Imagine, for a moment, that everything you’ve ever heard about the world was fact. Evolution, dinosaurs, mythical creatures, fairy tales, and gods all exist all around you, all the time.

When the world first began, the Titans reigned supreme over the world, leaving the surface scarred with war and conflict. The children of the Titans rose up against them to form some kind of order in the world. After eons of abuse and conflict, the Gods finally achieved their goal of defeating the Titans. With the help of Legendary weapons, they imprisoned the Titans in the crust of the Earth.

The first days of the Gods’ reign were the time of creation. Gods created the dinosaurs and all kinds of strange creatures. The Gods tried to share their world by creating life to populate its surface, however, the creation of life is a bumpy path filled with trepidation. Many Gods created massive beasts or terrifying creatures to survive the hellscape left upon the world. It made the surface of the world the most dangerous place imaginable. Then one God molded beings out of his own likeness and the first primates were born. Unlike the other Gods that created a creature and left it to evolve on its own, he would make small changes in the primates’ life source, their very essence. The generations that followed would be far more developed than the last, continuing until the first homo sapiens were born.

In an attempt to create knowledge, God gathered together all of the essences of the world into one seed. He led the human race to the garden that sprouted from the seed he had planted and named it The Garden of Eden. By this time, other gods started to take interest in what God had been doing. They wanted in on the diamond that God had figured out, but there wasn’t enough space on the surface for them to continue making new life. So, they planned to split the world into ten dimensions, hoping that more space would be made to create an abundance of life. The dinosaurs were lost in the cataclysm, as were most of the humans who hadn’t made it to the garden in time. God was able to keep some of the humans safe by splitting the Garden of Eden away from Earth, before the cataclysm.

Once the cataclysm had settled, ten dimensions coexisted in harmony layered over one another. Magic was the core of the dimensions, so the lowest dimensions were brimming with magic energy. The Gods quickly realized that time had been warped between the dimensions, changing how quickly time passed between them. God saw that as a perfect opportunity to let the human race take charge and populate the new worlds that awaited them. The result was not what God had expected. The density of magic changed the human race on the lower dimensions. Thus dwarves, elves, halflings, centaurs, and all other manner of creatures came into being.

When the other Gods saw exactly what God had accomplished, they named him King of the Gods and he rose in power far beyond any of them. However, he had never sot power in the first place and was displeased with such a position. He never wanted to rule, let alone for eternity. So, he made it a tradition of sorts that a mortal from the human race would be selected and receive a piece of his power. They would then go through trials throughout the dimensions until they proved that they were worthy of replacing him at the top. This came with all of his power but also all of the responsibility of being the King of the Gods. Every selection came from the topmost dimension, where magic was scarce at best.

Over time, the lower dimensions prophesied about the end of the generations. A rumor was spread far and wide about the coming of the Bringer of Change. A man who would be chosen as the last generation to be given the chance to receive the power of God and would finally bring an end to the chaos that reigned over the dimensions. Before he was even born, The Bringer of Change, was a being to be revered and worshiped by hundreds of millions throughout the dimensions. He would be the hope for all in the end.

Seth Conwell

I was jolted awake by the sound of my alarm going off. It was the emergency sound that most military bases used for natural disasters, so it was rather loud. In my haste to silence the damned thing, I fell flat on my face out of bed. Rubbing my nose, I strode over to the alarm, which was on my dresser across the room, to slam my hand on the off button. Then I lifted my hand to the light switch and paused, preparing myself for the onslaught of light. I hadn’t prepared enough because I stumbled back a bit and slipped on my carpet. My landing, although not graceful, was cushioned by my bed. There was a loud cracking sound from behind my head and my eyes went wide with terror. If I broke something again, my Mom was going to skin me alive. Slowly, I turned my head to find a nice hole the size of a football in the drywall.

My hand slowly moved to the back of my head, where I expected to find blood but there wasn’t any, not even pain. It was a good thing my head was so thick. The worry about injury was quickly replaced by terror once more as my eyes settled on the hole again, “Shit, Mom’s going to kill me for that.” I shuffled out of bed and sighed before clapping my hands on my cheeks. “Time to get to practice.”

