I am currently writing a sci-fi/fantasy Trilogy (though I wish it wasn't classified as sci-fi...), Quest for the Stars. This is the first book, The Beginning.
I will be posting a minimum of one Chapter a week until I've gone to Chapter 5 (which I am currently working on), in which I will post a little less, each time happening as soon as I finish a Chapter.
This is Chapter 1, Shades Revealed; and the Prologue.
Prologue
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A planet floated below, lush with life and spirit. The oceans flowed with calm and soothing waves that coursed through the planet like blood, the rivers their veins. The continents stood, each alone on this great planet. This was Allsieda/Draconia, home to the warrior race known as the Allsies and their equally fierce partners, the Dragons.<o></o>
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These two races, though not the only sentient beings on the planet, were by far the most dominant species to roam it. The Allsies and Dragons preferred the outdoors, so there were very few buildings on the planet. The only buildings on the planet were the blacksmiths and the rare factory or starport. The interstellar ships were for the benefit of the other races, not for the Dragons or Allsies, for both could survive in the vacuum of space. Nothing held these two races back. Hey were not barbaric or authoritarian races, but they were two of the most powerful known races through the universe.<o></o>
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A hand came into view, coated with blue fur. A high, cold voice resounded through the mind of the Allsie, Do it. I command it; destroy the planet and its people. I will not accept failure.<o></o>
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The Allsie resisted. No, he fought. I will not destroy my home. A dry cackle sprang into the Allsie’s mind, making him buckle over in pain.<o></o>
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You don’t have a choice, it crowed. The Allsie felt his hand rise, his power being called upon against his will. No! he cried, resisting with all his might. But it was no use. From his outstretched palm blasted a huge ball of pure energy. The ball sank into the middle of the ocean, steam billowing up before it dissipated into the atmosphere. The pressure around the Allsie changed, and the planet imploded before his very eyes.<o></o>
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NO! he screamed. The cackle screamed through his mind again, and his eyes screwed up in pain. Even then, he could not block out the light of the explosion as the planet was destroyed. His home was gone.
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Hera Ledro landed on the ground, raising his zweihander style broadsword, the Dragon Blade, to block the incoming attack. Jake King, Hera Ledro’s 70x human great-grandson had swung his own zweihander, the golden Soul Shredder, down upon Hera, the whirl of gold making the air seem to set itself on fire.<o></o>
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Hera pushed the blade back, his tail swinging forwards in an arc as he jumped back to parry Jake’s attack. Jake whirled backwards as well, dodging the counterattack. Hera’s Dragonic wings wrapped around his body as he spiralled through the air, displacing the air around him in a whirl of brown leathery wings. As Hera landed, he pivoted on one foot, unfurling his wings and slashing upwards with his Dragon Blade, meeting Jake’s once again.<o></o>
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Hera smiled under his foes sword. “You’ve grown stronger Jake,” he said, his medium-pitched voice as smooth as quicksilver resounding throughout the valley that was their battlefield. “And faster too, I must admit.” In a whirl of blue fur that was a trademark of the Allsie race, Hera pushed with his double-layer of muscles, overpowering Jake slightly, but just enough to push him back, sending him back through the air.<o></o>
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As Jake landed, kneeling in a defensive stance, he smiled back, absolutely ecstatic. “All because I learned from you Gramps, check this!”<o></o>
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Jake, normally an average-looking thirteen-year-old human with green-tinted black hair, garbed in baggy jeans, shirt, and a red hoodie; burst into flames. A few seconds later, a seven-foot tall red Dragon stood in his place, crimson scales glinting in the sunlight. His green spines flowed down his back in a column, sharp as an Allsie’s tail. His teeth were likewise pointed, and grinned in an ivory white from beneath his hackles. Jake stood on his hind legs, much like a human, and held his Soul Shredder in his left claw, the golden blade glinting in the sunlight. His golden belly scales likewise shone smartly as the sunlight reflected off of them.<o></o>
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“Ha-ha!” Jake crowed. “How’d’ya like me now?” Indeed, Jake’s power had increased a thousand-fold, and he was easily far more powerful than Hera was now.<o></o>
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Hera stood not 20 metres from Jake. Standing just over six-and-a-half feet tall, his blue fur rippled in the wind, his usually vertical hair bent sideways from the gusts, flowing beautifully nonetheless. He held his tail so that it curved around his left leg and around his body until it hung over his left shoulder and wing, 2 of his six limbs. The blade on the tail’s end hung threateningly in the air over Hera’s head.<o></o>
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Flexing his left hand and his right arm, Hera also transformed. A golden flame-like aura erupted around him, blocking his body from sight for an instant. In that time, his body had undergone severe changes.<o></o>
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His blue fur had been replaced by a silver coat, glimmering in the sunlight in contrast with his hair, now adopting a gold colouration. Hera’s tail blade and claw-like nails that adorned his fingertips had abandoned their solid bone-white din, and gave way to a gleaming copper sheen, the sunlight bouncing off of them with dazzling brilliance. Hera’s power had likewise increased with this transformation, and he was now easily a match for Jake.<o></o>
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“Maybe we should turn this up a notch,” Hera called, changing his stance into an offensive formation, grinning madly all the while. Though he was fighting with Jake primarily to train him and give him practice, he could not deny that he was having a lot of fun. <o></o>
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Jake grinned back. “Yeah, let’s do this!” Pushing off from the ground, creating a massive crater from the force of the push-off, Jake shot after Hera, moving at an insane speed that far surpassed the speed of sound, wings outstretched to give him near-optimal velocity, just as Hera had taught him.<o></o>
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Jake folded his wings and flipped in midair, using the momentum to fuel his attack as he brought his sword down upon Hera. Hera responded in kind by swinging his sword upwards, the blades meeting with a deafening clang. A small fissure opened up from the force of the impact. As the swords separated, they came together in a series of attacks and defences, each fiercer than the next, widening the crack even more. The last attack crumbled the ground, and Hera and Jake pushed off so as to not fall into the giant hole they made.<o></o>
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They took to the skies, Hera splitting his Dragon Blade into two identical halves, each a threatening six feet long. He held one blade in each hand, having long mastered this style of sword-wielding. To Hera, this blade, though made of some of the densest and heaviest steel forgeable, was light. The Dragon scales that augmented the blade did have certain properties that made the blade lighter, but even then, a Kariyu-shina warrior would have trouble hefting this blade with two hands, let alone one (and they were one of the strongest races in the universe).<o></o>
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Precious few beings in the universe had this kind of strength, some of which Hera was in the process of training, and Jake being one of them. Of all the people Hera knew, Jake was the only one superior to him in fighting. All of his trainees were by far weaker than him, and his brothers were likewise weaker, though not to the same degree as his students. In fact, Ashia and Taichi were very close to achieving the Dragonic Allsie state, as opposed to the Angelic Allsie forms that they had already taken.<o></o>
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As Hera and Jake shot after each other again, one of Hera’s students, Hunter, came over the hill.<o></o>
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The boy was, like Jake, an average looking Canadian teenager. At the age of fourteen, he stood just under five-and-a-half feet tall, his long red hair spiked upwards with a few bangs hanging low over his brow. Like Jake, however, he was not purely human. Jake himself was part Allsie (as Hera’s great-grandchild), part Kariyu-shina, part Dragon, and part human. Hunter, however, was only part Kariyu-shina and part human, and his immense strength was definitely a testament to that. Hunter wore a white T-shirt and a blue vest over it. With hiking boots, white socks and basketball shorts, he looked just like your average Caucasian kid.<o></o>
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Brett, another student, came bounding over the hill after Hunter. Brett was the youngest of Hera’s students. Being only eleven-years-old, he was a fighting (and intellectual) genius. He stood just under five-feet tall (which was actually fairly tall for his age), and was also part Kariyu-shina. He wore baggy jeans and a jean vest over a gray T-shirt. His hair, like all Kariyu-shina’s, was standing up much in the same fashion as Hunter’s and Jake’s. Like Hunter though, his hair did not adorn the usual brown or black colours genetic to Kariyu-shina, but was rather a dirty-blonde colour.<o></o>
