Chapter 15

A large building exploded, tossing rubble and other debris all over the road. Two forms jumped out of the cloud of smoke tossed up by the explosion, and stood on opposite ends of the street.

“Not bad…” Amarosa said as she gasped for breath.

Her and Mendell were twenty feet apart in the middle of the street. There were cars screeching to a halt and people screaming as the rubble from the building came crashing down on them. But Mendell and Amarosa stood there, isolated in their own little world where they only saw each other.

“Taking you alive proves to be rather difficult.” Mendell said as his eyes turned golden. “I think I’ll have to settle for your corpse.”

The energy radiating from his body increased as the golden pools of light in his eyes began to leak out. Golden lines spread out from his eyes and began forming an intricate pattern on his face.

Amarosa didn’t stand idly by as Mendell went through his transformation. She condensed her spirit energy and summoned her spirit beast. Behind her, a towering black shape emerged from the floor. Un-like the other phantoms that were smoky figures, this one was more substantial.

“Julius.” Amarosa whispered. The form behind her opened its fanged mouth so wide that it stretched from one side of its face to the other, splitting its head horizontally. When Amarosa said its name, the phantom screeched a blood-curdling cry that shattered the windows on the buildings nearby.

The fear that surged from Mendell’s stomach was instinctual. He wasn’t the only one that stood frozen, staring at the phantom. There were other civilians who were frozen in their place when the phantom appeared.

The phantom’s head was folded in half as it screamed to the heavens, it’s jagged crooked teeth like stalagmites in an ancient cave. Mendell ignored the fear and pulled on the spirit within as more gold dripped from his eyes and spread throughout his body.

The two were ready to fight when suddenly there was a shockwave so strong it knocked them both off their feet. When Mendell regained his footing, he saw the phantom was gone. Amarosa stood there looking around with a confused look on her face.

It was then he realized his energy was gone as well. No, not gone. Just suppressed. He thought to himself as he routed around internally. He could feel the spirit energy still there, just like the angels had taught him, but somehow it was cut off from him.

“Enough.” Mendell was startled to hear a voice speaking inside his own mind. He turned left and right, panning the street for the source of the voice and found a man floating above the rubble that was once one of his military bases.

The man, or spirit, was floating there in gold and red robes that billowed in the wind. He had a gold helmet on with a red crest on top made of hair. It looked as if the hair on top was made of fire the way it waved about.

“You…” Amarosa began to tremble. “How’re you here?!”

Mendell was surprised by the utter horror in Amarosa’s voice. She was deathly afraid of it even though she was quite powerful herself. Her emotion peeked Mendell’s interest.

“This is over. The war between you two is finished.” The figure said with a note of finality.

Amarosa’s lips trembled as her anger overwhelmed her fear. “Now you get involved? After they hunt us down like dogs for a whole decade, you decide to step in now?!”

“I don’t know who you are, but I’m not letting her go.” Mendell said casually although deep down he was uneasy. “She killed dozens and destroyed my home.” He gestured to the ruined building.

“That wasn’t a request.” The figure said as his head turned towards Mendell.

Mendell suddenly felt an immense pressure settle on his shoulder. The pressure was like a colossal wave of energy that sent him to his knees. He leaned forward and put his hands on the pavement trying to keep his face from kissing the ground.

Just as soon as the pressure settled, it disappeared. “Your people will cease their crusade.” The figure said to Mendell then turned to Amarosa. “And your people will do the same.”

“That’s not fair.” Amarosa grumbled.

“There will come a time when you will both be amongst the minority. Until then, prepare yourselves and attain as much power as you can. Heed my warning, for if there is another problem between you two that requires my presence you will not like the solution I devise.” The figure said as its form became more transparent until eventually it disappeared.

Mendell sighed in relief as he got back to his feet. He looked over at Amarosa to make sure she didn’t try to ambush him as soon as the figure vanished.

“Minority? No… that can only mean… is the Qiyamah under attack?” Amarosa seemed to be lost in her own world as she stumbled about saying things that didn’t make any sense.

“Who was that?” Mendell finally asked when he grew fed up with her behavior.

Amarosa looked up and remembered where she was. She looked at him with a blank stare before turning around. A wall of darkness appeared before her. “I suggest you take that man’s word as law. Better yet, take it as a commandment from god.” She said as she disappeared into the wall of shadow.

An hour later Mendell still couldn’t get the images of what happened out of his head. He thought he was beginning to understand the hidden world, the paranormal, but now he just had so many questions that were left un-answered.

