Realms Beyond - A Short Story by Storm Mackenzie

The path ahead was long and stretched far in each direction. The quiet music of the woods surrounded us. I could feel the pull of our next destination, almost as strong as the pull of gravity. My body wanted to steer off path.

"Here Myre, we have to stop here for a bit," I told my little sister, who had grown considerably quick in this new realm. Faster than me. It was weird, I felt at home here. All the pains and problems I had to face back home had vanished the instant we entered this realm, and my powers had flared up like never before. Myre remained powerless, just a human. Yet she grew quicker and stronger here. Perhaps that was from exposure to me. Using my powers in the vicinity of nature made it flourish.

Either way, I was glad we were here, away from home, but more at home than before. I don't think Myre felt that way. In this new realm we were always hunted, always chased. Or at least I was, she was just stubborn enough not to desert me. I wished she would return home. I could send her there, but she stubbornly refused. I even asked her to settle down in this realm occasionally, but she said she had no life here but with me. I wished that wasn't the case. Being near me was to dangerous.

"Why must we stop, Syrina?"

"You'll see," I said cryptically. She would never agree if she knew how dangerous this simple task was, and who was close to finding us. He would find us too. There was no way I could remain hidden and still complete this task. It may just take all my energy any way, and I save him the job of killing me.

My heart clenched at that thought. If I was dead Myre was stuck here. There was only one person with the ability to kill me. He was drawing closer with every breath. The fear of facing him was slowly engulfing me.

I pushed us through the small bushes that hid this spot from the path. There was a pool here, human-made, full to the brim with algae and nothing else. Perched on the edge were three animals, all looking dead as they lay there. One, a little bouncing mammal, almost like the kangaroos we found at home, but with poison darts on the largest toe of each foot and sharp fangs for front incisors. This one was missing a leg, and with only one left it wasn't going anywhere fast. The second was a small mammal, a herbivore, and it lay there looking all but dead. I could see no problem with it, yet when I used my powers I could sense the burning in its brain. The third was an infant, a tiny horse-like creature with predatory eyes on the front of it' head and feathered wings sprouting from its back. It looked as much dead as the other, but I could sense its life.

I stepped towards the pool, so green its depths were hidden to me, yet I could see the silver being swirling and spiraling in the shallow water. I pitied her, for she was almost the size of the pool, and surely needed more room than that. Yet she was growing nearer to the surface, ready to strike. Just before she became visible I held my hands out in surrender.

“I can help you," I promised the water. Myre stepped away from the edge, thankfully, and I felt the silver monster pause in her upwards paddle.

“How can a simple being such as you help me?” The monster asked, speaking directly to my mind. Encouraged by her voice in my head, I answered by sending an image straight to hers. She remained perfectly still as she studied it. Then she snapped it like a stick.

“There's no way you are capable of that, little human.”

I tilted my head, smiling in challenge. Then I sat at the edge of the water, legs tucked and crossed, hands resting on knees, palms pointing up at the sky. Back at home I used to be teased for sitting like this. But with my back straight and my hands tingling, I knew that the meditation techniques my mother had taught me were important. As I sat there, I cleared my head. Every breath in, I brought in my surroundings, the smell of the rank green water and the tiny mosquitos that perched on its still surface, the trees all around, Myre behind me.

With every breath out, I sank deeper into the centre of my being, where my energy and life was hidden away. Pressing into it, I slipped easily into a state where I was no longer human, no longer substantial. My body was there, but it had gone into a frozen state. It didn't breathe, its heart didn't beat, its blood didn't run. My soul had escaped my body, and now it was free to move about the earth and do what it wished.

I sifted through the water near me, feeling every particle that made up its composition. This was going to take more energy and time than I had. I could feel him, the hunter, just around the corner. Carefully I took control of the wind, gently tipping my body forwards, into the water. There it sank and drifted to the very centre of the pool. The monster circled it, for a moment contemplating its taste. Then she sent her own mind outwards, feeling my essence spread through the air and water around her. I was still anchored to my body, but I had transformed. It was hard to focus my attention on any particular thing. Every little being, from the huge monster down to the tiniest plant cell was screaming, tell me things I didn't want to know.

I could see it all. I could see the hunter press through the bushes. My emotions were off in this state; I was too focussed on my task to let them affect me, but had they been I wouldn't have had the strength to remain hidden beneath the water. I pulled the algae in the water towards me, sucking it closer to my body like a vacuum. It swirled around me as I slowly began removing the energy from each particle, ripping it away until the energy became mine and the algae turned grey and disintegrated into nothing. At the same time, I listened to what was happening just above the surface, a part of me watching the conflict as if I was right beside them.

"You can't kill her! Not now!" Myre urged, her gentle hands reaching for the gun the hunter carried. He didn't let her grab it, but he replaced it in its holster.

"I'm not going to shoot her right here and now. How stupid do you think I am?" the hunter growled.

"What?" Myre asked. I could sense her confusion. She had expected it of him, expected a bullet to be sent straight through the shallow water and into my chest.

"If I shot her now, there would forever be unbalance in this world. She is taking the energy from the algae, that's why its dying. If I kill her now that energy dies with her. I do think things through, Myre."

