Cadence

Constance E1

This is a short story I wrote when I first endeavored to become a writer three years ago. The magic is based on the MBTI personality system, I dont have the skill to make it into a full book yet, but I believe you will enjoy the short story.

Constance walked up the narrow path leading to his lookout at the top of the mountain. Smiling to himself in satisfaction, he surveyed his stronghold as he made his way to the summit. Once the valley had been as dry and barren as the rest of the range, but over the years he managed to transform this desert into a verdant life-giving home.

It’s about time to find another storm, he thought as he passed one of the catches he hand-dug in the side of the mountains. The rainwater shouldn’t be below half, he thought, that one is nearly empty.

Reaching the summit a few minutes later Constance searched the horizon, not a cloud in sight. He turned to go back down, but paused, looking furtively at a dustcloud in the distance. Movement on the desert road caught his eye, he couldn’t quite make out what was approaching his doorstep.

Steeling himself he sharpened his vision, as he zoomed in on the motion he saw only a passing caravan, nothing to be concerned with. He would take a trip out to visit them, he used up all of his paper for scrolls, he could trade some of his fresh vegetables for supplies.

Setting off at a steady pace he set himself to make the journey. As he got closer a woman started screaming. Bounding to a rocky outcropping, he scanned the area for danger. The emperor’s soldiers were attacking the convoy.

The men in the convoy formed ranks behind the caravan, with a sudden burst they sped into the soldiers, moving at superhuman speeds.

The soldiers scattered, reforming some distance away. A second battalion arrived and casters started shooting jets of fire and electricity into the convoy. The men regrouped and charged at the castors, the first group empowered, speeding into the charging refugees. Some of the men from the convoy went down, the rest turned and ran, trying to put some distance between themselves and the soldiers.

The woman had been busy while the men fought, loading their children into the wagons, and gripping the rails they pulled the wagon along at enormous speed.

A set of soldiers broke off in pursuit, some of the men from the convoy tried to cut them off but the casters opened a line of fire between them and their spouses.

Constance stood on his rock, wondering what to do. Dont get involved, he thought to himself. The emperor let you leave, don’t bring yourself back to their attention.
The scene before him reminded him of the day he left the service, a day that had haunted him until he fled into the wilderness to make his home.

Speeding down the mountain he double fed his body to speed himself faster than most eyes could see. As he neared the military troop from the flank he split his chi feeding both his empowerment and his shaping. He struck through the troop striking out and crippling their military discipline and order. Rushing through their ranks he hit pressure points and major muscles to slow and inconvenience them but not kill or permanently maim, he had caused enough death in his life.

Gripping onto his resolve again he double fueled his body, sprinting at speeds far faster than anyone else on the field. He took one of the magic sources and quit fueling his body, his speed slowed dramatically as a result. Remembering a hurricane from years before he blasted a gust of wind through the enemy casters. They went down in a heap.

He was through the enemy like a flash and concentrating solely on empowerment, disappearing into the scrub. Circling back he attacked from behind rapid-firing wind and water attacks, disorienting and debilitating them. They were in utter confusion now, thinking themselves under attack by a much larger company. They circled, watching for the Constance nonexistent backup.

Constance double fueled again, racing into the soldiers. He dodged among them, too fast to be caught, and soon dispatched the lot.

Standing over the field of battle he felt a glow of pride, as he had many times before, dread surged up however overpowering his pride.

Leaning down he felt the neck of one of the younger soldiers, the boy’s pulse beat weakly, Constance might be able to sleep tonight.

Fatigue warred at the edges of Constance’s vision, if he let go of the magic now he would collapse right here among the soldiers, he had not pushed himself this hard in a long time.

The soldiers started to wake up as Constance rushed off. Pausing a ways down the road he watched the soldiers to see if they would follow. They were dispirited and unwilling to keep on chasing their prey. The soldiers quickly turned, heading back down the road towards the empire. Abandoning the caravan as they fled away from Constance’s mountain stronghold.

Constance rushed ahead again; he was tiring but he still had enough force to unite with the refugees. Stopping in the road a ways in front of them, he sat down in the road in plain sight. He did not want to surprise them and he had seen how they dealt with their enemies. His magic control was better, but he was nearly spent. Survival often depended on equal parts caution and recklessness, using each where appropriate. Now he needed prudence. So, he sat and waited as they slowly approached his position.

The main group held back while one man came forward. He walked towards Terrance, showing no sign of empowerment. The man held his hands open and slightly out from his sides signaling he was unarmed and wanting to talk.

“What is the news of the day friend”, the old man called across the gap between them. “That was some amazing empowerment you did back there, we are grateful for you and your help. My name is Terrance.”

Constance toyed with the idea of letting Terrance believe he had support hiding in the bushes but decided to tell them the truth instead. “I am alone”, he said simply. Then almost as an afterthought “Where are you headed.”

The Terrance considered, “We don’t have a destination, just a home we can no longer return to. The emperor chose our lands as a tribute and so we were driven out from our homes. On the way, one of the commanders took a hankering for one of our women and decided he would like some slave labor and tried to capture us. We took them by surprise and escaped, however. We are looking for a new place to live. Do you know of any place in these desolate parts where our clan can settle?”

Constance surveyed the crowd, a few hundred individuals in all. So much for my quiet valley, he thought.

“I have such a place,” he said instead, “A valley secluded and verdant. No one knows where it is but you will have a lot of work to make a home for so many people. As the crow flies you are facing a day’s walk but unless your people can all empower the journey will take longer. The way is a winding path up into the mountains and the route is over treacherous terrain. No road leads to my valley, you will have to scout the way as you go. If you are interested, I will lead you to my home.”

The Terrance looked at him quizzically, “Why would you offer your home to a group of strangers who caused you nothing but trouble? How do you know you can trust us? We will accept your hospitality of course; we have no other options and you have shown yourself to be a fierce friend in a tight place. We managed to load food and seed on our carts, and we have empowered to help, though none near your prowess. “

Constance got to his feet and laughed, “There are few at my level of empowerment, though I am not primarily one of the empowered, rather I am a shaper. My name is Constance and I would be honored if you joined me in my home. I live alone, at first because I was not fit to be around others but later because I came to love my valley and I have none to share my home with.”

The two old men shook hands and started towards their new home.

My first novella, around a half hour to an hour read, is on Amazon now. If you like what you have read support my writing by buying my eBook at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B093G62TKM/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0

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Temporal Incursion 617 E4

Shout out to
Priscilla Bettis for leaving a review of my novella.

Aver felt like she was being torn in two again. How could she both be roasting and freezing at the same time? Down and up took turns switching position, just when she thought she was getting a handle on which direction was up and which one was down.

The creatures were prowling just outside of the shimmer, they looked a little clearer now. Their pale skin and dark eyes gave her a sickly feeling. One reached towards her, its long pasty clawed hand reached through the vail and nearly touched her. Avery tried to move away but directions flipped again and she found herself propelled towards the claw. Just before she hit it everything went white.

The nothingness seemed to stretch on for eternity. Did it take this long last time I went through the ripple? Avery thought. Her disconcertion grew as the moments passed.

Finally, with a last shuddering stop, Avery tumbled out onto the ground. She lay there a moment trying to figure out which way was up before unsteadily getting to her feet.

Where am I? She thought to herself as she stood up, searching her surroundings for signs of anything familiar. She was in the middle of a field surrounded by a forest. Listening she did not hear any signs of cars or airplanes.

The air shimmered again, Avery took off running not wanting to be caught again. Something large fell through the wave, landing in a pile at her feet. The thing skidded towards her as she scurried to get out of the way.

