• Chapter 1
    Beginnings
    Scorpio, Gemini, Leo. Taho counted and named all the stars and constellations, putting them into a well categorized list. He named all of them by their names and also gave them his own names, hoping that the small shining stars could also provide could someday be compared to the biggest star as an equal. He finished the list in his head and went inside to eat the remains of his dinner. Cold and mushy, it tasted like the dirt that Gio had forced him to eat. Remembering the hatred for his tormenter, he threw the microwave meal at the dark wall. Shadows moved, swayed, and thrashed violently. Taho, unaware of the constant shifting, picked up his only keepsake from his parents. Taho shifted the small platinum ring between his fingers, rooting through his mind what the gem in the center was. Frustration made him even more immune to the violent swaying of the shadows on the wall.
    “An Opal.” whispered a small yet piercing voice.
    As if coming out of a trance, Taho snapped his head back and forth, trying to locate the mysterious voice.
    “Who… who’s there?”
    This was the first time in four years since he had spoken. The small fourteen year old boy watched in fear as shadows of every shape and size danced across the pewter walls of the apartment building, watching him with their small, triangular, blood red eyes.
    “The one who bears the eyes of an amethyst will have control over the elements of the void.”
    “What… what’s that supposed… to mean?” stuttered Taho.
    “All in time young one, all in time.”
    And with that, the shadows vanished, leaving Taho to sort out the newfound confusion.
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    As Gio shoved the small boy into the mud the others laughed, starting a mosh pit of insanity, driving needles into the minds of all who interjected in their fun. From the shadows a single, glowing red eye watched the bullies as they beat the boy with their bare hands.
    “ENOUGH!!!” shouted the shadowed alley.
    A single kunai flew through the air and pinned Gio’s pant leg to the muddy landscape. Unknowing of where the yell or small deadly projectile came from, the other boys ran, screaming of ghosts and spirits of such. Gio, who was now scared if he was about to die at the hand of a spirit of legend he knew nothing about, thrashed and kicked wildly to get out of the clutches of the small blade. He managed to get loose and ran home crying. The small boy was unconscious from the lack of air, the spirit stepped out of the shadows to see if the boy was alive. With his glistening eyes, one of blood, the other of the purest silver, watched the pulse through his thick white hair. Suddenly the boy opened his eyes to let the smallest amount of light in.
    “Who are you?” he asked.
    “Who are you?” asked the man.
    “Taho Ni.” the boy responded weakly.
    “Taki, Kara Taki.” said the man as the boy lost consciousness.
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    Taho woke up and switched on the lights. Was it all a dream?
    “Opal, it’s an opal, right?” he asked out loud.
    He went to pick up the ring and found a beautifully made quartz crystal. With a hole in the top of it, it let a silky leather cord make it a necklace. Out of the corner of his deep violet eye, he saw a note on the edge of the bedside stool saying, ‘For all the pain those kids have caused you, grip the quartz in your palm, and a defender will come to you when you need them. –Kara Taki.’
    Taho grabbed the ring, the necklace, and a pop-tart on his way out of the apartment. As he ran to the arcade where he worked, he saw Gio and his gang of thugs taking a kids money.
    “Hey, if it isn’t my favorite customer.” Gio stated. “Where you get the necklace? We all know you don’t have enough money to buy something as nice as that. So why don’t I confiscate it as evidence of theft. What about that, worthless?”
    “Kara Taki.” said Taho softly.
    “What? The freaks crazy!!!” Gio yelled.
    Taho turned and started to walk.
    “Where are you going?” said Gio.
    “Anywhere but here.” muttered Taho.
    “Oh no your not! Get him!!!” yelled Gio at the top of his lungs.
    Four boys ran at Taho, armed with pocket knives. Taho sprinted away from them with his hand clutching the pendant around his neck.
    I hope this Kara person isn’t as crazy as he sounds. thought Taho.
    JUMP!!! screamed a voice in his mind.
