Episode One: “Earth Blues”
1.
Spring was a time of summer bloom and the start of romance. New sports seasons, outdoors activities, the shedding of coats and the melting of snow. It was a rejuvinating season for many, especially if one was young. Mandi wasn’t much in the mood for excitement these days, though.
As the tall, fair skinned woman walked home, her long blond hair waving in the breeze, she sighed wistfully. Time was, not even five years ago, she’d be like those kids in the park she was passing; hanging out with friends, throwing frisbees, waklign a dog, doing something to enjoy the weather. It didn’t matter these days, though. She was a working girl now, having graduated last Spring with an Geology major. What did she have to show for it? She was a librarian. Whoopity-hoo. Despite applying for multiple lab assistant positions and even some museum posts, she had nothing. There just weren’t enough jobs that had anything to do with her field, and the positions that had been open had been filled up by more qualified people. Or at least people that seemed more qaulified.
Mandi shook her head, dispensing any negative thoughts. She was sure the people who got the jobs deserved it. It was just aggrivating that she had gotten beat out so quickly. At that point, the only options in her area of specialty were to move out of town and try and get into a university, or become a teacher at the local college. She didn’t particularly relish either idea. Still, the librarian gig wasn’t doing anything to fullfill her either. She’d probably end up being a teacher soon anyway. Its not that the idea seemed all that bad, its just that she had already been through five years of college to get her degree. She wasn’t eager to return to the school life.
She stopped her walk to watch some children playing catch with a few of their dogs. She envied their carefree nature a bit. She was glad she was an adult; unlike most of her friends in college, she made the transition from childhood angst to adult responsibilty pretty quickly; she had hated being a kid, with all its restrictions. She had been very eager to grow up, and to that end, had matured quickly, taking on responsibility with astonishing success, and being determined to be an independant woman by the time she was out of college.
Looking back on it now though… she sometimes wondered how much of her youth she might have wasted being a little too uptight. Now, she was out of college, she had a job that paid well enough, and living on her own. But now that she had achieved that, there wasn’t much else in her life now. All her friends had jobs of their own; several already had families. No one seemed to have time to go out and have fun. Half of them had to work overtime just to provide for their new families, or were too caught up in the promise of quick promotion and threw themselves into their work.
Mandi didn’t have much to enjoy, it seemed, aside from her books and the very rare visit with a college or high school comrad. She didn’t have a boyfriend. But then, she had never had much interest in boys… still, the point was she didn’t have someone. And while she thought she was still too young to try and get married, it would be nice to have someone to do things with. She was an adult now, with all the privilages such a status brought, as well as the responsibilities it entailed. She had plenty of time to take care of her responsibilities, but no real drive to enjoy her privilages. Watching the children, she cursed her wasted youth.
“If only I had something more exciting to do,” she muttered. “Like a sport or a hobby or… something. Reading is fine and good, but that can only do so much.” She took a deep breath and looked to the sky. “These walks are really the only outdoors activity I have.” Her shoulders slumped a bit. “Oh, well. A peaceful, if dull life, is probably better than an exciting, but dangerous one.” Mandi’s rational side had a habit of chastizing her inner child, and was pretty good at shutting it up, usually.
Just then, a tennis ball rolled past her feet, and one of the dogs, a collie, zipped by. The ball got stuck under a bush and the dog couldn’t reach it. A girl in a pink dress ran over to try and get it, but her arms weren’t long enough. She frowned at the ball, and looked herself over. She sighed wistfully and started to kneel down.
Screw it, though Mandi. Her inner child can have a few moments out in the sun. She put a hand on the girl’s shoulder. The girl started, looking up at her. “I’ll get,” said Mandi. “No need to ruin your dress. Its too pretty.” She lay on the ground, not minding the feel of the grass poking through her slacks and blouse. She snagged the ball with her fingertips, got up and rolled it in her hands. The collie and the girl looked up at her expectantly.
“You can toss it if you like,” said the girl.
Mandi smiled, reered back and tossed the ball. The ball flew through the air, behind some bushes and down a low hill into the playground area. The girl gave her a mildly annoyed look as the dog yipped and ran off. Mandi gave the girl an apologetic look. “Sorry… I guess I got a better arm than I thought.”
The girl smiled. “S’alright, thanks for getting it.” She ran off, dashing around the bushes. “C’mere, Lass!”
