Editor's Note: This is the eighth installment of an 11-part short story written by Shawn Smith, a junior English major from Keene, N.H. A new installment will be presented in each issue of The Norwich Guidon during the 2001-02 school year.

Reality's End

by Shawn Smith

Part 8

The birds sang their beautiful morning calls while the sun shone brightly among the white fluffy clouds in the sky. There was no wind, not even a slight breeze that day. The air was still, but comfortable. Flowers bloomed and spread their pleasant fragrance all around them. Sounds of water gently flowing over granite and marble rock, then falling down into a crisp, clear pool below, added to the tranquil state of being. The waterfall, no longer bloody red, served as my focal point while I spent my time in the courtyard that fine day.

I had been spending a lot more time there lately. Sometimes Kenji would accompany me on my excursions, but more often than not I was alone. Not that it bothered me because it gave me time to reflect and just think about past events. At that moment, I was focusing enough power to part the water as it descended into the pool merely for my own personal enjoyment.

Even though the contest against the three masters and High Master Jensen took place over a month ago, I still had some pain in my shoulder and right side. Since the katana that wounded me was enchanted, those injuries would take much longer to heal, and the scars, too, might not ever go away. That's not what concerned me, though. What worried me was the obvious reduction in strength and speed in my dominant arm. Without a pair of equally balanced limbs, it would make it much more difficult to fight either in contests or in the world outside the monastery's walls. As a matter of fact, I just recently shed the sling I was forced to wear as my shoulder continued to mend.

I waved my hand in the air as I manipulated the flow of water. The clear liquid shifted, parted, and jumped over the pockets of energy I projected from my body. Another burst of magick created an invisible dam at the top of the falls, and the water pressed and rose against the unseen wall before I diminished the effect and sent the water back down into the pool with a loud splash.

There was a sound of feet clattering on the cobblestone on my left side. I saw who the feet belonged to and stood up. High Master Jensen was in her brown robe and solid black sash instead of the wardrobe she had on the last I saw her. She and I bowed to each other and I stepped closer.

"Hello, David. How do you feel today?" Her voice was gentle, soothing.

"I feel fine. And you?"

"I'm well. I see that you've taken off your sling. Are you able to heal yourself yet?"

I sighed heavily. "Yes and no. I can't seem to focus enough energy to repair my side and shoulder, but everything else is working again."

"I'm sorry about that, but I had no choice. The test was to show you how aggressive our enemies can be and what resources they would use to defeat us. The fact that you haven't experienced real combat at your level needed to be remedied quickly, and this was the only option I could think of."

"Better to have it here than on the outside where I couldn't be protected, right?"

"Exactly," she agreed.

"You told me that you would show me the next step. Is that why you're here now, High Master?" I inquired.

"Yes. I've seen how powerful you are with the study of life, David. But I don't think you've been given a hard enough test to see how strong you really are. I want you to do a combination of things for me. Do you think you're able?"

"I suppose."

Her peaceful appearance transformed into a very stern one. "You suppose? That's an unacceptable answer. It's either yes or no, there's no in between."

I took a few steps back and cleared my throat twice. "I am able. I'm at your disposal, High Master."

"Then let's begin." She pulled a small mirror from her robe and held it out in front of her. Taking it by the edges, she began stretching and pulling until the mirror was almost as tall as me. She rotated the mirror sideways and moved her left hand along the backside as pieces of metal drained out to form a u-shaped stand. It was turned toward me and set down on the ground. "Now, I want you to change your hair color from blond to greyish-brown."

I bowed and looked at my reflection. It was a simple task and didn't require much effort on my part. I felt my ability filter through my hair follicles, and a wave of grey and brown raced from front to back.

"Good. Make yourself thirty years older and turn your brown eyes to blue."

I ran my hands down the contours of my face as I molded it like clay through magick. My bones shifted and my skin contorted until my face was that of a stranger's. The person in the mirror wasn't me anymore, but a person that time had played a cruel joke on. There were deep lines underneath both eyes that were now blue instead of brown, there were heavy wrinkles all over my face, and my hair was still greyed but now there was a noticeable hairline.

"Excellent. Now, change yourself back."

I focused my energy and everything returned to its normal appearance. I switched my weight to my left leg and stood casually.