    Taho jumped, only to see a thin silver wire glittering close to the ground. He hit the ground and kept running. Looking back, he saw the boys fall over flat on their faces. One in shock, one with a crimson stained nose wailing on the ground, and two who had sliced their arm with their own weapons.
    Score!!! thought Taho as he ducked behind a corner and into the shadows. Catching his breath he heard one of the battered boys scream.
    “Trickery, lies, sorcery!!!”
    Taho sat there expressionless as he always had. He had never felt joy or happiness after the accident. All of a sudden, a man dropped from the sky in a jet black overcoat lined in crimson red stitching.
    “Taho, I’m Kara Taki, we need to talk.”
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    Speechless are we?” asked Kara.
    Taho shifted uncomfortably in the chair, he slowly took off the quartz necklace and set in on the table.
    “What’s wrong?” Kara asked questioning the action.
    “I’m sorry, I can’t, I just can’t do what you’re asking.” stated the shaken boy.
    “But you are the only one qualified to become the gemage!” Kara shouted.
    “I’ll never be anything!!!” Taho screamed, squeezing the ring in his palm.
    Anger welled up in him as he squeezed the small bluish purple stone and the cold twisted metal holing it in place. Blue flame shot from his hand and engulfed his entire arm. Kara yelped in surprise and jumped back.
    “Agh!” cried Taho as he threw the ring to the floor and watched as the small crystal cracked at the top.
    “No.” Taho muttered.
    “Whoa, what was that?” exclaimed the awestruck adult.
    “The ring.” Taho muttered holding back the tears.
    “What about it?”
    “It cracked.”
    “So? You can get a new one.” Kara suggested.
    “SO! SO! That was my parents’ keepsake!!!” Taho cried angrily.
    Another flame that had the color of sapphires exploded from Taho’s hand. Instead of being fearful of the flame, he let it burn, noticing it didn’t hurt he made the sensation grow, as did the flame.
    “Your parents…” began Kara “We’re good people.”
    “How do you know my parents?” Taho gasped.
    “They gave me the task of protecting you after they died of ‘Keleonosia’, a rare disease that shuts down three of the major organs, the brain, lungs, and heart.”
    The fire turned to a large sapphire crystal and shattered as it hit the floor with a sound of wave crashing against the shore.
    “You are going to come here and tell me my parents died of a ‘rare’ disease?”
    “Yes, I just need to figure out what caused that flame.” Kara said casually.
    “Then why did they just leave me to survive for myself.” Taho said.
    “They didn’t leave you alone. I’m here, and they left you the capability to become the Gemage.”
    “Then what does this make you.” asked the curious Taho.
    “A Gem ninja.”
    “Why me though, why not anyone else?”
    “You’re special. You have the mind of a scholar, the soul of a mage, and the heart of a warrior.”
    “What about the gems?”
    “Each gem has its own properties, like ruby to fire, sapphire to water, amethyst to earth, so on and so forth.”
    “The elements.” muttered Taho.
    “What?”
    “Uh can you tell me about the elements of the void?”
    “Where did you hear about that?”
    “Shadows.” said Taho thinking he saw red triangular eyes watching him.
    “You spoke to them?”
    “Yes.”
    “First time I’ve ever heard that shadows talked.”
    “I’ve been meaning to ask, what is the opal’s element?” questioned Taho.
    “It provides protection.”
    “From what?”
    “Disease, pain, hurt.”
    “Wait then if my parents had this ring, why didn’t it protect them from the keleonosia.”
    “The only other way for that to happen is if…” Kara’s voice trailed off.
    “What?!?!?!” asked Taho loudly.
    “Is if the disease is directly injected into a host.” Kara said solemnly.
    “Who would do that?”
    “That’s what I’m going to go find out.”
    Kara got up grabbed his overcoat and started to walk for the door. Taho put on the necklace, put on the cracked ring, and put on his blue rimmed black cloak Kara gave him, and ran for the door.