Mandi smiled and turned to continue her walk home. Suddenly, she heard a yelp and her the girl yell something. Mandi immediately spun on her heel and dashed toward the sound. The bushes lined the top of a wall and were a few feet above the playground area. As Mandi got the edge of the bushes, she could see what looked like three short boys in dirty clothing and red ball caps surrounding the dog. The collie was yapping at them, and one of the boys held the ball. “Hey!” Mandi heard the girl shouting. “You let her be!” One of the boys turned on the girl. The girl stopped short and balled her hands into fists. “C’mere, Lass!”
As Lass started to run to the girl, one of the boys kicked her. The dog yelped and rolled on the ground. Getting to its feet, it positioned itself in front of the girl and barred its teeth at the boys. The boy with the ball tossed it at the dog, hard enough that the dog yelped when the ball connected with its nose. The boys sniggered.
Mandi had seen enough. Vaulting over the bushes, she dropped to the lower ground and strode over to the trio. “That’s enough!” she shouted. “Don’t be such bullies!” The three boys all turned and faced her. Mandi stopped short and gasped. They weren’t boys, that was for sure. Each of them were short and stumpy, but had fully developed muscles beneath their filthy clothes. The skin was as wrinkled as an old man’s and their eyes were yellowed. Beneath their red caps, Mandi could see they had wispy white hair.
What the hell? she thought. Are they a bunch of ill-tempered dwarves?
The three sneered at her.
“Get going!” shouted Mandi at the girl and her dog. The girl nodded and backed away, calling her pet after her. As the two took off, Mandi faced down the mishappen little men. “Alright, boys, I don’t know what your problem is, but you should know better than to pick on little girls and animals. What do you have to say for yourself?”
The three simply sneered at her, revealing crooked teeth. Mandi blanched. If they were boys, they were the ugliest she had ever seen. Her rational, adult voice scolded her as she thought this, telling her that children like this probably had it hard in life, and no wonder they became bullies. Her less rational, but much more blunt voice, retorted with, There is no way in HELL those are children!
“Alright, I don’t know you, so I am willing to let this slide just once and give you the benefit of the doubt,” said Mandi steadily. “I will leave you be if you don’t cause me any trouble.”
The three wrinkly boys cackled. Their yellow eyes seemed to gleem. With a flick of their wrists they each produced a butterfly knife. Mandi took a step back. She started to sweat. “Okay, that’s going too far.” Mandi fumbled in her pocket for her ceel phone. She whipped it out and pressed in 911, then held her finger over the send button. “Take another step, and I’m calling the cops!”
The lead boy cackled again, and bared his crooked teeth. “Gunna cut you…” he said in a gravelly voice. “Gunna gut you…” his partner to the left said. “Gunna scalp you…” said the partner to his right. Mandi backed up against the wall she had dropped down. She glanced up for a second. The wall ended a foot from her head. She could try and leap over. Thinking back, she shouldn’t have had her back to the wall in the first place, since the three were now moving to surround her. She told her rational, adult voice to shut the hell up if it wasn’t oing to give her any useful information. The three reered back with their knives and cackled. Mandi crouched slightly and rasied her arms, ready to try and swat the knives away, and leap over her attackers. She was really wishing she had continued to work out more, like she said she would.
Just as the three were about to lunge, a voice called out. “Stop there!” Mandi and three little men looked up to see a gang of high school boys standing beind the bushes. Several of them were carrying baseball bats. Mandi heard a yelping and saw Lass, the collie poke her head out from between the bushes. The girl who owned Lass cautiously peered over the branches, looking out of breath. “You okay?” she asked.
Mandi nodded. One of the boys, presumably the leader of this group, raised his bat menacingly. “Back off, runt. I don’t take kindly to people who fuck with my sister or her friends.” There came a collective “Yeah!” by the boys behind him. The three runts traded a glance. In a blur of motion, they pocketed their knives and took off like a shot towards the woods at the end of the playground. Mandi breathed a heavy sigh of relief. She turned and climbed up the wall, helped up by the brother.
“Thanks alot,” she said. Her voice was shakey now that the ordeal was over. “I was careless.”
“Hey, they could have hurt my sis and my dog if you hadn’t shown up,” he said, patting Mandi on the back. “You okay?”
“Yes, thanks,” she said. “That was awefully brave; it might ave been smarter to call the cops.”
One of the other boys snorted disdainfully. “Yeah, like they would have gotten here in time. Besides, they were just runts.”
“But they had knives!” said the girl.
The brother pat her head. “Come on, we had them out numbered three to one. And they’re so short, we’d have just bashed them before they could swipe at us.”
