Chapter 2
The first thing Ben noticed when she came around was a strange humming and vibrating. She opened her eyes and looked around. She was in a closed metal room unlike any she had been in before. As she sat up it all returned to her. Her people were dead. Her entire planet was dead. She looked down at herself. She was still naked except for a thin blanket someone had given her.
There was a sound from outside the door and suddenly it whisked open. Ben threw the blanket around her as a man and woman entered her room. The way they carried themselves with straight backs and determined faces and the fact that they were wearing matching outfits told her that they were soldiers of some sort.
Ben could tell by the silly grin on the man’s face he had seen her before she was given the blanket. She pulled the blanket tighter around her body as she felt her cheeks grow hot. The man chuckled slightly and his partner glared at him. “Hi there.” The woman said, reaching a hand out toward her.
Ben just stared at her hand. When the man moved closer she flinched away. She didn’t know what his intentions were but she didn’t really want to find out. The woman frowned and turned to her partner. “Why don’ you go report to th’ Commander that she’s awake?” She said.
Her partner looked from her to Ben. He nodded and left the room, the grin wiped off his face. The woman turned back to Ben. “Sorry ‘bout him.” She said. “He’s a pig sometimes but he’s still a good soldier. I’m Liyanne.” Ben just looked at her. Liyanne turned to a bundle she had brought in with her. “I brought ya some clothes. They may be big but they should do.”
Ben was still unsure what to think but she didn’t really want to sit naked in this cold room. She gave a small smile of thanks and took the bundle from the older woman. Liyanne grinned. “I’ll just go get you some food shall I?”
As soon as she left, Ben scrambled into the clothes. The shirt was a bit big and hung down to her mid-thighs but when cinched at the waist with a belt it didn’t look too bad. The pants were supposed to be tights and though they were a bit loose they also didn’t look bad. Fortunately the boots actually fit. Once she was dressed she felt considerably better.
She still had no clue where she was so she got up and walked around the room. It was pretty bare though there was a wash-unit off to one side. She went to the door but she couldn’t figure out how to open it. There was no knob or access panel in sight. Curious she tried pushing on it. There was a whirring noise and the door slid open to reveal Liyanne, bearing a tray of food.
“Well ya look like yer feelin’ better.” She said with a kind smile. “I’m tellin’ ya, you gave us a fright the past two days. We were beginnin’ ta wonder if you would ever wake up.”
Ben started in surprise. “Two days?” she asked.
“It speaks!” Liyanne said with a grin. “I was beginnin’ ta think you were mute. Yes. We picked ya up on that barren world two days ago. We’re on our way to the Hub on Nexius Cetirna. Once there we will help ya find someplace to live.”
“I already have a home.” Ben said. “On Heran.”
“Not anymore.” Liyanne said gently. “Or don’ you remember? Heran has changed. It can no longer support insect life let alone a human such as yerself. Please, don’ dwell on it. Eat something. We’ll figure the rest out later.”
Ben looked down at the food Liyanne had brought and her stomach heaved in protest. She couldn’t bear to eat right now. “Ain’t ya hungry?” Liyanne asked.
Ben shook her head, fighting back tears. “Hey, don’ cry.” Liyanne tried to wrap her arms around her shoulder but Ben pulled away. She didn’t know if there was any power left in her but she want to hurt anyone else. “It’s gonna be alright.” Liyanne said softly. “Do ya have any family anywhere else you can stay with?”
Ben shook her head slowly and then broke down. She collapsed into a ball and sobbed into her knees. Finally, she pulled her emotions in check and stood up. Liyanne looked her in the eye. “Don’ worry about it. We’ll think of something. What’s yer name?”
“Benedicta.” Ben replied.
Just then there came a knock and the door opened to reveal the first soldier, back from his errand. “The Commander wants ta see her.” He said. “She’s perked his curiosity.”
Ben didn’t like the sound of that. Liyanne smiled reassuringly. “Come on. Let’s go meet the Commander.”
