Capítulo 1: One
Summary:
Twelve decades ago, the masters of the elements perished at the hands of a massacre, leaving behind only 9 temples, known as Sahmeks, to preserve their esoteric art. Into the 21st century and the art still lives by running underhand errands for governments, illegal endeavours and a yearly championship for the greatest element summoner alive, called Djorga.
But this year, four shocking bombings have taken place simultaneously, killing four powerful sages in different places, causing an eruption in the elemental world. Tal's Sahmek has given her the task to follow the man responsible for the killings into this year's Djorga. Tal must assassinate the man without being found out, while single handedly facing the competitors who want to wage war on the Sahmeks. Will she collapse under the ruthless danger that runs around her while she tries to follow through with her task?
While her best friends Yanni, Eden and Ethan to aid her along the way, her courage is hers alone to face the trials and tribulations of assassins.
-x-
Kilmer's eyes studied the boy in front of him like a hawk. It was long gone past lunch time, but that didn't matter one bit. Not until Kilmer got his answers, anyway. The voice of the boy that was being questioned could be heard through the tiny speakers. Three people standing outside the room were listening intently. It had been a while since the interrogation had started.
"And what's the name of the other one?"
"I'm not sure. Something with—something with Z," the boy answered slowly, sounding exhausted.
Kilmer didn't look pleased. "Don't test my patience, I know you'll want dinner tonight and a bed to sleep on."
The comment was well heard outside the room. The boy's tired eyes only looked blank as he swallowed. He had no reaction to Kilmer's words.
Kilmer looked down at his papers again, slightly frustrated with the the boy's lack of cooperation. "Zachary?"
"No."
"Zuckerman?"
"No."
He slammed a fist on the table, "I'm asking you one last time, choose what you say next wisely. Zorokan? Zahir?"
The boy's head perked up slightly and his eyes met Kilmer's. "That's him, that's the one. It's Zahir."
"Are you sure, Aman?"
"I'm positive," the boy responded, more desperately this time.
"I see. I'll look more into it, and I'll make sure you meet me again once we've spoken to Zahir. Pray that you've got this one right. Now leave."
The boy instantly got up and wasted no time scurrying to the door and trying to open it. The man outside unlocked it and the boy burst out, his face white as ever. His eyes searched the room for an exit, before everyone saw him suddenly collapsing to the floor.
"Oh dear, what's happened?" Nyalla asked, quickly going over to the boy and kneeling down beside him. The man who unlocked the door went over to her and gave her a bottle of water.
She fanned his face with the file papers that she was holding, as the two teenagers in the room watched with curious looks at the fallen boy.
Yanni walked slightly ahead towards Nyalla, and offered his help. "He looks like he's coming around, is there anything I can do?"
"No, no, he's fine. Just go back and report everything. Make sure our entire Sahmek knows."
Yanni nodded. This meeting that had taken place was short, but held vital information. He moved his arm slightly towards the boy's face and summoned of gush of gentle air that blew through his hair, which somewhat helped him come back his senses.
He turned around and faced Eden. "Do you have the keys with you?"
-/-
The four gardens around the seventh Sahmek were vast. Multiple varieties of flowers blossomed throughout the year. Especially towards the end of march, Earth summoners would practice their Sirutras, which are battle techniques, out in the gardens in the favour of spring. There hadn't been any news of wars or massacres for decades; mass violence in the elemental world was unheard of. But all of that had changed this year when the news of the deaths of the four powerful sages had arrived, from the bombings that had taken place four months ago.
On hearing the news, the nine Sahmeks around the world were shaken with horror, and no one could figure out who had done it. Many suspected that the culprit behind the explosions was the Lieu Master of the third Sahmek, but he was found innocent.
-/-
The wooden doors of the seventh Sahmek creaked open, and Yanni walked inside holding Eden's hand.
He saw Tal stand with her hands behind her back, facing a wooden carving of a creature with a dragon's head and the body of a large eel. She looked distressed, but these days everyone was, even Nyalla's calm demeanour had started to fade.
Ethan's loud voice came from inside the Sahmek. "What's the news from Aman?"
"Well according to him, it's Zahir."
Ethan's figure slowly appeared from inside the temple, and he was holding a cup of coffee. "Unbelievable. Ziachm's star player is being accused of killing four sages? The man worships sages."
He warmed the cup of coffee with his hands and took a sip, before continuing to speak. "You know, they've had many accusations in the past, but this one takes the cake."
Yanni frowned. "But if you really think about it, he seems to be the only with that kind of firing ability."
Ethan scoffed, "any semi powerful fire summoner could do it. Heck, I could even do it. The only difference is, I wouldn't do it."
