I followed the evil scientist into the dark room. When he turned on the light I saw something that I will never forget. The room was full of old scrolls and spell books. I looked around the room in awe and said,

“This is what you were hiding from everybody else; you do black magic and study the old history.” The old history was about the world before the Kabel came. They took over our land and erased everything that dealt with the old teachings and our own history, replacing it with their own. The old man turned and looked at me,

“Yes I wanted to keep the old ways alive and not let them die out. I will never forgive the Kabel for what they did to us. I wish to use the old magic to take our home back from the Kabel but I haven’t the strength. I need an apprentice to train in the old ways, would you like to be my apprentice Melina?” I looked at him and thought for a second. I would love nothing better than to have our home land back to the way it was, so I nodded.

“I would be honored to be you apprentice. I will train very hard and do the best I can to make you proud.” The old man smiled and gave me a glass full of a blue colored liquid.

“Drink this, if you are worthy your body will glow blue, if you are not, however, your body will glow red.” I took the glass from him and drank it in one gulp. Almost immediately, my body glowed blue and it was so bright that the old man shrank back in fear. “This cannot be! The pureblooded Mystics died out years ago, what is your last name girl?” I looked at the old man and said,

“My last name is Drake. My full name is Melina Alexandria Drake. What does it matter what my name is, and what is a Mystic?” I looked at the old man and saw him looking at me in awe. He walked over and laid his hand on my shoulder.

“Mystics are the people who have the ability to control the elements. The Drake family was the last ones in known history. To think that you are part of that blood line is amazing, and almost inconceivable. Oh how rude of me, I haven’t introduced myself. My name is Vayne Norcom and I would be honored to have you as my apprentice Melina.”

I looked at him and smiled, but then thought about it.

“If I am a Mystic, then how come the Kabel haven’t come to capture me yet? I would think they would want the person who could wipe them out under their custody.” Vayne thought for a moment and replied,

“I think it is because they think that your family line has died out. You need to go home and gather only the things you need and come back here. If anyone asks tell the truth to those you can really trust. If it pleases you, you may bring two friends, but that is all.”

I left the room and started for home, along the way I ran into Zain and Lasara, my two best friends and the only friends that I have. As I walked along they fell in step beside me and walked along with me, thought they didn’t like the pace that I was walking. Zain looked at Lasara and then back at me,

“What’s the hurry Melina? You never move this fast unless you really need something or are extremely hungry.” He said as he laughed. I turned and glared at him, while Lasara tried to shut Zain up.

“Are you trying to get her to hit you Zain? She doesn’t seem like she’s in a good mood,” she turned around, looked at me, and said, “Are you okay Melina, is something wrong?”

“No Lasara, I’m fine. I’m going home to get some things because I won’t be home for a while.” I looked at them and noticed that their faces seemed to deflate. “The thing is though I can bring two friends with me, would you two like to come?” Almost immediately Zain nodded his head and Lasara said,

“We would love to go, what do we need to get from home?” I thought for a second and said,

“You’ll need a lot of clothes, some shoes, toothbrush, and anything else you think you’ll need.” Zain and Lasara nodded and ran off to go get their things. I ran the rest of the way home and grabbed a suitcase and started packing my things. I packed my favorite pair of skater shoes, all of my black clothes, my toothbrush, and a picture of my family. Once all that was in the suitcase I grabbed it and ran out the door. When I got outside I saw Zain and Lasara waiting for me at the gate. Zain had a bag over his shoulder and Lasara had a suitcase like mine.

“Come on,” I said. I started to run down the street back to Vayne’s house. Zain and Lasara never once asked where we were going, but I know that they were extremely nervous. I was the first one to the door, so I knocked twice and then opened it. I stepped inside and motioned Zain and Lasara to follow. Zain walked in first and Lasara followed him.

“Vayne!” I shouted. “I’m back and I brought my two friends with me.” I walked into the room with all the scrolls and spell books and saw him lying on the floor. “Vayne!” I ran over to him and saw there was blood all over the floor.

“Zain, come here please.” I said trying to keep my voice under control. Zain walked over and saw the old man lying on the floor. I looked at Zain with tears in my eyes, “Why did he have to die Zain? Why? He did nothing wrong.” Zain looked at me with sadness in his eyes and shook his head.

