Board Thread:Short Stories and Fanfictions/@comment-43957690-20191118221538/@comment-43957690-20191118222309

The Lost of Lodestar: A KOTLC fanfiction by Josie Howard (my pen name)

The Neverseen are rising, hope is growing scarce, and the Elvin world spins ever out of the perfection that it was supposed to be. But through all of it, life goes on. School starts again, friendships grow, and Sophie and her friends are having a hard time pretending that everything is perfect. Then, suddenly, the key to solving all of their problems is handed to them in the shape of a very broken girl with a story of pain.

Day one:

Phyra’s POV

“Wake up, Phyra.” The voice of Lady Gisela had immediately shocked Phyra out of the refuge of sleep, remembering everything that the woman had done to her last time she had not obeyed her words. The panic sent a portion of her blanket exploding with fiery power and then crumbling to ashes. The act made Gisela smile.

“None of that now. Bottle it up inside. Let it fester, you’ll be needing it later.” Her cruel, beautiful face made Phyra squirm. Lady Gisela loomed tall above where Phyra’s plain, uncomfortable bed sat in the corner of a drab, windowless room. A room that Phyra had only left once in her life.

“Do you remember what I told you yesterday? About the lost Cities?” The smile had been frozen off her face.

Phyra nodded.

“Good. Because today, your mission starts.”

She gulped. “Why?”

Lady Gisela reached into her gown, and out of one of the many folds, retrieved a long, jagged blade, rimmed with the blue lining that Phyra had come to associate with two things: technology, and pain. “What did we say about asking questions?” she smiled sweetly.

“We never ask questions.” Phyra recited quickly, eyeing the sharp tool.

Lady Gisela did not speak, and several times Phyra thought that the woman was going to plunge the blade into one of her arms like she had done so many times before. But Gisela remained still.

“Do you remember what I told you about the mission?” Gisela’s voice bounced off of the cold, stone walls.

“Yes.”

She nodded and slipped the tool back into her drapes, but only enough so that the handle was still visible. A looming threat. “Find the Moonlark, learn the secrets of the Swan, and destroy her.”

Phyra began to tremble. She had heard of the Moonlark, who had killed so many members of the Neverseen, some, who had been kind to her. “But she is powerful. And her friends…”

Lady Gisela swooped down, and ran her soft but ice cold fingers down Phyra’s face. Phyra flinched when her fingers met a scar on her cheek. “Yes, my dear.” She answered. “But you are stronger than them all…”

Sophie’s POV

Foxfire buzzed with the arrival of the first day of school. Students complained or bragged about the positioning of their lockers, school friends were reunited, and class schedules were exchanged. In the midst of it, Sophie, Dex, and Marrella walked along the Level Five corridor, commenting on the flavor of their DNA coded lockers.

“Betcha’ its wisenweed.” Dex, a strawberry blonde boy with periwinkle blue eyes and large dimples informed the two girls. The red uniform clashed terribly with his hair.

“I don’t even know what that is.” Sophie, a slender blonde with unusual brown eyes said apprehensively.

“You don’t want to.” Dex answered. “My dad uses them in his digestive help elixirs.”

“Awesome.” Marrella wined as the group came up on her locker. “Well this is my stop. I’ve got The Universe this morning. See you on the other side of happy town!”  The pixie-ish girl flicked her sunny blonde hair and turned to her locker. Seconds later, Sophie could distinctly hear “Ewe!” squealed from the area that they had left Marrella and her locker.

Dex chuckled. “Wisenweed.”

The voice of Magnate Leto echoed into the halls. “Keefe Sencen, please come my office immediately.”

Sophie rolled her eyes. “What did he do this time?”

Dex smiled. “All I’m at liberty to say is that you can expect several orange monkeys with gas problems roaming the halls of Level Three.”

“Please tell me that you didn’t have anything to do with this?” Sophie moaned.

“Accompanied by Dexter Dizznee.” Magnate Leto added.

“Gas problems courtesy of yours truly.” Dex grumbled. “Well, see you later Sophie. I’d plug your nose if I were you!” With that, he turned on his heel and sprinted down the hall. Sophie sighed wearily and continued walking to her locker.

It was hard, being back at Foxfire. People laughing and complaining about how difficult their studies were, blissfully unaware of the horrors that existed, even within their perfect world. Sophie and her friends had faced those horrors and fought like adult elves with a thousand years of experience under their belt. And yet, she was expected to go to school and pretend that the flaws in her world didn’t exist. But they were out there.

Waiting for her.

Neverseen.

Sophie was never safe. Not really. But she still had to deal with the drama of school. It only made it worse that some of her other friends, Fitz and Biana, were remaining home through all of this. True, it was only because of the teasing that they would receive on account of their brother, Alvar, betraying his family.

Someone bumped hard into Sophie’s shoulder. “Sorry.” Sophie said, before realizing who it was.