Commander Tule paced the command centre, lost in thought. Tule was not a small man and by now everyone under his command knew to stay out of his way and on his good side… and they never called him by his birth name more than once. He had once beat up four boys in the Space Academy that were all at least a foot taller than him for doing just that. “Tulip!” they had taunted. “Beautiful Tulip! Better be careful fellas, a soft breeze might knock him over.”
He had shown them who was going to get knocked over, and it wasn’t him. His commanding officer at the time had started calling him Tule and it stuck. Tule was no longer a boy, but he was still a force to be reckoned with. In his late forties he was six feet of solid muscle. His black hair was cut short in an old military style and matched his black eyes.
In his twenty-five years in space he had earned a reputation for taking on the most dangerous mission and getting all his people out in one piece, even if the ship he flew was reduced to a pile of rubble. When he had been given this assignment he had grumbled to no end. A waste of his talents! That’s what it was!
Now however, he was glad the General had insisted on it. When they had reached the planet to find it turned into a desert wasteland he had become curious. What could destroy an entire planet? There had been no one left! No one, that is, except one teenage girl. How did she survive? Was she somehow responsible?
The thing that puzzled him most was that she didn’t look like any of the inhabitants of the planet. Each clan had a specific look and she didn’t fit any of them. He puzzled over this until Liyanne’s voice brought him back to reality. “Sir? I brought the girl, Benedicta from Heran. Ya wanted to see her?”
He looked up and studied the girl. Although she could be a human from any old planet she could also be a Mutt from Heran. Her build was similar to that of the Water clan, tall and slender with broad shoulders. However, her skin was the pale skin of the Air clan. Her green eyes could be from the Earth people though her hair was definitely the orange-red of the Fire clan. Though how she could have all four clans was a mystery to him. Such a thing should be impossible.
He moved closer, pausing when she took an involuntary step back. He looked closer at her. She was trembling and looked sick. Something had scared her real bad and coming face to face with a giant of a man like Tule wasn’t helping. “Benadicta.” He said. “Is there a last name to go with that?”
“No sir.” She replied. Her voice had the musical lilt of a Heranian.
“No?” he asked. “No clan name?”
“No sir.” She said. She hesitated before she went on. “I never had a clan.”
He peered closer at her. She seemed nervous, as if she didn’t want to talk about her past. “How is that possible? You should be three or four years into your clan.”
She shrugged, visibly uncomfortable. She looked at the other soldiers in the command centre and wouldn’t say anything. “Let’s go to my quarters.” Tule said.
He turned on his heel and left, trusting that Liyanne would make the girl follow him. She seemed to have developed a certain element of trust in Liyanne. He smiled as he thought how he might use it to his advantage. When they reached his quarters he led them to his sitting room. Then he turned to the two soldiers. “Liyanne, you may stay. Tomhas, get out.”
He almost missed the look of relief on the girl’s face. She was pretty good at masking her emotions. He turned back to the two women and motioned them to sit. Once they were all comfortable he leaned forward. “Now, why don’t you have a clan?” he asked.
Benedicta shrugged again. “I didn’t fit in…” her eyes went glassy as she became lost in thought. When she spoke again her voice was barely above a whisper. “I should have been a Deficient. I should have gone insane.”
That hit him. “You should have gone insane? Then that means your parents–?”
“I don’t know.” She said. “No one seemed to know who they were. Though I overheard the Mother say that she thought they were both Deficients. It was the only explanation.”
“Only explanation for… your mental state?”
“Among other things.”
Tule could tell she was deliberately dodging the question but he didn’t want to push her. Instead he turned to the matter at hand. “What happened down there?”
Ben shook her head. “It was the largest battle I had ever seen. The idiots were using both Death magic and Focal Points to amplify their powers. When those powers met…” She trailed off as if afraid of saying something aloud.
“But even with the death magic their power shouldn’t have been that strong. It would have caused massive deaths, true, but not the decimation of an entire planet.” Tule thought aloud.
Apparently that was the wrong thing to say. The girls head shot up, her fear giving way to her anger. “You knew?” she asked incredulously. “You knew they were using death magic and you let them do it?”