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“Hey guys!” Hunter called, voice young and raspy, waving as he ran. “Tai said that supper was ready! Come on, veggies and rice all around!” Hera pricked his ears at this and turned to Hunter. Jake, however, looked somber. “There’s meat for you Jake,” Hunter amended. “We know that people with Dragon blood can’t survive without meat. Tai made sure to get some for you. Actually,” he said, scratching his chin. “I think that Ben went to the store to get it. Allsies aren’t exactly the most common thing on earth.” Hunter grinned madly up at Hera and Jake.<o></o>
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Hera laughed as he landed, reverting back to his previous appearance, and sheathing his sword with his tail. “Well, I have to admit you’re right there,” Hera said. “I wasn’t exactly very popular with the people back in the middle ages. Hell, they made sure to throw spears and arrows at me, thinking I was some kind of demon.<o></o>
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Brett squirmed. “Oh come on, can we go eat? Hunter and I have been at it all afternoon, and I’m hungry!” Jake, Hera, and Hunter laughed.<o></o>
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“We’re all hungry,” Jake said. “None of us have been training any less than you. Let’s go!” Jake took to the skies, reverting back to his human form as he rose. Hunter and Brett followed suit. The three of them had formed their own little group amongst Hera’s students, and they were all easily the most promising. Jake, though by far more powerful than Hera Ledro, still had potential that put all the other kids to shame. Brett’s potential was also up there, and Hunter’s came in close behind. Hera followed them as well, folding his wings around him and pushing off, leaving a near-invisible trail of his equally invisible white aura behind him, dissipating in the air.<o></o>
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As they flew back, Hera contemplated how of the three of them, Jake was looked at as their leader. He was definitely not the oldest, being younger than Hunter by just under two years, but they still looked to him as their leader. Indeed, Hera thought. They do look to him because of his skills as a leader, not because of his age or power. It was the same with Hera (though he was the eldest of those he considered his brothers), he was inadvertently nominated the leader of their little troupe. Like Jake, he was kind-hearted and just. However, while Jake was one to rush into things headlong, Hera would think things out shortly before attempting anything. Both easy-going, with a powerful and stone-founded sense of honour, they are very anti-prosetylistic, angered when people attempt to force their beliefs upon others. Like all Allsies (and Kariyu-shina in Jake’s case), both Hera and Jake had a love to fight. This was not out of a desire to inflict bodily harm, but rather to train themselves up and better their abilities. Indeed, both Hera and Jake are almost mirror images in personality, though Jake does tend to be a little discourteous at times.<o></o>
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As they flew back to the hollow, a little indentation in the ground where Hera and his brothers lived, they found the large stone table that Isaac constructed with his Earth-elemental abilities. It was natural amongst Allsies and Dragons to have adept command over the elements of Fire, Earth, Wind, Water, and Lightning, but it was much harder for humans and Kariyu-shina to learn it. Once they did though, they were perfect rivals to Allsies and Dragons.<o></o>
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“Hey, Hera!” Tai called from the table, waving. He looked almost identical to Hera Ledro, standing a few inches taller and with a larger bundle of brown hair. He was the 4<SUP>th</SUP> youngest of Hera’s brothers, Hera being the second.<o></o>
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Adorning the table were several plates with vegetable teriyaki (Jake’s with beef teriyaki). Hera’s students Ben, Ron, Kim, and Terry sat at the table with his brothers, Tai, Ash, Lan, Tyson, Dakato, Isaac, Vahn, and Takuya. All of his students were of Kariyu-shina descent (by coincidence, as they seemed to possess enormous fighting potential that was common to Kariyu-shina), and had absolutely amazing fighting skills. Kim was the only girl amongst them, fifteen years old with a black shirt and long sweatpants. Her hair was waist-length and brown, and she stood around five-and-a-quarter feet tall with it up. Of all his students, she did unfortunately have the least potential (which was a horrid occurrence to Hera, as he wanted a female with just as much potential as the rest of his students), but still managed to keep pace (quite easily) with the others.<o></o>
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Ron was around the same size as Kim, with short blonde hair. He wasn’t anywhere near as strong and had trouble keeping up with the rest of the class, though Hera insisted on keeping him around because of his amazing potential (it actually rivalled Hunter’s) and the fact that it would be unfair to exclude him, no matter how weak or strong he was. He, Terry, Ben, and Kim had also formed their own little group, training together all the time. The fifteen-year-old wore a blue shirt and jeans, with white shoes.<o></o>
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Terry was the newest member of the group, and was only 14. While his potential was not quite as good as most of the others, he too managed to keep pace. His strength was easily very much greater than most of the class, but he was still not quite up to the same level as Jake, Hunter, and Brett. He wore a white long-sleeve (which was a strange choice in summer) with jean-shorts. His hair spiked up like all Kariyu-shina males, and adopted the traditional brown colouration as well.<o></o>
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Ben was likewise weaker than most, but had such enormous potential, he had no trouble keeping up with Hunter. He was the second youngest of the class, aged only 12, with spiky brown hair. His white t-shirt and black jeans looked as though they felt hot in the summer sun, and he himself was sweating. He stood, like Terry, just over five feet tall, and was powerful enough to keep pace with Hunter, but not quite enough to match Brett. Needless to say, he was nowhere near the same class as Jake, but that was irrelevant to Hera. If you had the potential, you were in, plain as that, and there were few enough left with the kind of potential that these kids had that he had to include as many as he could, when he could.<o></o>
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One of the things that all of these people had in common was the loss of their families to Sukani, Hera’s eldest and most evil brother. In fact, he was so cruel that Hera and the others banned him from their family. Sukani had, since the destruction of Allsieda, been roaming around the universe, destroying random people and places in order to sate his unquenchable bloodlust. Hera had taken the children in, training them in order to allow them to stand a chance when Sukani came back for them. Jake was the only one whose family was still intact. His little sister and his parents were living in <ST1
laceName w:st="on">Wasaga</ST1laceName> <ST1laceType w:st="on">Beach</ST1laceType>, in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Canada</st1lace></st1:country-region>. Hera had made sure to keep them under surveillance, so that he could come after Sukani if he set foot within a single Earth astronomical unit of that house.<o></o>
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Of all of Hera’s students, Jake was the only one to actually survive a direct encounter with Sukani, in a one-on-one fight. Hera Ledro and Sukani were equally matched, so Sukani was, in fact, weaker than Jake, and had lost to him in this bout. However, Jake was nowhere near as powerful as he was now, so he was severely injured by the time Hera got there and helped him. Sukani had fled, but Jake was torn and hurt. Hera had to fly him back home.<o></o>
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On that night 2 years ago, Hera spoke to Jake’s parents, informing them of his unique abilities, to which they had been woefully ignorant. While Jake slept, Hera had healed him, allowing him to sleep in peace. Hera proposed to Jake’s parents that he take him and train him.<o></o>
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“Jake’s life is in grave danger,” he had told them while sitting in their living room. “His strength is something like I’ve never seen before, and Sukani will surely want to eliminate it. He will come back again and again, and the only way for me to stay on top of it and keep Jake alive is to train him, help him, and give him a safe home.” Hera had seen the dismay in the Kings’ eyes, and he knew what he was asking. “I know this is going to be hard,” Hera told them, attempting to comfort them. “I know that what I am asking is a lot, but I have been doing this for several hundred millennia, and I have saved civilizations from destruction by Sukani’s hand. Jake seems to be connected to several events lately, you must have noticed that.”<o></o>
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“Events have converged on this location, and it’s no coincidence that Jake is the epicentre of those events. I want to keep Jake alive, especially since he seems to be…well…my relative.” The Kings, who under normal circumstances would have most likely flipped out, had only stared blankly at the Allsie as he explained the fact that Jake’s potential had yet to be even close to unlocked. The information alone that their son was related to an alien would have torn apart the mind of any human, but in the events that had circled around the King house lately, it was the least crazy thing that had happened to them.<o></o>
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In the morning, the Kings had said their good-byes, and most of them cried. Hera sympathized greatly with them, for he too had lost his parents and sister when Allsieda/Draconia was destroyed. Hera led him away, carrying Jake on his back as he had yet to learn how to fly. Not even ten minutes into the flight, his back was soaked with the eleven-year-old’s tears. Hera comforted him on the way to the den, saying things that would reassure him that once he had started training and moved into it a certain way, he would be able to go back or just see his family whenever he wanted. This did comfort the child, but he was still crying uncontrollably.<o></o>
