Chapter 6
New Friends
The sun was high in the sky and neither cloud nor breeze touched the rocky surface of the cliff side. The cliffs stood high with a reddish colour that glowed when the sunshine reflected off them.
A tall pillar was located in the middle of the canyon. It was isolated from the cliffs on either side and on top stood a dojo. It was a very fine structure, pinned securely to the rock.
There were three main sections to the dojo; the main building stood firm and tall, five storeys high. This block contained the accommodation for the dojo, with thirty-two rooms on each floor, apart from the top level where the Masters’ training area was situated. Each room was big enough for a double bed and a desk and they all had a block set of windows, adding light and a view to each room.
The second part was an open training ground where the students could work out. The ground had a marvellous view of the huge, sandy canyon and, in the distance, trees.
The third part of the dojo was the big hall, where students could eat and relax. The complex was built to withstand any force that could possibly pose a threat, sandstorms included.
The location of the dojo was kept a secret; the only way to gain access to the dojo was with knowledge of specific co-ordinates. It was miles from humanity; only the canyon, sand and the far forest lay out here. This was the reason the ancestors had picked this location, being that it was a safe distance from the Nons.
Traditionally, at some point in every generation, every dojo chooses a new up-and-coming teacher to be trained especially to teach the newer generations to follow.
This arrangement was put in place by a special government called the NPA (National Powers Association), a very different government to that of the Nons. The NPA deal with all kinds of people, but notably power hungry individuals or groups, and special units are mobilised to deal with certain types of situations.
Each strike force is handpicked; only the best of the Power Users may join, making the system invincible. The NPA specialises in dealing with any disaster or threat to the Power Users.
The NPA employees are the very best at their jobs, qualified in many other areas as well as their chosen professions.
The other main branch of government is the Ministry of Abilities, their main focus within the organisation to hold down the desk jobs and deal with the politics. Their tasks include cleaning up any messes left behind by the Power Users, dealing with any problems that the NPA may come across and controlling the flow network in which people travel.
Both branches of the government rely on each other to make the system work, everything they do being purely in the best interest of both the Nons and the Power Users.
They insist upon the training of all students who obtain any sort of power in order that the government may keep the strongest subjects under their control.
Once a student has finished school, there are certain paths that they may take. One path is immediate placement into the NPA or the Ministry, the other to take their own path, going out into the world to live among the Nons.
Inside the dojo is a room fully-equipped with computers and up-to-date software, conferring upon the dojo high-level capability.
The room is completely dark, the only source of light coming from a computer screen. Two people are in the room; a woman behind the computer screen and a man standing behind her.
The man is of medium build with blond hair and he looks to be in his thirties. There is something different about this man; the scars across his shoulders and neck set him apart as one who has experienced a great deal. He hates to wait around; outgoing and needing to progress swiftly through life, striding through the world and taking it. If he had to do it the hard way then that was fine with him.
“What’s the latest spark report?” asked the blond-haired man, leaning over to take in the computer screen.
“Excluding house electricity that could have gone off, there have been two big electricity shock waves that the meter has picked up,” replied the woman in the chair.
“The location?”
“A city on the borderline of Sherwood Forest,” replied the woman, pointing to the exact position on the screen.
“That must be him. I want a team dispatched immediately. I’m taking two of my students along with me and I want you to send a message to the Ministry requesting Stuart from the flow network to assist us. Tell them to meet us at the dojo training ground at zero six hundred hours.”
“Yes, Sir. One more thing,” her voice dropped to a whisper. “The shock wave was off the chart. If it is him, be extremely careful. No one in the electricity family had anywhere near the amount of energy this one is producing. I can’t put my finger on it, but something’s different.”
The man stood in silence, his face deliberately blank.
“I will take that into account, thank you.”
The man departed the dark room with an uneasy smile, closing the door behind him.
A couple of days had passed and Max had set up a routine that he followed daily. This consisted of waking up, jogging to the meadow next to the forest and training for a few hours. Taking a dip in the hot pools followed, and then finally he would head back to the city to eat lunch.
There were no restrictions on him now; Uncle Jade was no longer there to teach him schoolwork or martial arts and he was free to roam and do whatever he desired.
He had got into a bad habit of sleeping in the middle of the park, feeling as if time was non-existent, lost between the folds of his past and present.
Today, Max would have continued to sleep if it wasn’t for a strange life force. He awoke to see the clouds partially obscuring the sun, leaving a cool tinge upon the Earth’s surface. The life force confused him and he sat up halfway, wiping the sleep from his eyes.
In the distance, standing by the lake, was a beautiful girl. He was captivated by a beauty like none he had ever witnessed. His attraction to her felt like it arose from something deeper than just her looks, although with her long dark hair with lighter brown streaks that made her blue eyes sparkle and seem as clear as the lake, she took his breath away.
Max couldn’t stop staring; he couldn’t take his eyes off her and as he drank her in, his breath began to shorten. He had to talk to her. He slowly got to his feet and made his way out from underneath the bridge.
