Akting Out

“Are you sure this is safe?” Bethany asked hesitantly, firmly gripping the outer rail of the bridge behind her. She dared to lean over, peering four miles down into the Atherean Ocean below. Vertigo set in quickly as the water challenged her; rising and receding quickly. She leaned back against the cold, iron railing, checking the multi-colored elastic rope fastened to her waist. Jayce, her older brother, was on her right. He looked into the clear blue ocean as though he couldn’t wait to dive–again. Shirtless, wings pinned at his back, he was nearly hyperventilating with excitement. “Yes, Beth.” He replied, trying not to show impatience. “Look, this was your idea. If you’re scared…”

“I’m not scared …” Beth objected, shaking her head. She jabbed a finger at the water below. “But you heard what Jayden said…”

Darryl, her other older brother, was flanking her. He looked to Jayce, and then nodded. “…about something in the water. Yeah, we heard him, Beth. But Jayden hit the water pretty hard. He probably imagined it.”

Beth whirled on her brother. “He didn’t imagine the teeth marks on his arms.”

Darryl reached down to Bethany, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Honey, listen. Jayden slipped off of the railing, he admitted that. Chances are he surprised some of the fish when he landed and they took a bite out of him in self-defense. Nothing wrong with that.”

Bethany didn’t look convinced.

Jayce stepped beside his brother, smiling down at her. “Look, Beth. Why don’t we try this again next year, when you’re a bit bigger? Maybe it won’t look so scary then…” His tone was blatantly condescending, and Beth scowled. “I said I’m not scared!” She lied, “Watch, I’ll prove it!”

Darryl and Jayce watched with astonished horror as Bethany threw herself from the bridge, plummeting headfirst towards the sea. They leapt after her, arms outstretched to catch her even as she placed her arms at her sides and began plummeting.

She closed her eyes and smiled, enjoying the wind frapping against her face, the scent of fresh sea-salt, and the seagulls calling in the distance as though welcoming her…for a moment, she understood why her brothers did this for fun.

Then she nearly forgot what she was supposed to do.

She opened her eyes and outstretched her arms–the water was now yards away and closing fast–she had to focus, focus…thirty yards, twenty yards, ten yards…

Now she could feel her brother’s Reaching into her head, yelling at her in genuine terror, screaming at her to loose her wings; the water was so close that she could perceive life just below the surface…

Something burst from her shoulder blades; her descent leveled out and saved her from what would’ve been a disastrous belly flop–why didn’t the rope break?–and she quickly found her self arcing upwards, forcing her wings to flap, pushing the wind behind her, and rising to safety–

A deafeaning, bone-crunching impact was heard below as something hit the water with so much force that droplets shot several feet up. Instinctively, she Reached out to her brothers even as she turned…and could only feel Jayce. His attention was now entirely focused on Darryl, and Bethany realized with horror that she had been given the wrong rope; Darryl’s rope swung lifelessly in the breeze, hanging from the bridge.

Bethany heard Jayce use the knife he kept at his ankle to cut his own rope and fall freely into the water.

Then all was silent.

Not even the seagulls could be heard after a moment. The world went still.

Bethany Reached; nothing conscious came back; only wrenching, horrible agony from deep within the water. She stifled tears as she tried not to imagine how much pain the fall had caused Darryl. Strangely, she could no longer feel Jayce.

Suddenly exhausted as she realized she had not stopped flapping her new wings, Bethany hung in the air and dropped slowly towards the water. She frowned, certain that her eyes were playing tricks; the water appeared discolored as she drew closer, opaque and…

…by Yang, is that a leg…?!

Something exploded through the surface, something that stole the breath from her body. It was Jayce.

He was being swarmed by at least a dozen fish that clung to his body, hungrily wagging their tails as they burrowed into his him, tearing pieces of him away, oblivious to the blood darkening the water around him.

His face was pained desperation as he reached up towards Bethany, who couldn’t neither blink nor breathe as she slowly descended towards her brother, reaching for him, desperate to save him while not being consumed in the process…

She shuddered, tears forcing their way to the surface as she drew closer. They’re eating him alive!

“Jayce…” She sobbed, arm outstretched several feet above Jayce’s bloody arm. For a moment, he appeared to be stretching as he reached for her, and Bethany had dropped another inch before Jayce screamed.

“–STAY AWAY!!!” He forced.

One of the small fish leapt from the water and dove into his open mouth. Jayce first clamped a hand over his mouth, and then winced as he clutched his throat. He opened his mouth, expelling droplets of blood, gurgling and weakly coughing before finally falling beneath the surface.

Paralyzed by what she had just seen, Bethany hovered several feet above the water. “Jayce…?” She whispered.

Nothing. The water had become still again.

“Jayce? Darryl?”

They’re dead.

No, they can’t be dead. That doesn’t happen here!

You just saw it happen. They’re dead.

Bethany began to sob openly, unable to fly home and tell anyone, equally unable to abandon her brothers to the monsters in the sea.

Something burst from the water again; another fish, like the one that had leapt down Jayce’s throat. As it drew nearer, it opened its mouth, revealing dozens of finely sharpened teeth, all of which were coming for her.

Bethany began to ascend, holding onto the only thought that kept blind panic from setting in. It can’t stay out of the water, it can’t stay out of the water…

As the creature closed the distance to mere inches, it suddenly grew a pair of wings from each side of its body. With a sharp, downward motion, the wings flapped, rocketing the creature towards Bethany, who suddenly had no way out.

No no no no no…

Everything seemed to slow down for her as she frantically turned, opening her own wings, trying not to think about what she had just seen, and how badly she didn’t want it to happen to her–

Something bit into her wing, setting the right half of her body on fire as the wing was torn almost completely off. Screaming proved impossible as even opening her mouth was agonizing. She could no longer feel her right arm, although she could see it was still there, covered in her own blood. The fish, satisfied with the half-wing it clenched in its teeth, was satisfied enough to fall back to the water.

Bethany’s vision began to swim, her head pounding as she forced her good wing to flap. Her flight path was erratic as she exerted the last of her strength, commanding her one good wing to get her back to the bridge. Once there, she nearly lost consciousness as she pitched forward, reaching her good hand to the railing. Wincing, grunting, the world going gray, she hoisted herself over the railing and fell to the road on the other side. She could hear hooves clip-clopping against metal as horses moved towards her. She tried to see who was coming towards her, but the world was steadily going black. “Please, help me…”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Reginald lowered his axe, exhaled, and looked back at Jayden. The boy held his axe in both hands and was starting to wear down, his breath coming quickly. Reginald smiled; the boy had worked hard that morning, but there was still much to do. He shook his head. “Afraid not, Jayden.” Reginald replied. He held out his axe and pointed to the one, two, three pine trees that had become the bane of Jayden’s existence. “All three of those need to come down.”

Jayden released an exasperated sigh as he glowered at the trees, and looked back Reginald. “Reginald,” Jayden began patiently, “They’re a town of six people. They couldn’t possibly need all that wood. You’re just trying to keep me busy.”

“They’re five hundred people, Jayden.” Reginald corrected, “And all that wood will get them through next year’s winter.”

“You mean all of this hard labor is for something that’s three hundred and sixty five days down the line?!”