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Since then, Jake had been training every day with Hera for two years. His power, along with Hera’s had increased immensely over time, and Hera was constantly pushed to the max just to keep up with Jake. While it was obvious that Jake was his physical superior, Hera was still far, far older than Jake and easily wiser, so Jake still looked up to him. During these years, Hera delved further into Jake’s history, looking at old records with him. Eventually, they discovered that Jake was the descendant of Sol Koru, one of Hera’s best friends 500,000 years ago. Sol Koru and Kamino Yegata were the last of the Kariyu-shina race, living on an ancient Mars, and were both close friends of Hera’s during his stay there. In fact, Sol Koru had been the first person he adopted as a foster son, as he was without parents.<o></o>
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Jake had improved at an alarming rate, faster than even Sol Koru, who had managed to achieve all the Kame Kariyu-shina transformations within his years of living (about 300 years). Each day, Jake’s power increased by leaps and bounds, rivalled only by Brett’s and Hunter’s. In fact, they would soon only be able to train with each other, rather than with Hera. Hera knew that it would be near impossible to keep up with them after a certain amount of time, but he would try as hard as possible.<o></o>
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There was an alterior motive to training them as well. Sukani, who was the only person to perfectly match Hera’s power, was on a galaxy-wide domination venture, and Hera was hard pressed to keep up with him. He would often bring the students in to battle Sukani’s lackeys while he took on the bastard himself. Very few times did Sukani walk away victorious, but he did often achieve one of his goals. Hera was so busy trying to train the others so that they could help them defeat Sukani that he had a great deal of trouble getting somewhere in time to stop him. It grew harder every time, and Sukani had indeed conquered several planets, strengthening his hold on the galaxy.<o></o>
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Hence, he tried to train his students to the max, never spending more time with any one student than the other as he pushed them to their limits. Terry was constantly having a hard time, as was Ron, and they both felt as though they weren’t going to be able to avenge their families. Hera had continuously scolded them for keeping such a pessimistic attitude, and had pushed them even harder than the rest at times. As a result, he managed to help them keep pace with the rest of the group.<o></o>
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As they sat down at the table, the Allsies sitting on stools so as not to bang their tails, Hera addressed the crowd in a confident voice.<o></o>
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“You all know why you are here,” he started. “You have all suffered great tragedies at the hands of Sukani. You seek revenge, and while I do not condone that act, it is necessary for the survival of this universe. Jake,” he said, gesturing at the hungry thirteen-year-old, “has been with me since the beginning. He was my first student, and Kim and Ron were next in line. They have seen far more atrocities by Sukani’s hand than you all, and I wish to say that I sympathize with them. Only my brothers and I have seen more than you, and we have fought him since the destruction of Allsieda/Draconia.”<o></o>
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“I have been training you all, however, for quite some time, and all of you have made enormous progress. Your strength has been rising substantially for the last few months, and I must add in that I am very pleased with the work of Terry, Ben, Ron, and Kim.” Inclining his head, he continued. “You came into the group, and none of you had the potential that Hunter or Brett had, let alone Jake. However, you have proven yourselves time and again that you are up to the task of fighting Sukani and his lackeys. I must say, that I am deeply humbled with the amount of work you’ve been doing. If I had put that much effort into my training as a child,” he added with a sheepish grin. “There would be no need for me to train you.”<o></o>
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“I will not denigrate what you have all suffered at the hands of the Abomination. There is no tragedy worse than losing your family because of another’s actions. I understand your sorrow,” he said, looking at the fallen faces of many of the children. “I too have lost many to Sukani. Yet, we must rejoice, for we still have each other. You, Jake,” he said, gesturing at him again. “Have not suffered as such, and you can not begin to understand the cruelty of having your family ripped from your life. While you came with me, you did so of your free will, and since learning to fly, as well as several other techniques, you have visited them often. Yet, you did not choose to stay with them. I ask at this point, why?”<o></o>
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Jake didn’t answer straight away, but twiddled with his fork in his hand before answering slowly. “I guess…I just don’t feel at home there anymore. Ever since I’ve come to train with you…I don’t know…I guess that I felt that there was so much I was missing out on. I’ve grown to love it here,” he said, waving his hand at the forest to the north. “It’s just so peaceful and beautiful, and yet I can’t help but feel that that’s not why I like it here.” He stared at Hera with eyes so resolute that they seemed to be on fire. “I like it because I love what we do. I’ve fought before I came to live here, and I never felt like anything was a challenge. I would beat anybody who challenged me so quickly that it was nothing but pathetic. I helped out the people in the city, like the homeless who were picked on by the people with money, but out here I can do so much more. I’ve fought Demonic Allsies, battled people from all different sides of the galaxy…I would have never done this if it hadn’t been for you. I have to say that even now I feel a little bitter at what happened, but I knew that it was necessary and I like the results.”<o></o>
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Ben also piped up. Looking at Jake, who had fallen silent, he said, “That’s how all of us feel in a way.” His voice was like Hunter’s, young and raspy, but was slightly higher pitched because of his age. “If it hadn’t been for Hera Ledro, none of us would have been able to help save all of those planets and people. Sure, we choked a couple times, but we’ve never lost. If Hera hadn’t found and helped us, just think of all those people who would be dead right now. Worse, they could be under Sukani’s reign.” Slamming his fist on the table, he said, “I won’t let that happen! We’ve come so far, and we’ve done so much.” The whole table nodded in accord.<o></o>
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Ash nodded. His rough voice shook slightly as he spoke. “You’re right, we’ve done so much. And think, just how powerful is Sukani becoming now? He’s so strong, and only two of us are really strong enough to match him. We have to keep at it and keep fighting, or else the whole galaxy is gonna be destroyed!”<o></o>
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“Ok,” Isaac said, a little flustered. “We’ll never get anywhere if we don’t eat already, so let’s start!” Vahn laughed. He and Isaac were twins, and unlike most twins, had a bond that extended to their minds. They were such a deadly team that none could match them in double combat. Even Jake and Hera were hard-pressed to beat them, regardless of the fact that they were significantly stronger.<o></o>
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Conversation exploded as the meal began. Mostly, they talked about how their training went throughout the day, and how their fights went. However, Tai and Hera were speaking on different matters.<o></o>
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“So, how long do you think it will be before Sukani comes back?” Tai asked, shovelling some teriyaki into his maw.<o></o>
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“I don’t know,” Hera said. “You know that Sukani is training Jake’s brother. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t be too worried. However, Boromyo has shown just as much potential as Jake, and we know personally how powerful he is. You know very well that Jake has defeated him only narrowly several times, and I fear that he will only grow more powerful.”<o></o>
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Boromyo was the only one in Jake’s family that when Jake left, didn’t cry. In fact, he smiled. Hera dismissed this as a childish thought that Jake would be gone a day or two and then come back, for he did not delve into Boromyo’s mind like he did Jake’s (for healing purposes), and he had no idea what Boromyo was like.<o></o>
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After one year, however, things changed. Sukani returned, searching for Jake. Instead, he found Boromyo home alone, and took him. Since then, he has untapped several of Boromyo’s Dragonic powers, much like Hera had Jake, but went about it in a different way. Sukani was cruel and evil, and pushed Boromyo to the max. While Boromyo’s potential had been fully reached in this time (and no doubt Jake’s would have been if Hera had pushed him that way), Jake’s was still rising. While Hera was kind and generous to his pupils, Sukani was a drill sergeant. He would drive them night and day, many of them dying in the process, and he took pleasure in watching them struggle. Of all the students he had likewise taken in, only Boromyo survived. He was, however, enough. Jake had only fought him 20 times in the past couple of years, each time only narrowly escaping with his life.<o></o>