I stood out of bed and threw on a pair of gym shorts from my dresser as well as a T-shirt. Then I shouldered my backpack and slipped my sandals on. After walking over to my door, I took a quick survey of my room. It was a small affair with just enough room for me to do pushups in the middle of the room, which wasn’t saying much with my five-foot-nothing height. My World War II posters were still plastered all over the walls with a single face-sized mirror mixed in. The only other door in the room led to a bathroom with a shower and toilet that were just far enough apart to fit my fingers. It was the realization that this was actually mine that got to me at that moment. My parents had let me move out of the main house to this guest house when I became a teenager. My father had said that a growing boy needed his space or something. I liked it because I would be left alone.

Before I was completely overcome with nostalgia, I started off the porch and across the backyard. As I passed by the porch on the main house, my Mom stepped out and tossed me a small paper bag, which contained the food that would be my breakfast. “Thanks, Mom!” I called over my shoulder as I made my way down the long driveway that led to the main road.

“Have fun and don’t get lost!” I heard Mom’s shout after me. Making sure that I didn’t get any skinnier than I already was, she always made me a dozen hard-boiled eggs before I went off to practice. I hadn’t ever weighed over a hundred and twenty pounds, which worried her for some reason. Now don’t get me wrong, I loved hard-boiled eggs.

As I got to the main road, I started to get excited, because it was the only time that I could let loose. I took off at a sprint and watched as time seemed to slow around me. It was like the whole world had slowed to let me be free. I figured out early in life that I was different from everyone else around me. I could run faster than most people could see and was strong enough to lift a car with one arm. When I was only five, I’d uprooted a tree out in the woods. Ever since then, I’d been very careful around everyone. I don’t know if it was some kind of instinct, but I knew that if I openly displayed how powerful I was I’d be carted off to some government facility. In school and at home, I kept myself in check so that I wasn’t taken away from my family to be experimented on. I’d seen enough Sci-fi movies to know that would be the outcome. If that happened, I wouldn’t have been able to protect my family if something bad happened. My family was everything that I had.

My parents may have been busy people with my mother being the owner of a gym and my father being a contractor, but they always made time for me and Austin, my sister. She may have gotten on my nerves at times but she was still my little sister. Out of everything in my life, my family was the only thing that I felt I needed to protect at any cost.

As I bolted through the streets, I thought about how my life had gone up until then. In the last year, I’d gotten A’s in all of my classes and made friends for the first time, on the swim team. They were the only friends that I’d ever made and we had each other’s backs, for the most part. I thought of Austin again. She was more annoying than anyone I knew and always loved to push my buttons, but she was the only one who could calm me down when she saw that I was upset. Austin was the pretty, popular girl at school that everyone wanted to get to know, but she was self-conscious about how big her rear end was. So, as my way of getting back at her, I reminded her about it all the time.

My mind was brought back to reality as I saw a squirrel, frozen mid-flight across the sidewalk. I continued to watch everything around me continue moving at a staggering slowness. Dead leaves that were falling to the ground looked like they were glued in place, on their way to the ground. There was also next to no sound to be heard from my surroundings. Then the pool came into view and I came to a screeching halt just before turning the corner. Time seemed to return to normal around me as I made my way to the front door.

Half of the swim team was already waiting at the door by the time I turned the last corner. Confused, I checked my phone for the time, only a quarter past five. “Why haven’t they opened the doors yet?” I sighed as I strode up to my group of teammates, who had started banging on the glass door.

James Swanson, my closest friend, was at the back of the group shaking his head, “If you bang on the door, which is glass by the way, you’ll wind up doing one of two things. Break the glass and get arrested for destroying property, or you’ll succeed in annoying them.” Every time the door was locked in the morning, James was there with some advice, welcome or not. He turned to find me and a smile came across his face. “Hey, Seth how’s goin’ for ya man?” He stepped away from the group and joined me with a slap on my shoulder.

I pretended that he’d done some kind of damage and chuckled. James was six and a half feet tall and was heavily built. I always rubbed the spot that he hit, because they would have been the proper reaction for someone my size. “I’m fine James, how are things with you?” I nudged his elbow with a fist and James acted like I had just broken his arm, writhing around as if he were about to pass out from the pain. I just rolled my eyes at the pitiful attempt. It was a course of events that we would always play out with each other, because of our size difference. I turned back to the annoyed group of swimmers, “I see that they chose not to open on time … again.”