Reginald smiled, returning his axe to the tree he’d been working on all morning. “Yes, it is. The longer the wood seasons…” He swung the axe into the tree, noting that he was at the halfway mark, “…the better it burns. But I’m not trying to keep you busy, Jayden. If you’d rather return home and continue that discussion with your father, you’re welcome too.”

“No, sir. Chopping the wood, sir.”

Reginald repressed a chuckle as he heard the resounding thunk of Jayden’s axe cutting into the tree.

“Think of it this way, Jayden.” Uriel said as he rose over the cliff face behind Jayden. “By the time you get finished with all of this wood, and your father finishes the addition to your house, you guys’ll be too tired to argue.”

“Thank you, Uriel. That makes me feel a lot better.”

Uriel smirked as he passed by Jayden, who glared at him in between swings. Reginald smiled at the two and returned to his own work, noting the height of the sun. It was still early, but half of the forest would have to be down by nightfall, and they were already behind.

Odd, the thought flashed through his mind as he took in the sky, it’s not usually this red out…

“Dad,” Uriel began, stepping through dry pine needles as he approached his father, “The boat to Briton is just about full. I think we should send it off.”

Jayden looked at Uriel knowingly. Reginald swung his axe one last time into the stubborn pine tree he had been working on all morning. He turned to his son, smiling, and wiping his brow with the back of his hand. “Really? You certain of that, Uriel?”

Uriel froze. “Yes.”

Reginald smiled. “Is that right? Because you don’t seem sure.”

“No, dad, trust me, I’m sure.”

“I tell you what. Let’s go take a look.”

Jayden chuckled, returning to work, taking downward swings into the trunk of his tree. Reginald glanced at him as he passed by; the boy was making good progress.

Uriel nearly stumbled over himself to keep up with his father. “No, dad, really, trust me, please. It’s fine. It’s full. I mean it’s really full.”

Reginald nodded quickly as he approached the edge of the cliff, rotating his right shoulder as he rubbed out an old ache earned from years of hard work. More than a hundred feet below, the water flowed audibly and powerfully towards the west, where it would open into the Atherean several miles away. Tied to the stone wall were three wooden rafts, each bearing the flag of the village they belonged too. Eudoras, the smallest of the three villages, ironically had the largest raft. Even from there, Reginald could see that the boat wasn’t even a third of the way full, but it wasn’t the first time that Uriel had tried to get out of the day’s chores.

“How about this, Uriel.” Reginald offered, spreading his wings, “Let’s go down there. If the boat isn’t completely filled up, you chop up the rest of the wood on your own, okay?”

Uriel blanched.

“No, it’ll be fine!” Reginald insisted, “You’ve been wanting to use an axe for a long time, right? Today can be that day! We just won’t tell your mom!”

Uriel pursed his lips. Reginald cocked his head, looking down at his son. “Unless you’d like to tell me something?”

“You’re mean, dad.”

“I know it’s hard work,” Reginald said, squatting to be closer to his son, “And I know you’d rather be doing anything else. But if we don’t do this, a lot of people are going to be cold throughout the winter. We don’t let people down once we’ve promised to do something, do we?”

After a moment, Uriel shook his head. Reginald smiled proudly, standing up and embracing his son. “Load one more cord,” Reginald said to Uriel, “and then you can go home. Jayden and I will take things from there.”

Reginald looked at Jayden, who had stopped working long enough to watch the exchange between father and son. Without saying anything, Jayden nodded in agreement. Reginald ushered his young son away, and Uriel dutifully took two of the triangular logs from the nearby pile and dove fearlessly from the cliff, spreading his wings as he took flight. Reginald stepped past Jayden, who had returned to work purposefully, and took his axe in hand. As he returned to the tree, he stole a glance at Jayden, who didn’t notice.

There had always been a longing in Jayden’s eyes when he observed Reginald with his children. Although Jayden would never admit it, Reginald knew that the boy hoped for the same type of relationship with his own father.

Reginald used to joke with his wife that Jayden’s first word must’ve been “no”, because it seemed that he and his father had been clashing since the day Jayden could speak. Jayden had made friends with Uriel, despite their age difference, so he had become welcome in the St. Morias home. Reginald had always wondered; conflicts between parents and children were rare before the Great Divide. In fact, everything had been different before Yin’s exile. Even the third dimension had begun to war with itself.

Not all of life’s changes were for the better, it seemed.

Someone can racing through the forest towards them, moving so fast that he nearly tripped on the uneven terrain.

“Jayden,” The young man forced between rapid breaths, “You…need to come home right now.”

Jayden dropped his axe almost at the same time Reginald did, and the two approached the young man, concerned. Behind them, Uriel alighted on the ground and jogged towards them.

The young man had braced himself by placing his hands on his knees; he been running for miles, obviously. The sole thought resonating through Reginald’s head as he approached the adolescent was wondering what could’ve been so urgent to come so far, so fast?

“What is it?” Jayden asked warily, stepping past Reginald.

“It’s your sister.”

The young man had been crying.

Jayden’s mouth fell open. “What about Bethany?”

“She’s…she’s hurt really badly, Jayden…I think she’s passing on.”

Jayden didn’t wait to hear the rest of the sentence. Spreading his wings, he bolted into the sky, followed closely by Reginald and Uriel.

It felt like the entire town of Jordan had crowded into the Zeneca family’s modest five-bedroom home. A throng of curious Angels was stacked outside the house, funneling their way into the front door. The young man who had brought the news quickly rejoined his family outside as they arrived, and Reginald led Jayden and Uriel through the crowd, which quickly parted when they realized who had arrived.

The front room of the Zeneca house was a testament to the patriarch’s hunting ability, as there were two eight-point bucks facing one another in a homemade mount that must’ve taken months to complete. Above them was an eagle with its wings spread, also mounted and equally dead. Reginald remembered John, Jayden’s father, being reprimanded for striking down an animal not intended for food. His own family had objected to the stuffing, but John had been proud of the shot. Reginald found it macabre, and tried to avoid looking at the display.

There were nearly thirty people jammed into the front room, all of them conversing, wanting to know what happened, and crying. They became silent as Jayden passed them, beelining for the staircase at the end of the room. “It’s her older brother,” one of the Angels said as Jayden took to the stairs. Reginald instructed his reluctant son to stay downstairs and find his mother; there was no telling what happened to Bethany.

The wide, wooden staircase was lined with Angels who had arrived to see what had happened; they parted as Reginald and Jayden approached. Their wings propelled them as they took the stairs six at a time, bounding to the top in two leaps.

Five bedrooms lined the long, rustic hallway; all of the doors were closed but the one at the end of the hallway, to the right; Bethany’s room. Reginald and Jayden pushed their way through a narrow crowd of Angels, who parted and pressed themselves against the wall to let them through. Jayden burst into the room first, scanning for Bethany first on her bed–and finding her on the floor.

The sight caused him to gasp, and Reginald brought a hand, immediately looking away. The girl had been butchered.

She was being cradled by their mother, Marcee, whose shoulder-length blond hair looked ratty and disheveled, as though she had spent many nights sleeping in the wild. Her face was patchy and red from so much crying, and she rocked her daughter gently, humming a lullaby she had sung to them when they were children.

