VOLUME I: ASH

Prologue: The Boy With A Tail

Embers burned like stars in the night sky. The heat of dying flames whipped the faces of the survivors. All was silent—no one quite knew how to react to the horror that was now gone—or to the larger-than-life figure that seemed to stop the apocalypse itself. No one but a young boy with a fuzzy-tail. His eyes glittered with awe, almost as though he had completely forgotten that he, above all, faced death.

The figure turned to the boy and knelt before him. His face was solemn. "You're brave, kid, but don't throw your life away so easily."

The crowd cheered. They laughed, they sobbed, because they were saved. Amid it all, a bell rang. It grew louder until all that was heard was the dreaded bell. Eli Wisp woke with a fright. The classroom was empty, and the clock on the wall ticked away, uncaring. He paled. Every day for the past year, Eli had made masterful excuses to leave the last class early, but he spent the night before watching videos of Penitulus Ren's heroics instead of sleeping, and now the consequences were about to manifest.

His heart raced as the voices of those he had avoided until then approached. He looked for a way out—the door was suicide—it had had to be the window. Normally, someone would think twice before jumping out a second-floor window, but not Eli. He grabbed his satchel and dashed for the door. He stopped when the satchel hooked on a desk and jerked him. Its contents scattered. The door opened and Eli’s heart sank.

"Well, if it isn't the tailed bitch." The voice was harsh and abrasive.

"Hey Ajax," Eli said as he turned. Ajax stepped slowly, cronies in tow. His harsh eyes never left Eli’s until he glanced at the mess on the floor.

"What's this?" Ajax asked as he reached for a journal that had been in Eli’s satchel. He flipped through the pages with a snide grin that went sour. "Corin Academy?" Ajax's eyes narrowed at Eli, "You think you can go to Corin Academy? You think you can become a Maestro? your Magic barely keeps you alive and you think you can be a Maestro?" Ajax scoffed as he glanced back at his two lackeys. He went wide-eyed as he saw the defiance in Eli's eyes. "Looks like I'm going to have to beat some sense into you."

Eli whipped his tail at Ajax's eyes and dashed through the window. The jump was perfect, he almost seemed to glide through the air, until he wasn't. The air crackled as a bolt of electricity struck. Eli's body went stiff, and he fell to the earth, unable to cushion his fall. He clutched at his ankle that twisted to an unnatural degree.

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"Don't stand there! Grab the bitch!" Ajax roared to his lackeys who also jumped out the window using whatever ability at their disposal to cushion the fall. By the time they landed, Eli was already a fair distance away, fair enough for someone who was just electrocuted and had a sprained ankle. He struggled to the wall of the school compound, prepared to scale it somehow when another bolt of electricity struck him. He went rigid and fell to the ground.

Eli looked up at Ajax.

"As pathetic as ever," Ajax chuckled. "Still think you're going to be a Maestro?" Ajax asked sarcastically.

Eli looked away.

"Hey! I'm talking to you!" Ajax said as he grabbed Eli's platinum—nearly white—mane and fixed his gaze.

"No."

Ajax grinned at his answer.

"I'm going to be the best Maestro."

Ajax sighed as he balled his hand.

***

Bloodied and bruised, Eli limped into his home. He hoped his mother was distracted enough for him to sneak by. "Kitten!" but this wasn't the case.

"Hey mom," He said, and his mother dropped her stew covered ladle at the sight of him. "I'm fine, I just fell," he explained.

"Yeah, sure," She said as she rushed over to him. "It was Ajax, wasn't it?" she asked as she examined his face. "Come on," she guided him over to the couch and laid his head down on her lap. Her soft, round emerald eyes soothed him. "What happened to you two? You were such good friends," she said while rubbing her hands together.

"Were," Eli clarified. He winced when his mother pressed her then glowing hands on his sprained ankle.

"Don't worry Kitten, you have the entire summer to plot your revenge," Eli grinned at the thought before his mother's hands lulled him to sleep.

***

Ashes whipped into the air from the mangled carcass of some creature. Penitulus Ren stared at the vanishing beast with a furrowed brow. He was so lost in thought that he failed to notice the man that approached. "Manifestation Magic, powerful at that." He was a tall, muscular man with a pitch-black mane and beard, and he spoke with a rough voice. "Reminds me of back then," He continued and Ren's brows furrowed even further.

"They're getting stronger, Victor, more...solid..." he lingered on the last word.

"Easy enough to solve, you just have to hit them harder, or retire, then I can be number one again."

"Is that really how you want it to happen?" Ren asked with a grin.

"Of course not, and if you did retire I'd be there to kill you for it."

"You forgot to make that sound like a joke."

"It wasn't meant to." The furrow returned to Ren's face as he turned back to the carcass that was all but gone. The street lights bounced off the edges of his blonde hair, making a somber silhouette. He was considering something, something that Victor seemed to know as he asked the very question that was scraping the inside of his skull. "You think this has anything to do with the kid, the one with the tail?"