“Thanks again, boys,” said Mandi, bowing.
“No problem.” “Yeah.” “Anytime!” Mandi stood back up and winced a little. Most of the boys were looking her up and down. Mandi sighed. Well… they were just boys. A little admiration was a small price for being rescued.
“You wanna play fetch with me and Lass?” said the girl.
Mandi smiled. “Maybe another time…” she said. “I really got to go.”
“We’ll be around here often, with baseball practice,” said the brother. “If you usually come this way, we’ll see you around.”
Mandi smiled and bowed again. The group departed, Lass yipping and weaving between the boys.
Mandi let out another sigh. She suddenly felt very light headed and energized. She hadn’t had an adrenaline rush like that in a while. She didn’t realize how much she had missed it. But was it the adrenaline, or what she had done? It had been scary, but it had definitely felt right helping the girl out. That the girl ended up recruiting her brother and his baseball team to help her in return was even better. But what if they had come too late? Mandi shuddered.
God, those men had been scary… honestly the ugliest people she had ever seen. Their small stature made them even creepier. If she had gotten a better look at those creatures before she leaped to confront them, would she still had done it? Or would she have held back and just yelled at them, hoping the girl would take the hint and go. Mandi knew damn well that if she hadn’t been backed against a wall, she would have taken off like a bat out of hell. She had surprised herself with how collected she had managed to be, but she had been just shy of panicking the whole time. If this was the kind of excitement she had been craving in her life, she was more than happy to stick with her books.
She walked home with her exciteable inner child cheering her bravery, and her rational adult side bitching about her stupidity. By the time she got home, she had a headache from thinking too much. A small dinner and a shower later, she collapsed on her bed, not bothering to dress.
2.
Mandi’s dreams were unusual that night, and definitely disturbing. Suffice to say her afternoon incident paled in comparison to what she was seeing.
Mandi seemed to drift over the city, flying on what seemed like a cloud of dust. She was mildly aware of her nudity, but the dust cloud seemed to cover any indicent areas. Suddenly, she dropped to the ground and found herself in a dark alley. All was still. Suddenly, a dark spot appeared in the air. It rippled like water and began to grow. A huge, spidery hand, each finger ending in a massive claw, emerged from the portal. It seemed to grab the edge and began to haul itself up. Mandi’s voice caught as she tried to scream. A massive figure emerged from the portal. It was hideous. Its body was gaunt, like a skeleton, its arms long and spindly, ending in the horrid claws. Its head looked mostly human, but topped a long snake-like neck. It walked on four spindly legs, each ending in a cloven hoove. The figure looked around and began to laugh. For a moment, everything went dark, then Mandi found herself hover roughly three stories above the street, flying down the roads, turning at random. Everywhere she looked, every street she turned onto looked fine at first; then she blinked, and suddenly, theire were creatures everywhere. A busy sidewalk filled with people suddenly became filled with all manner of reptilian and insect-like creatures. A simple, un remarkable building was suddenly lined with gargoyles. The skyline was clear and bright, then suddenly blacked by what looked like nightmarish versions of birds and bats. Mandi gasped in horror as she realized the city was her home town; the sprawling metrpolis and surrounding suburbs of Cyrene City. It was being overrun with monsters. And as surely as she knew she was a female, she knew that somehow, the creature that had stepped through the portal was behind it all.
Then, everything went black again. When she could see once more, she found herself in her own bedroom, in her apartment. She was standing next to her bed; in fact, she could see herself sleeping their, sprawled out naked on the covers. She blushed slightly, seeing herself so revealed. She glanced out the window and thought she could see strange shadows floating by, barely lit by the moonlight.
“Was it a scary sight?” came a voice. Mandi gasped and whirled. She turned to see a man leaning against the bedroom door. The man was tall, a full two heads above Mandi’s own six foot three. Mandi briefly wondered how he didn’t hit his head on the ceiling. The man smirked. “If you haven’t figured it out, this is a dream.” The man came away from the door and slwoly walked towards Mandi. Mandi gazed at him. All she could really see clearly was his head, actually; his whole body seemd to composed completely of darkness, which ended just at the collar bone. A ragged, purple cape, which swayed as though caught by a wind nothing else felt, flaired out behind him. Against the purple-lined sihlouette of his body, the man’s facial features stood out prominantly. His skin was very pale, yet he looked like a healthy man of about thirty. With short brown hair combed to the side, piercing blue eyes, and a square jaw, Mandi found herself arrested by his stunning complexion. It wasn’t until he reached and put a hand on her shoulder that she backed away with sudden fright.
