Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2020 16:34:54 +0000
From: Myke D <storymyke@outlook.com>
Subject: Be the One - Awakening - C5

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***
To Be the One
***

Volume One:  The Awakening

By:  Myke D


Part 1:  Coming Together


Chapter 5:	The Summit

	Brayden and Natalie were gone the following morning when I awoke,
but I could still feel Brayden's presence nearby.  I could feel someone
else as well, but their energy wasn't nearly as strong as Brayden's.  It
was as if I was sharing the same space as Brayden.

	Memories continued to flash before my eyes as everything my mother
had ever taken from me was given back over the course of a few hours.  My
body and mind were beyond exhausted as I struggled to keep my eyes open.
The answers I needed were there, but I couldn't stop one thought long
enough to figure out what it meant.  All I could do was drift with the
torrent...  I closed my eyes and let myself succumb to the exhaustion I
felt.

	The mist surrounded me, but I could hear the distant sound of
children's voices echoing from nearby.  I took a step forward before I took
another hesitant step towards the sounds of laughter.  The mist swirled
around my feet with every step I took, and I felt a chill go up my spine
from the creepy atmosphere around me.  The fog parted as I stepped into the
edge of a sandbox and found the source of the child's laughter.  There were
two little boys standing in the center of the sandbox with mischievous
grins on their faces.

	"Tag!"  The black-haired boy called out.  "You're it, Brayden!"

	I gasped as I realized just who the two boys were.  It was a memory
from when Brayden and I were only five.  I remembered the house I lived in
with the park across the street.  I watched as my younger self took off
from Brayden just as the brown-haired boy reached out to touch him back.
He furrowed his brow in consternation before he took off running after the
other me.

	"I'm going to get you, Elijah!"  Brayden yelled after me as I ran
from him.

	I saw myself turn and my feet slid out from underneath me.  It gave
Brayden enough time to catch up to the younger me and tag him on the
shoulder before Brayden took off running.  The younger me only pouted for a
second before he ran after Brayden.  I followed both boys with my eyes as
they taunted each other relentlessly.  Neither one of them was paying
attention to the direction they were running.  Neither one noticed that
Elijah was chasing Brayden straight towards the street.  Neither boy saw
the car heading towards where Brayden was about to run out into the road.
I tried to scream out for the boys, but it was useless.  That's why it was
a memory.  Nothing could be changed.  It had already happened.

	Brayden ran out into the road and the air was suddenly filled with
screeching tires and a solitary horn blast echoing off of the houses.
Elijah suddenly blinked out of existence and reappeared right next to
Brayden.  The younger me, then grabbed Brayden and both of the boys
vanished before they appeared on the sidewalk across the street.

	The woman jumped out of her car and was screaming frantically as
she thought she had hit a child with her car.  Then, I saw my mother step
out of the front of our house with a worried look on her face.  She ran
down and checked on Brayden and the younger version of me before she turned
her attention to the woman.  My mother touched the woman's forehead, and
she suddenly got in her car and left.  Then, my mother turned back to where
the younger Brayden sat with my arms around him.  His face was pale, and he
looked as if he was about to faint at any moment.  My mother reached out
and touched both of us on our temples before we both slumped forward into
her arms.  I saw her mouth something before both little boys vanished from
my sight.  My mother glanced around before she returned to the house.

	Then, the fog swirled around me again and when it cleared, I was
standing in my middle school gymnasium during Gym Class.  We were playing
dodgeball when a strange man in black appeared out of nowhere.  His eyes
were red, and his skin was whiter than snow.  As he walked it seemed as
though his body drifted behind him in wafts of smoke, like he wasn't
completely there in the flesh.  His attention was only focused on the
younger version of me.  The strange man attacked me repeatedly, and somehow
I was able to fend him off with a ball of energy before my mother appeared.
My mother killed the strange man before she said a few words that made
everyone stumble forward slightly in a daze.  Then, they went on playing
dodgeball as if nothing happened.  I had just watched my mother wipe the
memories of an entire gym class.

	I awoke with a start and sat up in my bed to find my room growing
dark.  I had slept the entire day away.  I groaned before I rushed to the
bathroom to relieve me bladder – grateful that I hadn't pissed the bed
with how deep I had been sleeping.  Once I was finished, I went downstairs
to find my mother waiting for me in the kitchen.

	"Are you hungry?"  She asked with a gentle smile.

	"Starving, mom."  I replied softly.

	She fixed me a sandwich with some lunchmeat before she wrapped it
in a paper towel and slid it across the counter to me.  I ate it quickly
and was happy when she gave me another one right after.