Bethany lay motionless in her mother’s arms, hands at her sides, head listed to the side, eyes closed. She was sickly pale, and her breathing was rapid and shallow. A pool of blood had dried beneath her, and a pile of reddened towels had been haplessly piled in a corner. Jayden felt a rush of rage pass over him as he observed his sister’s badly damaged wing, more than half of it missing.

Both Reginald and Jayden stopped breathing as they realized what what was happening; no effort was being made to save Bethany. There was nothing else anyone could do.

Almost involuntarily, Jayden collapsed to his knees at Bethany’s feet. “Beth…?” He managed, forcing tears back down his throat, he took her hand; it was cold. “Beth…can you hear me…?”

His mother either ignored him or didn’t notice him at all.

Something came storming up the stairs with enough force to bring the entire house down. Jayden was too engrossed with his sister to notice. Reginald looked at the open doorway just in time to see John, their father, explode onto the scene.

A big Angel with full facial hair, Reginald was almost surprised to see his face crack with emotion at the sight of his daughter dying. “Bethany?” His voice was still deep and rumbling, “Bethany? What’s the matter with you?”

As his eyes drifted towards Jayden, they changed from shock to pure rage. “You…” He growled.

Jayden still hadn’t noticed him.

John began to charge him.

Reginald blocked his path, staring the larger Angel in the eyes. “John, what’re you doing?!” Reginald hissed.

“Get out of my way, Reginald.” John threatened, “Don’t stand between my daughter and I!”

“I’m not.” Reginald shook his head, “I’m standing between you and your son.”

“My SON?!” John bellowed, shaking the house, “Tell me, son!” John now looked over Reginald’s shoulder to address Jayden directly, “Where were you when this happened?! Why weren’t you looking out for your little sister?!”

Jayden slowly looked up, tears coming down his face. It was as though he was just then becoming aware of his father’s presence. “What…?” He replied, his voice ragged.

“WHY WEREN’T YOU OUT THERE WITH THEM–” John’s bellow was loud enough to shake the house, but an unspoken thought hit them all at once. Wide-eyed and terrified, Marcee looked up at John, who had suddenly frozen.

Reginald was the first to say it aloud. “Where are Darryl and Jayce?”

“No!!” The word exploded from Bethany, who suddenly sprung to life. She sprang from the floor, scrambling to Reginald and clutching his shirt with such ferocity that he was forced to his knees. Inches from the girl’s face, Reginald found it impossible to look away; the girl’s eyes were wide, bloodshot…and utterly horrified. Her entire body was quivering; it was taking everything she had to hold on.

Looking in her eyes, Reginald understood; it was taking the last of what she had.

“They’re gone, they’re gone…” She managed, her voice shaky and determined, “They got eaten, okay?” She shook her head. “Don’t…don’t go after them, please, please, please…they’re gone, nothing’s gonna save them, they’re gone, they’re just gone…”

Reginald couldn’t help but feel sorry for the girl. What did you see out there? He Reached, pushing his thought into her mind so she could save her strength.

Blood. Death. Death like they do in that other place, with all that blood.

Other place…you mean in the third dimension, Bethany?

She nodded, although she didn’t speak.

Yeah, yeah, like that. Reginald, they ate my brothers, they ate my brothers…please, please tell Jayden.

Her entire body began to quake, and Reginald wrapped his arm around her back, taking her hand and nodding. “It’s okay, Bethany.” He spoke aloud, lowering her gently to the floor. “It’s okay. Rest now, please…”

She closed her eyes, going limp in his arms as her listed to the side. “You rest now.” He whispered. “Rest–”

Her breathing had stopped, as all movement had. Reginald, stunned, looked her up and down before clutching her wrist. He then repressed tears.

“Rest.” He whispered one last time before standing up.

Marcee was the first to begin sobbing, quickly picking up her daughter and holding her close, rocking. Other cries broke out across the house.

Jayden, who hadn’t blinked in nearly two minutes, slowly stood up, unable to take his eyes away from Bethany as she was cradled in her mother’s arms. He staggered backwards before falling against the wall.

Reginald was in such shock that he didn’t see John move until it was too late. The large Angel had crossed a third of the room in a single step, raised his hand over the unexpecting Jayden, and struck him to the ground with an open-handed slap. The crack reverberated throughout the entire house, snapping everyone out of their shock.

“DAMN YOU, BOY!” John bellowed, “WHERE WERE YOU?! WHERE WERE YOU WHEN YOUR BROTHERS AND SISTER WERE FOLLOWING YOUR LEAD?! WHERE WERE YOU THIS MORNING?”

Reginald pinned John’s arms behind his back and began to drag him away from Jayden, unaware that the boy was getting up. “John!” Reginald urged, “He’s still your son!”

“HE SHOULD’VE BEEN OUT THERE WITH THEM!!” John declared, loud enough to be heard two towns over.

From nowhere, Jayden barreled into his father, catching him at the midsection and knocking them all the ground. Pinned beneath them, Reginald had to struggle to get out from under John even as Jayden climbed atop him, and began throwing fist after fist into his face.

“Where was I, old man?!” Jayden seethed, “Where were you?! Or were you out looking for me again, looking for a way I had failed you yet again? Where were you when your children snuck away from your house?!”

Jayden was bloodying his father’s face and showed no signs of stopping, a dark red aura enveloping his body as he continued the assault. John was barely moving, although Reginald imagined that John was raising his hands in an attempt to fight Jayden off.

Jayden, now firmly pulsating a red aura, stopped beating his father and reached down, clutching him by the shirt and hoisting him upwards. “It should’ve been me?” He slammed his father back into the wooden floor with enough force to crack a rib, “It should have been both of us.”

Jayden seemed to become aware of his Luminescence only as he rose, and found all eyes on him. Reginald saw the emotions pass through the boy’s eyes; anguish, pain, shock, disbelief, and the color of his own aura; sheer, unadulterated rage.

Reginald wondered how long that had been building up.

“Reginald.” John was speaking, spitting up blood and teeth as he slowly rose from the floor. “I only have one son left. Get this thing out of my house.”

Jayden’s mouth fell open, but only for a moment. His father turned to the door and slowly plodded from the room, the bystanders making way for him.

As Jayden’s Luminescence faded, Reginald approached him, putting his arm around him. “Come.” he invited. “You can stay at my house until we get all of this worked out.”

(c) Avery K. Tingle for Akting Out LLC

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I am proud to announce the upcoming publication of my very first book, Universal Warrior: Atherean Defenders [Redux]. This upcoming e-novella tells of the very first battle in war between Heaven and Hell. The story occurs during the Alpha period, a few generations after Adam and Eve, as political tensions in Heaven finally escalate to violence.

One early spring morning, three Angels go stunt-diving over the Atherean Sea, Heaven’s largest body of water.  Only one comes home. Her final thoughts speak of unspeakable terrors that have overtaken the sea, and all of Heaven cries out for vengeance.

Reginald St. Morias, a small-town lumberjack, finds himself reluctantly pressed into service, leading a small force into the heart of the sea. Although his instructions conflict with his faith, Reginald, and those he leads, soon find themselves in battle with an impossible enemy, one who has no known weaknesses, feeds on fear, pain, and suffering, and originates from the worst place imaginable, a place that will become known in all languages as the final destination of the damned.