James gave up on his charade and sighed, shifting his backpack back into place, “Yep, it’s getting more and more consistent. I think they’re planning on opening at five thirty instead.” He crossed his arms with a small scowl on his face, “How do you think that’ll blow over with coach?” He smirked as he seemed to think about what Coach Dennis would do to the pool staff.

I shot my hands into my shorts pockets and rocked back and forth, thinking probably the same thing as James. Coach Dennis would chew out the whole staff. She looked like a sweet old lady, but under that was a stern and seasoned coach who knew how to give a good long lecture. I glanced up at James with a chuckle. Standing next to James was like being a kid again. My eyes were level with the bottom of his ribs. I’d gotten used to being short, but James still felt like a big brother to me, even though I was actually a few months older than he was.

As we stood there watching, James did something that irritated me to no end. He planted his elbow on my head and leaned on me like I was some kind of railing just for him. I gave him a soft elbow in the thigh, not enough to bruise him but enough to get him to back off. James cringed a bit with the pain and rubbed his thigh.

“You know, for your size, you’re a gentle giant.” He put his hands in the pockets of his hoody and chuckled, “Pretty sure that I’m the only one who knows that.” I saw him tilt his head before he continued, “Actually, I think I’m the only one who knows that you’re here.” He leaned forward a bit with a smirk before bringing his hands to the side of his mouth.

My eyes shot wide, “James don’t-”. I tried to interrupt him before the inevitable came to pass.

“Seth’s here ladies!” James shouted over to the group of swimmers that were still crowded over by the front door, most of whom were young girls our age.

Almost like a switch had been flipped, every voice went silent and they turned toward us. For a few brief moments, no one said a word. Then they all shouted in glee and charged me. I hopped back, just out of reach, and turned to start jogging around the building. This was yet another event that happened all the time. I don’t know what they saw in me but all of the girls had a thing for me and I’d politely let most of them know that I was not interested in them. That didn’t dissuade them from messing with me though. They continued to chase me around the building until I got back to the front door, where James tackled me to the ground. I would have fought back, but I honestly didn’t want to hurt anyone. Also, no one was actually serious.

The girls piled up on top of us and James somehow slithered his way out of the dog pile. I was smothered with hugs and kisses as I lay there pretending to fight back. To be completely honest, the attention wasn’t half bad anyway.

I heard James outside of the mayhem, “It’s a masterpiece.” I quietly vowed to get James back for this. He didn’t seem to know it but a lot of the girls had a thing for him as well.

As the girls continued to giggle, I saw a short hunched figure walk up behind James and I smirked. Coach Dennis had come to my rescue. I heard a short shout come from James and he backed away from Coach Dennis. “The door’s open ladies.” Her quiet but commanding voice stated through the chaos. All the girls gasped in unison and shot off me to sprint inside. I rolled my shoulders a bit and stood up to my feet. Coach Dennis had been a coach for more than twenty-five years and she was as strict as they came, but she was also one of the more fun coaches to have. She gave me an accusing look before turning toward the door. “Shark, please shower before you get in the water.” I didn’t know why she called me that all the time, but I suspected that it was because she could tell that I was holding back and didn’t like it. I followed her inside and she stopped, “By the way, where are Jade and Austin?” Jade was Austin’s best friend.

“They have to get ready for the game tonight, remember?” I stated as I took a napkin out of my backpack and started to wipe the lipstick off my face. “James, you know that this is going to stain my skin.” I grimaced as I walked into the right side of the entrance, leading to the boys’ locker room.

At the counter, a tall, beautiful, blonde stood with her hair back in a ponytail, wearing only a red one-piece swimsuit with a white cross on the chest. “Good morning, Seth.” She stammered as I walked by, cheeks a little red.

I froze where I was and slowly turned toward her. Her name was Cassidy and she was my current girlfriend. Sadly, I could see the signs that this relationship was coming to an end, like all the others that I’d had. It wasn’t by any fault of hers, I just didn’t feel anything in my heart for people outside of my family. I didn’t know why. I put on a brave face for her. I didn’t want to be a dick. “Good morning, Cassidy, how are you doing today?”

