(Outdated) The King of Elements

The Invitation

"Are you okay, Michael?"

"Hm?" Michael looked behind him to the girl latched on his back. She looked at him with large, yellow eyes, her pupils slanted and cat-like. "Yeah. Sorry about that, Keiko," he said as they walked away from the high school. "It's just, something confuses me about what happened at the school. I wonder why the police showed up."

"Me too." He could feel Keiko shrug against his back. "I'm not complaining, though. It got us out of school."

"That true, but if the police is involved, it has to be something pretty bad. And considering what Ms. Jackson said about Prescott, it's very peculiar for something like this to happen."

"Michael, stop."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," he said, softening his voice.

"It's not that. I can feel something bad. And it's close."

Michael frowned. For as long as he knew her, Keiko had had a sixth sense, and anytime she felt something good or bad happening, it would go though. "Which way?" She pointed to the thicket of trees beside the overpass. A woman-like figure ran into the trees, a pair of black battleaxes strapped to her back. He knelt to let her down. "Stay behind me."

"Okay." Michael grabbed her hand. They ran across the road before sneaking through the grass to the forest. He'd wished that he had better than a butterfly knife to protect them, but it was better than nothing. They ventured inside.

Michael kept his ears perked, trying to listen for any sign of wildlife. He could hear nothing but their soft footsteps against the grass. There wasn't even any birds chirping in the area. Pulling the knife from his pocket, he flipped the silver cover away from the blade. He looked behind him to Keiko's small frame holding a pocket knife. "Do you still feel it?"

"Yeah."

There was a gurgling growl, something the likes of which Michael had never heard. That was definitely something that didn't belong in the forest. "Stay low," he whispered before they both crept towards the sound.

What could it have been? It almost sounded like a mountain lion, but that gurgling was something that a lion couldn't replicate. Whatever it was, it was definitely something non-human. Then there was that woman with the battleaxes. Was she there to hunt it? If so, there was a chance that she would need their help.

"Michael, look," Keiko whispered, pointing down. He looked at the ground, seeing what looked like  three-toed footprints walking further inside the woods. It looked like something from a demon. Whatever that was, it definitely wasn't anything of this world.

His head jolted up once he heard a woman's voice in the direction of the tracks. "How did one of you get here?" Michael grimaced; they'd been found. He prepared himself to pounce until the woman was answered by a booming roar. Both Keiko and Michael ran towards the roaring.

That's when they saw it, whatever it was. It was easily taller than Michael, who stood just at six foot five. It seemed to be human-like, with inky, black skin and with an elongated head and arms. The fingers were tipped with blood-red claws. It peered at the woman with round, red eyes.

With a battleaxe in each hand, the woman rushed at the monstrosity. Michael could tell that she was ill fitted to fight in a forest, seeing as how she stumbled slightly before she swung. The blade of the axe was caught with the monster's claws before it swatted her against a tree. Michael's eyes widened for a second. He had to act, and fast. Tightening his focus, he hurled the blade at the thing's back, stabbing it where he hoped its lung should be. He ran towards it. Thrusting his shoulder in its abdomen, he lifted the thing above his shoulder before slamming it back on the ground. He saw the knife jutting from its chest as he stood and drove his foot against its neck, feeling it snap beneath his foot.

"Yay, Michael!" Keiko cried as she ran towards him.

Michael held up a hand, making her slide to a halt. "What was that?"

The woman looked up at him, holding her arm by the elbow. Despite her blinking at him, she looked distant, as if she wasn't all there. Leaves and twigs were embedded in her black, curly hair, but she didn't seem to notice. "That was amazing," she finally said. "What element are you?"

"Element? What do you mean?"

"You don't know? Oh! You haven't been through the academy, have you?" She reached into her knapsack on her hip and produced two small packages of candy. "Here. You'll both need this. The academy will open up at about three, so you'll both need to be there before then."

"What academy? What are you talking about?" Keiko asked behind Michael.

"No time to talk about it now. I've got to do something about my arm. It kinda hurts, you know?" she said with a grin. Michael gave a blank stare as she continued. "Just say Reiax Academy before you eat it. Got it?"

"Uh..."

"Good. I'll be watching out for you." The woman smile through her grimace as she pressed a button on her watch. A blue holographic keyboard appeared in front of the watch. She typed something on it before she disappeared.

Both Keiko and Michael stared at the place where the woman once stood. Finally, Keiko asked, "What do you think that was all about?"

"I'd hoped that you knew. What do you think we should do?"

"Well, whatever she was talking about, she was telling the truth. I say we go for it."

"If you're sure. Come on then, pipsqueak. We've got to let Ms. Jackson know."

"Hey. Don't call me 'pipsqueak'," Keiko called as they started out of the forest.