The giant lizard thing from the forest was back. Avery let out a shriek and scurried back several feet, she tripped over a branch lying in her path causing her to fall, skinning her elbow. She hurriedly jumped to her feet as the creature started to come back to its senses. With a loud roar, the lizzard leapt to its feet, tottering back and forth for a moment before regaining its balance.

Sprinting into the woods she did her best to hide from the beast. The creature crashed into the woods after her, slowed considerably by the dense underbrush. Avery barely kept ahead of the beast, it snapped at her continuously, its hot breath on her neck gave her ch as she ran.

She saw a clearing ahead and she burst into it, startling a pack of wolves. The beast stopped in surprise at the wolves, it circled them warily as Avery continued across the field and into the woods. She could not keep up this frantic pace forever and she was forced to slow down to a walk. She paused, listening for signs of the creature but all she heard was the howels of the wolves and the roars of the creature.

She didn’t know where she was going but she knew that the creature was behind her so she kept moving away from the sound of carnage behind her. After several hours of walking through the woods, she came out into another field, in the distance, a large medieval city stretched out before her.

The city looked like a giant cosplay event. Everyone was dressed in medieval garb, they were all giving her sideways glances as she walked by. She couldn’t understand the language they spoke, a street vendor held up a large cut of meat for her perusal but she could not understand the words he was saying.

She continued on, hoping to find someone who spoke her language. As she continued the voices seemed less and less strange, she found that she could understand them to a small degree. After several more hours wandering around the city, she felt confident enough to try a conversation.

“Could you tell me who is in charge here?” she said to a homely looking boy running a vegetable stand, “I can’t seem to figure out where I am.”

“You are in Northrup,” he said, “The king won’t have anything to do with the likes of you unless he needs a new court jester, where did you get these horrid clothes?”

“These, oh my mom bought them for me, I hate them myself. Where did you say we were again?”

The boy looking impatient started to reply when a loud roaring sound interrupted him. The creature was back, charging down the quickly emptying street. It came around a corner, crashing into the building wall, making the whole building shake and cave in slightly.

Spotting Avery the creature gave out another roar and took off after her.

Why does this thing keep following me, she thought as she ducked down a narrow alley hoping to escape it. The creature crashed into the walls, but they held. Avery quickly disappeared deeper into the city.

“How do you think she is doing with the T-rex?”

“Something that massive should take a while to wake up. Once it does she better pray it catches something else scent before it catches hers.”

“I didn’t realize T-rex’s tracked their food.”

“The big ones don’t, that was a juvenile. She is lucky, they often ran in groups.”

“Do you think one will come here?”

“No we should be fine, I have the inhibitor set up, should give anything carnivorous within five miles a migraine so bad they won’t want anything to do with us.”

“Poor things.”

“Better them than us, Don’t know what would happen if something back here ate one of the shimmer touched.”

“Let’s not give them a chance.”

“Wonder how she is doing.”

“Probably fine, this is her second shimmer, she should be getting the all speak by now. Smart thing like her is probably learning how to blend in with the people, probably be difficult to root her out.”

“How much damage do you think she is doing?”

“Oh, she probably set us back twenty years at least. Maybe thirty.”

“Problem for other people.”

“I wish.”

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Enkind Epilogue

This is the last entry for Enkind for a while. It completes the story arc I have set out for it. The story came out to fifteen thousand words, I am going to set it aside for a few months and then come back to it, fleshing it out into a complete novel. I have a lot of ideas for different scenes to add in, and awkward parts to rewrite. When its done I think this will be the best story I have written yet. Stay tuned to my blog, I have many other stories I have been waiting to write. Next week we will start the story of Constance, a mage who lives alone in the mountain when he is forced to rescue refugees from the evil empire.

P.S. this is my second attempt ever at a Shakespearean sonnet so please keep that in mind as you peruse it.

On a mountain overlooking the valley a convocation was called. They gathered around the oracle as she laid out the plan.
“What news of tomorrow have you called us to hear?” Vermox asked.

The oracle opened her mouth and spoke:

What frost behind the plain does heed the call

Rushing home to unheard friends favored plea

Without timely help they surely will fall

From home and hearth the trio wander free

The twins from hell shall flee and find in them

The will to fight with heavy hand they come

The Giants chase across the plain do hem

Unwanted aid from opposing kingdom

Quintet alone will fall, the true will save

The race does run the field will bind them still

The one will face the foe alone the brave

As falling and rising the foe does steal the will

The light and darkness focus fight alone

The lost return, the king will be dethroned

The gathered gods turned to Vermox.

“What will we do?” they asked.

“We will continue to fight,” he responded, “and hope what we have done will be enough.”

Within the plains a man did run

He faced the rising sun.

When prophetic words upon his ear did fall

He smiled as the sweat did fall.

The promise of revenge was sweet

He did not dare repeat the feat

Closing with the forgotten realm

Through swift portal he did unhelm

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Temporal Incursion 617 E3

For those of you new to my blog, I am an aspiring writer. I am using this blog to have fun with my writing, editing my book is a lot of tedious work, and it’s nice to just let the words flow. What I post here is mostly a first draft, it’s supposed to be fun but it’s definitely not perfect. I hope you enjoy my work as much as I do. If you do like my work please like, comment, and share! Thanks.

“Corrie meet your new partner, Elsha. She will be accompanying you on your assignments.”

“I didn’t agree to this.”

“You don’t have a choice, it’s company policy. The Board of directors sent it down this morning. All associates are required to take a junior partner.”

“Elsha, don’t take this the wrong way but I didn’t survive this long by letting a greener tag along.”

“I am no greener, Corrie. I have three jumps under my belt.”

“That’s a greener. Someone who hasn’t been through very many jumps.”

Corrie turned to the head, “What’s her score?”

“She scores at a 6BA at this time.”

“Were they puppy assignments?”

“No full wolf.”

“Pack?”

“No single wolf.”

Corrie turned to Elsha looking at her in a different light.

“Did I pass your test?” She asked.

“No, you now can take my test.”

A light on the Head’s desk lit up, it flashed green green brown purple blue teal. The head jumped up from where he was sitting and ran over to the desk looking concerned.

“What does green green brown purple blue teal mean?” Elsha asked.

“Some girl got sent back to the Jurassic period.”

“Cretaceous actually.” The head said, not looking up from his desk.

“Nice meeting you Elsha,” Corrie said walking towards the door, “I have work to do. We will discuss this when I return.”

Corrie walked out the door closing the heavy door behind him.
“Can’t you control him?” Elsha asked.

“No,” the head replied, “What are you waiting for, follow him.”

“So I am supposed to jump through time after him?”
“Yes, I hope you packed your jump bag.”

Elsha took off out of the room at a sprint.

Avery crouched at the edge of the forest watching a swiftly moving stream. Rapidly flowing water is safer than stagnant pools, she thought, but there still could be parasites.
A creature about nine feet tall with a fin on its back moved down to the stream. The dinosaur dipped its head in taking a long drink. A crashing in the trees across the river caused the creature to jump and then lunge into the water. A fifteen-foot tall, two-legged predator with short arms shot out of the trees, snapping at the creature’s back as dove into the water. The carnivore paced the bank in frustration, finally giving up the monster turned and walked back towards the forest.

Two nostrils poked out of the water mid-stream. The flat-faced creature with the fin crawled out of the water on Averie’s side of the bank, the creature shook itself, sending water everywhere. As the herbivore lumbered towards the forest, something exploded out of the water behind the creature, the assailant latched its giant mouth and long-clawed feet around the creature and pulled the unlucky creature back into the water. After a moment, the water was still again.

Avery jumped back and screamed as the creature disappeared under the water. She had been about to go drink out of that water, that could have been her.

Visibly shaking she set off to find a safer place to drink.

The world shivered and shook, just like in the dressing room. Hoping to find a way home Avery looked around for the source of the disturbance. No shimmer in the air showed itself. The shaking stopped. It had been much quicker than whatever had brought her here.