Stina Hesks turned to face Sophie. “Oh,” she snarled, “It’s you.” As usual, Stina was flanked by her cronies. Sophie remembered when Marrella was one of those. Stina’s curly brown hair and tall stature helped her stand out as their leader.

“Guess what?” she said, glancing at her cronies as though an inside joke had just been shared. “There’s a new freak in town. She even has weirder eyes than you, Foster. Maybe you’ll be freak friends.” The cronies cackled.

“I’d rather be friends with a freak than with you.” The words slip casually off of Sophie’s lips, as she was used to being teased.

Dex’s POV

Dex was out of breath as he sprinted down the halls of Foxfire. Two more levels until he would reach the Magnate’s office. Most everyone were in their classes, so it came as a surprise to him when he collided with an elf as he checked his Disneyland watch for the time.

The two fell hard to the ground, Dex spilling the contents of his bag… including the leftover digestive implosion elixir that he had used to make the monkeys extra special.

“I am so sorry- in a hurry,” He explained franticly to the student clad in red, who was sprawled out before him. Dex quickly shoved all of his belongings in his bag and glanced up at the elf. He did a double take.

This girl had red eyes. Well, not completely red, there was orange and gold as well, giving the illusion of flame. She otherwise looked completely normal with scruffy black hair and pale, freckled skin. Except for a scar cut jaggedly across her cheekbone.

“You have…” he started, not realizing that the words were coming out of his mouth.

The girl stared blankly. Dex noticed that there was fierce, blazing aura that he swore he could feel. Like a radioactive blare that he assumed would come off of an atomic bomb.

“I have what?” she demanded, looking half insecure half mad.

“Never mind. Sorry. I- I really should be going.” He glanced at the mess of elixir. “Don’t touch that.” He added. After he had helped the girl up he mustered the courage to mention the eyes. It wasn’t his first time dealing with strange colored irises. His best friend, Sophie, had unique brown eyes that often earned her both ridicule and praise.

“Is that color change elixir? I didn’t know we had red.” He tried for a laugh. The girl brushed herself off and ignored the question.

“Where is…” she glanced at her schedule. “The universe?”

“Depends on who you have. Can I see?” the girl reluctantly handed him her schedule. Dex saw upon taking the paper that she was a level five, just like him, but he wondered if he had seen her before in the other levels or if she had started late. This whole situation was reminding him all too much of a moment like this three years ago. A moment which was followed closely by one of the most horrific times in his life.

He handed her back his schedule. “You’ve got Sir Sagian. Never heard of him, but the Universe is usually in the lower levels to the left. Nice and dark down there, ya know?”

The girl looked confused, which was a nice change from the intensity. “Dark… in the morning?”

Dex laughed. “At least you have your head on straight. I’m Dex, by the way. You are?” he extended his hand to shake but she was now preoccupied with her schedule.

“Sir Sagian…” she murmured. “Down to the left…” the strange girl began walking down the hall to the staircase.

“Nice to meet you!” Dex called after her.

“Dexter Dizznee please come to my office. Now.”  Magnate Leto’s voice droned over the halls, and Dex was ripped suddenly out of his confusion and into a haze of panic, wandering silently, as he sprinted down the halls once more, how many detentions he would receive for his tardiness.

Phyra’s POV

The problem with the instructions that the boy had given Phyra was that there were about a hundred doors on the left side of the lower levels. And they all looked the same. There were also no other students out to instruct her further. Which left the excruciating last resort of one by one opening the doors and looking inside. Phyra sighed and stuffed her schedule in her bag that Lady Gisela gad given her.

Tucked in a pocket at the very bottom was a melder, five jagged metal stars that she assumed were weapons, and a vial of goopy purple liquid that the woman had told her was to be a last resort and last resort only.

Phyra didn’t know why Gisela had given the weapons to her in the first place. Everyone had been so nice. Then Phyra remembered the speech that Gisela had given her time and time again.

The elves in the Lost Cities were ignorant, selfish and lazy. They made lower species work in exchange for nothing. That was why everything was so green. They were intent on peace, but that also meant that they were too cowardly to take chances and innovate. So that was why they hid in their protected cities, never making contact with the outside world, even though they had every means to help the humans. Every means to make the world a better place. The Neverseen and the Black Swan wanted the same things. The only difference was that the Neverseen were willing to play dirty to achieve success. And the Black Swan were dragging them down. Therefore, they must be eliminated.

''“That’s why the Neverseen exist, Phyra. Why you exist.”'' Lady Gisela had told her.

She was one of the sixteen. One of the Lodestar. Still something didn’t seem right about the Neverseen. They were sly and deceitful in the worst possible ways, and Lady Gisela was never reluctant to use the knife to better ‘encourage’ Phyra.

“How has your first day been?” Phyra whipped around franticly as she could feel her ability flaring up inside her. A tall, handsome elf with dark hair, fair skin and dangerous teal eyes leaned against the wall casually. Alvar.

