Legend of the Zytarians

[Jbird452]

So this is a story I've been working on for a long time now (with not much to show for it, sadly) on another forums. The writing is decent in the beginning, but it takes a plunge. I'm working on fixing this. I try to read/edit my work every so often to catch mistakes or typos. This story is not finished yet, so I will be posting the new chapters as they become available. Please do not post in this thread for the convenience of others. Without further ado, I bring you:

Legend of the Zytarians

Introduction

The room looked old, like it had been there forever. Swords and weaponry hung on the wall. It was dimly lit by candles. A man pointed his finger on some sort of map. His face was almost as red as the fires burning outside. The man screamed, "The Heresians are right outside this building! There's no way we can hold them off now!" The man beside him looked much younger and calmer.
"Maybe not, but we have a chance of survival."
"No, it's too big of a risk. And they're just infants! I'm telling you, they aren't ready."
The younger man looked at the flames outside, "They're our only hope. They have the power to rebuild our city." His face tightened,
"My king, they can accomplish what we never could. They can win this fight." The door began to shake and screams could be heard from the outside. The king stood from his chair. "I trust you, Robert. They do have the gift to rebuild Zytara. If the only way to defeat the Heresians is to first be defeated ourselves, then so be it. Ready the troops. We give those kids as much time possible to escape." Robert walked to a nearby table and began pressing buttons. A hologram floated in front of him, which didn't exactly fit the archaic-looking room. "Honey," he said. "It's time." The hologram disappeared and Robert stood with tears in his eyes. The door broke from its hinges and men flooded the room

Suddenly, I was in a different room. The flames were getting closer. A beautiful woman ran through, grabbing objects from all over the room. She scooped a crying child into her arms. It had dark blue eyes and blond hair. He couldn't have been older than 2. "Shhh. I promise, Ryan, everything will be fine."

I was back in the map room again. Men lined the walls. Robert and the king, who were now holding swords, were at the opposite end. A tall man with long dark hair stepped through the group of Heresians. "The king and his advisor together? Brilliant! Don't worry. I shall make your deaths quick." A crooked smile formed across his face. Robert stepped forward. "Michael, you don't need to do this. We were once great friends and allies. Why would you-"
"Because he took my place!" Michael yelled. He had his sword pointed at the king. "I was the rightful heir to Zytara when my father gave his blessing to my brother instead."
"But even after that we remained allies. Then you..." he paused. "you began running Heresia." The king took a step forward, carefully watching the blade aimed at him. "You run a kingdom! Shouldn't that be enough for you?"
"No! Heresia is a barren land. We were starving while you lived in your perfect city."
"Brother, if you would've told me-"
"I don't want your help! I want what's mine! I'm going to have Zytara. Even if I have to kill you to get it."
The king dropped his sword, and stared into his brother's eyes. "But you don't have to. Come back to Zytara, brother. We will rule together." Michael also dropped his sword and walked towards the king. The king opened his arms to him. Michael began to reach to his back. "No!" Robert screamed. But it was too late. The king stared at the bleeding wound the knife had created. "Brother." he choked out, and the color left his face. "You are not my brother." Michael said, as he shoved the lifeless king out of the window. He disappeared into the flames that burned outisde. Robert stood speechless as he stared at the twisted Heresian king. Michael began walking out of the room. He was in the doorway when he paused. "Kill him." he ordered. The army of men charged at Robert. Even with his sword he was defenseless. It was over in seconds.

The woman carried the child to a river. He looked up at his mother, who had pulled some sort of fruit out of her pocket. "Here, Ryan. Eat this. It shall give you the power to restore your home. It will know when you are ready." The thing didn't even look edible and it glowed some strange shade of green. Despite the look, the child consumed the food. He let out a small burp and the mother smiled. Two more women appeared beside her and fed their children the same substance as the blue-eyed baby. The women cried and held their children until they heard footsteps nearby. "We have to go." one woman said. They placed the crying infants into their individual baskets. The flames could be seen devouring structures in the distance and the footsteps were getting louder. There wasn't much time left. The women sent them down the river. The footsteps got louder and louder until a high-pitched shriek broke through the night sky.

 

[Jbird452]

Chapter 1

I shot straight up in my bed in a cold sweat. The dim sunrise was peeking through my window and illuminating the room. I could faintly hear my parents speaking downstairs. I'd been having the same dream almost every night for the last few weeks. I know it isn't real, but why does it all seem so familiar? And why did the baby have my name? The images of fire and death still plagued my mind, but I went on with my day.

My name is Ryan. I'm a Senior at Smith High School. I am seventeen years old. Ever since I was little my parents told me I was special, but I never really believed them. I'd had a normal life so far, but this would be the day that would all change.