She stepped into the forest, hoping to find evidence of the shimmer. Is that a way home, she thought.

As she made her way through the woods, avoiding predator trails and clinging insects she kept an open eye out for the source of the shaking.

“She has to be here somewhere,” a loud feminine voice said to her left.

Averie’s heart skipped a beat at the noise, maybe she could find her home! She opened her mouth to yell out.

“Be quiet Elsha, you are giving away our position.”

“She won’t be able to do anything, she is lost. Where is she going to go?”

“She is not the only thing here, there are creatures big enough to swallow us whole running rampant through these woods. I don’t plan on getting eaten, so keep your mouth shut.”

Quiet muttering was the only thing Avery heard after that. She slowly backed away, glad she was slow to call out. Who were they and why were they looking for her. She made her way to the north, away from where Elsha and whoever was looking for her.

“She has to be here,” the feminine voice said close by “The scanner is showing traces of time displacement all over the place.”

“Yeah, it’s building again. Must be getting ready to make another hole. That is the last thing we need, her escaping to mess more things up, or something else getting through the hole and making everything far worse.”

“I’ve never heard of anything going this far back before.”

“That’s because it hasn’t. Now be quiet and look at your scanner, she has to be close.”

A shimmer appeared in the bushes ahead of where Avery sat, she knew she didn’t want those people to catch her. Hoping against hope that the shimmer led back home she took off at a spring towards the light. A roaring sound behind her made her nearly trip as she turned to see what it was. A large creature like the one from the river was sprinting towards her, bellowing at the top of its lungs.

Avery put everything she had into making it to the shimmer.

“There she goes,” Elsha yelled.

Corrie pulled his Renovator out and tracked her. He pulled the trigger as she disappeared through the wave. A Tyrannosaurus Rex that had been chasing her disappeared into the rift as well.

“Did you find a lock?” He asked Elsha.

“1172 a.d.” She replied.

“Well, now we have the opportunity to see one of the sources for the dragon myth.”

“That creature tore a hector size hole in the fabric, not going to be able to make the jump for a while.”

“How long is a while?”

“I’ll tell you when I’ve figured that out.”

Corrie swore loudly as he pulled off his pack and prepared to make a bed for the night.

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Enkind E11

“What are you doing here?” A surly looking man asked Terrance as he arrived at the Mountain and Earth guild.

“I was given this,” Terrance said as he walked up to the man. He held out the token given to him for excellence in the Earth challenge.

The man’s eyes grew big at the sight of the token, and he took a respectful step back.

“Through the door, down the hall, left at the suit of armor, right at the library. Go up two flights of stairs, take a left, head back down three flights of stairs and drop down through that ladder at the end of the tunnel.”

“What?” Terrance said, blinking in confusion.

“Your appointment, go to where I said and someone will be there to guide you.”

“Can you repeat those directions?”

“Nah, takes too long. Pietro come here.”

A scrawny boy a couple of years older than Terrance ran over, an earth rat trailing behind him.

“Take him to the token chamber.”

Without a word Pietro took off, Terrance hurrying to keep up. They headed up down and around, Terrance thought they were going in circles but eventually, they came to a hole in the floor.

“There you are, just hop down there. The master will be waiting.”

With that Pietro turned and scurried off, his rat following close behind him.

Terrance stood eyeing the hole for a moment, but then climbed through and down to the floor. They were in an arena filled with a multitude of earth elementals and earth creatures.

An enormous drake lay in the far corner snoozing, griffins, gnomes, and other earth creatures meandered around or sat sleeping as well.

He found himself drawn to the drake, crossing the floor, he walked right up to the creature’s scaly face and stood examining its awesome presence.

“You have good taste,” a voice said from the gloom behind him.

Terrance turned as the guild master Eric Daniels ascended from the ground behind him.

“So you survived, I thought you died taking the hit from that elemental. You are tougher than you appear.”

Eric Daniels walked around Terrance looking him over.

“And where is the girl who was with you? Didn’t she get a token as well?”

“She was taken by the head of the Field and Forest guild.”

“What?” Eric Daniels exclaimed, “She hasn’t tested with them yet. Why did they offer her a place? Are they trying to poach my acolytes?”

Eric Daniels paced back and forth muttering to himself.
“It wasn’t that sir, the Field Fairies came when Melody needed help. They think that Melody already linked with one.”

“The what?”

“The fairies that came and healed everyone and destroyed the elementals. The Field and Forest guild assumed she had linked with one of them, so they claimed her for their guild.”

“That’s impossible, no one can link with a fairy.”

Eric Daniels glared at the ceiling for a moment before wiping the disgust off his face.

“No matter, I still have you. How about my offer, would you like to link with one of the creatures here?”

“The tournament is not over yet, don’t the rules say to wait for the tournament to finish?”

“Normally yes, but every Guild master is given a few tokens to allow early linking. That token in your hand marks you as one of those lucky few. Look around, take your pick. I would start with the drake, you might be able to link with the beast. An elemental will only link with someone of equivalent power to itself. I tried linking with the drake but the creature was not interested. Let’s hope you will have better luck.”

Terrance walked over to the drake and placed his hand on its head. He gave a few practice breaths before reaching in, the same way he did with an elemental amulet, and reached for the creature’s core. He felt the drake, it eyed him curiously, magic flowed between them and almost clicked, but something kept the bond from sealing. He could sense the drake just on the other side of the barrier, but he couldn’t get through. He tried for a few moments more but gave up in frustration.

“I thought you had closed the link there for a moment,” Eric Daniels exclaimed, “too bad. But there are plenty of powerful creatures here for you to link with.”

Terrance walked from creature to creature, each time the magic formed the beginning of the link but something stood in his way. Finally, after going through all the creatures larger than a stone dog he stopped, looking confused.

“I don’t think I can link with any of them.”

Eric Daniels glowered, “I think you are right. Doesn’t make sense though, you used the earth magic so fluidly. As if stone was a part of who you were. How could you not be able to link with one of these creatures? You nearly did with all of them, I thought at first that you were scared so you weren’t filling the link but to do that with all of them. No, for whatever reason you can not link with Earth elementals.”

Terrance looked around, wondering what he should do now.

“It is too bad, I thought you would make a place for yourself here.”

“I thought I would as well. I am sorry for having wasted your time.”

“You didn’t waste my time Terrance, you’re joining my guild just wasn’t meant to be.”

Eric Daniels grinned at Terrance, “Whatever you link with, the elemental will be powerful. Whichever guild you end up in don’t go lower than a stone dog. Anything beneath that is not worth your time. You would do better to head into the trials unlinked than to go with a stone rat.”

“Pietro linked with a stone rat.”

“Pietro barely contains any magical ability. He is too weak in character. He is stubborn though, that counts for something.”

Looking Terrance over he said, “You did well at the air tournament as well didn’t you?”

“I placed second, behind Melody.”

“Let’s go talk to Cheneth, I gave you the token already, you might as well use it to link with one of her air elementals. An air elemental would be better than nothing.”

Terrance tried to keep the sadness from showing on his face, but he couldn’t quite keep the sadness away from his face. He had a family tradition to uphold, but there was nothing he could do about his failure. The stone elementals wanted nothing to do with him.

“That would be fine sir, not as good as stone but air would be a worthy link”

“Well said, let’s go.”

A beast flowed out of the ground at Terrance’s feet. The creature had horns and claws, but the creature was not a dragon. Terrance had never seen anything like it.

“What is that thing?”

“This is my beast Kendel, we found each other in the mountains. Like I said, you would do better to go into the trials unlinked rather than descend to the level of a stone dog.”