“We knew.” Tule admitted. “But your people are always fighting. This wasn’t a new situation really. The Empire doesn’t interfere with the workings of the smaller planets unless it has too.”
The girl’s eyes narrowed dangerously. She obviously didn’t believe him. She sat back on the couch and stubbornly folded her arms. Tule knew that it was the end of her cooperation. He opened his mouth to say something but Liyanne stood up. “Sir? Can I speak with you for a moment?” she asked.
Tule closed his mouth and nodded. He stood and the two of them went out to the corridor and closed the door. “Sir, she ain’t gonna say nothin’ else today.” Liyanne said gently. “She’s frightened and she’s confused. Sir, I don’t want to send her back to the cell area. Some o’ the troops tend to get a little stir crazy when they’ve been on the ship to long. I would hate for something to happen to her.”
Tule almost smiled as his mind jumped to where she was heading. Having Liyanne watch out for the girl might just be useful. “I understand.” He said. “She may stay with you. I want you to keep your eye on her. Win her trust. And report back to me if she says anything of interest.”
Liyanne smiled. “Thank you sir.”
They entered the room and Liyanne walked right up to the girl and looked her in the eye, keeping her hands at her sides so she wouldn’t appear threatening. The girl didn’t flinch. She just looked up at Liyanne. Liyanne smiled down at her. “I’ve been given permission ta let ya stay in my quarters.” She said. “I believe you’ll find it much more comfortable than the cell you were in before.”
As the two women left Tule allowed himself to relax and smile. This was going to work out perfectly. There was something about that girl that was different… something special. He would find out what it was and then he would report it to the Emperor. He might even get promoted if the information was valuable enough.
Chapter 1
“Ben, wake up!”
Benedicta opened her eyes and peered blearily around her little tent. A small dark shape was crouched just inside the entrance and shaking her foot gently. “Come on Ben, wake up. It’s happening!”
Ben’s eyes flew open, all thoughts of sleep flying out of her head. She shot up into a sitting position and stared at the small boy in her tent. “Now?” she asked.
“You ain’t gonna want ta miss this one Bena.” The boy grinned. “This is gonna be the fight of all fights.”
With that he dashed out of the tent. Ben grinned and flew out after him, her bed and even her boots lay forgotten in the tent. “Micah wait!” she called as she ran after the boy.
The small eight-year-old was fast. If she didn’t know any better Ben would have thought he had Air in him. She was nine years older and could barely keep up. She pulled her long red hair back and retied it as she ran. She didn’t want it to hinder her view this time. She caught up to Micah just as he reached the ridge.
He stopped and she came to stand beside him. He glanced down at her bare feet wistfully before turning his eyes to the field below. As Ben watched the boy staring down at the signs of battle below them she couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.
Micah was a Deficient, a child who never developed powers. As such he was confined to the Children’s Village and doomed to a life of insanity. All Deficients went insane eventually. So did all the Mixed Bloods… all but Ben. She was just reaching her adult years and she had yet to show any signs of the insanity that usually hit with puberty.
It was hard to believe that this little boy in front of her, so energetic and full of life, would one day starve to death, disappear or kill himself. Ben lived her whole life afraid of the insanity but Micah didn’t even seem to give it one thought. The Caretakers had warned her not to get too attached but it was no use. The boy had found his way into her heart anyway. He was one of the few children at the camp who even knew she existed.
All children get shipped off to their clans once they hit puberty. The Deficients and Mixed Bloods are transferred to a secluded building on the edge of the village. Ben didn’t have a clan. She had a bit of every element in her. Neither was she insane. If the leaders of the clans were to know about her they would probably want to capture her for study. So the head Caretaker had given her a tent and some clothes and sent her to a small grove outside the village that was well hidden from all.
Micah had wandered from the village and found her hideout. The Caretakers didn’t find him until they came to deliver Ben’s weekly food rations a few days later. By that time Micah and Ben had developed a bond and Ben became his “secret sister.”
