Power Trilogy Book One: An Ancient Power
Written By Ethan Ransom Becker
Copyright 2012 by Ethan Ransom Becker
Cover Art by Ashley Brown
After the Beginning
When the universe began, it was just a jumbled mixture of pure and uncontained energy. It was chaos; chaos beyond the comprehension of human kind, or that of any mortal race that has ever existed or will ever exist. It was shapeless and violent, and basically anything that could possibly happen was possible. There were no rules, no order, and no balance to this young universe.
However, when the universe was created, two incredible energies were also produced alongside the chaos. These incredible energies were so condensed and complex they began to have semi-conscious thought processes. These energies were similar, yet as different from each other as night and day. These energies being opposites began affecting the chaos around them, and slowly, as if taking their example, the rest of the universe fell into some semblance of order. After an immeasurable amount of time, the infinite power of the universe calmed enough to be molded.
These two beings began shaping the universe as we come to be a part of, creating the stars in the sky and the infinite amount of planets that orbit them. Through their efforts, destructive energies older than time were effectively sealed away, allowing relative peace to rule the universe.
These beings, composed of pure energy, govern the universe, maintaining the rules that they together composed. As eons passed, they shaped millions of wonders that we now see in the night sky. Many of the planets of relatively younger stars sprouted with life, but these were of little concern to these beings, for the existence of these worlds lasted about as long to them as a flash of lightning would to us.
Stars and planets died, and their remains reformed into new stars and planets. Thus, the endless cycle of the life of the universe began. The great Chaos was over; the universe had been tamed.
However, these energies were old, comprised of the violent energies that at one time reigned supreme in the universe. They had successfully brought an end to the most violent time of the universe, except for themselves. The last remnants of the violent time were now housed in these colossus energies. And since the only thing left for them to tame were each other, they began warring with each other. In essence, there had been a war since the beginning; it was the conflict that created balance, but energy cannot be destroyed, only transferred. They essentially drew the most destructive and violent energies into themselves, and there it would stay for eternity, to be stored for all time or unleashed on each other.
For all time after the great Chaos, this war went on. To this day it goes on. In its history, this war has almost created as much chaos as it has prevented. Countless planets teeming with life have been destroyed by the war of these primal forces. However, this war has also led to some of the most beautiful and wondrous forms ever documented.
Yet despite the conflict, and through the destruction and creation of countless billions of stars and planets, it is all one immense power, for it all came from one source. This is a power that mortals were never supposed to have access to. Unfortunately though, this is an infinite universe, with infinite possibilities. The universe is home to many displays of incredible power. How would it be if just a portion of this power was granted to one person? Is it possible to control the energy that can as easily destroy a world as it could save one from destruction? Can a mortal race learn to use such a power before it destroys itself? Can a mortal race be wise enough to use such a power properly?
Chapter One
Final’s week sucked. There was no other way to put it. If anyone was unlucky enough to even have to take any finals. Most were qualified to exempt all of theirs, and if not, a deal could be made to take it early, so kids could spend the week with friends.
Kyle Foster, on the other hand, was not so lucky. He just didn’t have the capacity to get commended on the state’s stupid standardized tests. It wasn’t that he wasn’t smart, but he just wasn’t much of a great test taker. He had no problem passing assignments and had been described as an excellent note taker, but when it came to tests, he usually only passed by the skin of his teeth.
The one bit of luck he had was that the only final he had to take was geography, which was one of his favorite classes this year. The teacher, Mr. Rivet, was absolutely amazing: he was funny when he wanted to be, had a great taste for music, and he loved the subject he taught. He was originally from California, and this would be his sixteenth year teaching at Permian, although no one could guess why he would want to leave California in the first place. One thing that everyone did know was that he could be a hard teacher if he wanted to be, and Kyle was thinking that he had decided to be one when he made this test. Kyle and the other three people in their taking the test had talked him into letting them use whatever notes that they had on them as they walked into the room, but they weren’t allowed to go to their lockers if they had notes there.
Kyle was bent over his test, speedily filling in blanks. He had already filled in the sections he felt the best about, and now he was going through the more tough sections. Vocabulary was easy, but anything with a map, especially if it was a map of Europe, gave him a headache. Anything to do with the North American continent was great, except for states and capitals. Africa was just terrible, while South America Kyle found to be pretty easy. It was a good thing Mr. Rivet was such a good teacher.