"Take this feather and form a bird from it."

I took the feather from her hand and constructed a mental image of an eagle from pictures that I could remember from wildlife books. The beak, the strong talons, the beautiful plumage, everything that made an eagle what it was. The energies of life and elemental magick pulsated through the feather as a bright white glow surrounded both my hand and it. I could sense the anatomic structure of the eagle take shape; the bones, muscles, organs, and skin all grew from the natural forces I pulled in with my ability. Finally, the glow dimmed and revealed a complete and functional specimen.

"You have the form of the bird, David, but not the mind and soul. Here," she said as she removed the eagle from my hand and put her hand on its head. Her eyes glowed as the eagle flapped its wings wildly and squawked loudly. She released her hand as the glow in her eyes died out. The eagle looked at her, then flew off. "You see, you're able to create but not conceive. You're not able to give an entity a mind and a soul quite yet, but you're very close."

I exhaled and bowed. "Is that all, High Master?"

"No. I want you to change yourself into a tiger. Everything is to be duplicated exactly, or at least to the best of your knowledge." She reached for my sash and untied it. "I'll hold on to this for you."

I closed my eyes and breathed deeply. This would take a great deal of concentration and energy. Plus, it was something that I'd never tried before. I focused my ability throughout my body as I envisioned every line and curve of the large cat; musculature, bone structure and strength, the same elements that I had to imagine for the eagle. My bones cracked, bent, and strained as my muscles stretched and my skin warped as it created roots for fur to be grown. I groaned as the pain shot across my metamorphosing body in tremendous waves. Fur finally began to sprout from every place imaginable as my hands and feet became enlarged to form the beginnings of paws. I heard my spine pop and crack as it stretched to accommodate the elongated shape of the tiger and I dropped to my hands and knees while the transformation continued. My clothing ripped apart as a more catlike form took dominance over my human one. I felt my entire face take on the appearance of a tiger's; my teeth shifted and grew to fit my changed jaw line while my nose and forehead expanded to include a snout and slightly enlarged cat eyes. The flow of energy had to be constant, and I was able to control every second of the metamorphosis into this deadly jungle predator. The final stages took over as fur covered my entire body and claws shot out from my paws. My new tail swung about as my ears moved up on my head and stood straight.

"Remarkable," she breathed. "Is everything duplicated exactly?"

I did forget one thing. A quick surge of energy to my vocal cords would make the metamorphosis complete. "As much as could be done," I replied in a humanlike roar.

She took a stutter-step backward and put her hand on her chest. "This is a major step for you, David. Do you remember everything about you? Who you are, what you've learned?"

"Yes. Is this a perfect transformation?"

"I'd say so," she said. "Does this form feel natural?"

I circled her stealthily and quietly growled. "Very much so. In fact," I said as I approached a tree and leapt up into a high branch with ease, "I kind of like it. Tigers have a very powerful feel to them."

"That's only because you're using elements derived from your imagination. Nevertheless, those elements do have very real properties to them."

There was no sound as I landed back on the ground. I belted out a mighty roar and licked my lips and huge jaws with my large red tongue. "With all due respect, High Master, may I change back? I don't feel the need to be in this body for long." The roar in the tone of my modified voice made the High Master jump a little.

She laughed nervously and bowed. "Please do. You're making me feel uncomfortable."

I closed my tiger eyes and refocused my ability to restore my body to its original state. Like before, I felt each individual alteration as my structure remolded itself into a more familiar form. My clothes reformed from the torn fabric on the ground as my energy began to settle. The effect left me disoriented, and I found a large stone to sit on until I regained myself.

"David, I think you should look at your sash. Well go ahead, look at it," the High Master said as she handed it back to me.

I did so and instead of four red stripes, there were now five. It started to make sense. I had mastered the natural elements, then three more studies here at the monastery. That made four. Exactly four. Now, I had five. Was I a master of life as well?

"Your sash reflects your skills as a master. The stripes aren't white like mine, but you are obviously more than capable of performing complex effects within studies of the elements, time, fate, compositions, and now life." She paused briefly. "I want you to focus pure life magick throughout your body now."

"Excuse me, High Master, but what do you mean?"

"Exactly that. Focus on just the essence of life and push it across your entire being."

