• "Thunder" chapter fourteen

    With Dess in the infirmary unconcious, the representative gone with the cameraman, and marcus disappearing into the gate, I was all alone. I leaned against the cave wall, and was bewildered to find something in my back pocket. I fished it out.
    "strange," I said to myself. It was a small amulet with a note. It read "Use this near the gate to summon Geryon. Just hold it in yor hand, and grab at the gate. you will find yourself taking a peice of the gate. Geryon will use that to materialize himself and you can attempt to conjure your elemental power. With love, Melanie." I continued to tell myself that she's just my teacher as i wrapped the amulet around my hand, and grabbed at the gate. It felt strangely warm and welcoming. I resisted it's allure, and pulled out what I thought was a peice of the gate.
    "this amulet will be very useful. You should thank Melanie." I heard Geryon's voice from the amulet. The energy trembled in my hand, seperated itself from my hand, taking the amulet with it, and took Geryon's shape. the process was similar to Marcus' transformation from a shadow, but less ugly. "It feels nice having a material body once more."
    "Frankly, I didn't think it would work." I lied.
    "Ah, but it did." He saw through my lie, but humored me anyway, "Now, I can't stay long, or else i'll be overusing the gate's energy. I've been able to see the key to unlocking your power."
    I stood there, beffled, "My elemental power has a key?"
    He was as patient as can be, "Every great power has a key, boy. yours has two, actually, but it's the same concept."
    "I have two keys?"
    He thought for a split second, "Well, because of Death, you have two powers, and hence, two keys. We'll work on the one Death gave you."
    Just sitting here, I could see all the peices of my life finally be put together as I remembered the advice that so many people had given me. Death's Bracelet was just something to mask my real powers until I could control them. That's why he did that to me, But that would mean that i've been frozen every year for a different reason, or for no reason at all.
    Geryon smashed his fists into the cave wall, and conjured from the rock two nicely sized daggers, "In that bracelet is the power of electricity. Your task is to tap into it's power to find out it's name. Not too difficult a task, so let's begin." He lunged toward me, but stopped as a demon came through the gate taking the form of a tall, slender woman with a fairly large rack. He stood tall before the woman, as did I.
    "Your pass, ma'am?" I asked, holding out my hand.
    "Here you are, Adrian." I examined it. She was headed to the high circle's headquarters to negotiate something. What was being negotiated, however, was classified. I looked at the name, "Ah, Demon Queen Amberyn, welcome to the Human world. But, out of curiosity, may I ask how you know my name?"
    She smiled a dreamy smile, "Marcus tells me so much about you. Not all of it's good, but you still seem like a nice person."
    I clenched my fist tightly enough to bleed, "You know Marcus, as well?"
    She held out her left hand, showing off a beautiful ring made of rose quartz and some demonic metal, "He's my fiance."
    I clenched my fist even tighter, to the point where it would've bled if I weren't wearing my gauntlets, "Well, the next time you see him, will you give him this message?"
    She smiled, "Of course I will. What message?"
    I managed to compose myself so i wouldn't yell at the demon queen and get myself killed, "Could you tell him to stop trying to f%&#ing kill me?"
    "Why ever would he be trying to kill you?" She asked.
    I shook my head, "I have no idea, but he's been trying for some time now."
    "I'll tell him then."
    "Thank you."
    She nodded and walked off, just as soon as her escorts stepped through the gate looking for her. I pointed them in her direction. They thanked me and walked off after her. i didn't know much about the demon queen Amberyn, except that she and the eternal guardian (wich I nust have some connection to) worked together to manage the demonic realm and keep it in check.
    "Back to training." Geryon re-centered my attention, "your true power remains locked, so we'll begin with the bracelet. Do you know how elementals tap into different powers?"
    "Yeah, they..." I thought for a moment. I never learned how elementals tap into their powers, "Actually, I've never learned."
    He sighed, "Rage. We lose control when we're enraged. And most of us, except you, are bound to fate."
    "So, I have to get pissed?" I asked.
    "Sort of. You have to get to the point where your very soul begins screaming. This will be a very harsh lesson, Adrian."
    I nodded, "I understand. I've taken some pretty rough punishment."
    "Well then, let's begin." He punched me square in the face, knocking me back a few steps.
    I regained my balanced, "Hey, I wasn't ready!"
    "You can't expect your opponent to wait for you to be ready." He Attempted to stab me in the chest. I dodged, and him with a fierce kick to the gut. He flew back about two feet. "Good, Now, can you hear it? can you hear your soul screaming? Listen carefully."
    I did as he said, and a voice came through my head. It was my own voice, but different, muffled by something. However, it wasn't exactly screaming, "It's not screaming, but I can hear it."
    He got back up, "We're making progress. We must keep fighting until you hear the screams of your soul clearly. Then you will at be able to tep into the bracelet's power. And, when you grow strong enough, your own power."

    We fought viciously afterward for some time. With each punch, each stab, slash, kick, and cross, I heard my soul scream louder. It became more audible, and with the last punch, it's roar became crystal clear. My body seemed to close in on itself, like a cocoon. And, with a powerful burst, electricity began flowing through my body like a river. Each vain became a battery, carrying several jolts throughout my bloodstream. they carried to my gauntlets, And I threw one last punch. He was knocked hard against the cave wall, and dropped his daggers, "Quite impressive, but you need to learn to hold on to that power longer, instead of discharging it all at once. Then you can perform many more tricks with the power death's bracelet allows you."
    "Thanks, I'll keep practicing, then." I looked at the bracelet. Strangely, it felt warm in my wrist, for once. there was a welcoming aura around it, and electricity was still jumping around, "How do I do tricks with it?" I asked.
    "Envision what you want to happen, and the source of the power will materialize it in the way you desire."
    I envisioned myself making a ball of leftover electricity. I performed my part as I envisioned it, and the electricity jumped from the bracelet, onto the gauntlets, and condensed itself into a ball. I began bouncing it on the ground like a ball. To my surprise, it bounced back up to my hand. I kept bouncing it for a while.
    "Does that occupy you?" Geryon asked.
    I chuckled, "I didn't know I could bounce electricity until now, so yes, it does occupy me."
    He sighed, "Well, I must go. Keep this amulet with you. Gather enough energy with it, and I can return to this realm using the energy you gathered." He didn't wait for a goodbye, just disappeared. The energy returned to the gate, and the amulet dropped to the floor. I picked it up, returned it to my pocket, and went back to watching my shift. Matt's dad was going to be pissed at me for slacking off just to train. On the bright side, I had a new way nto occupy myself when I got bored.