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Boromyo’s power, though his potential was fully reached, still seemed to be rising at an exponential rate, and was becoming a growing threat to the universe. Since training with Sukani, his originally cruel disposition had become even more tainted, and he was easily as bloodlust as Sukani now. He was, however, very naïve, for Sukani never taught him in the same way Hera taught his students, and Boromyo knew not that he could easily overthrow Sukani. Hera had refrained from telling him this in past battles because he knew that an unchained, wild Boromyo would be infinitely more dangerous than the one that now fought alongside Sukani.<o></o>
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“Well,” Tai said, swallowing his food. “I do agree there, but I think that Sukani knows what he can do now. Though you are one permanent transformation above him, his strength seems to grow at the same rate as yours does. I still don’t understand that.”<o></o>
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Tai was an Angelic, or Seraphic Allsie, in which (in lue of the two large Dragon wings he would have if he had yet achieved the Dragonic Allsie permanent state) 6 feathery angel-like wings sprouted from his back. Sukani was at a similar stage, only he was at its evil counterpart, the Demonic Allsie. This was a permanent state in which two crimson devil wings protruded from the back, and the fur, rather than keeping the blue hue natural to an Allsie, became an oily black. The eyes abandoned their natural white outer colour and adopted a black colouration, making Sukani’s eyes look even more bloodlust than they usually did with his red irises.<o></o>
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In fact, all of Hera’s brothers except for himself, Dakato, and Tyson were Seraphic Allsies. Hera was a level above that, as a Dragonic Allsie, and Dakato and Tyson were just on the verge of becoming one.<o></o>
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“Demonic Allsies,” Hera explained, “may not have the raw power that the Angelic or Dragonic Allsies do, but their power increases at the same rate of a Dragonic Allsie. That’s the reason my power wasn’t as great as his was when I was a Seraphic Allsie. I’m just glad that only the pure of heart can become Dragonic Allsies. If he were one right now, there’d be no stopping his takeover of the universe.”<o></o>
<o></o>
“As to your question, however, I don’t think that he will attack anytime soon. Tyrants like to be sure of something before they do anything, and he doesn’t know how powerful we are. He knows that he will never be as powerful as Jake, and Boromyo’s potential has been maxed out, so he doesn’t want to take the risk of losing everything on a whim. Brute though he may be, he’s a cold and calculating brute.”<o></o>
<o></o>
Tai nodded. “Yeah, I remember what it was like on Allsieda. He would never do anything unless he was sure he’d be able to win. Guess it showed him when you became a Ledrai Allsie, huh?” he said, grinning.<o></o>
<o></o>
Hera laughed. “Yeah, but I still think I have the bruises from when Mom beat me because of what I did to him. That was the only time she ever beat any of us except Sukani.”<o></o>
<o></o>
“He deserved it,” Ash interjected haughtily. “If Allsieda were still here, can you imagine what your friends would have looked like?”<o></o>
<o></o>
“Yes,” Hera said painfully. “Those actions alone give me reason enough to kill him. They never looked the same after that battle. If I hadn’t become a Ledrai Allsie right then, I wouldn’t have been able to win. Dad was proud though,” he pointed out. “He did always say that he thought I would become a Ledrai Allsie. Not to brag, but the first Ledrai Allsie in a few billion years isn’t exactly a mean achievement.”<o></o>
<o></o>
“Well,” Tai said. “Just think of where we’d be if you had killed Sukani right then. I mean, I would have done what you did, just beat the tar out of him, but if I’d known what he would have become…”<o></o>
<o></o>
“He was our brother,” Ash said. “We would never have guessed, no matter how nasty he was, that he would become what he was, and we certainly wouldn’t have killed him unless we knew that.”<o></o>
<o></o>
Hera nodded. “Yeah, if I knew what he was going to be I would’ve killed him right then and there.”<o></o>
<o></o>
“Hey,” Hunter called from across the table. “What’cha guys talkin’ about!”<o></o>
<o></o>
“Nothing,” Tai said with a grin. “Just Allsie stuff, you wouldn’t be interested.”<o></o>
<o></o>
Hera suppressed a grin. He knew that Hunter would very much be interested in what they were saying. Hunter let it slide, however, and did not push them any further.<o></o>
<o></o>
Returning to the conversation in an undertone, Ash said, “That doesn’t change the matter at hand though. The point is that Sukani is getting stronger and stronger. If we don’t stop him soon we’ll be in big trouble.”<o></o>
<o></o>
“Well,” Hera grumbled, “he isn’t doing anything right now. I’d be able to sense if he was attacking a planet, and his power hasn’t fluctuated in the least. It’s the same with Boromyo, his strength is still subdued. I’d be able to sense it if either of them were causing any trouble. In fact, I think they’re still on the other side of the galaxy, probably in one of Sukani’s fortresses.”<o></o>
<o></o>
Ash chuckled. “I still don’t get why he has those built. Fortresses will do about as much good to him against us as an army of ants would. He knows how powerful we are, and fortresses and castles will do nothing to prevent us from attacking him.”<o></o>
<o></o>
“You’re not looking at the big picture,” Tai retorted. “Why are we fighting Ash?”<o></o>
<o></o>
“To save lives,” Ash replied simply.<o></o>
<o></o>
“Exactly,” Hera said. “There are innocent people in those places, and Sukani knows that we can’t just go barging in. That’s one of the things that give’s him a slight edge, he doesn’t care about other people’s lives. We do, so we have to be careful how we go about invading. We can’t just take the lives of others. You know how I operate. I--”<o></o>
<o></o>
“Yeah, yeah, we know,” Ash said impatiently. “You don’t take unnecessary lives. Neither do we, but you just knock them out. If they attack me, they’re free game; I won’t let those who follow Sukani see the light of day, especially if they follow him faithfully. Honestly, we’ve gone up against so many of his lackeys, and none of the ones that I’ve fought are unfaithful. They welcome the cause with open arms, and do nothing to rebel. We’ve come across what, 4 rebel groups in the past 600 years? That’s not exactly a lot of people.”<o></o>
<o></o>
“Like they have a choice,” Hera retorted. “Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi president, was hung only recently. Do you know how many people of his I had to kill? Do you know how hard it was to operate in secret without the humans seeing or noticing me, all so that I could leave them clues as to his constantly changing location! I can’t interfere severely in planets not under Sukani’s grasp. This is the same reason that a god, if there is any, would not interfere in the lives of their subjects. The subjects, and humans are no exception, would grow dependant on that god! To a human, we would be gods. We have power undreamt of by any human. The weakest of us could easily destroy this planet without lifting a baby finger. If I were to openly capture Saddam, or even covertly, word of our existence would get out, and people would attack us. Either they’d be so scared of us that they would try t wipe us from existence, and those nukes aren’t exactly toys, or they would seek us for help to their everyday problems. I’m all for preventing murder, but we’re responsible for the whole galaxy.”<o></o>
<o></o>
“Anyways,” he sighed, “back to the point. The point is that Sukani has his subjects so enthralled in fear that they can do nothing but follow him. Not everybody is as strong-willed as us, they can’t fight him.”<o></o>
<o></o>
“That’s one of the reasons we’re training these kids,” Tai said. “So that they can learn to be strong willed and uninfluenced by Sukani in that sense; and so that they, if not we, can pass on those teachings to other people. If they don’t wanna listen, that’s their problem and we can’t force them to do that.”<o></o>
<o></o>
Ash raised his hands in exasperated defeat, sighing. “Whatever, I just think that Sukani’s lackeys are too faithful nowadays.”<o></o>
<o></o>
Lan piped up, his voice soft and breezy likes all Wind-elemental warriors. “So, are you guys done arguing?” Of all of Hera’s brothers (excluding Sukani), Lania was the only one who could ‘read minds’. It was a skill that very few people could learn, especially those whose greatest strength was not under the influence of the Wind-element. His strength was far more lacking than most of Hera’s brothers, though he was far more brainy and better at using non-physical abilities.<o></o>
<o></o>
“Well that’s rude,” Tai grumbled hotly. “You know better Lan, it’s rude to get into other people’s conversations, and even more so to invade their minds.”<o></o>
<o></o>
“It’s not my fault,” Lan said. “You’re minds can connect to others, but mine is the only one that can read minds inadvertently. I try to control it, but it…slips sometimes.”<o></o>
<o></o>
Hera grinned. “7 million years and you still haven’t gotten it under control. You should try harder Lan.” Lan shrugged and went back to his teriyaki, grinning.<o></o>
<o></o>
“So,” Jake called from beside Hunter. “What’re we doing tomorrow?” Hera laughed.<o></o>
<o></o>
“I’m not gonna tell you now,” he said. “I’ll leave it for a surprise.” Jake let it stand, though his eyes betrayed his intense curiosity, and he, Ron, Brett, and Hunter started talking vigorously.<o></o>
<o></o>
After supper they went into a few hours of training. Hera stayed and trained with Tai and Ash while Jake fought Brett and Hunter. Ron and Kim battled, and craters were left from the battle between Ben and Terry. Hera marvelled at the strength of these children, they never ceased to amaze him. No matter how strong he was, they always grew faster.<o></o>
<o></o>
As Jake and the rest went off to get changed for bed, a Dragon swooped down on the scoop. It was hued blue with a sparkling diamond belly and ivory spikes running along its back. Hera frowned, wondering what could have possessed the Dragon to come.
I will be posting a minimum of one Chapter a week until I've gone to Chapter 5 (which I am currently working on), in which I will post a little less, each time happening as soon as I finish a Chapter.
This is Chapter 1, Shades Revealed; and the Prologue.
