Elayne woke up sleepy-eyed and groggy to the sound of birds chirping and the sun streaming into her room. She rubbed at her eyes and stretched her arms and yawned, a typical day. School had just got out 2 weeks ago and she was excited. She looked at her calendar and noticed the date. It was the 24th of May! "Yes!" she shouted. "Today's the day of my trip!" She threw the covers off of her and jumped out of her bed, her golden hair glinting in the sunlight. She used her power over Air to drag some jeans out of the closet. Elayne was a rather powerful sorceress and had control over Earth, Air and Metal. She slipped her tanned and slender body out of her thin shift and into her shirt and jeans. She floated down stairs and whisked some cereal out of the closet. She made a bowl with Earth and poured the cereal into it. She made a tunnel of Air reaching to her friend and called her. "Hey Jenny!" she said excitedly.

"What is it, Elayne? You woke me up." Alyx said groggily. "Today's the day of our trip." Elayne sang. "Really!" Jenny shouted, "I'm so excited! I'll call Alyx! We'll fly over to your house and meet you." "Ok," Elayne said "I'll get packed. See ya in a bit!" she said excitedly. She hung up and floated her back pack and duffel bag down the stairs after which she brought down her clothes and put them in the bag. Soon after, her door bell rang and she ran to answer it "Jenny! Alyx!" she said loudly, "I'm so glad to see you guys! Are you ready to go?" They ruffled through their backpacks quickly and nodded, "Yep, let's head out!" they said in unison. They looked at each other and laughed.

When they were done they walked out onto the front lawn and raised their arms up- they didn't have to but they liked to anyway- they rose up in the air and sped off into the distance. After about an hour they were in the Black Top mountains where the cave was that they were going to explore. They lighted upon the ledge and Jenny, who had power over Wood and Fire, drew some wood off of the surrounding trees and put it in her back pack. "There" she said with a sense of finality "for our fires." Alyx, who controlled Air and Water said, "Well what are we standing here for? Let's go!" and rushed into the cave. Jenny and Elayne looked at each other and followed her example. They put on their head lamps and Jenny ignited them, sending a bright beam of light cutting the darkness in front of them. They delved deep into the cave until it was late according to their watches.

"Lets keep going a little bit," Elayne said, "I can feel a big room up ahead" with weariness entering her voice. They found the big room and took out the wood for their fire and Jenny lit it. After they had cooked their meal and ate it, Alyx suggested telling scary stories and they all whole heartedly agreed. "Alright" Alyx said, "I'll start. So it's said that deep in these mountains there lives a madman, but not just any madman, Dirk Province, the most powerful sorcerer to ever live. He controlled all the elements: Fire, Air, Water, Wood, Earth and Metal. They say that all the elements were too much for a man to control and he went mad from the constant struggle to keep them under control.

When he went mad, his elements, which were mad like him, calmed down so that he could control them. He then flew away to these mountains and hasn't been seen since." As if on cue they heard a scuffling behind them and they all screamed, but it was only a rat that scurried out of the shadows. "That was scary." Elayne said shakily.

Deep in the cave Dirk whipped his head around after hearing a faint scream. "So there's someone in my cave," he whispered to himself, tearing a piece of flesh from the bones of an animal with a metal crafted knife that was sharp enough to slide through the flesh like butter. Dirk had long black hair and was tall and lean. He was also strong and muscular. His piercing ghostly white eyes had long ago adjusted to the darkness and he could see clearly. He ghosted silently toward the place where he had heard the scream, ready to tear the flesh from the people's bones that were inside his cave.

The girls had fallen asleep inside their sleeping bags. The air warmed by Elayne and Jenny. They awoke to Alyx screaming and then a crack as Alyx's neck was snapped and then silence. Jenny screamed and Elayne turned around. "Sorry I had to kill your friend. She wouldn't stop screaming" the man said, his voice deep and his face stony. "By the way, I'm Dirk Province" he said politely extending his hand. Elayne took one look at it and noticed the blood dripping from his hand and screamed at the top of her lungs. Jenny took off running and Elayne followed suit. Jenny cast Fire back at the man chasing them, easily keeping pace. He threw up Water and stopped the Fire, laughing crazily and enjoying the thrill of the chase. He hurled a rock at Elayne's head and Jenny screamed "Elayne, look out!" Elayne put up a metal shield and blocked the stone. She crafted a metal knife and used her power over Air to guide it straight towards Dirk's head. He flicked it aside with a blast of Air and sent the knife quivering into the wall of the cave. "That screaming one is a nuisance" he thought to himself. He cast Wood at Jenny which she immediately burned up, but Dirk was smarter and cast Earth under her. She rose up to smash her head on the ceiling. Her head exploded from the force of the impact. He ran on, blood now covering him. Elayne looked back to see her friend's head explode and her limp body hit the ground. She screamed again. She could see a faint light up ahead, but Dirk was gaining on her. She got to the light and dove out bringing the whole cave down on Dirk, crushing him. She encased it in Metal and flung herself off the ridge, bringing the Air up under her to fly home as fast as she could.

The rubble stirred. It shook again and a small hole opened up in the Metal. It grew larger and Dirk climbed out "That girl!" he snarled. "I'll kill her!" And with that he flew off into the distance.

Year's later Elayne still mourned the horrible death of her friends more than anyone else who knew them.

Elayne was sleeping in her bed. She woke up and her room was heavily encased in Metal and a man was sitting on the foot of her bed. He was tall and lean and had short cropped black hair. The one thing she was drawn to was his ghostly white eyes. "Dirk!" she gasped, too shocked to scream. "You got it!" he said with a wolfish grin. "I've been looking for you" he said. And with that he leaned down to kiss her lips. When he pulled back she screamed "What was that? You just…" Her yelling turned to gurgling as he used his crafting to fill her lungs with Water. The last thing Elayne saw and felt were his lips touching hers again. Then she passed out and drowned in her own room. He brought down the Metal barrier and flew out her open window to go live out a somewhat normal life. Unfortunately this didn't work out because he was finally destroyed forever by what was inside of him; he was destroyed by his own elements.

--alternate ending and other stories to follow??? Please review and tell me

--hiding in the night