She stood, shocked that he would consider something as delicate as that. His gaze looked over her into the water where green and grey swirled around my body, hiding me, but not for long. I sung as he frowned. He would let me complete this task. I took hold of the air and gently brushed it through his hair and across his cheek. While Myre was still in shock, staring at his gun, I caught a smile.

“My purpose isn't as important as the world, however much my masters may disagree.”

I heard his words, but my busy spirit took a few long seconds to remember to construct words of its own. In this state, I spoke in emotions and feelings, senses and images. Words were harder, a language of humans that were stuck forever in their bodies.

“My sister?” I asked, hoping he would understand.

“She is safe. It's not her they want dead.”

If I had a body, I would have nodded. Instead I withdrew from the air around him, returning all my attention to the water. In the back of my mind I could sense him watching, Myre's gaze flicking nervously between us.

“There is a glamour hiding my master’s old building. I ate him, and his wife and daughter took off soon after that. If you can show your friends past the glamour then they will be safe hidden there while you work,” the monster suggested.

I carefully sent part of my mind out to the hunter. He sensed my touch and I pressed down on his mind. He immediately pushed back, a reaction to my trespassing.

“I must kill you tomorrow,” he stated.

I pressed harder, until I could sense the basis of thoughts.

“What are you trying to do?” he asked.

“I can't show you unless I have control of your sight. I don't need your thoughts, just your sight.”

He suddenly stopped pressing, and before I could read his thoughts my mind sped through them until I could see out of his eyes. I was looking down where my body was slowly becoming visible in the clearing water. Looking away, I strained his eyes to see at the very edge of his vision. He turned so that I could face what looked like a thick maze of tree branches. Then I let him see through my eyes, the eyes of my spirit and soul. I had no body for the glamour to work on, and I saw the large house standing not far away.

He nodded and I gently pulled out of his head. As soon as I did I sensed him stumble. Seeing through my spirit was hard. It caused death for those not accustomed to it, and for him it must have caused a massive few seconds of migraine. Now, seeing through his own eyes, he would see everything in a haze, until his mind registered that as normal. My spirit eyes missed nothing. If they wanted, they could focus sharp enough to distinguish atoms. Human eyes could not.

I returned to my task as he carefully pulled Myre through the bushes, promising that if she behaved she would see me again. It was harsh of him to imply otherwise, but it was the only way she would trust him to walk her through a thick tree trunk. She had to be made to do it herself, or he would have to resort to force. Threatening her meant no bodily harm. When she stepped reluctantly into the tree, feeling it part before her and fall into a fountain light, she realized what had happened.

"You can speak to her!" she snapped, spinning to face the hunter.

"Yes."

"But she isn't, that's not even, you can't," her voice was breaking, trying to make sense of this discovery. I had never told her what had happened between me and the hunter, back before I was on the top of his hit list. She simply knew that he had betrayed us, first bringing us to this realm so that I may live, only to desert us before coming back to kill me. She had never known the whole truth. I had never told her. When the hunter killed me, he would tell the story. He had promised.

"She will explain when her spirit returns to her body. I have no doubt she'll find a way to tell you that much. Until then, she is going to be a while. This is a big task, and she must complete it. Find a room and a bed and make use of it," he demanded, pushing her towards the front door. Looking back at the pool, he paused for a moment before following her.

I was now brimming with energy, the life of every bit of algae having been drawn into myself. The silver monster with her long neck and large paddles still swam circles around me. My next task became clear. I planted a few sprinkles of life using the energy I had collected. I needed what I had collected for other tasks, and being near my magic the seeds of life would grow rapidly on their own. If the worst happened and I ran out of energy, nature would run its course and the pool would be full of life in a few years anyway.

I turned my attention to the silver monster.

“You need more space.”

“There is nothing you can do to help that, strange human.”

“Beneath us is a massive underground cavern full of water. I could open it up and create a path there. Do you need sunlight constantly?”

“Hardly any. Many of my ancestors lived below ground. My own mother was found in a sealed off cavern that had been cracked open by an earth quake.”

I had my answer. Beginning to move the earth beneath us, I left the pool intact until the last moment. I made a tunnel grow up from the underground cavern. I turned the solid stone to water, and the few molecules I removed became more energy to make the conversion possible. Then I turned the sides of the tunnel into obsidian, smooth as a liquid. The purple black substance stretched down and swirled patterns that seemed to suit the tunnel into the depths perfectly. Made from the fires of the underworld I knew it would hold, never collapsing to trap the silver monster in her place again. Unknown to her, there were a series of tunnels that lead many miles into the ground, connecting to other caverns. One of these led to the great ocean where her kin resided. It would be up to her to make that discovery, risking the tunnels that could crumble to find her kin.

With a final crack, I opened a corner of the pool and let the obsidian spread out into the ceramic tiles. The silver monster darted into the dark hole, as fast as an arrow. I continued to work around her, ensuring the walls would hold and her home would remain secure and safe. She played an important role in the future of the realm, but not for many years. Until then she needed a safe home, and I must give her that.

