by Ali House
Table of Contents
The Six elemental ALI HOUSE
Part One
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
Part Two
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Author Bio
Published in Canada by Engen Books, St. John’s, NL.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
House, Ali, 1982-, author
The six elemental / Ali House.
ISBN 978-1-926903-30-9 (paperback)
I. Title.
PS8615.O867S59 2016 C813’.6 C2016-906112-4
Copyright © 2016 Ali House
NO PART OF THIS BOOK MAY BE REPRODUCED OR TRANSMITTED IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS, ELECTRONIC OR MECHANICAL, INCLUDING PHOTOCOPYING AND RECORDING, OR BY ANY INFORMATION STORAGE OR RETRIEVAL SYSTEM WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM THE AUTHOR, EXCEPT FOR BRIEF PASSAGES QUOTED IN A REVIEW.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.
Distributed by:
Engen Books
www.engenbooks.com
[email protected]
First mass market paperback printing: October 2016
Cover Image: Melody Pond
http://melodyypond.weebly.com/
The Six elemental
ALI HOUSE
There is a legend that in times of great need, a person wielding the power of all six Elements will come forth to bring peace to New Earth. The myth of the Six-Elemental is almost seven hundred years old, and the possibility of someone having the power of more than one Element has been thoroughly disproven by science. None of this matters, however, when Kit Tyler receives the power of all six Elements on her twenty-first birthday. Unsure of how the world will react, or how to wield her powers, Kit keeps this information a secret, swearing that she will reveal it when she is stronger and more worthy. After all, the only thing worse than being a walking myth is being a disappointing one. When the opportunity comes along to help prevent an impending war, she sees this as her chance to prove herself. If she can do this, then nobody will question why she, of all people, was chosen. But what if she fails? What if her secret is uncovered before she's ready? And what if she ends up starting the war she is trying to prevent?
Part One
PROLOGUE
Both armies had reached a state of desperation. Tecken’s once-assured win was now in doubt, and the Cambrian Forces had lost too much ground to be optimistic. Each side could only hope to do as much damage as possible before the dust cleared and the victor was crowned.
Downtown Stanton was unrecognizable. Patios where people once met to eat and drink were abandoned, with chairs and tables broken and strewn about. Storefronts that used to decorate the downtown area had been destroyed, and the streets were littered with rubble and broken glass. The intersection where Third Avenue met 53rd Street was a battle scene – a mix of Tecken soldiers in blue uniforms and Cambrian Forces in green. Each side was fighting with all of their being and refusing to give an inch.
Naydir Hansen was carefully making his way to the main battle. The side streets seemed to have cleared out, but one could never be too cautious. The General had ordered him to stay on the fringe of the fight, but when the situation had worsened Naydir had chosen to disobey that order. The General didn’t want civilians involved, but Naydir knew that the Forces could use every bit of help they could get and he refused to stand back and do nothing.
He was almost to the battle when the sky suddenly darkened. Looking up, Naydir noticed that the once clear sky was now hidden by thick grey clouds. The weather change seemed appropriate – war should not be fought under a bright blue sky – but it was too sudden to be natural. There was a bright flash as a streak of lightening burst from the clouds and into the centre of the intersection. Everyone stopped. Nobody had been hit, but something about the lightening wasn’t right.
The fighting paused as everyone looked around for the source. Standing to the south was the person who had called the lightening and who could put an end to this war.
Naydir held his breath as he watched the person who had once been his friend move forward into the crowd. He wanted to run up to her and demand to know which side she was on, but he was rooted to the ground by fear.
In a few seconds she would announce who had won the war and who had lost. Naydir prayed that he was on the winning side.
CHAPTER ONE
Today was Kit Tyler’s birthday and there were only two more hours before the damn thing was over with. A person’s 21st birthday should be a time of anticipation and celebration, but all Kit could feel was anxiety.
Had her father still been alive, he would have told her what to expect. They would have discussed the pros and cons of Acceptance and, even though the choice was hers, he would encourage her to Accept her element. He would tell her that each and every element had its advantages, and that she shouldn’t Deny just because it wasn’t the element she wanted. He would say this, but she knew that secretly he’d be hoping she’d receive the element of Electricity, just like him.
Her father would also tell her that everything would be all right if she did not receive a vision. Not receiving a vision didn’t mean that there was something wrong with you, it just meant that life had something else in store for you.
But her father’s death had deprived her of his company, and she now had to face this day alone. Her mother had changed after her father’s death and married a man who was a member of the Church of Humanity – a religious sect which believed that everyone who Accepted an element should burn in hell. Humanists believed that everyone should live like the humans of old – the quote-unquote chosen ones – and deny that which made them unnatural. Kit did not share his opinions in the slightest, which created a rather large rift between her step-father and her, and subsequently her mother and her.
