Monsters and Mana

Chapter 1

"I thought I told you to leave, you freak!" A voice shouted from behind a small boy, who winced at the sudden noise. The boy slowly turned around to see a much taller boy with broad shoulders.

"Uh... Hey Bruce... How, uh, how are you?" the smaller boy asked nervously, glancing around, only to find an empty hallway.

"Shut it, freak. Shouldn't you be with your mommy and daddy? Oh wait," Bruce chuckled, "they're dead. Now, run along, ghost kid. And get out of my school."

The boy grabbed his bag, careful not to fall over with the wait of it, and began to quickly make his way out of the building. The boy was scrawny, with pale skin and the shadow of a smile on his face almost at all times.

After awhile he made it to a small house, entering to see a girl sitting there. The girl looked up as she heard the boy come in.

"Tyler! Are you okay, you're late getting home."

The girl was seven, the boy, Tyler, was 15.

"I'm home, Eliza. That's all that matters."

"Mrs. Stevenson isn't back from work yet."

"She never is 'back from work.' She just drops us food, makes sure we aren't sick, and goes off to the bar again."

"She's not that bad...."

"Eliza.... She can be worse than you think..."

"Can you read to me....?"

The boy smiled softly.

"Of course, go grab a book."

Eliza left, Tyler sat on the worn couch and waited patiently. After a moment, Eliza came back in, handing Tyler the book and sitting beside him.

"The Color Kittens. Once there were two color kittens with green eyes, Brush and Hush. They liked to mix and make colors by splashing one color into another. They had buckets and brushes...."

Tyler looked up at Eliza and smiled, the girl had fallen asleep. He got up carefully, quietly walking to the backdoor and stepping into the back yard. The backyard was overgrown with weeds, but he paid no mind to them.

Just then he heard a strange sound, looking up he say a strange bird sitting on the limb of a nearby tree. Taking a step towards the bird, his foot hit something. Looking down he saw a small wooden box.

He picked up the box and looked back at the bird, which was flying away. He opened it carefully, wary of its origins. Inside was a piece of paper and a necklace. Taking out the paper, he unfolded it and bean to read.

"To whomever is reading this,

Before you put on this necklace, know this. Once you place this around your neck you will be forever bound to the power and responsibility. You have been chosen as the Air Elemental. The Elementals fight the Darkness. The Darkness hurts and corrupts all it touches. I will not go into detail, but know that it will be your choice, and if you do choose to join us, then I will go into full detail. If you would like to join us, once you put on the necklace a map will appear on the back of this note.

Thank you for considering,

~A"

He put the paper back and picked up the necklace, considering it for a moment.

"I don't really see a reason to, this seems way too elaborate. I'll sleep on it I guess."

As he entered the house again he smelt smoke, rushing to where Eliza was sleeping, he picked her up carefully, putting the small box in his pocket. He was about to leave when he saw that she was bleeding, a bite mark was on her leg, the surrounding skin was black. Just then there was a low growl.

He turned around to see a black, shadowy creature standing near the source of the smoke, a fire that was only growing. It sprinted towards him and attempted to attack, he dodge, but just barely, placing his sister back down, he turned back towards the creature, but it was gone, and the fire was consuming most of that area, he quickly broke a piece of the floorboard and grabbed a backpack that had been hidden.

Taking the backpack, he picked up Eliza and quickly exited the house. He ran to a nearby ally, watching as the house burned to the ground. Sighing slightly, he placed down Eliza and the backpack, pulling the box out of his pocket.

"Here goes everything...."

He opened it and took the necklace, placing it around his neck.