For the first time since the car ride to the Sahmek, Eden spoke. She knew Tal didn't like talking too much about the investigations, but she asked anyway.
"Tal, what do you think? Do you think Zahir could have had a hand in the explosions?"
Tal touched one of the wooden patterns that were carved onto the scales of the creature. She traced a finger up to the head, where a small part of the the ear had been chipped off.
She spoke, "I don't know. Does Aman have enough solid evidence?"
"Not yet," Yanni answered, "but I'm sure he'll find a way to prove it."
"Even then," Tal started, turning slightly and facing the couple. She continued, "even then, they can't arrest him on the spot. He's the most powerful summoner here, and this Sahmek has claimed him as the Sium, which means he's regarded as someone who carries the blood of the next Lieu Master of this Sahmek after Ziachm passes. He's protected."
Yanni's eyes narrowed. "Be as that may be, you still don't think he did it."
Tal scratched the wall of the temple lightly with a nail. "No. I don't think he did it."
The four of them fell into a cathedral silence. Ethan then went into the main hall of which this Sahmek was built around. It had seventeen large stones which represented each of the original masters that had perished from twelve decades ago. All the summoners from this Sahmek gathered here once a month to pray to the masters. Ziachm had started this tradition, and it would carry on long after his passing.
Being the current Lieu master of the seventh Sahmek, which was situated in Angulia, Ziachm was one of the oldest amongst all the Lieu Masters of the Sahmeks. He was also one of the most respected. At a mere height of 5'4 and the warm smile of a child, he moved like floating energy that could control the four elements. He had long white hair which was kept in the likes of a pony tail with the voice of your favourite grandfather.
And while some people believed that only Zahir's superior ability to summon fire would ever really come close to Ziachm's ability, others believed that Ziachm was just too darn brilliant at summoning that even Zahir wouldn't come close in his lifetime.
With all that being said, Zahir was the only one disciple who followed closely to what Ziachm did and would try to out beat him—he was believed to be the successor to Ziachm's position.
Everyone knew the mystery behind the uncanny gift of summoning an element. To summon an element was not a normal ability, but born out of the original masters from over a hundred years ago. To create a burning flame of fire from the energy that ran through your body, or to move the molecules of water with a simple gesture and a thought of the mind, these were strange to the world. But the gift to summon had, alas, only led to their downfall and eventually to the perish of the original masters. But the art survived, and so had its beauty—they had made sure of it, before they were all tragically murdered.
Nyalla was the darling that took care of the official paper work regarding the Sahmek and its link to the corporate and political world surrounding it. A few of the matters that she handled were requests from agencies asking for help to naturally bump off an opposing individual, or governments trying to recruit fire summoners to hide their dirty work by just naturally setting everything on fire without any traces of kerosene at all. The few governments or corporations that did know of the Elemental world and Sahmeks, wanted to use summoning to hide unnatural happenings very naturally.
Ziachm rarely ever complied with these requests, but Nyalla handled them diplomatically to keep the Sahmek on the good side of all the organisations, or as she said so in her own words, unbiased and neutral.
Nyalla was the calmest person that the Sahmek had. Her voice had only been broken when her father passed away, and even strained when her boyfriend had left her for another woman in the fifth Sahmek, but today had found her extremely disturbed.
She had found them the group of teenagers near the entrance, and was on her way to a meeting with the Lieu Master of another Sahmek.
"Aman seemed fine, but he had another relapse and he's in the hospital now. It's very strange... He's very sick. I don't understand."
"I'm sure he'll be fine," Ethan said, "this is Aman we're talking about. That little shit will be just fine."
"It's not just that," Nyalla continued, "these three months have been so hard for him, losing his mother in the bombings. He even disappeared for the last few months until a week ago. The poor boy's been through so much and Kilmer's only drilling him more."
"It's terrible," Eden said, "he's the only one who saw what happened that night and survived through it. Only he could've seen and heard what really happened."
Nyalla nodded, the empathy for the boy evident in her eyes.
Most of the discussion around them that continued was about the preparation for the upcoming Djorga. There were ongoing discussions on whether the championship will take place even after the bombings.
Tal watched the worried expression that was etched on Nyalla's face before asking, "Nyalla, do you think the championship will happen this year?"
Nyalla cleared her throat. Before a short pause of silence, she said, "maybe it will, maybe not. We've lost four powerful sages, the elemental world is in such an imbalance right now, the disturbed souls of the sages will unsettle everything. When souls that powerful are in distraught, even the elements are affected."
ii.