“Why are you here? You’re supposed to be hiding.” She reminded him, feeling indignant that he would dare intervene on her own private mission.

“Calm down.” He yawned. “Lady Gisela sent me to check on you. God, I haven’t been here in forever. Do you like the uniforms?” he asked.

In truth, Phyra had a problem with the short capes that they were supposed to wear. They got in the way of everything. “Everyone’s… nice.” She answered “I met a boy. He was asking about my eyes…. what do I say?”

Alvar shrugged. “Have you found the Moonlark?”

“No. No brown eyes yet.” She looked down, embarrassed.

Alvar clapped her on the back. “You’ll find her soon. If all else fails, she’ll be at PE. Everyone’s at PE.” He paused, and his gusto seemed to melt off of him as his tone lowered. “By the way… I was wondering if you could do me a favor. Just a little one.”

Phyra’s eyes narrowed. “Does Lady Gisela know?”

“Ah- well… yes. About that. This is our little secret, okay? Gisela doesn’t need to know, it would just worry her and I know that we both don’t want that. So will you help me out… friend?” he tried for a smile.

Phyra rolled her eyes. “What’s the favor?”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” he breathed. “Okay, I need you to check in on my siblings. Their names are Fitz and Biana. Remember that. They look like me, but younger. I just need to know if they’re okay….” He trailed off and Phyra realized with a start that Alvar actually cared about this. He truthfully cared about his family.

She nodded. “Okay.”  She remembered her predicament. “Can you tell me where The Universe is?” she added.

Alvar looked confused for a moment. “Oh, right. I sedated your mentor for the day, so you won’t have to worry about that class, but the door is the second to the last down there.” He pointed down the hall. “Anyway, enjoy your free time. There are usually a few ditchers on the first day. Why don’t you try to make some friends?”

Phyra looked down, remembering what Lady Gisela had told her. “Gisela said no ‘friends’. They’re distractions.” She recited solemnly.

“Oh.” He frowned, and then perked up. “Well, who needs friends anyways, right? But I won’t squeal if you do get social.”  He assured her.

“Speaking of social intricacies,” he said, looking alert, “someone’s coming, so I’d better disappear. I’ll be checking in frequently, bye!” he vanished, sending a wave of shock through her and nearly spiking her ability.

Footsteps echoed down the hall and Phyra didn’t know whether to run or to come up with an excuse for her tardiness. She supposed that she could just tell the truth and explain that she was lost. An elf came around the corner and Phyra braced herself for a strict adult, demanding what she was doing out of class. She was surprised.

A petite girl with sunny blonde hair, laced with small braids and large blue eyes pitter pattered down the hallway looking annoyed. “Stupid monkey farts…. to go to the healing center…. Get the smell out… when I get ahold of Keefe… ” she muttered angrily to herself.

Phyra turned to hide her face, hoping that the girl would be too preoccupied with her rantings to notice the girl with the strange eyes and the strange scar. Her hopes were faulty.

“Hey!” the girl’s voice reached Phyra’s ears. “Are you ditching?” she accused.

Phyra didn’t move. She had no idea what to say to the girl, so she just pretended shat she wasn’t there, standing stock still and barely daring to breathe.

“Um, hello?” the girl was coming closer. “Are you okay?”

Turning slowly to face the student, Phyra braced herself. “Hello…?” she tried.

“Hi.” The petite elf looked apprehensively at Phyra, glancing her up and down until she reached her eyes. “Woah.”

Phyra pretended to ignore the girl. “Cool eyes.” she marveled. “They look like fire!”

“Yes.” Phyra agreed stiffly.

“Are you new here, or something? Because I know I would recognize those eyes. Plus, I would probably know all sorts of juicy gossip about you.” She paused. “Jeez, that came out scary. Sorry. I’m Marrella and I talk a lot.”  She silenced herself and Phyra realized that Marrella was waiting for her to give her name.

“Oh, I – Phyra.” She answered.

Marrella smiled. “So do ya wanna ditch?”

Sophie’s POV

Sophie’s first class had been a painful reminder that no matter how many secret organizations they joined, no matter how many Neverseen they eliminated, no matter how they were treated with special respect by the council, school was hard. And there was nothing like Multispecial Studies to awaken her to that reality. Lunch had been calm, although she hadn’t seen Marrella, who was probably sitting with some new friend.

Nothing eventful had happened except for the warning by Magnate Leto informing the school that ‘Certain students (who shall remain unnamed) had thought it would be funny to release twelve monkeys with digestive problems in to the level three corridor, and that the situation was being taken care of, but caution was still highly recommended’ this announcement was followed by an outbreak of laughing from Keefe and Dex at her table.

But now it was time for PE, and since it was the first day of school, this would consist of the Great Splotching Tournament, something that she actually prided herself on. The first time Sophie had played, she had caused her friend Fitz to crash into a wall (long story) and it had quickly become known that a twelve- year- old was just as powerful as the running champion, but was also more disastrous than any of the students at the school. The subject had been touchy for Sophie for a while, but she soon grew to laugh at the incident and actually enjoyed the game when it did come (she was the running champion now).