Ben shook her head to clear it and focused on the battle preparations below her. She used the wind to see get a closer look at the different groups. Micah watched her with interest for a few moments. “What’cha see?” he asked.
Ben stared hard at the images. “They are preparing for war. The Fires have painted their flames on their wrists and cheeks in the same colour as their hair. The Airs have painted their foreheads and chests. The Waters have their symbols down their limbs and the Earths are now covered in vines. They are almost ready to attack.”
Micah looked back at the scurrying shapes below. “I wish I could see them.”
“Maybe you can.” Ben knelt by a small hollow in the ground and filled it with water.
“A Scrier’s Bowl?” Micah asked. “I didn’t know ya could do that.”
“I’m trying something new.” Ben replied, focusing on the water.
Soon the images she was seeing in the air appeared on the water’s surface. Micah watched it intently. His eyes were wide and excited. “Who do you think will win this time?” he asked.
Ben sighed. Their people were always fighting. She didn’t know why. It wasn’t over land. Each clan preferred different parts of the planet. The Airs preferred the towering heights of the mountains. The Fires kept to the desserts. The Waters preferred the sea side and the lakes. The Earths were found everywhere else.
In fact, when she thought about it, the clans were so interdependent she would think that fighting would be more of a hindrance than a help. The Waters were traders who fished and supplied water to those clans that had little access to it, like the Fires. The Airs were scholars, healers and miners. The Fires were blacksmiths of amazing abilities. They were also horse masters and weapons specialists. The Earths were farmers, hunters and clothiers. No clan was self sufficient so the fights endangered all.
The children’s village had been set up in an attempt to stop the fights but it was no use. Childhood friendships seemed to be forgotten the minute people moved into their respective clans. There were even minor rivalries inside the village. “I don’t know.” She told the curious boy. “I don’t ever remember a time when all the clans fought. Normally it is only a spat between two of them.”
“What will happen when their powers collide?” he asked.
Ben turned to look at him. “What do you mean?”
“Well two o’ the young uns shot out powers yesterday and they collided… I think they was fire and air. There was a small explosion and their cribs shot off in opposite directions. And they was just babies.”
Ben stared at him in disbelief. “Maybe we shouldn’t be watching this here.” She muttered.
Micah grinned at her. “Fraidy cat.” He said. “The fighting’s away down there. We’s safe here.”
Ben sighed and ran a hand over her eyes. He really did have no concept of danger. There was a great roar from down below. Ben watched the warriors advance. All thoughts of fleeing vanished from her mind.
As she watched she grew perplexed. Something was not right in the way this battle was being carried out. Each group had sent out only two lines of warriors. The rest had stayed at the camp and were dancing around something.
Ben turned back to the scrying bowl and watched one group of dancers. Something about the dance made her think it was a ritualistic calling on the Power of the Elements, however the dance moves were unlike any she had studied. The dancers seemed to get faster as the warriors got closer to each other. What could it mean?
With the first death Ben got her answer. The Element of Fire was the first to make a kill and the object they were dancing around, a statue of the Fire deity, flared up just as the blow was dealt. Ben swallowed back her disgust. They were using Death Magic to enhance their power. And it wasn’t just the Fires.
As she watched the other three obelisks lit up and the death toll grew. The warriors weren’t just fighting for their clans. They were fighting just to stay alive. Ben wondered if they even chose to fight or if they were chosen by their leaders.
She watched with growing disgust and horror as more and more people fell. She glanced down at the scrying pool and thought she recognized one of the faces in the mob below. She fell to her knees, willing it to find the person again. It did and her heart sank in her chest. It was Myra.
Myra was a Fire a couple years older than Ben who had looked after her as she grew up. Ben frowned. She was almost unrecognizable. Her cherub’s face had turned to a mask of fury and hatred and she was covered with dirt and blood and who knew what else. Suddenly Myra was cut down by an Earth who was over a head taller than her and had much more muscle mass.