"Aman is in a critical condition. The sixteen year old air summoner is completely bed ridden with an unknown infection," Nyalla read out from her phone.
Eden's hand covered her mouth in shock, her big eyes looked at Nyalla in disbelief. "There's only one terrible thing happening after the other."
It was a Saturday morning in mid November. Since Angulia was on a tropical island, winter never needed to show itself. It was warm throughout the year, something that the summoners cherished. Tal and Eden were seated in Nyalla's office, right across her. The office was not too far from the Sahmek, it was a little room of four walls dedicated to Nyalla's work space. Her teak wood table had papers piled in bunches, with four different stamps and a laptop that was currently hibernating.
Nyalla put her phone back into her pocket and sighed. She was exhausted. The Sahmek's structure of discipline was slowly falling apart, even under her close watch. Summoners were becoming scared due to the bombings, or they were slacking off. Tasks weren't being carried out or executed properly. Moreover, the Lieu and Reon masters were more concerned with the consequences of the bombing than the actual functioning of the Sahmek. Ziachm would disappear for days or even over a week at a time.
Nyalla officially worked for the Sahmek as an organiser, and even though it was a community temple on paper, the Sahmek was an organisation in reality.
The remaining of the sages that were alive, were undoubtedly upset. Mostly due to the fact that their rituals and sacrifices weren't going well, as the spirits weren't accepting their offerings or prayers. Especially the fire spirits. The sages also believed the source that provided the energy to summon would eventually collapse due to the amount of the disturbed spirits from the deaths of the sages.
Nyalla showed the girls a letter that she had received the same morning. "Well, it would seem that Djorga is still happening. But everyone is wondering if the spirits will interfere with the ability to summon."
"Nothing drastic has happened so far," Tal observed, "although the Lieu masters fervently meditate everyday to somehow cause balance. People still summon normally."
"It's all building, Tal. Nothing may have happened so far, but that's no reason not to worry."
She paused.
She then opened a drawer beside her and took out a sheet of paper. Tal could see her hesitate slightly, and wondered why. For a brief moment Nyalla almost put the paper back into the drawer but instead handed it over to Tal, along with a pen.
"What is this?" Tal asked, taking the sheet from Nyalla.
"It's an application sheet. Ziachm asked me to give it to you, I don't know why. All summoners are encouraged to submit it but only a few end up doing so."
Tal's eyebrows furrowed together, reading the sheet. "That's because this is an application sheet to be proved eligible for the championship next year. Only few ever submit this and even fewer get chosen."
Eden glanced at the sheet, "Tal, you're not actually going to submit this, right?"
Tal scoffed, "of course not. Also, I wouldn't be eligible, as i'm not a dueller. My battle techniques are enough to get me through basic martial arts for self defence. I wouldn't be considered a strong enough candidate."
"That's what I thought too," Nyalla commented. "I told Ziachm that he'd rather give it to Ethan, who's a fantastic fire summoner."
Eden laughed nervously, "Tal would get her ass kicked, I mean you've got A1 fighters applying and even then the selection process is bloody tough."
Tal laughed along with her, "I'd be thrown out even before round one. Ziachm's judgement is indisputable but this is an exception."
Nyalla chimed in, "and with all that's happened, Yurifi only knows what's going to happen next year. People suspect the people responsible for the bombings might attack again at the championship."
Eden and Tal nodded, without responding. They knew it was possible and even with security being tight, there was no telling what could happen.
There was knock on Nyalla's door.
"Come in! It's open!" She called out.
The door opened and Elia Zhou walked inside holding a black folder. Her sharp eyes instantly caught the application form that Tal was holding, but she didn't say anything. She also made sure her expression didn't give away anything to indicate what she was thinking. She continued to walk up to Nyalla's table and opened her file.
"Good morning, what can I do for you?" Nyalla asked.
Elia smiled. "I'd like to submit my form for the championship next year."
Nyalla nodded and opened her drawer as Elia handed a form to her along with a few other sheets. "Under Elia Zhou, please."
"These sheets are from last year?" Nyalla asked, reading the loose sheets.
Elia nodded. "Yes, they're transcripts from the Zarkozi duel, followed by the Yukinowa and Zürdot duel. I thought attaching them would help me get approved this year as well, as I heard eligibility is tougher this year."
Eden mouthed wow to Tal, who had her eyebrows raised. It had only occurred to Tal that the girl that stood here was a not just a fighter, but a champion, perhaps one of the greatest contenders to win the entire tournament itself. The Zarzoki duel was one of the last few rounds in the championship that took place, just before the quarter finals. It was an extremely difficult duel in the championship. For her to have won it commanded great respect.
