Dehorrah: Kato Rein: Demon Child Book 1

My First Screamer

Seven years later, when I turned fifteen, I began to see everything differently. I could see the life energy that flowed through my peers and the environment around them. I hid my skills from my tutor, because I developed them far too early. I was capable of reading the minds of my peers, though I couldn't turn that power off when I wanted to. My instincts kicked in every time someone was around. Except for Chaing. He was the only one who didn't trigger my instincts. I figured it was because we started to hang out all the time together after that day in the atrium. He started sitting with me at breakfast, lunch, recess, dinner, and then he even came by to visit my room. I remember the first day he started sitting with me.
"Hey!" Those green eyes flashed in front of my face next to my salad. "So, it's been two days since we first met. All I got out of you then was your name. And although the sound of your voice ringing out your gorgeous name was like a symphony. I still know nothing about you." He sat down next to me as close as he could get without touching me. Some kids came by who always started the princess chant. Their "leader's" name was Darnine. They called him D.
"You don't need to cater to the princess Chaing. I think she should learn how to feed herself. Oh wait. She never learned how to speak." Bullied D. He threw my salad on the ground and got in my face. I had never actually looked at his face before. He was nice looking in a way. Bright blue eyes that could make a girl's heart melt, curly blonde hair. He had the features of a golden retriever. But all the charm of a rat. There was still one bite left of food on my fork. I stared emotionless into his eyes, raised one eyebrow and took the bite.
Before I knew it the back of Chaing's head was in my face instead. He grabbed D by his neck and slammed him against the wall with such forced that it cracked. His wild eyes were fierce and he smiled like a psychopath. "Let's get one thing straight. If I ever see you even look at her the wrong way again, I will cut out your canine heart, let you heal, and cut it out again and then make you eat it. And her name is Eowyn. Not princess, not your highness, not your majesty, it's Eowyn. Got it?" D shakily nodded his head as he peed his pants. "Now apologize to Eowyn. And use her real name." Chaing dropped D to his knees. D couldn't even look up. His voice cracked as he stuttered out an apology. He cleaned up the salad and scurried away.
Chaing sat back down next to me. My face was full of shock. Not only had someone just stuck up for me for the first time. But he had scared the hell out of the toughest bully who was our age. He opened his lunch bag and handed me his apple salad. "Here, you barely had a bite of yours."
After that day, he almost never left my side during social times. People stopped chanting at me when he was around. We ate together, walked in the woods together, and he even walked me to my tutor's office.
"So, I see your friend still hangs around. He's a good guy. Has he made a move on you yet?" Koncaremo asked. It was my fifteenth birthday. I think he was trying to cheer me up. I was crying as usual. I looked away from the window at him confused.
"Made a move? What are you talking about?" I didn't understand his thought process. Most of his thoughts were blocked from me. He was a powerful telepath. If he wanted to he could make you sing a song you hate or dance with one look. But he never did anything but read. And he could turn it off. What I read from his mind was, "I wonder if she likes him as much as he likes her."
"Chaing likes you. What do you guys talk about? Do you two share the same interests? Does he like to read too? Is he as high in grade level as you?" He smiled like he was excited.
"He talks. I just listen." For seven years I never said another word to Chaing. He liked to talk so I just let him. He was nice, he liked to read too, but he mostly talked about what he wanted his powers to be when he discovered them. He thought fire would be awesome because he could light a dark space, or cook his food immediately. Then one day he said water would be awesome because he could wash himself in the shower more thoroughly, or never have to drink from a cup again. After two days of that he said Air would be cool because he could fly without wings and knock people over when they pissed him off.
"So, you've never said one word to this boy except to tell him your name? Seven years ago? And he still hangs out with you?" I thought about it for a moment. Had I been rude to this boy? Was I using him? I wondered if he thought that way.
I was still crying but this time it was about my new friend. I never thought of myself as selfish. I just never had a friend before Chaing. I didn't know how to act. Everyone else at this school hated me. But Chaing was different. He got in my face not to intimidate me, but to actually look at me. Koncaremo said that he likes me. But did I like him?
"I have to go." I got up and wiped my tears away, grabbed my things and headed toward the door.
"Wait, where are you going?" Koncaremo grabbed my hand before I could reach the door. "Eon is supposed to come see you today. He had a surprise for you." I turned to look at him and smiled.