Eric climbed on and motioned for Terrance to join him. They flowed into the earth, becoming one with the ground. After a long and confusing length of time, they emerged, near the top of a cliff that jutted out of the ground.

“This is the home of the Air and Breath guild. Let’s see if Cheneth will be amenable to your linkage.”

They entered the Air and Breath guild, the palace was light and airy, the halls were filled with holes that let air flow through. In a huge courtyard, they found Cheneth.

“Terrance comes to claim a Token, Cheneth.” Eric Daniels called as they walked up to where Cheneth was cleaning her link partner, a griffin. “Would you be so kind as to lead us to your menagerie?”

“Tokens are for guilds to give to open the storehouse of their own guilds Eric Daniels.”

“Not so fast Cheneth, that is not wholly true. We never said that we can not give them to those we find acceptable in another element, it is just not customary to pass up those who we see as having real talent.”

“And why are you giving up this real chance?”

“To tell you the truth, it’s because he tried and failed with my elementals. He scored second in the air trials, I thought he might as well try here since I can not keep him. You should appreciate that, you gain an edge by my loss.”

Cheneth gave Eric Daniels an appraising once over before turning to Terrance.

“So, Eric Daniels says you are talented. Hold still let me breathe on you.”

Terrance was confused by what was happening, but he decided to go along with whatever she was doing. A breath of air surrounded him, touching him, engulfing him. The breath rushed into him and through him. Cheneth gasped after a moment, “Such power. This is my gain indeed.”

She turned and touched Eric Daniels cheek, “Thank you for this, I will not forget.”

Eric Daniels blushed slightly but shook his head, “No thanks needed. He is a worthy candidate and you are a good guild master.”

Cheneth took Terrance and Eric Daniels through a series of open bridges until they came to a stone plateau covered in air elementals.

“Pick wisely Terrance,” Cheneth said.

“Good luck,” Eric Daniels said with a grin.

Terrance approached elemental after elemental, starting with the strongest, but stopping before the air cats. Each time he a link form, but he was unable to complete the bond. He sighed in exasperation.
“This is not going to work, they won’t link with me either.”

Cheneth approached him, laying a hand on his shoulder. “Do not worry Terrance, you are not finished yet. Though you have not linked with my elementals, you will link tonight. Come, sweet talker, let’s take Terrance to the rest of the guilds, maybe one of them will have the elemental that will be fit for Terrance.”

“Not even a horse would link with me. I don’t deserve to be linked.”

“Have you heard Eric Daniels’s story?”

“I have not.”

“We were in the same year, ten years ago we went through the same trials you are going through. He did well in all the competitions, though he didn’t do as well in air I remember.”

“You were so beautiful jumping from pillar to pillar your performance distracted me and I tripped.”

“Sure, sweet talker.”

Cheneth turned back to Terrance smiling, “Anyways when our group came to link nothing would bond with him. He was too powerful for them you see. He was not strong enough for the drake, but none of the elementals wanted him because he was so powerful, they knew he would draw too deeply from them. So they refused. This may be the reason you can not form a bond.”

“Who is the sweet talker now Cheneth? You are making me blush.”

“Let us go to the Fire and Spark guild, maybe they have a place for young Terrance.”

They spent the rest of the evening going from guild to guild, in every place Terrance thought he had completed the link, but something kept him from finishing the bond. With each stop more and more guild members followed them so that by the end they had all of the elemental guilds at the guild of Field and Forest.

“What is this,” Alexa asked as they all approached, “Why was I not informed of a meeting of the guilds. I feel I have been placed in a place of weakness by these actions.”

“Calm down Alexa,” Eric Daniels started, “We have an unusual request of you. Allow Terrance here to try to link with your elementals. Here is his token.”

“Why are you asking this of me, and why have all of these Guild masters come with you?”

“I gave a guild token to Terrance, but he was not able to link with my stone elementals.”

“He came to me next and was unable to link with my Air creatures.”

“He couldn’t link with my Fire warriors.”

“Or with my Water friends.”

“So you see Alexa, we came here.”

“If he failed so many times then he will not find success here. He is probably too weak.”

“He is not weak,” Cheneth broke in, “I have tested him. He is too strong. His strength is like a stone mountain, a hurricane as the storm front reaches land, a fire flowing through dry forest, a wave that rushes up far onto the land, a sprout that grows into a tall tree. He has light and darkness, ice and magma. He even has the spark. But he has not linked with any of the elements we still have access to. So we come to you, allow him to try your elementals. He would be a strong boon to your guild.”

“You have tested him? Fine, I can’t turn you away. Come in, try your best with my creatures.”

“Terrance? What are you doing here.”

Melody walked through a doorway, looking confused at the crowd. She shrank back into herself as the other watched her.

“You were right about her,” Alexa whispered, “Just needed to get her alone, and she was a fountain of strength. I have never seen anything like her condition. She is the reason I am allowing this, you saw her value before any of us did.”

They walked through fields and forests until they came to a clearing. Nature elementals roamed around gently swaying and singing. Terrance felt like he might be better off not having these elementals, but he didn’t say so.

Nothing changed here however, he walked from elemental to elemental, the link formed but did not fulfill. After a time he turned back to the waiting guild masters, “I can not do it, I will have to go into the mountains unlinked.”

“Unlinked, but not alone,” Melody said, “We will go together.”

“Thank you, Melody,” Terrance replied, “I do not want to be a burden but I fear if I go alone I will never rejoin my family.”

A Field fairy flew through the crowd, landing on Melody’s shoulder the fairy buzzed around her for a moment and then landed on Terrance’s shoulder. She curled up and fell asleep almost at once.

“Well Comet likes you, you have to come with us,” Melody said with a grin.

My first novella, short story, is on Amazon now. If you like what you have read support my writing by buying my eBook, on sale now at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B093G62TKM/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0

Or donate directly at https://www.patreon.com/cadencewriting

Temporal Incursion 617 E2

Why does my mom keep dragging me to the mall, Avery thought following her mother into yet another department store, its not like anyone cool would be here, who went to the mall anymore? Her mother rushed excitedly from shop to shop, exclaiming over all the inane things decorating the walls and displays.

She tried to drift away into the crowd, but her mother spotted her.

“Where you going Avery? Come see this dress, exactly your color. You would be adorable in this dress!”

Avery shuffled over, She hasn’t ever gotten her style right, the dress . Avery had bright red hair and an ungodly amount of freckles, the dress was bright pink with ruffles and half sleeves. Was this ever popular she thought as she tried to diplomatically tell her mother she wasn’t interested.

“You have to at least try the dress on,” her mother exclaimed, “This would be perfect for your job interview tomorrow.”

Why does my mom never listen, Avery thought, its useless.
There was no reasoning with her mother when they were shopping, she would have to try the dress on, buy the stupid thing, and when her mom wasn’t looking return it at the first opportunity.
How many dresses have I returned without my mom knowing? Fifty? Sixty. She had lost track after a while
“Trying this one on dear?” asked the girl manning the changing room. She stared at Avery sympathetically, Avery was a regular and the changing room girl knew Avery would be bringing this dress back in a few days.

“My mom wants me to try this monstrosity on, sorry for the inconvenience.”

“That’s all right, that one hasn’t moved in ages, gives us a reason to put something else in the display.”

Avery headed into the changing room, Locking the door behind her she took a deep breath and examined the dress again. Definitely not her color, or design for that matter.

The room shook, a shimmer appeared, at the door and moved towards her. She backed away from the shimmer, this wasn’t normal.

“Can someone help me?” she called out.

No one answered, the shimmer extended around the length of the room, soon she would be surrounded.

Best not to let that touch me, she thought, I don’t know what the shimmer is, or what it will do to me but I am not sticking around to find out.
She turned attacking the wall behind her. She kicked a hole in the base, and widened it with her hands. She made a space for her head to fit through and started crawling through. Shoving her shoulder

She was almost free when the shimmer touched her foot.