“I am sorry,” he said. “I should explain myself.”
“Indeed you should!” said Mandi, backing over to the bed. She saw herself sleeping fitfully on it and the man’s words echoed in her head. She turned back to him. “This is a dream?”
“A dream,” the man said. “A vision I have granted you, to make you aware of a dire situation.”
“What do you mean?” said Mandi. “What’s this about?”
“Allow me to introduce myself,” the man said. “I am the Dreammaster. I am what you might call a muse. I have made it my appointed task to watch over your fascinating species and inspire people through dreams.”
Mandi blinked. Her adult side was being silent, for once. Perhaps being a dream was too much for her rational mind to handle and it was still asleep.
“A great crisis has occured in your city,” said the Dreammaster.
“Was it… was it that creature?” said Mandi.
The Dreamamster nodded. “That creature is known as the Conspirer. There is… well, its a complicated tale, but suffice to say, he is not of your world. He comes from a world of demons that was long ago sealed away from Earth.”
“Demons?” said Mandi. “What… what kind of demons?”
The Dreammaster shrugged. “Your world’s many myths and historical references define demons in different ways, but suffice to say that the Conspirer is, in simple terms, a creature from another world. He has come to Earth in the hopes of furthering his ambitions. He intends to use humans to obtain the power he needs to take over his own realm.”
“How?” said Mandi. “Does he intend to steal souls?”
The Dreammaster shook his head. “Souls, psychic energy, magical artifacts left on Earth… whatever the means, humans are just tools for him. What is worse, is that his very breaching of the barrier between worlds, has allowed many creatures to migrate here. You encountered some of them today.”
“Those short, wrinkly men?” said Mandi. Part of her was oddly not surprised when the Dreammaster odded. “Your saying they were also demons?”
“They were merely minor goblins,” said the Dreammaster. “They are many minor creatures simply living in the city now like common vermin. But it won’t be long before other, more powerful demons arrive. Demons that might share the Conspirer’s ambition and be called to serve under him. Once the Conspirer has determined a course of action, your city will become a place of great danger. They may be as discrete as possible to avoid a mass evactuation of the city… but many will die or become tortured victims of their machinations.”
“And why do you care, if you yourself are not human?” asked Mandi.
“I have become fascinated by your race, as I have said,” said the Dreammaster. “Should the Conspirers plans succeed… who is to say Earth, and even my own realm wouldn’t be next? I would see him stopped. Alas, I don’t have the power to stop him myself. I am an astral being… an entity of thought. My only contact with Earth is through the dreams of its life forms.” The Dreammaster sighed. “You world, a world I held precious, is in peril, but I myself cannot act. I must instead recruit humans like you to assist me.”
“How?” said Mandi.
“You must accept a gift of power from me, and then use that power to fight against the Conspirer’s minions, and ultimately, the Conspirer himself,” said the Dreammaster.
Mandi blinked at him. “You’re kidding me, right? If those kids hadn’t showed up, those little gobins, as you called them, would have killed me.”
“You have seen them,” said the Dreammaster. “You have seen them as they truly are. The girl, and the boys, saw only some ugly little children. But you saw them for the goblins they were, once you confronted them. Your eyes are more open than others.”
Mandi looked at him confused. “Your not… what, are you saying I have some special qualification, some gift that makes you choose me over someone else.”
“Yes, child,” said the Dreamamster. “I have only a handful of powers I can bestow on only a handful of people. The power I grant you in this dream will carry over into your waking life. The same gift that lets you see the mosnters for what they are allows this.”
Mandi shook her head in disbelief. “I… I don’t know if I can believe this,” she said.
The Dreammaster flickered. He looked for a moment as though he were straining. Mandi looked outside and was surprised to see the sun rising. Time was indeed as sporadic as ever in dreams.”
“It is an effort keeping you asleep to maintain contact,” said the Dreammaster.
Mandi looked at him warily. The Dreammaster offered his hand to her. Mandi looked at his hand and saw what looked like a medallion, with a rough, stone surface in the middle. “Amanda Zola… please accept this gift of power. It is the Elemental Key of Earth. When the time is right, it will activate, and you will have the chance to see what you are truly made of. I humbly implore you to take this responsibility for the sake of your fellow humans, and perhaps, for your own fullfillment.”
Mandi gasped at this. She wondered how it was he knew her doubts. The Dreammaster smiled. “I see you in your dreams, Amanda. So I know your fears and desires and your secrets.”