By now the sun was setting, and the little seeds of life I had planted had begun to grow. I used more energy to create the important nutrients the water would need to support that life for years to come. Then I blew the rich soil from the nearby ground, covering the blue tiles of the pool. I sprouted tiny plants that would continue the important cycle of life, releasing oxygen to the water and stirring the nutrients. Then I let the tiny flashes of energy left and created the organisms and life that would feed on the plants and nourish the plants and feed the silver monster and each other. The careful balance of life was in my hands, and I strived to get it right.

Soon I had tiny silver beings darting back and forth around my frozen body, occasionally nipping at my skin, wondering what I was. Far below I could feel the silver monster flying upwards, sensing my finishing touches. Staring down at me from the window of the second story of the house was the hunter, waiting, patient, as the stars grew brighter overhead. When the silver monster surfaced from the dark, I was almost ready to return to my body.

“Thank you,” she said, swirling around my body and sending the fish into hiding.

“In many years you will understand why I did this. It wasn't for you. Though your life deserved this much. Is there anything I can do to make up for the cruelty that man inflicted on you?”

She sensed that this wasn't enough. That sooner or later, everything I had just done for her would be cancelled out by another drastic occurrence in her life. I had done this for her, because in the future she would have deserved it. Not because in her past she deserved it. Now I wanted to make up for the past. It was not my task, but tomorrow I may very likely be dead, so I didn't care if I was breaking the rules my own master had set.

“Heal them?” she asked of me.

My spirit swirled around the three animals on the edge of the pool. Slowly I began, growing the leg back on the little hopping mammal, using my own energy to build the tissue and sinew until it laced together and he could stand and hop and run on his own. Then I gently prodded at the burning of the herbivore, the heat that was threatening to explode his brain. The monster had enough power to stop the internal bleeding, but not enough to reverse it. I did. Carefully I pulled the bleeding out, reverting it to the important connections between the nerves. The little herbivore would never be the same, the brain was too hard to perfectly correct, but he would be alive. Then I studied the little horse-like creature.

It was tiny, frozen in a state similar to that of my own body. All but dead, it didn't grow or breath or live. It was rare, and I could tell that the milk it needed was unique to its breed. I slowly fed it my energy, and as the stars passed over head, it grew rapidly, until it no longer needed the milk of its mother. Now its digestive system was developed enough to feed on the grass of the clearing. The little foal had grown into a young horse, his wings growing faster than the rest of him. He may have been called a pegasus if he was back at my home realm, but I knew that here he was something different. His predatory eyes said as much.

I broke his frozen trance, and he stumbled to his feet. I carefully fed him memories, memories stolen from his kind that lived on the mountains in the far distance. My spirit reached that far, and I gave him a life. He would remember little of it, but he would remember the feeling of learning to walk, and to fly. He would remember the first few bites of grass, and the taste of milk on his tongue. Everything else was his own memories, laying dormant from years staring into the pool of the silver monster.

'There,' I sighed, exhausted. This was the longest and hardest I had ever worked in this state, and with slow reluctance I began to return to my body. A single wisp of wind at my command blew across the hunter’s face, and I felt him turn away from the window. I didn't question his motives. I didn't have the energy to. Instead I returned to my body. My breath was out, and as I erupted into life I fought to hold that breath in. Seeing my eyes snap open and my sudden struggle the silver monster shot towards me. Her slimy leather head pushed me upwards to the edge of the pool. My head broke the surface and I sucked in a few deep breaths.

She held me there until I had reclaimed my limbs. Then I clambered out of the pool with her help. Her head rose above the water, huge fish-like eyes blinking her thanks. I managed a smile and a nod before turning and carefully stumbling away. My legs threatened to collapse under me. I knew that I wouldn't last long without energy. My mind reached out to the tiny belt around my waist, where a series of gems were embedded. Drawing on their stored energy I took the smallest amounts until I could walk properly. I slipped inside the house.

My sister was waiting for me, and she quickly ushered me into a room down the hall from the hunters, close to hers. She hid me there, knowing I could not escape in this state. I acted weaker than I was, and carefully collapsed into the little bed she had made, hidden inside a closet. Then she shut the doors over, and I let my breathing appear like I had instantly fallen asleep. I waited, sensing her move to her own claimed room. She felt it too obvious if she hid me in her room. She had a plan to escape the hunter the instant I woke in the morning.

I had another plan. I waited as she slid into her own exhausted sleep, having been kept up with worry and stress while I worked my powers and the hunter waited. As soon as she started to dream I pressed on her mind gently, urging her into a deeper sleep. Then I clambered out of the cupboard and stumbled up the hallway. I could hear silence behind the door, but didn't dare sense what was beyond. A deep breath, and I pushed open the door.

The hunter was standing on the other side of the room, near a bed. He spun as the door opened, his eyes searching me instantly. I stepped inside, looking down the hall to my sister’s room. Shutting the door, I carefully wove an unseen web through it, blocking all sound from escaping and reaching her ears. I couldn't risk her waking. Not now, not until I was gone. Locking the door, I turned back, my head down. A deep breath. I looked up.

"I'm ready," I said, not able to meet his eyes.

"Sy..."

"Kaen, you have to. My sister will try to escape with me in the morning. You can't let me escape again." I finally met his eyes.

"Why not?"

I tilted my head and frowned in frustration. He knew why. It was an issue we had come across before, and I wasn't going to risk it again. He took a few steps towards me, and I suddenly couldn't breathe.