“Good, how are you?” Cassidy said while she twiddled with her hair and bit her lip. It was obvious that she had feelings for me, but there just wasn’t anything there for me.

I was about to respond when my vision blurred for a second and the image of a man in a barren desert flashed before my eyes. Then I saw Cassidy’s face again. “Uh …” I couldn’t form a thought from what I had just seen. What the hell was that? I’d never even felt sick let alone had visions before. “I put a hole in my wall with my head.” I blurted it out without thinking, wanting to end this conversation fast so that I could figure out what was going on. I retreated into the locker room before she could say anything else and I heard her giggling behind me.

I found the locker that I usually used and threw my backpack down. What was that? There had been a man but that was it. Why was he in a desert? Was it like a vision of the future or something? With my other abilities already being among the supernatural, visions weren’t necessarily far off from the possible. My mind was racing but I shrugged the thoughts out of my head and rushed to get my swimsuit on. I’d have to figure this out later.

After I rinsed myself off, I made my way out onto the pool deck, where Coach Dennis was waiting for me next to a whiteboard. “I have a new warm-up for you to complete.” I saw her tap on the whiteboard next to the lane that I swam in as I got my swim gear from the team locker.

I raised my eyebrows when I got to her, “Another warm-up, oh boy.” I wasn’t really surprised because Dennis had always amped up my workouts after she saw me completely fine after every practice. She had probably guessed my strength the moment I got into the water. So, she continued to come at me with harder and harder workouts.

“Yep, five two hundred meter individual medleys, two five hundred meter freestyles, and a thousand-meter freestyle.” She just crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes with a maniacal grin, “I suggest you get started.” That was another thing that she always did. No matter how difficult the warm-up was, everyone had to complete it in thirty minutes or suffer the consequences.

I only chuckled as I pulled my goggles over my eyes. Since I was the top swimmer on the team, I was the only one swimming in this lane. There were eight in total and the pool was twenty-five meters long. Coach Dennis would divvy up the rest of the lanes between skill levels with me in a lane all by my lonesome. I dove in and started the new warm-up, gliding through the water and losing myself in the flow of the water. It was the most peaceful part of my day.

I could hear James from the side of the pool watching me. I knew he didn’t think he could hear me because it was already loud with one person swimming, but like the rest of my strengths, my hearing was perfect. “I bet he doesn’t even realize that he’d going faster than me on my best day.” Those words stung a bit because, out of everyone I knew, James was the one that I had always wanted to tell about my abilities. Then I heard his voice change in pitch, “Ho, one day a body like one of those will be my wife.” I just chuckled in the water. James was probably looking at the girls as they came out of the locker room. I heard the splash of James entering the pool and continued to lose myself in the water.

That was when I heard Dennis, “Oh, to be young and lust over a perfectly built young man. One that hides his true abilities and is wise beyond his years.” I was stunned. It was the first time I had ever heard her talk about the fact that she knew. I also felt pretty good to think that such an experienced person thought that I was wise. Then I heard the deafening sound of all the girls jumping into the pool at once. I cringed through the experience and finished out my warm-up.

When my hand touched the side of the pool for the last time, my vision blurred again and I was standing in front of the man from before, only he was in a white suit. He was at least half a head taller than James with pure white eyes and hair. He frowned at me before looking at his watch with a sigh, “Not yet.” Then he poked a finger into my forehead and I was catapulted back to the pool. I frantically looked up at the clock and was surprised to find that no time had passed. Looking around, I found that the waves were still churning behind me and everyone was still doing their warm-ups. I pinched between my eyes and tried to think about what was going on. I wasn’t going crazy, was I? It felt like I’d been transported somewhere else. I took a few breaths to calm down and turned toward the way where I was expecting to see a whiteboard. What I found was Dennis standing with a stopwatch.

“One minute and thirty seconds.” I could feel the blood drain from my face as I realized that she knew exactly how fast I was. There was no hiding it from her now. I cursed myself for losing myself in the water. A somber look came over her face and she placed a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t worry, I won’t share your secret with anyone until you decide to do it on your own.” She stood and turned back toward the whiteboard and I took the opportunity to get the hell out of there. I didn’t sprint. James would know that something was up if I just disappeared from the pool. “Where do you think you’re going?” Dennis’ voice came over my shoulder with the venom of a coach that wasn’t disobeyed.