Ben cried out and the scrying spell was broken. Tears ran down her face. She couldn’t believe the change in her friend. Myra was the gentlest soul in the village when she was there. She would never have been able to hurt anyone. What had happened? “Cool!” Micah’s cry called her back to the present.
Ben stood up and looked to see what the boy thought was cool. There were small explosions of raw elemental power happening all over the field as the combatants abandoned their weapons for their inbred abilities. It would indeed have been cool, if Ben hadn’t noticed something the boy had not. The blasts were growing in intensity and in the area they effected. Then the statues started to glow.
Ben had a bad feeling about that light. It grew and grew until it met in the centre of the field. There was a large crack as the elements mixed and were thrown in all directions. Micah yelped and backed away but there was no way he could outrun the blast. Without thinking Ben stepped into the line of fire and called the power into her self.
Her body was raked with pain and her head buzzed. “Micah, run.” She shouted as she fell to her knees. “I can’t hold it off long. Tell the Mother to get the children out.”
“But-” Micah took a step toward her.
“Now Micah.” Ben yelled through clenched teeth. “Get them out now!”
Micah took off as fast as his legs would carry him but Ben knew it wouldn’t be enough. The power burned. She felt as if her whole body was on fire. She couldn’t figure out why it hurt. She had absorbed power before and it had been fine. Of course! She only ever absorbed one type of power at a time. Right now the powers were combining inside her instead of being absorbed properly.
She tried to focus on separating the power and storing it properly but there was too much of it. It combined inside her, growing with intensity. She was worried about Micah and the other children but she couldn’t spare a thought for them. She had to concentrate all her efforts on keeping the power contained.
Gods it hurts! She was supporting herself with her hands and knees now and her limbs were shaking with fatigue but she dared not give in. She could feel the powers struggling against her mind. They were pushing with such force that they were causing her nose to bleed. She couldn’t hold on much longer but the source wasn’t showing any signs of running out.
“Bena?” she heard Micah’s voice coming toward her.
No! She had told him to run! What was he doing back here? Go away! Please!
Suddenly she felt her hold slip. “No!” she screamed as the power exploded from her body in a blast of energy.
The air brought swimming pictures to her eyes. The people in the valley froze as the power hit them and they were obliterated into dust. Then the power hit the villages. Ben watched in agonizing horror as every man, woman and child disintegrated into piles of dust. Even the plants and animals were killed. The mountains shook and crumbled and the waters dried up. The last thing she saw was Micah’s look of fear before he too disintegrated.
“No!” Ben collapsed on the ground, the power still shooting from her until she couldn’t bear it any more and she blacked out.
When she finally opened her eyes the early morning light had turned to the red of dusk. Blood red, she couldn’t help but think. She shivered, willing the thought out of her mind. She groaned and sat up. Her head pounded inside her skull. She looked blearily around. The air was thick with sand and dust. All signs of life seemed to have vanished from the planet’s surface.
It couldn’t have really happened. She thought. It was all just a dream. I passed out in the sun and had a nightmare. She stood up and looked into the distance all around her. “Micah?” she called. “Micah where are you?”
She turned back to where her tent had been but there was nothing there. Frantic she ran for the village. “Micah!” She called.
She listened intently but the only sound was that of the wind. As she topped the hill that led to the village she froze. The village was gone. It had been reduced to dust. She turned and ran back to the battlefield. The valley was scorched and dead. There was no sign that anyone had ever been there. She shivered and wrapped her arms around her. It was then that she realized she was naked. Her clothes had been singed off in the explosion.
The explosion… The realization of what had happened hit her like a ton of bricks. She had absorbed their elements. She had absorbed so much that it exploded out of her. It was her fault everyone was dead. Micah… the Mother… everyone… reduced to nothing because of her untamed power.
Her legs buckled as grief consumed her. Her friends and her people were dead. Her brain just couldn’t grasp it. She was still mentally and physically exhausted. All she new was she was alone. There was nothing left on her planet but sand… and her. Why was she still there? Why couldn’t the power have taken her too? She sank to the ground and sobbed until darkness fell and her grief gave way to dreams.
