Kingdoms Fall

Chapter 11: Secrets Revealed

                                  Beda Kozico The south of Kishi, considered to be the second richest part of Kishi, is right behind the north of Kishi and its more advanced cities like Jaku, Pa'doko, and Rimson City, which is where the emperor's domain, or castle, still stands despite the countless assaults on it, led by the Vesh Empire. Yes, around this time guns and rifles were beginning to be normal around the world, but the ones that the Vesh wielded were unlike any other; they shot out bullets that would burn through a person's body like lava. As I flew just above the southern part of Kishi and I looked down below me, I noticed something that was suspiciously isolated away from any town or city. I'd flown above Kishi for years and never seen a structure like this one. It shined because of the sun's reflection off of its walls; once I was closer, I could make out that it was a group of three separate buildings surrounding the one I spotted first, and they all seemed to be made out of metal. I flew to get a better look at the largest building, which was in the middle of the other three buildings. There, above the heavy metal door that must've been the entrance... was the Vesh empire's repelling emblem. The black eye... It has to be a base for the Vesh soilders. I lowered myself into the branches of a tree about a mile from the base. "Gods and goddesses, please show me safe passage through wherever I may go." I say silently to myself. I'm looking out from behind the cover of all the branches, and I can see a lot of Vesh soilders moving about in a busy manner. The closest major city was only ten miles away; could they be preparing to raid that city? This is where I was raised; although I may not be exactly human, these are the people that accepted me and took me in. One of these people, a woman, is the only reason I know what a mother is and what it truly feels like to be loved fully and unconditionally. Through rain and snow, she loved me; through frustrating and joyful times, she loved me. Even when I started to float, she loved me even... When one of my abilities almost killed her, still she loved me, I won't let the Vesh empire raid a city on my watch, let alone a city so near to the one I grew up in... The one my mother was born in. I decide to get closer by flying from tree to tree while making sure I was clear to do so without giving myself away to any Vesh soilders. Even though I know I could easily take any number of Vesh soilders with all their guns and grenades, they wouldn't last long against my oxygen trap. Once I'm only a couple yards away from the biggest of the four metal buildings, I begin to feel a steady vibration through the bark and branches of the tree I was in. The leaves shook with a little rattle as well; the only thing that I could think of that would make the ground shake like that was a train or some kind of other machine. The thought of a train being underground wasn't impossible; it was very possible in this time and age of technology, but the only trains I knew of were steam-powered... So where was the steam going? Was it even steam powered? Was this some other sort of different technology the Vesh had somehow acquired? I'd never used my oxygen trap on four buildings, let alone ones this size, but if I could... A thought comes to me, "If I could stretch my oxygen trap far enough, I'll take them out within two to three minutes,"  and not only would I neutralize the oxygen inside and outside the base, all oxygen tanks and masks would be of no use at all... I stick both hands out and imagine an invisible dome that encased all four of the Vesh compounds, large enough so that there's at least half a mile between the buildings and the edge of the dome. I also simultaneously imagined a pocket of air around myself; yes, I can turn oxygen into carbon dioxide; I can also turn carbon dioxide into oxygen to protect myself from my own ability. I only found out that I could do that when I was holding my breath underwater to see how long I could do it for fun, and the panic for another breath never came, so I put two and two together; maybe it wasn't just that I could turn oxygen into carbon dioxide but vice versa as well. It's truly a blessing to have this gift when you can fly as well, and for me, I like to get as high as I can get, but when it comes to space, it's too cold for me to fly out there for even a few seconds. Once I feel something turn, from deep within me I know the dome is made. From there I relax and watch the magic happen right before my eyes.