"You can't do this again. Kaen, don't," I warned.

"I don't care."

Suddenly his lips were on mine, and my body was flooded with emotion. His lips were warm, and mine were wet, my body still dripping from the water. His hand wove through my hair, the other pulling my closer even as he stepped forwards. I pressed my body to his, desperate for this last kiss, because I knew what would come after it. I didn't want to die, but my life was worth his.

I felt his mind on mine, and I opened up to him. Suddenly our minds combined, open to each other. I could feel everything that was running through his head, just as he could feel everything running through mine. Nothing was left between us as we used this last moment to drown in each other. Our bodies continued acting on instinct as our spirits wove together, strengthening each other and reading each other one last time.

I felt bare, but his mind was gentle as it searched mine. As he did I searched his, feeling everything he had, every time he had seen me in the past, every time we had talked, as if I was him and he was me. We studied each other from the inside out, until we knew exactly who the other was. Which caused more problems.

We were both willing to die for the other. And the only way he would survive was if I was dead. I withdrew to my body, just enough to feel how close we were, to talk and listen through body rather than spirit.

"You must kill me."

"I can't, Sy, I can't. I could kill myself, but I could never kill you."

I pulled away from his mind, needing to be separate to think clearly. My own emotions were strong enough, adding his as well was making my body ache.

"There's no other way. Your masters won't let you fail again. If you don't kill me now, they'll kill you and send someone else after me and I'll die anyway. If you kill me now, you'll live. You can take Myre home, explain everything to her, tell her why I had to do this."

He just shook his head, his dark hair falling across his face. We were still wrapped in each other's arms, standing, my back pressed against a wall. I should have felt trapped, my hunter cornering me with his body, but instead I felt protected. That was how it was meant to be. If good and bad didn't need a balance, if good could win, that's how it would be. He would be my protector, not my hunter. But the darkness had got to him, the badness had overtaken him. Now he had to kill me. We were out of choices.

"There has to be some other way. This can't be the only solution,” he begged.

"We don't have enough time to find another solution. The sun must rise, and by then I must be dead, or we both will be."

"I would prefer to be dead with you than living without you."

His comment was quiet, but it struck deep. I pressed my forehead against his chest, burying into his shirt. I could not think of another way, not like this, with my fate and his pressing on me. Not when my sister could be affected forever. I had to consider her life in this as well. I let my mind go, let it flow past the web of silence I had woven into the door, let it float down to the silver monster in the pool nearby. She stirred at my touch, having been asleep, and listened carefully as I showed her what to do.

When I returned Kaen was waiting for me, as patient as always.

"Join me?" I asked him. He blinked, shocked. What I had asked was something unheard of. But he nodded at my wish, and led me over to the bed. Carefully he lay down next to me, both of us as straight as sticks. Then I let my body relax into the mattress and felt his do the same. Our palms fell upwards, and I carefully slid my hand over to lace my fingers through his. Where our palms met, energy poured through us, flowing from one to the other. Then, as I slid into my state, I brought him with me.

Suddenly we were both free, and I contemplated just remaining like this forever. I wondered, if someone was to kill our bodies, would we disappear, our would our spirits remain free, with nowhere to return? We thought together, our spirits entangled. If I let him go he would be forever lost, unable to control anything in this state, not even himself. He trusted me to hold him here, hold him tight. Until now I wasn't sure if I could.

We flew together, as fast as light, exploring the realm for some clue to a solution. This was not like home, this realm needed a constant balance. There must always be good and bad, or the realm would crumble and cease to exist. The masters of the light constantly commanded good people to commit acts of good, and the masters of dark constantly did the same with corrupt people. They never worked together, but were such equal opponents they never managed to upset the balance. There were only a few rare occasions where they did, and the realm was thrown into natural disaster until the balance levelled out.

The dark wanted me dead, but as soon as I died another like me would be born to replace me. Or so we assumed, my circumstances were so unique I couldn't be sure. For I was half from home, half from this realm. Born in home, I was not fully a part of this balance, yet everything I did was. Myre was completely born of home, so she had no place here. She was a human, neither good nor bad. That is why the dark didn't want her dead, as her death meant nothing to the light, and nothing to them. Of that I was thankful.

If someone from the dark side was killed, another was born, or someone from the light side was also killed. Even though I had the power to kill the masters of dark, Kaen's masters, I couldn't with out either killing the masters of light as well, or sacrificing the whole realm. Just thinking that got me a jab of warning from Kaen's mind, who was so much a part of my thought process I was unsure which thoughts were mine and which were his.

My death would not create any change in the balance. It would only stop me from completing my tasks, the things my own masters had set for me to do. Those tasks were set to try and win the battle against dark, but with me dead they wouldn't be completed. It was all a constant struggle that made little sense. There were many humans that spent the whole lives doing nothing but contemplate the balance between light and dark.

Yet, if my death meant nothing, then maybe just leaving would be enough to stop the dark masters going after me. I was mostly sure that was Kaen's thought, as that would mean leaving him, and I could hardly do that. If he were to leave with me, return home, we would both live a life of pain and sickness out side of this realm, but we'd live a life together. But he was born here, not half of home, and so his absence would be felt in the balance. He could not leave.

