Sweat rolled down Eldwins forehead as he jerked out of bed. Darkness clouded his vision. He glanced around the room, searching for something he recognized to tell him where he was. Anxiety washed over him, causing him to pant. The room began spinning, and he fell back on his pillow. He imagined ice-cold hands reaching through the darkness to grasp him. Heat surged through him, illuminating a red stone under his blanket.

Eldwin threw the blanket back and gazed at his wrist. He had what appeared to be a black string with six black lava rocks and one red ruby in between them. Sucking in a breath, he let the warmth flood from his wrist to his and, finally, his toes. Gritting his teeth, he threw back the covers and placed his feet on the hardwood floor. His eyes adjusted to the darkness, allowing him to make out the silhouette of the doorframe.

Walking over, he opened the door and glanced out into the hallway. Darkness welcomed his vision. He sighed as he stepped out and noticed a light coming from downstairs. Eldwin crept through the darkness and stepped onto the first step. It creaked, but the faint sound of voices told him it went unnoticed. Sneaking down a couple more stairs, Eldwin made it to the middle, where the voices could be heard more, "Rax, what are we supposed to do? I'm worried." He heard his mother speak.

Peering through the white spokes in the railing of the staircase, he noticed the light moved as if someone had lit a fire in their fireplace with a figure with long hair, that had to be his mother, with two figures, a shorter one and smaller one, perhaps a grown man and a teenager. "I don't know Sari." He heard the teacher's voice speak. He watched as the enormous shadow moved back and forth as if pacing, "His sibling didn't peak this soon, and at that, his body was calling out to me, but I didn't feel the ice."

"Rax!" his mother called out. "Please, I'm scared. Is this your brother's work?"

"Kirk," his teacher turned to face the smaller of the men, "didn't you admit that he was my brother's amulet?"

"I did." 

The teacher sighed, dropped beside Eldwin's mother, and bent forward. Eldwin could only imagine him, his face in his hands. "I will have Malchrome gassed and ready to go in the morning." He watched as the teacher lowered his hands, leaned forward, and raised a paper. "I've been planning our route all day after stopping Eldwin from hurting himself. I hate to say it, but the Egyptian portal is our closet."

"Rax, I trust you," his mother cooed, "I just hope Eldwin will as well."

Eldwin's head started throbbing, and the world around him began to spin. He placed a hand on his head and wandered up the stairs. So many things didn't make sense. His mind raced with questions he didn't know which one to grab first. Ice began running through his veins, but the amulet sent fire, burning the ice his body had left behind on the stairs. He wandered back to his room and fell onto his bed, falling asleep before he ever hit his pillow.

 A shrill scream reverberated in his ears. Eldwin sat up from the bed and glanced around. It was early morning in his room, but something felt wrong. Jumping out of bed, he threw back the covers and descended the stairs. Weeping entered his ears as he landed on the bottom step. "Please, I don't know anything about the Amulet of Azeal, nor why Eldwin would have it." His mother screamed.

 Eldwin crept over to the doorway to the living room and peered inside. He watched Terrence sit on the armchair, sneering down at his mother. Eldwin went to move but noticed Kirk standing in the crowd. Eldwin swallowed hard. "Carmicheal," Terrence yelled with his head turned upwards, "you better come out before I execute your mother." Eldwind gasped as he watched one of the goons walk toward his mother and push a gun to her temple. She let out a scream in response.

Let her go," Eldwin shouted as he entered the doorway.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in," Terrence grumbled as he stood and approached him.

"Eldwin, I'm fine," His mother stared, "go get..." She trailed off as Eldiwn watched one of Terrence's goons press a knife into his mother's neck.

"Leave her alone!" Eldwin felt a surge of power. He imagined all the members being turned into frozen statues. Terrence drew closer and stood nose-to-nose with him.

"Give me the amulet, and I will." Terrence hissed.

Eldwin looked at Kirk, who shook his head. He felt like he was telling him no. "I told you, I don't have it."

Terrence circled him, "I think you're lying. After you gave us your twenty-dollar find, we returned to the house and found that the amulet had been stolen since that first night." Eldwin swallowed as he glanced down at his mother on the floor. He didn't know what to say. His mother stared at him before turning away. The other boys began shouting at him, yet he tuned them out; he couldn't care less.

