Children of the Planet Book 1: Wynd

Chapter 1-3

Chapter 1: "And Six there shall be"

With a flick of her wrist, Carinthia wreathed her body in steam and disappeared into the night. Elena raised her sword in a defensive posture, straining her eyes to find her opponent in the night. But Carinthia found her first. She rushed passed Elena, her blade making a small incision in the girl's arm along the way. First blood had been drawn, and it was up to Elena to even things out. She placed her sword back in its sheath and, after tightly wrapping her arms around her lithe body, blew them out, sending dozens of tiny balls into the night. She quickly drew her weapon once again, barely blocking another attack from Carinthia as she sped past. Then, the balls burst, sending blasts of air everywhere, blowing away the steam that pervaded the darkness.

With her target in sight, Elena rushed at Carinthia, ready to finally start their duel. Elena made a quick jab at Carinthia's shoulder, but Carinthia merely ducked and let the blade sail by her head. In one quick movement, Carinthia slashed at Elena's abdomen, and then slashed at her head as Elena jumped out of the way. This Elena blocked, but was caught on the wrist as she brought her arm back. "Sorry..." Carinthia mumbled, and continued her assault. She stabbed forward, her blade gleaming in the night, her brow dripping with sweat, and her opponent matching her blow for blow. Elena slashed at Carinthia's chest, but Carinthia brought her sword across her body, the tip of the blade pointing towards the ground. Carinthia followed through with the block and brought her sword around, making a downward slash at Elena. Elena swung upwards, blocking the strike.

There they were, locked in deadly combat. Darkness swirled around them, just as beams from the nearby lamps shone through the murk. The cobblestone was cold and uncaring beneath them, as solid as it was supposed to be, but with drops of blood and sweat here and there as evidence to the battle taking place. The benches and bushes around them were the witnesses to this fierce duel, and looked on in silence as the two quietly pushed forward, each attempting to knock the other back out of the lock. Finally, their blades parted when Carinthia jumped back, sheathed her sword, and shot a forceful blast of water forward in one quick, sudden, and violent movement. As she rolled onto the ground, Elena was knocked back onto her bottom, and just sat there in surprise.

"Come on Carinthia" Elena said in an exasperated tone, "Using alchemy isn't fair. You know I can't use Em or anything."

With a grin, Carinthia replied, "Oh, for goodness sake Elena, we were at a stalemate." Suddenly worried as Elena rubbed her eyes, she asked, "Are you alright? I didn't hurt you or anything did I?"

"No, no, I'm fine. Really." Elena said with a smile, I just had dirt in my eye.

"You're sure? I could've sworn I hit you earlier."

"Ok, yes, you got me." Elena admitted, "But it was just a cut. If anything that blast of water hurt the most; thanks to you, my butt's going to be sore for a week!"

"Why you...you'd better start running before I make it hurt for a month!"

Giggling, the two girls ran out of the palace courtyard and into the night. With screams of delight, they splashed one another with water from the nearby fountain. Now soaked, they decided it was time to end their midnight fun, and snuck back into the castle. What awaited them would turn the night sour.

Isaac slowly rubbed his eyes as sunlight made its invasion into his room. With a yawn, a laboriously raised his feet over the side of his bed and stood up. After a long and luxurious stretch, he made his way to the kitchen. Pouring himself a glass of milk, he situated himself on the counter and proceeded to drink it. "Isaac?" a female voice called. "Get ready for school. Your father already left for work."