13God I just saw this commercial... It was for fertilizer of all things. First the woman sprayed some other type of fertilizer and everything went dark and dying, and the cat fell out of the tree.
And then time reversed itself... And she used a different fertilizer...
And everything grew like... huge, and this little dog popped out of the earth. The girl sitting on the tire swing goes... "Oh Sparky! You're alive!"
It was like oh my god.
There's this fertilizer that revives people!
Or dogs...
We all gotta go get that!
We'll just live forever!
Two reviews from the same person so I may as well answer it here.
Aldrea-Draco: I'm glad you liked my story. I appreciate the effort, though I went through and made sure there were no grammar and spelling errors in the first chapter. As for the second review, I can't say what will happen to the little kid. I mean these are nasty creatures, the birds, and I'd have to raise the rating level if I were to include that, hence giving away what I'm going to do since the rating has not changed. Yes, wouldn't we all wish to be able to run on water?
So there you have that review.
I hope I get a few more this time.
-Glares at friends who continually forget to review-
Anyway to this all so wonderful chapter which might end up very bloody indeed. How scary is that people?
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The Hands of Fate
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Chapter Three: The Hunted
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Derek's POV
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We lived in silence.
We were not mortal, not human. But we looked like them and experienced thoughts and emotions just like them.
And we were banished because of our differences.
Yet we were created to be different.
It seems ironic now, after we have accepted that what we are is always what we will be. Just ironic.
There were six of us in the end, the pure trapped in the dark.
It's not as if we didn't realize we were different. We knew the moment a true thought could form in our minds that we were different.
That we didn't fit.
That we were just like aliens.
I remember the time, the first time really, we were allowed outside the scientists' lab. The time we were dragged into the large conference halls to be presented before the royalty line.
The nobles of the kingdom had stared at us, the women laughing, the men seeming rather amused. The king and advisor talked amongst each other and pointed to my sister, who paled in fright of being singled out.
My twin had gripped my arm tightly, fear clouding her instincts.
They had spoken in a tongue that we at first could not understand. Gradually we were able to understand their tongue, the harsh language that it was.
Oh yes, we became bilingual in a matter of minutes. Rather entertaining if you have nothing else to do.
They had torn my twin from my arm and she had gone screaming. This had aroused the anger of all the rest of the immortals, all five of us starting to fight the bonds that held us from protecting her.
But it was something that I don't remember as well, a flash of loud anger clouding the atmosphere, and not the immortals.
A child had saved my sister, a small black haired child that had held his own against the angered king, slicing away the bonds that had held her with a dark knife, his small form radiating anger.
I remember his blue eyes, intelligent and wary, but angered, determined to not let the king get his way.
That was my earliest memory with the mortals of the world. The light and the dark fighting within the corrupted world.
He had saved us from judgment that day, a small boy no older that us. But it was because of that boy, because of his swift actions that day that we, as the most powerful creatures ever to roam this world, served for the pure.
Because of his actions, we knew that the world wasn't completely corrupted, that purity still existed. It made us realize that there were people that still cared for those they did not know, willing to sacrifice for others.
We were created to win battles, but in our young minds we knew we could never do that.
And till this day, all of the immortals still go peacefully, unless the innocent are threatened. It is our belief, our morals.
And that will be how it remains.
We will forever be the protectors of that purity.
But in truth, we will forever be the immortals.
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I had to wonder why my sister put up with this man. He wasn't immortal, he wasn't mortal. She doesn't ever put up with us half of the time.
I wondered if the rest of the immortals would join the fight. We would probably have to call them anyways.
We were walking at a constant quick speed to not alert the birds; though I knew if needed, my twin would vanish as if never there. Even I couldn't catch the girl.
She was the fastest of the group, moving faster than sound and light. I was the most agile, able to slip out of just about anything.
I was dimly watching them chat lightly, not really caring if my sister killed him or just chatted. Unless he hurt her, I was fine with him.
But there was no chance in the world that he could hurt her.