"Very well." I closed my eyes and concentrated on nothing but the infinite properties of life. The effect started to grow in strength as it started from the tips of my toes and slowly wove its way up both legs and into the rest of my body up to the very tips of my hair. My powers rippled over my skin and seeped into my muscles as I could feel every blemish and imperfection fade away. I removed my robe and stared at the large scar on my right side. The skin around the scar swallowed it bit by bit until there was nothing left but a smooth surface.

"So, how does it feel to be an Ematelit, David?"

A puzzled look ran across my face. "I'm a what? An Ematelit? But that's not possible, is it? I'm just too young to be one. Doesn't it take almost a whole lifetime to become one?"

She nodded. "True, but nonetheless, you are an Ematelit now, like me. After all, your powers are unlike anything that we've encountered in recent history. Like Master Akagi and countless others, we can't age or die of natural causes, including disease. We are still mortal, however, and are vulnerable to injury and death. The flesh and mind can be destroyed just like anyone else, but the natural world cannot hurt us. Do you know how old I am?"

I shook my head. I really had no idea how old she was, but I assumed that she was more than her appearance of forty to forty-five years.

"I am two-hundred fourteen years old. Contrary to popular opinion, I was born the United States just like you. I journeyed to Japan under special permission from the emperor at the time. My masters arranged that I would study under Master Akagi to improve my fighting style. I later mastered the study of life at the age of eighty-five and changed my appearance to the way it is now." She paused and cleared her throat. "You, too, can become whatever you want with enough power and focus. You demonstrated that with your transformation into the tiger and back to your human form."

I nodded my head slowly while everything sank in, but my mind was having a hard time absorbing it all. "Now I can not only create living things, but I can alter my form beyond just my own body. I know that I can create weapons out of my own appendages or form my skin into solid metal and such, but now . . ."

"Now you have total control over all aspects of life that can be controlled by magick and your own imagination."

"I'm not sure what to think now. I don't feel different. I mean, what does being an Ematelit feel like?"

"It doesn't feel like anything. You just are. The way you look now is the way you'll always look even if you do pass on to the other side for some reason. However, you can disguise yourself if need be whenever you choose, which will be an invaluable asset in later years."

"What do you mean, in later years, High Master?"

She placed her hands on both sides of the mirror. Her eyes shimmered as the mirror dissolved into thin air. "That is the other matter that I must discuss with you now. It might upset you, but I want you to stay in control. Understand?"

"Yes, I understand."

She sighed very gravely. Something was bothering her, I could feel it. She wet her lips and smoothed back her long hair. "The High Council has reason to believe that the Aurelians' next objective to undermine our sect is to-I don't know how to say this. I really don't."

"High Master, please. Just tell me."

"Are you sure? I'm not even sure I should tell you now."

"I'm going to find out one way or the other. You might as well say it before I have to search your mind for it."

"Very well. We think that the Aurelians are going to try to capture you with the help of Master Akagi."

"What?"

"We believe that they want to brainwash you just as they did Akagi."

"So why aren't they here now? Why don't they just storm the monastery and take me? High Master, I don't understand!" I panted.

"They still don't know where you are because apparently Akagi can't locate you, but can feel your presence."

"How does the Council know all this?"

She took a breath and put her hand on my shoulder. "We have certain connections that supply us with information. But there's something else that has led to this conclusion."

"And that is?"

"There's been increased Aurelian movement in the Tokyo area, specifically near the area where your parents live. Now, David, I thought I told you-"

I was infuriated and didn't want to hear any more. I pushed her hand away and stomped my foot on the ground. "The Brotherhood's governing body knew all about this, but told me nothing and did just as much! What the hell kind of nonsense is that?" I jumped off the stone and stared hard at it. With a quick discharge of magick, I broke the stone neatly in half.

"David, control yourself! The Council has people watching the Aurelians right now-"

"While they watch, my parents could already be dead! My parents might think that I'm gone, but I'll be damned if I let anyone harm my own mother and father. I'm going after them myself."

"Do you remember what Akagi taught you about the Aurelians? What kind of weapons they use, what magick they can resist with their technology? Even you can't take on all of them. I can't allow you to leave, I'm sorry."