With a sigh of relief, Kyle had finished the last section, which was over the states and their capitals. He walked to the front of the room, feeling very confident of the test he was about to turn in. He could feel the other two students in the room watch as he passed them, one a boy who would be taking this same test for the third time, and a girl who had instantly returned her nose into her giant binder for this class. Mr. Rivet watched Kyle as he walked up the aisle and put his test on the top of the third person’s test that had already left on the corner of his desk marked “Turn in Assignments.” When he checked that Kyle’s name was on it, he turned back to his computer, saying, “Have a good summer, Mr. Foster.”
“You, too, sir,” Kyle said quietly, then turned and left the room. It was hard to tell if Mr. Rivet liked any of his students, or even if he didn’t like them for that matter. Kyle, however, got the sense that Rivet liked him, maybe because Kyle managed to get stuff in on time, and if not, to at least get it in as soon as possible.
Kyle let out a sigh of relief upon leaving the room. The halls were completely deserted; you could probably hear Kyle’s light footsteps throughout the entire building. The first thing Kyle did was go to the bathroom, for he had been sitting in Rivet’s room for about an hour and a half. Rivet would probably have let him go to the bathroom during the test, but Kyle didn’t want to stay in the building or have a test to worry about for that long. After that, he went by his locker to pick up his bag and lock. The school allowed for the students to use their lockers up to the last day, but any locks found after five in the afternoon would be cut, and any contents were either trashed or donated. Kyle only had a shoulder bag with a book, his new iPhone, three-dollar sunglasses and hat in it.
He looked over both shoulders before checking the phone. His friend Justin had tried to call him only minutes before. He must have forgotten Kyle thought. Justin Slade and his twin sister Julianne, who usually went by Jules, had been his neighbors and friends since they were in second grade. Justin and Julianne were as opposite as twins could possibly be in Kyle’s eyes; if you didn’t know them, you probably wouldn’t even had guessed that they were related. Their family had moved to Odessa to be closer to their grandparents. The Slades had originally lived in Odessa
, but Thomas, the twin’s father, had gone to college in Florida. There, he met who was to be his future wife, Kerri. They got married and lived in Florida, but decided to move to Odessa when Kerri’s parents passed away within two years of each other. So now, the Slades live just next door to the Fosters. Kyle was only eight when he met the twins. As they got to know each other, Kyle became jealous of them. As twins, they would always have someone to hang out with, while Kyle only had a little sister. However, as the years went by, they became as much like siblings as his little sister and best friends.
Kyle was putting his phone in his pocket and wasn’t looking when he turned the corner and bumped into someone. He felt a head bounce off of his boney chest.
“Oh, sorry,” he said quickly, and looked up to see who it was.
Emma Ocean was rubbing her forehead with the hand not holding a large book. Her long blonde hair was put into a pony tail, and she wore jeans and a faded AC/DC t-shirt (it looked authentic to Kyle).
She shook her head apologetically, saying “No, no; that was my fault. I’m sorry. Oh, hi Kyle,” she said when she saw who it was.
“Hey, Emma. I thought you didn’t have any finals?” he asked, remembering her gloating from the week before.
“Oh, I don’t. I just had to return this book to the library,” she said, indicating the book under her arm. “I’ve had it for nearly two weeks, and I just found it this morning. I was using it for that research paper and just kept procrastinating about taking it back. So, I talked my mom into dropping me off so I could return it. Better late than never,” she joked. “How was your final?”
Kyle shrugged, saying, “It wasn’t that bad. I had about half of it in the bag. Some of it I can truly say is going to be a toss-up, but overall fine.”
“Well, that’s good,” she replied. After a second of silence, she said, “I better get going; my mom is waiting on me.”
“Oh, yeah. Sure. See you later?” he asked.
“Bye,” was her response as she walked past Kyle. Kyle continued on his way, his day just having become much better.
Kyle exited the front door and was greeted by a bright and very hot sun. He quickly pulled out his hat and glasses and put them on. West Texas at the beginning of summer was excruciatingly hot, and it only got hotter from this point. Kyle had lived in Odessa his whole life, so he was quite used to the heat of what many consider to be a dessert. But Kyle liked it here. It was nice and open area; you could see the stars clearly at night. Nighttime was also one of the few times it felt comfortable enough to go outside in summer.