    “Then I’m coming too.” Taho said with determination.

    Chapter 2
    Blood Sewn
    The cloth looked as if flames were painted on it. Fire dancing across blackest night. Setting path for destruction. Locke looked at the cloak the merchant was holding.
    “This sturdy cloak is resistant to cold, water, and fire. All for the reasonable price of ten gold sivvs! And a reasonable price it is.”
    Ten?! thought Locke. It would cost almost all the money he had been saving for himself. But something compelled him to buy the fine fabric.
    “I’ll give you eight for it!” Locke said. The merchant looked disappointingly at Locke
    “No sir this is a one of a kind item. It’s said to be made by the fire Kih.”
    The Kih! Locke was surprised at how the man had managed to come into possession of the object. The Kih were spirits of great power. They were formed by nature and each had its own abilities derived from elements.
    “Are you serious!” exclaimed Locke. The shop keeper was looking irritated,
    “Yes, now buy something or leave.” Locke took out the coins and began to hand them to the man. The merchant was caught off-guard as the money came at him and valuables went flying into the air. Some pedestrians looked as they walked by at the humorous sight. Locke stepped over a fallen clothes rack that had fallen and tried to help the man up.
    “Get away from me!” he shouted, “You will pay for my stand that you’ve ruined too.”
    “What!” Locke said.
    “You heard me!” the man’s face was turning red, “Pay and get out!” Locke practically threw the money at him took the cloak and walked away.
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    The shack was cold, dark and quiet. Just the same way it had been for Locke’s entire life.
    How much did I make today? Locke sat and counted out the coins.
    “Two hundred and sixty sivvs.” he whispered. “That will be good for food for the week, and enough for the hospital expenses.” At the last comment he fell silent. Locke had been living by himself for about a year now. His mother had fallen to a rare and unnatural disease keleonosia. She’d been in the hospital all this time, Locke paying off her bills. Locke’s father was also not around. He had disappeared when Locke was five believed to be senile. He was the one who had taught Locke about the Kih and the danger they posed. Just then two people walked by both in capes, one rimmed in blue, one in red. Normally Locke would ignore passer-bys, but there was something about them. He looked at the ground in front of him. A small cracked ring sat on the black soil. He got up, ran across the pathway and picked up the dropped trinket.
    “Hey mister!” he shouted. No one was in sight.
    Odd, he thought, they were here a second ago. Locke walked slowly back to the shack. He put the ring on his new bought treasure. He lay back on his cot and into the night sky.
    Tomorrow is when the upper class patrons come to town to watch the games. The games consisted of a number of events like sword fighting, archery, and small magic feats. All the things rich townsfolk would spend their money to see. Locke sighed. He knew he’d be there too, not as a viewer, but as the town’s master pickpocket. He had trained himself after his mother was hospitalized so he could gather money efficiently.
    “Wonder when that merchant will figure out I gave him plain folded paper and took his purse.” Locke muttered. He gave out a small laugh. He laid his head down in his arms.
    Good night. He told himself.
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    Locke woke up screaming. Still dark out he thrashed around in his bed feeling burning sting of fire. He jumped up and started smacking himself to extinguish the flame, but there was nothing there.
    “What the…” he stammered.
    No fire, not anything. Locke brushed the dirt that had gotten on him when he fell out of bed. Stopping, he saw an orange glow against the wall, and felt something hot behind him. He turned. Fire in the shape of a man was walking toward him.
    I must be dreaming. Locke shook himself as if he was to wake, but he and the fire man were still there. The man of fire stopped only six feet from Locke.
    “Who… who are you?” Locke was terrified.
    Is he a Kih? Locke thought.
    “Are you a Kih?” he asked. The Kih nodded its head ever so slightly to show that it was. Locke felt as if he were going to vomit from the heat of the Kih. The Kih took a sharp step forward as Locke fell. His vision fading, Locke swore he could see shadows with small, red eyes, laughing at him as he fell. Then all went dark.