Universal Warrior: Atherean Defenders [Redux] is a story about the loss of paradise, and the struggle to hold onto one’s faith in the face of senseless madness. It is about the struggle to accept who are, so you may become who you are meant to be. This is the very first battle in a war that will rage on for centuries.

Universal Warrior: Atherean Defenders [Redux] will be available for digital download on November 1, 2011, to coincide with the relaunch of http://universalwarrioronline.com.

The e-novella will be made available to anyone who wants it at absolutely no charge.

Stay tuned for more details as the release date draws nearer.

(c) Avery K. Tingle for Akting Out LLC

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As he passed over the lake of fire, Reginald locked eyes with one of the many damned. It howled, reaching up for him desperately. Another one leapt from the lake and pounced on it, pushing it back below the surface. Its hand was the last to go. The scream would stay with him forever.

“Nothing you can do now.” Angelica Reached into his mind, “We have to save Lihua and Jayden!”

“I know…” Reginald replied sadly. He hesitated a moment longer and then turned away, arms ahead of him as though flying as he streaked through the water. Jayden and Lihua were roughly fifty yards ahead, ferociously engaging Rahab. Jayden seemed to be doing most of the work; he would attack, get knocked several feet away, and re-engage. The closer they drew, the stronger Jayden’s thoughts became; the boy was weakening, and he knew he was no match for Poseidon’s killer, but it didn’t matter; no matter the cost, Jayden was determined to kill Rahab.

Surprisingly, Lihua appeared skilled at hand-to-hand combat, although her movements were awkward and Rahab was capitalizing; she wasn’t used to her new body yet, wasn’t familiar with how far she could push it. Still, she held her own; Rahab seemed intent on grabbing her, but Lihua would slip away and push him off-balance before he could do any damage. Which was good for her; Rahab seemed intent on eating her. Reginald felt Angelica’s mind and realized they were thinking the same thing; if Jayden and Lihua were to work together, Rahab may have had a problem. Now, all they could do was get there before it was too late; Reginald drew his axes and accelerated. They had closed the distance to mere feet. “Remember,” Reginald reached to everyone, “we want him alive. Don’t damn yourself for him.”

“I won’t.” Angelica’s was the only response. Reginald feared that his words would be lost on the young ones. Even as he entered the fray, he struggled to remember what it was that Rahab had called Lihua…lilen? What exactly was that?

Time for analytical thought was over. “Angelica.” Reginald ordered as Lihua wrenched away from Rahab, “Take his mind.”

Angelica smiled–coldly–at Rahab as she clenched her fists, and the demon arched backwards, hands raised to his ears as a forked tongue appeared to spasm its way out of his mouth. He screamed a terrible, piercing shriek as he appeared to convulse, slowly buckling under Angelica’s mental assault.

Jayden recovered from Rahab’s last assault and saw an opportunity; clutching his knife, he dove towards the demon, blade raised for the killing blow. At the last second, Reginald intercepted Jayden’s wrist and jerked the boy’s arm downwards, forcing Jayden to look him in the eye. “Li,” Angelica reached to Lihua, “Circle and grasp. I’ll hold him here.”

“Oh, is that what you’ll do…” Rahab began to overpower Angelica’s telepathy as Lihua began to circle around to his left side, reaching into his mind. “You know what I am,” her tone was menacing, “And you know you can’t stop one of my kind.”
“Shut up, damn you.”

“It’s time, Rahab.” Lihua’s tone was mocking comfort. “It’s time to go home.”

Reginald looked to Jayden. “Have you lost your mind?!” He bellowed into the boy’s mind, “Don’t you know what’ll happen to you if you kill him?!”

Jayden’s eyes were black as he merely looked back to Reginald, and that’s when the elder Angel knew.

The rock foundation ahead of them suddenly exploded outwards, sending all of them tumbling through the water, which had abruptly become hot. There was a horrifying, deafening roar that emerged from the gaping hole in the wall of the Atherean, overtaking the sea. It slowly, distinctly said Rahab’s name. Rahab began swimming for dear life, moving away from the vacuuming abyss that had suddenly become the most dominant thing in the ocean.

“This is our chance!” Angelica strained to Reach them, “Grab him now!”

“No!” Reginald shot back, trying to regain balance in the water, “Send him back! Drive him back into the hole!”

“He’s not leaving here alive.” That final thought came from Jayden.

Reginald realized that he could not let Jayden be damned…no matter what. The family had lost enough. But that meant that something terrible had to be done.

The suction from the screaming black hole had increased, as though the thing was becoming frustrated. The one it wanted was almost treading water, desperate to get away. Lihua descended upon him, dropping the heel of her foot squarely into the center of his spine. Rahab was splayed out, but recovered quicker than anyone imagined; he whipped around and caught Lihua’s ankle before she could pull away. As the two were drawn towards the abyss, Lihua’s eyes turned black, and talons began protruding from her nails.

“Lihua, no!” Angelica bulled her way into Lihua, knocking the girl free from Rahab’s grasp. Rahab, feral with terror at being pulled back into the hole, clutched Angelica and jerked her close. He sunk his teeth into her throat and ripped something free; she struggled momentarily before floating lifelessly away.

Reginald landed squarely on Rahab’s back and buried one of his axes into the demon’s shoulder. Rahab screamed, and as the two were drawn into the abyss, Reginald pulled the blade free and struck again, severing the demon’s arm.

The look Rahab gave to Reginald would haunt him for the rest of his life.

Reginald sprung from Rahab before they could both be taken. Jayden was approaching from underneath Rahab, prepared to eviscerate the demon from below. There was no time to dive and save the boy from himself. One way to ensure he wasn’t damned.

Closing his eyes, free from the pull of the abyss, Reginald raised his axe high overhead and hurled it towards Jayden.

He didn’t see what happened next. He heard the blade find its mark, felt the abyss cease, and knew it was over.

(c) Avery K. Tingle for Akting Out LLC

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“Your lair?” Reginald echoed cautiously. “Just who are you, again?”

“Me?” Rahab appeared cheerful, spreading his arms and raising his head. “I’m Rahab, the King of the Seas!”

“The king of the seas…” Reginald trailed off, attempting to gauge Rahab, “…so…what happened to Poseidon?”

Rahab suddenly lunged forward, grasping his trident as if leaning on it. The gesture caused the four to jerk back apprehensively. “Who?” As Rahab asked, he reared back in an exaggerated motion, looking up and tapping his chin. “Oh, that old bore. Well, he chose to retire…”

Rahab dug his index finger into his mouth, picking between his teeth. “…after dinner.”

Able to perceive Rahab’s thoughts, Angelica winced, “You monster…”

“Ahh, but enough boring chatter! Tell me; what have you brought me?” Rahab looked to the four expectantly. Reginald frowned. “What?”

Rahab snapped his fingers twice, causing the four to jump again. “Come on, Reginald, keep up! It may be polite to bring a gift when you’re invited to someone’s home, but trespassing and showing up empty-handed is just rude.”

For a moment, the Atherean was deathly silent.