As he hesitantly approached the girl, she gave him a smile of perfect white teeth that made goose bumps rise on his arms.
He now believed in angels. He had to tear the thought from his mind as he walked towards her, picking up a scent of crushed roses and strawberries that made him weak at the knees.
As he drew within touching distance, he tripped over a small crack in the concrete and, as he broke his fall with his hands, sparks spread out across the ground making him jerk in surprise.
The beautiful girl grinned and reached out a hand to help him up. “Don’t worry. No one can really control their powers when they first get them.”
Max was stunned, uncertain of what he should do. What could he say? He froze like an ice cube, waiting for the sun to melt him away.
Hesitantly, he took the proffered hand and stood up, brushing the dust from his pants as he did so.
“Plus, I was the only one to see,” she winked.
“Thank you,” said Max, with a small smile of his own.
He couldn’t decide if it was the fact of her beauty and that she was actually talking to him, or that she felt comfortable around his powers that made him freeze like he did. She stood there smiling, waiting for Max to speak.
“May I ask who you are?” he questioned, not trying to hide his confusion.
“My name is Hilary,” replied the girl, still smiling. An uncomfortable second passed before Max realised he wasn’t daydreaming as he listened to her soft and soothing voice, but actually standing in front of her. He shook himself.
“I’m Max. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
He reached out a hand and as soon as Hilar
y touched it, he could feel electricity of a very different kind to his potentially destructive powers. He felt it like an opened connection, and when she let go of his hand, he could read from the surprise on her face that she had felt the same thing.
For a moment, neither of them spoke, staring wide-eyed at each other in the warmth of the day.
“You’re wondering how I knew about your power, aren’t you? Is that why you’re so quiet?” said Hilary, breaking the silence.
“Yeah, that’s been bothering me ever since I fell,” replied Max with a nervous laugh.
Hilary walked to the railing around the lake and pointed at a certain spot in the water. Max could just make out a little whirlpool. As he watched, the whirlpool was transformed into a water snake, which started coming towards them. It slithered up the side of the pool and stopped in front of him.
Fascinated, he studied the detail of the snake. It was amazing. The scales were very defined and its shining eyes gazed unblinkingly up at him. Max ran his hand through the snake, which shivered momentarily and then immediately re-formed, leaving him with moisture dripping from his hand. What excellent craftsmanship! He was embarrassed that he could do nothing but produce electricity.
“I can control water,” said Hilary.
“Can you produce it like I can?”
“Yes, I can, so don’t shock me: water conducts electricity,” she joked.
Max looked blank, missing the joke completely, his eyes still fixed on the snake.
“How could you tell I had a power?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
Hilary gave a slight grin. “Well, first it was obvious with all the sparks flying around, but the dead giveaway would have to be your scar.”
At the mention of that, Max lowered his gaze from her face down to her neck.
“I see you have one just like it, but yours has a quarter of a circle around it. What does that mean?” queried Max as he recalled his conversation with Bill on the bridge.
“There are different levels. No ring is a Beginner, quarter of a ring is a Leader, half a ring a Superior, three quarters of a ring a Master and a full ring is reserved for Gods.”
“I can’t be a God,” he muttered, thinking about what the old man had told him.
“Nice try, but we all start at the Beginner level,” she laughed softly.
Max felt himself begin to sweat. What did his full scar really mean? Was he a God and, if so, how and why? His mind filled with so many questions that he forgot for a moment Hilary’s deep blue eyes.
“There have only been five people that have achieved this status, and you wouldn’t believe how long it took me to get just a quarter.”
“Who has achieved such status?” asked Max, curiously.
“The three Gods and the only Goddess.”
“Is that where the full scar came from, the Gods?”
“I guess you could say that,” laughed Hilary.
“What about the other one? I only counted four.”
All of a sudden, Hilary became nervous – even slightly fearful.
“You don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to,” said Max, trying to make her feel more at ease.
She shook herself. “I’m fine. It’s just… this next one, we don’t like talking about him, and all I can really say is that he is unstoppable. He steals other people’s powers and uses them to his own ends. He doesn’t care who he hurts or kills as long as it goes his way. Many people have tried to stop him but no one can. You’d have to be insane to try and stand up to a level five. Anyway, I’m not going to say any more on that matter,” said Hilary, obviously eager to change the subject.
Max also felt like moving onto other matters: Gods and evil people were not really his first choice of conversation at the moment.
“But, yes, a level one you are. I guess Sparky does have some brains after all,” said Hilary, laughing. All Max could do was laugh, relieved at finally having someone to share his scattered his thoughts with. Ever since the fire he had been alone, with no one to relate to. And now, everything that Max could have hoped for in a girl was right in front of him.
“Well, I hate to interrupt you two,” said a boy standing on the bridge. Max and Hilary spun around in shock. The boy’s hand was already lifted, unleashing a burst of red-hot flame. The flame engulfed the air, spreading like liquid, coming to within inches of Max before he raised his hand, an electric barrier stopping the fire. Max could see the flames smashing the barrier, scattering across the sphere as the boy burst out into the open behind them.