As she made her way to the PE gym, Sophie was accompanied by Dex and Lihn who was a level six. Normally, Lihn was never apart from her twin brother, Tam. But he had been taken by the Neverseen, and that was something that Sophie and her friends were trying desperately to fix. Although the girl was always cheery and peaceful, there was definitely a glumness that hid behind her smile and had lived in her silvery blue eyes ever since Tam had been taken. But Sophie had to admire her for her resoluteness. She was a strong elf.

“So are you ready to win again?” Dex asked her as they lined up in their splotching areas, preparing to compete using their telekinesis. Dex wasn’t too bad himself.

“You never know.” Sophie shrugged. If she was honest with herself, she liked winning the Splotching Tournament. It was at least something that she still had control over in her life and if was good for morale.

The coach entered the gym and shouted for attention. He stated his name and began to explain the rules of the game, mainly to the level ones, who were new, but also to remind students with certain abilities such as Gusters of the restrictions and reminding them not to cheat. Gusters could manipulate the air, and in a game that involved telekinesis, that ability could sneakily be used as an easy win.

The rules to the game were simple. You had to push the splotcher, (basically a water balloon with paint inside instead of water) using your mind, onto your opponent like a mental arm wrestle, each opponent trying to pop the splotcher on the other and cover them with the colorful paint inside.

The coach finished his explanation and began to pair up the students. Sophie was put against a level six boy with toffee colored skin and navy blue eyes. He looked determined, but slightly nervous. He was facing the running champion, after all.

Sophie turned to face her friends. “Has anyone seen Marrella or Keefe?” she asked the two.

“Isn’t Keefe in detention?” Lihn asked Dex.

Dex’s eyes widened. “OH, shoot.” He breathed. “I completely forgot. Fork- I mean, Magnate Leto gave Keefe and me double detention!” he scrambled to collect his bag and fasten it over his shoulder.

“Now?!” Sophie asked.

But Dex was already pushing past the door to the gym.

“It’s too bad that he had to miss the Splotching Tournament…” Lihn commented as she reached down to tie her shoe. She had been positioned next to Sophie and was facing none other than Stina Hesks.

“Well they deserved it.” Sophie thought aloud. “But I’m not surprised that the first thing they do on the first day back was prank the school.” she murmured.

She was disappointed that Keefe was unable to compete. He was a real threat to her telekinesis throne. She remembered the days when he would come and entertain her using his spectacular skill with the subject. He had taught her a lot more about the skill than the PE coaches ever could. She was curious. Could her genetically enhanced mind hold its own against the training that the Neverseen had provided Keefe?

The game started, but Sophie, lost in thought, didn’t hear the coach blow the whistle, and so when a purple splotcher came flying at her, she was surprised that she managed to deflect it. When the boy was splattered with purple, she waited for her next opponent. Most of the other students were still engaged in the mental tug of war.

The first round ended, and a group of fluorescent, paint covered losers shuffled to the sidelines. One kid was eliminated for using his ability as a Pisnopath to create a shield around him, blocking the splotcher from making contact. Lihn had held strong beside Sophie, sending Stina packing and covered in bright orange paint.

Over in the corner, Sophie spotted Marrella, now covered in deep blue paint, chatting happily with another girl who had her back turned to Sophie so that all she could see was the girls somewhat ratty black hair. Marrella looked a mix of shocked and appraising as she animated the conversation. Sophie attempted to wave at her friend, but Marrella’s attention was preoccupied.

The coach finally reached Sophie, and brought with him a pretty girl with red hair and an abundance of freckles that managed to look cute paired with her shimmery grey blue eyes.

“Sophie, this is your new opponent. Good luck to both of you.” With that he walked off, probably to pair up more students. Lihn was paired with a short kid who had his hair slicked back with way to much gel.

The whistle blew.

Sophie could tell immediately that this girl had a strong mind. The splotcher was propelled towards Sophie with force, and she almost considered going easy on her. In the end, Sophie realized that most everyone was done with the round, and so she quickly ended the struggle and had the girl sent away in a bright pink. Unfortunately, Lihn was disqualified when her splotcher splattered her with a bright yellow.

Lihn wished Sophie good luck before joining the redhead in the sidelines. Lihn’s opponent stepped across from Sophie and the coach explained that she was to face him next.

“Just don’t blow me into a wall.”  The boy laughed. Something about him seemed familiar.

“Jensi?” Sophie asked.

“Yup!” he seemed proud. “You like the hair?”  He slicked back his hair, which looked more like a brown section on his head from the way it lay so flat.

Sophie suppressed a laugh. “Um, yeah.”