I walked down the stairs to my parents and siblings sitting around the kitchen table. Even from the stairs I could smell everything, and it smelled amazing. My Mom had fixed bacon, eggs, and pancakes. My parents sat there eating, my five year old sister with her hands sticky from the syrup that drowned her pancake, and my fifteen year old brother, Adam. Honestly, I don't even think he's touched his food. He can be kind of anti-social most of the time, and even a bit intimidating. He wore dark jeans with a green shirt and a black hoodie. He went to Smith with me, but, being two grades apart, we don't get a chance to talk at school and he never talks much when we're at home. I guess being a computer genius, he does tend to spend more time writing code than socializing, and I'm not saying being smart is a bad thing, but I guess I just wish we got to hang out more. My Dad finally spoke up, "Anybody have plans for today?"
"Just a history test that I'm gonna fail." I said.
My Mom intercepted the conversation, "You'll do fine. Remember, you're special!"
They said this often. I never had the courage to ask why. Until now. "What makes me so special? You always say stuff like that. I guess I just don't see what makes me different."
Well..." My Mom paused for a moment. My Dad continues her sentence, "We knew from the moment we got you that you were, and we know we're right!"
Got me? What was that supposed to mean? My sister seemed to have gotten her syrup hand into her hair so my mother began fixing her up. Obviously noticing my puzzled expression, my Dad decided to move on. "What about you, Adam? Are you doing anything after school?" He brought his eyes up slowly, but only from his plate to the table. "Oh. Well... You two better get going or you'll be late for school." Adam stood up immediately and went out the front door. I would've come with him, but I never know how he'll react. I took some time to help my Mom with sticky-head before I left.

I could feel the warmth of the sun on my face as I stepped onto the sidewalk. A light cool breeze blew through the air. "Hey, wait up." I heard from behind. I spun around and racing after me is my best friend. Jen and I are both Seniors, and we've been friends as long as I can remember. When I say she's beautiful, I mean she is seriously beautiful. Her red hair was tied into a ponytail and she wore running clothes. She was a runner on the school's track team and she was crazy fast. The times we raced through the woods, she beat me by probably a whole minute. "Hey, Jen. What's up?"
"I've been looking for you, stupid! I didn't hear from you all weekend! I thought we were gonna hang out!" I tried not to laugh. It's kind of funny when she tries to act mad. "Sorry. I've just been thinking a lot lately."
"The dreams again?"
Jen was basically the only person I'd ever told about my dreams. She was really the only person I trusted enough to tell. "Yeah. They've been coming more than usual."
"Maybe it's just some freak thing. Some dreams come several times before burning out."
Maybe 'burning out' wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear, since I just watched tons of people burn to death, but I went along with it. "I guess you're right."

 

[Jbird452]

Chapter 2

The rest of the walk to school was uneventful, except for our usual playful arguments. The school was a giant, stone building with green banners hanging from above wooden doors that led to the main hall of the school. I guess the trees got TP'd again, since there were white streams of paper hanging from them. Inside, the hall reeked of body spray. Seriously, I'm convinced some of these guys still deserve to be in middle school. Jen spoke up after she finally could remove her sleeve from her nose. "Okay, I have a Spanish test. You?"
"History." I muttered
I could tell she was trying her hardest not to laugh, since she knows how terrible I am at it. "Hey, you'll do fine. I'll see you in a few hours for lunch." she said.
We walked down opposite ends of the hall and entered out classrooms. Little did I know, this would be the moment that would change my life forever.

My history teacher, Mr. Wilson was a very... large man. What little hair he did have left was completely snow white. He wore small round glasses and some sort of argyle sweater. He tended to slur his words. Good thing he taught history and not english, right? Anyway, he handed us our test, and, of course, I knew nothing. The minutes passed by and I had filled in all but a few questions when the timer rang. "Ok, class, put down your pencils and pass your test sheets forward." Mr Wilson said. I put my pencil down and made a frustrated hand flick towards my paper. Then something strange happened. Did my pencil just move? I thought to myself. Nah. That's impossible. Probably just the air. I brushed aside the thought and turned in my test.

