Chapter 11

         Time went by until we were finally called to battle a year after the first one. Jessica was eating lunch with the other girls when we got a call from Panton. He appeared right at the head of our table without even giving us any heads up. Rude right? Well, there was nothing we could do about it anyway. Jessica shrieked and knocked over her glass. We all jumped at Panton's sudden arrival, but we had to drop from our seats and bow with respect.

         "I am to take you back with me. We need you for the war," Panton said.

         My brothers and I stood up and looked at Panton. He jerked his head towards the door.

         "I will also tell you that the name "hecapsycheires is now official," Panton said.

         Jessica grinned, but the grin quickly vanished from her face when she looked at me for what she feared to be the last time. We said our quick goodbyes to the girls and followed Panton out our door.

         We teleported to the entrance of the headquarters which happened to be in Ecuador. Well actually, it was in the Galapagos Islands which is part of Ecuador, but Panton told us to focus on Ecuador. There we walked into an ordinary building and went up in an elevator.

         The elevator left Earth and entered the land of the Hecapsycheires. The doors opened and the first thing we saw were thousands of hecapsycheires. Panton had disappeared. To find out what was happening, I approached the nearest hecapsycheir and asked him what was going on. (Hecapsycheir is male singular, hecapsycheire is female singular, hecapsycheires is plural male and female.)

         "We're supposed to wait another hour until the last of us show up and then the Elders will give us instructions," he said.

         "Okay, thanks," I said.

         I turned back to my brothers, and we pushed our way through the crowd to a tree. We all climbed to the top of the tree for a better view. In front of us was a large platform with five thrones. We assumed they were for the Elders. There were approximately 100,000 hecapsycheires in the crowd.

         If these were all the hecapsycheires that were going to fight the Heinous Knights, I thought we had a pretty good chance of defeating Vadrak and his minions.

         An hour later, the Elders teleported directly onto their thrones, and everyone bowed respectfully.

         "Rise to your feet and pay attention for there is no time to lose," Fire said.

         "We estimate Vadrak's army of Heinous Knights to be approximately 1,000,000. There's about 100,000 of us and we believe we can take them if we surround and surprise them," Metal said.

         "You have all trained before. Our spies have informed us that Vadrak's Heinous Knights plan to attack us the day after tomorrow at sundown," Wood said.

         "We will attack them tomorrow at midnight. Today, you must rest and prepare yourself for the battle to come. We have enough cabins for you if you split yourselves into groups by the element which you control," Earth said.

         "Panton will help you if you have questions. As a final parting sentence, until we next see each other in battle, be brave and don't back down. If you are hurt, teleport yourself to our medical tent, and our doctors will nurse you back to health so that you can rejoin the battle," Water said.

         With that, the Elders disappeared and Panton stepped up to the front of the stage.

         "Please divide yourselves into five groups based on the element you control."

         Panton pointed at different sections of a campsite that was behind the elevator we had come up in. My brothers and I climbed down from the tree and gave one another hugs. We split up to the designated campsites where there were five servants of the Elders all of whom were showing hecapsycheires to their cabins. The cabins were large enough for twenty to fit comfortably.

         I got sent to cabin #57 and was soon joined by a very beautiful fire controller who introduced herself as Vesta. She told me she was named after the Roman goddess of the hearth, and I introduced myself.

         Vesta was wearing the traditional robe and cloak. It was loose around her body so that she could move freely. It was black with red flames rising from the bottom hem so that it looked as if she were on fire. Her eyes were dark brown, and in them I could see the selflessness of her character. Her hair was tied in a braid that came a few inches past her shoulders.

          There were mats for us to sleep on with sleeping bags and pillows. More hecapsycheires showed up in our cabin, but Vesta and I merely greeted them without going into a long conversation. Instead, Vesta and I began to talk with each other.

         "I don't suppose a quiet conversation would be considered over-exertion?" Vesta asked.

         "I don't think so," I said. "What shall we talk about?"

         "Well, we could talk about each other. I don't know much about you except for the fact that your name is Aden, and you look very handsome."

          I was surprised by how different it sounded from when Jessica said it. Now that I'm among my kind, I can speak much more freely. For us, adjectives have different meanings. In my world, "handsome" means someone looks prepared for anything thrown at them. I think the term in the mortal world would be "fit," but in my world "fit" means taking the form of one's own element.

         "Thanks," I replied. "I can see the Elders did well in choosing you. Do you have any family members here?"

         "Yes, none of them are here though. My father was killed a while ago, and my mother is at home taking care of my younger brother who is quite sick at the moment. I'm here alone. What about you?"

         "My brothers are here with me, but they can't control fire so they are in the other parts of the camp. Which instrument do you like to play?" I asked. (Music is something that could fit under the "hobby" category in every hecapsycheir's life.)

         "I rather enjoy playing the harpsichord and the oud. What about you?"

         "I usually play the guitar when I'm in the human world, but outside, I like to make my own horns and play them. You said you liked playing the oud. Have you ever been to Mount Ararat?"

         "I've seen it in the distance, but I've never actually been on top of either peak. What do you mean 'when I'm in the human world'?"