Nyalla stapled the papers to the form, before she opened one of her drawers and kept them inside. "I remember those duels, those were very formidable opponents that you had defeated. I'm sure you'll be accepted this year as well."
Elia bowed slightly, "thank you, Nyalla." She then turned towards Tal and spoke, "when you finish submitting that form, Ziachm would like to meet you at the gazebo in the gardens."
Tal chuckled, "Uh, yeah, not happening. I don't think I'm going to be submitting anything these next few months, let alone a submission form for a world championship."
Elia showed no reaction nor did she display any form of expression, but only slightly tilted her head. She then spoke, her firm tone allowing her to make a point. "Very well, if that's what you intend. But if I were you, I'd want to know why Ziachm is waiting with the sweatshirt and kion of one of the fallen soldiers."
Eden and Nyalla's eyes widened. They knew what a statement like this meant. Elia watched their surprised reactions, but said nothing, before she bowed and left the room silently.
Tal looked down without saying anything. What was Elia saying? Did Ziachm really have his things? After he fled?
"Could he actually have it? I mean..." Eden drifted off, she could sense the uncomfortable tension in the room.
Nyalla picked up on the tension. "Tal, if you really don't feel like it, you don't have to go. It's not worth all the stress and pain that comes with all of this. I can talk to Ziachm—"
"No," Tal started. "No, no. It's got to be serious if Ziachm's gone that far to be waiting for me with his things. I'll look into it. If not for me, then for Asrin."
This response was not taken well. Eden fiercely objected. "But Asrin's fled! He's disappeared. He's a coward, why even bother?"
"Ziachm has his kion," Tal answered quietly, not wanting to be further investigated.
She once again looked at the damned form, and slowly read its harmless questions. But it was these questions that would go a long way, that would determine whether she'd be able to do what was demanded of her by Ziachm. Granted, it was confusing, and she didn't like it one bit, but Asrin's disappearance had not been taken lightly by her at all. It had translated into sleepless nights and formed the depth of an incredible pain that no one else knew about. No one else knew of the frantic states of mind that she had gone through when he'd fled, to leave her fending for Angulia alone.
A few more minutes passed by before Tal made her decision. What did she have to lose? Worst case, she gets thrown out of the selection process. But she knew there was some importance to applying, the signs were obvious, she didn't know just yet.
Tal clicked on the pen that Nyalla had handed to her and wrote down the details of her name, the Sahmek that she'd belonged to and what element she practiced.
Earth she jotted down.
After finishing the rest of the details, she handed it back to Nyalla, who didn't look pleased at all.
"Are you sure?" Nyalla asked the earth summoner.
She nodded. "Positive."
iii.
"You can pretend you don't care, but I think I see how much this has affected you."
Ziachm's calm voice along with his words made Tal look away uncomfortably, they reminded her of how much she was lying to herself and everyone around her.
They stood in the blistering heat of noon under a gazebo, where the birds laid their nests above the roof tops and where the sprinkler wouldn't reach. Two earth summoners practiced to duel with each other, while Ziachm stood poised and silent. Tal's anxious eyes studied him.
To the world, Tal was one of the most calm and composed people. She came off diligent, responsible and even jovial at times. Her mind was observant and functioned on logic, being a Riyuzai summoner. However during the times when she didn't need to face the world, she knew her mind was a mess. It would get worse in the nights, with flashbacks of the past few months that never let her sleep or caused nightmares. But no one saw that, or needed to. They saw a fantastic Riyuzai summoner and an average college student.
Riyuzai summoners did not duel or fight, but rather became informants, spies, or even snipers. They used their summoning techniques to shoot long distance, mostly to cover for the Shrinzai summoners. Shrinzai summoners were fighters, who would duel head on, as Zahir and Elia did.
"I see the way you look at Bernie every day. It holds something special to you, doesn't it?"
"Bernie? You mean the dragon headed eel?" She laughed softly. "Yes, I enjoy looking at Bernie."
She knew that Bernie was just another reference that led back to Asrin.
"Indeed. We both know why. I thought you would've liked to have these things." Ziachm told her, handing her Asrin's kion and sweatshirt.
Tal would never admit it to Ziachem, but she did feel a sort of happiness; or perhaps a vague satisfaction, upon receiving them. It was his kion for Yurifi's sake! A representative of his identity. She felt like she could have some other strong way to remember Asrin apart from a painful set of memories.
She kept them in her bag and then decided to finally ask Ziachem the vital questions. "Why did you have them in the first place? Why did you want me to apply or why did you want me here in the first place?"
