• The only sound in the room was the crackling of the fire and Jack's labored breathing coming from near the window. I turned towards him and could barely make out his frail form beneath the mound of blankets. "Jack..." I said quietly, "Maybe you should go lie down. You'll feel better if you..."
    "Leave me alone..." It came out almost as a grunt.
    "I'm only trying to help Jack."
    "I said leave me ALONE!" He yelled and threw the blankets off himself. My eyes were drawn to his arm. His arm all the way up to his elbow was black and his veins were shining a bright blue. My heart dropped. "Oh Jack..." I breathed out with a sigh. Two days ago, it was only half way up his forearm. He realized that he had revealed his arm and quickly covered himself up. He stood and shuffled upstairs. I got up, stood at the bottom of the stairs, and watched him go. I flinched when I heard his door slam. I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. I stood in the empty denand looked around, not knowing what to do. Jack was touched by a Grog, a type of ghoul, about a month ago. Jonah, my boyfriend, and I had found him hiding out in the woods near out house, close to death. We nurtured him as far back to health as we could, but by then, his fingers had already started to turn. I let out a long sigh, grabbed my cloak, and wrapped it around my shoulders. I gave one more glance up the stairs before heading out into the brisk night.


    I took a deep breath as a smirk played across my lips. Being a Skelian after all, I felt most comfortable at night. A Skelian would be given the commonplace name of a sorcerer or sorceress. But we're so much more than that. We've got powers, obviously, and they're different for every Skelian. Jonah is also one. His powers are geared towards combat skills. He has heightened senses and he is unbelievably strong. I deal with energy powers. I can create energy weapons and control certain elements. No one really knows where Skelians came from. Some scholars like to say that it has something to do with some kind of...mutation or something. Others say that we've been cursed by a witch or were born of Satan. I like to think of us as just...different. Coming into your powers takes time. Jonah isn't as far along as I am, but he is still one of the most fearless fighters I know, and he learns more and more every day. Jonah is learning all about his powers practically on his own, as am I. My mother was also a Skelian, but she was killed in a raid. There are some people who think Skelians don't deserve to live and are evil. Although there are some Skelians who use their powers for bad, we aren't all like that and we don't associate ourselves with those who use their powers for evil. My mother knew the raid was coming, but we couldn't risk running. So she buckled down and taught me all she knew. I managed to fight my way out, but my mother couldn't. Soon after my mother was killed, I found Jonah. He lost his family very early in life and hadn't come into his powers at all. I used what knowledge my mother had given me to decipher what his powers were, and that was how we discovered that his powers were combat based. I helped him as much as I could, but it was soon made clear that he would need a teacher. When I found him, we were just outside the town of Soren. One night, while scavenging for food, I came across an abandoned farmhouse. And that's where we've been ever since. We found a fighter in Soren who, although not a Skelian, agreed to train Jonah in combat. In return, Jonah would work at the local pub. That's where I was headed now.

    I pulled my cloak tighter around my neck. It was normally cold here. We lived in the country of Lothos. It was a northern country surrounded by water. Although it was a fairly isolated country, there were quite a lot of people who lived here. We harbored many who were deported from the mainland, Eskin. Eskin made up for most of the land mass on the planet. It was a very brutal country to live in. It was ruled by King Arkos, a horrible ruler. He didn't have the patience or kindness to deal with the poorer people, the ones who couldn't find work and work their way up in society, so he deported them to whichever country he felt fit whenever he felt like it. Surrounding Eskin were the other countries. There were five of them. The country of Rodston was ruled by King Philip and Queen Amarantine. They were not as harsh as King Arkos, but it still was not a pleasant country to live in. The country of Marsalone was ruled by King Sloane and Queen Renee. Marsalone was a quiet country. You never heard much about them. The country of Iki was ruled by King Leo. Iki was the second largest country. It was where most of the livestock that was supplied to Eskin came from. The country of Groudon was ruled by King Moor. Groudon was a very desolate country. It was covered in volcanoes, which erupted frequently. The people of Groudon populated what little parts of the country where the eruptions didn't reach. Groudon supplied the metals needed for weapons and such to the other countries. Last but not least was my country, Lothos. Lothos was ruled by Queen Ridika. My country is the only country ruled by only a queen. Out of all the rulers, Queen Ridika was the nicest. Everyone who was deported from Eskin hoped to be sent here. Even if they weren't sent here, most of the deportees found ways to get here, which is why we have so many people. I personally felt very lucky to have been born in such a wonderful country.