If my death meant nothing, after all my body practically died every time my spirit left it, then maybe I could return my spirit to a vacant body back at home. That way only my spirit would suffer, and I may even be able to return to this realm to see Kaen without being spotted by either masters. I would just have to avoid using my powers to make a difference in the balance. I would live without my powers, just as Myre lived. That could work.

But that was too simple. I needed to make a difference to the balance. That was why I was so important. Because I was strong enough to find a balance that gave the dark little power but kept the realm intact. That was in my palm lines, hidden away where only fortune tellers could see. I must be able to make a difference, but I couldn't do that dead or hidden in a body from home.

What if I didn't need a body from home?

My thought's ran over the idea so fast I felt Kaen failing to keep up. The sudden idea almost caused me to drop him, and I carefully returned us both to our body before I let go for good. Snapping my eyes open I rolled over onto him, ignoring the distance between us.

"What was that?" he asked suddenly, his hands wrapping around my waist.

"I have an idea."

I told him, and his eyes widened and a smile broke his face. His hands slid up my back to my head, and he cupped it, pulling me down to kiss him. We stayed that way for a while, kissing gently, until I rolled off him and we slept. We both needed energy we did not have, and this may not work. We both had that fear in us as we clutched each other that night and slept, cherishing the short time together as our first and possibly our last chance to love each other in such an open way.

The next morning, before Myre woke, we were gone. The silver monster knew what to do about Myre, and I hoped she wouldn't take the news too harshly. She would think I'm dead. I needed it to be that way, at least for now. I hated what that would do to her, but that was one thing I could not solve.

As soon as we were far enough from the pool and the house we stopped. Kaen hugged me close, and he kissed me, and I returned the caress, the wind holding us together. Then his grip found my arm and became as tight as a vice. He held my there, no longer my protecter, but my hunter. I had my powers, trapped in a tiny ball within my chest. I did not reach for them, even as the masters reached out from the earth and pulled us down into their lair.

"Half child, why are you not dead?" the darkness asked.

"I have an idea I want to ask you about."

The darkness materialized, swirls or bright light and shadow. The darkness was never actually the dark. That was just an idea the humans had started because they were afraid of the unknown. In the dark they could not see, and so expected the dark to prey on them. In the light they could see, and felt safer. They had named the light of the day after the light side, and the dark of the night after the dark side. The amount of light had nothing to do with good and bad.

A man stood in front of me, tall and pale, with white hair that reached past his waist. It was clasped back with a metal clip. The man wore black and light blue, with accents of metallic silver on his tunic and pants. He was in the shape and body of one of the native species of this realm, similar in appearance and customs as what people from home would consider an elf. They weren't called that here, though the origin of elves may have started from a bridge between our two worlds.

"What is it?" the dark elf master asked, exasperated. I had come to them before, met many of them, and create quite a havoc. He also knew I was powerful enough to kill him instantly if I so wished it. I had proven that last time, when I had kill one of them, and brought him back just before the balance was permanently destroyed. I had received a lot of scolding for that incident, but I was beyond the battles of light and dark now. This master knew to be wary.

"I knew I had to die sooner or later. Unfortunately, my hunter found me when I was weak. I was going to kill him, but I decided I'd do something different. I might as well get something out of dying, after all."

With a wave of the master’s skeletal hand Kaen dropped my arm. I immediately sent just enough power to the bruise to repair the damaged cells. As I did I continued talking, giving them the impression that I didn't even notice I was doing such a thing. They could sense I had hidden the rest of my power, so this would seem like I had more power than I actually did.

"I thought about dying, and realized that if I died my half sister would be left here. I don't know what her permanent residence would mean for the realm. I'd much prefer her back in her realm where she can't get into any mischief while I'm gone. So I thought, instead of killing my hunter and spending the last of my energy to send her home, why not do something with a twist. Either way I'm going to die. This way, my lovely old hunter here can go retire in some old cabin in the woods and my sister can get back safely. And I'll be out of the balance."

"Why would you want to be out of the balance?"

The dark master saw no positive for me in this. As far as he saw it, I was here as a trick. I had to convince him otherwise. I had to act like I held more power than him and didn't know it.

"I've seen what is to come. My next task will give the light masters more power than you could possibly counter. They believe that if they have been given an opportunity such as this, then they will profit greatly until your next move. But I see the truth. You have no moves left."

He studied me carefully, and I could see the doubt in his eyes. I frowned and tilted my head in challenge, something I did a lot of. Then I pulled on the darkness within me, the balance within my own soul. I let it show, and the master saw it. He was all darkness, and the opposite masters were all light. The humans were neutral, but could be persuaded to join a side. Me, I was different, and for the first time in my life I showed that.

I had the power to destroy the dark side and the light side without upsetting the balance. I had more power than that, but I didn't know how to use it. Yet I let him believe that I did. Because I had such control over my balance, that if I destroyed him and every master of the dark, I could keep the balance just by shifting myself over to the dark side. It would be as simple as that, a balancing act that I could make seem easy.

He saw that all, as I tilted my head and let my dark side out. I let my eyes become malicious and cruel. I glared at him with mischievous hatred.

