The Seven (Fist of Light Series) (5 page)

“Well, well, if it isn’t Jason Franklin? And you brought another child to grace my halls, how delightful. Take your seats. You’re late. And no talking! You have exactly forty-five minutes until you will be permitted exit. If you talk, you will appreciate an additional day in my presence.”

Feigning an innocent look, I grabbed a seat near the back, next to Jas, without comment. I did a quick head count and came up with another fourteen students who were doing hard time. A deathly silence enshrouded the classroom. Apparently Mrs. Nettles wasn’t one to make idle threats.

I dug a quarter out of my wallet. When in agony from prolonged exposure to complete boredom, loose change is an ingenuous solution. Holding it upright with one finger, I flicked one side of the quarter. As expected, it started spinning like a top. When it neared the right hand corner of the desk, I merely flicked it again toward the left. It’s possible that I had too much free time when uninterested previously, and this amusement was a byproduct. Even if it was a skill that had no practical use whatsoever, I was genuinely proud of the talent. Before the quarter could come too far toward the left, I flicked it again with my left forefinger. It seemed like hours before the quarter actually became in danger of stopping or falling off the side of the desk.

The quarter approached the topmost side of the desk, where there was a depression in the plastic. So far, I had avoided close proximity to it, but this time I was too leisurely in reacting. I knew that once it went any farther, the quarter was going to lose its gyration and create quite a clamor when it fell to the floor. That would not be good for my relationship with Mrs. Nettles, and I didn’t think that I would like to see her again so soon. My hands went toward my face in an act of restless anxiety as I willed the quarter to keep spinning in a downward direction. In every other instance, of course, that hadn’t done any good.

This time was different. I felt the energy as it was projected at the quarter, my will tethered to it. The quarter stopped its upward slope toward the top of the desk and came to rest in the middle, revolving rapidly. I put my hands down and stared. The coin was still spinning, though I hadn’t expended any more will toward it. Glancing nonchalantly around the room, I checked to see if anyone else had noticed. Each person was ruled out one by one, until my questing eyes reached Jas. He was staring openly at the coin, eyes bulging. I concealed the coin quickly with my hand, effectively stopping its unnatural rotation.

I took one look at Jas’ flabbergasted face and decided to wait for the rest of the allotted time to tick down with no more tricks to alleviate my boredom. It took forever and a year before Mrs. Nettles looked up from her grungy paperback to address the class. I hadn’t even noticed that she had started reading.

“That’s all for today, children. Though, I’m quite sure it won’t be the last time we meet. You rotten things never learn. Now off with you! Shoo!”

Her voice contained more pompous arrogance than I thought possible. I snatched my backpack from where I had slung it over the chair, the motion mimicked all across the room as every kid did their best to escape under Mrs. Nettle’s watchful eye. I made it outside the door before remembering Jas. It would probably be an understatement to say I was out of it.

“This way,” Jas said, preoccupied. He stared at me for a second. “I suspected you had power.”

I figured it best to remain silent. We were going toward the football field, where presumably there was a back exit. What kind of power did he think I possessed? What’d I even do, spin a quarter? And, if he knew that I controlled even a shred of
something
, it seemed reasonable to assume that he also possessed power beyond the ordinary.

“There was a certain… resonance. I was fairly confident it corresponded with Emily’s. She knows there was something different about me, and avoids me like the plague. She didn’t avoid you. And that chick… She’s got power in spades.”

“Em? What’re you talking about? What power?”

We had reached the stadium, but instead of continuing, Jas stretched out on one of the benches. The sun was still far above the skyline, as it wouldn’t get completely dark for a few more hours. We had time. I let my gaze settle on the field. The soccer team was practicing, but we were far enough distanced to make it an arduous task to discern the contours of expression. Ponytails whipped back and forth as the girls raced across the field. The ball was a wild thing, like it was possessed of a mind all its own. It was passed madly across the field, forward and back, with no one procuring an advantage over the other. Eventually, I returned my attention to Jas.

He was staring intently at me. “There’s something you don’t know, but if you aren’t a half-wit, you’ll see it as truth. There are monsters lurking in the enshrouding darkness offered by the night, and they’re not your average vanilla mortal. Sure, some are wicked and depraved, but some are decently respectable, too. What I’m trying to say is that there are people out there who are beyond the accepted norm. Werewolves, Skin Walkers, vampires, ghouls, goblins, Fae, you name it. All those bedtime stories? There’s a kernel of truth to every myth, every ghost story you ever heard. People are afraid of the dark for good reason. ‘cause there’s stuff out there that’ll eat your lunch. And you and me, we’re two of ‘em. Remember Greek mythology? How about the Mayan gods?”

I had just entered the Twilight Zone. “Greek gods? Demi-gods?”

“You have a unique… scent about you. Emily only knows that I’m something different, I know what you two are: Awakened, Empowered, The Chosen. But I wouldn’t want to touch those last with a hundred-yard, menacing stick. Pompous bastards, every one of them. Air, Fire, Earth, Water, Metal. The five elements, depending on who you ask. The Empowered can manipulate an element with their will. Some control more than one, but it’s next to nobody who can exert control on more than three. Again, each has a different, let’s say, flavor, for those of my kind. I can smell all five on you, and your little girlfriend too.”

“You just said that it’s only possible to exert control over three. You just contradicted yourself there.” I couldn’t help the grin that slipped out. In a situation where everything is out of whack, I couldn’t help but point out inconsistencies. “And she’s not my girlfriend.”

“I said next to nobody.” He put a not-too-subtle emphasis on the words while reaching for my chest.

“What’re you doing? Get off me!”

Jas pulled out the chain and the amulet that always rested against my skin.

“That does it!” he said.