Several hours later of having my brain fried, it was finally lunch time. I saw Jen at our usual table. I joined her after I got my food. "Hey! You got your grade in for the test yet?" she asked.
"C minus. I guess it's a lot better than I thought I did. Maybe my guessing is getting better."
She laughed a bit. "Muy bien." she replied. "I'm guessing you got an A. Again." She grinned in between bites of her sandwich. I went for my bottle of water when it fell onto it's side. This again. I tried again and I got a hold on the bottle and took a sip. As I put the cap back on, the bottle tipped again. This time, spilling all over my pants. "Dangit." I said under my breath. I grabbed a few napkins and took the walk of shame through the cafeteria. I got a few stares and laughs from some of the other kids, which further proves my point about their immaturity. I entered the bathroom and went into a stall. I dried off my pants the best I could. Better, but still noticeable. I let out an angry grunt and threw the napkins into the toilet. The stall door behind me flung open and scared some poor kid so bad he stumbled back and fell. "Uh. Sorry." I said, and shut the door back. Three times today? This is more than just the air. But what could-

My thoughts were interrupted by an intense pain ripping through my stomach. I doubled over the toilet, thinking I was about to puke, when a strange light shot out of my mouth like some creepy sci-fi movie. I was back by the river where the blue-eyed baby's mother said goodbye to him. Except the baby wasn't there.

The woman was dressed in all white and had a pale look to her skin. She stood at the edge of the river and motioned for me to come to her. I made slow, cautious towards her and she smiled. "You have recieved the gift." she said.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I don't even know where I am."
"You know exactly where you are. You've seen it in your dreams. Correct?"
I looked at her with disbelief in my eyes. "There's no way you know about those."
"I know everything about them. And I know everything about you. You have the gift to rebuild Zytara."
"Why do you keep talking about a gift?" I asked.
"The fruit of Zytara. There were very few ever created, and you were chosen to receive the abilities it gave."
"Fruit of-" I paused and my voiced filled with anger. "I'm telling you, lady! I never ate any of your stupid fruit!" She stared at my face. My angry expression melted and she smiled again. "You do not remember, as you were only a child." The blue-eyed baby from my dream appeared in her arms, except I realized who it reminded me of now. It looked like me. "This is too weird. Are you saying my dreams were real? Zytara is real, and now I have powers or something?"
"Yes, and it is your duty to restore it to it's greatness. You and... the others."
"Wait, there are more? Where can I find them?" I began flickering back into reality.
"We do not have much more time. The others are also receiving their abilities as we speak. Go, my child. The time is coming." I realized something and began stepping away from the woman. The world around us continuing to fade away. "Did you say 'my child'? The baby is me?"
She re-gained the distance between us and kissed my forehead. "I love you, son." she said quietly. It was true. The baby was me. "No! You're lying! This isn't real!" I screamed. But I knew the truth. Everything was real. I had been chosen to fight back against the Heresians. Zytara was now my responsibility. Reality peeked through the cracks. Tears formed in my eyes. And then it was over.

I bursted out of the bathroom. It looked like no time had passed at all. I didn't think things could get any weirder, until I saw Jen. Her eyes were red from crying and her voice faltered when she spoke. "Ryan," she said. "I saw it too."

 

[Jbird452]

Chapter 3

"What did you see?" I asked her. We were in the woods near the school that we used to sneak out to all the time, but it wasn't as happy as usual. It was heartbreaking. I was looking into the terrified eyes of my best friend. I didn't want anything to do with this, and I definitely didn't want her anywhere near it. Or me. "It was a river. And you were talking to some woman wearing all white." she replied.
"And... What did you hear her say."
"She said you have the gift." I had to think for a second. The woman that I guess was my mother, my real one, told me there were others receiving their gift. Could Jen be one?
"But after you left-" she continued. Tears began streaming down her face again. I wiped them away and put my hand on her shoulder. "Jen, I'm sorry, but I think we're in danger. I need you to tell me what happened." She sat in silence for a while before she said anything. "You disappeared and she turned to me. My heart was beating so fast, I thought it was gonna burt out of my chest. She told me that we were brought together for a reason. She told me I also had the gift." She gasped, "Ryan, was that stuff from your dream? The burning city, the baby, the mother? They're all real?"
"Yeah. Yeah they are."
She wrapped her arms around me and I could feel her tremble. "I promise I'm going to keep you safe." I said to her. She stopped shaking and pulled away. "And I'll keep you safe." I let her think that, but I'm wasn't sure how safe we were. I knew she can be strong, but she could't keep me safe. I didn't know how strong these guys would be. To be honest, I wasn't even sure if I could keep her safe. I could tell she was feeling a bit better, although I could still see the fear in her eyes.