“I mean, three kids broke in without bringing anything and my kids mistook them for h’ordeuvres–”

“I have something for you.” Jayden snarled. In a single, deft motion, Jayden drew a knife from his ankle and hurled it end-over-end towards Rahab. Even as Reginald reached out vainly to stop Jayden, Rahab merely knocked the knife away with a jerk of the trident, and it floated harmlessly away over his shoulder.

“Are you crazy?!” Reginald bellowed telepathically, glaring at Jayden. The thought was so fierce that Angelica winced, raising her hands to her ears protectively. “What if you had killed him?!”

Rahab’s mouth fell open. “Reginald. You can’t be serious.”

His ‘eyes’, large, empty black holes, drifted over towards Lihua, who suddenly unfolded her arms and held her breath. “Egads! Can it be?” Rahab exclaimed, “Reginald! Where did you ever find one of those?!”

“What…?” Reginald slowly turned from Rahab to Lihua as Angelica drifted towards her protectively. “Milady!” Rahab continued, extending a welcoming hand towards her, “You beautiful little Lilen delicacy! You are most welcome here!”

“Stay the hell away from me.” Lihua spat.

Reginald felt the breath ripped from his body. “How do you know about…?”

“Don’t speak of it.” Rahab’s words were quick and quiet. “It’s not a nice place.”

Reginald looked up to Angelica, who seemed to be observing everything at once. Her eyes shot from place to place, although the Atherean seemed to be vacant save for the five of them. “What is it?” Reginald asked.

“They look like the water,” Angelica replied, her thought hushed, “but we’re not alone. They’re everywhere.”

“Oh, they won’t hurt you.” Rahab’s tone had eerily switched from excited control to mild fear. “You brought a gift. Simply hand over the Lilen and you’re welcome to stay and have some–”

“Rahab.”

The voice was dark, deep, female, and omnipresent. As the Atherean shook with her presence, Reginald and Lihua locked eyes, and they knew who had suddenly arrived.

Yin.

“So this is where you’ve been. Tell me how you escaped.” Her voice was both soft and threatening, omnipresent as it shook the Atherean.

The ground exploded underneath them and a wall of steam hissed as it shot upwards, blocking the four from Rahab. Reginald tried to peer through the obtuse veil and could barely discern Rahab covering his face. He was no longer smiling, and his trident had dropped to the ground.

Angelica suddenly clasped her head and arched back sharply, opening her mouth in a muted scream. “You four.” That was Yin, and her tone was not pleasant, “Leave this place.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” Jayden declared. Horrified, Reginald turned back to the boy just in time to see him pull a second blade, concealed at the small of his back. His form was more fluid, the throw more precise–as though the first throw had been a feint–as he sent the blade hurtling towards Rahab. It passed through the steam and imbedded firmly into flesh with a sickening thunk.

Rahab screamed.

Lihua suddenly shot past Reginald’s right side, and he discerned blood in her eyes as she disappeared into the veil. He looked back to Angelica, who was nearly hyperventilating as she recovered from the Yin’s psychic assault. The look of loss she gave him mirrored his own.

Yin laughed. It was not kind laughter.

“No.” Reginald breathed. He glanced down to the Atherean floor, as the steam began disintegrating. His mouth fell open; his mind could barely process what he saw.

A gaping hole had been torn open in the stone foundation. Bright, orange magma flooded the hole, and the heat generated from the pool could probably be felt for miles. Reginald felt like he was trapped in a sauna.

In the hole were torched, humanoid beings who reached out of the liquid desperately, only to have a wave drown them. Their screams were pervasive and eternal; there were scores of them, so many of them that the magma could barely be perceived. And Reginald knew exactly what he was looking at.

In the distance, through the haze, Reginald could make out Jayden and Lihua, who were in hard pursuit of Rahab. Poseidon’s killer appeared to be swimming for his life.

“We have to stop them.” Angelica panted, worn down. Reginald nodded. “I know.” He shot off after the three, feeling Angelica’s urgency as she joined him. Too many things could go wrong–had gone wrong at this point. The least they could do was keep Jayden from killing Rahab.

(c) Avery K. Tingle for Akting Out LLC

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“Look…”

Angelica was the first to break the mental silence. An hour-long excursion into the Atherean had turned up nothing, literally; the Atherean was eerily, unnaturally silent. Not a single fish, dolphin, or even a shark had presented itself. Beyond that, even the plant life was oddly missing; no brightly-colored flora decorated the pale blue jagged formations that jutted up from the ocean floor.

Nothing was left; as though every life in the sea had been suddenly driven to extinction.

Yet, they were not alone, Reginald knew that. The ever-present tingle at the base of his spine reminded him of that. His eyes darted left and right across the expanse, his breath coming quickly, so as not to give away their position; something was watching them, waiting for them.

Hunting them.

Angelica, behind them, pointed to something that glinted, half-buried in the Atherean’s sandy floor. Reginald followed her eyes and his heart sank; now he understood why Zeus had been so angry.

Jayden, who had taken point, landed first, followed by Reginald, then the ever-apprehensive Lihua and Angelica. “Is that…?” Angelica Reached to all of them, pointing to the long, rusting object. Reginald nodded sadly, pulling the item from the sand. “It is…” He acknowledged. “Poseidon’s trident.”

The weapon had once belonged the king of the seas, Zeus’ cousin. Now, acquiring mold with two of its trines bent out of shape, a cold fear enveloped Reginald; whatever had slain the Poseidon now controlled the Atherean.

“We need to take this back to Zeus.” Reginald Reached, tucking the ruined weapon into his belt at his back.

“Why’re you crying?” Jayden’s tone was accusatory, and aimed at Lihua. She quickly wiped her eyes and shook her head. “I’m not…” Her Reach was meek, “I just…I…”

“The sea king is dead, Jayden.” Angelica chastised, “I think we’re all a little shaken.”

“She’s right.” Reginald confirmed, “The creature that did this is beyond all of us.”

“Poseidon was one being.” Jayden replied, “And my brothers and sisters were unprepared. We’re hunting it now; it’s not going to be able to take all four of us.” His last line was aimed distrustfully at Lihua.

Angelica suddenly looked off into the distance; something had caught her mental attention. The three of them whipped to her line of sight, reaching for their weapons. A school of twenty goldfish lingered, hovering in the distance some fifty yards away. They were in a diamond formation, bobbing in the water observantly.

“Finally, some answers.” Jayden growled. He Reached out to the fish. They didn’t respond.

Reginald felt Jayden’s attempt and reinforced it with his own. Again, nothing.

The fish slowly approached.

Angelica’s Reach was more powerful than all of their combined, and the question was simple enough; “What has happened here?”

Reginald saw horror descend onto Angelica’s face. Lihua’s fists clenched.

The thought was an alarm that blared to all of them. Those are not goldfish!

The fish accelerated.

“Everyone scatter!” Reginald ordered. Jayden went his own way, lunging towards the crimson fish, knife drawn. Reginald drew his axes, darting left, as Angelica began ascending and Lihua merely stepped back, raising open hands.

The fish were quick, and all teeth. Reginald quickly dodged to the right as two fish shot past his left arm, bringing one of his axes down on one of them, cleaving it in half. He could feel Jayden’s bloodlust as the boy engaged seven of them–wiping out five with quick, violent slashes. For a brief moment, Reginald and Jayden made eye contact as the last red-bellied fish fell in two-pieces. Jayden’s smile worried him.