This rift was the reason she had chosen to study on the island of Aesira instead of Briton. Briton had the highest concentration of Humanists in all of Segment Delta, while the people of Aesira mostly followed the Church of Peace. The two islands were connected by an overseas highway, but Aesira might as well have been on the other side of New Earth.
After graduation, she planned on moving even further away, but first she had to get through this day. Kit had spent a long time thinking about this decision, and she still didn’t know what to do. Should she honor her father’s memory and Accept or should she try to please her mother and step-father and Deny?
Maybe she wouldn’t have to make a choice. With less than two hours to go, it appeared that the decision had been made for her. Kit couldn’t help but feel disappointed by her lack of a vision. There were a decent number of neutral people in Segment Delta, but most of them were Humanists and made the choice to Deny their element. Very few people were vision-less. It was a one in one thousand chance – lucky her.
As hard as it was to decide, she wanted the choice. Even if she made the wrong decision, at least she’d have had some say in the matter.
She hadn’t told many people about today being her birthday. Her roommate, Anya, knew, but Anya also knew
about Kit’s complicated family relationship. When Kit said that she’d rather spend today alone, Anya agreed not to interfere. They weren’t the best of friends, but the two of them had an understanding.
Kit had spent most of the day in her room, alone. She’d paced up and down the room about a hundred times, waiting for her vision. She had no idea when it was going to happen, but she wanted to be prepared, and she definitely didn’t want to be around other people.
As the day dragged on without anything happening Kit became more and more anxious. She hadn’t left the room for lunch because she didn’t want to have her vision in the middle of the lunchroom, but by suppertime she was so hungry that she had to leave her room. As she walked to the lunchroom she couldn’t help noticing that every step she took was another second of the day gone – gone without anything happening.
After supper she decided to go to the library and wait out the day there. She gathered an armful of books and hid in the back corner, keeping to herself. At first she was able to concentrate on her reading, but then she noticed how much time had passed. The day was almost over and still she hadn’t had a vision. Anxiety was replaced with disappointment. If she was going to get a vision, then surely she’d have had it by now.
Kit tried to concentrate on the book in front of her, but it was impossible. She couldn’t help imagining the satisfied smirk that would be on her step-father’s face when she told them that she was neutral. Briefly, she considered lying to her family and telling them that she’d Denied, but then she realized that she’d rather be neutral than pretend to be even the slightest bit Humanist.
Checking her watch, she saw that it was almost eleven o’clock. If she stayed in the library until midnight then Anya would be asleep by the time she made it back to the dorm, and if Anya was asleep then she wouldn’t have to answer any vision-related questions. Kit sighed and stood up. She was going to need a more interesting book.
She was browsing the mythology section for a book on Ancient Earth deities when suddenly everything went black. A vision of lightening striking the ground with enough force to displace the earth flashed before her eyes, followed by images of a tornado tearing through a forest, a fireball smashing into the side of a mountain, the earth shaking and ripping open, hail the size of golf balls slashing through the air, and a torrent of water flooding through a crevasse. The visions repeated faster and faster until finally she passed out.
It was dark. Faint images of lightening, fire, water, air, earth and ice appeared and disappeared. Kit didn’t know what was going on. She’d never heard of someone having six visions before. Was she being given a choice? Could she pick and choose from the six elements? She tried concentrating on Electricity, but the rest of the images wouldn’t go away. What did it mean? Was she being offered the choice of all six elements? The images became clearer and she knew that it was true.
But it was impossible. Nobody could have all six elements. She’d been waiting for one vision, not six – she wasn’t prepared for this. She had to make a choice. But did she really have a choice? Could she actually Deny something like this? All six elements...
Kit watched as the visions became sharper and more detailed. The raw power of each element fascinated her.
She knew her answer.
When Kit regained consciousness, she became aware that there were people staring at her. From the looks of her surroundings she was lying on the floor in the mythology section.
“Are you okay?”
Kit looked to her left, where a concerned woman was kneeling beside her.
“Um, yeah. I think I’m fine,” Kit replied. Why were all these people here? “What happened?”
“I don’t know. I just heard a scream and came back here. You were lying on the floor, unconscious.”
“It must have been...” Kit stopped. “I... I thought I saw something. But I’m fine now. My bad.”
Someone helped her to her feet and Kit realized that she was able to stand on her own. She thanked everyone for their concern and exited the library as quickly as possible.
As she walked to her dorm room, she tried not to make eye contact with the few people she passed. She was embarrassed beyond belief. Fainting in public? Screaming in the library? So much for not calling attention to herself…
What about her visions? Was she delusional or had she actually Accepted all six elements? Science had proven that it was impossible for someone to have more than one element, and who was she to go disproving science? It was more likely that she was neutral and imagined the whole thing?
