didn't journey far from their towns and cities.

There were rumors that this part of the Earth was made of a very different metal like rock, that actually live and made the venturesome disappear or get lost. Bottom line was that it was not surprising for all the temples here to have Crystals, beside the Space kingdom was not large and powerful, it had only come up a few decades before i was born, so it hadn't had enough experience and was not very old.

The land here used to be forbidden territory at first, before the Space kingdom captured it that is.

"Lets start from the closest" said Jeni.

I looked at the ground and studied the strange colored soil on it.

"Unless Zire has anything to say about it" Someone said, most likely Mira.

I looked us and realized that i had been keeping everyone from continuing our journey, so i just walked towards them silently.

-No name yet- *Nope, Tobar doesn't fit, got any other ideas? *


Close...

I was close. I could feel his scent here. The ground was decorated in the Death mages blood. Chest broken, ripped out, one of Zire's favorite moves. So he was the killer, no one else, obviously, no one could kill a Death Mage in his own territory, not even with a team consisting of five powerful mages, that is, mages who were not of Space and Darkness.

I inhaled the scent of the Death mages blood and sighted a small piece of clothing.

After further inspection i could clearly see that it was of a females, a female mage of Water.

It must have been one of the mages Zire had been traveling with, but not or long. I smiled and then jumping out of the hole, used my power to revive some bodies nearby. Once revived i used my powers to convert the two human zombies into a horse, it took some time for the bones to merge together, but my powers worked as usual.

*And for future reference, here is the order of the kingdoms, starting from Water and going clockwise:

Water
Darkness
Death
Space
Fire
Earth
Nature
Life
Air
Light

After, it goes back to Water.*

*Wait what just happened now? I'm confused, cause i don't know the new Death mage is following me so then who is the 'He' that i spoke of*

*Reason I should never story-post past 8 p.m.....

I was the one that got a little confused there. I didn't quiet realize what the time-laps was between your two characters.*

Re-post

Rose swept her powers out. She brought her hand up, signalling Zire to stop.

She pointed to a patch of shimmery black earth. "Step over that. We might not see you again if you do."

Jeni glanced around, her eyes resting on the multiple veins of such earth around them. "And that goes for all of us?"

Rose nodded. "We'll have to be careful."

"Which direction is the closest temple at?" Mira asked.

Rose pointed towards the south. "The closest temple is right along the boarder. It shouldn't take us more then a couple of days to reach it."

Jeni sighed. "And they're all two days apart?"

Rose nodded. "Some are more then that, too."

Mira and Jeni went ahead; Rose stayed behind with Zire.

"You did what you had to do," she whispered, making sure the wind wasn't caring her words towards Mira and Jeni. "Until you get over it, we can't count on you for help. You're the only one who can talk to people from these kingdoms. They won't trust the rest of us."

*Its like this, when Zire is doing whatever he is doing in my post, [insert name here] is doing what i post at the same time. Get it? I post at the same time, My posts are in the same time*


Zire

I smiled, Rose made me feel a little better, but not fully.

"Just because Darkness mages don't lye and are close to the Space Kingdom does not mean they will trust me completely" I said.

Rose smiled this time "of course they will" she said.

I nodded convinced but not completely.

I took a deep breath and my heart skipped a beat. There was a scent close by that i had not smelled in years. An evil scent, a scent of pure evil, evil and hate.

But it could not be, he was put in jail, probably killed in it. Why would he be here out like this walking freely?

Unless... the Death kingdom had let him go... to get the crystals probably... or worse, to capture the rogue mages that killed their head mage. And that would be us.

I ran to Rose.

"Someone is following us, someone very powerful" I didn't lye, i just concealed a part of the truth as usual.

She looked around and smelled the air. From the look on her face anyone could realize that she had smelled it too, the scent of blood and death.

I turned to Jeni and Mira, but as they too had by now smelled it so i knew i didn't have t o warn them again.

"We can fight him" Said Jeni.

Being a wind mage she had the strongest sense of smell from the wind. Therefore i was surprised that she had managed to sense his gender but not his power.

Aryn

I could smell them, they were very close. But wait, they had stopped, i smiled, could my powers be sensed at such a distance?

One of them wanted to fight me, i could hear what she said now and i could feel their fear, the fear growing in their hearts, of even Zire's, strange that boy, i was ashamed that he had not completely conquered fear.

After all wasn't it i that had taught him how to control and destroy his emotions?