         "My brothers and I have tried studying human emotions, terms, and body language, but we haven't been extremely successful. Do you have friends you talk with in the hecapsycheir world?"

         "Yes, I have four other really good friends, all of whom are here today. We've been friends for years and we do everything together. I also have another hecapsycheir friend, and we sometimes spend time together talking or playing music."

         "What elements can your friends control?"

         "One of each actually. Aurelia can control metal, Izumi, water, Tamara, wood, and Gina can control earth. What about your brothers?"

         "What a coincidence. My brothers also control one of each," I told her. "Demetrio controls earth, Timur, metal, Irvin, water, and Hearst, wood. So, tell me about yourself. I'm interested to hear everything about you, and it's a good way to pass the time. You just answer my questions, and then ask me one in return out of politeness. Am I scaring you or something?" I asked.

         "No, of course not. I'm just . . . . Look, can you keep a secret?"

         "Of course I can."

         "I have never admitted that I've been scared before. I always denied it whether I was telling myself or someone else, I never gave into fear. But now, with the Heinous Knight army ten times as large as ours, not to mention Vadrak who's the most evil and scariest of them all, I think I'm finally going to admit that I'm scared."

         "There's nothing wrong with being scared."

         "But you don't get it. I'm not ashamed of being scared, I'm ashamed that I'm not strong enough to hide my fear."

         "Hey, you should be scared, and no one should be able to hold in all of that fear. There's no need for you to feel ashamed."

         "Thanks for the vote of confidence, but that doesn't mean that I'm suddenly happy."

         I stood up and offered Vesta my hand. She looked up at me and I said, "Come on, let's go for a walk. A walk can't hurt."

         "All right. I suppose I could introduce you to my friends. We agreed to meet back at the stage at about 14:00. It's 13:55 now."

         Vesta took my hand, and I pulled her to her feet. We walked back to the stage, and pretty soon, my brothers came with four other beautiful girls to join us. My brothers and I greeted each other as Vesta, Gina, Aurelia, Izumi, and Tamara stared at us.

         "You know each other?" they all asked.

         "Yes," Timur and Demetrio said at the same time.

         "We're brothers," Irvin, Hearst and I said in unison.

         All five of the girls wearing the traditional robe and cloak. I learned that each of Vesta's friends shared a cabin with each of my brothers. My brothers and I had changed into our robes and cloaks after we got down from the tree and before we went to the campsite. The ten of us looked quite stunning if I do say so myself.

         We all took a walk together to explore the campsite. There were five campsites each of which was meant for the five elements. They formed a star shape and were all identical in size and number of cabins. In each campsite, there were four quarters: the cabins, the hospital, the training center, and a place for us to gather our strength. There were about one-thousand cabins in each section that were each big enough for twenty hecapsycheires. The hospitals were not huge. They had about one hundred beds, and there were approximately fifty nurses in each hospital. Each had the medications necessary to treat the hecapsycheires of that element. The training center was where a hecapsycheir could train without losing energy. There was some sort of spell in the arena so that a hecapsycheir could do all sorts of physical exertion without losing energy. The place where we could gather our strength was similar to the cabins my brothers and I had built back by our house in California. It was like a sauna, but instead of steam surrounding a hecapsycheir, the element that the hecapsycheir could control surrounded him or her.

         As we were walking, I thought about the battle to come. One way or another, this would be over by the end of the week. Either we'd lose, and we'd all be killed, or we'd win the battle and send Vadrak back to the dimension he came from. The evening wore on and it was soon time for the five of us to part because of the curfew. We said goodbye for the night, and Vesta and I walked back to our cabin that we shared with the other fire- hecapsycheires.

         I felt awkward sitting next to Vesta in silence, so I decided to introduce her to English literature. I summoned several books by famous English authors, Dickens, Tolkien, Austen, and we read them to each other to pass the time. We didn't really need to sleep, just rest, so we read.

         I realized that Vesta was a very smart hecapsycheire, but I began to have a nagging feeling that she was hiding something. I wondered what else she had apart from intelligence, beauty, and bravery. At midnight I realized that in twenty-four hours, we would be going to battle against Vadrak's army of one million. They outnumbered us ten-to-one. I thought I should save even more strength by sleeping even though I wasn't tired at all. I lay down on my mat and closed my eyes.

         "You're going to sleep already?" Vesta asked.

         "I'm going to try to. I don't know how much sleep I'll get between the thought of the battle that's going to begin in the next 24 hours and the fact that I'm not tired."

         "I don't suppose we can visit our friends can we?"

         "No, we're not supposed to."

         I spent the rest of the night drifting in and out of sleep until six in the morning when the horn of fire was blown to wake us up. There are five horns, one for each element. When they are sounded together, they make a beautiful chord that doesn't even exist in the mortal world. I doubt I can describe the sound accurately, but I'll try anyway. Think of your dream life and imagine the most beautiful sound you've ever heard. I guess you could think of your favorite instruments and imagine a chord with one note from each instrument. Think of that sound and then multiply the beauty by about a billion and that'll be close to the sound of the five horns together.