Luckily though, Kyle’s Mom was waiting for him in the parking lot in front of the school. She waved to him when she saw the door opening. She had a wide brimmed hat and sunglasses shielding her thin face, and a floral sun dress almost reaching the ground. Kyle always felt that his mother tried maybe a little too hard at trying to look stylish when she knew no one was around to admire her outfit. She was a teacher at a close by elementary school, and although Kyle never had his mother as a teacher, he knew that she was very well liked by her students and respected by the other teachers (of whom she was the youngest by far, which she would point out often). As he walked over to her, she scuffled over to the other side of the car to greet him, taking about two times more steps than necessary, and put her arms around his shoulders, smiling.
“You okay, Mom?” Kyle asked, surprised by this greeting.
“I’m terrific,” she said bubbly. She continued to talk to his ear. “How was your day? Glad you’re not a freshman anymore?”
“Yeah,” Kyle said, glad that he wasn’t a freshman anymore and that they were the only ones in sight at the moment.
Finally, she let go and talked to his face. Still beaming, she added, “I went by Bush’s Chicken and got you some sweet tea.”
“Thanks,” he said, trying to figure out if the heat had finally gotten to his mother. He got into the passenger side of the silver Ford Focus, where the drink was waiting for him in the cup holder. He took a sip of the drink as his mother stepped into the driver’s side door and started the car.
About five minutes later, they pulled into their family’s two story house at the end of a cul-de-sac. The house to the left of theirs was the Slade’s house, while the one to the right was owned by an older man who used to work for the post office. According to Kyle’s parents, he used to be the mail carrier for their street, but an injury while working on his house forced him to get a more stationary job then eventually retirement, but he still goes by the old “neither rain nor sleet nor snow nor hail” mindset.
It was only two in the afternoon, so when Kyle and his mother walked in the front door, the house was quiet except for the refreshing sound of air conditioning. Sarah wouldn’t be home for another hour and a half, so Kyle decided to get a nap while it would still be quiet. Sarah had just finished the sixth grade, so she would now be going into junior-high. She had already been talking about it for three weeks now, planning her new style and attitude for next year. Kyle liked his sister most of the time, but there were times when he wished she would keep some of her thoughts to herself.
He had walked up the stairs and into his room when he remembered he was going to call back Justin. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and scrolled down to select Justin from speed dial. It rang only once when it was answered.
“Hey, Kyle,” Justin said, somewhat drowsily, like he had just woken up. “I tried to call you earlier. What happened?”
“Dude, I was at school. I told you yesterday to not call me until this afternoon, man.” Justin’s apparent unwillingness to listen had annoyed teachers for years, but only just started to get under Kyle’s nerves. “You were lucky my phone was on silent; it’s been in my locker all morning.”
There was a pause before he answered, “Oh, yeah.”
Kyle rolled his eyes before continuing. “So what’s up?”
Another pause. “Oh, it was because Emma and Jules talked yesterday. Jules managed to get you invited to Emma’s birthday party this weekend.”
“Well, tell her thanks but I can’t go. I’m leaving to go see my Granma in Colorado tomorrow.” Another thing he chose to forget. “And why didn’t Julianne tell me herself if she got me in?”
“I don’t know, man.” That was Justin’s usual response to most questions.
Kyle groaned. “Well, tell Jules that I appreciate it, but I can’t. I’ll talk to you later. Also, you really should start listening better, or get a note pad or something.”
Kyle hung up, and before he had a chance to set the phone on his dresser, it started to vibrate. He checked and saw that Jules was calling him. He answered the phone.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Kyle,” Jules said. Kyle noted that it was the same response, although Jules sounded much more excited. “I’ve got good news. You know, Emma’s part…”
“Yeah, Emma’s birthday party is this weekend and you talked to Emma about letting me come,” Kyle interrupted.
“Huh?” was the response. “How did you…” she started to say, but Kyle heard her door opening through the phone. Justin had come into Jules’ room from the sound of it. Kyle couldn’t hear exactly what was being said, but it sounded as if Justin was admitting to telling Kyle about the party. Jules must have then put her phone down, because now her voice sounded as if from a distance. Again, Kyle couldn’t tell what was being said, but he could tell that they were arguing. Kyle always thought it was funny how much they argued and fought despite being twins. The fight lasted for a minute before Jules came back to her phone.