Everything changed instantly.

The sensation was like being torn in two. She was both roasting and freezing. Up and down kept flipping, she couldn’t tell where she was. Looking at her hand she watched her skin peel back, observed the working of her bones as she flexed her hand. Everything around her was shimmering intensely. Creatures moved around the outside of the shimmer, she had never seen anything like them but they didn’t appear to be anything she wanted to meet.

After a moment she landed with a crash back on the ground.

Where am I, she thought looking around. A three meter tall lizard with a beak ate fruit off of what appeared to beke a pine tree. Except since when did pine trees have fruit. The beaked lizard turned and examined her, she stood terror struck. This creature was massive. The creature made a loud rasping sound and turned back to its meal.

Avery felt her muscles unlocking, she sat down abruptly, panting for air.

She moved away from the grazing lizard, what was it?

Making her way through the woods she felt like there was something close by watching her, she turned quickly several times but couldn’t escape the feeling she was being followed.

Escaping the forest she came out onto an extensive plain, herds of creatures grazed in grass as tall as her waist. They lumbered around, making shrill noises at the sight of her, and returning to their grazing when she wasn’t a threat.

I should know what those are, Avery thought, but I cant remember. What are they?

A chittering sound behind her made her turn, there was something eyeing her from the brush. Something almost as tall as her, with scaly skin and lots of teeth. It lunged forward clawed hands scraping at her. She dodged left and right, got underneath its grip and sprinted for it. The tail whipped around, knocking her feet out from under her. She crashed to the ground and rolled away. It pursued her into the underbrush. She kicked and thrashed at the creature as it pushed its way through the dense underbrush.
A loud trumpeting sound startled the creature, she glanced up as something with three horns sticking off of its head slammed into the creature, sending it flying.

The three horned creature pursued the carnivore, stomping on it repeatedly as it tried to escape.

Avery did not wait to see who won, she raced into the forest and climbed up the nearest tree. Sitting up in the branches she observed the area, wondering what she should do next.

My first novella, short story, is on Amazon now. If you like what you have read support my writing by buying my ebook. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B093G62TKM/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0

Or donate directly at https://www.patreon.com/cadencewriting

Mary

A short story I wrote and sent to Writers of the Future contest. It didnt place. I enjoyed writing it however.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa.

Mary looked around the doctor’s office. Pictures of happy children playing on the beach. A pain indicator scale. What to do if you are depressed. Mary turned her wheelchair taking it all in again. Nothing had changed since the last time she had been here.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

A deep silence fell over her as she waited, punctuated only by the sound of her ventilator. Mary sat deep in thought wondering if this treatment would be the one to free her from this chair.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa.

The noise of the door opening startled her and she turned sharply towards the door, banging her leg against the hospital bed in the process. That would leave a bruise she thought as she backed away from the bed.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa.

“Good morning Mary how are you feeling today. My name is Doctor Nathan Williams but you can call me Nathan.” The doctor asked as he entered the room looking over her medical charts. Mary blushed slightly at seeing the doctor, they shouldn’t be allowed to be that cute she thought as he approached her wheelchair.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa.

Mary used her computer to select the right words. “The trip in was fine, no real traffic. Mom got me a coffee. It was pumpkin flavored.” The speaker at her waist rasped out for her. She wondered for perhaps the thousandth time what her own voice would have sounded like.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa.

“Are those out already?” Nathan said looking up, “Seems like they are earlier every year. I’ll have to get one for my wife on my way home.” The doctor smiled at Mary before continuing.

Whoosh khaa whoosh Khaa

“Are you ready to do the tests? See if you are a candidate for the newest treatment study?”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

Mary picked the words. “Yes, I am. A little nervous though.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“Nothing to be nervous about, we just need some of your blood. We will take some of your stem cells out and use some growth hormones to get them to multiply. If everything looks good we will then put them back into your spine. The stem cells should take over and with a little luck, you could make a full recovery.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

Mary felt her heartbeat quicken, a full recovery? They had said there was no recovery, that complete paralysis was incurable. She had been paralyzed since birth, an in-utero defect had left her entire spine open she basically did not have a spinal cord. Plastic surgery had sealed up the wound but there was no way to repair her spine.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

Mary sat in silence, weighing her response, “That would be amazing. What is the success rate in the test group?”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“In animal studies, there was a seventy-five percent success rate. Including a thirty percent rate of full recovery. This would be the first human trial, there are some risks but those can be mitigated. Can I take that blood now?”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

Mary watched the doctor walk towards her, flip her arm up, and insert the needle into her arm. She watched with fascination as the blood flowed out of her arm and into the bag. One of the benefits of paralysis was a lack of feeling, she hadn’t felt the needle at all. That also came with negative side effects as well of course.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“What happened to your leg Mary?” the doctor asked bending down to examine her leg more closely. Mary glanced at the mirror, she saw that her leg was dark purple and sticking out at a weird angle.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

Picking the words, “I turned too quickly when you came in and banged my leg on the bed. I didn’t realize I hit it that hard, I thought it would just bruise or something.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

Dr. Nathan rushed her into the x-ray room and lifted her onto the table. A few x-rays later and it was confirmed, she had broken her leg. Quite a feat for a quadriplegic. Mary watched impassively as the doctor set her leg and then put it in a cast.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“Ok Mary, we will run some test on that blood sample, see if we can get those stem cells working for you. We will contact you when we have more information.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

Mary turned her chair and headed for the door. Once outside she sped down the street and into the waiting car. Her mother had chosen to wait in the car, she was uncomfortable in doctor’s offices.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“How did it go?”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

Mary picked the words, “Fine. Broke my leg. The doctor said it will heal soon. Also took some blood, they have a new treatment for spinal treatment. It’s possible I could walk.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“Not again. Mary, you need to be more careful. I knew getting you that powered chair was a bad idea.” Her mom considered Mary for a moment, “Don’t get your hopes up too high Mary. We both know where that leads us. The number of times they promised us the world and it fell flat.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

Mary knew only too well. She had gone in for treatment after treatment, all designed to correct her problem. The neural interface had helped, it allowed her to communicate with the machines around the house, if this treatment didn’t work she could still live an independent life. Mary turned the car on with her mind and set off driving for home. Her mother sat in the passenger seat brooding.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“I don’t like this; they don’t know how to fix spines. Why are they promising my little girl they can heal her after all these failures? It’s cruel for them to get your hopes up.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

Mary was counting down the days until she turned eighteen, 658 more days, and she could live on her own. She had already saved up enough money to buy a small apartment. She was working on furnishing it now. Mary had started writing short stories when she was twelve years old, she had sold a few of them to online magazines. After that she had started writing novels, she wasn’t on the New York Times best seller’s list, but she was making a living.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

Signaling for the garage door to open Mary whipped the car in faster than her mother was used to. “Yikes,” She shrieked as she grabbed onto the dashboard in an attempt to not be thrown against the window. “Slow down.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

The car came to a sudden stop exactly where Mary had been aiming. She signaled for the car to open the door and slide her wheelchair out. Wheeling herself into the house she headed to the kitchen where she used the helper arms to make a sandwich for her mother. The neural link allowed her to grab two slices of bread with one hand, mayo, lettuce, and turkey with another, while a third cleared away the clean dishes from the dishwasher. Her own lunch was a protein-rich smoothie she could put into her feeding tube.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

After lunch, Mary went into her bedroom to work on her latest novel, “Paradise retaken”. She was having trouble deciding on what the book’s protagonist would do next. A message appeared on her screen, she concentrated on selecting it, and a video message started. It was Doctor Nathan.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“Great news Mary! Your stem cells are compatible with the procedure. We will be sending a tech out to your house to set up some equipment for you to use during the study. They should be there soon.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

