Eira and Attilica

Chapter 1

Sleeping, a Meeting and Astral Projection

Eira

As I sat in class that day in January, I looked back to my best friend and only half listened to the teacher as he talked of the monsters on the other side of the town that I lived in. Today was the only day of the year that humans were allowed to cross the barrier that kept the werewolves, vampires, dragons, oracles, warlocks, demons and other monstrosities that live in what is called Attilica. Therefore, the teachers must teach a lesson on the dangers of crossing the barrier. The only reason that humans do cross the barriers was for family members that had been bitten the year before, or if they had business in another town. Humans were required to have a team of soldiers blah blah blah.

Teira snored loudly and woke up. I gave her a look of pity that explained it all. She rolled her eyes and faced the front with a glazed-over look, tossing her dark black hair over her shoulder. I twisted my own blonde hair as I tuned back into Mr. Kirby's lecture to not go across the barrier.

"Many monsters would not hesitate to kill or bite a young boy or girl that crosses their path. Yet, there are many good people in Attilica who would help a regular person. Many good witches, angels, and a few demons. There are even trapped humans that didn't make it back in time for the sundown deadline when the barrier seals itself. They are probably dead or even worse by now, but the smart ones survive. If you are ever caught in Attilica, look for one of them. They would help you to survive and may keep you alive until the next year."

Still not paying complete attention, I looked at the clock to see how much longer that I have to suffer in silence in my History of Magic class. Luckily, I only had twenty minutes before I could run over to my next class, Health and Magic Class, which teaches you how to harness the magic that all teenagers at Naminera High School. I, along with all the other gifted teens, wanted only to fit in, if not for the golden rose that is at birth embedded visibly into our heads. It is a blessing and a curse. No Naminera student is mugged or killed or even jumped out of fear of their powers, which are unique for each person. We also aren't allowed in certain areas of the city, certain shops, certain parks.

It makes all students live in fear of the surrounding area. We cannot live safely in Tiaren. Not without looking over our shoulders all the time. This is one of the usual things that Teira and I talk about when walking down the street three blocks from our dorm. The stares can be ignored, but the looks of fear on children's faces are what cause us to rarely venture out of campus. A snore from the back of the room told me that my friend had fallen back to sleep. Considering that we had heard this same lecture every year since kindergarten might have something to do with why she is so tired. The party last night might also have been a benefactor. My other best friend, Javar, throws the best parties.

I look over at him and I see that he is as dead to the world as Teira, though thankfully, not asleep. He looks at me and motions to Teira and the bright blue wall behind her and magically writes "this class is so boring. Don't they know they teach this stuff every year?" in what seemed to be black ink on the wall. I look at the teacher and look back at him in envy. He had already learned the two eyes only spell, having been held back for blowing up the boy's dorm last year. He says that he didn't try it, but I really don't believe him and neither does Teira. Javar and Teira have been going out for about nine months now and they have been normal. Not lovey like the teens you see hanging all over each other in the gardens out back. It might just be the spring air.

The bell finally rings and Teira is out like a flash. Literally. She has the power of hyper speed, or running faster than light can travel. She really wanted to get out of History class. I just rolled my eyes and walked out of class and into the hall.

"Eira!"

I turned around to look at who had called me and saw the last person I wanted to see. It was Teira's cousin Tetra, the human girl magnet. I turned back around and cursed Teira under my breath for running away when we both had heard rumors that Tetra was looking for me and asking all my friends about me. Having the power of freezing time and people, he just stopped me mid-stride and caught up. I tried to move a locker into his path, but my hands were frozen to my binder. He unfroze me and I was tempted to hurt him somehow. Telekinesis wouldn't help me now, but maybe astral projection would. I projected myself to Teira and told her to go back to the hall outside history and save me. She groaned and I returned to my physical self. I was shocked to find myself in Tetra's arms. I must have collapsed when I projected. I loosened myself from his arms just as Teira came running back. I gave her a look that should have killed her when Javar warped in. He put one arm around Teira and gave me a questioning look. I answered with a look that told him every one of my feelings. He teleported all of us to health and magic, but gave me enough time to see the hurt look on Tetra's face as we disappeared.