"You think I'm stupid, dark master? You have no counter, and this would make the light side stronger. All because I have enough power to over come you all," I blinked away the darkness within, returning to myself, "but I can't. The balance is not meant to rest on one sole being. That is why there are always more masters than necessary, why there are always pawns to fight for the masters. Because otherwise the masters may just be able to pick each other off to the last two. That can never happen. I am not stupid, dark master. Make a bridge with the energy left from my death, get my sister home. Then the balance will be set right in the future."

"The balance will be right, because you will be gone."

"And the energy I have harvested will be used to get my sister home. I have linked my energy with her. She will take it with her, trapped in her realm where it can't be used. That will correct the balance."

The dark master nodded, and looked at Kaen.

"Jylmue Kaenreil, take her to stand before the masters. They will all want to see her death. There I will drain her energy and make a bridge for her sister's path."

Kaen nodded and gestured for me to follow him. I did, wanting to reach out and touch him. But I refrained. The masters must never know of our connection. Especially not now. He led me to a large cavern that was set like a theatre. A large semicircular stage sat against the front wall, and spreading out into endless rows were steps. They truly were endless, and I contemplated them silently. Kaen stared at a place on the floor, and a cold stone bench appeared from nowhere.

I stood next to it, ready to recline onto it. It was to be my death bed. Kaen, silently, began altering it, using the powers he had, enhanced in this section of the realm, until it became something more than a bench. The stone became white marble, with obsidian carved into it, creating runes that meant nothing to the masters, nothing to this realm. For they were in a language from earth, one that I knew well. I read over the promises, the secret messages, the wishes and dreams, as he carved them into the surface, filling the gaps he carved with the dark obsidian.

Beneath those words, he carved words in the language of the masters. They meant different things, completely different things, about victory of the dark over light, and the constant balance that was our lives, and how with my death I was removing a weapon of the light. He lined it up so each letter appeared to correspond with what was written above in my language, but we both knew that was not the case. I hid my smile, burying my love.

Then masters arrived, filling the room with their forms. Each took on a species of this realm, one of their choosing, and there were many more than I expected. Grand master of the light, my direct master, was larger and more powerful, but their numbers must have matched his power. Where the light had the grand master and few other lesser masters of light, the dark had no grandmaster, but were much greater in number. It was frightening.

I took a deep breath, finding my hidden centre of power. Then Kaen's master appeared, his stark white elven form a match to the smooth marble in front of me. Without waiting for his word, I slid onto the bench, laying down on its hard surface. Then I watched him, gathering the energy that was my life force. Her held a blade of unknown origin. I knew what it was. Then he handed it to Kaen.

I saw Kaen's eyes, saw the emotion hidden beyond his impassive face. I reached out with my mind, caressing his cheek with the tiniest touch.

“I'll see you in a bit,” I promised him. His emotions were raw. We weren't sure if this would work.

“I love you,” he answered as he brought the dagger downwards. In that instant, all I could see was his beautiful eyes, full of love and pain. Then I pulled everything to me. The years of power I had slowly hidden away in my gem belt got sucked into my chest. I buried all that energy deep within myself, just as I took the centre of my being, the bit with my life energy and my spirit and my soul, and I left my body as the blade disappeared into my chest. For a moment everything went strange, like I was thrown into a world of suspense and my whole life was nothing but empty light. I thought maybe I had died.

Then it cleared, and I looked down at my body, the dagger buried in my chest. My heart continued to try and beat, and I was thankful. If I had immediately died it would have looked strange. But after a few agonizing seconds my heart stopped and my blood ran cold. I didn't move, not letting my spirit spread out to scan the room, I pulled in on myself. I pulled myself as small and inconspicuous as I could go. Then I watched.

A single tear threatened to drop from Kaen's eye, and I begged him not to spill it. His emotions were swirling, but I dare not touch them. Then he drew himself up, his back straightening. He looked at his dark master, letting triumph show on his face. He waited and he watched, and I tried my best to see past the dark joy that covered his face.

His master was siphoning my energy, building it into a bridge. I could feel it trembling in the air, my energy hating the touch of the master, hating that anyone was shaping it other than me. In all senses, it was my energy. For years I had been storing energy in my gems, and it was that energy the master now controlled. It was mine, a part of me, and it was more energy than the master had thought me capable of holding. It showed how powerful I had been, and appeared as if it were every last bit of my life force.

None of them knew that I hadn't given them any of the stuff that mattered. The energy they controlled was nothing. As my body drained of life, I felt its detachment. I was free, and my energy was growing. I could feel it. There was no anchor to hold me here now, no body to return to. My energy was growing bigger and bigger the longer I was alive and not dead. I didn't know how, but I was glad.

Then I realised where I was getting the extra energy from. The master didn't have complete control of what energy had been left in my body. There had been a lot, more than he could hold. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't hold it all. Bits kept escaping into the universe, and I could feel the beads of sweat growing on his brow, despite being something generally incapable of such stress. He had never suspected it to be this hard to hold so much power, to shape it. He was quickly learning why I was so unusual.

He finally managed to create the bridge, and I saw an image of my sister, riding far on the back of the horse-like being I had healed. Then suddenly the huge crack in the realm opened, and she was gone, the animal’s hooves thundering from air to grassy ground. What was left of my energy pulled from the master of dark with such a sudden motion that he fell to the ground in pain. It followed my sister, disappearing where people from this realm could not follow.