“They’re not for you to know!” said Mandi. As if she had just now realized her nudity, she suddenly covered herself, crossing an arm over her chest and groin.
“It cannot be helped, Mandi,” said the Dreammaster. He flickered again. “In the land of dreams, there are no secrets.”
Mandi eyed the Dreammasters gift. She debated for what seemed like a long time. She reflected on the previous days events. She wondered if, now that she knew the truth (as unreal as it seemed), if there was any way she could ignore it now. And if she couldn’t ingore it… what would she do when it forced itself on her.
“Amanda,” said the Dreammaster. His voice was calm, but he looked anxious. “Please.”
Mandi hesitated a moment, then reached out her hand. As her fingers closed around the medallion, it began to glow a dull orange light. Suddenly, the medallion appeared on her chest, between the breasts and the collar bone. It flashed brightly and Mandi felt very warm and tingly all over. Then, the medallion seemed to sink into her chest and the sensation was gone.
“In times of need, call on me in your dreams,” said the Dreammaster, who was already fading away. “I will be watching…”
Mandi blinked and suddenly, she was on her bed. She jerked into sitting position, looking around the room. She swore she could almost see an after image of herself and the Dreammaster standing on either side of the bed. She rubbed her chest. She still felt a ghostly sensation of warmth and tingling, but it was so faint, she wasn’t sure if it was her imagination or not. Glancing at her clock, she saw that she only had an hour before work. Giving a large sigh, she hurried to dress, eat, and get to work on time. All the while the dream haunted her thoughts.
3.
Mandi felt exhausted when she walked home that night. Work hadn’t been tough, exactly, but she had not been able to keep the dream out of her mind. More than once, she thought she had felt the warm tingle in her chest, but again, it was so faint, she couldn’t tell if she was imaging it or not. When her co-owrkers asked her if she was okay, she simply mentioned that she was tired. For some reason, she just couldn’t bring herself to talk about yesterday’s incident or last night’s dream. It seemed like something she had to keep to herself, even though she was dying to tell someone about it. She managed to not think about it for the most part as the day wore on, but once her shift was over, and her mind was free to worry about other things, she started worrying again. Her adult side and inner child were bickering as usual about what to do.
Once again, she cut through the park, hoping the more natural setting might get her mind clear. But as soon as she set foot within its borders, her memory flashed back to yesterday’s incident. She looked around nervously, fully expecting to see the goblins. She stopped and took a deep breath. There was no point in creeping herself out now. Her adult side griped at her that there was nothing to worry about; it was a one time incident. Nevertheless, she was slightly shocked to see her inner child having a feeling of anticipation. If only her inner child had a gun, then perhaps she’d be a bit more confident. In any event, the boys had probably scared them off pretty well. If they were smart, they’d stay clear of the area for a while.
Speaking of the boys, Mandi saw them as they practiced in the ballfield. She stopped for a second and watched how they were doing. She recognized the lead boy and saw him practicing with his sister. The dog was with them again, bounding back and forth between the siblings. The rest of the team was either taking practing swings or playing catch.
The girl suddenly noticed Mandi and waved. mandi smiled, waving back. The girl said something to her brother, who nodded and walked off. The girl ran up to Mandi.
“Hi!” she said. “You wanna play?”
Mandi blinked, then smiled nervously. “Um… I don’t know… I was never good at sports.”
“You and me can just play catch,” said the girl. “The boys gotta practice anyway.”
“Um… I guess I have a few minutes… you brother doesn’t mind?” said Mandi.
“Nah,” said the girl. “Johnny thinks your cool, after you helped me yesterday. And anyway, he’s got his team to help cover me if you try anything.”
Mandi glanced over and noticed some of the boys casting glances in her direction. Mandi waved back half-heartedly. Several of them nodded back, twirling their bats, or slapping their fists into their gloves. “That he does. Well, okay.”
“Okay!” The girl tossed the ball at Mandi, then ran back a few yards. “Let me at it… uh… say, what’s your name?”
“I’m Mandi. And you are?” Mandi tossed the ball, careful not to overshoot.
“Trisha!” said the girl, leaping up and catching the ball. Lass, the dog, happliy yipped and jumped with her.
Mandi and Trisha tossed the ball back and forth a bit, and Mandi felt some of her anxiety drain away. This was fun, something to take her mind off things that didn’t involve more stress. Mandi found it unusual that she was playing with a girl who couldn’t have been more than ten, never mind the fact that they were pretty much just strangers. Still, as Mandi had reminded herself just yersterday, she didn’t have many friends she could actually do things with any more.
