Mark of the Rising Sun

I was sitting in my dorm room after a long and grueling training session on the football field, when I heard my cell phone going off on my desk. I groaned and rolled over to get the phone wondering who was contacting me and keeping me from my rest. I looked at the number, but it didn’t look familiar. I was about to reject the call and turn my phone off, but a voice inside me told me that the call was important, and I should take it. I answered the phone on the last ring and gave a gruff greeting.

“Hello Angela, it has been a long time.” The voice on the other line spoke.

I recognized the voice immediately. It was the soothsayer who had told me about who I was. My curiosity suddenly revved into overdrive and I spoke, “Too long, but to what do I owe the privilege. I hope it is good news you have called me for, I don’t think I could handle more on my plate right now.”

“Alas, I wish it were so, but it is not to be. I bring dark tidings today. As I was meditating in my back room this evening I got a terrible feeling. Evil is once again stirring on this world. The forces of darkness are starting to make their move. You may be in great danger. We all may be.”

“But I thought that you said that they wouldn’t attack until they were sure who the leaders were, and probably not for a while. They can’t be ready already!”

They are changing their tactics, seizing new opportunities. I don’t know what they are planning or why they are forming now, but something big will happen soon. You need to be careful, and above all, you need to start finding the other warriors of light. Without them, you will be vulnerable to attacks. I hope that one or more of them has had more training then you have or the world may be doomed. Maybe that’s the reason for the attack, though, they know that you are all too weak to fight.”

“Maybe, but I hope not, I don’t want to have lost before the fight has begun. It is not as bad as you might think. I’m learning things really fast, and even with the most basic of spells, I can do a lot. If worst comes to worst, I can always think on my feet.”

“Don’t underestimate the power of the darkness, they are tricky devils and can pull all kinds of sneaky tricks to pull you off your game. You may be stronger, but strength does not always determine the outcome of a battle, sometimes, it is just good strategy. They have had a lot longer to plan their attack then you have, and they are smart.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, thank you. It’s not easy knowing that you could be attacked at any time, and by creatures whose sole purpose is destroy you, and take over the world. You sound like you know a lot more about this then a normal soothsayer should. Is there something you aren’t telling me?”

Silence on the line for a moment, and then a crash, like the sound of glass shattering into a million pieces. Then a shriek, the loudest I have ever heard pierced my ears. I dropped my phone onto my bed, and when I composed myself, picked it up again. To my dismay, the call had been ended. Whether it was by her or by something else, I didn’t know. In a rush to find out what was going on, I called my mom.

When she answered, I spoke in a hurried mess, “Mom, you have to get to the soothsayer’s house. Something horrible has happened there. I need to know what is going on. Please.”

She promised to get over there as soon as she could, and hung up. I was scared, I was disheartened, she was my only link to this fight, if she died, I don’t know what would happen next. How would I get on without her? She was my guiding light. I curled up into a ball on my bed and waited for something to happen. When nothing did after an hour, I got up and began pacing around the dorm, trying to will something into action.

It was a long night, I didn’t sleep much because I didn’t hear back from my parents. I kept imagining the worst, that I had sent my parents off to their deaths, that whatever had attacked the soothsayer had gotten my parents as well. Kat had come in, and tried to talk to me, to comfort me, to be a good friend, but I had just shrugged her off. She hadn’t persisted much, to my relief, but told me that when I wanted to talk, she would be there for me. I was glad that she didn’t continue, I wouldn’t tell her everything. I might not ever tell her. She could not be a part of this fight.

The morning sun brought with it a welcome surprise, a knock on my door. When I opened it, there were my parents, and it looked like they got about as much sleep as I had. I jumped up and embraced them in a big hug and wanted to never let go. Eventually, I did though and looked at them more closely. Dad was carrying a large box and he dropped it off on my bed. Finally, taking a deep breath, I started going off on them.

“What happened, why did you take so long getting back to me? Why didn’t you call, what’s in the box? I was so worried; I thought that all of you were dead.” I kept rambling on while tears of relief streamed down my face. It was then that I remembered Kat was in the room, and a quick check told me she was awake and looking at things with interest. I motioned my parents out of the room, and we headed to a secluded part of campus to talk without being overheard.

My dad spoke, “We wanted to call you right away, but we weren’t sure it was safe. We went to the soothsayer’s home and found it trashed. The soothsayer is dead, and the building is all but burned down. The culprit, or culprits, had gone by the time we got there, but they could have been watching the place. We searched the place and found the body in her study with the phone nearby. It was smashed to pieces, I think in an attempt to keep you safe. If they had your information, they could attack you as well. We gathered up everything we could, and have sifted through much of the things of hers that were salvageable. Most of it was junk, but there were a few interesting trinkets. That box was the only thing that was unharmed; it must have had a spell of protection around it. There was a note that said that if anything happened to her, that the box should go to you.”