	"Put on jeans and a hoodie when you're done, Elijah."  My mother
instructed me.  "There are some people that we need to go see."

	"Yes, ma'am."  I acknowledged with a brief nod of my head.

	I slipped on my shoes once I was dressed before I ran downstairs to
find Brayden and his mother standing in the living room talking to my
mother.  Brayden looked as tired as I felt as he stood next to Natalie.
Then, Brayden turned and caught sight of me.  My stomach turned in knots as
his brown eyes seemed to draw me into his tender gaze.  A smile stretched
across lips as I stumbled towards him.  Brayden held out his arms and
hugged me tightly before he kissed me on my cheek.

	"I've missed you," he whispered.

	"You weren't there when I woke up," I told him sadly.

	"It's not my fault," he said quickly without letting go of me.  "I
woke up in my own bed.  I don't know how I got there, either."

	"I'll forgive you this time, but don't let it happen again."

	"I promise, Eli.  I will make sure that I am always by your side if
we fall asleep together again."  Brayden said with a grin before he kissed
me soundly on my lips.

	"Get your jacket, Eli."  My mother instructed, effectively bringing
my make out session with Brayden to an end.  "It's going to be chilly where
we're going."

	"It's the beginning of summer, mom."  I said with disbelief.
"There's no place around here that's even remotely chilly."

	"Who said anything about it being a place around here?"  My mother
asked with a smug grin.

	I frowned but did as my mother said.  I don't normally doubt her,
and there was a voice in the back of my head scolding me for it.  Brayden
slipped his hand into mine once I had my jacket on.  My mother held her
hand out to me before she held her other hand out to Natalie.

	"Not this time, Salena."  Natalie said with a slight smile.  "I
have to get to the hospital.  They're running short of an E.R. Doctor, so
I'm going to pick up some extra hours."

	My mother smiled and nodded briefly.

	"Where are we going?"  I asked curiously once Brayden had said
goodbye to his mother.

	She simply smiled and held her other hand out to Brayden who took
it slowly.

	"Now," my mother began with a short smile.  "When we get there,
you're both going to be full of questions.  All I ask is that you wait
until we get back before you begin asking them.  Okay?"

	Brayden and I glanced at each other before we nodded in
acknowledgement to my mother.

	"Whatever you say, Salena."  Brayden said with a nervous tremor to
his voice.

	"Relax, boys."  I felt my mother squeeze my hand reassuringly.
"There's nothing even remotely dangerous about where we are going..."

	Without any warning, the world suddenly pulled in around us in a
flash of bright color before I found myself standing in the center of an
ivory colored hall.  My stomach immediately twisted, and I fell to my knees
as I tried to keep myself from vomiting.

	"You're much better at it than Eli is, Salena."  I heard Brayden
compliment my mother.

	"I've had more practice, Brayden."  My mother said with a chuckle
before I felt Brayden start rubbing my back gently.

	"Just breathe through it, Elijah."  Brayden whispered softly.  "It
was a lot worse for me the first time you did it."

	"I was a little kid then," I gasped out between clinched teeth.
"I've only ever reacted to something and teleported myself.  I've never
planned it out before."

	I took a few more breaths before I finally managed to rise to my
feet with the help of Brayden.  I glanced at him with a look of betrayal on
my face.

	"Why don't you feel like shit?"  I demanded.

	"I close my eyes," he said with a shrug.

	"Every time?"

	Brayden nodded in response.  I frowned and turned to face my
mother.  Behind her there was a massive statue of a man in robes holding a
large staff.  The statue was made of solid marble, but the minute details
made the rock look like the figure it represented was actually alive.  My
mother smiled when she saw the look of awe upon my face.  There was nothing
but a star-filled night sky above us in every direction, and it was almost
as if I was close enough to reach out and touch the individual stars.
Lining the stone walkway that we were standing on were large columns of
white stone that looked as though they used to hold up a massive ceiling
before it simply vanished one day.  The other end of the pathway had a set
of gray doors that opened slowly when I looked at them.  The next thing I
knew, I was standing directly in front of the open doors bathed in an eerie
white light.  I turned to see my mother and Brayden still standing at the
other end of the hallway in front of the statue that continued to watch me.
I turned and walked through the doors and found myself in a large room with
stone pews leading up to a dais that had six stone chairs sitting on it.
Four of the chairs had people sitting in them.  One of the men was the one
from my visions.  The same young man that had sacrificed himself to stop
the demons from destroying the world.  If only he could have stopped them
for good.  One man with jet black hair sat in the chair far to the left
with a space between him and the others.  As soon as he saw me, he rose
with disbelief evident in his expression.

