Sorry for the delay with this chapter but between one thing and another I kept forgetting to post it. Anyway I hope you all enjoy it.
Heirs of Psynergy
Out of Control
By NeoBlitz
The four adepts stood in silence as they tried to process the information that they had just been given. Mesmerized by the events that had gone on around them, not fully comprehending the fact that they were some of the few who still carried the power of the gods.
Slowly the sounds that had stopped when the voice had been speaking to the four began to echo through the cavern once more. No one had noticed before, but now they were fully aware of the fact that each of them had a faint glow around them.
"What just happened here? Why are we all glowing?" Tari asked still in shock.
"Don't you realise what just happened here? We are descendants of the great adepts from almost a century ago. We've been bestowed with the powers of the elements. I've always been captivated by the legends of psynergy, or psychic energy, and I used to wish it were real and that I would be able to control it. Though it was always a dream, I never actually thought it could exist, but it does and we have been entrusted with the task of restoring psynergy to the world." Mithhen said.
"I think I read about this in an ancient book I found in my grandfather's attic. Vale used to guard these stones called the Elemental Stars and one day they were stolen by some people who wanted to light the lighthouses. At first the people of Vale thought that lighting the lighthouse would bring the end of the world, but in the right hands it could unleash the powers of Alchemy and restore Weyard to its former glory." Phoenix said.
"I'm beginning to understand what you mean but how are we supposed to light these lighthouses if we don't know where they are. You heard the voice saying that they've all been reduced to rubble how are we supposed to tell them apart from any other rubble we find?" Mike said.
"In my grandfather's book there was a map of Weyard, it must have been really old because it showed the lighthouses, if I can find the map we can use it to find the lighthouses." Phoenix said.
"Okay, I'm all for it. If we can find this map I say we should all leave Vale and find these lighthouses." Mithhen said.
"But wait!" Tari interrupted. "We don't even know how to use these new powers we've been given, we don't even know what they can do, how are we supposed to light the lighthouses using our powers if we don't know what they are?"
"The powers are a part of us now, we will discover how to use them when we really need them. But if we stay here in Vale then we will never learn how to use them." Mithhen said.
"Maybe…" Tari said uncertainly.
When the discussion had ended the adepts walked back into the light and found themselves back in the sanctum. They hurried back into the town where they headed for the home of Phoenix's grandfather, where they hoped to find the map of Weyard from before the lighthouses' destruction.
~~~~~
Michael decided to go to the Inn and pack up his belongings while Phoenix searched for her grandfather's map. When he had stuffed the few items he had into his tunic he paid the innkeeper and went for a walk around the city outskirts. After about half an hour he came to a small wooded area and decided to walk through the trees for a short time before returning to look for Phoenix.
As he walked around the trees he began thinking about the bizarre turn of events he had experienced earlier on in the day. He became so absorbed in his thoughts that when a wolf picked up his scent and proceeded after him he didn't hear a thing. After twenty minutes he came to a glade in the middle of the forest, realising the time he turned tail and headed back to the village. As he turned he caught a glimpse of silver fur and before he knew it the wolf had pounced on him.
Startled by the sudden attack he stumbled over the root of a nearby tree and began to fall. He quickly threw his arms out to break his fall but what happened next shocked him and the wolf. From the palms of his hands a blast of flames shot out and set a nearby tree on fire.
The wolf left his prey and ran off in the opposite direction as the flames licked at nearby trees setting them ablaze. Fearing that the blaze would reach Vale and destroy it, Michael sprinted back to warn the villagers. Upon reaching the edge of the forest, to his relief, he found a group of women carrying buckets of water.
"Please could I borrow those buckets of water from you." he blurted out. "I was walking through the forest when I saw a few trees on fire near the glade."
Michael pointed in the direction of the glade where smoke could be seen rising from the trees, but as he did he felt a familiar tingling in his fingers, and sure enough five balls of fire shot from his fingers to some nearby trees. The women screamed in terror at what they had just seen and ran away from Michael shouting 'demon' as they went. Michael just stared at his hands trying to figure out what to do next before stuffing his hands into his pockets so they couldn't do any more damage.
~~~~~
Mithhen walked through Vale with his head in the clouds, ecstatic with his newfound powers and destiny. Not paying any attention to the world around him he bumped into three women who were running around in a frantic state saying there was a demon setting fire to the forest. Once he had helped the women up he continued walking until he reached the foot of Mt. Aleph.
He made his way up the mountain and upon reaching the top he sat at the edge of a cliff and stared out at the surrounding area. Thinking how big and overwhelming the world really was he began to tremble and reconsider his decision to leave everything he had ever known. As he did the ground began to shake as well and before he realised what was happening the edge where he was sitting had broken away from the rest of the cliff and he was plummeting down the side of the mountain.
He screamed as he fell down the mountain watching his entire life flash before his eyes. A single tear left his eye as he thought of his sisters and the world he would never see again. The tear landed on a sprouting vine and the plant began to glow. Before Mithhen's eyes vines climbed up the side of the mountain. As the vines passed by him he grabbed onto them and climbed slowly down the side of the mountain keeping a tight grip on the vines.
The near death experience settled a few things in Mithhen's mind. Upon reaching the bottom he headed back into town where he would say goodbye to his sisters and friends before beginning his quest with his new companions.