“No more obnoxious, annoying little kid.” He explained proudly. “I’m all grown up now!” as much as the idea of not being followed by a constant blabbermouth appealed to her, something in Sophie’s heart twanged. Jensi was so innocent, and happy when he was his own person. Kind, thoughtful and cheery, no matter how infuriating he could be at the same time. Now, for some reason, he thought that he had to change.

“I can see that.” Sophie said a little sadly.

The whistle blew, and Sophie could tell that Jensi was trying hard to win. Sophie easily propelled the splotcher at him the boy was drenched in green paint. She felt sorry for him and he trudged off to where the other losers went.

Sophie didn’t know why she had done it. Maybe it was to wake him up, to put him back in his place. Maybe it was because she was angry at him. All Sophie knew for sure was that the look that he shot her as he sat down on the bleachers, humiliated and angry, was one of a completely different boy.

Only about 60 students remained, most of them level fives and sixes, although there were exceptions, such as Dex’s little brother Lex, in his green level four uniform. Another round passed, and Sophie sent a blonde level six to the sidelines covered in baby blue liquid.

Sophie dominated for the next two rounds, experiencing only a little trouble with a level three who turned out to be a Guster using his ability to defeat more talented students. She sorted him out quickly and moved to the next challenger. Only ten elves remained, and by now, the students on the sidelines were cheering for their friends, and rooting for their preferred victors.

There was a sizable amount of elves cheering for Sophie. Another round passed along with the level six that Sophie sent packing in orange. Four students remained, all level six except for Sophie and one other girl. When the whistle blew, Sophie struggled with a boy who kept moving the splotcher out of reach and feinting her so that she could hardly get ahold of it in the first place. Eventually, she managed to snatch the splotcher while the boy was distracted by her phony display of frustration. He was spattered in red just as the girl next to Sophie was covered in purple.

As usual, Sophie was one of the last two standing, about all of the crowd cheering her name. Sophie turned to face her last opponent. The girl was a level Five just like her, but she must have been new, because Sophie had never seen her before. She was slim and pale, her black hair a tangled mess. An ugly scar ran down the girl’s cheekbone and Sophie wondered how she could have possibly received such a wound, what with the revolutionary elvish medicine. And then Sophie reached her eyes.

They weren’t blue, but the color and pattern of flame.

The girl was staring at Sophie with probably the same expression that Sophie wore as she marveled at the other girl’s eyes.

And then the strange elf with the eyes like fire uttered one word, a word the she shouldn’t have known, a word that shook Sophie to her core.

“Moonlark.” The girl whispered.

The whistle blew and Sophie barely managed to remember that she was competing. She took hold of the splotcher with her mind and with all her power shot the splotcher at the other girl. The paint filled ball shot with the speed and force of a bulled at the girl and Sophie gaped when the other girl caught the splotcher a mere hair’s width from her nose. With her eyes closed.

The ball quivered in midair for a full ten seconds, and no matter what Sophie did to move it, the splotcher stayed put. Sophie realized that she might actually lose.

The girl’s eyes snapped open and Sophie sensed movement all around them. She dared to take her eyes off of the splotcher for a mere second, and could see that all the left-over splotchers had risen out of their bins and were being telekinetically lifted through the air. There was no way that Sophie could block all of them at once. They began to float to the sides of the flame-eyed girl, so that the scenery behind her looked like a wall of polka dots.

A few of them attacked, and Sophie just barely managed to deflect them. Sweat dripped down her cheek…

And then, in one, glorious movement, the girl pushed her hands out as though she was shoving something, and then hundreds of splotchers zipped through the air, and mercilessly attacked her.

This time, Sophie was not able to protect herself.

The pressure of the splotchers pushed her to the ground and she could feel the floor giving out and creating a crater beneath her as she choked on paint….

The crowd went silent.

Dex’s POV (5 minutes earlier)

Dex and Keefe sat at desks adjacent to each other, bored and distracted. As it was the first day of school, nobody else was in detention, so they had the room all to themselves due to the fact that Lady Cadence, who was supposed to be instructing them through their detention, was watching the Great Splotching Tournament.

Normally, this time would have been used as an opportunity to plan and possibly carry out miles of pranks and hoaxes. Except that both boys were exhausted. The most they were able to accomplish was writing in very bright paint over lady Cadence’s chair “Booger Queen”, and glue the other desks to the ceiling. Ro was asleep on the floor, having headache from an overindulgence of fizzle berry wine.

The reason that they were so tired was a bit of a sore subject for Dex especially. Lately, the Black Swan had been pushy about him working on his gadgets with that Tinker lady. About a month ago, Granite in particular had made a list of gadgets that he would like made, and most of them were weapons. Dex had gotten angry. He didn’t know why, exactly. But it seemed more and more like the Black Swan and his friends were just using him for his ability. A list of gadget requests? Did they think he was some gadget making machine?

Then the shouting match between Granite and himself, while Tinker watched quietly from the back ground. The argument ended when Granite pulled the big one.