"I don't have it." Eldwin snapped.

Terrence's features shifted from a sneer to a grimace. Eldwin took a step back. He didn't know what to do; he wasn't a fighter. The door slammed open behind him. Eldwin and Terrence whirled their heads around to the entrance and watched as the teacher walked in, holding two teenage boys by the collar. The teacher flung them on the floor and knocked them out. "Leave Eldwin and Sari alone." 

Eldwin stiffened, and his teacher's voice dropped to a lower range, which sent chills up his spine. He stepped back as Terrence stepped before him, "I remember you; you were my history teacher last year."

"I was."

"Here's the thing, Teach." Terrence snarled in Mr. Del Mastro's face, "I might just have to pay you back for every time you sent me to detent..." Terrence trailed off as the teacher grabbed his shirt and flung him into the living room. Terrence hit one of his cronies, and they tumbled to the floor. Eldwin turned back toward the living room and froze as blood pooled around his feet. Fear glued him to the ground; he didn't want to see where it came from.

"Rax!" His mother screamed. Eldwin jerked his head up as relief flooded through him. A boy lay on the ground with his throat split. Several other boys had a hold of Kirk, holding him back. Terrence jumped to his feet and grabbed Kirk's neck. Eldwin turned toward the teacher as helplessness overfilled him. He knew he should help but felt like he couldn't move.

"Azeal," the teacher shouted. The teen turned toward him, his eyes glowing. "Leave him out of this."

Terrence lowered his arms and faced Eldwin and the teacher. The teacher rushed past Eldwin and took Sari in his arms. "I recognize everything about you..." 

Eldwin watched the teacher pull his mother to her feet before pushing her behind him. Terrence gritted his teeth as his eyes began glowing blue before reaching into his pocket and drawing a gun. Sari screamed and started backing up toward Eldwin. "I just have one question," Terrence's voice had changed into something low and demonic. His teacher didn't move a muscle as the gun was raised directly in his face, "how did you know."

The teacher pulled his hand back toward Eldwin and allowed a golden rod with what appeared to be a hammer at the end closest to his head to appear in his hand. "Because I attended Terrence Jackson's funeral six months ago." With those words, a cry came from behind Terrence, causing him to whirl around; Kirk had freed himself and smashed a couple of the boy's noses in. The teacher pulled his war hammer from behind his back and slammed it down toward Terrence. The boy moved, allowing it to make contact with the floor.

"Ever thought of adapting?" Sari called out as she grabbed Eldwin's hand.

The teacher cocked his head back toward them, "We're not having this discussion again. You know my reasons."

"You had a gun..."

"Just get Eldwin to the car, woman," the teacher cut her off, "we're not fighting about this right now." Sari's mother scoffed as she pulled on Eldwin's wrist.

"Let's get out of here." Eldwin swung her head toward her and nodded. She didn't need to tell him twice as they ran toward the door. Several other teenage boys appeared, blocking their exit once they reached the door. "Rax!" Sari screamed as she drew Eldwin close to herself. Eldwin looked toward the room. The teacher kept swinging his hammer toward Terrence, who kept jumping out of the way. 

Kirk, too, was busy swinging punches and kicks at the other boys. No one was going to come to their rescue any time soon. Eldwin pulled away from his mother's grasp and jumped onto the boys before them. The three tumbled out the door and rolled in the snow. "Eldwin," his mother called behind him. Eldwin kneed one of the boys in the groin before pushing him off. The other boy rose behind him. Eldwin turned in time to see a rock in the boy's hands. A gunshot rang out as blood shot from the teen's forehead before falling to the ground. 

Eldwin pulled away from the body and glanced toward the door; his mother stood in the doorway with what appeared to be a sniper gun before running out to him. Before she could reach him, the sound of glass breaking pulled their attention through the window as Kirk flew through it. Eldwin watched Kirk hit the ground with the right side of his body and jumped back up as a couple of boys came out of the doorway and went right for him.