"I have something more important to do, for my friend." He let go and I sprinted out the door. I ran toward the universal history class. I was still smiling, there was at least ten minutes left before class ended and recess began. This time it was my turn. I was going to meet him before his class ended. I was going to grab his hand after greeting him with a smile and drag him with me out to the woods. And talk to him. Tell him about my classes and my tutor, tell him everything I could about me.
My instincts kicked in. Too late. Slam. Before I knew it I had been hoisted up by my throat against the wall. My head had made a nice round imprint in the concrete. I looked down to see D. His body was emanating with aggressive energy. His hand was hot against my throat, like fire. Fire. He was a flame. He held me up with one hand and formed a fire ball in the other aimed at me. He looked up at me and howled. He was going through the Ikshtar. His blue eyes were fully dilated. The fire grew hotter and hotter. He threw it toward me as hard as he could. My instincts took over and I put my hands out. I caught the fire in my hands. I caught it. Was I a flame too? We weren't supposed to discover our elements until we turned thirty. I shot it back at him. He let go of me to catch it.
"D? You need to calm down. It's ok. Don't do anything rash." The bell rang. He howled at the sound. Then he spun a flame wheel and threw it at me like a star. I grabbed it and spread my hands apart to dissipate the flames. Kids and teachers started pouring out of the classrooms. I turned to see Chaing running out first. He looked at me in shock. D threw more fire at me. I stopped as many as I could but one got past me and flew toward a teacher making them notice the fight. She stopped the fire in her hands and dissipated it quickly before getting on her device and calling for the elders. When the other kids noticed they gathered around to watch. 'Too many people around for this situation. I have to end this fight before he hurts someone.'
Chaing was blocked by the crowd. Teachers couldn't push through to help. I spread my wings to block what I couldn't with my hands. But he wasn't interested in me anymore. He turned toward the crowd. No. I had to do something. I let my energy flow into my hands and fire shot from them. The fire danced around my fingers. "Hey! Dog breath!" His attention went back to me. He looked at my hands and howled. My fire was different. It was white and much hotter than D's. I wondered if I could manipulate the shape of it. I closed my hand like a fist and slung the fire out to form a whip. "Over here!" I swung it at him. It cracked and made him angrier. At least he was focused on me. He breathed fire out of his mouth at me. I used my wings to block it from the crowd and threw the flame whip at him again. This time it wrapped around his neck. I pulled and it tightened.
"Eowyn!" Koncaremo broke through the crowd behind me. I turned my head toward him still keeping my fire tight.
"Ikshtar!" I yelled through my teeth. My tutor jumped in front of me and stamped his feet to the ground. I let go of the flame and let it go out. The ground shifted and encased D in rock. He writhed and howled, spewing fire from his mouth. My tutor closed his fist at D and a muzzle of rock formed over his mouth. "Mon! Where are you taking him? He doesn't know what he's doing."
Chaing ran up to me while the crowd cleared and put his arms around me. My tutor gave me a look. He was trying to comfort me. "He'll be alright." Chaing said. "Come on. Let's go." He led me to the woods. I was sad for D. Even though he hated me and always bullied me every chance he got, I still felt like he was a Dehorran too and should have been treated as such. "Are you ok?" When we got to the woods he spun me around to look at him. He looked me up and down. I was fine until he touched my wings.
"Ow. I didn't even notice that they were burned." I slowly unfolded my wings. They were burned clean through on the ends where I blocked some fire balls. "Why are my wings burnt but not my hands, and why didn't I feel it?"
"It's the heat of the battle, your hands didn't get burnt because that's where you focused your energy. And you didn't feel your wings get burnt because your adrenaline was high and you were focused on the fight, not the pain." He smiled when he said it, like he was proud of me for holding my own. My wings began to heal quickly.
"Chaing?" I grabbed his hand and looked into his eyes. He smiled as he brushed the soot off my clothes. "Do you think I take advantage of you? Because I-"
"Hey, when I met you for the first time it was in this very spot. You were sitting alone, meditating. When I saw you I thought, 'wow, this poor girl has no friends'. I used you to keep from trouble. In return, I became your friend. I protected you and treated you like a normal person. Like you deserved. As far as I have seen over the fifteen years you have been alive, you haven't done anything harmful to anyone. You've stayed to yourself because no one here was smart enough to understand you. Nor was anyone willing to take the time. But I did. And you're just fine. I was using you at first. So, if you were using me then that's fine. It's different for me now. But I don't care if it's different for you. As long as you're happy. That's all I care about." He looked at me with that cheerful smile. I felt my heart begin to race and my face flush. The pain in my wings were gone and I felt like I was floating.