“Fine,” he had said, “Do it your way. But we have a war to fight here, and you aren’t helping when you try to make yourself the center of attention. Remember the restrictive circlet?”

As if he could forget. Dex hadn’t tinkered or built anything for about a week after the argument. He had cleared out his lab completely, destroying the half-finished creations that felt would never be complete, and breaking the ones that he had finished, realizing that they would never be enough.

For hours, he had sat in his chair, and stared at the blank slate of wood that was his desk, images of the pure pain on Sophie’s face from the circlet that he had made floating through his head. And then, two days ago, it came to him.

Counteract.

He had to counteract the Neverseen.

For that, he needed to know what was in their arsenal. He needed inside information, and for that he needed Keefe. So Dex had hailed Keefe immediately. Dex could tell that Keefe was reluctant to revisit his time with the Neverseen, but Dex knew that he wanted badly to do something- anything to help beat them. But he had two conditions. The first was that Sophie could not know about their plan. It would worry her. The second was that Dex had to help him pull a ‘Welcome back to school’ prank.

Dex readily agreed to the second condition. The first had him in a tight position. Dex half way understood Keefe’s motivation. Sophie, although his best friend, and an amazing person, was a worrier. She constantly obsessed over little things that shouldn’t have been a problem, and she absolutely stressed about the big things, making even Dex’s overprotective mother worry for her sanity. But there was a problem. If Sophie couldn’t know, then that left only Fitz to help them with the project. He was a telepath, a necessity when it came to activities like this. He would NOT be happy with keeping a secret from Sophie, his cognate.

Sure, Dex could ask the Black Swan to lend them a telepath, but he wasn’t on good terms with them right now. He wanted to prove that he didn’t need their help to do great things. And then it came to him: Alden.

It took a day of convincing, but Alden arrived with Keefe and Ro at Dex’s house yesterday morning, and in a windowless room in the center of the house, locked and sound proofed, Alden entered Keefe’s mind, and recited every detail of everything he saw….

Dex recorded everything he said, asking questions every now and then, urging him to elaborate. Ro watched, making irrelevant comments here and there as she slowly drank her way through the Dizznee wine cellar. The process had gone on for hours, until Dex’s mom had interrupted to announce that it was three in the morning, and that they should all be going to bed. Dex was reluctant.

Alden promised to continue with the process on the weekends, and Keefe agreed. He also agreed to stay the night, seeing as Ro was in no condition to light leap back to Candleshade.

Despite Dex’s mom’s constant warnings, Keefe and he didn’t actually go to sleep until five in the morning. They barely managed to get the monkeys together on time. On top of everything, Dex had to pretend to be wide awake as not to invoke suspicion from anyone, something that took most of his concentration, so that he would barely have been able to compete in the Great Splotching Tournament even if he wanted to.

So Keefe, Dex and Ro competed instead in the Great Snoozing Competition.

That was, until the enormous boom that unglued all the desks from the ceiling and jolted all three of them awake.

“You can’t prove anything!” Keefe shouted as he came out of a dream, his eyes wide. “Where’s the T-rex?” he asked, confused.

Ro clutched at her head in pain, but looked alert. “That wasn’t a T rex.” She jumped to her feet just as dust began to fall from the ceiling. “We need to get out of here now!”

The ogre Princess slung Keefe and Dex over her arms like a fireman and bolted out of the room as the ceiling began to crumble. She continued to run, up a set of stairs and into the main level, where both the cafeteria and the Gym were located. She dropped Dex and Keefe in the middle of the hallway and unsheathed two ogre blades.

“That boom could have been caused by the enemy.” Ro explained, “I’m going to see what it was and possibly decapitate some Neverseen. I’d tell you to stay here but where’s the fun in that?” She sprinted into the Gym, where the sound of students freaking out could be heard.

Dex and Keefe gave each other a quick look of agreement and then ran in after her.

Phyra’s POV (2 minutes earlier)

Phyra had found the Moonlark.

Brown eyes.

Only the Moonlark had brown eyes.

Phyra stared into the crater that she had created with her telekinesis. The hole was as deep as six elves standing on top of each other, and as wide as eight. The inside was covered in every inch with paint. A rainbow of destruction. At the very bottom, lie the Moonlark, splattered with the same colors. Something that looked like red paint spilled out onto the floor as she lay.

The crowd of students began to murmur, a few of them screaming in fear. They looked at her in a way that she had never been looked at before, their eyes wide, and their faces pale and sweaty as their breathing sharpened… like prey, when in the hands of the predator.

The mentors suddenly came out of their shells of shock, and rushed down to the scene, a few of them floating down to the Moonlark and using their telekinesis to levitate her out of the pit. Others tried their best to cam the steadily rising panic that flowed through the crowd of onlookers. One elf, a tall man with black hair, walked slowly and sternly towards Phyra.