Tal started to pace around the gazebo frustratedly, her fingers restlessly playing with Asrin's kion. She wanted to move past Asrin, at the same time she liked holding his kion. Her confusion only added to her obvious frustration.
"Frankly, I didn't think you'd actually apply, and I'm surprised that you did. How did you know I had his kion?"
"Elia told me," she replied shortly.
Ziachem sighed deeply. "She wasn't supposed to. I didn't want you here because of him."
"Then why do you have his things?"
"His father gave them to me a few days ago when I went to Singapore and he wanted you to have them. The man is very distraught."
Tal let out a frustrated sigh, "I never should have applied then. I'm getting eliminated anyway, but why did I allow myself to be provoked by Elia?"
"It's not Elia, it's what Asrin did. But it's because of what he did that I'm proud of your courage when you helped us secure Angulia. You see, the night when Asrin left and abandoned you at your post, I saw the way you moved the elements to heed you, you summoned them to do exactly as your will."
"I had to, I didn't have a choice, any other earth summoner would've done the same."
Ziachem's eyes narrowed slightly, "not quite, Tal. You are the first summoner that I saw move the earth that way, you caused vibrations and cracks in the very ground. You even created the earth to part ways when you created a sand dune, and without having an air summoner with you. I don't think I've seen a Shrinzai or a Riyuzai do that before."
"With all due respect, Drovai, I was under pressure because I was the only Riyuzai on that section of the coast that night, and Asrin had fled, leaving me on my own. I only did what I had to do."
"And that is why I want you to try for the championship, solely because of your brilliant ability to summon. You have understood your element, that night proved it."
"But I'm not a Shrinzai, I don't enjoy duelling, and the abilities that I have cannot help me on a duelling ground. Those are defence mechanisms mostly, and I don't know how to strike apart from long distances."
Ziachem shook his head, he suddenly had a solemn look on his face. "It's not winning I'm concerned about, it's more."
"What?"
"We believe a vital member group behind the bombings is a competitor in Djorga. As you are also a fantastic tracker and spy, we need an informant and assassin."
Tal froze. "Are you asking me to—"
"Yes. I'm not going to preach to you about how assassinating the man would help Asrin's family, but I am going to tell you how vital this role is. Four other Sahmeks have decided to send their own competitors to assassinate other members of Verius."
"I'm honoured, Drovai. I just thought that Zahir and Elia would be better for this job."
"So did I, initially," Ziachm responded thoughtfully. "The truth of the matter is, you're the only summoner who can read when people are lying through your earth summoning by reading their heartbeats. You can track people's movements and breaths by just feeling the ground, you can feel the vibration of their actions before they even take place. You are one of the best Riyuzai here, you can observe one's actions in a way no other summoner can."
Tal stayed silent. She was honoured that her Lieu Master thought this highly of her, but internally, she was terrified. She knew lately her performance had been dwindling, the frustrations of her life were catching up to her, she knew this was more than just a bad patch of her life. Taking on a heavy assignment like this would be another weight on her shoulder.
On observing Tal's silence, Ziachm further spoke, "there is also another issue that I must bring up. I had a meeting two weeks ago with the other Masters of the other Sahmeks. Although I disagree with their claims, they insist that Elia Zhou has something to do with the bombings. I find it incredulous, but I am sure they wouldn't support me if I had asked her to do this job. People feel she'd throw our Sahmek under the bus, if that were the case. And then of course, there are Kilmer's investigations which suggest that Zahir could be behind it."
"I don't think they have anything to do with it," Tal said plainly. "But I understand when you say that people wouldn't be happy sending them."
"Zahir is angry with the world, it is evident in the way he duels, always raising hellfire." Ziachm chuckled softly, "but the boy is dealing with the suspicions of many because of his behaviour that they find.. Different."
"I find it very strange, Drovai, how two of the best fighters of our Sahmek are under such suspicion. I understand that Zahir's behaviour is extremely... rash, but we have only seen that in duels and never outside of a duel."
"Indeed. The frustrations of people are growing ever more, very soon you and I may be under suspicion. But don't worry, we'll find a way to figure this out once and for all. As for the Djorga, I will personally train you myself from tomorrow up until Djorga begins. I am confident that you'll be able to perform wonderfully."
At his words, Tal felt extremely grateful and honoured. Ziachm would hardly ever teach anyone, even as many of the students would ask him to, sometimes even beg. He was a man who spent a lot of time by himself, not wanting to involve himself in worldly matters, or even people for that matter. But now, with the help and wisdom of his teachings, Tal felt that actually had hope in duelling Djorga and facing off the other duellers.
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