Prologue
<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com
fficeffice" /><o></o>A planet floated below, lush with life and spirit. The oceans flowed with calm and soothing waves that coursed through the planet like blood, the rivers their veins. The continents stood, each alone on this great planet. This was Allsieda/Draconia, home to the warrior race known as the Allsies and their equally fierce partners, the Dragons.<o
></o><o
></o>These two races, though not the only sentient beings on the planet, were by far the most dominant species to roam it. The Allsies and Dragons preferred the outdoors, so there were very few buildings on the planet. The only buildings on the planet were the blacksmiths and the rare factory or starport. The interstellar ships were for the benefit of the other races, not for the Dragons or Allsies, for both could survive in the vacuum of space. Nothing held these two races back. Hey were not barbaric or authoritarian races, but they were two of the most powerful known races through the universe.<o
></o><o
></o>A hand came into view, coated with blue fur. A high, cold voice resounded through the mind of the Allsie, Do it. I command it; destroy the planet and its people. I will not accept failure.<o
></o><o
></o>The Allsie resisted. No, he fought. I will not destroy my home. A dry cackle sprang into the Allsie’s mind, making him buckle over in pain.<o
></o><o
></o>You don’t have a choice, it crowed. The Allsie felt his hand rise, his power being called upon against his will. No! he cried, resisting with all his might. But it was no use. From his outstretched palm blasted a huge ball of pure energy. The ball sank into the middle of the ocean, steam billowing up before it dissipated into the atmosphere. The pressure around the Allsie changed, and the planet imploded before his very eyes.<o
></o><o
></o>NO! he screamed. The cackle screamed through his mind again, and his eyes screwed up in pain. Even then, he could not block out the light of the explosion as the planet was destroyed. His home was gone.
Chapter One: Shades Revealed
<o
></o>Hera Ledro landed on the ground, raising his zweihander style broadsword, the Dragon Blade, to block the incoming attack. Jake King, Hera Ledro’s 70x human great-grandson had swung his own zweihander, the golden Soul Shredder, down upon Hera, the whirl of gold making the air seem to set itself on fire.<o
></o><o
></o>Hera pushed the blade back, his tail swinging forwards in an arc as he jumped back to parry Jake’s attack. Jake whirled backwards as well, dodging the counterattack. Hera’s Dragonic wings wrapped around his body as he spiralled through the air, displacing the air around him in a whirl of brown leathery wings. As Hera landed, he pivoted on one foot, unfurling his wings and slashing upwards with his Dragon Blade, meeting Jake’s once again.<o
></o><o
></o>Hera smiled under his foes sword. “You’ve grown stronger Jake,” he said, his medium-pitched voice as smooth as quicksilver resounding throughout the valley that was their battlefield. “And faster too, I must admit.” In a whirl of blue fur that was a trademark of the Allsie race, Hera pushed with his double-layer of muscles, overpowering Jake slightly, but just enough to push him back, sending him back through the air.<o
></o><o
></o>As Jake landed, kneeling in a defensive stance, he smiled back, absolutely ecstatic. “All because I learned from you Gramps, check this!”<o
></o><o
></o>Jake, normally an average-looking thirteen-year-old human with green-tinted black hair, garbed in baggy jeans, shirt, and a red hoodie; burst into flames. A few seconds later, a seven-foot tall red Dragon stood in his place, crimson scales glinting in the sunlight. His green spines flowed down his back in a column, sharp as an Allsie’s tail. His teeth were likewise pointed, and grinned in an ivory white from beneath his hackles. Jake stood on his hind legs, much like a human, and held his Soul Shredder in his left claw, the golden blade glinting in the sunlight. His golden belly scales likewise shone smartly as the sunlight reflected off of them.<o
></o><o
></o>“Ha-ha!” Jake crowed. “How’d’ya like me now?” Indeed, Jake’s power had increased a thousand-fold, and he was easily far more powerful than Hera was now.<o
></o><o
></o>Hera stood not 20 metres from Jake. Standing just over six-and-a-half feet tall, his blue fur rippled in the wind, his usually vertical hair bent sideways from the gusts, flowing beautifully nonetheless. He held his tail so that it curved around his left leg and around his body until it hung over his left shoulder and wing, 2 of his six limbs. The blade on the tail’s end hung threateningly in the air over Hera’s head.<o
></o><o
></o>Flexing his left hand and his right arm, Hera also transformed. A golden flame-like aura erupted around him, blocking his body from sight for an instant. In that time, his body had undergone severe changes.<o
></o><o
></o>His blue fur had been replaced by a silver coat, glimmering in the sunlight in contrast with his hair, now adopting a gold colouration. Hera’s tail blade and claw-like nails that adorned his fingertips had abandoned their solid bone-white din, and gave way to a gleaming copper sheen, the sunlight bouncing off of them with dazzling brilliance. Hera’s power had likewise increased with this transformation, and he was now easily a match for Jake.<o
></o><o
></o>“Maybe we should turn this up a notch,” Hera called, changing his stance into an offensive formation, grinning madly all the while. Though he was fighting with Jake primarily to train him and give him practice, he could not deny that he was having a lot of fun. <o
></o><o
></o>Jake grinned back. “Yeah, let’s do this!” Pushing off from the ground, creating a massive crater from the force of the push-off, Jake shot after Hera, moving at an insane speed that far surpassed the speed of sound, wings outstretched to give him near-optimal velocity, just as Hera had taught him.<o
></o><o
></o>Jake folded his wings and flipped in midair, using the momentum to fuel his attack as he brought his sword down upon Hera. Hera responded in kind by swinging his sword upwards, the blades meeting with a deafening clang. A small fissure opened up from the force of the impact. As the swords separated, they came together in a series of attacks and defences, each fiercer than the next, widening the crack even more. The last attack crumbled the ground, and Hera and Jake pushed off so as to not fall into the giant hole they made.<o
></o><o
></o>They took to the skies, Hera splitting his Dragon Blade into two identical halves, each a threatening six feet long. He held one blade in each hand, having long mastered this style of sword-wielding. To Hera, this blade, though made of some of the densest and heaviest steel forgeable, was light. The Dragon scales that augmented the blade did have certain properties that made the blade lighter, but even then, a Kariyu-shina warrior would have trouble hefting this blade with two hands, let alone one (and they were one of the strongest races in the universe).<o
></o><o
></o>Precious few beings in the universe had this kind of strength, some of which Hera was in the process of training, and Jake being one of them. Of all the people Hera knew, Jake was the only one superior to him in fighting. All of his trainees were by far weaker than him, and his brothers were likewise weaker, though not to the same degree as his students. In fact, Ashia and Taichi were very close to achieving the Dragonic Allsie state, as opposed to the Angelic Allsie forms that they had already taken.<o
></o><o
></o>As Hera and Jake shot after each other again, one of Hera’s students, Hunter, came over the hill.<o
></o><o
></o>The boy was, like Jake, an average looking Canadian teenager. At the age of fourteen, he stood just under five-and-a-half feet tall, his long red hair spiked upwards with a few bangs hanging low over his brow. Like Jake, however, he was not purely human. Jake himself was part Allsie (as Hera’s great-grandchild), part Kariyu-shina, part Dragon, and part human. Hunter, however, was only part Kariyu-shina and part human, and his immense strength was definitely a testament to that. Hunter wore a white T-shirt and a blue vest over it. With hiking boots, white socks and basketball shorts, he looked just like your average Caucasian kid.<o
></o><o
></o>Brett, another student, came bounding over the hill after Hunter. Brett was the youngest of Hera’s students. Being only eleven-years-old, he was a fighting (and intellectual) genius. He stood just under five-feet tall (which was actually fairly tall for his age), and was also part Kariyu-shina. He wore baggy jeans and a jean vest over a gray T-shirt. His hair, like all Kariyu-shina’s, was standing up much in the same fashion as Hunter’s and Jake’s. Like Hunter though, his hair did not adorn the usual brown or black colours genetic to Kariyu-shina, but was rather a dirty-blonde colour.<o
></o><o
></o>“Hey guys!” Hunter called, voice young and raspy, waving as he ran. “Tai said that supper was ready! Come on, veggies and rice all around!” Hera pricked his ears at this and turned to Hunter. Jake, however, looked somber. “There’s meat for you Jake,” Hunter amended. “We know that people with Dragon blood can’t survive without meat. Tai made sure to get some for you. Actually,” he said, scratching his chin. “I think that Ben went to the store to get it. Allsies aren’t exactly the most common thing on earth.” Hunter grinned madly up at Hera and Jake.<o
></o><o
