Element

Chapter 1
         “Three-Two-One- FIRE!” Tara exclaimed as Jallin's arrow went whizzing thought the air, and towards the large circular target.
         “I did it! Did you see that Tawa I-” The four year old stopped short, because as soon as the arrow soared out of his grasp, it burst into a brilliant blue flame. It whistled through the air like a meteor, leaving a trail of smoke in it's wake. 
         Everyone on the city wall stared gaping at the flaming arrow as it rushed towards the ground. Upon impact, just five feet away from the target, the ground burst open with a shower of fire, dirt and mud. All the grass within two meters of the arrow erupted in flame. Men from the guard station, along with a few common villagers, came pouring out of the city fortress to dowse the flame.
         Tara stared stunned at the raging fire below, as it lazily meandered ever closer the shabby city wall.
         “Wha-How, I- the-fire-wha-!” Stuttering, Tara stared wide eyed at the men throwing countless buckets of water on the flame. The water seemed to have no effect on the expanding blaze. In fact it only grew, spreading quickly towards the city wall and all the wide-eyed orphans.
         “Tara! What happened?” Miss. Baranta Maledin, the orphan's “mother” came running up.
         “I-I don't know.” Pure shock radiated off her face. Tara swallowed and tried with no avail to calm herself. Tears of nervousness sneaked out of her eyes. There was nothing she could do to shake the feeling of “its all my fault” off her shoulders. Even though it was Jallin's arrow, the young boy had been unable to shoot it on his own. So Tara had held on, pulled back, and released the arrow. Holding on just enough for the arrow to shoot, without taking away from Jallin's experience.
         “Tawa what did I do?” Jallin whined as he also gazed astounded at the growing blue flame. His lower lip trembled and his eyes began to fill with tears. “Is the city gonna be dead?”
         As if in a trace Tara mumbled a reply “Nothing, it wasn't you. Everything is going to be okay.” This seemed to satisfy the young boy enough to make him go and watch the men throw water on the fire. Hundreds of buckets were dumped on the ever burning fire, yet it made no difference, the flame only seemed to grow.
         It leisurely continued to inch it's way towards the ivy covered wall. Tara's mouth went dry as the inferno caught hold of a cart that lay ten paces away from her, incinerating it with it's intense heat. Tara could now feel the heat as it caught in the wind and rushed past her and the rest of the orphans.
         Starting to panic she yelled at the men tossing water below her. “Hurry! Go faster!” then quietly, more to the fire than to herself she murmured “Just blow out!” Again, as the words left her mouth, a strong wind swept down and blew out the fire!
         Tara felt sick. Did she do that? The men cheered, of coarse none of them had heard her, it looked to them that the fire had gone out on it's own. The only odd thing about the incident was that none of the grass was burnt. This seemed to intrigue the men of the town, drawing many of them wandering up to the area where fire had flourished. Exclaims of wonder and bewilderment drifted up from the scene to the city wall.
         

         That night the orphanage was abuzz with the incident earlier that day.
         “I'll bet the arrow was going so fast it caught fire!”
         “No way! Jallin isn't strong enough to do that.”
         “Tara was helping him.”
         “Still, their strength combined isn't enough to create a flame. Even the town guard archers can't do it.”
         “I bet it was magic.”
         “Yeah, sure.” One kid replied sarcastically “If it was magic, there would have to be a wizard!”
         “Jallin?”
         “No way, Jallin was born here. Other than today, he's never left.”
         “What about his mother, he could have gotten it from her?”
         “I once read you can't inherit magic.”
         “Tara? She could be a wizard!”
         “Tara wouldn't do anything like that! Not on purpose!”
         “Yeah, Tara's nice, she wouldn't do anything like that.”
         “What if she's under a spell?”
         “She never talks about her past. I don't even think Mrs. Maledin knows where she came from.”
         “I'll bet it's Vaor!”
         “Shh! Don't say that name!”
         “But what if she's a spy for him?”
         “And came here...”
         Tara slammed her door shut, and the voices ceased. Why did this happen? What did I do? What's wrong with me?  She lay down on her bed and cried. Everything had gone downhill since about five months ago. She lay crying, face down, till sleep overtook her.