Angelica hovered above all of another seven of them as they approached her mindlessly, baring hundreds of fangs that fit impossibly into tiny mouths. Before they could reach her, Angelica looked to them, blinking, putting her hand at her head–the fish seized in mid-swim, and then floated lifelessly to the floor. Reginald felt a mild twinge at the front of his head, and no longer wondered why Odin and Zeus had insisted upon her coming with them.

Lihua seemed to lose herself in the fray, but her movements were neither wild, nor violent. The water didn’t even react to her. One fish went for her ankle; she merely stepped out of the way. Another tried to eviscerate her, she simply pivoted. She clutched that fish and squeezed, and it was no longer a threat. An open-palm strike to the temple of another fish ended that threat as well. She then waited, exhaling, hands open, as the remaining fish continued to circle her. The peace she exuded belied the apprehension she had shown thus far.

A wave of stale air blasted past all of them, sending Jayden and Angelica tumbling through the water before they recovered. Reginald and Lihua shielded themselves, suddenly buffeted by a water-borne hurricane that came from nowhere. When it cleared, they were no longer under attack.

Instead, Reginald, Jayden, Angelica, and Lihua found themselves looking at a monster. The few fish that remained hovered obediently at its side.

It was pale, sickly, like a well-built corpse. It was muscular, blue veins protruding at various points from its body. Its fingers were thickly webbed, and in its left hand, it carried an off-white trident that matched its skin, and looked as though it could’ve been made of rubber.

It had no eyes, only black holes where eyes should’ve been. A flat, gill-like nose and sharpened yellow teeth. Large, webbed ears completed the creature. It looked like a bastardized version of Poseidon.

And Reginald knew he was looking at the creature that had slain the king of the sea.

“Who are you?” Reginald demanded, trying to mask his fear.

For a moment, the creature said nothing, slowly lowering its head. After a moment, it snapped up, as if suddenly becoming aware of their presence. “Who, me?” He pointed to himself in mock innocence. “I’m Rahab. Welcome to my seas.”

(c) Avery K. Tingle for Akting Out LLC

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Modern Magic Enterprises LTD was…well, I’m not sure what it was. I pulled the first half of the name from a comic book that published Voltron back in the day, the second half just seemed natural. When I thought I knew a little something about business, I added the LTD to sound cool. Truthfully, it was supposed to be an LLC, I knew enough to know that was probably my best option, but be damned if I was going to put money into it. Not when there were so many games I wanted.

Modern Magic Enterprises LTD was supposed to be my ticket to the top. I wasn’t sure what it was supposed to be, but I was going to beat you over the head with it until I ruled the world. I wanted to make games and movies, but I had little idea how to do it, and it didn’t take long for people to figure this out—no matter how self-assured I came off. I learned a lot over the years, trying to get this business off the ground. I learned how to write business and marketing plans, I learned about the business of video games and movies, I learned how computer animation works, and I became really good at recruiting people. So good, in fact, that two schools actually sent me demo reels of their graduating classes—even though I wasn’t paying anybody.

We didn’t do so bad; at our peak, we were a team of over thirty writers, animators, concept artists, modelers, texture artists (DIVAS!!!), level designers, and audio technicians. We assembled multiple design documents and even brought game to demo stage; Rabid Jack Thrash, which was supposed to be a tribute to our favorite video games, featured our company mascot (a red rabbit) who assumed the powers of whatever famous game character he assimilated. It was a 2D platformer for Xbox Live Arcade (I think), and it was as close as we ever got to success.

Unfortunately, truth be told, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. Drive will take you so far, but nothing makes up for ignorance.

Time after time, after time again, Modern Magic Enterprises LTD fell apart.

So a couple of years ago, the idea of putting together a business all but abandoned, I discovered that I wanted to be a writer. Amazingly (and don’t think there isn’t a day that goes by I’m not grateful for this) I have a few friends who actually found me through my writing. As I continue to walk this road and establish a presence on the web, suddenly, an idea hits me.

I’ve been using the name “Modern Magic Enterprises LTD” for over a decade now…and I never was able to take it anywhere. The world knows that. I may not take this next vision anywhere, but I believe that if I apply the lessons I learned from MMLTD to this—as I have my whole life—I’ll increase my chances of succeeding.

So with that, I would like to make Modern Magic Enterprises LTD’s final announcement.

From August 2, 2010 on out, I will be doing business as Nomadic Productions LLC. The LLC isn’t official yet; incorporation will occur summer 2011.

I want to provide the best story-based experiences in the world. I want to do this through the written word and both interactive and non-interactive media.

The first product released will be a free ebook entitled “Universal Warrior: Atherean Defenders”, which will compile all six chapters of the Flash Fiction series into a single novel. The ebook will be distributed free of charge from…well, you’ll see as it gets closer. Don’t want to announce something I can’t promise yet (lesson learned the hard way).

Also, Universal Warrior: Atherean Defenders will also be released as Nomadic Productions LLC’s first animated film series. The project will use RealIllusion’s iClone software. Release date and price TBA.

If you want to be kept up on Universal Warrior, you can join the fan page on Facebook.

Thanks for reading.

(c) Avery K. Tingle for Akting Out LLC

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The grassy hills of Mt. Olympus were situated several miles above Heaven, so high that Reginald St. Morias could easily make out its three major cities and scores of suburbs. From here, it seemed both beautiful and conglomerated; Angels were growing wings at younger ages, walking was quickly becoming outdated, and structures were being practically being built on top of each other. Reginald wondered how long it would be before Heaven looked like Asgard; one big marble city with absolutely no walking space.

His thought process was interrupted by the THUNK that had been happening for the last two hours. Exasperated, Reginald slowly turned from the edge of the mountain, back to his young apprentice. Jayden St. Zeneca strode purposefully, jerking what had once been his brother’s knife from the large tree in Zeus’ front yard. He was now throwing from twenty feet away and burying the blade with each toss. As he raised his hand preparedly, Reginald cleared his throat. “You ever stop to think that maybe Zeus likes that tree?” He chastised gently. Irritated that his concentration had been broken, Jayden glowered at Reginald, “I don’t think he’ll mind, Reginald.”

“You want to chance that with someone who can catch lightning?”

As if on cue, a single bolt of lightning, unaccompanied by thunder, struck behind the small thatched hut twenty feet away. Jayden’s look softened, and Reginald smiled. Resigned, Jayden replaced the blade at his ankle. “Not really.”

Reginald smiled, looking warily to the hut. He knew the lightning had nothing to do with Jayden’s activities; Zeus and Odin were arguing, and Zeus had always had a temper…

Reginald barely finished the thought before the brown drapes that served as the hut’s doors were thrown open; Zeus and Odin emerged. There were two women with them, both strikingly beautiful, one tall and tan, the other short, pale, and pensive.

“Sorry for the delay.” Zeus said in a hushed voice, shaking hands with first Reginald, then Jayden. “We had…issues…to work through.” He exchanged a dark look with Odin, who did not appear intimidated. “Meaning we wished to be certain that you knew what you were asking. Do you know what will happen if you are discovered?”

Jayden nodded. “Yes, I do.”

“Reginald,” Odin asked, “Are you sure you’re willing risk your family this way?”
Reginald nodded. “They understand. My children play in the Atherean and…” he hesitated, “…Mariah and Bethany were close.”