“I don’t know Melina, I really don’t know, but it’s not your fault.” I shook my head violently and said

“Yes it is. Vayne was killed because he knew of what I am. So because of me, he’s dead.” The more I said the higher my voice got, and the more hysteric I started to sound. He grabbed me by the shoulders and said,

“Melina, look at me!” I looked down and refused to look at him and that made him mad. “Look at me!” The tone of his voice scared both me and Lasara and it made me look at him. “It is not your fault he was killed. He knew more than what he should’ve. It’s not your fault.” I shook my head and kept repeating,

“It’s all my fault, it’s all my fault,” Not knowing what to do Zain just held me while I cried and Lasara came over and placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder. I couldn’t stop crying and I was scared that they would come to kill me next.

“We need to get her out of here and get her somewhere safe. Lasara and you grab my bag, I’ll take her and her things and we’ll find someplace to take her.” Lasara nodded and grabbed his bag. Zain picked me up, grabbed my suitcase and started towards the door. Lasara was right behind him with his and her stuff in tow.

“Where are we going to go Zain?” Lasara asked him. “There isn’t any place that we can hide her.” Lasara looked extremely nervous and scared for her best friend. Zain thought about it for a second and said,

“I don’t know yet but we need to get out of town, and we need to do it fast. We don’t know when they’re going to try and find her. We’ll take here to another town and try to stay there for awhile.” Lasara nodded to show that she understood and kept pace with him. Lasara looked at me and saw that I had fallen asleep, and nudged Zain.

“Look she’s fallen asleep, so we need to be quiet.” Zain looked at me and nodded.

“Okay,” He looked at Lasara and nodded. “Sleep well Melina, we’ll get you somewhere safe.” By that time they had reached the city limits. “Let’s go, we need to keep a steady pace if we want to get to the next town by night fall.” Lasara looked at him and said,

“But what about Melina? Surely you can’t walk with her all that way before night fall; you would be way too tired. Why don’t we get at least half way there and rest until morning. That way she will be up and able to walk on her own and you can carry your own stuff.” Zain laughed when he saw that Lasara was trying not to drop everything.

“I’m sorry, I thought you would be able to carry all that by yourself, and you have a point, let’s follow your idea.” Zain and Lasara kept walking until they were half way to the next town. Zain set me down and began to set up camp. Lasara collected wood for the fire while Zain stayed with me. When I finally woke up it was passed sundown and Lasara was cooking dinner over the fire.

“Zain…Lasara…? Where are we?” I muttered, not entirely awake yet. Zain turned to me and smiled,

“We’re taking you to the next town, you should be safe there.” He walked over and sat beside me. “How are you feeling? Any better?” I sat there as the memories of earlier that day washed over me. Vayne was dead, killed because of me, and I was being hunted because of what I was. All of a sudden I realized something; Zain and Lasara were in danger because they were helping me! If they were caught they would be killed without a second thought. As I thought about this I began to tremble even though I was pretty close to the fire. Lasara noticed this and scooted over close to me.

“Melina, are you okay? Why are you trembling for?” Lasara looked very scared and Zain looked worried. “Melina? Melina!?!” I had begun to glow a fiery red color and I stood up. I walked away from the fire and stared at the Kabel’s castle to the east. The longer I looked at it the madder I felt and the brighter I began to glow. Zain walked up behind and said,

“Melina are you okay? Why are you glowing like that?” I turned to Zain and said,

“I am a Mystic, the last one actually. I am going to the Kabel’s castle and am going to challenge the leader to a duel. If they want a fight they are going to get one, will you and Lasara come with me?” I turned back to them both and looked at them and waited for their answer. Zain smiled and said,

I would gladly come along with you; I want our home back to the way it was.” Lasara thought for a moment and nodded,

“I would be honored to travel with the last Mystic, let’s take our home back for the Expelians.” I looked at my two friends and smiled, glad that I was blessed to have them along with me on this new journey.

“Alright, let’s go take back our kingdom!” With that we turned around and walked towards the castle. Zain and Lasara followed me to the town in which the Kabel resided.
To be continued……..