Rogue

Chapter Four

Seth

Running as fast as I can, I jump behind a rock as I dodge acid as it sprays from the mouth of a large centipeedle, then I hear a loud screech when the monster can't find me. I hold my sword in a death grip, and try to summon my shield.

I can imagine it in my mind, a green shield with vines wrapping around a dark green gem in the center.

But when I look down at my gem, I don't even see a faint glow. Then I hear another loud roar as the monster spits acid at the rock I am behind, making it start to melt. I run for another rock, and I try to summon it again, but it's no use.

"I'm starting to think that this is a pointless exercise!" I yell at Onyx, who is perched up high on a wall, watching me carefully.

"Well you need to work more on summoning your shield, and I have seen that you can only do that when you are in danger so far. So you are going to fight this monster on your own." She yells back.

"Great," I mutter as I think even harder. But I'm interrupted by another roar, and I see the monster has cornered me. It looks like a huge long caterpillar that has thick armored skin with hundreds of legs, and no eyes, but has a huge mouth that is almost like a beak. And it is feet away from me, and I back up as far as I can, but I am surrounded by rock.

"Seth!" Onyx yells as I see her running towards me, but is still too far away.

The monster opens its mouth wide, and I raise my arm to try and protect myself as it spits.

But I don't feel anything. I look up and see my shield is the only thing between me and the acid. I quickly stand up, with the shield still covering me. I run underneath the monster's mouth, and I lift my sword, swinging at its chest.

The monster screeches, and then it explodes in a cloud of white, and I hear its gem fall to the floor with a small clink. When the air clears, I pick up the gem, and bubble it in a small sphere so it can't escape. Whenever a gem is bubbled while it is retreated into its gem, it can't reform.

Onyx comes running up to me smiling. "See I was right, I knew you could defeat it. And you summoned your shield." She says this just as my shield dissipates into the air.

"Yeah I guess you were right after all." I say reluctantly, as I sheath my sword and we make our way back to the warp pad to head home.

When we warp back to the temple, I head up to my bedroom to change my clothes and put my sword back in its rightful place next to my bed.

The temple is just a door, but it only lets in specific gems, Onyx and myself. But around the outside of the temple is a small house that I live in, my dad had made it when I was little. It just has the necessities, a kitchen, bathroom, small living room, and a loft for my bedroom.

Because I am half human, I still need to eat and sleep, but Onyx said that I had aged twice as fast as a normal human being. So technically I am only nine years old, but I look like I'm eighteen.

My mother had been Seraphinite, but when she met my father she gave up her form to make me, so I have her gem. Although I have trouble controlling my powers, I can still summon her shield. Onyx had told me that my mother had magical healing powers, but I had never been able to heal anyone before.

"Seth, do you want to train anymore today?" Onyx yells up to me in my room as I finish changing.

"No thanks, maybe tomorrow. I'm gonna take a walk down the beach." I reply, as I grab a small satchel that has a pair of swim trunks, and a few sketch pads and pencils.

"Ok, I will be in the temple for a while." She says going into the temple.

"Yup, be back in a bit." I yell going out the front door, running down the steps that lead to the beach. Walking until I find my favorite spot on the beach, I sit down in the sand and watch as the sun sets over the sea. I pull out a sketch book and pencil, and start to draw.

I sketch the ocean until the sun sets. Then I pull out another notebook from my bag and compare my drawing to another I had gotten from a girl on the beach I had met when I was little.

She had dropped her notebook, so I thought I would keep it in case I ever saw her again. I walked the beach nearly every day for seven years, looking for a girl with blue hair and pale skin. I still remember her name, Luna.

And she had had a weird shape on her wrist. She had called it a gem, just like mine. But that was impossible, Onyx and I were the only gems left on Earth.

It was probably only a tattoo, I think. But my head keeps telling me that it must have been a gem. Maybe she was a half gem like me.

I had never told Onyx what I had seen, she would've never let me leave the temple again. So I decided to walk the beach and sit at the same spot we met, every night, hoping to see her again.

When I had looked through her notebook I had found all kinds of drawings of the ocean, caves of crystals, forests, and different animals and fish. They were all very detailed, and there were a few notes on different things, like the animals' behavior or the place the drawing came from.

They had looked important, so I had wanted to return the notebook, but I never saw Luna again. I never knew what made her run away from me in such a hurry.

Maybe I had scared her with my gem, and she thought I was some kind of freak with a crystal in my chest. Some science experiment gone wrong, I think. Then I shake my head, trying to get rid of the thought.

My thoughts are interrupted when I see a shooting star streak across the sky.

I wish I could see Luna again, I think.

*****

A/N: Yeah, I know this chapter is really bad.