"It's not your choice to make, High Master. I have to go."

"If you go," she sighed, "you might not be able to come back."

"That's a risk I'll have to take. Besides, there are other monasteries out there."

"I meant you might not be able to return to the Brotherhood itself for defying the orders of a High Master." There was an eerie silence as she looked directly at me.

I curled my lips together and my nostrils flared. "I don't care," I said coldly. I walked off toward one of the doorways. "I just don't care anymore."

My feet thumped loudly in the monastery's corridors as I made my way back to my room. Once there, I threw open the door and marched inside. I barely noticed Kenji as he lay on the bed, now awakened from his sleep. He grumbled and moaned before he rubbed his face and hair with his hands.

"What's wrong, David-san?" he mumbled somewhat dreamily.

"I have to leave. My parents are in danger," I answered without so much as a look. I began collecting personal items that I might need-various clothing, throwing knives, and other small edged weapons mainly-and threw them on my bed.

Bedsprings squeaked as Kenji shifted his body around and climbed out of his bed. He cracked several joints as he stretched. "What did you say?" He was a little more awake now, but not much.

"I said that my parents are in danger and that I have to go, and I think it's best if you didn't know any more than that."

He definitely woke up after I said that. I heard a little gasp and a ruffle of hair. "David-san, please, tell me what I can do for you. I owe you-"

I stopped what I was doing and turned to him. "Kenji-san, I can't let you get involved. This could get very dangerous . . . for both of us. While I'm gone, watch out for Kumiko for me, will you? If you're going to help me, do that much and nothing more."

"Of course, my friend, but I don't understand. Are the Aurelians after your parents? Yes, that's it, isn't it? Please let me help you, David-san! You can't do this alone!"

I didn't answer. I turned away and grabbed a large sack that High Master Jensen had once given me. I started to shove everything inside, but then I realized that all the clothes I had were too conspicuous for the streets of Tokyo. I tried to imagine what normal clothes even looked like, but my anger clouded my imagination. On top of that, it had been a better part of a year since I had seen any place outside the monastery; civilization had been kept from us so our training wouldn't be interfered with.

"David-san?"

I shushed him and concentrated on two brown robes and a pair of black pants I had thrown on my bed. I held my hand out and flicks of electricity danced across my fingers. An orange glow formed around the clothes as I focused on the bonds of the materials. The robes began to unweave and then reform as I created more fabric out of thin air. The pants, left over from my training in the Outer Realm, ruffled as they slowly changed into faded blue jeans. Both robes were no longer their original form as one was now a plain white t-shirt and the other a medium-length brown trench coat. I made one last touch to the new clothes as I shot bolts of electricity directly at them; the bolts reinforced their bonds as they became impervious to blunt and edged weapons, but still be no heavier than normal.

There was one more thing I needed, but it wasn't in the room. I changed into my newly made clothes and stuffed my other ones with my sash inside the sack. I slung it over my shoulder as I took a deep breath and looked at Kenji again, maybe for the last time. "Remember, Kenji-san," I said, "watch Kumiko and make sure she's all right. I'm not sure if I can ever come back here, or what this path might lead me to. But I have to take it." I noticed that I had on a pair of very simple shoes that the Brothers had given to me to wear here, but I no longer wanted them. Just as I had manipulated the compositions of the clothes, the shoes rippled and formed into tennis shoes as my energy entered through them. I grinned as I added a little Nike Swoosh on the sides for effect.

"I'm not sure I completely understand, but I'll do as you ask." He walked to me and we embraced. "Be careful, David-san. If you do face the Aurelians, remember what Master Akagi taught us. They can counteract our powers with their technology and have superhuman strength without using their abilities."

"I know, but I don't think there'll be trouble yet. If there is, I'll deal with it." I embraced him again and stepped back. "Kenji-san, do one thing for me now. Tell me if you can recognize me."

"Huh?" he asked.

I smiled as I molded my face and hair to fit a more older persona. I felt my eyes change to a bluish-green color and my hair recede a few inches as it darkened to black with grey streaks on the sides near my ears. My face wrinkled up as a greyed goatee grew out with three days worth of stubble over the rest of my cheeks, jaw, and neck.