Almost forgetting the dream for a moment, she reered back and tossed the ball a litte farther. Lass and Trisha took off after it, Trisha trying to dive for it, while Lass simply leaped up and snatched it out of the air. Lass presented it to Trisha, who glared up at the dog. Trisha muttered something to the effect of, “Your lucky I’m wearing pants today, mutt,” causing Mandi to giggle.
Suddenly, she heard Trisha gasp. Mandi saw she was looking to the side, towards the woods. Mandi follwed her gaze and then her face fell. They were back. The three little goblins. And they had another person with them.
Unlike the goblins, this man was huge, at least seven feet tall. He had a massive build, and an ugly face, twisted into a cruel sneer. For a moment, that was all Mandi saw. Then she blinked and looked closer. Like the goblins at his feet, this man was more than he apepared. It seemed, as the Dreammaster had said, otehr could not see it. Otherwise Trisha would probably have screamed. The man in actuallity, resembled a green-skinned, lumbering beast standing on its hind legs. The mowhawk of scraggilly black hair, flat nose, and huge tusks jutting up from its lower jaw gave Mandi the impression that it was some kind of warthog.
Mandi was paralyzed for a second. Three runts with knives was one thing… this newcommer looked like her could snap a tree in half with his biceps. Suddenly, Mandi felt the tingling warmth… and this time she knew it wasn’t her imagination. She clutched her chest as the sensation pread throughout her whole body and she found herself short of breath. She looked back to see Lass snarling at the four and Trisha backing away.
“Trisha… get… over here!” yelled Mandi through grit teeth. She could here a commotion to her left and suddenly, the baeball team was there, brandishing their bats. Trisha, dragging Lass with her, ran over to Mandi, and the baseball team got in front of them.
“You assholes just don’t know when to quit, huh?” said Johnny. He held his bat in fornt of him, ready to strike. “We’re not saying this again… get lost.” The three goblins cackled again, then motioned forward. The lumbering hulk strode confidently towards the group. Johnny backe dup a little. “I mean it man… we’ve got five bats and ten balls here, and we know how to use them.”
“That it?” siad one of the boys nervously. “Gee, so how did you all lose your goods?”
“Can it, Doug!” snapped one of the boys. “Now’s not the time.”
“Just lightening the mood,” muttered Doug. But before an argument could start, the hulk was upon them. Johnny reered back and swung his bat hard at the “man”. The hulk just snorted as it struck his side. With a swipe of his arm, the brute knocked the bat out of Johnny’s hand, and then struck him with a backslap. Johnny’s head snapped back visciously and a low grunt of surprise and pain escaped form his mouth. The brute didn’t give Johnny time to recover, slamming his open palm against Johnny’s chest, sending the boy flying into his comrades behind him. They tried to catch him, but three of them plowed into the dirt from the impact. Mandi winced as she heard a bone crack, and Johnny screamed in pain. The five boys who weren’t down each brought up a bat,surrounded the hulk, and started swinging. The brute shrugged off the blows as though they were raindrops. With a spin of his long arms, the brute knocked the five through the air. They landed about ten feet away, giving yelps of pain as they hit the gournd hard. The three goblins cackled and ran over the boys who were down, and started kicking them. Lass went after one fo them, but though she landed a bite, the goblin punched the dog hard in the chest, and Lass stumbled away heaving and coughing.
Trisha was screaming. Johnny was shouting. The three boys who hadn’t been struck yet were picking up bats and coming at the hulk again. The hulk just swatted them aside, and the goblins proceeded to go kick them. Mandi watched this as though in a daze. her body felt strange, almsot scratchy, like she was trying to walk through sand. The tingling and warmth were more intense now. For the moment, she was practically paralyzed. Her adult side was screaming at her to run and get the police, her inner child was screaming at her to pick up a bat, hell two bats, and have a go at the creature. Briefly, Mandi wondered if anyone else could see or hear them; the noise seemd deafening, the images almost too intense.
Then the brute started going after Johnny again. Trisha screamed, and threw herslef over her brother, who didn’t seem able to get up. The creature reered back a fist. Mandi’s could practically hear the snap in her mind, which suddenly seemed to blank. For a moment, time seemed to stand still… but the earth around her wasn’t. The tingling feeling and the warmth seemed to explode form her chest; as it did, Mandi could feel the gruond beneath her cracking and roiling. She ducked down, then flung herself at the creature.