A knock on the front door startled Mary. She accessed the video feed for the front door, a pair of nurses and a laborer stood waiting impatiently. Hanging up on the doctor she headed towards the front door.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

Mary wheeled into the entryway and cued the door to open. “Where would you like this setup.” The lead nurse asked, bursting into the house, and looking around. She sniffed impatiently tapping her foot.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

Taken aback Mary was at a loss for words.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“Come come, we don’t have all day. Where would you like it?”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“Where would I like what?”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“Your equipment for the study.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

Oh yeah, Marry thought, the doctor had said someone was on their way. Must have gotten here faster than he thought. “Maybe in the den.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

Mary wheeled into the empty den, “You can set it up right here. We never use this room anymore.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

The laborer started assembling a large machine while the nurses took Mary’s measurements. They pushed and pulled on her arms and legs, working the stiffness out of them, and seeing what the range of motion was.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“That broken leg is going to cause problems.” The younger nurse exclaimed, “We can’t take its measurements yet.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

Mary felt a moment of panic, would she be excluded from the study because of her broken leg. Could a moment of inattention really doom her to a life of paralysis? She knew that if there were adverse side effects in the study group the whole procedure could be shut down or delayed for years. Times like this did not come often and when they did they required immediate action.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“No,” the older nurse replied, “It should be fine. The legs are the last to heal. It might delay her walking, but it shouldn’t affect the process. We’ll just have to come back when the cast is off.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“Ok Mary, time to get into the machine. Link your neural chip and we will get started. You can wait in the car, Tim.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

The laborer exited the door as Mary opened up the interface.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“Turn your wheelchair so that your back is to the machine and then select start.” The older nurse ordered tapping her foot again.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

The machine hummed to life. It latched itself onto the back of the wheelchair and then maneuvered to encapsulate her arms and legs. Once attached the machine injected muscle stimulators throughout her arms and legs, they spasmed slightly as the machine calibrated.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“Your body is atrophied, if the trial succeeds your body will have no idea how to move and it will be too stiff and sore to want to. This machine will stimulate your muscles, causing muscle growth. When your spine is repaired you should be strong enough to start learning how to walk. Don’t overdo it, your body will need time to adjust. I have set a schedule on here, it will tell you when it’s time to do another session.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

The nurses packed up their kits and headed towards the door. “The doctor said he would be ready for the first treatment next Monday. He will come here to do the treatment. Expect him around nine.” With that, they walked out the door leaving Mary feeling rushed and breathless.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

The week flew by, Mary spent longer and longer amounts of time in the chair, working at getting her muscles working. Monday morning didn’t seem to come quickly enough, but when it did Mary didn’t know if she was ready.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

The doctor came in, it was Nathan again, with the younger nurse. Mary felt a sense of relief that it wasn’t the older bossier nurse. “Are we ready for your treatment?” Doctor Nathan asked.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

Mary selected her response, “Yes, I am ready.” She was glad that the machine didn’t give the tremble of apprehension she was feeling.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“We are going to start with your C1-C5 vertebras. Those are the top four. They affect your involuntary movements. Your breathing is affected by the first four and the fifth one controls your shoulders. Over the next few weeks, you should start gaining some control over your breathing. You should also start feeling some sensations from your arms and shoulders.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

For three days nothing seemed to happen but on the fourth day Mary woke up in excruciating pain. She screamed a raspy unused scream that was gargled by her ventilator. Her scream brought her mother running.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“What’s happening? Who is here?”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

She searched the room, looking for the intruder. After a moment she realized that it was Mary screaming. Once the shock wore off, she ran out of the room and dialed the doctor.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

The doctor arrived quickly. “I didn’t expect this to work so fast,” he exclaimed rushing in. The doctor and nurse triaged Mary, finding nothing wrong with her the doctor said, “It must be her nerve cells regrowing, I’ll give her an anticonvulsant, it should numb the pain.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

Mary felt the drugs taking effect. She relaxed and looked around. Signaling the computer she asked, “What happened?”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“You were having nerve pain because of the procedure, we have never seen it take place so quickly. Normally it would take from a couple of weeks to a few months for the growth repair to give the sensation of pain.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“We will be by a couple of times a day now to check on you and administer more pain medicine.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

Questions answered Mary wheeled herself into the kitchen to prepare breakfast, while the doctor packed up his medical bag, and her mother sat on the chair in stunned silence.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“How did she scream? She doesn’t have control of her diaphragm. She shouldn’t have been able to scream. I’ve never heard her voice, she cant even moan really.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“That is part of the procedure, if it is working right her lungs and diaphragm should be the first things to heal. We should assess her ventilator use. If she is regaining her lung control we should start weaning her off of it. If everything goes as planned she will build up more strength and stamina she should be able to lose the ventilator entirely, maybe even learn how to talk.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

The doctor reached over and turned the ventilator to a lower setting. Mary felt a moment of panic, she couldn’t breathe.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

She still had air, but it wasn’t enough. She tried to draw a breath, her diaphragm was incredibly weak.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“Mary, you need to practice breathing with the machine. Now that the treatment is starting to work you are going to have to learn how to do this for yourself. Nurse, order the next injection. I would like to do that now.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“But the next treatment isn’t for another week. Shouldn’t you wait?”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“She is coming along nicely, we should inject her C5 vertebrae, get it healing.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

The nurse typed some commands into her phone and in a few moments, a drone appeared at the door with the medical equipment.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

Mary felt a sharp pain in the back of her neck. The pain surprised her and she cried out. Unfortunately, she cried out as the ventilator was drawing breath in causing more pain.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“Careful there Mary, we don’t want you to hurt yourself now. This next injection will affect your shoulders and arms, you should start getting feeling back in them, and eventually, you should start getting control over them.” The doctor and nurse left, and Mary continued making breakfast.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

After the doctor left Mary’s best friend Tiffany came over.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“You are so lucky you don’t have to go to school right now.” Tiffany complained throwing her backpack on the bed and collapsing next to it , “Mr. Elkword gave a ton of homework on Greek architecture and Mrs. Bridges wants us to read the entirety of Macbeth before class on Monday.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“That’s not so bad,” Mary signaled, “Macbeth is one of the shortest of Shakespeare’s plays. She could have assigned Hamlet.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“I don’t even get what it’s about, why do we have to learn these old plays, can’t we just read something new?”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“Classics stay around for a reason, Tiffany, there is a lot of good stuff in those old plays. Shakespeare really understood human nature.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“Maybe he understood old English humans, but we are so different today we might as well not even be the same species.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“We haven’t changed that much, just our technology. We seem more advanced because we have TVs and cars and advanced hospitals but when you get too human nature we haven’t changed at all.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“How can you say that we don’t kill each other, we don’t have slaves. We are so much better than we were.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“There are still tons of slaves in the world. Not to mention the sex trade is rampant here in the US. Nothing has changed there except now it is easier to enslave large groups of people without anyone noticing. People in Africa or South America can’t pay their debts, so they send one of their daughters to work in the city, only there isn’t any real work. The employer kidnaps them and prostitutes them out. It happens all the time.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“That doesn’t happen in real life,” Tiffany exclaimed, “You have been watching too many adventure flicks. In real life, we are more civilized than that.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

Mary stopped arguing, knowing that arguing with Tiffany wouldn’t change her mind. She believed in the good of humanity so she wouldn’t listen to any proof otherwise. Mary found her t be naïve but fun.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

After a few hours of homework and small talk, Tiffany got up to leave. “Any chance you will be coming back to school soon?”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“Not until this study is over. They want me to concentrate on healing.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“See you soon.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

