I awake to the sound of wind chimes gently ringing from outside my window. I take a deep breath and exhale. My name is Adam, and I am a Garde of the Loric. Most of my family disappeared and have not been heard from or seen since I was 3 years old. I was given a Cepan at a younger age than most garde because of this disappearance. His name is Tanner, and I live with him instead of my grandparents. He knocks on my door and comes in.

"Good morning Adam, and happy 15th birthday." He smiles and beckons me downstairs.

"Jeez, I completely forgot, thanks Tanner." We walk down the small hallway and go down the stairs to the kitchen. Tanner made me breakfast this morning, dark cream pancakes and fresh squeezed fruit juice.

"I've got a surprise for you once we get to the Academy. Hopefully it will get your head out of all those books you've been reading." He laughs and starts to get his stuff together for our trip today.

"There's nothing wrong with reading! I just do it more than most Lorics do."

"Given we are naturally more intelligent, reading should not be an issue. You however show an unprecedented aptitude of intelligence in comparison to most of the people on Lorien..." He trails off and lapses silently into thought.

"Do you think it's my first Legacy?" I ask excitedly.

I've been waiting for my first Legacy for awhile longer than most garde. I've read all about them. I'm hoping for something that I can actually use in my every day life. Maybe teleportation... that would be awesome.

"Possibly..." He thinks for a moment,"but it may just be inherent to your personality. Don't worry kid... Your first legacy will likely manifest very soon."

A frown crosses my face. I'm tired of waiting for my legacies. All my friends have already developed there first or second legacies, while I have none.

"Cheer up and finish your breakfast. If I'm late again I'll be in trouble." He checks the watch on his right wrist.

We arrive at the academy 15 minutes later. As we get out I see a girl garde looking frustrated and arguing with her cepan. There voices get louder and she looks incredibly frustrated. She turns around and starts to stomp away when the cement beneath her starts to crack and rumble and she loses her balance and trips.

Tanner lets out a low whistle," Earthquake Generation, she must be a handful for her cepan."

I laugh and she turns and narrows her eyes at me. It's as if I can hear her thoughts," I'm coming for you," is what she seems to think. I feel a shiver down my spine and my smile quickly fades into a frown. She gets up and floats herself slightly above the ground with her telekinesis so that she doesn't cause any more earth tremors.

"I hope I don't end up running into her today," I say as we walk into the academy.

"I have to go take care of some things Adam. Go to your garde group and listen to what the instructor says." He pats me on the back and sets of through the entrance hall and disappears down a hallway.

I set off in a different direction towards one of the large training rooms where I have to report for garde group discussions. We all talk about our legacies and how we can use them responsibly. It is very pointless to me... Mostly because I have no legacies though. I enter the training room and take a seat on the floor in the circle of garde now starting to form. Only 4 have arrived so far, none of whom I know. I feel a slight tinge of pain in my head and hear what sounds like a whisper in my right ear. I look around and am confused to see no one talking to me. I shake it off and take in the other kids around me.

There is a 14 year old girl with long black hair to my right. She has a small rubber ball floating lightly in front of her and she seems to be making it spin faster and faster. The ball seems full of energy and seconds later it starts to disintegrate into nothing but dust. She lets out a sigh and pulls another from her bag and starts over again.

Next to her is another girl, maybe 17 years old, she seems to be half-asleep not paying any attention to anyone else.

On my left is a boy maybe my age. He is taller than me and has short cropped spiky hair. He's laying stretched out on the floor snoring away.

The girl next to him is very short and thin. She sees me looking at her and then she disappears in front of my eyes. I blink and suddenly she is right in front of me looking down.

"What's up man?" She asks.

"Uhhhhh, nothing..."

"Then quit staring at me." She appears back in her original spot.

The door opens and in comes the instructor with a large tub followed by another boy... Although calling him a boy would be an understatement. Because he is super tall with broad shoulders and huge muscles. He has a buzz cut and dark brown eyes. He moves his head slightly and the girl next to me yelps in surprise as she is shoved to the side. The guy takes a seat next to me and says a simple ,"hey" to me.