"God, I can't believe how fast that was. I really can't recognize you. Did you master-"

"The study of life," I finished in a husky voice not my own, "yes, I did. I have to get one last item before I leave. Good luck and fortune to you, my friend."

"I'll be there for you always, David-san. All you have to do is call on me, and I'll be there."

I bowed and left the room in a hurry. The hallways and long corridors were lit by the occasional ray of sunlight, but I used magick to enhance my vision as I maneuvered around the masses of students and masters on their way to the morning meal. I barely noticed Kumiko in the crowd and wanted to stop, but I just couldn't. Besides, she couldn't recognize me anyway in my disguise. I should've anticipated our strong mental link, but it slipped my mind.

"David-san?" she whispered in my mind.

Damn. Not now, not this. I clenched my fists and walked faster.

"David-san! Wait!" she called after me in a loud shout.

A voice, presumably a master, shouted at her in Japanese. It sounded like a command to get back in line, but she ignored it as her scans got stronger. She was getting closer to me with each step.

"David-san! Where are you going?"

I stopped and pivoted on the ball of my left foot. I turned to see her beautiful face contorted into a worried look as she chased after me. When she finally reached me, her arm raised up and her hand ran down the side of my aged face, that same worry still draped across her brow. I gently held her hand and lowered it down to my side.

"Where are you going?" she asked again, this time in a much soother voice.

"It's better that you don't know. For your own safety."

"I know there's something wrong, but you're blocking me out. Why?"

I knew she could normally penetrate my mind if she wanted to, but my focus was much stronger than hers could ever be. I shielded every entrance to my thoughts and could feel her ability hit the barriers again and again.

"Stop trying to read my mind, Kumiko-san. It won't work. I can't let you know where I'm going."

"David-san, I-"

I squeezed her hand with the utmost gentleness and took my other hand through her dark hair. "It has to be this way. We're Brothers, and I can't let us-" I was cut off by her deep, full kiss and bent down lower to embrace her. She stood on her tiptoes to compensate for the foot difference in height as our lips continued to press together and I felt my control slip away. I couldn't stop her from entering my mind now, and I almost didn't want to either.

She broke the kiss abruptly when she entered the deepest portions of my mind. She knew. "You weren't going to tell me? You were going to leave me here without saying at least goodbye to me! What kind of a person-"

I hugged her tightly and kissed the top of her head. "Don't say things you might regret. I have to protect my parents, Kumiko, for the sake of my honor and whatever part of the Brotherhood I still believe in."

"I'm coming with you."

I pushed her away, but kept my hold on her. "No. It's too dangerous. You have to stay here, where it's safe. And you know that the Aurelians are looking for me, along with Master Akagi. I can't let what happened to . . ." My voice drifted as the memories of the attack in the dojo returned. I choked on my words before I regained my composure. "You're not coming, it's that simple."

"What happened to your friends won't happen to me. My skills are much better now, and you'll be there-"

"I said no."

"But-"

I saw my reflection in her eyes and the bright shimmer that flashed across my own. I pushed through her mind and implanted a simple suggestion: stay here with Kenji-san. "Do you understand?" I asked as I pulled free of her thoughts.

She said nothing, just nodded. Her eyes were glazed over, but they'd return to normal once the effect burrowed into her subconscious. She would do as I suggested without her knowledge, and that's exactly what I wanted.

"Goodbye, Kumiko." I kissed her lips once more time, maybe the last, and headed back toward the training area.

Once I arrived there, I ran to a weapons rack and grabbed a katana, some leather straps, and a belt to hold the sheath in place around my waist. I put the belt on and tied the leather straps around the sheath as tight as I could. It wouldn't fall out, I told myself, since the belt was created from very potent magick. With the sword secured on my left side, I started to make my last preparations to leave.

"Going somewhere?"

What the hell was this? Why does everyone have to interfere? "Naomi-san, stay out of my way."

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that. In any case, you said that you were indebted to me, did you not?" she asked in that mocking tone.

"I did. That's why I'm not going to hurt you to make you step aside so I can continue with my business."

"I don't think you'll hurt me anyway. You couldn't when we last fought against one another. The day that you and Kumiko-san joined minds. Remember?"

There were a lot of things I remembered about that day. Naomi was certainly one of them.

