The Partham Chronicles

Part 2- Consequence

"You are a bolt of lightning, come on you son of a gun," shouted Ishil standing at the edge of the field. He whistled and cheered for Aaden who took his place at the mark to begin the race.

Aaden's heart was pounding, he could feel the pulse in the ground. He steadied his breathing.' come on you can do this.' He placed his fingers firmly on the ground, he could feel that pulse. The sounds reverberated from the ground, through his hands to his brain. His vision narrowed and he could see the race track leading toward the finish line. He heard no cheers and didn't feel anything else. The whistle blew, and he started running. He felt the air on his skin, his vision narrowed further and he could see nothing but the finish line. He crossed it. Slowing down, he panted and flopped on the ground.

"Well done," said Ishil as he came running towards him. "You have qualified for finals." he handed him a bottle of electrolyte drink.

"Good work Aaden," said the coach who followed Ishil, "but why are you hesitant when you are closer to the finish line?" he asked. Aaden nodded a no as he breathed heavily.

"Just keep in mind that when you are running keep your focus on the finish line. Nothing else matters, think that no one else is around you. It's just you and the end of the line that's it." The coach said. Aaden nodded in affirmation as he sipped from the bottle.

"Alright, we are done for the day. The finals are on the fifteenth. I need you to focus, just don't overthink it. I will see you tomorrow morning sharp at 6. am."

Aaden stood up and said "Yes coach," the coach patted his shoulder and left.

"I knew you would be selected for the finals. But you did look hesitant toward the end, what happened ?" Ishil said as he took the bottle from his hand and took a sip of the drink.

"I don't know why. I think I was anxious for today's race. This never happens. I had practiced, I knew I could do it but when I reached the finish line I felt that I wouldn't be able to cross it." Aaden said.

"That's odd, you never get race jitters, you kicked my ass in the quarter-finals. You are one of the best I know. Is there something else on your mind? I mean, you haven't been yourself for the past week." he said.

Aaden did have something else on his mind. But he could not tell him that. Even if Ishil had been his friend for eleven years, his only friend. What would his reaction be if he told him that he was half-human? Which he had found out only three years ago when he was fifteen. His hearing had improved drastically, his skin had become more sensitive to air, and he could run faster and for longer distances. But most important of all he could feel vibration from his hand when he touched the ground which gave him an entire map of the place around him.

When he talked about this to his parents, his father looked happy but his mother looked anxious. That's when she told him who he was. Who she was. She was not human, she belonged to a species of aliens that had come to Earth and inhabited it for almost five thousand years. Parthams, humans had called them. In the beginning, they had worked together but then a war broke out which lasted for hundreds of years. Finally, when there was peace a council of five elders was formed that looked over all of the laws and rules and made sure that there was peace between the humans and Parthams. Interbreeding between humans and Parthams was forbidden for many years. But then some of them mated with humans and produced offspring which were called half-bloods. These didn't show any Partham qualities till they were fifteen years of age. They were considered as a threat to the Partham identity and secrecy. So the tests were organised, called the Selective Legacy Tests. In these tests, only the best of the half-bloods were chosen and given a place and protection in the Partham world. And now Aaden was either going to be a part of this world or not, that was the question.