Vanishing Into The Elements

“So, how about the questions. I know you’ve gotta be filled with them.” Sheriff Johnson asked after a little bit.

“Yeah. What happened? Why am I like this?” I started out, and he took time to think.

“Well, what happened was when you turned 16, you had a magic surge. This is typical for sorcerers, and people who just found out that they have magic. And you are like this because someone, like your mom or dad, was a sorcerer. Do you know your father?”

“Kinda. He’s goes to work early and comes home late. Why?”

“Well, your mom and dad were your protectors, and they did everything to keep you out of harm’s way until it happened. Yes, your mom is your mom, but your dad isn’t your dad, but a designated father figure.”

I looked at him in shock, “Wait, my mom is my real mom, but my dad isn’t my real dad. Then how did I get in my mom’s stomach?”

“Magic created you and magic take thee away. An old saying, but many know it as ‘God giveth and God taketh away’. It means the same thing, but it’s more common in sorcery.”

“Oh. But if I am made from magic, I am technically not anyone’s child. I was put into a stomach to grow and survive, like a virus or parasite.”

“In a sense, yes. Right now, I am taking you to a place where there are others like you. Your friend, Amanda, was light element. Her last name used to be Smith, but she changed it so it represented her better.”

“Then what am I?”

“That is the question, isn’t it. Well, you’ll find out soon. Did Amanda ask if you had a tattoo?”

My mind flashed back, and I nodded, “Yeah, why?”

“Well, after finding out about having magic, you get a tattoo of your element. Yours probably won’t show till later on, since you found out when your birthday hit.”

I nodded and looked away from him, thinking about this place. Was it a child’s home, and he was just making up fantasies to keep my hopes up? Whatever it was, I wasn’t really prepared. Soon, the car took a corner and into the forest, the road worn and torn from the many times it had people crossing it’s small terrain.

Down the way, I saw a house, and I had a bad feeling about this. It was a small cabin with a small vegetable garden and bird feeder hanging from it’s roof. The glass windows have been shattered, and all that remained was its wooden frame. The small cabin was nothing probably more than a room or two within it.

He parked right where the road ended and got out of the car. I didn’t move, scared to know what was in that house, or what he was doing. The door of the house swung open, and there was no on inside of it, or at least from what I could see. Sheriff Johnson motioned me to come up, so I unbuckled my seat belt. Opening the car door, I set my foot on grass? No, this had to be a dream. But snow laid next to the grass.

“Come on, Heather. It’s fine.” Sheriff Johnson spoke, and I jogged over.

“Why are we here? Is this where I am staying?”

“No, the entrance is here. Come on in. I own this cabin, but ghosts live here also, keeping people out and letting the chosen through. Like you and me.”

“If you are chosen, then..” I started, but stopped for some reason.

“Yes, I am like you, a person infused and born with magic. Mine happens to be Ice, so I am always out during the winter, but hardly in the spring or summer.”

I thought about what he had said, and stepped into the house. It was suddenly warm, contrasting the cold weather I have stepped out of. On the inside, it was huge. There were massive halls that probably stretched out miles. Certain that the Sheriff was behind me, I turned around and saw nothing.

“Welcome to my game, Heather Moon.” A voice rang out, and I put myself against the wall.

“Who are you? What do you want with me?” I called, objects moving around and building structures.

“You already know, dear Heather. Who else could it be?” His laugh was starting to get on my nerves.

“Could you stop with the laugh? It doesn’t fit you.” He still continued to laugh.

“Well, let’s start the games, shall we?”

Walls shifted and I got glances of other people. They looked equally terrified like I was. The only person I could think about was Amanda, and how she was going to come looking for me. A cannon rang, and people dispersed throughout the maze.

Sure, I was great at mazes, but ones trying to kill you are not my type. Glass pots fell and blowtorches spit out their fiery hell. Taking a left, I ran into a person. It was a girl, and she had brown hair, blue eyes, and kinda short.

“Watch out.” She spoke as she shot some sort of blue light out of her hands.

“Oh. Didn’t see that one coming. What’s your name?”

“Samantha Leaftorch. And you?”

“Heather Moon. Why are people stuck in here?”

“Were you guided by a Sheriff to this place?”

We started to move, and I spoke, “Yeah, why?”