“I’m so sorry about my idiot brother. I wanted to be the one to tell you.”
Kyle couldn’t help but laugh into the phone. “Thanks for thinking of me, but I can’t go. I’m leaving to go see my Granma in Colorado. I meant to tell you earlier, but I’ve been busy with studying and Sarah’s voice has a way of getting into your head that makes you forget everything.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she apologized. Then, quiet
er, she added, “I know how you feel about Emma. I was just trying to…” she trailed off.
Kyle knew what she was trying to do. Kyle had had a crush on Emma Ocean ever since he met her. His heart fluttered when he saw her. He liked the way her long blonde hair fell to about the small of her back, and that she somehow made simple, modest clothes look really attractive, at least to Kyle. She hardly wore makeup, but to Kyle, she didn’t need it. He had been meaning to ask her out for months, but he could never get the courage to go up to her, especially since she was always surrounded by girls. Yet, hope remained, because he had never seen her with another guy. She was on the video crew, whose job it was to film all of the sports games and major activities. Justin was on the football and basketball teams, so Kyle had a reason to go to many games anyway, but he liked talking to Emma as she worked her camera. Although she was busy, Kyle really liked the times when he could just watch her watch the game through her camera. Kyle had tried being on the video crew just to be with her more often, but during a game he got so excited, he forgot to turn his camera on at the beginning of the game. He didn’t last very long in that club. Emma thankfully thought that that was just funny. It was that incident that furthered them to become friends, which was what Kyle was after in the first place.
As time went on, Kyle and Emma found that they had a few things in common. The big thing was that they had a similar sense of humor. Emma liked reading, while Kyle sometimes wrote stories for the school’s paper. They both liked to see comedy movies, especially Jack Black movies. Yet, for all that they had in common (and not in common, for that matter), Kyle was still nervous about trying to take it further and ask her out. Emma seemed to like hanging out with Kyle, but never made plans to hang out with him specifically; it was always almost accidental when they hung out together.
Kyle thought fondly of Emma before returning to Jules. Jules was the only person to date who knew anything about his feelings for Emma. “Thanks, Julianne. Wish her a happy birthday for me.”
“Sure thing, Kyle. Have a good trip,” she said, and then she hung up. Kyle and Jules had a more understanding relationship than Kyle had with Justin. Justin was cool, no doubt, but Kyle wouldn’t go to him to talk or for advice. For that, Jules was better to talk to. Kyle and Jules had a very deep relationship, so deep that Kyle was one of the few people that she would allow to call to call her Julianne.
Kyle put his phone on his dresser, set to “silent,” closed the blinds to his window, and went to sleep, happy that one year of high school was over.
As sure as the sunset and Old Faithful, Sarah Foster’s voice preceded her presence. Kyle heard his little sister from his room before she was even in the front door. It was hard to decipher her specific words, but she was most likely talking about what her friends were doing this weekend, who likes who, who hates who, among other pointless things twelve year olds talk about. Many people say that Sarah could talk for both her and Kyle and both of their parents joke that Kyle was born without talking genes, while Sarah took both her and Kyle’s talking genes.
Well, Kyle thought, no more use trying to sleep. Grunting, he got up from his bed and looked to his clock. He had gotten a good forty-five minute nap, but he had a feeling that later he’s going to wish he had gotten more time.
He rubbed his eyes and walked toward the high voice of his little sister. Downstairs and into the kitchen he found his sister ranting to their mother, who seemed to be more or less trying to listen as she opened the refrigerator in search of some tea. Kyle leaned against the archway to the kitchen and began listening.
“…she’s all excited because she got a place in the band. I’m, like, ‘whatever, band is for losers.’ But she ignores me, and, oh, get this: she tries to get me to join the band. (Snort) ‘Like that’s going to happen in a million and one years’ I told her. Then I said ‘you’re just jealous that I managed to get in student council.’ Oh, and that got to her, because she was all like…”
It continued like that for about twenty more minutes. During that time, Kyle never learned the girl’s name, Sarah snorted five more times (she always snorts when she rants, but doesn’t believe it when she is told), and their Mom finished her glass of tea and began pulling out stuff to make homemade hamburgers.
