Beginning of War by Abiran Raveenthiran (jenna bush book club .txt) 📕

“Ahhhhh!” A cry could be heard from afar. Sounds everywhere were filling my mind. Sounds of crying, screaming, blasting and smashing were coming from every single direction. Sounds that I could never forget. Sounds that I could never forget.
I peered out of the disguised mattress I was hiding in. It was a very dark room so I could not see very much. Suddenly, there was a loud smash. I saw the door crumble and create a huge cloud of dust. It was almost impossible to look past the cloud. Pieces of the door flew in all directions. A large body flew through the cloud and landed beside the mattress. It was my dad whom I could recognize by the blue stripes contrasting to the orange scales along his body. There was a blood pouring out of a hole where his wings had been. He had scratches and cut that covered his whole body. There was blood oozing out of him. I had never seen him so beaten up.
A man walked through the door. Or so I thought it was. He was in energe form. He had red armor covering a lot of his black body. There were many parts that were unprotected. He barely had a scratch on him. He had a helmet with horns curving backward. His fingers had sharp claws and his right hand was holding a sword. The sword was red and had a black handle. There was already blood dripping down from the sword. I had seen his picture before in my books. He was an Anartha. Dad had no chance.
With incredible speed the Anartha struck dad with the sword. I knew it was the inevitable and looked away. It was probably the longest two seconds of my life. I could see drops of bloods flying everywhere along with a low ugh given by my father. It splattered everywhere. Each drop hit a surface and stained that area. I could not believe what had just happened. Could it really be? He was gone? Not only was this the longest two seconds of my life, it is also the most unforgettable. My body trembled and anger seized me. Everyone I knew and looked up to was probably dead. Maybe even the whole village. I was the last one.

* * *
“Gavin, I am not so sure we should continue to teach the boy. He is learning at a pace that is unbelievable for such a young age.” said Luke. His head was scrunched up and he was obviously thinking too much upon the subject. Although what he said was true Aalok was learning at an unbelievable pace as no other person has ever. He has learned tae kwon do, karate, and kung fu in a matter of couple months whereas many people suffer for decades to establish this perfection. Even after all those years of training many people do reach perfection. Although the talent is unusual it may assist in a positive outcome in the end. It may be our only chance to save our race and the rest of the country. Our fate lies in his and four other’s hands.
“It is okay Luke. It is all for the best, my friend, for this may be our last chance.” Gavin replied reassuringly.

“Aarav, you better win this match. Only then could represent our village as one of the Legendaries.” said Riya. She was just repeating things that I have been thinking about for months while I trained and competed in the tournament. This was the final match and it meant everything. Only after this triumph, will I be able to avenge my parents – our parents – for their death. Riya was my sister and was very young.
I have been everything to her and she was everything to me. We did not have much money as my parents we very poor before they died. They were killed by the Dark Lords when they attacked our village. I have been training my whole life for this fight. After this fight will I be able to avenge my parents as part of the Legendaries.
The Legendaries are five warriors that are chosen from each of five tribes to represent and fight evil. This tradition has been around for many years and many more to come. I will have a chance at the Dark Lord who has ravaged and destroyed our land for many years.
“I know Riya. Do not worry I will win this fight. I know my offenders strengths and weaknesses as I have studied it inside out.” I reassured her.
“Aarav are you ready to fight.” said one of the referees.
“Yes sir.”
“Then let us begin.” He replied with a nod. I stepped into the field where I will fight my offender. The field was completely a water stadium with a small island in the middle. We were taken to the island to begin the fight. The other boy was wearing a blue outfit which outlined his muscular body. He had a bigger body in comparison to his arms and legs. He was obviously much stronger than me so I will have to fight him from a distance and time my attacks appropriately.
“Let the fight begin.” said the referee.
My opponent immediately jumped into the water. A blue light took the shape of my opponent as he landed in the water. A beast appeared in front of me. The beast was a giant fishlike animal. It had a brown shell that looked very strong. A head with a long neck came out of the shell. The beast had scaly-skin and gills underneath the head. Four fins also came out of the shell. My opponent quickly changed into his energe form. It was probably an adult age level so we were even in that sense. An energe form is moulded by each person differently. The type is inherited by the tribe the person grows up in. In my case, it would be water. The form the person takes on can be inherited or a representation of how a person feels on the inside. It is a very complicated concept that people do not understand. There are many secrets hidden away that magicians have been attempting to unlock for centuries. The Legendaries are known to unlock a few of these secrets.
The beast opened its mouth and water emerged from it directly coming in my direction. It was similar to how water came out of a hose. I jumped and avoided the attack.
Since he immediately turned into his energe form and attacked, he probably wanted to end the battle quickly. Why not surprise the boy a little with some tricks? I should not attack him by myself at first.
“Serpent!” I yelled and lifted my arm face the water beside the opponent. A huge serpent emerged and was staring at my opponent. He looked at the serpent wide eyed as he had not expected such a menacing animal to appear. What he did not know was that the serpent was made out of water. It was a little trick I had learned during training. He would realize that it was made out of water soon so I would have to attack quickly.
I used my mind to control the serpent and simply had to keep my arm up to direct my energy toward the serpent. The serpent swallowed the beast and started going upward face the sky while spinning. The beast did not resist and could not move. Its energy was being drained and it was taking a lot of hits. Then the beast made its move. It put its head and fins inside its shell and started spinning. The spinning speed increased at a rapid rate. My Serpent burst into droplets of water and fell out of the sky. It made the field rain for a short period of time.
It was time to step things up a notch. I changed into my energe form. I felt the blue light envelope my body. I felt more energy coursing through my veins. I felt as if I had become a whole new person. I loved the feeling. My arms slowly turned into wings with beautiful silver feathers. The silver feathers covered most of my body other than the stomach area. On the end of the wings, there were three wide fingers. My legs became shorter and knees became wider. My face became a more triangular shape and was covered by a strong mask. The mask was a dark blue tint and had holes for my eyes to peer through. There was also armor with the same material covering my chest. My back had a line of spikes that were the same dark blue colour. It was time to show him my real power.
I looked up to see my opponent who was now in the water staring at me. “Tornadoes” I yelled out loud. There were many tornadoes that formed out of the ocean that reached as high as the sky. It was changing the water currents and my opponent was having a hard time staying in one spot in the water. He once again opened his mouth and released water. I spun in circles avoiding the attack.
It was time for a close range blow to knock off his balance because he was having a hard time staying in one spot in the water. I flew directly at him head first and collided with him. I hit part of the shell and was pushed back by the power of the blow. It was just enough power for him to loose ground. He got caught in the current of water and was sucked into one of the tornadoes. He spiralled to the top of the tornado and was spit off the top and landed on the island with a thud.
He did not move for sometime. I was not sure if there was going to be a surprise attack are another threat so I slowly and cautiously flew toward him. His eyes were closed so I gave him a little push to see if he was awake. He did not wake up. He must be unconscious. He gave of some energy that I absorbed into my body through my chest. This was a regular tradition in every fight so that the winner could gain power and strength from his last opponent. This power is stored in the body for further growth to increase the power. So I won. I finally won. I could not believe it. I looked up at the sky and roared. The roar had caused a flock of birds nearby to flee in panic.

* * *
“Good job.” and elder said as he walked in to the hut. I was being treated for a wound on my head I had received