"I do remember, Naomi-san. Now, please, let me pass in peace so I can do what must be done."

"Not that simple, David-san. I challenge you to a contest."

I laughed and faced her. "Are you insane or just blessed with a sick sense of humor? I'm not going to fight you, Naomi-san, not now and probably not ever."

"Not your decision. High Master Jensen ordered me to find you and challenge you."

I grit my teeth hard and clenched my fists even harder than last time. "Damn her. She knows I won't fight her," I said under my breath.

"Fight me, coward. Fight me if you dare!" I could tell that she didn't mean what she said by the tone in her voice. It wavered and was choked up in her throat as she spoke.

I calmed down and unclenched my fists. "No."

"Fight me!"

"No."

"Fight me! FIGHT ME!" she screamed insistently as tears fell down her cheeks.

I walked to her, but she backed off. "Naomi-san, please . . ."

"I was there for you! I saved you! I brought you back from the other side! You were dead and I went after you! You have to fight me!" She broke down crying and fell to her knees. "You have to . . ." she sobbed.

I went to her side and rubbed her back with my hand. "It's all right, now, Naomi-san. You just have to rest. Just rest." As I spoke, I had to look away from her. I lifted my head to the sky as I laid my hand on her head. "Just rest." I felt my ability press through her strong mental barriers, but I was too powerful for them to resist for long. They shattered like glass and I was free to do whatever I wanted to her mind. "Rest, Naomi. Rest."

Her head swayed back and forth as her eyes fluttered. Her entire body became rubber and started to collapse as she fell into a deep sleep. I used telekinesis to lift her head up long enough for me to find a robe in my sack for her to use as a pillow. As soon as it was in place, I lowered her head down and stepped away. She curled up into a ball and began to snore softly.

I sighed and stroked her hair with the tips of my fingers. "Maybe if things were different," I whispered. Something was coming. My head shot up as I enhanced my hearing to capture the loud shouts of several Brothers, probably on their way to stop me. I wasn't in the mood for this. Damn the Brotherhood for this interference. Damn the whole Council and their political ways. Master Akagi was right to stay away from that group of hypocrites.

"Stop! Stop him!" a Brother shouted through a doorway to the training area.

"I'm not in the mood for this!" I said loudly. I cast my hand out and formed an invisible barrier of solid air that stretched across the width of the training area just a few steps in front of that doorway. More Brothers emerged and I waited to see them smack into the wall one at a time. "You can't stop me, Brothers. I'm sorry, but you must understand this is something I must do."

They didn't listen instead they tried to break the barrier with their own magick or even with weapons. A lesson in futility, I suppose, because they couldn't make a dent. My powers were much too strong for them to combat.

"ASAAHH!" A loud kiai followed immediately by a strike to the base of my skull sent me on the ground next to Naomi.

I moaned a little as my brain sloshed around in my head. Energy pounded the injury out of my body as I dropped the sack that I apparently still held over my shoulder. I stood up and stepped back as my assaulter struck again.

"Die, traitor and coward!" Master Orin-Tsung yelled in a deranged voice. He came forward with a front kick, then a series of punches and elbows to my face and body, all of which I blocked.

"What the hell has gotten into you, Master?" I demanded as I setup into a fighting stance.

He answered with a spinning hook kick to my ribs and I ran to his blind side and countered with a palm-heel to his jaw. The bones cracked as he flew in the air in a tucked position, then landed perfectly on both feet with his back to me. He grabbed his broken jaw and twisted it to the left then to the right. He spun around with a toothy grin that I had seen before. I saw it all right, all too well.

"What's the matter, David-san? Can't say something witty this time?" he laughed in that sickening, maniacal tone just as Master Akagi had when he killed almost everyone in his dojo. "Maybe the-oh, how does the saying go? Oh yes! Maybe the cat's caught your tongue!" He threw his head up in the air and laughed again.

I paid no attention to his banter, but to Naomi as she still slept. There had to be a way to get her out of here safely.

"Thinking about your friend there, David-san? Maybe I should have a little fun with her first, then finish you off!" Orin-Tsung spat.

"Touch her and you will die. I don't care what control the Aurelians have over you. I'll make you suffer in such ways that you'll wish I would have killed you quickly."