Mary wheeled over to the stimulator machine and plugged herself in with a mental command. It had been a few days since she had the shot in her neck and she was starting to be able to move her arms a little. This also meant that the daily arm stimulation was getting painful.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

Mary watched as the machine worked her through a series of commands, making her hands open and close. Her arms were still really stiff, they would not open to their full extent. The machine was pushing the boundaries day by day. Her right hand was opening and closing slightly now, the tight fist her hand been holding since she was a child was especially slow at relaxing.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

Before when she was in the machine she couldn’t feel a thing, now as the machine moved her arms and hands around she felt a burning sensation as well as an uncomfortable prickling. She tried to ignore it, she still had ten minutes left but the pain was increasing. She gritted her teeth and refused to turn the machine off.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

By the time the machine was done, she was soaked in sweat. She wanted to cry it hurt so bad but she refused to stop. The doctor had said this would help her regain control of her body, she wasn’t going to short change herself by giving up over a little pain.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

Day after day passed with more feeling returning to her arms. She could see them moving now, she could even make them move in ways she wanted if she concentrated really hard, but she couldn’t make her wrists or hands obey her.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“That’s because we haven’t healed that part of your spine yet. The next shot should heal your wrists and the ones after that should affect your hands.” The doctor said when she asked him about it.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“We should be able to turn down the ventilator some more as well. Get it so your lungs and diaphragm are strengthened even more.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

Mary hated when they messed with the ventilator, she knew it was necessary but it made her feel claustrophobic for days until her lungs were strengthened enough to bear the additional workload.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“We are going to do the rest of the C vertebras today. If you keep recovering at the rate you have been you should have your hands back under control in the next couple of months.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

Mary couldn’t wait to tell Tiffany the good news, she eagerly awaited her arrival that evening. When Tiffany finally arrived Mary had made Tiffany’s favorite desert, macrons, using the helper arms in the kitchen.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“You are so good at baking Mary; I don’t know how you do it. My macrons always get hard, how do you keep them chewy?”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“I follow the recipe,” Mary said rolling her eyes. Tiffany never followed any rules if she felt like she could get away with it.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“Did I tell you what Pete did?” Tiffany asked her eyes flashing with excitement, “He swam across the river on a dare. He was so cold when he got out on the other side that he had turned blue.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“He is lucky he didn’t drown.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“You worry too much, he was fine,” Tiffany said rolling her eyes and stuffing another Macron in her mouth.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“I suppose.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“Guess what the doctor told me today! I should be able to move my arms and hands soon.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“That’s great. I stopped by the club on the way over here. I took a couple of beers; do you want one?”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“No thanks, I don’t want anything that might affect my recovery.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“It’s not going to affect your recover, it’s just beer.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“Alcohol slows down nerve growth. It’s why they don’t let kids drink it until they get older.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“You sound just like my mom.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“Smart lady.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“Come on just drink one, I went through all the trouble of getting one. It’s not cheap or easy.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“No thank you.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“Fine,” Tiffany grumbled, “I’m going to Amy’s house. I am sure she will drink one with me.” Tiffany lunged to her feet, throwing her stuff in her bag, and heading out the door, slamming it behind her.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

Mary was stunned, it was just a drink, why was Tiffany so upset? She rolled over to the window and watched Tiffany get into her car and drive away.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

Her machine beeped, telling her it was time for another practice session. Gritting her teeth, she backed her chair up to the machine. The pain started immediately. Not for the first time, Mary wondered if being able to walk was worth the pain.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

Months had passed, Mary had full control of her arms, and her legs were starting to obey her. She could make small tottering steps with the help of the parallel bars the doctor had sent over to her. She wanted to keep pushing herself, but the doctor told her she needed to rest, only practice with the nurse, never by herself. And never push herself too far or she would slow down her recovery.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

Tiffany had still not come back. Mary wished she knew what was going on with her. She had considered driving over to her house but was so busy with her book and treatments that she hadn’t taken the time to go over. Feeling like a bad friend she decided she should drive over and see her.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

Heading towards the door she pulled on her coat. Reaching for a scarf she heard someone knocking at the door. Wheeling her chair over to the door she opened it to find Tiffany standing there.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“You have to help me; he is looking for me,” Tiffany exclaimed darting inside and slamming the door behind her.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“Who is looking for you?”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“The guy from the club. He drugged me. I woke up in the back of his car. He had gone back inside to get something, so I slipped out of the car. He chased me and I lost him in a back alley.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“We need to call the police.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“No, we can’t, I was drinking, they will give me a breathalyzer, and then they will tell my mother. She threatened to kick me out if she caught me drinking again.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“He tried to kidnap you, Tiffany, we have to call the police. He could do this to someone else. We need to get the police involved before the drugs get out of your system. The longer we wait the less likely they will be to catch and convict him.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

The front door suddenly burst in. Two guys wearing masks charged in searching the house. Tiffany squealed and then clamped her hands over her mouth. Mary’s phone was in the other room and she had taken to using a nonpowered wheelchair to strengthen her arms and torso so she couldn’t use it to call the police.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“Can you turn your ventilator off? It’s going to give us away,” Tiffany whispered.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“Only if I want to suffocate,” Mary replied.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“They are going to catch us,” Tiffany moaned glaring at the machine attached to the back of Mary’s chair.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“I didn’t go out drinking and bring them here,” Mary replied curtly glaring back.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“What do we have here.” The taller man asked as he pushed his way into Mary’s bedroom where the girls had been hiding.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“I don’t like it when a woman runs out on me,” the smaller man said leering down at Tiffany, “I have debts to settle you see. You are going to pay a big chunk of that debt for me.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“What about the other one?” the larger man asked.

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“She is pretty enough; not sure how many people would like her ventilator though. Kind of annoying.”

Whoosh khaa whoosh khaa

“We could turn it off.” The larger man stepped forward and pulled the battery from Mary’s ventilator. Mary felt panic as her poorly developed lungs gasped for air. She clutched at her throat trying to pull air in. She grasped the ventilator and slowly started to pull the tube out.

It felt rough sliding up her esophagus.

“That is disgusting, look at all that goo.”

“How did she stand to have that in her?”

“Let’s take this girl and go. Leave this one, she won’t last long anyway. Nobody is going to pay for that.”

Mary slouched in her chair trying to take deep breaths but failing. Her breaths came in slow ragged gasps.

One of the men pulled her out of the chair and threw her onto the bed. They pushed Tiffany into the chair and tied her to it. They turned and started to wheel her out of the apartment.

Mary pushed herself up as they left, determination gripping her. She called for her wheelchair, heard it turn on in the other room. She slid along the wall, tottering on shaky legs. She got to the door of her room as the men were passing the kitchen.

“Where did that wheelchair come from?” The big guy asked, “It’s blocking our way.”

He tried to kick it out of the way, but Mary dodged the kick and rammed into his other leg. A loud crunch was followed by his ragged screaming. The man fell to the floor, clutching his shattered leg.

“What’s going on”, the smaller man said. He brandished his gun, looking around for a target. He backed into the kitchen. Mary keyed up the helper’s arms, they reached out and grabbed the gun, yanking it out of his reach. They grabbed at the man as well, but he dodged them. Looking around he saw Mary tottering in the doorway.

“You will pay for that,” he snarled as he headed towards her.

Mary tried to back up but tripped and fell to the floor. The man crossed the distance quickly. Mary’s wheelchair had flipped on its side when she had attacked the first man. Mary crawled as far as she could away from the man and hid her face in her hands.

Mary heard a loud crash followed by a thump. She looked up to see her mom standing over the man holding what was left of a vase in her hands. The man lay unconscious on the floor. Mary gasped weakly. “Thanks, mom.” She said. Her mom’s eyes brimmed with tears, “I never thought I would hear your voice.” She picked up her cellphone and called the police. The men were starting just starting to stir when the police showed up and put them in handcuffs.