         It was quite early when Tara was awakened abruptly to the sound of shouting in the hall.
         “I heard him! I know I did. Plus, you caught him, that pretty much proves it.”
         “Just-” Came another voice, pleading for the first voice to calm down.
         “I don't care what he says! He's guilty, and that is that! I want some punishment here!”
Tara propped open the door just enough to see Miss. Maledin speaking angrily with an older gentleman, looking to be a town guard by the badge on his uniform. He seemed a bit taken aback by Miss. Maledin's outbursts.
The guard was holding a teenage boy, about her age, by the back of the neck. The boy had light brown hair, that hung down and covered his ears. He was dirty and scrapped, but you could clearly see muscles underneath the grime. The boy's eyes were a magnificent bluish green color, that Tara got glimpses of when he occasionally looked up at the two adults.
“Odd.” Tara thought, seeing as the boy didn't attempt to break free or cause any mischief. He simply stood and waited while the guard and Miss. Maledin argued about what to do with him.
Miss. Maledin rambled on about the sharp sounds she had heard from above while she slept. Then the shadow that she had seen running on the wall of the building next to the orphanage.
Nodding, the guard turned to the victim of Miss Maledin's glare “Do you deny this?”
“Please sir, may I explain? This is not what it seems. I really didn't mean any harm.” 
The guard looked at the orphanage’s mother “I guess it wouldn’t hurt.” She shrugged, though it seemed forced.
         “I didn't mean any harm ma'am. And I didn't take anything!”
         Mrs. Maledin laughed “Good luck convincing my of that! All you young people are the same. There isn't one of you that doesn't cause mischief! Of coarse you took something, it's your nature!”
         “Really ma'am. The only thing I was about to take was the garbage! I saw the chef of this orphanage throw out some food scraps. I haven't eaten in days, so I was going to ask if I could have some. I was almost at the back door when I heard the sound of a sword being drawn. I turned around, and slowly coming up behind me was a tall man with a sword. Instinctively I ran, but the alley is a dead end. So I climbed the trellis onto the roof. The man came after me so I ran across the roof. Thats when you heard me and I was caught. It was almost a good thing the guard was there, because when he yelled at me to stop, the man behind me stopped and ran the other way. ” The boy then stared Miss Madelin in the eyes and said “I am truely sorry for the inconvenience.”
“Well you better be cause I-” The town guard stopped Miss Maledin.
“I think the boy has had enough trouble. Also, if I think back I do remember seeing another shadow on the roof. I was distracted by this young man so I wasn't positive of what I saw, I looked before I knocked on your door, but I didn't see anything.”
“Well he still disturbed my orphanage!”
“I really am sorry ma'am.” The teenager assured his accuser.
Miss Maledin looked at the boy skeptically. “Where are you from?”
“From Caltinor, My father is a merchant there.”
“Merchants are always wealthy. The son of a merchant shouldn't be out in the streets.”
“My father does little work. But he spends all the money we do get on beer.”
“So bringing you back to Caltinor wouldn't be a good idea then?” the guard asked, though he already knew the answer.
“No sir. Caltinor is a place I would rather not be.” Even though his word were said  calmly, it was evident he dreaded going back to the magnificent capital.
Miss Maledin's face lite up “I just thought about what you said, and because it’s my job, I'm going to offer you a place at my orphanage. It's not much, but it will be a place to stay till you find work and a proper home.”
“Thank-you ma'am, that would be wonderful, and although it would be nice to stay here, I can't. ” Derlain humbly declined.
“And why is that?” Mrs. Maledin looked puzzled. Never had a starving orphan ever refused a home from her.
“I do not want to cause any more trouble. There is a chance that the man from the ally might return for me, and I do not want to endanger the orphans.”
“No problem.” Said the smiling town guard, he was the kind of man who would make the perfect grandfather. “We'll make sure he doesn't come around. Plus, unless you have something he wants, most street stalkers don't come after you more than once..”