I would let him live, that is if he joined me and became the olf Zire i had known the Zire who killed anyone and everyone without a second of hesitation, the cold Zire that didn't care of anyone but himself and what happened to him, the Zire that could kill a demon by staring at its eyes, The Zire that had killed over ten thousand souls bloodthirstily, fearlessly and emotionless-ly. And the same Zire that had faced an army of fifteen thousand well trained mages from different kingdoms in the times of war with only three men included me on his side... and won.

But i knew Zire knew that i was more powerful than Zire, maybe not the Zire that had been, but the Zire that is now.

*Should have known.. *

Rose clenched her fists. "Mira and Jeni. Run. Now!"

"What?" They said in unison.

Rose spun towards them. "He's a Death mage. If you couldn't handle the head mage before, you won't be able to handle him."

"But--"

"Go!" Rose shouted. Mira cringed and got the message. Soon they were out of sight, being carried by Jeni's wind power.

Zire jerked his head towards them. "You aren't following?"

"And leave you here to face this guy alone?" she said sarcastically. "Not a chance."

*Should have known what? *

Zire

"You must go" I commanded.

"Why? If what i sense is true, then he's much more powerful, than you are" Snapped Rose.

"Please, He'll kill you" I pleaded afraid.

I didn't want anyone dying again. At least not because of something i did in the past.

"No" replied Rose.

"You don't understand, he... he's much older than us, twice as your age, and much much more powerful than we are.

"Zire Zire Zire" Came a cold voice from behind me.

Even without turning around i knew who it was, i knew that my fears were confirmed by that sentence alone. Rose was already in a fighting position, ready to move and lung at him with her powers at the slightest hint of hostility.

I on the other hand was frozen, frozen with something i had not felt in years... i felt fear, Dark black fear. Too dark even for a Darkness mage.

Aryn

Zire was here. I had found him. And a friend of his, a friend who was not afraid, strange, she must have got used to Death mages or being with Zire must have made her a little overconfident, as usual.

"Zire Zire Zire" I taunted.

He didn't reply, didn't even move or turn around, i could almost feel his fear consuming his mind and body.

Before i could keep one strep on the ground i sensed a large wall of water crashing towards me, i didn't need to move or invoke my powers, an automatic darkness shield eloped me, shielding me. It was a reflex, if i sensed an attack my subconscious mind would create a darkness shield around me, an impenetrable darkness shield.

The next moment i was in front of her looking her in her eyes, and that's when i felt her fear, moving through her body, she might have at least struck me if she had not feared me then. I didn't move, i had mastered my powers, so seldom had to move to invoke or use my powers.

A hand of darkness gripped her instantly, I lifted my arm ready to trick her through her chest, one of the moves i had learned from none other than Zire himself, the Chest opener was what he called it.

I struck.

And something stopped me.

A hand.

A very strong hand that could control the darkness that was crushing the girl.

A hand, that moved only because a friend was threatened.

A hand still consumed in fear and weakness.

*Should have known that was the time-lapse.*

**And, how in the world are we going to defeat this guy????**

Rose gasped, a hand of darkness squeezing the air out of her lungs. Up against a master, the Crystal was almost useless. If she had been used to darkness or light flowing through her, things would be different, but, she wasn't. Zire was still paralyzed by fear. The other mage raised his arm, ready to kill her. If only she had reached for the claw...

She closed her eyes, bracing herself for the final blow.

It never came.

Rose opened her eyes to see the other mage's hand stopped just inches in front of her chest. Zire had stopped the punch. The darkness around her faltered for an instant, and that was all she needed to touch the claw that was still at her hip.

Moments later, she was free and Zire was twenty feet away. The other mage had thrown him. Rose slashed at the other mage, only to be stopped by a wall of darkness. The claw raked through it like a knife through wood.

He spun to face her, outraged. "How did you--?" He cut himself off when he saw the claw in her hand. "A relic? How did you get one of those?"

Rose snorted. "Not anything you could ever do."

He circled her. "Being with Zire has made you too confident in your ability to face darkness. Do you have any idea what I can do?"

"Some." She dodged two bolts of darkness, cutting through a third. "But it takes a lot to impress me."

Rose continued to avoid the darkness he sent at her, but she couldn't keep this pace up for much longer.

Come on Zire, she pleaded mentally, glancing over at him standing where he had landed. Snap out of it!

*We don't, we just flee from him for a while, only near the end do we defeat him, after your villains come in too*


Zire

Fear

I couldn't do it

Rose was in danger.

Do something idiot!

But what?