Odin nodding, understanding. Bethany’s death had been the hardest to bear; it had been hoped she would recover.

“Yang can never know about this,” Zeus seethed, looking directly at Jayden, “You scour the Atherean, find whatever did this to your family, and you…” He looked to the two women, “you deal with it.”

“Sir,” Reginald interjected, “When you say ‘deal with it’, you mean ‘apprehend the murderers’, right?”
Zeus said nothing, only glaring.
Reginald continued, “For a moment, it seemed you were telling a young boy to commit an Unforgivable Act.”
Zues paused before saying, “…no, of course not, unless he felt he had no choice. But if it came to that, I would hope you would not hesitate.”
“Only if it came to that.” Odin said quickly, “Their law doesn’t have exceptions pertaining to Unforgivable Acts.”

“Theirs doesn’t. Ours does.”

“They’re not bound by our laws!” Odin thundered. Again, lightning struck in the distance as the two brothers faced off confrontationally. “My lords,” the tall, tan Angel said, placing a hand on Zues’ shoulder, “We will solve this problem in a way that satisfies everyone.” Her last line was directed at Jayden, who had blood in his eyes.

“Something in the water killed and ate three children.” Zeus seethed, “That is an unforgivable act. One deserves another.”
Zeus stared down at his brother. “Tell me you would not take revenge if you had your wife’s killer before you now.”

Odin said nothing.

“We won’t know how to proceed until we know what we’re dealing with. We won’t know that until we’re in the water.” Reginald spoke firmly, “So the sooner we leave, the sooner we can solve the problem.”

Odin nodded. “Agreed.” He looked to the two women. “This is Angelica St. Mihr,” he introduced the tall one first, whose smile was bright enough to light up Heaven, “and Lihua Fan. They’ll be going with you.”

“Pleased to meet you both.” Angelica beamed. Reginald studied the smaller, pale one, who seemed to shrink under his gaze. “No wings.” He mused. “How long have you been here…?”
Angelica put her arm around Lihua protectively. “She hasn’t been here long,” Angelica replied for her, “But she’s very strong, I promise. She won’t get in the way.”

Reginald saw a fear he could not articulate when Lihua finally made eye contact. She kept her arms folded over her midsection.

Zeus smirked in a way that made Reginald a little uncomfortable. “These girls have gifts. They may save your life out there.”
“They can come,” Jayden growled, finally speaking up, “As long as they stay out of the way.”
“You won’t have to worry about that.” Zeus quickly replied.
Odin glared at his brother for a moment and said to the others, “Do what you must and come home, that is what’s important.” He looked at Jayden, his eyes burning, “Don’t make your parents suffer the loss of another child.”

“The sea won’t get me, sir.”
“I’m not worried about the sea, boy.”

After a moment, Reginald nodded towards the sky. “Let’s go.”
Jayden leapt first, wings outstretched as he took to the air, followed by Reginald and Angelica, who carried Lihua. Reginald wasn’t sure if they would capture or kill their quarry. He remembered the look on his young daughter’s face when he had told her of Bethany’s violent passing. Sadness was not the only emotion in her face; there was also fear; she had been in the Atherean two days prior.

Reginald accelerated to get ahead of Jayden. Whatever had done this would answer for it.

(c) Avery K. Tingle for Akting Out LLC

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“Are you sure this is safe?” Bethany asked hesitantly, firmly gripping the outside rail of the bridge behind her. She dared to lean over, peering down four miles into the Atherean Sea below. Vertigo quickly set in as the water challenged her; rising and receding quickly. She leaned back against the cold iron railing, checking the multi-colored elastic rope fastened to her waist. Jayce, her older brother to her right, looked into the clear blue ocean as though he couldn’t wait to dive–again. Shirtless, wings pinned at his back, he was nearly hyperventilating with excitement. “Yes, Beth.” He replied, trying not to show impatience. “Look, this was your idea. If you’d rather we took you home…”

“I don’t wanna go home…” Beth objected, shaking her head, mindful that she was grasping the railing. “I just didn’t know how far a fall it was and…”

Darryl, older brother on the left, looked to Jayce knowingly. “I told you she was too little for this.”

Jayce smirked. Beth whirled on her brother. “I am not too little! I’m almost eight!”

Darryl reached down to Bethany, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Why don’t we try this again, Beth, when you’re nine? It won’t look so scary then…” His tone was blatantly condescending, and Beth scowled. “I’m not scared!” She lied, “Watch, I’ll even go first!”

Darryl and Jayce watched with astonished terror as Bethany threw herself from the bridge, plummeting headfirst towards the sea. They leapt after her, arms outstretched to catch her even as she placed her arms at her sides, accelerating.

She closed her eyes and smiled; the wind frapping against her face, the scent of fresh sea-salt, and the seagulls calling in the distance as though welcoming her…for a moment, she understood why her brothers did this for fun.

Then she nearly forgot what she was supposed to do.

She opened her eyes and outstretched her arms–the water was now yards away and closing fast–she had to focus, focus…thirty yards, twenty yards, ten yards…

Now she could hear her brother’s Reaching into her head, yelling at her in genuine horror, screaming at her to loose her wings, for paralysis was only scant feet away The water was so close that she could perceive stripes of swimming fish…

Something burst from her shoulder blades; her descent leveled out and saved her from what would’ve been a disastrous belly flop–why didn’t the rope break?–and she quickly found herself arcing upwards, forcing her wings to flap, pushing the wind behind her, and rising to safety–

A deafening, bone-crunching impact was heard below as something hit the water with so much force that droplets shot several feet up. Instinctively, she Reached out to her brothers even as she turned…and could only feel Jayce. His attention was now entirely focused on Darryl, and Bethany realized with horror that she had been given the wrong rope; Darryl’s swung lifelessly in the breeze, hanging from the bridge.

Bethany heard Jayce use the knife he kept at his ankle to cut his own rope and fall freely into the water.

Then all was silent.

Not even the seagulls could be heard after a moment. The world went still.

Bethany Reached; nothing conscious came back; only wrenching, horrible agony from deep within the water. She stifled tears as she tried not to imagine how much pain the fall had caused Darryl. Strangely, she could no longer feel Jayce.

Suddenly exhausted as she realized she had not stopped flapping her new wings, Bethany hung in the air and dropped slowly towards the water. She frowned, certain that her eyes were playing tricks; the water appeared discolored as she drew closer, opaque and…

…by Yang, is that a leg…?!

Something exploded through the surface, something that stole the breath from her body. It was pale blue, eight long tentacles that shot upwards towards her, threatening to draw her into an monstrous center that was only teeth. It roared like nothing she’d heard before, like metal scraping against metal.

Bethany tried to flap and push herself away from the thing, but it shot its eight arms downward and rocketed towards her. Terrified, whimpering as the thing came for her, Bethany tried to turn and fly away, but it managed to take hold of her left wing and tore it off, yanking violently to severe the feathery muscles.

Bethany’s vision swam; she couldn’t scream as she fell. As consciousness left her, she didn’t feel the pleasantness that accompanied a body going into self-healing; this was something else, something wrong, as though she would never open her eyes again.