Sarah’s rant would have gone on longer, but their mother caught her at a breath. “Sarah, honey, why don’t you go up and start packing? Dinner will be ready by the time your father gets here.”
Sarah opened her mouth as if to continue her story, but a statement like that is a sign that someone has other stuff to do. Sarah must have caught her mother’s meaning, because she turned and left without another word. When Kyle heard her door close and her radio turn up, he asked, “So did she have a good day?”
“Relatively good,” she said without looking up. “You should start packing, too. Your father will be here shortly.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Kyle said as he left the room.
Back in his room, Kyle pulled his duffel bag out of his closet and laid it open on his bed. He packed whatever clothes he had for cooler weather in it: long sleeved shirts, jeans, something warm to sleep in, a jacket and a toboggan. Kyle’s grandmother didn’t have enough space for all four of them, mostly since both Kyle and Sarah were too big to be sharing a room. So, Kyle decided to camp out in a tent in their grandmother’s back yard. Kyle could hardly wait, and the weather was supposed to be really nice.
When Kyle was done packing, he noticed the sun starting to set. He decided to go see Justin and Jules. He put his shoes back on and walked downstairs, yelling to tell where he was going. It felt wonderful to be outside; a comfortable eighty degrees drew almost everyone on the street to be outside, including Justin, who spotted Kyle walking over to him. Justin was about half a foot taller than Kyle, and broader in the shoulders. He was playing basketball by himself, but Kyle noticed that Jules was watching from the front porch. In contrast with her twin brother, Jules was Kyle’s height and had black hair that just reached her shoulders.
“Hey guys,” Kyle called out.
“Hey, Kyle,” they said in unison. Jules then stared at Justin like he did something disgusting.
Justin noticed this. “What?” he asked, laughing.
“Why did you do that?” she asked accusingly.
“I can’t help it if we talk at the same time. We are twins, in case you keep forgetting, and that’s what twins do.”
“It just sounds weird.”
“I think it’s funny,” Kyle put in.
“See,” Justin said. Turning to where he is standing next to Kyle, facing Jules, he said, “Someone else thinks it’s funny. It’s not just me.” He puts his hand up to high-five Kyle, who slaps his hand to Justin’s.
Jules rolled her eyes and said, “Whatever.” She then turned to Kyle and asked, “When are you leaving for your trip?”
“Tomorrow morning. My Dad should be getting here shortly; he wants us all in bed early tonight. He wants to leave here early and see if he can get there in one day.”
“Wow. Tell us how it goes when you get there,” Justin said, somewhat amazed.
“Be careful,” warned Jules. “Don’t get yourself mauled by a bear or a pack of wolves or anything that might be lurking in the woods.”
“Don’t worry, Jules,” Kyle reassures her. “Granma has been living alone for almost six years now, and she’s seen nothing bigger than a bird out there.” He studied her for a second before adding, “I’ll come back in one piece, I promise.”
A truck turned down their street, which Kyle recognized as his dad’s. After a quick round of “see you later” and “good bye”, Kyle rushed over just as his dad pulled up into their driveway. “Hey, dad,” Kyle said as his father turned the truck off and stepped out of it at the same time.
“Hello, Kyle,” his dad said. “How was your last day?”
“Fine, and how was yours?” Kyle asked.
“Uneventful. How’s dinner going? We’ve got to get up early tomorrow.”
“Smelled good last I checked,” Kyle said. “I couldn’t find the tent.”
“It’s in the garage, underneath the work table,” his dad said.
“Thanks,” Kyle said. At that, they split, Kyle heading into the garage while his dad headed inside. Sure enough, the tent was right where Kyle’s dad said it would be.
Mr. Foster was a person who liked to plan things. Every facet of every trip they ever took was carefully planned beforehand. Most of the time everything went according to plan, but it was agreed that the best trips they ever took were the ones that didn’t.
Dinner was pretty normal. Everyone took about five minutes to talk about their day (except for Sarah, who took about half an hour). Immediately after they finished, Kyle and Sarah were sent to bed. Kyle gladly followed the order, for he had had a long day, and the only thing he needed now was a vacation.