Then, just as the man was about to speak to her, the huge double doors to the gym burst open, and a tall woman with green skin and pink dipped pigtails ran into the room, roaring and exposing large fangs. She held two serrated knives, and in a belt on her waist were at least ten more.

The woman roared again, this time in the direction of Phyra.

Phyra couldn’t stop it. The woman had startled her, and in her fear, the ability ignited.

It started with the burning feeling in her chest, the one that Lady Gisela had told her to bottle up inside, and save for later. The feeling shot through Phyra’s body and out through her skin. Everything around her glowed with the colors of flame, red, gold and orange, so that Phyra couldn’t see anything.

But this wasn’t flame.

Sophie’s POV

Sophie woke up in the healing center, but she wasn’t alone. Dex was trying not to fall asleep in a waiting chair. Marrella was twisting one of her braids absentmindedly. Keefe was pacing the floor and biting his nails at the same time. Grady squeezed Edaline’s hand as she fought off tears. Lihn sat by Sophie’s bed, creating pictures with water that she had called out of the air.

“Sophie!” Lihn gasped and she saw her eyelids flutter open. Everyone crowded to her bed, as Elwin entered the room with a tray of vials.

“Ah, she’s up!” He announced. “Thought we’d lost you there for a second. Even Bullhorn was panicking.” The healer explained. He set the tray down on a table beside her bed and began using his flashing ability to check her health.

Snap.

Green light swelled around her.

Snap.

Orange.

Snap.

Purple.

“Everything seems fine.” Elwin sighed in relief.

“Oh, thank God!” Edaline exclaimed. This was the part where Keefe was supposed to make a joke about how she needed to try harder if she was going to make the record for most hospital visits. But instead, he joined in Elwin’s relief and sat down for what seemed to be the first time in hours.

“I don’t understand what that girl was thinking!” Grady ranted, throwing his hands up in the air. “When I get ahold of that little brat…” he mumbled something under his breath.

“I’ve already got ahold of her.” Magnate Leto announced as he entered the healing center. “But for your sake, Mr. Ruwen, I wouldn’t finish that sentence. What she did to Sophie could easily be done again.”

“You.” Keefe growled as he rose from his chair. “How could you let something like that into the school?” he thundered.

Grady seemed to be thinking along the same lines. “That girl had no self-control. It wasn’t even an accident!” he fumed.

Sophie burrowed under her blankets. This whole situation was touchingly similar to the first time Sophie had competed. Except this time she was the powerless one. Sophie could feel herself shaking as she remembered the experience. No matter what she tried, she was helpless against the powers of that girl. And as the splotchers thundered down upon her, colors spilling into her eyes as she was driven down into the floor, Sophie realized that she was no longer the most powerful elf in history. She never had been.

Magnate Leto spoke. “I have never seen this girl in my life. She has certainly never been inside of Foxfire until today, and I know that she was not sent here by her parents, if she has any.”

“So what was she doing in the school?” Grady demanded.

Magnate Leto was silent for some time. “I believe.” Sophie made note that he spoke very carefully. “That she is a member of the Neverseen.”

“WHAT?!” the room shouted as one.

Magnate Leto ignored them. He turned to Sophie, who had been in the process of plucking out her eyelashes. “Did this girl say anything to you before…” he trailed off.

Sophie sat up, preparing to reply. But then her head exploded.

Well, not literally, but it felt like it.

“Woah, there.” Elwin rushed to her side wish about five vials in his arms. “Drink this- just a pain killer.” He added at the sight of her expression. She should have known by now that he wouldn’t have given her a sedative unless she had asked for one. But by now it was a reflex.

Sophie took the vial and gulped it down quickly. The throbbing pain in her head began to ease.

“Thanks.” She croaked.

Magnate Leto brushed past Keefe and Grady to reach Sophie’s bed. “I need to know if she talked to you.” He said calmly. “Any of you.” He added, glancing at Keefe, Marrella, Lihn and Dex.

A cold chill ran up Sophie’s spine. “Only one word.” She said quietly.

“What?” he said.

“She looked at me, right before the whistle went off, and said ‘Moonlark’.”

The same chill that had made a home in Sophie’s gut seemed to spread through the room. “She wasn’t supposed to know that…” Dex mumbled to himself.

Keefe laughed for the first time in the day. But it was harsh and fake. “Yeah.” He said. “Nobody is.” Sophie studied Keefe. He was acting strange. His hair was a mess, but not in a tasteful way. It was oily and uncombed. Dark shadows lined his eyes, and he looked like he had lost weight- not in a good way. He looked stressed about something, and Sophie had a hunch that it wasn’t because of this alone.

Magnate Leto sunk his face into his palm, and uttered some unholy words under his breath. He turned to the others. “Does anyone else have anything that they’d like to share?”

Grady spoke. “I was about to ask you the same thing.”