></o>Hera laughed as he landed, reverting back to his previous appearance, and sheathing his sword with his tail. “Well, I have to admit you’re right there,” Hera said. “I wasn’t exactly very popular with the people back in the middle ages. Hell, they made sure to throw spears and arrows at me, thinking I was some kind of demon.<o
></o><o
></o>Brett squirmed. “Oh come on, can we go eat? Hunter and I have been at it all afternoon, and I’m hungry!” Jake, Hera, and Hunter laughed.<o
></o><o
></o>“We’re all hungry,” Jake said. “None of us have been training any less than you. Let’s go!” Jake took to the skies, reverting back to his human form as he rose. Hunter and Brett followed suit. The three of them had formed their own little group amongst Hera’s students, and they were all easily the most promising. Jake, though by far more powerful than Hera Ledro, still had potential that put all the other kids to shame. Brett’s potential was also up there, and Hunter’s came in close behind. Hera followed them as well, folding his wings around him and pushing off, leaving a near-invisible trail of his equally invisible white aura behind him, dissipating in the air.<o
></o><o
></o>As they flew back, Hera contemplated how of the three of them, Jake was looked at as their leader. He was definitely not the oldest, being younger than Hunter by just under two years, but they still looked to him as their leader. Indeed, Hera thought. They do look to him because of his skills as a leader, not because of his age or power. It was the same with Hera (though he was the eldest of those he considered his brothers), he was inadvertently nominated the leader of their little troupe. Like Jake, he was kind-hearted and just. However, while Jake was one to rush into things headlong, Hera would think things out shortly before attempting anything. Both easy-going, with a powerful and stone-founded sense of honour, they are very anti-prosetylistic, angered when people attempt to force their beliefs upon others. Like all Allsies (and Kariyu-shina in Jake’s case), both Hera and Jake had a love to fight. This was not out of a desire to inflict bodily harm, but rather to train themselves up and better their abilities. Indeed, both Hera and Jake are almost mirror images in personality, though Jake does tend to be a little discourteous at times.<o
></o><o
></o>As they flew back to the hollow, a little indentation in the ground where Hera and his brothers lived, they found the large stone table that Isaac constructed with his Earth-elemental abilities. It was natural amongst Allsies and Dragons to have adept command over the elements of Fire, Earth, Wind, Water, and Lightning, but it was much harder for humans and Kariyu-shina to learn it. Once they did though, they were perfect rivals to Allsies and Dragons.<o
></o><o
></o>“Hey, Hera!” Tai called from the table, waving. He looked almost identical to Hera Ledro, standing a few inches taller and with a larger bundle of brown hair. He was the 4<SUP>th</SUP> youngest of Hera’s brothers, Hera being the second.<o
></o><o
></o>Adorning the table were several plates with vegetable teriyaki (Jake’s with beef teriyaki). Hera’s students Ben, Ron, Kim, and Terry sat at the table with his brothers, Tai, Ash, Lan, Tyson, Dakato, Isaac, Vahn, and Takuya. All of his students were of Kariyu-shina descent (by coincidence, as they seemed to possess enormous fighting potential that was common to Kariyu-shina), and had absolutely amazing fighting skills. Kim was the only girl amongst them, fifteen years old with a black shirt and long sweatpants. Her hair was waist-length and brown, and she stood around five-and-a-quarter feet tall with it up. Of all his students, she did unfortunately have the least potential (which was a horrid occurrence to Hera, as he wanted a female with just as much potential as the rest of his students), but still managed to keep pace (quite easily) with the others.<o
></o><o
></o>Ron was around the same size as Kim, with short blonde hair. He wasn’t anywhere near as strong and had trouble keeping up with the rest of the class, though Hera insisted on keeping him around because of his amazing potential (it actually rivalled Hunter’s) and the fact that it would be unfair to exclude him, no matter how weak or strong he was. He, Terry, Ben, and Kim had also formed their own little group, training together all the time. The fifteen-year-old wore a blue shirt and jeans, with white shoes.<o
></o><o
></o>Terry was the newest member of the group, and was only 14. While his potential was not quite as good as most of the others, he too managed to keep pace. His strength was easily very much greater than most of the class, but he was still not quite up to the same level as Jake, Hunter, and Brett. He wore a white long-sleeve (which was a strange choice in summer) with jean-shorts. His hair spiked up like all Kariyu-shina males, and adopted the traditional brown colouration as well.<o
></o><o
></o>Ben was likewise weaker than most, but had such enormous potential, he had no trouble keeping up with Hunter. He was the second youngest of the class, aged only 12, with spiky brown hair. His white t-shirt and black jeans looked as though they felt hot in the summer sun, and he himself was sweating. He stood, like Terry, just over five feet tall, and was powerful enough to keep pace with Hunter, but not quite enough to match Brett. Needless to say, he was nowhere near the same class as Jake, but that was irrelevant to Hera. If you had the potential, you were in, plain as that, and there were few enough left with the kind of potential that these kids had that he had to include as many as he could, when he could.<o
></o><o
></o>One of the things that all of these people had in common was the loss of their families to Sukani, Hera’s eldest and most evil brother. In fact, he was so cruel that Hera and the others banned him from their family. Sukani had, since the destruction of Allsieda, been roaming around the universe, destroying random people and places in order to sate his unquenchable bloodlust. Hera had taken the children in, training them in order to allow them to stand a chance when Sukani came back for them. Jake was the only one whose family was still intact. His little sister and his parents were living in <ST1
laceName w:st="on">Wasaga</ST1laceName> <ST1laceType w:st="on">Beach</ST1laceType>, in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Canada</st1lace></st1:country-region>. Hera had made sure to keep them under surveillance, so that he could come after Sukani if he set foot within a single Earth astronomical unit of that house.<o></o><o
></o>Of all of Hera’s students, Jake was the only one to actually survive a direct encounter with Sukani, in a one-on-one fight. Hera Ledro and Sukani were equally matched, so Sukani was, in fact, weaker than Jake, and had lost to him in this bout. However, Jake was nowhere near as powerful as he was now, so he was severely injured by the time Hera got there and helped him. Sukani had fled, but Jake was torn and hurt. Hera had to fly him back home.<o
></o><o
></o>On that night 2 years ago, Hera spoke to Jake’s parents, informing them of his unique abilities, to which they had been woefully ignorant. While Jake slept, Hera had healed him, allowing him to sleep in peace. Hera proposed to Jake’s parents that he take him and train him.<o
></o><o
></o>“Jake’s life is in grave danger,” he had told them while sitting in their living room. “His strength is something like I’ve never seen before, and Sukani will surely want to eliminate it. He will come back again and again, and the only way for me to stay on top of it and keep Jake alive is to train him, help him, and give him a safe home.” Hera had seen the dismay in the Kings’ eyes, and he knew what he was asking. “I know this is going to be hard,” Hera told them, attempting to comfort them. “I know that what I am asking is a lot, but I have been doing this for several hundred millennia, and I have saved civilizations from destruction by Sukani’s hand. Jake seems to be connected to several events lately, you must have noticed that.”<o
></o><o
></o>“Events have converged on this location, and it’s no coincidence that Jake is the epicentre of those events. I want to keep Jake alive, especially since he seems to be…well…my relative.” The Kings, who under normal circumstances would have most likely flipped out, had only stared blankly at the Allsie as he explained the fact that Jake’s potential had yet to be even close to unlocked. The information alone that their son was related to an alien would have torn apart the mind of any human, but in the events that had circled around the King house lately, it was the least crazy thing that had happened to them.<o
></o><o
></o>In the morning, the Kings had said their good-byes, and most of them cried. Hera sympathized greatly with them, for he too had lost his parents and sister when Allsieda/Draconia was destroyed. Hera led him away, carrying Jake on his back as he had yet to learn how to fly. Not even ten minutes into the flight, his back was soaked with the eleven-year-old’s tears. Hera comforted him on the way to the den, saying things that would reassure him that once he had started training and moved into it a certain way, he would be able to go back or just see his family whenever he wanted. This did comfort the child, but he was still crying uncontrollably.<o
></o><o
