Gifts of the Living Phoenix

Chapter 1

The year was 3220 and many things had changed for the planet once called Earth.  For almost 950 years, much of the planet had been encased in ice and snow killing billions of humans.  The earth had previously been overpopulated to the point that it could no longer sustain itself.  It had started slowly with climate change, cataclysmic wars and other catastrophic events that turned into pandemic viruses that started wiping out millions of people.  Then came the sudden cold.  The world kept getting colder and colder and could no longer sustain life above ground.  Over time, as humans died in droves, smaller communities were built underground and humanity tried its best to survive.

It was called the Ogacio – named after the famous elf whose life’s endeavor was protecting all living beings from extinction.  Not much was known about how humanity lived in the last 900 years but it seemed as though an evolution of sorts occurred.

          In the last two hundred years, somehow the earth started to heal itself and undergo a rebirth.  Life on the surface was back on a path to renewal.  Parts of the planet were no longer covered in snow and ice though most beings still lived underground, away from the harsh cold and into the warmer depths of the planet.  In the beginning, most of the humans were nearly wiped out during the Ogacio and were reduced to only a few million throughout the planet. 

            As centuries passed, those humans evolved and changed.  In answer to the cruel weather during the Ogacio, the strongest morphed into creatures becoming shapeshifters while others grew thinner and leaner, looking like the once mythical creatures of the old stories - elves.  There were other beings as well, but they were not as extensive in number as the shapeshifters and elves.   

            Technology as it had once been known was last seen in the 22nd century.  All kinds of technology essentially stopped eons ago when the Ogacio took over their world and with it all forms of power.  Faith had read about things like electricity and ways that power could be harnessed, but in the end there was no way to contain it below ground and people were only interested in immediate shelter and food to care about anything beyond that.  For hundreds of years, the different races only cared about surviving.  Only in the last hundred years did people realize that the Ogacio was no more and that the long winter would be ending.  Only in the last hundred years, had they been able to re-establish themselves and use old buildings that had not been demolished and start living above the ground.  It was in the last 50 years that people actually started to care about things beyond food and shelter.  (When we say people, we’re saying that loosely as we are talking mostly about elves and shapeshifters.) 

Only recently had the tribes cared about bringing about change in order to be better prepared for the next Ogacio, the harshest winters that would be the next world ender. 

Her father, Colton Geniason, the Tribal leader of the Undines, had been vital to the Forward Movement Council, a group of council members from each of the racial tribes that was interested in creating a peaceful co-existence for everyone.  The FM as they were known were there to ensure that all the races were equally represented.  This was the only reason she knew that there were other races even out there. 

Her father was an elf, yet he was the tribal leader of the Undines due to his marriage to her mother, the daughter of the last Undine tribal leader. Undines were female spirit like creatures that were created or born without a soul. However, when an Undine married a mortal being and bore him a child, she was granted a soul and became like her partner.  In her mother’s case, she married my father who was an elf, so after giving birth she eventually became an elf herself.  She looked like an elf, but because she was not born one, she did not have any special powers except for some of the fairy like magic she was able to produce in spurts for healing.    

As the second son of an Elven tribal leader, her father had magical powers, but none that he used frequently.  The less you use your magic, the less intune you become and less effective in wielding it.  Her father always told her that she had to be careful with magic because it would kill you if you weren’t careful and if you didn’t die, you ended up changing and soon wished to be dead.   Faith shuddered at that thought.   It was too easy to be swayed by the power of magic and become pulled into the shadows. 

Shadowers as they would be known as… those who were without light and pursued evil.  Luckily, most             Shadowers were few in number if at all, and most of the time they rarely survived long as a Shadower.  Her father said that they weren’t to be feared, but becoming one was what you had to worry about.  Faith had been born to an Undine mother, but she was born an elf.  Therefore, like most elves she had a certain amount of power.  She went to elven school in her community to learn about her gifts but she didn’t think much about her magic abilities.  Unfortunately, magic wouldn’t conjure up food and keep your belly full.  They had to work in the underground for that.  Somehow over the years, they had managed to create artificial light through magic in order to grow food, but most of the time they were limited to small amounts of dried meats and artificial proteins. 

            Faith remembered the first time she had seen a shapeshifter.  He looked human but could change into an animal based on his or her ability.  She had been mesmerized at the creature she saw.  He looked like a snow leopard which was good because he could camouflage himself and hide in the snow and ice.  She later saw him change into a jaguar too and blend into the greenery of the jungle.  Faith wished she could have seen more, but was stopped by her mother from moving closer into the woods. 