Then after a brief moment, it was if anger split the air.
Something must have alerted the birds...
Hopefully not us.
"Run!" I yelled at my sister who had also frozen at the startlingly harsh emotion that had broken the silent air.
I got a brief look of the man's face before my sister grabbed his wrist. He had sensed it as well...
My sister had a set look on her face and sped in front of me. I was amazed that the man kept up.
It was if a random thought crept into my mind, trying to form a thought. It was just that the wind changed, going downward a few hundred meters away. A cliff.
"Mar CLIFF!"
She heard me and barely skidded to a dizzying stop, grabbing the man's shirt to stop him. She stared down the cliff with comically wide eyes.
"Well look at that."
I stared over the ridge.
Why the heck didn't Makeav, Talon and Vain tell us that they were coming out?
I gritted my teeth and rolled my eyes.
I'm betting Mar's going to be giving them a piece of her mind when this is over.
Who knows, maybe she already is, I'm just choosing not to listen to them at the second.
I waved to my sister.
"Stay where you are..." I sharply told her mentally and she looked to me with a torn look and began muttering lowly to the man, who nodded slowly, seeming to understand.
I knew it was killing her to have to sit back and watch.
I jumped off the ledge.
Hello, I'm immortal. If I break my spine, I'll still live. Hey if I slit my throat, I'd still live, but I really don't want to have to imagine having that pain for all eternity. I like my current state thank you.
I drew my sword, plunging it into the side of the canyon, and gradually I began to slow down. I reached the ledge where a huge nest laid.
These birds are gigantic.
I looked out onto the horizon where Makeav and Talon fought one bird and Vain was taking a nice little piggy back ride on the other, all the while trying to stick a sword through the thing's heart.
Very nice eh?
Yeah, so these things are pretty ugly. I know, oh it's a little birdie! Uh-uh, these things are larger than a small one story house, black, and look like deformed crows with partial scales as feathers. Yes deformed.
I stepped onto the ledge of the nest, trying to kill the hatchling before it yelled out. Sadly, no luck for me, the thing had caught my scent and cried out desperately. The children from the city were now unconscious next to it, apparently loosing too much blood.
I swung my double sword around quickly and the longer end went through its plated chest since it hadn't yet formed the diamond coating that was on the adults. The other end was layered in a lethal poison, but no need for that if you can just kill it anyway.
Convenient eh?
Blood sprayed onto my white shirt, turning it into a rose red hue. My nose wrinkled, the nasty pungent smell enveloping us.
I watched as the enraged parents of the hatchling took to the skies. The larger female broke combat with Makeav and Talon and came at me.
Out of the corner of my eye, in its blind rage, the male bird had turned around in the sky, loosening its guard, and Vain had plunged his blade into its throat and used his other blade and plunged it through the back of the beast, crippling it by breaking its spinal cord.
A stab of fear touched all of us, watching the bird and man fall, but my attention was brought back to my own fight.
I watched the female bird come at me. It was one thing to stab it in the back, but the female's back was also layered in hard scales that even my blade probably wouldn't go through. The only way the female can die was with a blade through its side and trying to break off its shield, then stabbing its heart, as nasty as that sounds.
At the sight of the blood on my clothes and the sight of the dead chick, the mother let out an earsplitting cry. I gritted my teeth.
Our ears were more fragile than yours, but we can block sounds we don't want to hear, so it didn't hurt me as much as it normally would have if it had caught me unawares.
I heard my sister's voice. "Derek duck!"
I swiftly ducked as the bird let out a stream of fire. I felt, more than saw, my sister land behind me.
She cursed and I glanced behind me.
She never does listen to me does she?
Oh well.
Would have had to call her eventually anyway...
I rolled my eyes and watched as she let out a huge stream of ice from her hands, her immense power streaking through the skies and though the flame, though you would expect the opposite. It hit the bird full on and impaired its flying.
"Derek, your turn."
My fingers dug into the ground, the earth shaking as I summoned my own power. The sky turned dark, clouds forming in my summon.