></o>Since then, Jake had been training every day with Hera for two years. His power, along with Hera’s had increased immensely over time, and Hera was constantly pushed to the max just to keep up with Jake. While it was obvious that Jake was his physical superior, Hera was still far, far older than Jake and easily wiser, so Jake still looked up to him. During these years, Hera delved further into Jake’s history, looking at old records with him. Eventually, they discovered that Jake was the descendant of Sol Koru, one of Hera’s best friends 500,000 years ago. Sol Koru and Kamino Yegata were the last of the Kariyu-shina race, living on an ancient Mars, and were both close friends of Hera’s during his stay there. In fact, Sol Koru had been the first person he adopted as a foster son, as he was without parents.<o
></o><o
></o>Jake had improved at an alarming rate, faster than even Sol Koru, who had managed to achieve all the Kame Kariyu-shina transformations within his years of living (about 300 years). Each day, Jake’s power increased by leaps and bounds, rivalled only by Brett’s and Hunter’s. In fact, they would soon only be able to train with each other, rather than with Hera. Hera knew that it would be near impossible to keep up with them after a certain amount of time, but he would try as hard as possible.<o
></o><o
></o>There was an alterior motive to training them as well. Sukani, who was the only person to perfectly match Hera’s power, was on a galaxy-wide domination venture, and Hera was hard pressed to keep up with him. He would often bring the students in to battle Sukani’s lackeys while he took on the bastard himself. Very few times did Sukani walk away victorious, but he did often achieve one of his goals. Hera was so busy trying to train the others so that they could help them defeat Sukani that he had a great deal of trouble getting somewhere in time to stop him. It grew harder every time, and Sukani had indeed conquered several planets, strengthening his hold on the galaxy.<o
></o><o
></o>Hence, he tried to train his students to the max, never spending more time with any one student than the other as he pushed them to their limits. Terry was constantly having a hard time, as was Ron, and they both felt as though they weren’t going to be able to avenge their families. Hera had continuously scolded them for keeping such a pessimistic attitude, and had pushed them even harder than the rest at times. As a result, he managed to help them keep pace with the rest of the group.<o
></o><o
></o>As they sat down at the table, the Allsies sitting on stools so as not to bang their tails, Hera addressed the crowd in a confident voice.<o
></o><o
></o>“You all know why you are here,” he started. “You have all suffered great tragedies at the hands of Sukani. You seek revenge, and while I do not condone that act, it is necessary for the survival of this universe. Jake,” he said, gesturing at the hungry thirteen-year-old, “has been with me since the beginning. He was my first student, and Kim and Ron were next in line. They have seen far more atrocities by Sukani’s hand than you all, and I wish to say that I sympathize with them. Only my brothers and I have seen more than you, and we have fought him since the destruction of Allsieda/Draconia.”<o
></o><o
></o>“I have been training you all, however, for quite some time, and all of you have made enormous progress. Your strength has been rising substantially for the last few months, and I must add in that I am very pleased with the work of Terry, Ben, Ron, and Kim.” Inclining his head, he continued. “You came into the group, and none of you had the potential that Hunter or Brett had, let alone Jake. However, you have proven yourselves time and again that you are up to the task of fighting Sukani and his lackeys. I must say, that I am deeply humbled with the amount of work you’ve been doing. If I had put that much effort into my training as a child,” he added with a sheepish grin. “There would be no need for me to train you.”<o
></o><o
></o>“I will not denigrate what you have all suffered at the hands of the Abomination. There is no tragedy worse than losing your family because of another’s actions. I understand your sorrow,” he said, looking at the fallen faces of many of the children. “I too have lost many to Sukani. Yet, we must rejoice, for we still have each other. You, Jake,” he said, gesturing at him again. “Have not suffered as such, and you can not begin to understand the cruelty of having your family ripped from your life. While you came with me, you did so of your free will, and since learning to fly, as well as several other techniques, you have visited them often. Yet, you did not choose to stay with them. I ask at this point, why?”<o
></o><o
></o>Jake didn’t answer straight away, but twiddled with his fork in his hand before answering slowly. “I guess…I just don’t feel at home there anymore. Ever since I’ve come to train with you…I don’t know…I guess that I felt that there was so much I was missing out on. I’ve grown to love it here,” he said, waving his hand at the forest to the north. “It’s just so peaceful and beautiful, and yet I can’t help but feel that that’s not why I like it here.” He stared at Hera with eyes so resolute that they seemed to be on fire. “I like it because I love what we do. I’ve fought before I came to live here, and I never felt like anything was a challenge. I would beat anybody who challenged me so quickly that it was nothing but pathetic. I helped out the people in the city, like the homeless who were picked on by the people with money, but out here I can do so much more. I’ve fought Demonic Allsies, battled people from all different sides of the galaxy…I would have never done this if it hadn’t been for you. I have to say that even now I feel a little bitter at what happened, but I knew that it was necessary and I like the results.”<o
></o><o
></o>Ben also piped up. Looking at Jake, who had fallen silent, he said, “That’s how all of us feel in a way.” His voice was like Hunter’s, young and raspy, but was slightly higher pitched because of his age. “If it hadn’t been for Hera Ledro, none of us would have been able to help save all of those planets and people. Sure, we choked a couple times, but we’ve never lost. If Hera hadn’t found and helped us, just think of all those people who would be dead right now. Worse, they could be under Sukani’s reign.” Slamming his fist on the table, he said, “I won’t let that happen! We’ve come so far, and we’ve done so much.” The whole table nodded in accord.<o
></o><o
></o>Ash nodded. His rough voice shook slightly as he spoke. “You’re right, we’ve done so much. And think, just how powerful is Sukani becoming now? He’s so strong, and only two of us are really strong enough to match him. We have to keep at it and keep fighting, or else the whole galaxy is gonna be destroyed!”<o
></o><o
></o>“Ok,” Isaac said, a little flustered. “We’ll never get anywhere if we don’t eat already, so let’s start!” Vahn laughed. He and Isaac were twins, and unlike most twins, had a bond that extended to their minds. They were such a deadly team that none could match them in double combat. Even Jake and Hera were hard-pressed to beat them, regardless of the fact that they were significantly stronger.<o
></o><o
></o>Conversation exploded as the meal began. Mostly, they talked about how their training went throughout the day, and how their fights went. However, Tai and Hera were speaking on different matters.<o
></o><o
></o>“So, how long do you think it will be before Sukani comes back?” Tai asked, shovelling some teriyaki into his maw.<o
></o><o
></o>“I don’t know,” Hera said. “You know that Sukani is training Jake’s brother. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t be too worried. However, Boromyo has shown just as much potential as Jake, and we know personally how powerful he is. You know very well that Jake has defeated him only narrowly several times, and I fear that he will only grow more powerful.”<o
></o><o
></o>Boromyo was the only one in Jake’s family that when Jake left, didn’t cry. In fact, he smiled. Hera dismissed this as a childish thought that Jake would be gone a day or two and then come back, for he did not delve into Boromyo’s mind like he did Jake’s (for healing purposes), and he had no idea what Boromyo was like.<o
></o><o
></o>After one year, however, things changed. Sukani returned, searching for Jake. Instead, he found Boromyo home alone, and took him. Since then, he has untapped several of Boromyo’s Dragonic powers, much like Hera had Jake, but went about it in a different way. Sukani was cruel and evil, and pushed Boromyo to the max. While Boromyo’s potential had been fully reached in this time (and no doubt Jake’s would have been if Hera had pushed him that way), Jake’s was still rising. While Hera was kind and generous to his pupils, Sukani was a drill sergeant. He would drive them night and day, many of them dying in the process, and he took pleasure in watching them struggle. Of all the students he had likewise taken in, only Boromyo survived. He was, however, enough. Jake had only fought him 20 times in the past couple of years, each time only narrowly escaping with his life.<o
></o><o
></o>Boromyo’s power, though his potential was fully reached, still seemed to be rising at an exponential rate, and was becoming a growing threat to the universe. Since training with Sukani, his originally cruel disposition had become even more tainted, and he was easily as bloodlust as Sukani now. He was, however, very naïve, for Sukani never taught him in the same way Hera taught his students, and Boromyo knew not that he could easily overthrow Sukani. Hera had refrained from telling him this in past battles because he knew that an unchained, wild Boromyo would be infinitely more dangerous than the one that now fought alongside Sukani.<o