Dex’s POV

From someone else’s opinion, Dex would have seemed to be staring absentmindedly at Bullhorn, who was napping quietly in the corner of the room. But Dex was thinking. If this girl was really from the Neverseen, and he had interacted with her… did that mean that they were watching them, even within the school? What had happened to Sophie was horrific enough, but after the girl had exploded, causing Ro to have to go back to the Ogre capital for medical help from the damage she received, Dex was certain that Even Sophie couldn’t be that powerful. So how could his weapons be enough?

“I ran into her earlier.” Dex said quietly, only vaguely aware that he was interrupting an argument between Keefe, Grady, and Magnate Leto.

The quarreling screeched to a halt. “What? You saw her? What was she dong?” Magnate Leto rushed to his side.

“She… bumped into me on the way to your office this morning. She seemed like an okay kid. I mean, her eyes were weird.” He glanced over at Sophie without realizing that he had done it. “Not unique, or just different. They were…. They were red.” He stammered. “And… she had this scar. On her cheek.”

“Was she doing anything suspicious?” Grady asked.

Dex took a moment to think. “No… well yes, actually. She was out of class. It was fifteen minutes into first session when I saw her. To be fair, she looked lost. She asked me where her class was. I told her. She wandered off without even giving her name.” he explained.

Magnate Leto’s eye widened. “Her class… what class was she going to?”

“Uh…. The universe, actually. She had it with some guy named Sir…”

“Sir Sagian.” Leto answered. “He was found unconscious in his classroom this morning when someone came looking, wandering if he was going to the Great Splotching Tournament.”

Keefe scoffed. “If the Neverseen are really trying to infiltrate Foxfire, they’re doing a shoddy job. It’s been one day, and their little mole already literally exploded in their faces. Obvious much?”

Marrella spoke for the first time in the conversation. “What was that anyway? Was… she a Pyrokinetic? Because I know I can’t do what she did.”

Dex looked to Magnate Leto for the answer, but he seemed just as baffled as he was. It was Grady who finally answered.

“She’s an Eruptopath.” He said quietly.

“A what?” Sophie asked, sitting up more attentively.

“I’ve never heard of it.” Magnate Leto said. “And that’s saying something.”

Grady began pacing. “An Eruptopath,” he began. “Is the most powerful, dangerous, and deadly ability that an elf can possess. Imagine a combination of the most dangerous parts of a Pyrokinetic, a Pisnopath, and an inflictor. Now imagine that ability being constantly enhanced, every time it is used.

“The problem is, for the longest time, elves were unable to define the power itself. About two thousand years ago, some talentless scientists were experimenting, and they figured it out. An Eruptopath calls its power from radiation. Humans use the power to make bombs that they shoot into other countries when they get mad at each other. It’s silly, when you think about it, but the bombs kill millions of people, from miles away. The ones that survive the explosion are permanently damaged. And that’s just with a little bit of power. An Eruptopath is like that, except that instead of using material to explode, they use their own reservoir of mental power, making the explosions a hundred times more powerful, and turning what would usually be a mushroom cloud into pure light, radiation, and sometimes electricity.

“That’s why it takes so long for them to recharge. They have to let their reservoir refill. Each time the ability is used, it grows stronger. But the problem is that the ability is like a disease. Eventually, the power will grow too strong for even the elf in general to contain. So at the age that most humans die, the elf will… explode from the power. There are theories that the first Pyrokinetics were actually just a deformation of an Eruptopath. That’s partially why the council had banned Pyrokinetics. They’re afraid that an Eruptopath might pretend to be a Pyrokinetic so that they could still be accepted into society.”

Grady sat down. “I pity her. I understand now that she had no control over what she was doing. That child is destined for a worse fate than even the Neverseen deserve.”

The room was silent. Dex found himself breathing hard. All this time he had been complaining about how his ability was too mellow. He had had no idea that someone else would have gladly traded the most powerful ability in the world, even if it meant being talentless.

But there was also a sense of fear. Grady’s words rolled over in his head. ‘The bombs kill millions of people… the ability is like a disease… the most powerful, dangerous, and deadly ability that an elf can possess…’ that girl was a walking time bomb. Pure destruction. Something too powerful for this world to contain.

Marrella spoke. “And you knew all of this… how?”

Grady looked down. “When I manifested as a Mesmer, I did some research on powerful abilities. Years later, when I became an Emissary, a friend hooked me up with some top secret information that the council had been keeping from the public. One of them was a book by Martellina Asperva. It covered top seven most powerful abilities to ever exist, and listed them from the most dangerous to the least. The top one was an Eruptopath. Then a Mesmer,” he gestured to himself, “Then a shade, then a Pyrokinetic, a Pisnopath, an inflictor, and then, surprisingly, an Empath. The author seemed a little overconfident about the Empath’s abilities- no offense.” He told Keefe.

“If what you say is true, than the Neverseen could have most definitely have sent her here to do damage rather than to spy.” Magnate Leto pondered aloud.

“There’s only one way to find out.” Sophie announced from her bed. “I’m going to enter her mind.”