~~~~~
Tari hurriedly packed away the things she felt she would need on her journey to light the lighthouses before her parents got home, not wishing to have to go through the heartbreaking goodbye knowing she may never return to Vale to see them again. With everything packed away she grabbed a quill and some paper and scribbled down a goodbye note to her parents. She pinned it onto the pantry door and walked to open the door to leave.
Standing in the doorway were her parents arriving home from work. Tari quietly cursed herself for not being quicker in leaving but resigned herself to go through with the teary goodbye she had hoped to avoid.
"Mom, dad, I've got something to tell you." Tari began. Her parents sat down and listened to Tari's story. "So you see I don't have much choice, this is like my destiny. I don't want to leave but I will do what I'm meant to."
She fell silent and looked at her parents' faces and tried to judge their reactions. Her parents looked from one to the other then finally looked at Tari.
"Tari, honey, we realise you feel strongly about this but I'm afraid we can't agree to this. You're our daughter and it's our duty to protect you, we simply can't risk something awful happening to you when you're that far away from home." her mother said.
"Mom I'm not asking you if I can go, I'm telling you I am going." Tari said insistently.
"You're not setting a foot out of this house, now go to your room, you're grounded until further notice." her father said.
"I can't believe the both of you, don't you realise how big this is? The both of you have these powers laying dormant within you, and you refuse to let me leave here and release those powers. I hoped you would agree to this but I see that you won't so I'm leaving now, do not try and stop me." Tari said feeling the anger swelling inside her.
As she stepped towards the door her father stepped in the doorway and motioned for Tari to go to her room. The anger building up inside Tari was finally unleashed. Wind began to sweep through the room and scattered everything that wasn't held down around the room. Her parents struggled to keep their balance as they looked in horror at what Tari had done. One strong gust finally knocked her father over and out of the doorway. Taking her chance Tari rushed to the door and ran off leaving the wind to slam it for her.
~~~~~
Phoenix sorted through all the junk and antiques in her grandfather's attic. She had told her grandfather what had happened and what she needed but she wasn't quite sure he had heard it all because he was very ill and often fell asleep while she talked to him. She tossed another book across the room into a pile of twenty different books she had hoped contained the map. She was about to give up hope of ever finding the book when a trunk covered with dusty sheets caught her eye. She tossed the sheets out of her way and began to search through the trunk. To her delight she found a very familiar looking book, she opened it up and sure enough out fell a map of Weyard showing each lighthouse.
She leafed through the book scanning some of the other pages where she discovered loads of information about psynergy; how it's used, why only certain people have it and lots of other things. She decided she'd ask her grandfather if she could keep the book figuring it would come in pretty handy on her journey.
When she entered her grandfather's bedroom she found him sprawled on the floor. She fell to his side and found he was still breathing, but only barely. She began to panic wondering whether she should go find the doctor but if she left her grandfather might die while she was gone. As she began to cry at the thought of her grandfather dying her palms began to glow and right above her grandfather a small fairy appeared and began to shower him with blue light. Her grandfather's eyes suddenly opened and he smiled at Phoenix. Phoenix helped him back into his bed and told him she was taking the book with her and said she would get her mother to come over and watch over him.
~~~~~
As Phoenix walked to the Inn to see if Michael was there she saw smoke rising from the forest. She decided to check out the fire and see if she could help before she would return to look for Michael.
When she arrived at the forest she saw that the fire had been quenched by the villagers, but she was horrified to see Michael tied to one of the trees and the Great Healer of the village doing something to him. In the crowd she saw Mithhen and Tari wondering what they could do to help their fellow adept.
She walked through the crowd towards Mithhen and Tari and as she did the Great Healer moved away from Michael and began to speak.
"The demon refuses to admit fault over almost destroying the forest and our village. I have no choice but to order its immediate demise, it will be stoned until it is dead."
Phoenix gasped. Michael began to wriggle furiously trying to free himself but couldn't. Mithhen and Tari looked at each other and nodded. Buckets filled with rocks and stones of various sizes were brought before Michael for the villagers to throw at him.
Before anyone could take a stone the wind became strong and the buckets were tipped over and the stones fell out. The smaller trees fell over and knocked over other trees. The ground began to shake and the stones were lifted into the air and flew through the air at the villagers. Screams filled the air and the crowd began to dwindle down to no one but Michael, Phoenix, Tari and Mithhen. Phoenix realising what had just happened turned to look at Mithhen and Tari and thanked them.
"I'm guessing since the three of you are the only ones still standing here that what just happened is your powers at work. Do you think you could use them to knock over this tree and free me?" Michael said.
Phoenix, relieved, was surprised when a blast of water knocked the three over. Noticing the others were staring at her she realised it was her own power that had knocked over the tree. She giggled to herself and said 'cool' before she found herself hugging Michael.
"It seems we've all discovered our powers then, I'd say now is a good time to leave on our journey to light the lighthouses. Have you found your grandfather's map?" Mithhen asked.
"Yes I did, I brought the book as well because it was filled with information on psynergy. So if everyone's ready we should set off now before it gets too dark." Phoenix said looking up at the setting sun.
The four adepts walked around the outskirts of town not wanting to be seen and left Vale quietly. Each felt a small pang of loss but ignored it and thought of adventure and discovery.
End of chapter 3.