"Damn it Joey, what did I say about using your powers in here. This is supposed to be about control and responsibility." The instructor sits in a chair and completes the cirlce.

"Sorry Jan, won't happen again." He grumbles.

"Sure it won't." The instructor mumbles sarcastically.

The cepan claps her hands together and gets all our attention.

"Today, you won't be talking much besides telling your legacies and names. This group is going to remain together for awhile now and train together. So get used to it. We'll start off with Joey."

The boy sighs," Hey everyone, I'm Joey, I'm like most Garde, enhancement, telekinesis, super- strength, animal telepathy, Hydro-locomtion, accelerated healing, Sonokinesis, and being incredibly good looking." He finish off with a smug grin, but I kinda like his style.

The young 14 year old girl goes next," Ummm... I'm Alison, enhancement, telekinesis, matter-manipulation." She smiles and looks at me.

I swallow a lump in my throat," My name is Adam, I've only got enhancement." I say it quietly and hope no one laughs. Then I hear Joey talk to himself out loud from behind me.

"What a loser... Ahm gonna cream this kid."

"I'm not a loser, my legacies have just been delayed!" I yell at him as I flare up in anger. He looks confused and stunned.

"I didn't say anything kid, calm your ass down." He snorts and walks towards the other end of the room.

"Did everyone else hear what he said? It was crystal clear!" I look towards the Jan the instructor.

"I said for you to share your legacies, why didn't you say you could read minds!" The instructor gazes at me angrily.

"What do you mean? I can't read minds! He said it out loud!" Why won't anyone believe me.

"Have you been hearing voices in your head for awhile now?" The instructor asks with a big smile.

"I don't know, they just started today. Is that why only I can hear them?" I must look like a complete dip-shit, no wonder I am hearing voices, so much for super-intelligence.

"Well now we know what it is at least. Congratulations Adam on your first legacy." The instructor pats me on the back and looks for the next person to speak.

The girl who could teleport stands up," Hi, I'm Belle, I have teleportation, enhancement, telekinesis, and elemental manipulation." She sits down quickly.

"I can't wait to fight, these guys aren't ready for me." I hear Belle say in my head and feel a bit of pain from it.

I walk away towards Joey who is still skulking at the other end of the training room.

"Hey Joey," I say as I walk up to him. He looks up and his eyes narrow,"Sorry I snapped at you earlier man, I didn't know what was happening, I'm pretty self-conscious for my lack of legacies."

His face relaxes and he smiles," Bro, don't even worry about it, we could make a good team you and I. Tell me what they are thinking and I'll pummel them."

"That sounds like a good plan..." I reach out my hand to shake his. He grabs mine and gives me a light squeeze, I can still fell the power of him though, holding back so that he doesn't hurt me.

"Sorry about my uhhh, thought, I should learn to keep my mind shut sometimes." He jokes as I laugh.

We look up and see that the others are done talking and are going to the opposite side. Alison walks towards us and smiles.

"Looks like we're on a team huh fellas," We are both dumbfounded by her friendly directness.

"Uhhh, good to be on a team with you Alison." I respond and look at the ground.

"Lets kick some ass guys," Joey cracks his knuckles loudly.

Jan drags the tub out into the middle of the room. She opens it and tosses a stone to each team. Joey catches it and hands it to me.

"That's a healing stone man, you be medic and heal us when we need it." He fixes his stance and faces the other team.

Suddenly the room comes to life and walls fly up from the floors forming a maze. We jump in surprise and Alison screams. Then we hear Jan's voice over an intercom.

"This is a team building session, this is a three level maze complete with traps. At the top level somewhere is a flag. The first team to find it and successfully bring it to me wins. Anything goes besides killing each other. Use your legacies to find the flag and fight the other team. You are eliminated when I deem you unable to carry on or are incapacitated. Get to it. None of you are leaving till I have that flag." With these words the intercom goes silent and we look around in confusion.

"Well shit!" Is all I can manage to say.