Power of the 8 Elements

Chapter One

 The first time something unnaturally magic happened was when I was six years old. My family and I went on a "fun" trip up north to an old cabin that was empty during winter break. In my six year old glacier mind, a trip to the snowy mountains of Canada was way better than any vacation to a sandy beach.

My parents had asked me to collect some firewood, so we could cook dinner, and me being the oldest, I had no choice. So I went outside dressed in mittens and a thick coat. I had an overbite. But strangely, I felt it disappear. I felt my hands shrink, too. So I removed my gloves and saw small hands with tiny claws. I was even more confused when I looked at my reflection in that little pocket mirror my parents made me carry around all the time. And boy, did I look different.

Now I had white skin with ombre hair (from pure snow white to ocean blue). My eyes were medium blue.

"This isn't supposed to happen," I muttered.

I looked around. I thought about calling my mother over, but she wouldn't have a clue about what was going on. There was nothing to do really. It was like tripping at the playground. Nothing to do except shake it off and pretend like it never happened. I continued walking. I bent down and picked up a thin twig. That wasn't going to be enough wood. There was a huge frozen lake on the other side of the cabin with a short, rickety-looking dock. A thin sheet of ice spread across the lake, but I was a small kid. I walked onto the dock. It creaked every time my foot took a step, so I tried to put less pressure on it. I reached the edge of the dock and pressed one foot on the ice. That was enough to make it crack, and I fell in. Everything went dark and rigid as water began filling my nose. I closed my eyes.

Surprisingly, I opened my eyes. I felt myself being dragged. I squealed and pulled myself free. The last thing I needed was for a rabid dog to save me only so I could get killed by the animal. I sat up and turned away to find someone...or rather something staring at me. The being didn't look normal enough to be considered a someone. He levitated above the ground. The figure didn't appear to be much taller than I was. A little above my height. He wore a black poncho with a hood.

They had glittery pale blue skin with dark purple eyes and black sclerae. Their fingers and toes were frostbitten black, but they didn't seem to pay that any mind. After all, they mainly focused on me. The figure held a staff with a spear-shaped end that glowed. Its colors swapped between blue and purple with flashes of what appeared to be lightning swirling around inside. The figure had black lines running around their wrists and ankles, and a black line running from his lip to his chin. He smiled. He landed on the ground and stepped towards me.

"You okay?" he asked.

Being the polite person I am, I responded to him nicely and asked what is business was...no, I booked it like there was no tomorrow. I struggled to run very fast. I wasn't an active kid, and no person can run like their life depended on it with snow in their boots and wet socks. I ran back to the cabin however the hooded figure teleported in the path of me.

"Hey...where are you going?" he asked.

I turned away, running again without responding to his question. I turned in the opposite direction only for him to stop me again. He looked confused this time. Less offended then I expected. I turned away again, but I tripped over a tree root sticking out of the ground and landed in the soft snow. I sat up again and dusted snow off my face. The figure landed in front of me again and cocked his head at me like a confused dog.

'Ugh! How embarrassing?"

I tried to sit up, but I realized that there'd be no way to outrun him. I'd have to see what he wanted. I stood on my feet and tried my best to seem intimidating. I cleared my throat and spoke.

"STOP FOLLOWING ME!" I shouted.

The figure smiled warmly like a proud parent watching their kid go to school for the first time. He laughed a little. How could this be funny?

"This is no laughing matter!" I shouted, stomping my foot in the snow.

"You know, you have a formal manner of speaking considering your age," they said. "Although...I guess that would make sense."

I didn't smile.

"What's the matter?"

"What's the matter?! Y-you're a stalker."

"I find that that's not an appropriate way to address your rescuer."

"My rescuer?"

"You should be more cautious. You fell in the lake." They pointed their staff at the hole in the ice.

I looked away from him, humiliated. I turned away from him and began retracing my steps and grabbing the wood. I looked at the other side of the lake.

'Wait...where's the-?'

"Looking for this?" the figure asked.

I turned around and saw him holding a large set of sticks in one hand with a smirk on his face. I walked towards him and snatched the sticks out of his hands. He didn't seem phased by what my parents would call disrespectful behavior.

"Well...aren't you going to ask me my name?" they asked as I struggled to carry all of the sticks---in various sizes---in my hands.

I paused and looked him dead in the eye. I sighed and let out an honest answer. "My parents say that I can't talk to strangers."

"Oh, I assure you. I'm no stranger."

I raised an eyebrow and set the wood in the snow. "Then how come I've never seen you before in my entire life?"

"That's a question you'll have to answer later on in life."

"When I'm a grownup?"

The figure raised an eyebrow as if he didn't understand that phrase before nodding anyway. I sighed.

"What is your name then?"

He smiled as if waiting for me to ask that.

"Skrael...Skrael of the North Wind."

I paused. It took me a bit to take that in. What kind of name was that?

"You still don't remember, I presume."

"No," I said simply.

"What about me? Do you know my name?"

"No..." Skrael said, but I had a hunch he was lying.

"It's Terry. I'm Terry."

"Are you sure?"

"Only a fool would not know they're own name, and I am no fool."

"Smart little thing you are."

"My parents taught me a lot."

"Your parents...?"

"Yes, my parents. What about your parents? Where are yours? Are you on vacation, too, like me?"

Skrael paused.

"Oh...do you not have any?"

Skrael didn't answer.

"Did you run away from home?" I whispered.

Skrael finally smiled again. "The entire world is my home. I do not say conformed to one area."

"So you don't have a house."

"Not exactly. I move around a lot."

"If you want, you can move in with us!"

"Oh, I wish, but I have a family of my own, and they'd miss me."

"So you do have a family?"

Skrael nodded.

"TERRY!" shouted my mom from the cabin.

"I've got to go..." I said sadly. I collected the wood. "Well, it was nice meeting you..."

"Skrael..." he said, still smiling.

"Skrael..." I added, leaving and heading towards the cabin.