I was about to come up with an excuse when a searing pain gripped my head and I clamped my hands to my head to try and stop my head from exploding. It was like my brain was on fire. I fell to my knees with the excruciating intrusion. Dennis came up to me then with worry in her voice. “Are you alright?”

I waved a hand in front of me with a weak smile, “It’s just a headache, no need to worry.” Slowly, I stood to my feet and the pain seemed to subside for the time being. “Though, I feel like I need to sleep this headache off before I pass out.”

Dennis planted the back of her hand on my forehead, “You haven’t had a sniffle in the six years you’ve been swimming with this team. You do what you got to do and don’t come back until you feel better.” There it was, the Dennis who was a mom to everyone on the team. It reminded me of all the times that she would kick people out of practice when they were pushing themselves too hard.

As I walked toward the locker rooms, I heard James call after me, “You better get better, because you’re my best friend.” I was reminded once again how much he was an older brother to me.

I rinsed myself off in the shower for a minute before going to my locker and pulled out my cargo shorts, along with a button-up T-shirt. I twisted my suit until most of the moisture had dripped from it and wrapped it in my towel before stuffing it in my backpack. Then I took out the bag of hard-boiled eggs and peeled one, biting into it as I headed out of the locker room. Of course, the first thing that came into view was Cassidy leaning on the counter, looking at me with eyes that spoke of lust.

“Is everything alright, Seth?” Cassidy asked me with a look of half worry and half lust. When I turned to confront the situation, Cassidy reached out and gingerly took my wrist. “You’ve never skipped out on practice.”

I could only sigh with the realization of what I was about to do, “I’m fine, only a headache.” I took her hand in mine and could only wonder why I was hesitating. “On another note …”

Cassidy’s eyes softened and she smiled weakly at me, all signs of lust gone from her features. “You’re breaking up with me, aren’t you?” She didn’t seem angry or upset. All I could tell was that she was sad but accepted the outcome with a peaceful mind.

I wasn’t surprised in the least. I’d seen that very look on every girl that I dated. All of my past relationships had ended just like this, with me not being able to reciprocate their feelings. I just seemed to drift away from everyone who tried to love me. I let out a small breath of relief, “Yeah, but I don’t want to hurt you. That’s why I need to break it off. If I don’t have feelings for someone, I’ll only end up hurting them in the end.” I released her hand and started walking for the exit, but I turned just as I got to it with a thought in my head. “I hope that you find a guy who can truly return your feelings, you deserve it.” Then I turned through the door and left.

Behind me, I heard Cassidy whisper to herself, “I hope that one day you find a woman that you can love and I hope she loves you in return because you deserve that too.”

When I started walking around the building, I got another egg out and started peeling the shell off of it. I made sure that I tossed the shell into some dirt so that it would decompose and nourish the soil. I bit the top of the egg off and sighed with the wonderful taste of it. I liked to eat them like this because I would get almost exactly half of the yoke with each bite. As I went to toss the other half into my mouth, however, the headache gripped my brain like a vise. It was ten times worse than the previous event. I dropped the egg and gripped my head with both hands. Each pulse forced me lower to the ground until I was sitting on my heels with my forehead pressed against the pavement. It was so painful that no sound even escaped my mouth as I tried to scream. Then it drifted away and all I could see was blackness.

I woke up on the ground under a pine tree and a full moon in the sky. I propped myself up on my elbows to get a look at my surroundings and was mildly relieved that I was in our usual hunting grounds. It was a section of the mountains behind Salmon that had been sectioned out by the state of Idaho for the annual hunting seasons. My dad had taken me every year since I was nine, hunting deer, elk, and all kinds of big game. Off to the right of me was the willow that I climbed all the time. To my left was the cliff that my dad and I would eat lunch at every year. We would sit there and glass the ridges that were across the valley while eating sandwiches that we’d made that morning. It made me pretty nostalgic until I remembered what had happened.