A tingling feeling on her left wrist told her otherwise. She looked down and saw two blue wavy lines on her wrist, where before there had been only skin. She grabbed her wrist to hide the mark, but that same feeling was suddenly on her right upper arm, then her lower back, then her left ankle, her stomach and her left shoulder-blade. Kit picked up the pace. She had forgotten about the Tattoos – the marks that appeared after Acceptance as proof of your element. She had to get back to her room before anyone noticed.
When she reached her dorm she was relieved to find Anya asleep. The night-light was plugged in – their usual courtesy when one of them went to sleep before the other was back – and in the dim light Kit made her way over to the mirror and looked at herself. Outwardly she hadn’t changed much, except for the blue marks of Air on her wrist. On her right arm was a crooked yellow line – Electricity. The green circle on her ankle was for Water, and the three white lines forming a snowflake on her stomach were for Ice. She pulled her shirt off and looked over her shoulder, confirming the brown square for Earth on her lower back and the red triangle for Fire on her left shoulder-blade.
She had six Tattoos. She had six elements. How?
Nobody had ever received more than one element – ever. Well, there was the story about the Six-Elemental, but that was a fairy tale, and it was also almost seven hundred years old. If it was possible to receive all six elements, then surely someone other than her would have done it by now.
So why her? Why now? She was just some girl from Briton. She wasn’t in the Forces or working for the ISS. She was an architecture student who didn’t even have a job lined up after graduation. Why hadn’t this happened to someone more important? Why her?
Should she tell anyone? Something like this didn’t happen every day. In fact, it had never happened before – ever! People would treat her like some kind of impossible thing. Would they want to study her? Would she spend the rest of her life in a lab? Maybe they’d want her to join the Forces or work for the ISS. Maybe they’d want her to turn into some kind of super-soldier.
Kit didn’t want any of that. She’d taken a few self-defense courses in school, but she wasn’t a soldier and had no desire to be one. If the Forces discovered her powers, would they give her a decision or would they make her join them?
And she hadn’t even taken into consideration the Followers of Six...
She didn’t want to be treated like she was different, or isolated and studied. All she wanted was to live her life the way she wanted.
So she’d have to lie. She’d also have to cover up her Tattoos and keep them covered at all times. Kit swore under her breath. Covering up one would have been annoying enough, but six? She couldn’t pretend that they were fakes. It was illegal for tattoo artists to fake a Tattoo, and the punishment wasn’t worth the crime, so no one ever broke that law. These Tattoos never faded and never went away, so she’d have to hide them. Forever.
A small part of her wished that she’d Denied. She wasn’t the right person for something like this. Why hadn’t someone else been chosen instead of her?
Sitting on her bed, Kit put her head in her hands and took a deep breath. She needed to calm down and think of a plan. As long as she had a plan it would all work out, and everything would be fine.
The next day she ‘confessed’ to Anya that she was an Electricity Elemental, but instructed her roommate not to tell anyone else because she didn’t want word to somehow get back to
her family. Electricity was the easiest element to go with, as it was the easiest Tattoo to show off, and it meant that Kit could wear sleeveless or short-sleeved shirts around the room. Anya gave Kit a conspiratorial wink and promised that she would say nothing.
It was getting close to finals, so there was lots of studying to do and not a lot of time left for other distractions. There was also the matter of trying to find a job in her field. Any spare time she had went to researching companies, sending out resumes, and traveling to other islands for interviews. It kept her busy, and distractions were more than welcome. When she finally found a job, she was elated.
First, however, she had to get through her finals, which were easy enough considering how much studying she’d put in, and then through the summer – which would be much more difficult. Her mother acknowledged that she was busy and understood that Kit couldn’t call them very often, but she was expecting Kit to come back to Briton for a visit after graduation.
Of the six islands in Segment Delta, Briton was the second last island Kit wanted to be on. The last island was Tecken, whose residents had been brainwashed by a megalomaniac and which was now cut off from the rest of the Segment – but it wasn’t losing to Briton by much.
Living in Briton had been okay when her father was alive, but her step-father had moved them to a Humanist neighborhood. Kit couldn’t understand why someone would want to hate another person for having a power that was built into their EDNA – their very being. So what if their existence was a result of genetic manipulation? They existed. They had thoughts and feelings. And what was so wrong with having purple hair or orange eyes anyway?
Kit’s eyes were blue, which was acceptable by Humanist standards, but her hair was the same bright blue that her father’s had been. Her step-father had tried to get her to dye her hair a human colour, but Kit always refused. It was only one of the many reasons why she never got along with her step-father – because she constantly reminded him of something he hated.