She began smiling, "Well, I guess I should show you something."
"Did you get powers too?" At this point, I began to grin a little too.
"Maybe." she said. She raised her hand and it slowly turned into a blur. I could tell she wasn't in control of them yet because her blurred hand slung her sideways and she slammed into a tree. "Jen! Are you okay?" I asked. She sat up, rubbing her head. "Ow." she said. We both started laughing and I helped her up. "Nice job."
"Oh shut up." she said. "So I guess I got superspeed? Is that one of the gifts?"
"Apparently so. Of course the runner would get that. Now you can beat me even faster in races." She rolled her eyes. "So what did you get?"
"Check this out." I raised my hand towards a small rock that was on the ground. It began shaking and then stopped. "Very impressive." Jen said. I glared jokingly at her and she made an exaggerated smile. I stretched my hand back out and closed my eyes. I heard Jen gasp and I knew I was doing it. "You might wanna take a look." she told me. I opened my eyes and there is a rock, completely suspended in mid-air, a few feet from my hand. "That's... That's amazing. You have telekinesis! That's so freaking cool!"
"Hm. So that's what it's called." I lost concentration and the rock fell. "I guess I have to work on that."
"Maybe this whole thing isn't so bad. We find whoever is left, figure out what they have, and kick some butt."
"No. I think it will be a lot harder than we think. We need to wait until we're ready."
"What do we do until then?" she asked.
"I guess we train our powers and stay out of sight. We need to try to act normal until we can figure out a plan. Then, we're leaving."

 

[Jbird452]

Chapter 4

After the experience Ryan and I had with the woman, I couldn't help feeling terrified. When we left the woods, we went back into the school and managed to keep our secret safe. I wanted to tell Ryan how scared I was, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. He seemed to confident. So prepared. Basically, he was the opposite of me. It was now three in the morning and I had no chance of falling asleep. I sat surrounded in the darkness of the night, listening to the sound of my own breath. It beat listening to my parents argue. They had another outburst tonight and I had to bury my head in my pillow to save myself from the pain of their conversations. I brought my hand in front of me once more and shook it to activate my superspeed. The blur it created faintly lit up the room. I have powers? I thought to myself. I just couldn't believe it. My breathing got heavier. I couldn't take it anymore. I needed to get out of here for a while. I grabbed everything I needed and went out of the window of the apartment. I hadn't changed clothes since I got home, so I didn't have to worry about that. My feet touched the grass and the air cooled my face.

Once I was on the road, I pumped my legs to get myself started. I really had no idea how to activate my speed, but things like this seemed to work. Sure enough, I took off down the street. My fear melted and was replaced by pure joy. Running always makes me happy, but now that I was going ten times faster than usual, I felt euphoric. Nobody could see me. Only the debris that was kicked up when I ran. I could only imagine their face if they could see a kid running down street faster than anything they'd ever seen. However, their face when they got knocked over by "the wind" was equally pleasing to me. Dodging cars and jumping over things. I felt invincible. A large building came into my field of vision, and I couldn't fight the urge to climb it.

I was nearing the roof of the building. I talked myself into taking the stairs instead of scaling a building with nothing but my speed. I was there in no time. I flung the door open and the wind almost knocked me down. I regained my balance and moved towards the railing. I could see every star in the sky, and every light in the city. Cars below were honking at one another. I came to the realization that, once I left, I would probably never see this place again. My new life would start soon and this would would end. Fighting soldiers and running from danger, and sure, it sounded like it would be a once-in-a-lifetime adventure, but I had no idea what would happen to us. Don't think like that. I told myself. We'll be okay. We're not going to die. But as much as I wanted to believe it, I knew it wasn't true. We were going to get hurt. We could die. Whether or not we succeeded in our mission determined the fate of our lives. I didn't know what I would do if I lost Ryan. My grip on the rail tightened until my knuckles were white. I had to sit down to stop myself from taking a shortcut back to ground level. I felt like I was going to throw up. My phone buzzed in my pocket. Ryan, the screen said. I opened it. Can't sleep. You awake? I needed to take my mind off of everything, and nothing was working. The only thing that could help was coming clean to him. I'm awake. I can't stop thinking about everything. I'm just scared about what will happen. There was a long pause. I thought that he'd given up on me. He thought I was weak. He didn't want me to come with him. But his next message changed those feelings. I know you are. I am too.

 

[Jbird452]

Chapter 5

I woke the next morning, glad that my parents hadn't said anything about my adventures last night. I met up with Ryan on the way to school. Adam had gone ahead of him, as usual. I was starting to get worried about Adam. He's been getting less involved with school and he didn't have any real friends. Ryan seemed to share my feelings. I loved Ryan and his whole family. I focus a lot on the behavior of others, and Adam was very different from the rest of his family. I've never spent any real time with him. I don't even think I've ever seen him smile.