Plasma lightning glowed white, hitting the bird squarely. The bird fell easily, dead the second it was hit by the power.
My sister grabbed my hand and we leapt off the edge, catching a ride on the blood coated bird, and jumping off before it hit the ground.
"Vain's really hurt, the bird landed on top of him in a spike pit..."
We ran as fast as we could, crossing the whole canyon in a matter of seconds. Makeav and Talon joined us seconds later.
Mar, her face slightly panicked, wretched the bird off Vain, though the bird weighed probably around a few tons.
"Vain...!"
There was a spike sticking out of the immortal's side, right beside his heart. His face was screwed up with pain, a moan escaping his blooded lips. Mar carefully pulled the spike from the chest before moving him.
My sister's friend suddenly was there, his face shocked and pale as Mar helped Vain off the pit. He looked at the dead bird with an ashen face, suddenly realizing that we fought for our lives everyday, that we were part of the reason that his kingdom remained unbothered for all these years.
He doesn't even know how much blood has been shed for that kingdom. He wouldn't believe, no one would.
Mar was trying to calm Vain down as she laid him on the flat ground. "I'm going to stop the bleeding... Don't resist the spirits okay...?"
The male's emerald eyes snapped open with a flash, the fighting spirit not fading an ounce from his vivid green eyes. "Hurry up woman before I'm permanently screwed up with a hole in my chest."
Mar rolled her eyes and peeled off the blood coated shirt he wore and ran her hands across the wound, despite the pouring blood, sealing the wound together, though it did not completely heal.
Talon, the ice eyed redhead, leaned down and washed away the blood, his ancient power being water, while my twin wrapped a strip of her clean shirt around his wounded torso. "Have a broken rib as well…" He said wincing as he shifted. He bit back his pain.
"You'll be okay Vain..." Mar said with a mischievously as the man pushed himself up with her help, teetering slightly.
He snorted. "I better. Seriously, I don't want to live all eternity with a hole in my chest if it doesn't heal and reopens..." His voice was still rough and chapped, but his eyes were still bright, a good sign.
Makeav rolled his bright emerald eyes, his dark hair falling over his serene eyes. "Someone call Raqu eh?"
Mar ended up doing it, because no one really liked being the target of Raqu's annoyance when he came.
And thus the black haired man came, though it took only seconds, his sword at the ready.
"What the frick...? And who is he? And why do you call me after all the action is over? What use am I then?"
"There are some children up there," Mar pointed onto the ledge we had been on with a dull uninterested look, "and we need to bandage them and take them back to the city."
Raqu's emerald eyes narrowed in distaste, though he could find nothing to note on that. A small scar was visible on his left cheek, a memento from a fight with another creation that had escaped the lab.
"Then who the frick is he?!"
Mar was about to say something but the male shook his head, walking up to Raqu, his eyes equally defiant.
I was amazed.
I've never seen a mortal born able to stare at any immortal for any time without loosing themselves to fear.
"My name is Rath, the prince of the kingdom even now you protect."
Raqu scoffed. "Prince? Out here you're no prince, you're no different than us, for lovely Mar here tells me that you are by freak accident part immortal. Don't think you have any power over us."
Rath in return smirked, facing Raqu's temper without fear. "I never said I did. But let's get these children back to the village before the kingdom wakes... As well as the children themselves."
Talon and Makeav looked at each other, their expressions a bit surprised. Talon grinned, the long braided strand of hair over his left ear, just one lock, decorated with three ancient encrypted beads at the ear level, the end, and in the middle, showing his power as an immortal.
Raqu let his annoyance fade away and a gleam of a little respect shown in his eyes as the man bowed in a formal respect.
At least the man knew enough not to disrespect an immortal out here.
Mar, unconsciously, raised her hand to the black band across the top of her pointed ears, a strap of metal no longer than three-fourths of an inch. All the immortals had one on both of their ears, symbolizing what we were.
I'm sure the scientists never told anyone that, but it was as it was, and that remains one of our many secrets.