The next day felt like a dream. I woke up early to meet Chaing at his room. He was surprised to see me when he opened the door. I smiled really big and said, "Hey, we have some time today before class. I want to show you something." He smiled back and followed me. I took him to our little spot in the woods. It was still a little dark outside. I had him sit down and stepped back about four feet from him. "Ok, I've been practicing." I focused my energy into my hands and made a small white flame, no bigger than my palm. I pulled at it with one hand and expanded it slightly. Then I flicked it with my fingers, the shape changed to look just like me, Then I spread it out a little further and made a second image to look like Chaing. Then I made a stance and circled my hands making the flame images dance in the air. The fire sparked and flickered out. Then I brought my feet together and bowed.
"Eowyn, I know that it's already amazing enough that you discovered your element. But even my history teacher, who's a flame and 7,000 years old couldn't do with fire what you just did." He was completely shocked. My smile faded a bit and I lowered my head. Then Chaing began to clap building up from a slow clap to a quick and standing one. He walked over to me and hooked my neck with his arm. He gave me his brightest smile and said, "I think I should teach you how I got past those sensors."
"Eowyn?" Eon's voiced echoed through my head. I looked over. I hadn't even realized that he had walked in. Mon was just telling me about quantum relativity, I just let him babble on even though I already read about it and memorized it.
"Eon, welcome to our lesson. Although I think she already read this one, and more than likely the next fifty lessons with it. I never know how far ahead she really is. By the time she graduates she'll be smarter than the grand elder." Eon pushed past him towards me. He knelt down in front of me and pulled out a small box that was wrapped and had a ribbon on it.
"Here, it's a gift for your fifteenth birthday and for discovering your element. It's from your father." Eon pushed it toward me. My eyes were a little wide. My father finally sent me a birthday gift? After fifteen years my family finally showed that they cared. I took the gift and opened it. It was a silver necklace with a pendant on it. On the front of the pendant was the royal crest, a feline roaring, mouth wide. On the back was my name written in Dehorran ancient script.
"Who are my parents?" I asked looking up from the necklace. Eon's eyes were wide now. I hadn't ever spoken to him before. And Mon never told him that I had started speaking to him. He took himself back for a moment. He thought about his answer and looked at Mon who shrugged his shoulders.
"The king and queen of Dehorrah. You were born different from most kids on our home world. So for safety they sent you here. This is a facility best suited for kids who go through an extremely violent Ikshtar. I'm going to tell you right now, you, in particular, are a very special case. You must be on alert with your temper. You haven't had an issue so far. But one day you will rule over our home world. You have to make a connection to people. You have to earn their respect. A great leader will join their people. Be like them so that you can understand them and how they live. Then you will be able to set standards and decrees that both keep your people safe and happy. You don't want your people to hate or want to destroy you. I think it would be best if Mon Koncaremo taught you about the laws of our people and how the laws came about." He looked into my eyes the whole time and stared into them trying to see a reaction from me.
"That's perfect! I'll start on them right away. Hopefully you won't go through them as quickly as you have science, math, languages, and all of your other lessons. Hopefully this teacher student relationship will last longer than your pace. I'll get the books to you tomorrow." Mon was excited to have a new subject to teach me. I had a feeling that he was running out of material when he started to flip through his books frantically looking for new philosophies and new theories. My schooling was coming to a close much earlier than normal. It finally hit me in that moment. I looked at Mon and saw just how much I looked up to him. I felt like I loved him in a way. He had been here for fifteen years, taking care of me, teaching me, guiding me. He was my father. Maybe not biologically, but he treated me like his own daughter. It was time I started treating him like my father.
Eon left after giving a list of book material to Mon. And the day of lessons and visits was over. Mon turned back to me and smiled. I was staring at the necklace. I was debating on weather I wanted to wear it. Then I thought about what Eon said, that I would rule over Dehorrah one day. That I needed to connect to my people. I put the necklace on. I was going to change my ways and earn my people's respect.