“I guess I can stay then. But only for a short time, till I find work. Like I said I don't want to cause any problems.”
“Great then it’s settled. We’ll set you up a bed before tonight.”
“And ma'am? Will I have to share a room? I do not want to cause any trouble, although if it is possible I would like to be alone.”
“Well, I'm sorry then, cause we don't have any rooms open. In fact you might have to be with more than one person, that is if you wanna be with boys.”
“Yes ma'am. If it is more convenient for me to share a room, then I will .”
         “What a gentleman, and I haven’t even asked your name yet.” Miss Maledin
The boy glanced up nervously. He scanned the hallway with his eyes, then as if not knowing the right answer he answered “Derlain.” Then more confidently “It's Derlain.”
“Now we have to figure out where to put you. Most of our rooms are full, you see with the war going on many parents are being killed, so the orphanage is quite full.”  The tall slim lady thought for a moment before replaying “But I'm pretty sure Tara has a room to herself.” Then she turned and walked swiftly towards Tara's room, with Derlain silently trotting behind.
Tara quickly closed the door and jumped on her bed.  She opened a book and pretended to read.  When the knock came she was ready.
“Come in!” she exclaimed.
“Hello? Tara dear, do you have a minute?” Miss. Maledin peaked in her room with Derlain hovering close behind her. Tara nodded and put down her book, Miss. Madelin continued, walking into the room as to speak to her. ”We have a new addition to the orphanage.” She gestured towards Derlain who stepped slowly into the room. “There aren’t any boys rooms left, so I hope you don’t mind sharing.”
“Oh no, not at all, I'm okay with that.” Tara replied smiling, even though inside she was dreading sharing a room. The horrifying nightmares she got caused her to wake up screaming, which would also wake up anyone sharing the room.
“Okay, so Derlain, I will get the janitor to bring you up a cot for to night.”
“Okay, thanks Miss Madelin.”
“Good,” smiled Miss Madelin “now I want you two to get acquainted.  Lunch is at twelve, see you then.”
Tara looked back at Derlain, then at her book.  Silently she put it down and swung he legs off the bed.  “So,” she paused “why are you here?”
“Oh, I need a place to stay to put it simply.  You?”
Tara looked down.  “My parents died.”
Sympathetically Derlain quietly said, “I’m so sorry.” He paused before replying “Is it because of the war?”
“Yeah.” Tara could feel her throat tightening and the tears poking out of her eyes.
“What did they do? Were they soldiers, spies, suppliers, weapon makers?
Tara looked up from the colorful pattern on her blanket “Can I trust you?”
With the most sincerity Tara had seen in all her life he replied “Yes, if you don't want me to tell anyone, you can trust me not to.”
“They were spies, thats how they died.”
“If you don't mind me asking, who were they working for?”
“Ryle of coarse! Who else would they work for? Vaor is ruthless and cruel, they would never work for him.”
Derlain nodded and smiled a smile that radiated joy. “Thats good to hear. And if you don't mind may I ask how they died?”
Tara sat for a minute, holding in the tears as she debated whether or not to tell this boy. His sincerity seemed really, and he looked as if he really cared. She decided she would tell him. “Okay, well, um, m-my parents died b-because of a…” She stopped.  She couldn’t go on. It was harder to explain than she thought.
“Come on Tara, you can do it.  Just let it out.  It’ll make you feel better.” 
She murmured to herself “A dragon killed them.”  Even saying it hurt so much that she then burst out into a river of tears.  “A dragon, a dragon burnt them.  And I was there, I could have stopped him, I could have saved them.  It was all my fault.”  She was now trembling as she spoke and her breath came in short gasps.
Derlain’s jaw opened a little.  He knew she was still dwelling over the death of her parents but he needed to know.  “I’m sorry.”  He spoke quietly “They must have been good people.  What were their names?”  he paused “and the dragon too.”
         She calmed down a bit “the dragon was Alterdok and my parents were Christla and Branndor Waterstone.” She took in a deep breath, and looked up into the shocked face of Derlain.
With wide eyes Derlain exclaimed “Then you’re Tara, their girl, their only child. You're the prophesied one.  You’re just who I was looking for!”