Fight fire with fire, not Water

That's it. I could fight him using Darkness, if he kept using darkness that is, maybe i could buy enough time to escape today. Escape and fight another day.

I willed my power and used a Darkness around me to levitate me, afterward i started sending bolts of darkness at him, the first one hit him but the second was blocked.

He looked at me surprised, then smiled.

The next instant he was in front of me sending me hurling back down with a kick.

I managed to keep use the darkness to break my fall before i actually fell, at the same time i made a darkness hand elope him and slowly tighten its grip. But at the same moment he had made several Shadow clones of himself. One got caught, one went behind Rose and the rest for me.

What would i do?

I took a deep breath and did the same, i copied his attack and made more shadow clones out of myself, two of them were destroyed immediately by Aryn's clones. The rest faced battle.

Rose looked at the shadows around her.

Oh no...

How was she supposed to know which one were Zire's and which ones were the other mage's? Shadows wrapped around her torso and around her neck. Rose slashed at that shadow. It only dissolved and sprung up again.

That's one way to find out.

Around her shadows were fighting. Most were getting destroyed. Rose guessed they were Zire's. She looked over at him. She could tell he was loosing strength, and he was loosing it faster then she was.

Rose snapped her attention back to the shadows around her. They began blending together and gaining darkness. She took a step back, trying to control her fear. This shadow wasn't see-through. It was almost pure darkness, coming at her.

She threw up a shield just in time to stop a punch at her chest. It sent her skidding backwards, almost to where Zire was. He also got pushed back. Rose took the final step so she was back-to-back with him.

"Let's get out of here," she hissed.

He never took his eyes off the other mage. "How?"

Rose fended off another attack. "Space. If we can control it, we could just vanish."

She didn't wait for his reply. Rose began to draw on the Crystal while still fending off the shadow. Zire soon joined his power to hers, and space soon enveloped them. She stifled a gasp as the magic began to take effect. Still, Rose continued to control her side of the spell. In just a few moments it was complete, and they were gone.

Zire

I sighed, i kept to myself and tried to weep. I could not. I could not even move, let alone think.

What could i do? He was more powerful than i was, more than even me and Rose combined, it was a fact and there was nothing i could do about it. Nothing what so ever.

We had escaped, for now that is, for now he had no idea of what to do or what to think about.

"At least we escaped" Rose said at last after some time.

I did not reply or even look up.

"Who is he?" She asked.

"He..." I stopped for a while to think "He is a Death mage"

"I know that i mean who is he? He seemed to know you Zire, who is he?" Rose asked again.

I stood up and then sighed "Come one we have to get to Jeni and Mira" I said and took a deep breath ready to use Space again.

Aryn

Escape!

Clever very clever

I had never in my life failed a mission before and i was not going to let that happen in the future. That girl... she may not be extremely powerful but she was clever, she had deduced that if they kept fighting in the way they were they would have failed but if they escaped to fight another day they at least had a chance to win. Zire had chosen his friends well.

*Back, finally!*

"No."

Zire glanced at her, startled by Rose's stern tone. "What?"

"I said no. Zire, we're both exhausted. If we use our powers again we might black out. And Mira's not strong enough for us to bring a death mage right to her. Right now, it's safer for us to stay split up." She looked around and pointed to a cave in the distance. "We can rest in there. It's dark for you, and damp for me."

He jerked a nod and followed. Rose fought to keep her tongue between her teeth. Unless Zire told her who, or what, this mage was, it would be near impossible to fight him.

Inside the cave, Rose was relived to find it actually was damp. It wouldn't take long for her powers to replenish. She went to the cave wall and absentmindedly ran her finger next to a vein of space.

Unless I know about him, I can't do anything. And I won't know about him, until Zire tells me.

Her hand ran over some marks in the stone. Carefully she brushed some loose stone off, revealing four names. Two had been marked over, but two were in tact.

Aryn... and Zire.

Rose turned towards Zire, turning away before he looked at her. What had he done that his name was written on the walls of what had once been forbidden territory?

*I'm back now, finally!*

Zire

The instant i stepped inside the cave i knew that i had been in it before. Long before i had rejoined the Darkness kingdom i had been here with him... with Aryn and two others. The four of us were now unknown throughout the kingdoms by most people except the royal families and some head mages. But that was a completely different story.

I looked at Rose and the moment i did she turned away from me. She knew something, something that she knew i knew i would not wish to tell anyone *(Ohh complicated line hehe)*.

I turned around again frustrated. I didn't know what to do and what to tell Rose, who i knew wanted information. I decided that i would tell her once she asked me, and i hoped that that time would never come.