    I looked up at the sky and watched the stars before the trees obscured them. I had reached the path through the woods that would lead me down into Soren. A noise to my right made me pause. I focused my energy in that direction until I found what had made the noise. That was another power of a Skelian. We could focus our energy to make it so we could almost see in the dark. I could my head to the side. "Hm. Just a Grog." I said to myself. Humans were not the only beings that walked the earth. The world was full of dark creatures. Ghouls, banshees, vampires and more. This particular ghoul, called a Grog, was particularly dangerous to humans. They feed off life forces. If one gets a hold of you, most of the time you don't stand a fighting chance. Grog's suck the life out of you. When they're done, all that's left is a blackened corpse with bright blue veins. I've never met someone who had escaped a Grog attack, which was why I didn't know how to save Jack. His life force was somehow still being sucked out of him and I couldn't stop it. Luckily, the dark creatures tend to leave Skelians along as long as you stay out of their territory. Humans, though, were a prime target. This, of course, brings us back to Jack. I still don't know how he managed to get away. He doesn't remember much from that night. Jonah and I had found him soon after Jonah started working at the pub. I tried everything in my power, but he was still dying. Jonah and I would sit up late at night talking about what we should do. "We need to find a more experienced Skelian." I whispered. "I know." Jonah replies. I would sigh and nuzzle into him. That was our nightly conversation. Jonah was 21. I, 19. Jack was only 15. We felt like older siblings to him and we worried and cared about him. I shook my head to clear it of the memory as I cut down a grassy hill to the pub. I could hear voices and music drifting out through the windows. My eyes were drawn to the sign, Missy's Pub, as I pushed open the door and was met with the smell of stale ale and a rather large man in my path. He burped and gave me a crooked grin. His teeth were yellow and he was missing some. "Well hello there lass..." he drawled with a drunken stupor. He reached a hand out for me, but he was promptly stopped by a hand on his wrist. "Back off Seamus, she's mine." I heard Jonah say. I grinned as the man named Seamus jumped slightly. Jonah appeared from behind him and moved to stand in between us. "Go have another drink Seamus. On me." Seamus grinned and stumbled back towards the counter, knocking over a stool here and there. Jonah turned towards me. "Sorry about that." He grinned and gave me a quick kiss. "Eh, I've dealt with worse." I said as I untied my cloak from around my neck. I followed Jonah over to the counter and took a seat on a stool. "So, what will you have?" Jonah asked. "Water. Just water." Jonah grabbed a tin cup and filled it with water from the well pump. I took a drink. The cool water felt good since I was already sweating from being in the cramped pub. I set my cup down and sighted then looked up at Jonah. "It's getting worse."
    His face fell. "How bad?
    "All the way up to his elbow."
    Jonah sighed and leaned against the wooden bar, still looking at me. "We're going to have to leave soon." I nodded in agreement and took another drink of water. "He's not talking to me." I could feel the tears welling up in the corners of my eyes. Jonah noticed and rested his hand on my face. "Don't worry. We'll find someone to fix him and everything will be ok." I nodded again and drank the rest of my water. I stayed for a bit longer and chatted with Jonah and a girl named Felecia, who lived down the road from the pub. I stretched and looked at Jonah.
    "I'd better get home and make sure Jack hasn't run off."
    "Ok. I don't know when I'll be home." Jonah surveyed the pub. "It looks like a long night." It was already half past eleven and the pub was still packed. I turned on my stool and looked around. The torches on the walls cast a flickering light over everyone. I sighed and turned back to Jonah.
    "Ok." I said. "I'll see you when you get home."
    I gave him a small wave and a smile, threw my cloak back on, and started the walk home. The Lothos countryside was beautiful. Rolling hills, dense woods. I breathed out and saw my breath. Winter was coming. I made my way through the woods and entered the clearing. The farmhouse loomed in the distance. It really was a nice farmhouse. I don't know why it was abandoned. It had two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a den with a fireplace. It was made out of gray stones and dark wood. I climbed the steps and walked in. The fire had burned down to just the embers, but it gave off enough light so I could see where I was going. I walked up the stair and peeked into Jack's room. He was sprawled out on the floor. I don't blame him. We couldn't afford a cot, so we had straw covered in cloth. With Jack being sick, he got cold easily so he couldn't use his blanket for extra cushion, so he tended to sleep on the floor. I took a deep breath and walked into my room. I threw my cloak on the bed. I attempted to stay up and wait for Jonah to get home because I hated falling asleep by myself. But my exhaustion finally won and I curled up on my side and eventually drifted off to sleep.