When we got to school, there was a crowd that was going out the door, and they seemed to be chanting something. Once we were close enough, the chants became audible. People filled the halls. They all screamed, "Fight! Fight! Fight!" I glanced at Ryan and we seemed to understand each other. He tried to focus and use his telekinesis to silently push through the crowd. Over a few heads I could see someone in the center. He was towering over a smaller figure that I couldn't make out. It took several tries, but Ryan was able to gather enough strength to get us through. A few people looked slightly confused, but not suspicious. We were at the front of the crowd and what we saw surprised us. The first person I saw was a boy well over six feet tall. He had buzz-cut hair that was a little darker than Ryan's. It was Daniel. He was the well-known jerk of the school. He was constantly pulling pranks, and had plenty of time to do them since he'd failed two years in a row. He was nineteen and still a Junior. How he even made it that far was a mystery to everyone. I noticed the person cowering from him was very familiar. Hatred filled Ryan's eyes as he looked at the scene unfolding in front of us. The kid attempting to defend himself was Adam. He already had a black eye and Daniel had him backed against the lockers. "What? You scared, punk? Think you can make a smart comment like that and not get a beatdown? Think again, ya little runt." I found myself wondering what happened to Adam that made him fire back. It was extremely unlike him to say anything. Especially when it was making a fool of someone who towered over him. There was a quick movement beside me, and I tried to grab his arm, but Ryan had stepped in and shoved Daniel. Things had just gotten serious.

"Ryan, you better get outta here 'fore I kick your butt too." said Daniel as he shoved Ryan back. Adam tried to get up, but Daniel landed a quick knee to his gut which made him fall back down. Ryan clamped onto Daniel's shoulders and slammed him into the lockers, which bent them under his mass. "You don't lay a freaking hand on him! You hear me?" Daniel just grinned and used his foot to push Ryan and himself from the lockers. Ryan stumbled back and Daniel's fist connected with his jaw. The crowd, in unison, screamed "Oooh" as Ryan fell to the floor. I screamed for Daniel to stop and he began walking towards me. I held my ground as the rest of the crowd backed up. Daniel put his hand on my face like it was funny, but I could still see the anger in his eyes. "C'mon, babe. We're just having some fun!" I slapped his hand from my face. "Don't ever call me 'babe' again." He walked back in front of me and put his hands on my waist. Before I knew what happened, Ryan had spun Daniel around and punched him in the nose. Blood was pouring from Ryan's mouth and Daniel's nose. They went back at it. Fists were flying and finally Ryan had enough. He had given in and he was going to do it. Daniel look confused as Ryan tried to discreetly open his palm. I reached out and took his hand, and he understood. He couldn't use his powers. In a split second, Daniel made up the distance and hit Ryan with an uppercut in his chest. The breath was knocked out of him and he fell to the floor. He had gotten knocked out by the impact of the fall. Adam had just gained the strength to get up again, and Daniel was going back to him. The scene changed as Mr. Wilson stepped through the crowd. Everyone dispersed when the teacher reached the center except for me, Daniel, Adam, and Ryan. Although, I don't think Ryan had much of a choice. He still laid on the ground unconscious. Mr. Wilson took in the situation and called the nurse in. The blood was wiped from the floor and we were escorted to the nurse's office.

The three of us were put in the same room, with Daniel in the room over from us. Adam looked embarrassed, but I still helped him ice down his eye. He was okay except for his eye and minor bruising on his stomach. He still didn't say a word. After a moment of sitting in silence, Ryan finally came back to his senses. He tried to sit up, but couldn't. "What the-" he said. He took a look around and noticed we were in the nurse's office. "What happened after I went down? All I know is it gave me a massive headache." I filled Ryan in on the aftermath of the fight, and how Mr. Wilson broke it up before things got worse. All Ryan had to say was "Gross." He finally spoke up again. "And what about Daniel?" he said. "After the fight, I mean."
"I was told he got suspended."
Ryan gave a small grin. Adam looked up at us and removed the ice pack from his eye. Ryan and I glanced at each other, unsure of what Adam was thinking. "Uh. Thanks, by the way." Adam said. I was taken back by hearing his voice. I couldn't remember the last time I heard it. I broke into a smile. "No problem, bro." Ryan replied.
The nurse entered back in. "Good. You're awake. The principal has decided not to enact punishment on you, due to your part of the fight being out of self-defense. You've both sustained a few minor injuries, but you should be okay." She handed notes to the three of us. "You're all free to go home." she said. "Take some time to recover. Jen, I want you to look after them."
"Yes ma'am. I definitely will." We stood and Ryan put his arms around me and Adam.

Upon walking home from school, we spotted a strangely dressed man trying to hide behind a bush. "It's probably just some creep. Just keep walking." Ryan whispered. We walked away and didn't look back at him.