Then the bridge fell apart, all the energy sustaining it being pulled to the other side. I felt it shut, felt the absence of my sister and my energy from this world like a part of me had been torn in half and thrown through the gap as well. I guess in some ways that was true, since it was my energy that followed her.

As soon as the dark master was preoccupied gathering himself, for he had almost lost control of my energy, I carefully probed my body, assessing the damage. My body was dead, of that I was sure. But that was okay, because I had the power to fix it. I retreated quickly as the master stood. The other masters began to leave as silently as they came. There was no cheering, no words. They witnessed, they left.

Then suddenly another form materialized, and I shivered. It was Uran, the grand master's closest ally, and he was rather fond of me. He was in the shape of a creature the size of an elephant, yet closely resembling a bull. Sharp spiraling horns came from his skull, two long ones from the forehead, two short ones from above each nostril. His tail was long and whip-like, with a poisonous barb at the end. His eyes burned crimson with anger.

He had been incredibly fond of me.

He must have sensed the loss of my energy as I died, since I had so well hidden that I was still here. That meant Grandmaster had also sensed it, and thought me dead. The fact that Uran was here, in the heart of enemy territory, meant more than I could fathom. He was risking the balance, and I had no idea how to stop it.

His sharp hooves pawed at the stone ground.

"What have you done Araki!" he challenged, his voice booming to the very ends of the endless stadium.

"I have done nothing. The balance is intact. Now she cannot be used by either side Uran. We can continue on our battle as before. Only you will be dead, for trespassing."

Suddenly they flew at each other, and Kaen, the only one still left, launched out of the way. His master had to release him from this part of the realm. Only masters could command who came and went. I followed him, still unable to reach out for fear of being spotted. He thought I was dead, as my heart had continued to beat, and it shouldn't have if I had left. What he didn't know was that I had left enough energy in my body to keep it running for longer than my life could last, which was the reason it continued to run. Usually when I worked my powers I took all my energy with me, shutting down my body until I returned.

He scrabbled away from the clashing forces. The entire world shook with their fight. They were perfect matches, and this battle could last a millennia as long as no other dark masters came to the aid. Knowing them, they wouldn't. He concentrated, building a little wall of stone to hide behind, watching the fight from the very side lines. He was in a lot of danger, and I had no idea how to keep him safe.

The tears came once he was hidden away. Even as the ground vibrated with the conflict, he cried. It was silent and his body did not move. Not until he whispered quietly, so quietly I wouldn't have been able to sense or hear him had I not been so close.

"Sy, the world will crumble without you. I will crumble."

That's when I knew that I had to do something. I noted how engaged the two master were, which was extremely so, and carefully began to gather my energy. Slowly, with the tiniest care, I wove it into a single thread, and I reached out to Kaen. He was so lost in his emotions he didn't feel me at first. He thought I was a figment of his imagination, come to torture him.

"I love you too."

My whisper stopped his tears, and he smiled. Then I withdrew and looked at the fighting masters. My gaze went between them and Kaen. What I was about to do may bring down the whole realm. If it did, I would take him and retreat to home, until I could come back and return the world to how it was, little by little. If it didn't, then the balance would remain intact, and we'd continue fighting the constant war between good and bad.

I was sick of being killed. I began to grow, I let the energy within me fill the room, no longer needed to return to my body. I left the tiniest amount in Kaen, in case this took more than I had. Slowly, I began to siphon the power from each side. They were so engaged they didn't notice as each of them grew weaker and weaker. They didn't notice as I slowly pulled the dagger from my chest and knit together my heart. They didn't notice as my body rose.

They didn't notice until with a rush of energy I returned to my body quicker than I ever had before. Then they both froze and spun to face me. Shock marred their faces, and I raised myself to stand on top of my death bed. I smiled, glad to ruin this for Araki, glad to destroy this part of the world.

"Death is an interesting place. It is completely empty, yet full of light," I commented as I let the power I had grow, let it shine through my body and burn their eyes.

"How are you alive?" Araki growled.

"The balance is intact. As long as the balance is intact I shall exist. As long as I exist the balance she remain intact."

"An interesting riddle," Uran smiled, always loving puzzles he could not solve. I could see he was happy to see me alive and well. I could not have that.

"I would not smile just yet, light master. You endangered the balance by coming here. That would have been fine, had you any intension of doing so to help either side. Instead you upset the balance for your own means. That I cannot let go. Araki, you killed me and you sent Jylmue Kaenreil to kill me as soon as I entered this world. I will not forgive you for that."

I stepped down from the pedestal, no longer needing it to convey the power I had over them.

"It seems to me that there is no end to this constant struggle, no goal on either side accept to be dominant. You claim to be good, light master, yet you strive to have the upper hand on darkness. You claim to be bad, dark master, but you are always considering the balance in every action. It seems to me that neither of you is completely light, nor are you completely dark."

"You can't accuse us of this, Syrina. It is against our very nature to mix race," Uran warned.

"Your right. A dark master and a light master create a powerless being that is half dark and half light, but is not a part of the balance."

"Yes."