We got to health and magic in time for me to smack Teira for running away and see that we were beginning to learn how to freeze things with our minds. Not time freezing, but ice freezing, as in the cold kind. I gave a single look over to my pyromaniac friend, Hiro, and saw a shiver run through his body. I gave him a sympathetic look as I dropped my binder on the small brown desk and sat down in the attached chair. Teira plopped down next to me and Javar behind her. I looked back in time to catch Tetra and his usual crowd of girls enter the room. I caught his eye and looked away as my face flushed. Why did he do this to me? I turned to face the board as a note flew onto my desk. This was the usual communication in the classroom for those of us that don't know the two eyes only spell that allowed only one or two people see a message. Handy for spies, secret messages, and teenage friends that are bored in class. I opened the note and it stopped moving immediately. Well-cast, I complimented whoever had written the note in my thoughts. Most fliers were still moving after the person had opened the note. I never needed to learn this spell as my telekinetic powers helped me to levitate the note. I looked at the note briefly as Mrs. Hyarisna walked into the room. Teira and I shared a secret laugh as we looked at yet another of her eccentric outfits. This one was entirely green, with real leaves growing from the sleeves and from her hair. It reminded me of the time that I had fallen into the ferns outside our dorm sneaking out the window to my boyfriend at the time. I had slipped off the window sill and had grabbed a vine. I still got plants in my hair, giving it the same look as it did on the top of Mrs. Hyarisna's head. Mine was unintentional, but you could tell that she had spent hours convincing the vines to grow in her hair like that. Hiro had covered his mouth to hide the chuckles coming from inside. His ears turned red with effort and I almost laughed at the sight. His brown hair had begun to turn red around the edges. I looked on in amazement as his hair lit on fire with his powers. He just put his hair out and the brown hair resumed its normal color. Turning my attention back to the note, I read silently as the teacher began talking. Will you meet me in the Isis garden at nine o'clock tonight underneath the willow trees that Javar, Teira, and Tetra blew up two weeks ago? I found something that I think will interest you. Dress comfortably but for something that will most likely be of great physical strain. Pack a backpack with food, water, a cell phone, and first aid kit. Hiro will lead you to me.

Strangely, therewas no signature, although I could eliminate Teira, Hiro, Javar, and possibly Tetra. The Isis Garden is a pleasure garden. This just leads me to suspect Tetramore. Still, the mystery is appealing to my curiosity. I decided that I was going to go to this place and meet this person. I knew that it was someone in my class, because you can't send a flier out of the room, or it would drop. None of the kids in my class seem to be guilty and none are looking at me. It must be someone that Hiro gets along with if he knows what the note means. Again, the leads to Tetra, one of the limited crowd that don't set Hiro aflame just for talking to him. Why pack a survival kit and dress like an army brat? So I guess that I'll just have to find out who it is and why by going off to the Isis Garden. I set it up with Hiro to meet him at the front of the school at 8:45 to go to the willows, and turned my attention back to the front of the class where Javar had written a two eyes only spell asking what the note said. I mouthed to him that I'd tell him later and tuned into the teacher.

" The key to freezing the things around you is that the atmosphere around you contains water. If there is water around you then there is a chance to freeze the water. If you can direct the ice to the place that you want to freeze, than it will coat the object of an objection with a layer of ice. First, You concentrate on the air around you and feel the moisture seep into your skin. Clear your mind and concentrate. Then, you simply concentrate on the person that you want to freeze. This works on inanimate objects as well as organic."

I concentrated and to my surprise felt the moisture that she was going on and on about. I concentrated on the pencil in front of me and heard a yelp from in front of me. I broke the concentration and looked as to whom the yelp belonged to. In front of my face was a large ball of earth but I couldn't see the person who was beginning to throw it, but I recognized the power. Yuina was a flower child. She controlled all that is earth. She is one of the only people that people actually fear. Not because she is scary, but because she has a lot of power and can use all of it anywhere. She's actually really nice. I moved the ball from out of her hand without touching it, because I saw an earthworm coming out of it. When she realized that it was an accident and that it was I that had done it, she calmed down and had Hiro thaw out her shoulder. I apologized and told her that I wouldn't do it again. She sat back down but gave me the cold shoulder for the rest of the day.

╼§╾

I sat down on the chair in my dorm after spending about four hours deciding on what to wear and what to put in my backpack. After deciding to wear black khakis and a light pink halter with the most sturdy pair of shoes that I have, I set off to the large black gate that marked the borders of the school. There I met Hiro and we set off into the Isis Garden mentioned in the note. As Hiro led me deeper and deeper into the garden with no willows in sight, I began to get suspicious of what the note had said. Who had sent it, why me, and where were we going? All these questions would have to wait, as Hiro came to a sudden stop and I rammed into him hard, nearly twisting my ankle in the process. There, on a large boulder, sat Tetra. "You! But why did you put yourself in the third person in your note? Where are we, and what did you want to show me?"

"You ask a lot of questions for someone as smart as I know that you are. Were you not the only person to freeze anything today in class?"

"Yes, but I hit Yuina and I was aiming for my pencil. Again, what did you want to show me? And why me?"

" I chose you because of what I see in your future. I chose you because of what power that you possess that you have yet to even unlock. I chose you because I'm attracted to you, and you are the only girl in school besides my cousin that refuses to even let me get close to them. I chose you because what I found will unlock your destiny. I chose you because I found your inner you."

Okay then, creepy much. What did he find that was so all-fire important that I had to come down after hours. Not that there's a curfew or anything, just we were advised to stay indoors after sunset tonight when the monsters can get through the barrier that no one seems to know where it is. So I walk up to the boulder, blonde as I am, and looked him right in the blue eyes and blonde hair that mirrored my own. He looked surprised for about a minute and then took me by the hand into the darkness and the hollowness in the very heart of the Isis Garden. Little did I know that he was leading me right into hell and Attilica.

Okay, so this is the first chappie in the book that I'm writing, and I'm going to try to write on request, so please review if you want to read more! Flaming is for marshmallows, and only for marshmallows, so keep it nice. Also, what do you think about the title? Any suggestions?