G's Chapters

        You see, I was always a quite shy lad, so I preferred to keep my Power hidden, though it awoke quite early.  I mean sure, I did experiment around, figuring out some of the kinks and finding out what I could do, but that was mostly in the privacy of my room.

 

        The first time I really used them, was around fifteen years ago.  I was fifteen at the time, a wee young boy in XI, and the  Adonai Cult was conducting one of its Ceremonies-the first time they'd come to my school.  They made the whole class kneel in a line, and one of them, Ephraim, went down the line, blasting the Giftless with a Force.  When he came to my friend, Shankar leapt upward and punched him on the nose.  Ephraim stumbled back, livid, and I saw him start a Scorch up in his hand.  I leapt up in front of Shankar, and cast a Shield in front of me.  Now my Shields are generally quite flamboyant, and this one didn't disappoint.  A large, pale green, translucent Shield flashed into existence in front of my outstretched palm, with a large sold gold Gamma in the centre.  The Scorch, a largish fireball, bounced off my Shield and straight back into Ephraim's still outstretched palm.  He was knocked off his feet and crashed into the ground five feet away.  The other guy, a huge brute in one of the Adonai hoodies, ran toward me, but met with another one of my Shields, crumpled flat against it, and fell down.  Ephraim had gotten up by then, and threw another Scorch at me.  I hit it with a Shard - a conical crystal of pure Mana - and the resulting explosion knocked us both back.  When the smoke cleared, I saw Ephraim had taken out his Firesword - a foundation rod with a fiery edge, red-hot.  I shot another Shard in his direction and leapt forward and a bit to the left.  He slashed crossways and knocked the Shard off to the right.  I took the opportunity this afforded and caught him in the kidney with a left hook.  I think I put a bit of Force into that punch, because he flew off to the side, and landed groaning on his back a few feet away.

        "You attacked them, seriously? Have you gone crazy, Vid?!"

        "Come on, man.  He was gonna kill you.”

        "So you'll kill him?! What sorta messed up logic is that?"

        "Don't be daft, Shankar, the guys still alive.  What I did comes under self-defense.  He attacked me, and I protected myself.  The worst thing that's going to happen is a few days without school.”

 

        Shankar wasn’t exactly reassured, but the prospect of no school did brighten him up.

        "So, why did you attack him? You certainly had nothing to lose if he scanned you, right? OW.”

 

        The Force was starting to recoil, and my hand both looked and felt like it had been sous-vided.  Shankar grabbed it, making me wince, and closed his eyes.  His hands glowed a frosty blue, with white smotes floating around it. 

        "Oh, you're one of us too, eh? What's your Gift?"

 

        Well, I got my answer soon enough, because my hand felt very cold.  After some time, frost started climbing up my wrist, and I pulled my hand out of his. 

        "An Icegen? Nice!"

 

        By now, Ephraim had gotten back up, and he spat at us. 

        "You cretins don’t know what you're refuting.  .  .  You will be hunted by the Humans, and killed if you don't have Adonai protection.  .  .  And you aren't getting our protection, not if I can help it.  In fact, I'll personally hunt you rascals down!"

 

        After Ephraim and his sidekick had left, I turned to Shankar. 

    "And why didn't you tell me that you were a Chosen?"

 

        Shankar just stared at me a while. 

    "Why didn't you?"

    "Meh, fair enough.  Hey, you certainly have a hell of a cool power, mate!"

 

        I chuckled, though Shankar didn't seem too amused. 

        "Enough of your PJs, Viddy.  .  .  Let's just leave, school's over.”

 

        The next day, we got a letter from school explaining that school was closed until further notice.

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