Spirit Links: The New Order

I: Alex: The First

The boy woke up, he was fair haired and lanky, his name was Alex. His back aching, he lay painfully in bed for a while and wondered why it felt as though something was forcing itself out. It's like that really old movie, he thought, what's it called again? Alien? Yeah, that's right, it's like I've got an alien inside me and it's trying to get out. It wasn't like he had slept in a weird position or something of that sort, there was no reason at all that he should be feeling like this. He hopped out of bed to take a look at his back in the fractured mirror he had found dumped carelessly on the roadside one day.

" Wh- "

Alex was dumbstruck. He had slight, downy, white-grey wings sprouting from his back.

He tried to flap them, at first nothing happened but then he hovered slightly off the ground. "How the hell-" He was going to say did they get there, but he stopped himself, no use revealing his position. Where had he heard about something like this before? He went over to the edge of his camp to brood, today he had hidden in a secluded clearing beside a river about a kilometre off the edge of town. He washed his face in the water to make himself wake up and be more alert, he went back to look at the mirror again. The wings were definitely legitimate, he tried flapping them ... nothing happened, suddenly there was a sudden pain in his back " Ahhgh!" he screamed clutching his back. Crap! His wings had grown bigger, he rushed over to the river still clutching at his back, he snatched at the canteen he had left sitting beside the river the night before missing a few times, his eyes swimming with pain and took a deep swig. Alex said some words I would not like to put into writing.

Suddenly a shadow fell over the forest, oh crud ... thought Alex they're up! Alex ran for cover.

"MORNING LOSERS!"

Came a variation of the familiar call that the selfish and idiotic spirit links around here used to ensure their uncontested rule over the villagers.

As soon as the raid was over Alex pulled out his old myth book from the orphanage he had been dumped in by his relatives after his parents had died, he sort of knew what he was looking for but then again, he didn't exactly . . . There! He'd found what he was looking for true Spirit Links, "But I thought they were just a myth" he murmured but he wasn't even a normal spirit link, supposedly, true Spirit Links hadn't shown up in centuries, all of them had died or been murdered in the Insurrection. So, why was he growing wings?

Alex knew he had to find out what was happening to him so he decided to go visit the local Wyvicore trainer, breeder and Spirit syncer to find out what was happening to him.

When Alex arrived at the facility. He found the owner.

"Ah, sir can I speak to you in private please?" Alex asked him.

The owner replied "No, not now," the professional replied, "I have customers to see to. But I can see you later if you like unless you just want me to see if you are a Spirit Link."

Alex checked the time on his watch (One of his few possessions). It read five am there would be another twelve hours of work until the facility finally closed and by then Alex's wings would almost be fully grown if they continued at this rate. How could Alex hide them once that happened?

"I'm sorry sir, it's kind of urgent" Alex said to him panicking now . . . What if my wings get too big by then? What if someone notices? "Sir I need to see you. Now"

"Fine, come on up, what is it?" The owner finally gave him a chance to find out what was happening.

As Alex walked upstairs he realised similar this building was to his parents' old home. When they got to the top of the stairs he looked tentatively towards the door expecting some sort of mythological beast to jump out and attack him. As he opened the door into the room he jumped expecting some sort of attack. Instead, the owner smiled at him "So, what did you want to talk about?" Asked the man politely "Um ... I wanted to show you something." Alex said unsure how this would go or if it was even a good idea at all.

"Yes, what was it?"

"Err, this." Alex turned around, pulled off his shirt and showed him his wings. You could hear a pin drop.

. . .

"How ..." the man murmured, dumbstruck "When did this start?" he asked. Alex turned around to reply "this morn-", his eyes widened, the shaggy old man with pure white hair a beard down to his knees with eyes clear blue was gone, replaced with a much younger man who looked to be in his late twenties - except for the streaks of grey through his hair - his eyes were volcanic orange and he looked to be dangerous, Alex screamed, a fraction of a second later the old man was back in the place of the other man. "How the hell-" the man blurred and disappeared. Everything went black ...

Alex woke up on a comfortable bed, every muscle in his body ached, his head felt like it had split open. He tried to open his eyes, even they weren't working properly, but he got a squint out. He was lying on a bed in a room that seemed to be in the same building that he blacked out in. Alex sat up and surveyed the room to see if anyone else was there.

This isn't a room Alex realised, it's a transport. The doors burst open.

A silhouette appeared in the doorway "Now Alex, let's get you geared up."