The Eca

Chapter 5 - Strong Shield

Fred walked around the house and wandered. He think he had enough rest. Three hours of sleep is enough, he said to himself. The exhaustion from their travel have helped him fall asleep in an instant after resting his back in his bed.

He was at the living room of the house and from a large glass window, he can see Milo and Zac waving their hands in the air as if drawing or writing something with their fingers. Their backs both facing the house. At that same instant, James was walking out from the bedroom.

"I'll just prepare something to eat
It's almost noon." he said and he's heading to the kitchen. Hendal followed him from the bedroom but he's walking not toward the kitchen but to the dining which have a long table set that could accommodate atleast twenty persons.

"There's no need for that James." Hendal said and waved at James to follow hin in the dining. Fred went to the dining too which is just around five yards from the living room where he was standing.

The dining table was just lying there. Hendal put his right hand in the air just above the table and said "All of our foods are being prepared directly from Manta" then he waved it in a circular shape.

Just one foot above the table, the air was divided as if some kind of a zipper opened in the air. Slowly, the top of the foods began to appear from the opening. When it finally revealed everything, just as the other boys are coming out from the bedroom, they all saw a little less like a feast of foods served. Everyone was amazed especially Fred with a small grin in his face.

Everyone showed a big wow on the face. Milo and Zac entered the house but headed straight to the bedroom. A moment later, they stepped out. The men on the dining are already on their seats ready to have their lunch. The two who just entered have taken each seat. They all enjoyed their lunch. Everyone was full. After eating and taking a short rest, they all headed outside the house to start their training.

Both James and Tomas have their experiences with their abilities already. They already know how to make it out. But for Fred and Melvin, this will be their first time. Milo and Zac are the ones with Tomas and James while Hendal is with Melvin and Fred.

Milo is giving instruction to James. "Go on James, try to extinguish this fire." he is holding a small ball of fire. James haven't done it before. He can only summon water and water monster.

He will try to summon water to extinguish the fire. He held his hands to his hips with his palm facing outward. He's concentrating. He can see this land is not that dry so it woudn't be so hard to do it. He managed a few droplets from the ground to the air. He then guided to Milo's hand where the fireball is. When it hit it, the water just vaporized.

"Come on, concentrate!" Milo is half shouting.

So James tried again, this time he added more water to his fire extinguisher.

A few feet from them is Zac and Tomas.

Zac formed a fireball in his left hand and showed it to Tomas. Tomas is in front of him six feet away.

"I want you to make a fireball like this. You should use your elemental control to achieve this." he said to Tomas.

Tomas is staring on the fire. He haven't done it before. His greatest achievement so far is controlling iron. "How do I do it?" he asked Zac with a fair amount of confusion on his face.

"You must use your element control. Find combustible fuel inside the ground. We can always find a fair amount of it below the ground. What you should do, give it enough heat and let it combine with the oxygen around you. But you must be careful to contain it in a single place. Or else, you won't like the outcome." Zac explained slowly.

Tomas tried to concentrate on his head. He's trying to reach below the ground surface. The problem is he's not sure what he's looking for. Then he found something. An oil underground. "All I have to do is bring it up and heat it." he said to himself. So he made it happen. His eyes are closed. He can feel the oil mixing in the air. He tried with a small amount and make it heat up.

He can feel the heat of the chemicals in the air. When he opened his eyes, he become suddenly surrounded with a ring of fire! He felt confused and looked at Zac in confusion then in an instant, the floating fire in the air has been washed out by water. It was James.

He felt a sudden relief and sighed deeply. Them Zac came walking toward him.

"Making fire is not the problem, it's containing it." he said. "If you're not careful, you could hurr yourself. You must keep in mind that oxygen is always around you."

"That's it." Tomas said to himself and he became more determined to make it happen.

On the other side of the ground, Fred and Melvin are standing. In front of them is Hendal.

"Listen carefully." Hendal said to the two boys in front of him. "Every guardian is granted with a powerful ability. That's what separates us from humans. First we have to do is to know what special ability do we have. Most of us have one and different from the others. There are few however that has more than one element that can control. They are the chosen ones. In my lifetime, I've only seen one but I'm not gonna talk about it now." he stepped close to the two and held his two hands instructing them to walk a few steps away from each other. When they are five yards away from each other, he signaled to stop.

"Alright that would do it." he said. "Now, some guardians just discovered their abilities in accident. Some cannot let it out and need more pushing. Now I want you both to close your eyes and concentrate. Try to feel what of your abilities are exceptional." the two did he said.

While Melvin's eyes are closed, he can feel something. There is a tiny grin on his face now. He feels like he can control small things' movements. He fist tried to make his shirt a little tighter and he felt it! He can feel his clothes tightening on his abdomen. Its not air. He can really control things. He then opened his eyes. His smile a bit wider now. When he looked at Hendal, he said "I think, I can move things."

Hendal pointed to a pair of stones near Melvin. "Try to take that stones without picking it from the ground." he said to Melvin.

Melvin now turned his attention to the stones. He can now feel it. He can feel the weight of each. He then tried to grasp the weights with his mind and imagined it floating toward him. The stones leave the ground. It floats! He almost exclaimed. One thing he did not anticipated is that the stone really fly toward him. But not slowly. It's so fast that he did not saw it until it hits his forehead. Each of the stones at once. Melvin touched his head with his right hand. "Aw! " he said.

On his left, Fred is still standing. Eyes are closed. Slowly, a field of air is starting to circle him. His eyes are still shut. His hands are spread in his sides. The air around him formed a sphere. They can see by its looks as the leaves and dusts is carried by the air. Hendal came nearer to Fred and held his left hand forward to try and enter what's inside the sphere. James and Tomas are now looking at Fred too.

When Hendal's fingers are about to touch it, he feels some powerful energy. He was amazed by the amount of energy surrounding Fred. It's some sort of a shield. He then continued and he feels like he hit a concrete wall. Then suddenly his body felt numb and he was thrown away by an unseen force. He found himself ten yards away from Fred. As he hits the ground, he saw Fred opened his eyes. Then the boy fell on the ground after loosing his consciousness. "Fred!" he shout.

Hendal quickly stood up even when every limbs on his body is aching. He rushed to Fred as with the others. James and Tomas hurrily but carefully carried Fred inside the house. They carried him by James on his shoulder and Tomas carrying by his feet.

Hendal still can't believe what he saw and what he felt. They put Fred on his bed while Zac goes to the fireplace. He is going to report it to Manta.