Chapter 2
         Kat sighed and leaned back on her office chair. Your just who I'm looking for! Yup, it would work. It was an exciting and curious ending for the chapter. The readers would want to know what happened next, Why was Derlain looking for Tara, and why Tara? These were some of the questions she wanted her readers to ask.
Kat grabbed her pop and took a sip. “Mmm, grape!” She mumbled. She then paused her ipod and got up from her computer. 
Ever since her dad had gotten a free computer at an old computer shop, she had been trying to write a novel on it. It wasn't a very good computer. In fact it started as the kid's computer. She had to share it with her two brothers, Travis and Carl. But they never used it so she got to move it to her room. After that, writing became easy. No one in the way, no noise other than the sound of her ipod and the sharp bark of her dog. It was a very relaxing hobby, and a great way to vent her feelings.
Actually she had already started two stories before she began this one. Neither of the other stories had really gripped her as much as this newest one had. It was her life dream to be an author. Actually her dream was to have happen to her what happened to the people in the books she read. Go to a different world, save everyone from evil and meet true love. But that was impossible,  that only happens in books and movies. So that's why she would write, to live that adventure, to have that dream without it actually happening.
Kat was different then most gr. 8 girls. She didn't wear extra super tight jeans or unnecessarily low shirts. She was a more comfy t-shirt and loose jeans girl. Really, all the tight clothes were uncomfortable and unnecessary.
A faint ring came from downstairs, followed by “Kat! Phone for you!”
“Coming!” Kat yelled as she ran to the stairs to get the phone. “Hello?”
“Hey Kat! It's Lanna.” Lanna was Kat's best friend. They were the same in so many ways. For one they both loved to read, and write. Both of them had started to write a book. While Lanna's was about people who went into another world, Kat's was about a totally different world where the people started in a different world and stayed there till the end.
“Hey Lanna! Whats up?”
“Nothing really, I just called to ask and see if you wanted to hang out on Friday night? My house.”
“I don't think I can do Friday, I have synchro.”
“Really? Could you just come after swimming and stay for a sleep over?”
“Sorry that won't work either. I have practice in the morning again. I would skip Saturday, but my couch would kill me. She hates it when we miss practice, then the next time you are at practice she gives a long lecture on how we need to be dedicated to our team and stuff. But would Saturday afternoon work? I get home from synchro at about 11:00.”
“I think it will. One second, I'll go ask my mom.” There was a pause and a muffled yell from the phone, after a minute Lanna spoke again “Yeah! That'll work. You wanna come over at about 11:30, and have lunch here?”
“I'll be right back, I'm gonna go ask.” Kat ran down the stairs and into the kitchen, almost bumping into her mom. “Hey mom could I go to Lanna's Saturday at 11:30?”
“I don't know. I think I have a board meeting at church on Saturday. So I won't be here to take you. But you can ask your dad, he's going to be here all day.”
         “Alright.” Kat spun around and ran towards the den where her Dad was checking his emails. “Dad?” she asked as she peeked around the bend and into the den.
         “Yeah?” He replied still facing the computer.
         “Could you take me to Lanna's on Saturday?”
         “I don't know. At what time? You have swimming in the morning.”
         “Yeah I know, I would go after swimming at about 11:30.”
         “Sorry sweetie I can't. After I pick you up from the pool I have to take Carl to work then I'm going to work out.”
         Could you take me there on your way to the gym or Carl's work?”
         “Lanna's house is really out of the way.”
         “Alright, we'll get together another time then.” As Kat turned to leave her Dad spoke up.
         “You could invite her over here.”
         Kat looked up “Hey that's a good idea! I'll go ask her.”
         She turned and raced back up to her room “Lanna?”
         “Yeah! Can you come?” Lanna's voice eagerly relpied.
         “No sorry, my parents can't take me. But do you wanna come to my house? Same time.”
         “Yeah, I'll go ask.” Kat waited a few minutes before Lanna got back.
         “I can come!” Lanna exclaimed happily.