The doctor arrived a few minutes later and placed a breathing mask over Mary’s face to help her breathe.

“Since you already pulled that out by yourself let’s see how you do without one.” He said.

After all their statements were taken the police left leaving Tiffany, Mary, and her mom to clean up the mess.

“Thank you,” Tiffany said, “I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t helped me.”

“What are friends for,” Mary replied, smiling up at Tiffany from her wheelchair.

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Enkind E10

Elementals crashed together, tossed about like rag dolls by that little slip of a girl and that underage boy. Eric Daniels surveyed the scene with a feverishness that bordered on mainia; how could they gather such skills and he had not heard of them? He leaned forward, intently studying the initiates as the elementals attacked, those two initiates showed far more promise than he had at that age. If they continued to impress him He would offer them a position as initiates when the battle ended.
The battle finished far too quickly for his taste, it had been an amazing battle and he would like to see more of their skill.
Eric Daniels signaled to one of the lower-level guild members, “Take my token to those two, we can use them in the guild of Earth and Mountain.”

The ground rumbled underneath his seat, nearly knocking him off his seat, the elementals reformed themselves in the arena. What was going on?

Eric Daniels leaned forward in his seat, he had never seen ground used like that, the ease in which they used the magic, and the amount of use they transferred out of the amulet astonished even him, the greatest earth user in the guild. They might even be able to bond with the stone drake, a feat unparalleled in a generation.

Eric Daniels gasped as Terrance flew through the air, taking the blow aimed at Melody.

“What a waste,” he said as he turned to leave, “Give the token to the survivor.”

Melody’s face was ashen as the guild of Field and Forest led her away. Terrance wanted to go join her but she was surrounded by other guild members and there he could not see a way to get through.
She is going to hate that, he thought, she hates being the center of attention.

Standing up he glanced around, forest fairies floated through the arena, singing songs of healing to those who were still injured. Terrance flexed his back, the pain was gone. He did a quick summersault, he felt fantastic. Feeling the energy rushing through him he realized no one could stop him from joining Melody.

He ran forward, dodging through the lines of people until he caught up to where she was being led away.

“Melody,” he called, “where are you going.”
Melody turned back to him, anxiety written all over her face, “They want to talk with me.”

“Let me go with her,” he said to Alexa Strithe, the leader of the Field and Forest guild.

“We are taking her to our headquarters, no one outside of the guild is allowed in.”

“She is not part of the guild,” Terrance responded, “You can not take her there either. She can not join the guild until she finishes the tournament and links with a field or forest elemental.”

“She linked already, look at how the fairies responded to her being in danger. She is linked to one of them.”

“Fairies don’t link, they are too intelligent.”

“That is why we must talk with her. We will not harm her,” Alexa responded, “We just have some questions for her.”

Terrance motioned for Alexa to come closer, “She doesn’t do well in groups, talk to her one on one. She is the toughest person I know, but a group this size will send her scrambling.”

Alexa nodded before turning to go.
“The rest of you go see to the needs of the initiates, make sure none are too hurt.”

Without a backward glance Alex and Melody walked out of the arena and into the forest.

“Excuse me initiate, can we speak for a moment.”

Terrance turned as one of the Mountain and Earth guild members approached him.
“Where are they taking the girl?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“Guild master Eric Daniels would like to offer her a position in the Mountain and Earth Guild, I was told to approach her after the battle.”

“You are too late then, Field and Forest took her to their guild already.”

“No way, she can’t have. She was impressive with stone. How could she have placed in Field and Forest? She hasn’t even tested there yet.”

“Why don’t you go and ask them. I don’t have anything to do with the matter.”

“You don’t? I saw how you two fought alongside each other. You have obviously been practicing together for years. I am surprised we haven’t heard of you yet.”

“We met for the first time yesterday, that was the first time we ever used stone. At least the first time I did, she may have used an earth amulet before. Now if you will excuse me my family is waiting to congratulate me.”

Terrance turned and walked back towards the stage.

“Wait.”

Terrance turned, the guild member held out a token to Terrance.

“Take this, before you were injured I was told to give one to you. The guild master must have thought you wouldn’t survive. Bring the token to the guild headquarters and you will be allowed to pick from the guild’s personal elementals.”

With that, the guild member turned and walked off. Terrance stood looking down at the token in his hand, awe written on his face.

My first novella, short story, is on Amazon now. If you like what you have read support my writing by buying my ebook.

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Temporal incursion 617

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This is not related to my ongoing fantasy story. This is just a fun sci-fi short.

Corrie stepped through the portal glancing around to find his bearings. Finding his mark he headed towards the city. Following the path of optimal noninterference, he searched for the source of the ripple.

In a dingy hut on the outskirts of a village, he found the source, a 12-year-old boy out of time. The boy saw him coming and tried to flee but Corrie just took out the Renovator and cut him down. Full sanitation two minutes forty-seven seconds. Heading back to the gate he felt a small amount of regret. The ripple had been small, it would have probably dissipated before reaching the present.

That was not his decision to make, however. Stepping into the forest he tripped the signal and a portal opened before him. He took a steadying breath before stepping through.

Cold hot wet dry up down inside out, and he was through. Walking down the gray corridor he arrived at relinquishment and contrition. Pausing outside the door he thumbed the switch and stepped through.

“Did the opp go well?”

“Incursion 617, a displaced 12-year-old male, has been neutralized. His clothing indicated he was from the twenty-second century. The area had been sanitized, no witnesses.”

“Very well, the head wants you to report in at the south center. Good luck.”

Corrie exited the room quickly heading down the same gray corridor to south center. He wondered what the head wanted to see him about, the mission has been uneventful no ripples in the timeline to work through.

Pausing at the door to gather his thoughts he put his thumb to the pad and resisted wincing at the prick. A moment later the door whirred open, and he stepped through.

The head’s office was a tapestry of multi-timal media. A Japanese shamans’ headdress sat in one corner, new, fresh from feudal japan. A Carolina parakeet flew around a brightly lit enclosure squawking loudly. A wall of scrolls on the left wall drew his attention, stolen from the library of Alexandria before it was pillaged and burned.

The head cleared his throat and Corrie snapped back to the present. It was never good to keep the head waiting.

Walking over to the desk he sat down in the chair the head motioned to. Stellar sea cow leather seat he noticed.

He sat staring at the head waiting for the interview to start. The head leaned back in his chair and studied Corrie in return. A long silence followed. Corrie sat wondering what the head wanted. He refused to be intimidated, however.

“I suppose we should get this started. We need you to take a trainee. I know you have refused in the past, but we need more people like you. No one has finished as many missions and you, 312 right?”

“327 sir.”

“Your file last night said 311 and you just got back from one.”

” Emergency last night, the distortion emanated through the domain. Had to do a quick fifteen hop to get it squared away.”

” So one mission with fourteen additional points of sanitation.”

“No fifteen separate distortions requiring one-hop a piece.”

“Impressive. I’ll have the boys in reclamation and resurgence substantiate that, you might be in for a bonus. But that is why I have called you in here, I need you to train new recruits. We can’t have another incident like McCredie.”

“I thought that was a rumor.”

“It is, but between you and me it’s true, the causal wave has drifted by 33% and grown by over 200 percent. We can’t continue with the crew we have now, and one more slip up means no more anything.”

“What did you have in mind?”

For those of you interested in my new novella.

Sailing the stars

My novella, Sailing the Stars, is live on Amazon now. It started out as my short story Torcher, and I expanded on it, added viewpoints, and streamlined it. Anyone who wants a half hour to an hour read can click the link below and purchase my Novella. Any positive reviews would be appreciated!

The paperback copy is now available.