Mandi was a good fifteen feet away; she had meant, without really thinking about it, to sprint up and body slam the creature. Aparently, though, all it took was a single leap. Mandi’s leap carried her straight into the creature, and then sent both of them careening into the dirt some twenty feet away. They landed, and suddenly, dust was flying everywhere. Mandi stood over the brute, galring down at him. The brutes ugly face showed total shock. Mandi suddenly noticed the amount of dirt around them, and looked at herself. Fine grains of dust and sand seemed to swirling around her, creating an aura aruond her body. What’s more, her whole body seemd to have taken the color of dust.
“What the hell?” said Mandi. The brute took this chance to slam its fist into Mandi’s gut. Mandi tensed and felt the blow connect, but to her surprise, nothing broke; it stung for a moment, but the pain quickly faded. She was sent back several feet, but landed on her feet with a surprising nimble step.
The three goblins had stopped kicking their victims and simply stared in shock. The boys, likewise stared. The brute got to his feet and roared at Mandi. Mandi stared it down. The brute picked up one of the bats, a metal one, and snapped it in half. It tossed the pieces aside, pointed at them, then at Mandi, then roared again.
Mandi laughed… she had no idea why. It seemed both her adult side and child side had suddenly diecided to shut up and gawk just like the rest. Her mind and body seemd to be going on autopilot… and Mandi was just along for the ride.
“Cute,” she heard herself say, with a confidence she didn’t feel. She nevertheless motioned for the creature to come at her. The creature snorted, ripped off its trenchcoat, revealing hairy, over developed muscles, and rows of bangles dangling from a pair of leather belts and tuffs of fur. The creature looked like some kind of horror-movie werebeast out of some fantasy world. The creature slammed a foot into the ground and roared, bearing its massive tusks at her. Mandi smirked “You sure know how to posture,” said Mandi. “You got a bite to go with that bark?” Furious, the beast lunged at her.
Mandi ducked his massive fists, crouched low, then leaped up fist first. The leap became a fying uppercut so strong, it slammed the creature ten feet into the air, smashing it jaw right into its skull. Mandi herself ended up going even higher, and hit the ground awkwardly, tripping and falling on her knees as she tried to land. She bounced right back up and dashed over to where the beast had landed with a sickening crunch. Mandi stood over the beast ready to strike, but gasped. She couldn’t believe it. Her punch had been so hard, she had broke open the beasts skull. She had only meant to knock the beast back. Her aura suddenly vanished, the dust and sand swirling into nothing and the tingling warmth that had fueled her suddenly turned into a sickly, cold feeling.
“Holy shit…” Mandi turned and saw the boys, the goblins, and Trisha staring at her in horror. Mandi suddenly fealt tears spring to her eyes.
“I didn’t… I didn’t mean to…” Suddenly, there was a strange, electric feeling in the air, and Mandi felt her hairs stand on end. She turned to the beast and gasped. Its body had suddenly become as black as a shadow, and then, slowly vanished into thin air.
It was at this time that the goblins decided it was time they hi-tailed it out of there. Mandi felt the warm tingle attempt to flicker back on as she watched them go, but she was too shocked by the realization of what she had just done.
She slowly walked over to the boys. They all stared at her, disbelievingly. On the boys made a half hearted attempt to grab his bat. Mandi glanced at him hopelessly. The boy jumped, glanced at the bat, then at her, and apparently decided that it wouldn’t do any good.
“Please don’t hurt us…” he muttered.
“Don’t be stupid,” yelled one of the boys, Doug. “She just saved us!”
“Holy shit, yeah! She was like fucking Wonder Woman!”said another boy. The boys all suddenly brightened. Various exclamations and explitives suddenly chorused in the air. They all got up, some limping, and surrounded her, giving her pats on the back.
“We so need you to be our pitcher! No one could get a hit that way!”
“Screw that, think of her at bat! She could knock it into orbit!”
Mandi was no equally stunned. She raised her hands and waved them off. “Guys… no… please… forget that, we need to get a medic…”
“Johnnyyyyyyyy!” Trisha was crying over her brother, who was still down. Lass limped over and collapsed next to her, making her cry even more.
“Guh… listen to her… Team Captain and the mascot need an abulance over here…” despite the fact that he was obviously in pain, Johnny was grinning at Mandi. The rest of the team swarmed over him, asking if he was okay. One was dialing 911 already.