“Stop it, Jonny!” yelled Hilary, giving him an evil stare.
“Don’t worry. He can’t get through this barrier,” said Max, glancing at Hilary.
“And what makes you so sure? He is a level two,” said Hilary.
“He has no idea what I’m capable of. Both of you are assuming that because you’re both a level higher than me that you can overpower me.”
“Well, it does take years to achieve level two. So I am going to assume that two level twos can easily handle someone who just recently acquired his powers,” said Hilary indignantly, her face now glowing red.
“I see,” said Max. He began to inspect the barrier. The fire didn’t leave a mark, touching the point of his finger. Small sparks erupted around the sphere. It was completely intact.
“You can’t get in,” shouted Max, shaking his head. Jonny leapt off the bridge and onto the pavement.
“So tough, for someone who knows so very little.” Jonny gathered energy into the palm of his hand, releasing a fireball that hit Max’s barrier with extreme force. Sparks erupted when the fireball hit, ash falling to the ground at the point of collision. Max could feel the heat press against his face as it hit.
“Well, it’s been a pleasure, but I do have to get going,” bowed Max. He could see the frustration grow on Jonny’s face and smiled to himself.
Max lowered the barrier, watching as the fireball whizzed past both of them.
“Thank you,” Max whispered to Hilary.
Jonny prepared to strike Max for a third time, gathering his energy in the palm of his hand.
Max’s eyes were drawn to the sky, where a large lightning bolt screamed down to the concrete pathway, making Hilary and Jonny turn in surprise at the magnitude of the light. Max used his flash as an opportunity to escape, leaving the level two Power Users rubbing their eyes.
Jonny refocused his eyes, trying to clear his blurry vision, which had temporarily blinded him. He did not like being vulnerable, especially to a level one. He could now clearly see Hilary’s red face.
“You didn’t have to interfere!” she snarled, filled with rage.
“I wasn’t going to leave it all to you,” he replied. He took a good look around.
“Outwitted by a level one. If only you could have broken that barrier to save me,” sneered Hilary.
“You think I would waste my full power on him? I didn’t break it because I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“If you say so,” she shrugged. She had never seen a student get the best of Jonny, let alone a user who had only recently obtained his power.
There was something different about this one. The connection she felt through the spark as they first touched. Something told Hilary that this was not the last she was going to see of him.
“What’s the report on the electric boy?” asked the teacher, waiting in anticipation.
“His name is Max, Sir, and he got away,” replied Hilary, her gaze fixed to the floor.
“What happened?”
Jonny was reluctant to give an answer. He was not someone to be beaten, and admitting that he had been was harder than he thought.
“He slipped away from us,” said Jonny, trying to avoid Hilary’s eye.
“I didn’t need any help, Jonny. You scared him off by attacking him,” she replied.
“I was merely testing the boy; we don’t want weak students at our school. There are already enough of them as is.”
“Jonn
y…” glared Hilary.
“That’s enough. Report back to the dojo. This is no matter for Elite students any more,” ordered the Head Master.
“Yes, Sir,” they replied together.
Meanwhile, Max had taken refuge partway into the forest, next to the meadow. He couldn’t stop thinking about Hilary and the events that had occurred during the day.
“Why did they approach me?” he asked himself. He didn’t really get any information about why they were there. Their black uniforms matched, meaning only one thing: that they were from an organisation or school. Were they trying to recruit him? If so, they had done a poor job of it. Max lay on his back, looking up at the sky.
“Some advice would be good,” he sighed, hoping for an answer from either Paul or his uncle.
It was so recently that he had been introduced to a new world, one that he barely had any control over. He had met the most beautiful girl he had ever talked to, found out that there were Gods and evil people stealing powers, and that there were so many more people with powers than he could have imagined. He didn’t know if he could take in all this at once, and he was suddenly struck by the thought of all the new obstacles that he had to face alone.
He stood and stretched and then sat on a tree stump, looking up for a long time at the night sky, seeing the lights of the city glowing to match the stars above.
At last, he rose and made his way to the rock that overlooked the city. He stood there as the breeze brushed through his hair and, after a moment’s thought, crouched and carved Paul’s name into the stone.
Before long, Max grew tired of his painful memories and got up to walk down the path back to the city. He kept telling himself that holding onto these memories would only create a weakness in him, so he pushed them out. If Paul had been there he would tell him to release these emotions, to stop holding them in.
Walking slowly, pondering on his thoughts, he was unaware of his surroundings until he realised that he was suddenly back in the city. There were more people in town than usual. It struck Max that the weekend had come and he had been completely unaware of it.
He felt very out of place as he passed groups of men in collared shirts and dress pants. The females wore short dresses and fancy shoes. All of them seemed to be having so much fun.
Maximus Thatcher Page 7