In silence we bandaged and gathered the children, seven in all, and headed slowly back through the mountains, careful not to wake them.
We had to walk slowly, for running would probably kill their already wounded and weak forms.
I watched Mar stare at the young girl she held with a worried expression. She glanced at me after a moment and sighed with a smile.
She was hurt the most by her banishment, though she didn't think about it much anymore.
Truthfully if we reentered the city now and wandered the city in the daytime I'm sure that no one would know who we were.
Raqu was the first to break the silence, the most uncomfortable with carrying a child around. "So where are we supposed to leave the children?"
Rath spoke up. "Those three are actually palace children; we can just leave them all at one village house and I'm sure they'll all be able to find their way back to their homes..." Makeav eyed the children skeptically. "Seriously Makeav, they haven't grown stupid."
"But why didn't they yell out when they were taken?"
I took on a sudden thought, not a wanted thought, but it was there. "Probably the birds figured if they were quick and silent, they'd be able to knock the children out purposefully and serve their hatchling living meat... disgusting as it is."
Mar frowned. "That means these creatures are thinking for themselves..."
It was an unnerving thought.
Silence formed around us again, though everyone seemed in their own thoughts, buried harshly within them, troubled and fazed.
We found ourselves at the wall that led into the kingdom. Mar broke into a swift race against Makeav and both took a leap and landed on top the wall, balancing on the spiked top by angling their feet along the sides.
Just as easily the others and I made it to the top of the wall. For a second I watched the sun climbing over the edge of the mountains. We had been at this hero business for quite a long time.
Looking at everyone's faces you wouldn't ever be able to tell.
We leapt down, everyone landing with ease.
Even Mar's friend didn't seem to have problems, easily achieving these feats no mortal could accomplish.
We silently set the children down at the nearest dark house. We set the children next to each other, their faces peaceful.
Mar looked at me. "I'll knock to wake the people that live here. Take the others and go. Don't look back sister. They can't catch me."
She nodded and motioned for everyone to leave.
Then I was alone looking at the rising sun, the rainbow of colors spreading behind it, waiting for a few seconds to let them all get beyond the wall.
I raised my hand to the door, giving one firm tap.
Instantly I heard rustling inside.
I took one step back and closed my eyes briefly, realizing I hadn't been here for eight years.
"Sir..." one small boy was awake. He was among the least injured, one of the two noble boys, though he had taken a hard hit to his chest. "Did you save us from the birds?"
I looked at him with a calm glance, forming a small plasma star in my hands, forming a crystal ball around it and giving it to him.
"No, we saved you. Keep the star, and remember to always fight for the pure... Never stop fighting for what you believe in and never fall for the greed for power... Do that for me...?"
Staring at the globe the boy nodded, security coming from the glowing orb.
I backed again into the shadows of the night, vanishing from the young noble boy's sight.
When he looked up, he didn't see me for I was watching him from the wall. I somehow felt a bit of contentment knowing the boy might have some chance in life to be himself.
He seemed to know I still watched and heard the rustling inside, and tucked it within his jacket, hiding it from view..
I hoped he would lead a truthful life, and fight for what we couldn't from within those very walls.
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So what do you think?
Good enough?
Or was it too boring?
Please review!
And now I'm going to advertise, though it doesn't help anyone apparently because hardly anyone reads these stories.
But some of the extraordinary powers of the immortals are finally revealed. Aren't you oh so happy eh?
Can you guess what the rest of them are?
Well back to before I went on a rant...
Advertising!
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NOTE: We also write under the penname of 'Twins of Darkness' please read that if you get a chance. Please? We're just starting that joint account. If you have comments on our stories or if you're confused about how the flip chapter thing works just email What can I say? If anyone is more original that her... well... I don't know. Her writing makes you seem like you are actually there. It's so good. (She's gotta update soon –glares- anyway...) She is under NOT HERE... make sense?
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So there you have it everyone...
I personally liked the chapter.
So what do you think?
Review!
-Phoenix (TAD)