            Once the Council was created and she was introduced the first time to a shapeshifter, she remembered thinking how amazing it would be change into an animal and hunt above ground.  It was the only time she had ever seen shapeshifters or other elves outside of those in her Undine Tribe. She had seen her first Olgas as well - giant lumbering creatures that resembled humans but were very docile and sweet regardless of their big physical stature.  One of them were easily twice the size of a normal human or elf.  Oddly enough, she had never seen a female Olgas, but yet there seemed to be more Olgas being born around them so Faith assumed that they were there.  Most of the Olgas lived above ground in cavern areas near the mountains and areas that had once been full of trees and growth.  There were some humans around, but most were so dispersed that there had been no tribal representation. 

            Her father was the reason that the Olgas were allowed seats at the FM Council.  As a tribal leader, he had certain influence at the Council, especially as the second son of the Tribal Elf leader Orpheus by whom Faith had been named.  Her grandfather was an elf of unique character and she had only seen him a handful of times but she knew that her father loved him dearly. 

Faith was so lost in thought thinking about how little she knew about the Elven Tribe that she failed to hear Everett sneak up behind her. 

            “Faith, let’s go to the side and see if we can listen in on their meeting,” Everett whispered. 

            “Are you crazy?  If they catch us, we’ll be punished!”  gasped Faith.

            “Don’t be so scared.  I know they’re talking about uniting the tribes through unions,” Everett said confidently.

            “So?  What does that have to do with us?”  Faith retorted.

Everett looked at her in disbelief as though he couldn’t believe how slow she was. But seriously, she thought, what did that have to do with them?  They were only 10 years old. 

            “They’re talking about all the children of our age, silly,” Everett replied.

Faith’s eyes widened as she finally realized what he meant.  Usually around this time of year, the elders tried to match children of various tribes to unite them in marriage in order to make their tribes stronger, but to also ensure peace throughout the tribes.  They also felt that this would lead to stronger blood lines with less intermixing of families.  When the world’s population is smaller, you have to consider these things.

            “I-I’m n-not sure I want to know what’s going to happen,” Faith stutters.   Ugh, why was she stuttering?  It’s just Everett. 

            Everett and Faith had been friends since they were in diapers.  They were pretty close growing up since their fathers had also been best friends growing up.  Everett’s father scared Faith a little, but most of the time he didn’t really care that Everett and Faith were friends, but he seemed to have a low tolerance for little girls.  Everett’s family only had boys and he was the oldest of three.  He also had a twin which meant that sometimes it was like having double the trouble. 

            His twin Edric born 5 minutes after him, was the complete opposite of Everett.  Whereas Everett was bold and noisier, Edric was quieter and introspective.  Both twins looked exactly alike, were super smart and had different perspectives about situations which they both respected about one another.  This made them a shrewd and unbeatable team when it came to mischievous activities.  The twins also had a younger brother Etan who was around the same age as Hope, Faith’s sister.   Faith didn’t see Etan much but knew he looked like a mini version of the twins.  All three had dark brown hair and piercing blue eyes.  Faith wished she had dark brown hair too, but with her Undine blood’s influence, her hair was almost silver in color which she hated.  She thought it made her look like an old elf woman.   Sometimes she wondered why her mother and Hope didn’t have silver hair.  Their hair was a light blue in color.  She definitely preferred the light blue, it was prettier…

Faith was suddenly snapped out of her thoughts.

            “Don’t do it Faith, you know you’ll end up getting busted,” teased Edric.

Faith looked at Edric, slightly annoyed.  Edric was always so sensible and well behaved.  It sometimes just irked her that he really was too perfect!  He was smirking at her knowing full well that she was having a hard time listening to reason.

            “Don’t listen to Edric, Faith! You know he doesn’t do anything wrong, EVER! He’s so borrrinnngg!!”  Everett smirked too.  He liked teasing his brother but knew it was harmless.  He was trying to get Faith to side with him in his “adventures” as he liked to call them. 

            “Don’t tell me what to do, either of you guys,”  Faith said sighing.  She still hadn’t made up her mind about listening in on the meeting. 

They didn’t realize that they were all whispering not too quietly near the door when it swung open to their surprise.  Both Edric and Everett had the common sense to scramble away from sight but Faith was caught in front of the door to her embarrassment.  Faith’s father smirked at her, but then dropped his smile as he said, “Faith, this isn’t something for you to hear, you may want to go to your room.” 

               “Yes father, I’m sorry,” Faith mumbled.

                “We’ll talk later,” he said quietly.

As Faith walked through the halls down to the common area, she saw Everett and Edric pop their heads out of hiding. Everett was smirking and rocking from side to side unable to stay still. 

Boys!  Ugh, they were the worst, she thought to herself. 

                “Come on Faith, let’s go play!” whined Everett.

Edric held out his hand to Faith which she easily grabbed and they all went running to the playground without a care in the world.