></o><o
></o>“Well,” Tai said, swallowing his food. “I do agree there, but I think that Sukani knows what he can do now. Though you are one permanent transformation above him, his strength seems to grow at the same rate as yours does. I still don’t understand that.”<o
></o><o
></o>Tai was an Angelic, or Seraphic Allsie, in which (in lue of the two large Dragon wings he would have if he had yet achieved the Dragonic Allsie permanent state) 6 feathery angel-like wings sprouted from his back. Sukani was at a similar stage, only he was at its evil counterpart, the Demonic Allsie. This was a permanent state in which two crimson devil wings protruded from the back, and the fur, rather than keeping the blue hue natural to an Allsie, became an oily black. The eyes abandoned their natural white outer colour and adopted a black colouration, making Sukani’s eyes look even more bloodlust than they usually did with his red irises.<o
></o><o
></o>In fact, all of Hera’s brothers except for himself, Dakato, and Tyson were Seraphic Allsies. Hera was a level above that, as a Dragonic Allsie, and Dakato and Tyson were just on the verge of becoming one.<o
></o><o
></o>“Demonic Allsies,” Hera explained, “may not have the raw power that the Angelic or Dragonic Allsies do, but their power increases at the same rate of a Dragonic Allsie. That’s the reason my power wasn’t as great as his was when I was a Seraphic Allsie. I’m just glad that only the pure of heart can become Dragonic Allsies. If he were one right now, there’d be no stopping his takeover of the universe.”<o
></o><o
></o>“As to your question, however, I don’t think that he will attack anytime soon. Tyrants like to be sure of something before they do anything, and he doesn’t know how powerful we are. He knows that he will never be as powerful as Jake, and Boromyo’s potential has been maxed out, so he doesn’t want to take the risk of losing everything on a whim. Brute though he may be, he’s a cold and calculating brute.”<o
></o><o
></o>Tai nodded. “Yeah, I remember what it was like on Allsieda. He would never do anything unless he was sure he’d be able to win. Guess it showed him when you became a Ledrai Allsie, huh?” he said, grinning.<o
></o><o
></o>Hera laughed. “Yeah, but I still think I have the bruises from when Mom beat me because of what I did to him. That was the only time she ever beat any of us except Sukani.”<o
></o><o
></o>“He deserved it,” Ash interjected haughtily. “If Allsieda were still here, can you imagine what your friends would have looked like?”<o
></o><o
></o>“Yes,” Hera said painfully. “Those actions alone give me reason enough to kill him. They never looked the same after that battle. If I hadn’t become a Ledrai Allsie right then, I wouldn’t have been able to win. Dad was proud though,” he pointed out. “He did always say that he thought I would become a Ledrai Allsie. Not to brag, but the first Ledrai Allsie in a few billion years isn’t exactly a mean achievement.”<o
></o><o
></o>“Well,” Tai said. “Just think of where we’d be if you had killed Sukani right then. I mean, I would have done what you did, just beat the tar out of him, but if I’d known what he would have become…”<o
></o><o
></o>“He was our brother,” Ash said. “We would never have guessed, no matter how nasty he was, that he would become what he was, and we certainly wouldn’t have killed him unless we knew that.”<o
></o><o
></o>Hera nodded. “Yeah, if I knew what he was going to be I would’ve killed him right then and there.”<o
></o><o
></o>“Hey,” Hunter called from across the table. “What’cha guys talkin’ about!”<o
></o><o
></o>“Nothing,” Tai said with a grin. “Just Allsie stuff, you wouldn’t be interested.”<o
></o><o
></o>Hera suppressed a grin. He knew that Hunter would very much be interested in what they were saying. Hunter let it slide, however, and did not push them any further.<o
></o><o
></o>Returning to the conversation in an undertone, Ash said, “That doesn’t change the matter at hand though. The point is that Sukani is getting stronger and stronger. If we don’t stop him soon we’ll be in big trouble.”<o
></o><o
></o>“Well,” Hera grumbled, “he isn’t doing anything right now. I’d be able to sense if he was attacking a planet, and his power hasn’t fluctuated in the least. It’s the same with Boromyo, his strength is still subdued. I’d be able to sense it if either of them were causing any trouble. In fact, I think they’re still on the other side of the galaxy, probably in one of Sukani’s fortresses.”<o
></o><o
></o>Ash chuckled. “I still don’t get why he has those built. Fortresses will do about as much good to him against us as an army of ants would. He knows how powerful we are, and fortresses and castles will do nothing to prevent us from attacking him.”<o
></o><o
></o>“You’re not looking at the big picture,” Tai retorted. “Why are we fighting Ash?”<o
></o><o
></o>“To save lives,” Ash replied simply.<o
></o><o
></o>“Exactly,” Hera said. “There are innocent people in those places, and Sukani knows that we can’t just go barging in. That’s one of the things that give’s him a slight edge, he doesn’t care about other people’s lives. We do, so we have to be careful how we go about invading. We can’t just take the lives of others. You know how I operate. I--”<o
></o><o
></o>“Yeah, yeah, we know,” Ash said impatiently. “You don’t take unnecessary lives. Neither do we, but you just knock them out. If they attack me, they’re free game; I won’t let those who follow Sukani see the light of day, especially if they follow him faithfully. Honestly, we’ve gone up against so many of his lackeys, and none of the ones that I’ve fought are unfaithful. They welcome the cause with open arms, and do nothing to rebel. We’ve come across what, 4 rebel groups in the past 600 years? That’s not exactly a lot of people.”<o
></o><o
></o>“Like they have a choice,” Hera retorted. “Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi president, was hung only recently. Do you know how many people of his I had to kill? Do you know how hard it was to operate in secret without the humans seeing or noticing me, all so that I could leave them clues as to his constantly changing location! I can’t interfere severely in planets not under Sukani’s grasp. This is the same reason that a god, if there is any, would not interfere in the lives of their subjects. The subjects, and humans are no exception, would grow dependant on that god! To a human, we would be gods. We have power undreamt of by any human. The weakest of us could easily destroy this planet without lifting a baby finger. If I were to openly capture Saddam, or even covertly, word of our existence would get out, and people would attack us. Either they’d be so scared of us that they would try t wipe us from existence, and those nukes aren’t exactly toys, or they would seek us for help to their everyday problems. I’m all for preventing murder, but we’re responsible for the whole galaxy.”<o
></o><o
></o>“Anyways,” he sighed, “back to the point. The point is that Sukani has his subjects so enthralled in fear that they can do nothing but follow him. Not everybody is as strong-willed as us, they can’t fight him.”<o
></o><o
></o>“That’s one of the reasons we’re training these kids,” Tai said. “So that they can learn to be strong willed and uninfluenced by Sukani in that sense; and so that they, if not we, can pass on those teachings to other people. If they don’t wanna listen, that’s their problem and we can’t force them to do that.”<o
></o><o
></o>Ash raised his hands in exasperated defeat, sighing. “Whatever, I just think that Sukani’s lackeys are too faithful nowadays.”<o
></o><o
></o>Lan piped up, his voice soft and breezy likes all Wind-elemental warriors. “So, are you guys done arguing?” Of all of Hera’s brothers (excluding Sukani), Lania was the only one who could ‘read minds’. It was a skill that very few people could learn, especially those whose greatest strength was not under the influence of the Wind-element. His strength was far more lacking than most of Hera’s brothers, though he was far more brainy and better at using non-physical abilities.<o
></o><o
></o>“Well that’s rude,” Tai grumbled hotly. “You know better Lan, it’s rude to get into other people’s conversations, and even more so to invade their minds.”<o
></o><o
></o>“It’s not my fault,” Lan said. “You’re minds can connect to others, but mine is the only one that can read minds inadvertently. I try to control it, but it…slips sometimes.”<o
></o><o
></o>Hera grinned. “7 million years and you still haven’t gotten it under control. You should try harder Lan.” Lan shrugged and went back to his teriyaki, grinning.<o
></o><o
></o>“So,” Jake called from beside Hunter. “What’re we doing tomorrow?” Hera laughed.<o
></o><o
></o>“I’m not gonna tell you now,” he said. “I’ll leave it for a surprise.” Jake let it stand, though his eyes betrayed his intense curiosity, and he, Ron, Brett, and Hunter started talking vigorously.<o
></o><o
></o>After supper they went into a few hours of training. Hera stayed and trained with Tai and Ash while Jake fought Brett and Hunter. Ron and Kim battled, and craters were left from the battle between Ben and Terry. Hera marvelled at the strength of these children, they never ceased to amaze him. No matter how strong he was, they always grew faster.<o
></o><o
></o>As Jake and the rest went off to get changed for bed, a Dragon swooped down on the scoop. It was hued blue with a sparkling diamond belly and ivory spikes running along its back. Hera frowned, wondering what could have possessed the Dragon to come.
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