"Hah! All talk, weakling. Just like your friend, Kenji Sakura. He's no fighter, or a decent member of the Brotherhood. Just like you, he's nothing but a coward and a traitor!"

"Don't even try to anger me, Orin-Tsung. It won't work."

"Really?" He extended his arm out at Naomi and she lifted high off the ground. "How about now?"

I shook my head as I tensed my lips. The image of Orin-Tsung's eyes formed in my mind as I forced a huge surge of power straight through them. His screams of anguish fell on deaf ears as I continued to press into his retinas, corneas, and even the tear ducts. Naomi rocketed back toward the ground, but I caught her with my own telekinetic ability and set her down gently.

"My eyes! I'm blind!" Orin-Tsung cried as blood ran down his face.

I drew my powers back in and summoned a ball of fire in the palm of my hand. Master Orin-Tsung ranted and raved while he tried to heal his butchered eyes. "Last chance, Orin-Tsung! Surrender or I'll release this," I sent an image of the fireball into his mind, "and you will die without honor."

He stopped his insane screaming and looked at me with bloody, empty sockets. "You wouldn't dare! You're nothing but a coward!"

"Care to bet on that?" I said as I tossed the fireball up and down. My face was hard as stone as I walked slowly toward him. "Yield to me now, and I won't use this. Resist, and I'll kill you."

He laughed in an ever louder voice than before. It grew louder and louder as my eardrums started to rattle and bleed. "You're not the only one that has mastered the natural elements, David-san! Let me give you a taste of real experience and power!" He emitted a single, but very powerful pulse of sonic waves from his mouth and the fireball slipped out of my hand.

I moved forward, but was stopped by another pulse. My ears hurt badly, as did everyone else's, and I fell to the ground. I focused my ability at the ground underneath Orin-Tsung, but I had a hard time with my control.

"I will kill you, David Sands! You won't live to see your precious parents' last breaths in this world!" he boomed.

My skull felt like it was caving in as the pulse became constant. I covered my ears in vain as he kicked me good and solid in the ribs. I spun in the air and crashed down on my back some distance away from where I was before.

"Well, well, look what we have here! Wake up, Naomi! Wake up now, little one!" he cooed. My vision was blurred from the barrage of deadly sound waves, but I could see him pick Naomi up and hold her in front of him. "It's time to meet the other side, Naomi Tiriko! I hope you're ready!"

"I . . . told . . . you . . . to leave . . . her . . . alone!" The anger returned, and with it came a blast of uncontrolled power directed solely at Orin-Tsung. The energy wave hit his body and racked his bones as he flew headlong into the barrier I had created. Naomi likewise went airborne, but I quickly refocused myself and set her down under a cushion of air. I drew the katana and ran to the master's body as it twitched on the ground, a pool of blood now around his head. My breathing was extremely erratic as the blood from my ears began to dry. I blinked my eyes and sent waves of magick through my inner ears to restore my hearing.

"David! No!" The High Master pressed her hands up against the wall of air. It began to ripple as her eyes shimmered like mad. "Don't do it!"

I looked at Orin-Tsung as his body still twitched. The blood ran from a fracture on the top of his head. A scan of his body revealed that the upper portion of his spinal column was crunched and shattered. He was dead. I slid my sword back in its sheath and scanned Orin-Tsung's mind. It might be the only lead to what happened to Master Akagi. There was a strong mental block inside, a protective cover over whatever caused the master to lose his sanity. Not just a psychological cover, but an artificial one. Metal. There was a metal object in his brain. How long had it been there, though? I couldn't tell.

The barrier began to give way under High Master Jensen's power. I raised myself upright and sent another wave of magick through it. The portal that she tried to create collapsed as more solid air and energy was added to the wall.

"Please, David, don't do this!" she pleaded.

I didn't say a word as I turned away to walk back to my sack. When I passed Naomi, I waved my hand over her and felt the energy flow from me into her as my ability healed whatever wounds she might have. The sack was still in one piece on the ground. I picked it up and slung it back over my shoulder. Shouts and cries from behind me didn't phase me as I directed my powers at a single point on the stone wall in front. The spot rippled, then changed from stone into silver liquid. I approached it and stepped through. The liquid surrounded and caressed me, then recoiled as I passed to the other side.

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