He felt weak and helpless as events happened to him, rather than him causing the events. He hated feeling out of control. I need to take my mind off things.

...

“Welcome Sir.”

Various greetings were said to him as he walked through the doors of Guardian HQ an hour later. This was the headquarters for all Guardians in America, and where he resided. After walking into the elevator, he entered a passcode into the keypad and rode the elevator down.

The doors opened twenty floors underground revealing an empty station. Mendell frowned as he noticed the lights were already on. This was his private sanctuary, the amount of people who knew the passcode to this place could be counted on one hand.

He made a beeline for the steel door where he kept his plaything. After entering a unique passcode that nobody in the world knew, besides him, he swung the door open and found an unexpected guest inside.

“What’re you doing here?!” He spat at the white blond girl that was casually leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. “And what have you done with my prisoner?!”

“You mean the doctor who you were torturing just because she was mind-controlled? I’ve sent her far away, somewhere you will never find her again.” The girl said.

The girl before him was the daughter of the President, yet she enjoyed a privilege that not even the President had. She was able to talk to Mendell as if they were equals.

“I’m forced to work with you but that doesn’t mean I have to stand by and allow you to torture innocent people. Those days are over.” Andrea said evenly as she stared at Mendell, unafraid of what he might do. “Now come on. The Association sent me to fetch you and they expect us within the hour.”

…

Nate sat in a small auditorium filled with fifty students of all different races. It was the first day of school and he was feeling anxious as he adjusted to the new world he found himself in. He was informed that he would attend the school of magic which was just a sub-school within the Academy.

The room was filling up quickly. The students that trickled in were finding it harder and harder to find an empty seat. A moment later, a tall Indian man walked out of the stage door and approached the low podium.

“Good morning, and welcome to the Academy. I am Master Akash Grenwall; you can all call me Master Akash. I’m the director of the Academy’s School of Magic.” The Indian man said with a slight accent.

“First; congratulations to all of you. Making it into this school is quite the accomplishment, you should all be proud of yourselves. Here at the Academy we deliver first-rate education that will serve you well in the years to come.

“In your assigned rooms, you will find several items that are essential to your time here: a rule book, your class schedule, and your school ID.” The man explained.

“There are many fun things you can do on campus but you all must remember to follow the rules and always practice safety first. Now, I’m sure most of you are itching to get to the actual magic, and as a treat, I will explain some of the simple concepts behind magic.” The crowd leaned forward with renewed interest. Even Nate focused his eyes on the man on stage.

“Magic exists. But most of you have already experienced that, one way or another, haven’t you?” The tall brown man said. “Arcane magic, elemental magic, even shaman magic exists in our world.”

“Magic, mana, ether, whatever you want to call it it’s all the same. It exists, it surrounds us and a rare few can access this energy source and manipulate it into manifestations that defy logic. Now, don’t confuse magic with spirit energy, these are two very different things. That is why there is a school of magic and a spirit school.”

Nate was distracted by a large orc that was ambling down the aisle looking for a seat. The auditorium was packed, and the only available seat happened to be a few rows in front of Nate.

You’re better off sitting down where you are. He thought to himself, but the orc didn’t sit down in the aisle. He moved sideways down the row despite the grumbles of protest.

“Sit down fatass!” Someone shouted, eliciting a few laughs from the crowd.

The orc made his way down the row and finally made it to the available seat that was far too small for his large frame. Still he sat down, and his upper body spilled over onto the seats beside him, making the people around him uncomfortable as they leaned away.

“Figuring out how magic works is a long and tedious process filled with failure, anger, and life-threatening experiments. Here at the school of magic, we have only one purpose, and that is to produce quality magicians that will contribute to society.

Now, our goal for the first years, that would be all of you, is to reveal your innate affinity and to polish them to the highest degree. Each mage is born with a certain amount of talent that determines how far you will advance into the world of magic. Magical items like wands and staffs can strengthen the effect of your magic, and rings and scrolls could help cast a particular spell, but overall, your capabilities are capped by the talent hidden in your blood.”

The director moved around the stage as he went on about his lecture. Nate noticed that the students listening were split up into two categories. One group listened attentively, they were mostly human and ranged from all ages from a young teen to as old as middle-aged men and women.

The other group seemed bored, as if the director was repeating knowledge they were already aware of. This group consisted mainly of other races that weren’t human. There were some humans in this lot, but the majority were from different races.

“Should you have any questions, feel free to stop by my office at any time. And again, welcome to the Academy. Please make yourselves at home.”