Silvermist

Chapter 1

“The Dunes cover this land as water covers the sea. Here is the only place you can truly find emptiness. Not in the expanse of the Rain Forest ruled by the Nox-Animae, nor the Knaupiniwaz ridden depths of the Earth, but here in the Potentis Desert. This is where only you may decide your fate. The desert kills the weak and strengthens the strong. Here the mind matters more than the body, therefore mind over body. Allow your mental to embrace control of the physical. Nothing has to be as it is. Because nothing is as it is. The sand knows this well. It moves from one place to another, sometimes in groups and sometimes one grain at a time. It changes the shape of the world, not only itself but those around it. The sand has the power to turn mountains into beautiful pillars. It removes the weak edges from the mountain and only leaves behind the strong incredible pillars. The pillars of life, and the pillars of strength. Through training anyone can become a pillar. A pillar that shares a oneness with the sand maybe even masters the sand and learns to become stronger for it. A pillar that can survive the sand can use the sand. Those who can use the sand can change the world. Those of you who can learn the teachings of the sand will become pillars; those who can not will most likely perish.”

A slight breeze pushed the hood on Master Anu's tan cloak back, revealing his bald head scarred by sand. His face was marked by the blades of enemies who had been lucky to get close enough to mark him at all, even when he was a novice. He was now a Master Adept, one of the highest ranking Gen-Chi Master's in all of Asugod. He was one of the pillars.

Before him stood a dozen young Initiates, all clothed in plain lightweight tan robes with hoods. Most of the Initiates had their hoods down though, hanging uselessly like rags from the backs of their cloaks.

A young blond man in the back of the group shouted out, “Sand? Ha! How can sand teach us anything? I came here to become a Gen-Chi Adept, not to listen to some desert nomad talk about sand!”

“Sand represents the Gen-Chi itself; the sand creates the pillars, and as the pillar is formed many layers are lost. Even you, Brennus, should be able to understand it on that level”, said Master Anu.

Brennus studied the master. “So you forced us out here just to lecture us on sand and its omnipotence, and you expect us to believe that? Grains of sand are just little bits of ground up rock.”

“Yes, and because they have managed to separate themselves they are now stronger. Rock can shatter; sand cannot. Sand has learned to use the world around it to shape the world around it. And Brennus, nobody is forcing you to do anything. No one rules you, no one can rule you, and no matter what happens and what anyone says, you are the only one in control of your mind. Not your friends, your family, or even me. Your mind cannot be lost against your will. You always have freedom of choice. Even if someone could take away your mind you would still have had to give them it. If you truly believe that they can't take it then they can't. Your mind is your own. Let reason and your truth be your only guide. This is the most basic lesson of Gen-Chi.”

This time, a deeply tanned woman who had been sitting with her legs crossed in the front of the group spoke. “So you are saying that if we concentrate hard enough anything could happen?”

“That is exactly what I'm saying, Valeria, and that you are always in control of yourself as much as you want to be. But now I need to quickly teach you your first lesson before the sands become deadly. Those of you who do not think you can learn quickly enough run back to town and wait there. There is no shame in leaving, and I was not expecting you to have to learn this quickly anyway. So, if you plan to leave, go now.” Kamaria, a tall African woman, S?an, a short red haired man, and Nalia, an Indian woman, left.

“If any more of you wish to leave I advise you go. Those of you who stay may die, though now it appears almost too late. Anyone else? No? Very well. Now all of you spread out. Sit down with you legs crossed as Valeria was. This should be a fairly easy lesson. First, concentrate on the sand underneath you. Feel every single grain of it and push on it with your mind; push it all out from under you. Once you manage to do this successfully, you should have formed a pit. You must allow yourself to fall into this pit, and once you have fallen through, the sands will cover you back up. When you are in the hole, you will need to push sand away from your face to give yourself room to breath. You can do this easily by lowering your head down into the space between your legs and pushing the sand aside with your hands. Don't go down to far because you will need to be able to easily leap back up, and if you are too close to the surface the sand may kill you. Make sure your hoods are up when you do this to protect your head. This will be a test to see how quickly you can learn.”

The winds were getting stronger and beginning to kick sand up at the peoples' faces. Far in the distance, a wall of sand was rushing towards the group extremely quickly. Its walls of impenetrable dust were flowing towards them, with every thought in its mind of tearing their weak bodies to shreds. It came up towering behind Master Anu. The Sun was lost now behind the screaming wall. It was crying out its need to kill, and screaming that it would allow no mercy. “Now!”, and Master Anu vanished from sight in the wall of dust.

The winds were really kicking up now as Nalia, Kamaria, and S?an were running to the village's clay walls. The battered wooden gate was still open to let the last of the returning tribesmen back in. One of the villagers ran over when they saw Nalia, Kamaria, and S?an approach. He led them to one of the walls of the towers and pressed the wall inwards. At his touch it recoiled and opened in the way intended. “Quickly you three, this way.” He beckoned for them to enter the small clay guard tower which had been boarded off to stop the sand from entering. Then the short, grey-bearded man turned away from the room, and went to assist more of the villagers after closing the opening behind him. The room they were in was lit only by light coming in from under the door and between the boards on the windows. From what Nalia could see, the room was shaped like a pyramid. It had a vertical wall on the outside of the city and a wooden ladder, made from planks tied together with strips of cloth, leading to a trapdoor in the roof. Many richly colored rugs blanketed the floor in colors ranging from burgundy to indigo, all of them covered by a thin layer of sand. On the far wall from the door a tapestry hung, bearing the town's coat of arms: two gold Halkainata Staffs over a red lighting bolt. The lightning bolt was depicted to be dripping with either blood or postestanguis, the cities main source of energy. A red rug on the floor began to move a little shaking the dust off and revealing a picture of a golden tesseract on it.

“What's that?” whispered Kamaria.

“Probably just a bug”, replied S?an in an equally quiet and nervous voice.

A loud whistle was blown somewhere outside by one of the town's watchmen. The ground began to shake and the wind could be heard audibly screaming as it blasted over the walls to the west. The sand rushing through the streets made a sound almost like a quiet drum roll. When it finally came upon the tower, all the light coming in disappeared. A few seconds later, a blast of sand rushed in under the door burning Nalia's feet. She tried to scream but the when she opened her mouth the sand burnt her mouth so bad she thought it would dissolve her tongue. “So this is what Master Anu meant by the strength of the sand”, she thought to herself. She remembered her hood and quickly pulled it over her face, the sand burning lines into her hands the second they left her sleeves. She wanted it to stop, so she stared at the sands with all of her strength, remembering Valeria's interpretation of Master Anu's speech. The sand stopped coming in, and she felt a hand reach around and cover her mouth. She lost consciousness and entered into the blackness of her mind. In that place she heard a wailing that brought pain to her soul. It seemed to be focused on destroying her very essence; it echoed in her mind; it seemed to be saying something extremely threatening promising death but without bothering to use words. She could only feel the meaning, and then, she felt nothing.




Written By: MithrilBalrog
Edited By: TheAmericanIdiot
Coded By: Gui