	"Elijah?"  His voice quivered with a hint of excitement as he
walked down the four steps from the dais to the floor of the hall.  The
man's pace picked up as he approached me before he stopped directly in
front of me.  His blue eyes were filled with happiness, but it hadn't been
there long.  I could see the sadness hidden behind the happiness.  The man
touched his hand to my cheek.  "I never thought I would see you again."

	"Elijah?"  I turned to see my mother standing behind me.

	"Mom?"  I asked in confusion.  "What's going on?"

	"Elijah, this is your father Nikolas."  My mother told me gently.
"The Guardian of Destiny."

	I turned back to the man to see him smiling at me with tears in his
eyes.  Then, he pulled me into a tight embrace that I couldn't bring myself
to return.

	"I was forbidden from seeing you, Eli."  He said in a soft voice.
"I'm so sorry, son.  I never would have left you alone, otherwise."

	"Forbidden by whom?"  I demanded angrily.  I felt abandoned in that
short moment.  My mother had always told me that she would tell me what
happened to my father when the time was right.  I had always assumed that
he had abandoned us or died and left it at that.  I never pressed the issue
with my mother to give me true answers.  She always found a way to sidestep
giving me any other answers when I asked questions.  "Who kept you from
visiting your son?"

	"Destiny, Elijah."  My father said sadly.  "It would have sentenced
you to death long ago if I would have broken the rules of Destiny.  I only
did what I had to do to protect you, son.  I swear on my life."

	I nodded hesitantly before I let myself relax in the man's arms.  I
wasn't ready to call him `dad', but I was willing to let him into my life
if he was willing.

	"Come on, there's some people that want to meet you."  My father
said as he turned and motioned towards the dais.  I glanced back to my
mother and she nodded her head towards my father with a gentle smile.  I
hesitated only briefly before I walked beside Nikolas towards the dais.
"You have nothing to fear here, Elijah.  Now," my father stopped in front
of the dais.  "Elijah, I'd like you to meet the Summit of Light."

	I watched as the three other men stood from their seats and took a
step to the front of the dais.  Each of them smiled at me as my father
introduced them to me.

	"The man on the right is Lukas Baker," Nikolas explained.  "He was
the first Guardian to face the Elementals."

	"I've dreamed about him," I said absently as I nodded at the
black-haired man.

	"I've been waiting a century for this day, Elijah."  Lukas said
with a slight smile.

	The man to his left scoffed and rolled his eyes.

	"So, we're leaving the saving of the world to a teenager?"  The
gray-haired man asked.  "Didn't we learn our lesson the first time?"

	"Calm yourself, Thomas."  The other gray-haired man scolded him.
"It's not up to you."

	"Elijah," my father continued.  "This is the current Leader of the
Summit Josiah."

	Josiah stepped down from the dais with a smile on his face.  His
blue eyes were sparkling in the strange light that permeated the air around
us.  Josiah held out his hand towards me and I nervously accepted it.

	"It's an honor, Elijah."  Josiah greeted me in a deep voice.

	"Thank you, sir."

	Thomas scoffed again and shook his head.  Josiah's eyes narrowed
for a moment as he turned to glare at the other Summit member.

	"Thomas, you forget your place."  He said shortly.  I felt chills
on my skin with the subtle warning hidden in his words.  Then, the man
turned back to me and smiled.  "Now, where were we?"

	I smiled back at the man.

	"I don't even know where I am," I said with a chuckle.

	Josiah grinned and clasped me on my shoulder.  Then, he gently
placed the palms of his hands against the side of my head.

	"Relax, Elijah."  The Leader of the Summit said calmly.  "It's time
for me to show you a few things."

	"Yes, sir."  I replied before I closed my eyes.

	The next thing I knew, I was standing in the middle of a desert as
two young men dressed in cotton robes stood over two glowing objects.

	"What's going on?"  I asked the man that was now standing beside me
– watching the scene unfold before us.  "Where are we?"

	"You are about to witness the birth of magic, Elijah."  Josiah told
me softly as he gazed at his younger self.  "This is the beginning of our
history..."


***Thank you for reading this Chapter of "Be the One".  Stay tuned for
Chapter 6 – History

****I have other stories here on nifty under the Gay/Science Fiction section!
The Touch
The Legends of Blood – Volume One – Blood Lust

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