"Watch..." Eldwin began. He watched as Kirk ran his hand over his bracelet. The gem glowed, allowing several tiny daggers to appear in his hand. He watched as Kirk threw the first one. It landed in the first teen's eye, then the second and the third, hitting their attackers and bringing them down. Kirk held his hand out as each dagger glowed and returned to his hand. 

"I don't need protection; you do, twat." Kirk yelled, never taking his eyes off the door. The teacher soon ran out and joined them. Laughter echoed all around them as Terrence appeared at the doorway; his body seemed to be banged up, with many dents, before walking out of the door dropped forward.

"I'm sorry about the house, Sari." The teacher called back.

"You're making the payments, " she snarked. Eldwin glanced from his mother to his teacher, trying to understand what was happening. He watched as the teacher nodded before slamming his hammer into the snow. Blouder-sized rocks flew up around him. He held his hammer out, allowing the rod to shorten before striking them and sending the debris into the lower level of the house. One of the rocks hit Terrence square in the chest, sending him flying further into the house.

The house groaned as boys flooded out of the door and out of the windows into the yard. Kirk held his daggers, one in his right hand pointing down and the other in his left hand up, waiting for a chance to use them. About fifteen or so boys stood before them. Eldwin rose to his feet and balled his hands into fists. He imagined the snow moving around the remnants of Breaken Tide, wishing the snow would swallow them.

Mr. Del Mastro reached into his pocket and threw keys towards Sari. Without a word, she snatched the keys from mid-air and rushed toward a yellow Chevrolet parked near their mailbox. "Are you trying to get into trouble?" She yelled from the street. Eldwin watched as the teacher turned slightly to glance her away. A faint smile pulled at his lips as he turned back. 

"I'm going to enjoy moving back to Egypt." He muttered. He slammed his foot into the ground, allowing more debris to rise. With one swift movement, he sent the rocks barreling into the house. Most boys jumped out of the way only to be met with Kirk's daggers in their legs before it was recalled back to its wielder.

"Eldwin," Sari called from the car, "let's go; you can't help right now."

Gritting his teeth, Eldwin spun on his heels and headed toward his mother. Behind him, he heard a loud crash, followed by dust flying in every direction. His mother screamed in horror before turning her head. Eldwin whirled around and saw his house had been reduced to rubble." Anger boiled within him. Now, more than ever, he wished he had the skills and ability to do something.

Throwing open the passenger front door, Eldwin grabbed his mother's rifle. He didn't know how to use it, nor did he care; all he knew was that the two cars blocking his driveway weren't his mother's. Eldwin raced forward and sighted the tires that were closest to him before shooting and taking out both the front and the backseat tires of both cars that faced the house. "Um, Sir," Kirk yelled out from behind. Eldwin turned and watched as Terrence stood on the sidewalk before the rubble. The boys around him gasped as the rock and house falling on him had turned him into a deformed monster.

"Don't just stand there, kill them!" Terrence growled, "We can pull the amulet off their dead bodies." The boys that could still move stood to their feet and rushed toward Kirk and the teacher. Eldwin felt the gun being rustled from his hands as his mother stood in front of him.

"Let's go, Rax!" she called into the chaos. Mr. Del Mastro grabbed Kirk's arm and pulled him toward the car. The teacher jumped into the driver's seat as Kirk took the shotgun. "Get in," Eldwin's mother urged him.

"You first, please." Sari sighed and slid into the back seat. As Eldwin slipped in behind her, a gunshot rang out through the chaos, followed by a sharp pain in the back of Eldwin's left shoulder. His mother screamed as he fell into the car. His vision grew blurry as the world around him began fading.

"Rax, he's been shot. We need to take him to the hospital..."

"No, he'll be in danger there. You have to do what you can until we get to Malchrome. We have medical supplies for you there."

"The bullet is lodged in his shoulder. I can't dig that out; it could get infected, and we could lose him!" 

Eldwin's eyes meet the teacher's as he sighs, "Just do what you can for the time." Sari gave his teacher a face as Eldwin turned around. He stared at the chaos. His house was in shambles; several teenage boys were either dead or wounded on their front lawn, with police cruisers surrounding the place. The last thing he saw was Terrence standing in the street and disappearing in a black mist before he went to the middle of the corner.