Catherine's muscles sang with fatigue as she hurried through the empty hallway. Her heart raced with her feet and her blood boiled within her veins. The urgency made her take the stairs, twice at a time. Amid the rustling voice of the wind, she could hear the mockery at the back of her head. The second bell had gone off, signaling the beginning of the cooling break for the inmates and the first shifts for the Wardens. It was their signal, the clue she and her friends had been waiting for.
No, never. She thought. It was a trap. She should have known from the beginning. This was never going to work, the Shadowman knew their secrets and was waiting for them to make the first move. The plan had been a mistake all along.
Catherine bit her under lips when she finally made it to the last floor. The door on the exit, brown and twice her size, stood
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ELIXA PROLOGUE
The sun animated the streets of Bel Haven and as Damian burst out from the alley, swimming through the crowd and giving no care to the shout and curses that seconded his heels, two things kept playing back in his mind. The garrisons that were hot on his heels, and his Granny who was going to pass away today. Having stayed on the streets and giving no care to the old woman, he should be glad that her constant yells were going to pass to the other side of the wall. But on second thought, the fact that Fred would become his responsibility knotted his stomach. If money could buy forever, he was going to steal a castle. He had done that many times, but this was the final stage, a transition to another life, a life which most people were scared of. Elixia can't save his granny again. It had not saved his parents after the accident and had left him and Fred on the streets. Like the many individuals in Bel Haven, his family's case has been one which the doctors had called, irrevocable. He c
ELIXA CHAPTER 1
Blue and red lights continued to hover about them as tones and tones of crimson sports cars kept pulling by. As usual, the Garrison hid their faces under a black helmet, contrasting their red uniform and adding more life to the black strips and boots.Damian has seen the Garrisons before, but not so many at a time. He could only guess that something bad had happened? Or was this about the fifteen Cents they had stolen from Ember's castle?"Put your hands over your head," someone said from the microphone.Fred's hands were already on his head and the fright that dilated his eyes sent a disturbing sensation through Damian's stomach. He was afraid too, but nothing compared to Fred. This was all his fault. He had dragged Fred away from Granny and into the streets. If he had known, he would have instructed the eleven-year-old to stay indoors while he carters for their wellbeing. That way, he would be the one feeling the brunt of the hardship. But now they were in tro
ELIXA CHAPTER 2
Dorin has seen people come and go, men and women of different shapes and sizes, both fair and dark alike. If his calculations were correct, then it was seven years since the breaking of the world. Seven years since the wonders of Elixa. Before now, he was just there, existing in isolation, like an island waiting to drown in an ocean. Nobody cared to ask how badly life was treating him. Having lost his parents to cancer, he was the last string on the guitar, waiting to be pulled out or to make a melody of his own. But life has taken its turn and thanks to the miracles of science, to the executive board of EverTech, and to his amazing father."Professor, it is time."Dorin smiled at the words. Base on his past, there was no way he could have lived so long. But everything has changed. His life was a testimony of what science and patience could do to a man."How many" Dorin adjusted his tie, before turning back to his assistant, "the audience""Oh," George ch
ELIXA CHAPTER 3
The glass cup clattered on his teeth as he took another sip. Colored lights animated the streets spreading out the vast body of darkness like moving galaxies. The hovering cars and hologram billboards were a testimony of his hard work and innovation. Single-handed, he had added life to the city and had placed the missing piece in the right place. It was thirty years now since the emperor and the firstborn had doubted his invention. They had called him mad and had almost exiled him from Bel Haven. Time flies. They had threatened his own existence, all because they were too poor in knowledge to see past their expectations. If they had exiled him, perhaps he would have returned and burned down Bel Haven to the ground. This magnificent city would have laid in ashes and dust, a foretaste of his consuming wrath.But on second thought, that would have been a waste. With the increasing deforestation and lack of water, destroying this world would have been a total waste. Not to talk o
ELIXA CHAPTER 4
Men and women parade the tower, looking straight and sturdy as if they had been polished with frown and meanness. Freetown was the capital of Bel Haven, the seat of the Firstborn and the government itself. Unlike Bel Haven that was blessed with nature's air, Freetown depends on the recycling factory for the citizens to stay alive. It was the same reason why everyone had an oxygen pipe on their nose. Sometime in the past, the emperor had tried to centralize power to the capital of the Nine Rings. That way, they would dissolve the Firstborns and have more money being pushed to the capital city, which in this case was sitting in Norls. What happens to the citizens has little or no role to play at the moment. Most people were interested in the money and the resources and the emperor was no less different.Kristen lowered her head as she walked with her hands behind her. But for the cleaners and the men in training, white was the color accepted in Freetown. It was a sign of purity
ELIXA CHAPTER 5
Kristen took off her hood and adjusted the collar of her inner shirt, suddenly feeling the heat at the back of her neck. Nobody has seen a Darkeel before, just the stories and mysteries. Those creatures were things that had kept the world at bay. After the war that had lasted for hundred years, the Darkeel had returned to hell, but some books have it that they were meant to return, to break the world a second time to take away everything that has breath. There were no documented files to these claims, if not, the tower would have been making preparations. The authenticity of this claim was rather difficult to manage and rumors were something the tower despises dearly.The cold went through Kristen's skin, making her hug herself. Situations like this always leave her ruing the day she was born. Had she had the powers, she would have gathered some of the Firstborns and created an army of her own. An army that would fight the darkness when it comes. Too bad she was just he
ELIXA CHAPTER 6
It was the constant beeping that finally woke him up. His vision was blurry and keeping his world from spinning was rather difficult, especially in the presence of the white lights that were threatening to pull his eyes out of his socket. Somewhere at the back of his head, he could feel a little lump, pulsing like a second heart and sending waves of pain throughout his body. Maybe he had hit his head on something, it was hard to tell, all he knew was that his head was aching badly. Blinking, Damian tried to turn, but the restriction on his right made him stop. There were different tubes, going in and out of his body. It was as if he had been spiked with a metal tube and the sight sent a nauseous feel down his esophagus. What had happened? Why was he lying in this bed and where in the world was Fred? The thought of his brother made him jerk, however, he screamed when a sudden pain shoved into his bones from the tube that was on his hands. He remembered now. The Bounty hunters, the c
ELIXA CHAPTER 7
The hot afternoon wind drifted into the room, through the only window that looked out into the desert. Dust followed its trail, a testimony of the harshness and scorching heat. Catherine hugged herself when the odd chill went down her spine, causing the hair on her skin to stand. It was a surprise to be caught in this situation again. The last time she had broken protocol, the council had sent her to the hole, to spend six months in total solitude and darkness. She had done what she had to do to save her husband and daughter. And she would do it again if the opportunity presented itself. But this time, it was different. She was breaking the hunter's oath for mere speculations. What if everything turns out to be false? What if this boy is not the Silverton? What if she had the wrong person in her custody? She hissed. Her father had warned her to place her piece in the right box before selling them off. She had never listened to him and a voice at the back of her head doubt she would st