“What? I’ve had that since I was just a kid! It’s just a family heirloom!” I was comfortable in my deluded state and wasn’t ready to relinquish it for anything, not yet.

“That,” he pointed at the amulet, “is the verification. Now, there’s… not a prophecy, per se, but a legend of sorts. Mainly, it’s the fragmented remains of a foretelling, that while once whole, has been lost and worn by the winds of time. It’s been floating around since before people even thought to converse in ancient Greek, and all that’s left is tidbits, passed down through incalculable generations. Naturally, it’s probably been warped. Here’s what I know of it and not a bit more, so don’t ask further. The legend tells of seven mechanisms of control, chosen men and women alike, who all retain monumental power. They’ll bring to the world Light, Darkness, Death, Destruction, Chaos, Peace, and Healing. Seven objects of power will be so securely bound to their souls that to take one, you’d have to kill. These objects will contain characteristics that closely mirror their proprietor. The objects themselves are intelligent sentient beings. It’s not defined, in any sense, where all this will end up. Just another doomsday come knocking, if you ask me, but not many bother. Feel free to sit there as long as you’d like with your jaw hanging open, though you’re likely to catch flies.”

I had been doing just that, but I shut it with the clack of colliding teeth. I brought myself back to reality with a pinch. This shit couldn’t be for real. Everybody knew these things didn’t exist. But it made a frightening bit of sense. My parents had been… attacked? Taken? Killed? I still didn’t know, years later, because I hadn’t stopped running, apparently with good reason, if Jas was to be believed.

“If this thing can talk, why hasn’t it said something, then?” I gave the amulet a considerable once-over, holding it at various distances while examining it meticulously for anything anomalous.

It was all that I was capable of dealing with at one time. Later, I would be able to mull over what had been discovered and decide on the best course of action. But right then, there was a pressing need to focus on slightly less earth-shattering revelations, like a walking, talking amulet. Well, sort of walking.

“I dunno. Maybe you have to think harder.”

“
That’s because you hadn’t asked anything of me, you dimwit
!” a booming voice admonished.

I threw my arms up in disgust. “Great, a sarcastic inanimate object with
so-called
wit. That’s all I need in my life.”

“
The guilt lies within your own psyche, boy. Weren’t you heeding his words
?
We closely mirror the characteristics of our owners. We’re bonded, you and I. So, get used to it, because I’m not going anywhere. And put me back. You have more important things to concern you. That kid’s no layman. He’s a Skin Walker
.”

I broke out of the conversation with an almost audible splintering, staring into Jas’ eyes. Their deep blue eddies held much more intelligence then I gave him credit for. And power. I could feel it emanating from him like some bizarre aura.

“What the hell is a Skin Walker?” I asked. Sounded kind of creepy.

“Looks like I was right after all.” He smiled, a brittle construct that could shatter at a moment’s notice. “Yeah, I’m a Skin Walker. My whole family is, generation upon generation tracing back to the Stone Age. Like I said, not all of us are bad eggs. We’re stronger, faster, and smarter than your average human, semi-resistant to magic. But what we’re known for… is this. We can shape-shift into any animal we can think of.”

He was changing right before my eyes. His clothes vanished as he shifted before my stunned eyes… into a bunny? I couldn’t help myself and burst out laughing. All the tension that had been building up inside me broke, like a dam that contained too much water. Eventually, my laughter, tinged with hysterics, trickled off into giggles as the reddish-gold bunny disappeared and became regular old Jas again, with
clothes
. At least Skin Walkers had common decency. I had given it fifty-fifty odds that he turned up without so much as a pair of boxers when he shifted back. Thank all that’s preternatural for the evolution of decency.

As my snickers tapered off and I established control of my faculties once more, I asked, in somewhat composed voice, “So, you can shape-shift, and you went for a
bunny
?”

“Yeah, well,” he rolled his eyes at my antics, “I didn’t want you to run home crying to your mommy after I broke these bleachers shifting into an elephant. Now that’d be a treat.” His demeanor changed. He was solemn now. “It doesn’t… freak you out or anything?”

“Dude. I just got told I’m some genetically challenged freak that can manipulate the elements. Being able to change into any animal you can think of? I’m not so impressed.” I smiled to demonstrate the sarcasm inherent in the statement. “All right, I admit to being a little surprised. But wouldn’t any sane person be a little freaked out when a recently acquainted friend pulls back the veil of ignorance and reveals the grungy picture of reality? I can go sob myself to sleep later. Let’s go do some of this parkour stuff, before my mind latches onto this new information, and I curl up in a little ball. I should get back soon, anyway. It’s a new place, and since it looks like I’m staying longer than expected, I shouldn’t piss them off yet.”

I hadn’t noticed how much time had gone by. The sun was only a few hand spans above the horizon; there couldn’t be much more than two hours of light left to the day.

Jas flashed me a relieved grin. “You’re taking this rather well. I suppose there’s still plenty of room in my schedule to put you in your place.”

We entered what I took for, at first, as an empty office building. Its bulk stretched up into the heavens, far past what any sane person would think to jump off. The adjoining buildings were slightly shorter than the next, providing a probable avenue, though only non-lucid pedestrians would consider it as such. Hopefully, this was a well thought out route. If it wasn’t, chances are I wouldn’t be very pleased with Jas’ organization skills and would make my sentiments known. Jas strolled through the lobby and to the elevator as if he owned the place, even flashing a smile at the aging secretary as he passed her. I fidgeted and watched the digital indication ascend numerically from zero until the doors opened, with a generic “ding.”

“There’s nothing to be worried over, really.” Jas’ attempt to soothe my nerves failed.

“Easy for you to say,” I muttered darkly, “you’ve done this before.”