"And they can't reproduce, because they should never exist. Because you are different species. You cannot be light and have a little dark, just as dark cannot have a little light. Because that would remove the powers you have. You would be nothing more than the forms you possess."

"Where are you getting at, Syrina?" Uran asked.

"Have you ever wondered who my father was? Do you know of him?"

"He is a human from this realm with basic abilities."

"Did Grandmaster tell you that?"

He suddenly frowned, and I saw everything fall into place. Araki looked between us, knowing that he could not leap across the desk and kill me. He was unable to do anything but watch everything unfold.

"What are you trying to say, demon spawn?" he asked.

"I'm trying to say that I am both dark and light. My father was one of those hated half breeds, and he found a way to make children by finding a mother from another realm. I am half of this realm, half of another. The part of my that is of this realm is half dark, half light. Yet I have the powers of each, plus the powers of a human. The balance speaks to me, and I am her child too."

"What use is this knowledge to us or you?"

"I'm telling you so that you can have a moment to be afraid. Because I am about to end your existence. The reason the dark side has no grand master is because none of you are truly bad. You need more people, because every one of you has a tiny bit of good in you. The more of you there are, the more good there is. Grand master holds the balance, because he is purely good."

"There is still a balance."

"No. There has never been a perfect balance. That's what you are all missing."

I was growing sick of constant realizations on my behalf and theirs. As I said the last sentence I pulled every master towards me until they sat upon the endless seats watching, dark and light. Grandmaster of light filled the rest of the endless space, not taking a form of any kind. Everyone muttered and murmured, but upon seeing me they watched in quiet shock, contemplating what was to come. They knew I could kill them all, but they also believed there was a balance. It was the belief that had made up their lives the whole time the realm had existed.

"You are always talking of a balance. There has never been a balance. There never will be. Because dark and light are made to exist together, but it is the choices of individuals that decide which one shall thrive. There is exactly half dark half light in me, yet I choose the light, and therefore live as a light being. I serve the light masters, because that is what I choose. Humans have that choice. Even in a world where there is nothing but darkness, if a single human chooses to be good, then light would exist. There has never been a balance, and there never needs to be. That is what you are all missing. Yes, you all cancel each other out, but Grand Master of Light has always existed, and there has never been a Grand Master of Dark to balance him. None of you have a reason to exist. You do nothing but make the lives of those around you miserable by forcing them into a cause that is pointless."

Suddenly there was noise and light and dark and speed and movement and colour. Every equal attacked the other, and I let them. Kaen ran to my side, and I let them fight. As they did I drew from them their strength. I stole their energy, putting it all away in my belt of gems. Grandmaster watched on as I waited, slowly stealing more and more from each side, until they all collapsed still crawling towards each other. Still fighting.

"You will never see, none of you will. That is what makes masters so powerful, why you have the ability to control your power like so. Because as long as you exist, you will never be able to admit to having that portion of dark or light. You will never give in to it, and that is what creates the disasters that tear this realm apart. As long as you exist, you will be throwing energy at each other and ripping apart the realm."

I let them feel the sudden burst of power. I let them all look up at me as I stood over them, Kaen pulled close and Grandmaster watching over the whole thing.

"I was created as the only one that could right all your wrongs. I am your bane."

Then I snatched away the last of their energy and threw it into my gems. They all collapsed, nothing but empty vessels. I scanned the realm for any escaped energy, but it was all safely put away, out of reach of anyone but me. I looked up to Grandmaster.

"I am right, aren't I?"

“Yes Syrina. You are right. They were the cause of the balance being thrown. The balance exists, but it is never truly balanced. There will always be dark and there will always be light. Individuals just have to choose which to live by, and when to accept that the other is apart of them.”

“You're not really fully light, are you?”

“What do you think I am?”

“You're from another realm as well. You have always accepted the darkness within you, but you always choose the light. Because you always care for the wellbeing of the realm, even if it means destroying all your followers and friends. I am sorry for doing that.”

“Live a long life Syrina PysmueFeeil, and always love the dark and the light.”

Suddenly he withdrew, and I saw the bridge he created. I saw the glimpse of a world torn to pieces. His realm was where the balance existed, and a part of it had escaped here in the form of the masters. He had attempted to come and fix this world, before it turned out like his. But he hadn't had the power, so he had found me. Now he was to return to the world where he had originated. He would try to fix that world too, because that was who he was. I hoped he succeeded, as I could not help him. The masters belonged in his world, I could not kill them all there for the same cause. It wasn't right.

I hugged Kaen, and his soft lips found mine as I began to fix the world, building up from where it had been torn down, fixing cities and forests, refilling oceans, drying deserts. Then I dismantled the parts of the world the masters had claimed, the endless corners. I built great walls into the skye that blocked off the endless corners. That was a place no one in this world wanted to see, a place full of empty terrors and endless death.

Then I built myself a house near the pond and prepared for the future to come. I built a bridge, and waited for my sister to stumble back through it. I knew she would find it sooner or later, because she felt the energy that was once me go with her through the tunnel and she needed to know. Plus, she had ridden the horse-like creature through to home, and she would not let it die in her world. She would find a way to bring it back, and when she did I would explain everything to her, right from when I had fallen in love with Kaen to when I had killed every master in existence.

Then life would go on, and we would choose our own balance.