         “Great. So I'll see you on Saturday!” Kat paced to the bathroom and brushed through her shoulder length golden blond hair in front the mirror.
         “Okay. Bye!”
         “Bye!” And with that she hung up and continued to brush out the tangles in her hair.



         “Alright, now I want everyone to hand in the paper you wrote on the French Revolution and the effects of it.” Mr. Paleis announced. Then smiling he added “Extra marks to the first two to hand it in.”
         Everyone in the class ran forward towards the middle ages man. “Whoa, okay everyone sit down. Colton and Sharon get the marks, so if you could all calm down and pass your papers to the front of the class.”
         “As if Sharon needs the marks, she'll probably get 100% without the bonus.” Kat grumbled to Lanna in the desk next to her. 
         “Yeah but at least Colton got it! I mean he's not gonna fail without it but with it he could go from a C to a B.”
         “Yeah I guess so. But I mea-” She didn't finish cause at that moment the lunch bell rung. “Never mind.”
         Kat and Lanna hurried to the cafeteria to get their favorite place by the window. With one seat facing the cafeteria line-up and one seat facing the door.
         Kat slumped and gazed at table at the far end of the cafeteria. There, alone, was Colton. He was leaning intensely over a condensed book. He looked up and Kat quickly shifted her eyes.
         “Kat! You've got to talk to him.”
         “What? No, there is no way I'm going to talk to him. He's nice and into a lot of the stuff I like, but there is no way I can just go up and talk to him.”
         “But you guys are so similar, you'd have endless stuff to talk about!”
         “No.” Kat said firmly and that ended that.
         They sat and ate for a few minutes. Kat kept glancing up at Colton, then quickly looking down at her food.
         Lanna looked up and whispered “Kat, go ta-” Abruptly she stopped and stared at the door.
         “What? Go what?” then she caught Lanna's eye and understood that something was wrong. Then  leaning forward she asked concerned “What's up?”
         “Nothing.” Lanna blinked, rubbed her eyes and looked at Kat “I just thought I saw something.”
         “A person? We are in a school you know, there's going to be people.” Kat said sarcastically, with no idea of the danger she was in.
         “I don't know. It was all black, and a bit like a human, but yet it-”
         “Okay, yeah I think you imagined it!”
         “But I'm pretty sure I saw something!” Lanna tried to convince Kat. She knew she had seen something
         “Alright Lanna.” Kat said, even though she didn't believe her.
         They sat silent for the rest of lunch break. When the bell rung they got up and when to the gym.
         After gym, everyone's least favorite class, science. Normally Kat really enjoyed science, but since Mr. Valtintor came, it was her least favorite subject. He gave out lots of unnecessary homework, and cruel punishments. Especially to Kat, who seemed to be the main target of his cruel actions.
         “Okay, so today we are going to talk about stars and galaxies. For starters who can tell me the number of stars in the universe.” Mr. Valtintor begin.
         When nobody answered he turned to Kat “Can you tell us Miss. Waterstone?”
         “20 000 000?” Kat took a random guess. Mr. Valtintor had never told them.
         “Wrong! There are millions of stars. A number with so many zeros we don't even have a name for it. Now who can tell me if there is or isn't life other than ourselves out there? Perhaps Kat would like to try again.”
         “I don't know sir. I don't  think anybody knows. But I personally don't think there is.” He glared at her with his small gray eyes. Then leaning close the whispered just loud enough for her to hear. “Don't be so sure. I know who you are!”

         

Chapter 3
After class Kat hurried out of class with Lanna. “What did he say to you?”
         “I don't know! It was weird, he was like 'Don't be so sure' she said in a mock deep voice  'I know who you are.' Isn't that creepy!”
         “Yeah! Of course he knows who you are, your in the class. I wonder why they even hired him.” Then turning to Kat “Don't let it bother you. He's a bit creepy but I'm sure he's harmless.”
         “Yeah, okay.” But she still wasn't convinced.
         When Kat got home no one was there so she grabbed a handful of pistachios and ran up to her room. Since writing helped her relieve stress, she plopped down on her chair and started to type from where she had last left off.