Fear kept her awake, but only barely. The thing eating her was distracted; busy drinking the blood that ran from her wound into the sea. It was down there, waiting for her…what is that thing…

Something caught her; the sudden jolt momentarily brought her back to her senses. She looked up to her rescuer and saw Darryl, a look of pain and horror unlike anything she’d ever seen on him before; bleeding from his head, bite marks on both arms, wings shredded, she could feel a few fingers of his missing…along with one of his legs. He wasn’t blinking; she didn’t even think he was breathing. He was ascending on pure willpower, trying to get them back to the bridge before…

The metal roar erupted from behind them. Bethany looked down and saw that the Thing was coming back for them. Darryl grunted and hurled Bethany up towards the bridge with everything he had. The Thing wrapped a tentacle around Darryl’s waist and yanked him back towards the sea; Bethany managed to cling the railing before watching him dragged under.

Stay awake, she told herself, forcing herself over the railing and collapsing on the other side. She could no longer walk, think…she reached out helplessly to a carriage passing by and was relieved as they slowed down. “Help me…please…”

(c) Avery K. Tingle for Akting Out LLC

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A deafening, bone-crunching impact was heard below as something hit the water with so much force that droplets shot several feet up. Instinctively, she Reached out to her brothers even as she turned…and could only feel Jayce. His attention was now entirely focused on Darryl, and Bethany realized with horror that she had been given the wrong rope; Darryl’s swung lifelessly in the breeze, hanging from the bridge.

Bethany heard Jayce use the knife he kept at his ankle to cut his own rope and fall freely into the water.

Then all was silent.

Not even the seagulls could be heard after a moment. The world went still.

Bethany Reached and nothing conscious came back; only wrenching, horrible agony from deep within the water. She stifled tears as she tried not to imagine how much pain the fall had caused Darryl. Strangely, she could no longer feel Jayce.

Suddenly exhausted as she realized she had not stopped flapping her new wings, Bethany hung in the air and dropped slowly towards the water. She frowned, certain that her eyes were playing tricks; the water appeared discolored as she drew closer, opaque and…

…by Yang, is that a leg…?!

(c) Avery K. Tingle for Akting Out LLC

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“Milady, milady, oomph…”
Alyssa half-stumbled, half-barreled through the regal wooden doors of Lady Leeia’s private chambers. Anyone else may have caught the business end of the throwing dagger Lady Leeia kept under her pillow, but the longtime Valkryie Commander had grown accustomed to Alyssa’s haphazard entrances. As such, she merely rolled over and groaned, reluctantly shaking off the last of a deep sleep.
“…Alyssa. Good morning…ooph.” Whatever remained of a pleasant night was ripped away by the young girl’s pouncing on the pristine silk sheets, burying her knees in Lady Leeia’s stomach. Even as Lady Leeia fought to keep her wind, resisting the urge to throttle the child, little Alyssa was carelessly, enthusiastically tearing the covers away. “Milady, you need to see this! C’mon!”
“Okay, okay, Alyssa…may I breathe?” Lady Leeia swung her legs over off the side of the bed and reached up to the wall at her right. She first took down her customized right arm, the one she could turn into anything she wanted, although retirement provided little opportunity to use it beyond anything mundane. After fastening her arm to her shoulder, she quickly donned her jet-black armor. “Now.” Lady Leeia began, “what is the emergency?”
Alyssa, all of five years old, bound over the bed to stand beside Lady Leeia and without hesitation, clasped her artificial, metallic right hand. “Could you please take us to the third wing observatory, please?”
“Okay.” Lady Leeia nodded, “But we’re going to walk.”
Alyssa blanched. “Um, milady? Your way is so much quicker.”
“I know.” Lady Leeia smiled knowingly and held eye contact with Alyssa, “But it looks like such a beautiful morning. I’d rather walk.”
Alyssa lowered her head, nervously biting the nail on her index finger, and nodded. “…k.”
As they exited her private chambers, Lady Leeia was pleasantly surprised to find that things weren’t as bad as they used to be. Unfortunately, Alyssa had learned to run before she could walk, and had never really mastered either. Other Valkryies had been woken by Alyssa’s tear through the barracks and were once again cleaning up behind her, picking up falling busts and replacing the decorative carpets the child had accidentally taken down. The child moved like a tornado but was twice as destructive. The Valkryies threw polite nods at their leader and quick glares to the child.
When they reached the Third Wing Observatory two flights up, Lady Leeia considered letting the Valkryies have the girl. “Alyssa…how many times have I told you not to bother me with one of your moving pictures?!”
“I know, milady, I know. But just watch, please…?”
It was either that or hurling the child through the open window at the left. Lady Leeia chose the former. She didn’t have much taste for the fictional moving images the people of Earth put together, especially the phony-looking battle sequences of their more popular films.
Ten seconds into the film, she noticed this was indeed different. The only shirtless man in the scene engaged another, shorter man with a wooden bear-claw right hand. The lithe, shirtless man attacked with such ferocity and such flawlessness in his technique that Lady Leeia wondered if this might be the real thing. His scream, high-pitched and feral, shook her to the core.
Alyssa smiled at seeing Lady Leeia’s captivation. “You see? You see?”
Alyssa held out her hands and motioned as if pulling something apart. The images split in two, following her hand. This same man was now fully dressed, calmly walking with another, older man in yellow. They were discussing the philosophies of the martial arts…philosophies Lady Leeia hadn’t heard the likes of which since Michael St. Ambrose had come into his own.
There was definitely something different about this man. “Who is this?”
“He was born Lee Jun Fan,” Alyssa replied quickly, eager to please, “But they call him ‘Bruce Lee’ in Amer..Amery…”
“America.” Lady Leeia finished.
“Yes!” Alyssa exclaimed. “America. Milady, I think we should recruit him.”
“For what?! No man can become a Valkryie!”
“No, but a man can train the Valkryies, milady. Uriel St. Morias did, according the libraries.”
“You must not have read to the end of that chronicle and seen how that turned out.” Lady Leeia mused. “I was there. It’s a bad idea. Besides, the Valkryies don’t need training…”
Alyssa grew somber. This next part would be tricky. “Milady…mom.”
Lady Leeia looked down to Alyssa in shock. She hadn’t referred to her like that for a couple of years now. “The Olymparus Patrol has been missing for months. We haven’t talked to the people who live there in almost a year…”
Lady Leeia exhaled. Alyssa spoke the truth. Although centuries had passed since any overt conflict, things had been tense lately near the border. Seven Valkryies missing was a bad omen. “Mom, I know you don’t like to think about it, but what if Yin is back?”
Lady Leeia said nothing, becoming transfixed on the moving picture.
“… If she has, we’ll have to fight…” Alyssa persisted, pointing back at the moving images. “…and if we have to fight, we’ll need people like him to show us how. Please, mom.”
For a moment, Lady Leeia watched the film. Closing her eyes, she nodded. “I need to see more.” She conceded. “If he’s as good as you say, the world will mourn him.”
“The world’ll recover. We’re doing this for them, right?”
“Okay, Alyssa. Return to your studies. I’ll pick up where you left off and let you know of my decision later.”
This story is dedicated to the enduring memory of Bruce Lee.

(c) Avery K. Tingle for Akting Out LLC

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