Of course that was the exact time that she did ask me. "Who is he Zire?" She asked finally.

I paused and then sighed.

"His name is Aryn, as you might know" I explained "He is or in other words was one of the head mages of the Death Kingdom, a master of Death, Darkness and Space *(Death = space and darkness right?)*, a teacher and a great warrior who was consumed with madness so much as to turn against the kingdoms and become an outlaw. He was unstoppable and so powerful that even the other kingdoms sent emissaries to capture him. They called him mad, insane,crazy... and powerful. He eventually gave up out of boredom and was killed while escaping the Death kingdom."

"But then..." Rose started to say.

"Yes, i know" I cut in "He is supposed to be dead, i thought so too until i just met him. You must have heard of him, before he turned outlaw, The leader of the four man team 'Death Shadows', they conquered for the Death kingdom in the days of the last war" I spread my arms and pointed outside "All this is their work, the land was poisoned which is why they named it as the 'Forbidden Territory' they conquering and destroying... completely futile and villainous"

"Lets sleep, we need some rest" I said before Rose could say anything else.

Aryn

Where could he be?

I sat upon a rock in the forbidden territory. I smelled the air and grinned. The air reminded me about the good old days when the four of us used to be at the Zenith of our powers. It was a pity the war stopped, we wanted it to go on until the whole world was under the Kingdom of Death. What a pity. Then again maybe not, The king after all had had promised me a boon to choose and i knew exactly what to ask for. I would ask for war and rebuild my team. Zire would be mine. Of course when Zire joins me then we would track the other two and the four that were would be again.

I let out a glass shattering laugh. I needed to wait until one of them used Water or Darkness to find them.

**Sigh* I lost the PM with all the element changes we made, but I think that was right. Death= Darkness, Space and Fire (I think...)*

Rose didn't speak after. She just leaned against a cave wall, carefully, making sure she wasn't touching any veins of Space.

Now she knew where Zire had gotten his knowledge of Death and Space. That's where he had gotten his power, his skill.

Looking at him now, Rose knew he considered it a curse more then a blessing.

She leaned her head back, bringing her mind to Aryn. A master. He was a true master, and a mad one at that. Maybe one of the families in Space or Death had held him all these years, and he was just out for whatever reason. Rose had a feeling that reason was to catch a pair of rogues. All the more reason to stay away from Jeni and Mira. If some people didn't stay alive who still believed in uniting the nations, it might be years before more people like them came along.

Darkness began to descend outside. Rose took the Crystal out of her bag and fingered the surface. Should they even keep trying? If Aryn got his hands on the Crystal for the Death kingdom, she didn't know what would happen. She didn't want to know. But, it would help keep them alive. She rubbed her forehead. They would need a lot more Crystal shards to do more then stay alive.

She put the Crystal back in her bag. I'll find more temples tomorrow, when I'm less tired. She stretched out on the cave floor and closed her eyes. She was asleep within moments.

*I think I should add Jeni or Mira's viewpoint in here, since it looks like they'll be apart for a while*

*Yes choose from either Jeni or Mira for your second character.* **Unfortunately i don't think i lost the PM, i'm just a little lazy to find it *

Zire
In the kingdom of Space, dawn was more welcome. Rays of sun created a whole new colorful scenario around us. The air glistened and almost blinded us at times. Indeed it was more beautiful than most things i had seem, beautiful and dangerous, like the Venus fly trap is it small insects. *Hops this is right, the scenery i mean*

I stood up and walked around, my head bent low in thought. Why would he offer me my life? I had betrayed him before in such a was that his life was destroyed and he still wished to let me join him? Why? Was it that he had only a limited amount of power with him? Was it that he needed my help for something bigger than his original mission? i was certainly contused, very confused.

I started to mutter some words barely audible. It was a habit that i had got into while working with Aryn. I stopped my muttering as fast as i had started. I was scared then, was i reverting to my old self? First my rage, then my killing like before and now habits that had stayed buried in me awakening yet again? Something was going wrong and i knew it.

Aryn

I did not sleep, as long as i killed for the night and had my share of fun and blood, i did not need to rest. Drawing strength from the dead as certainly forbidden, but i had special permission. I grinned.

I took a deep breath inhaling the rotting smell of several Space Mage corpses around me. They had been drained of strength before dying. I admitted it was an extremely painful way to die. Even i wouldnt ant to die in that way, but i knew that i would not have to die if someone tried this same trick on me. I was... Unstoppable.