Phoenix Rising

Beginning of the End

"Well..." I sigh. Just five days earlier I was living a more or less normal life and now I'm getting sent as a prodigy with powers to kill who knows what and retrieve who knows what.

Sure, I can do that no problem.

What is that crazy man thinking? I just hope that he isn't so old that he doesn't remember I just got here the other day. I sigh deeply. One night to get ready to go kill myself. I step over to a cylinder that is lying on my side table beside my bed. It's a humble, pen-sized looking tube. I pick it up and I feel a surge of energy rushing through my fingertips. I twist the ends and the cylinder extends about a yards length to a staff. Once it is extended, I notice ten other twists. I turn the first one and a giant blade pops out of the top. The second one I twist sent out a ball and chain off the end of the bottom of the staff. I go through all the different mechanisms and the variety of the different uses amazes me, such as a bow, a halberd, and a mace. I smile in excitement. That is awesome.

After learning the weapons uses, I put it in my pocket and explore the rest of the room. I open a large crate at the foot of my bed which contains a full body set of thin, flexible armor. I take it all out and lay them out upon the bed. After admiring the suit I put it all on the bathroom counter for tomorrow's trip.

"These might be useful." I tell myself. I go to the giant picture frame and notice a small purple button. I press it and the picture frame turns into a holographic screen. It shows a menu that has about thirty options and I click number one which is the map tool. It shows the whole world. I can tap anywhere on the screen and it would move however I want it to. I see a little option that says island. I click it and a island appears showing Hawaii off to the bottom right. The island is split into six sections. Each is high-lighted with a different color. I click another option which says school and the map zooms in to a picture of our school. I click the next option which says pull out. Once I press it the whole screen goes out and the hologram turns into a cube. It shows every single thing in the school in three dimensions. After browsing through the televisions selections for awhile I look over to my alarm clock and notice that four hours has passed since I entered my room and it is now ten p.m. I quickly press the off button and go to bed. I didn't want to be tired on this mission. I fall asleep faster than I expected and I have a pleasant night.

When I wake up, my door abruptly opens. Emilea looks at me and tells me we have to go. She frowns at me with motherly concern in her eyes.

"Are you going to be alright?" she asks, "I mean, a lot of strange things happened to you that you must not be used to."

True, I'm not used to flaming dead horses or lion men. But after years of having unexplained abilities, it didn't feel that unbelievable.

"Yes, I will be fine; I just need a few minutes to get dressed before we leave." I say as I get out of bed and grab my clothes. I walk into the bathroom, take a quick shower and get dressed in my old torn clothes over the body armor. As I walk out of the bathroom I grab my weapon and walk into the hallway.

Briefly I wonder how Emilea got into this weird school on the Pacific Ocean. I think about asking her but she speaks before I have the chance.

"I'm sorry that you have to go through such a dangerous journey before you even have a chance to train. I'm... glad you chose me to go with you. I promise to help you as much as I can."

I feel the blood rising to my cheeks. She smiles but looks shyly away. Honestly, I'm glad I chose her too. She takes me back through the hall and into the council room.

"So Aris, are you ready to go yet?" Casmir asks.

"As ready as I will ever be... What am I going to have to do?"

"It is more or less simple. All you're going to have to do is hunt down three of our targets and find the cross of resurrection. I don't want you to die, so please try to ignore Derah, the demon that you fought earlier. All of these targets are in our wild lands. Each color has its own land section. The first target is a monster called Chraal. He was a blue eyed human. His icy heart turned him into a monster once he drank from the fountain. You will find him in the blue area. The second target is a draconian. He is part dragon part human. He can breathe fire and can fly. He had red eyes once, full of hatred and furious anger. Your last target is a vampire named Tulip. She has pink eyes and is very deadly. The cross will be harder to find. These other targets should have information about the location of it though. Are you ready to leave?"

"Yes."

"Good." He responds. "You will be taking Emilea, Kaela, Rose, and Josh, as we agreed on last night. Aris, you are the leader. Emilea, you can teach him the ropes on how to lead. Any questions?"

"Is there any more information we are going to need, Casmir?" Emilea asks.

"No, I believe not. Time is of the essence, so we must hurry. I will now teleport you to the blue lands. Good luck..." He says sadly. I read his mind and know he didn't want to tell us the truth. He didn't want to tell us that we are all probably going to die and that this mission is a suicide mission. My heart sinks as I read this thought. He opens the portal, which is pure white and almost blindingly bright. We all grab hands and walk through. We have to shut our eyes and when we open them again we were halfway up a mountain in the middle of the ocean.

"What now?" I ask everybody in our group. Kaela is about to speak until a huge explosion interrupts her. Before anyone can answer we all looked up the mountain and see where the explosion came from.

"Up the mountain, I guess?" Josh states in a happy sarcastic way.

"Guess so..." Kaela answers seriously.

"How are we going to get there though?" Rose asks.

"Look," Emilea states pointing towards a medium sized door that is made from stone and marble. "It seems like an entrance to a tunnel."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Josh gleefully says as he runs to the door.

"Eager much?" Rose says. We all go over to the door. Emilea puts her hand to the door and opens it with her magical orange dust. The tunnel is completely black. Josh creates a ball of light which illuminates the first few yards of the tunnel. We all step into the cave and the door slams shut behind us.

"Let's get a move on." Emilea orders gently and we all follow her through the tunnel.