I had known it as soon as I heard the window breaking on the phone. The soothsayer was dead, my only source of information was gone too. I was curious about the box, but didn’t want to seem rude to my parents who had risked their lives to bring me this information. Without them, I would not have known anything. “Thank you for going over there. I think not knowing what had happened would have been worse than the truth, and thank you for going over there for me. I would have done so myself if I could have.”

“It was nothing. We would have done it even if it hadn’t been a possible end of the world scenario. Anything for our little girl.” I turned a bright shade of red at that, even though we didn’t become a family by conventional means, they were still family, and that was very important. We talked a bit more about classes, and things that didn’t really matter, but the buzzing told me that the day was starting again, and I had things to do and places to be. We said our goodbyes, and my parents left, it was back to business as usual.

The box had me wondering for the entire day. My busy schedule did not allow me to go back to the dorm to peruse the contents, so by the time the final bell rang to dismiss us, I was a coiled snake ready to spring. I sprinted back to my dorm and with some anticipation, opened the box. It was somewhat anticlimactic as the box was filled with four journals and a letter. I decided to look at the letter first, as I figured that it was the most likely to give me the answers I sought. It did too, as I read through the letter, a lot of the questions I had were answered, although not exactly in the manner I was expecting. It read like this.

Dear Angela,

If you are reading this, it means that I am dead. Do not worry, I knew this day was coming and rejoice in it for as you will soon understand, it is a long time coming. I know you have questions, and I now will give you as many answers as I can. I am not really a soothsayer, I pretend, give the people a show to make money, instead I am just very old, over a thousand years old to be precise. I was one of the warriors of light during the last war a millennia ago.

We are not immortal, although our lives are a lot longer than most who walk the earth. As the chosen fighters, we are given extended lives. This is for a couple reasons. First, if the forces of darkness try to break the pact, we will be there to protect the people and fight for the world. We do not believe that it will happen any time soon, but we do expect it at some point considering the nature of the creatures. The second reason is that so you can see the benefits of your work, or live out the horrors of your failures. It gives you the motivation to win. That being said, there is a possibility that you will die in battle. The other three warriors that fought bravely by my side lost their lives for the cause.

It is for this reason that I will give you some advice. Protect the group, let none get killed. A thousand years by yourself is horrible, watching those around you die as you live on, unable to move on to the next life. There is a reason that the group is always four, two males, two females. It is better to get yourself captured then to die. At least alive, there is always a chance of being freed. Look to your friends, trust them, work with them, and above all, protect them. You cannot fight the good fight alone, and you shouldn’t want to. Find the others, trust your instincts, and above all, never give up.

One last thing, As you have noticed, there are four journals enclosed in the box. No matter what happens to my belongings, these items should be protected. These should be priceless to you as they detail some of the lives of my fellow warriors and myself. Inside you should find helpful information on how to defeat the creatures of darkness, spells that you might find helpful and much more. Find the one that fits with your element and read it. As you find the other members of your team, give them the journal that fits with their element as well. When you figure out who the leader is, have the person read all of them as he or she can use all four elements almost equally.

I hope that all goes well for you and that you are able to overcome all the obstacles in your way, but if not, remember this. There will always be an opportunity for light to prevail, and as long as there is hope, there is a future.

Your good friend and fellow fighter,

Gladys Jones

When I finished reading the letter, I was happy. I knew there was something special about Gladys. She had fought the fight and won. I could do it too. I would take her advice and not allow my friends to die as well. I couldn’t imagine living out my life like she did, and having someone to share a thousand years with would be good. I dug through the journals until I found the one by the Wind Warrior, and sat back to read about the life of Jim Thurston. Just as I got into the book, the door opened, and Kat walked into the room. I quickly put the book away, and, knowing that she was watching and would see through my charade, put on a smile.

“Don’t give me that look. I know you are hiding something from me and I want to know what it is. I thought we were friends, why are you keeping secrets from me?”

I felt a little bad, and replied, “Look, I know you want to know everything, and I wish I could tell you it all, but I can’t. I’m trying to protect you from things that I can’t control and if you know about them, then you will be in more danger. It’s best that you stay out of the loop, and when everything’s said and done I will tell you everything you want to know.”

I could tell that she was hurt, but I knew that knowledge would not be power in this instance. Knowledge could get her into trouble, and I wanted to keep those I cared about safe, no matter the cost.

She looked hurt, a little angry, but she put on a good front and said, “This isn’t over yet. I am not letting you off the hook that easily. However, since you seem to be very adamant about this, I will drop it for now. So how were your classes?”

We chatted together the rest of the evening and I wasn’t able to get back to the book, but as long as she kept her mind off my secrets, I was happy to bury them away from where she could think about them again. I didn’t want our friendship to be ruined because of it.