“I believe he is the game master, toying with us and trying to ultimately kill us.”

“Or it could be some sort of protector, testing us to see if we are worthy.”

A glass pane fell, and Sam shot at it. She looked at me and I shook my head, ultimately knowing about what she was going to say. Stopping, she sighed and looked to her hands.

“What is your power?” She asked finally.

“I don’t know. My birthday was today and a lot has happened within the past day.”

“Oh. My birthday was a week ago, and I was put into this madhouse. And I learned my last name had nothing to do with my power, which is weird.”

I nodded and saw an object falling above her. Blackness shot from my hands, and I didn’t have any control over this. It made a shield over her and the object hit it and shattered. Breathing, it went away and I collapsed to the ground.

“Heather, are you ok? What was that that spit out of your hands?”

Breathing heavily, I weakly spoke, “I honestly don’t know.”

“Well, we gotta keep moving.” She leaned down to grab me.

After grabbing me, I was getting braced by her as we moved through the maze. I could’ve sworn I had seen people watching us, but I could be so tired that anything could be real or fake. I could tell Sam was struggling to carry me, but I couldn’t conjure the strength to walk, but could protect her from imminent danger.

“Sam, you ok?” I asked, and she sighed.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Why are you wasting your power to protect me and you?” She asked.

“Well, not only that, but I can sense the center. Take the next left.”

She listened and took the left. Closing my eyes, something big was coming. I could sense it, so I lunged my body to the left. Just in time too, because the creature sped past us, and Sam was breathing heavily.

“Wow. That was a close one. How’d you know about it.” She was still breathing heavily.

“I could sense it coming, besides, I think I hear people over there. Yelling maybe?”

And I was right, there was two guys and a girl. Sam slowly made her way over to them, with me destroying everything that fell. When we reached them, she collapsed. My vision was getting blurry and the two guys pulled Sam out from under me. Against the wall, I breathed in heavily as I brought a shield above everyone as a huge object fell.

The girl came up to me and spoke, “Come on, don’t die on us now.”

“I..can’t..conjure...more.” I spoke, my words separated.

“I need help over here. She’s losing consciousness fast along with her strength.”

I could hear fine, but all my other senses were becoming dull. I couldn’t feel my hands or my lower body section. Vision was becoming poorer by the minute, as if I hadn’t had my contacts in. A blurry figure came over and spoke to the girl and a light appeared.

Suddenly, everything was back to normal. I began to cough up spit and saw who the people really were. They looked at me with confusion, but I could tell they dismissed it without much thought. The coughing soon subsided, allowing me to talk again.

“Are you ok?” The girl asked, “My name is Karina, and over there is Bill. I don’t know where Jack is, but he saved your life, that’s for sure.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for your help. I was protecting Sam over there from everything, but I lacked the strength to walk, so she carried me. She must’ve given out when we found you three.” I gave thanks, and ran my hand through my hair.

“Yeah, so were we. When our group first met, I didn’t even know there were others, so hope grew. I don’t think I’ve heard anyone else.”

A flash of blue light blinded me, and once the blindness went away, I saw something. It kinda looked like a black hole, a vortex, and a tornado combined. Karina looked stunned and Bill came over to us and dragged us away. Soon, Jack came back and saw it.

“Well, it seems you’ve passed,” A figure appeared in front of us, and it was the Sheriff, “I didn’t mean to hurt any of you, but to test you about yourselves, your element, and if you are capable to enter the magical realm of Mythril. It’s the realm where all magic comes from, it’s items, it’s powers. Jack, saving those who you didn’t even know well enough, your element was Life. Karina, earlier you showed that you had close ties with the earth, Terra. Bill, you’ve showed that you are free-spirited, Air.”

The three stood forwards and Sheriff Johnson led them to the portal. Before they entered, Karina and the others ran to me and Sam, whispering words about how they would see us on the other side. Together, the walked into the portal and disappeared. Johnson coughed and waited for it to complete taking them in.

“Samantha, you protected someone who couldn’t protect themselves, your element is Light. And Heather, your powers finally awaken and you used all of it to protect others, despite how your element is typically, Darkness.”

Me and Sam looked at each other in awe, not comprehending what he had just said. Looking Sam in the eyes, I nodded. Each step, our lives were changing. One step in the portal, I was not prepared to see what I was about to see.