         We went to find my brothers and her friends. We tried to get into Demetrio and Gina's camp, the camp for those who can control earth. We were stopped by guards who spoke very sternly.

         "Where do you think you're going? This is the camp for the earth controllers. You have no knowledge of the art. The fire camp is to the left. Be gone," the guard said.

         We left the earth camp and walked over to the stage where Panton had given his speech. To my surprise, we were joined by Timur, Irvin, Hearst, and finally Demetrio.

         "Morning," I said. "What's happening?"

         "Nothing really. Everyone's tense. They've all been tense since we first arrived through the elevator," Timur said.

         "Good morning," Vesta started, "Do you think you four could get my friends; Gina, Aurelia, Izumi, and Tamara? I'd get them myself, but I can't go into the other camps."

         "Yeah, sure," Hearst said. "I'll be right back with Tamara."

         "Thanks," Vesta said.

         My other brothers left with Hearst to get Vesta's friends, and when they returned, we walked around the campsite.

         Throughout the day, servants were running around carrying battle armor and yelling orders. There had to be 100,000 hecapsycheires ready for battle by eleven at night. At 14:00, Panton told us to split ourselves into groups of ten with two hecapsycheires from each element. We needed to stay together for the rest of the day to talk about battle strategies. My brothers, Vesta, her friends, and I agreed to team up so we could protect each other in battle. We spent time training until seven o'clock in the evening.  After that, we would march to battle and hope for the best.

         Once the horns were blown 19 times, indicating the time, all of the hecapsycheires regrouped at the stage. Everyone received a breastplate, helmet, special gloves and a sword for each element. Underneath the armor, we wore the traditional robe and cloak. We wore shoes that were molded to our feet. They fit comfortably to make running in battle easy.

         When I was given my helmet and breastplate, I was surprised to find that it was very light. It couldn't have weighed more than a quarter of a pound. I put it on and belted my sword to my belt. After everyone had gotten all of their battle gear together, Panton appeared on the stage. He told us the swords were special and that they would release the Heinous Knights from their curse when driven into their bodies.

         There were groups of ten planted all around the Heinous Knight's camp. Each group was supposed to attack ten buildings. There were one-hundred thousand buildings for the Heinous Knights to sleep in, each building held ten Heinous Knights, plus the guard towers. Suddenly and silently, the Elders appeared and began using their powers to attack the guard towers, and we crept into the camp, and began to take control.

         At first, everything was going great. We broke into the buildings where the Heinous Knights were sleeping, and gave them a very surprising good morning call. The Heinous Knights were already in full battle armor with their swords at their sides. Demetrio was the first to strike. He hit his Heinous Knight across the chest, but didn't realize they were wearing armor. The rest of the Heinous Knights woke from the clang, and the one that Demetrio had struck jumped up, grabbed his sword, and swung. Demetrio jumped away before the Heinous Knight could hit him, but I had to pull Vesta back out of the way so she wouldn't get sliced. We each chose a Heinous Knight and the fight was on.

         Mine was a big, strong guy with a lot of muscle. The first strike of his sword split my shield into two pieces and broke my arm. I stumbled backwards, but I could still use my sword arm while I let my shield arm heal. The Heinous Knight was a lot bigger than I, but this meant that I could run around him and dart into small places he couldn't reach. Once my shield arm had recovered, I sheathed my sword and used my fire powers to ward him off. He backed away from me, and swapped places with his roommate who was fighting Hearst. I realized that the guy I fought was trained to take on the hecapsycheires who could use wood.

         The next guy was meant to fight the fire hecapsycheires. He wasn't as big, but he still knew how to fight. I knew better than to use my fire powers against him, so I stuck with my sword and what was left of my shield. I slashed and parried for what seemed like ages until he made a mistake. The Heinous Knight took an awkward step and lost his balance. He staggered backwards into his comrade, and I shoved my sword into his chest. He gasped and fell to the ground.

         Oh no, I thought, I didn't mean to kill him. Did the sword not work?

         Before I could think about his injuries, Vesta let out a scream. Her Heinous Knight was pinning her to the wall by her throat and laughing. I jumped over the beds and sunk my sword through his boot. He collapsed and let Vesta fall to the ground. I pulled her up and found she was okay, just scared.

         Just then, I heard a moan. Not just any moan, a moan that came from a human. The sword had done its work. The Heinous Knight that I first stabbed had changed back into a human. My brothers and Vesta's friends weren't finished with their Heinous Knights, except for Timur and Aurelia. Timur had got his opening when my Heinous Knight crashed into his, and he had helped Aurelia. We came to the aid of Demetrio, Irvin, Hearst, Gina, Izumi, and Tamara. We transformed the Heinous Knights back into humans and they were truly grateful. We told them to stay in the ruined dormitory so that they would be safe.

         We left the building and placed a quick spell on it so that no Heinous Knight could get into the building. One dorm down, nine to go. The next dorms went almost as planned. By the end of the seventh, we were starting to get pretty tired. All Heinous Knights are strong, but it was lucky that we were stronger, or at least, we had better strategies. We weren't so exhausted that we couldn't go on, so we pulled our strength together and plunged on. We got through nine buildings full of Heinous Knights before things went wrong.