Mandi stuck with them until police and the medics arrived. It was a hectic job keeping the boys from freaking out, soothing Trisha, and answering the cops questions. In the end, they had come up with a story that they had all been attacked by some muggers and fought them off. Though only Mandi had seen their true nature, they had all seen the big one vanish. But, knowing the cops wouldn’t buy that, they kept that detail a secret, as they did Mandi’s incredible feats of strength.
It wasn’t until she got home that the weight of her actions had hit her full force again. She rubbed her chest. So that was the power she had recieved… it hadn’t been just a dream. The strength, the aura of dust and sand… had her surprising calm in the face of danger been another strange gift? She wasn’t sure. But now, unlike yesterday, she didn’t feel anxious. She felt a strange calm that didn’t seem to dissipate.
Mandi suddenly felt exhausted, and before she knew it, she had found her way to her bed, stripped down, and collapsed on it.
4.
“The creature, being not of this world, naturally returned to its realm upon its death,” said the Dreammaster. “You did very well for a first time.”
“It was so surreal,” said Mandi. “Its like I was on autopilot. Usually, its like I’ve got two sides of me bickering back and forth… my sensible adult side, and my carefree inner child. I listen to my adult side more, but that doesn’t shut up my inner child. But in this case, there was nothing. I was just… being. But that didn’t last long.”
Mandi looked over at herself. She was once again dreaming, in her room. She was sitting on a chair she had thought up, and the Dreammaster stood, leaning against the wall. They both watched as Mandi’s actual body dozed on the bed.
“I was right in chosing, you Amanda,” said the Dreammaster. “You not only had the talent to spot the enemy and then utilize the power I gave you… but when push came to shove, you were able to act. There are several I have considered empowering who, when faced with true challenge, simply curl into a ball and cry for help. You, with your level head, your rationale, your self-reflection… your sense of firm ground, satsifying or not, gives you strength. In the moment you were faced against the enemy, you were given two choicse: run away, or make a stand. Despite your bickering halves, you knew what to do. Your adult self wanted to run, but it also demaned you call for help. Your inner child wanted to be reckless, but it wanted to stop the beast. Given only seconds to act, you came to a conclusion and immediately acted. Your mind, your body, your element… all became in synch. You knew what you had to do, and there was no swaying you; you based your convictions on that foundation. For the moment, you were “in the zone” as some say, and could act without doubt or restraint.”
Mandi contemptlated this. “But I faltered. I killed the creature and it was such a shock.”
The Dreammaster shrugged. “Naturally, you are unused to such extreme events. But soon, you will grow accustomed.”
Mandi frowned. “I don’t know if I want to be,” she said.
The Dreammaster smiled slightly. “It is tragic… but history has been rife with such violence since life began. Not so long ago, people were indeed quite accustomed to killing an enemy that threatened their life. It was either that, or be killed themselves. Considering the threat, it was a necesary act. I doubt those goblins will be stirring up trouble anytime soon, if that’s any consolation.”
“I don’t know if I can keep doing this,” said Mandi. “I mean… a part of me does feel this is right, that this is the excitement, the higher calling I have been lacking.”
The Dreammaster stood tall and bowed low. “Elemental Bearer of Earth, know that I will always be there to assist you how I can. And soon, you will not be alone. Stay true to your convictions, be as firm as your element; this is a higher calling, with many lives depending on you… while that may seem like a lot to take in, there is time for you to grow stronger.” He stood tall again. “I must take my leave now. Rest easy, Amanda.”
With that, the Dreammaster faded away. Mandi sat, watching herself sleep for a while afterwards. She rubbed her chest and felt the warm tingle. Perhaps this was the fullfillment she had lacked. New friends, new purpose. She looked outside the window, and watched the various dark shapes of unearthly things flying by in the night. They scattered as the sun began to rise. She smiled slightly as she felt her consciousness drift back to her body.
END.
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AUTHOR’S NOTE: So, here’s a series I did about ten years ago, that I actually got more than one episode done! Yaaaay! Of course, I still didn’t finish it. Booooo!
Elemental Keys, in short, is about a handful of people obtaining powerful, elementally aligned artifacts that turn them into quasi-superheroes. They are charged with defending the world against invading monsters. In truth, it was more of an anime-type series than a superhero one.
I may post more notes on the whole Elemental Keys concept, but the “episodes” I’m posting are actually part of the second version of the series, which was considerably whittled down from the original concept. However, aside from a few little scenes, I never really got the first version written, and this version was intended to be something of a “practice run” to get me writing consistently. Unfortunately, the attempt only lasted a couple weeks, and I was rather quickly running out of ideas.
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