I shot to my feet and looked over myself. I wasn’t wearing the T-shirt anymore, just the cargo shorts, which was even more confusing because there was snow on the ground and I wasn’t cold at all. Out of all the abilities that I’d discovered, cold resistance wasn’t one of them. I still got cold and hot depending on the weather. What the hell was going on? How did I get here?

A twig snapped behind me and I turned to fight whatever was there, be it a bear or a cougar. What I actually saw stunned me. Floating just above the ground was a woman wreathed in bright light. She had some kind of robe on that shifted in the air, even though there was no wind. It was a beautiful sight to be sure. I was at a loss for words as my brain tried to figure out the situation in front of me. “What …?” It was all that I could get out because there were far too many questions in my head.

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“You are going through the first stage of awakening your power.” The angelic woman before me stated in a melodious voice that seemed to calm my nerves. However, it wasn’t like the voice was being spoken. It was more like the voice was emanating from all around me. Almost as if she was the forest itself talking to me in human form. It was like I was talking with Mother Nature in the flesh.

I cleared my throat and straightened myself as I tried to regain my composure. “What is this … power?” I squared myself in preparation for the answer to my question, not entirely sure what the answer would be. I already had extraordinary powers anyway.

“It is the power of Change that I speak of.” The woman slowly glided toward me until she was only a couple of feet away. Raising a hand, she placed it on my bare chest. I was shivering with either fear or excitement, I couldn’t tell. Then light started to emanate from my chest and a shiver involuntarily washed over my body. “It is time for your power to be completed. Prepare yourself, Seth Conwell, for this is going to be rather painful.” There was a resolute determination in her voice as she stared at my chest.

Before I could say anything, an arch of lightning shot through me and I could only twitch with the immense pain that came. I could vaguely tell that I was being lifted off the ground unable to do anything but spasm with the pain. It only increased before I found myself flying back from some force. I heard a resounding crack all around me and I was on the ground. The pain gone, I shot to my feet to find that I had been thrown completely through the trunk of the willow tree that was a childhood memory. The tree slowly fell to the ground before me. The woman was gone but I could somehow feel that she was still here and actually behind me. I slowly looked down at my chest to find an infinity symbol imprinted on my chest. It wasn’t like a tattoo, more like my skin had been turned to molten gold that pulsed with my heartbeat.

I also noticed several things that had changed with my body. For starters, the loose cargo shorts that I had on were basically a Speedo now. My muscles had gone from thin and wiry to bulging with thick, toned muscle. My hands were larger and I could tell that my facial features had changed as well. I had no idea what but they had changed completely. I turned to the woman to ask her a question but paused with the fact that she was far smaller than she was before.

“What are you? What have you done to me?” I asked outright, all the fear and excitement gone, replaced with sheer curiosity and a cold realization of what had just happened. I was a full two heads taller than her, even though just moments ago I was shorter than her.

She spread her arms and made a small bow, “I am Elania and I am your guardian angel.” When she stood back upright, she clasped her hands in front of her, like she was talking to someone of high standing. Also, guardian angel? Those were just an idea, right? There was no way that they were actually real. “I know it’s hard to believe and if you need me to prove it, I have been watching you your whole life. As for what I have done to you, I completed the awakening of your power that had been stored away in your soul. I will answer any question that you have.” She made another bow as she finished.

I looked back down at my chest and ran a finger over the infinity symbol. “You’re right, it is hard to believe, but I was already stronger, faster, and smarter than anyone I knew, so what’s a little extra?” I looked up to the sky and basked in the light of the moon for a moment before a thought came to my mind. “I’m supposed to accomplish some great deed with these powers, aren’t I?”

Elania chuckled, or what I could only assume was a chuckle, “Yes, you were given these powers to perform a task, however, what you truly do with it is entirely up to you.”

“What if I don’t think that I deserve all of this power?” I continued to look up at the moon in all its beauty as my thoughts drifted to what the future held. “What if I’m not up to the task?”

“That is one of the reasons that I enjoy being your guardian angel.” She floated in front of me and I could have sworn that I saw pride in her eyes. “In the fifteen years that I have had the privilege of watching over you, you have yet to leave me unsurprised. You have, without fail, surprised me at every turn in your life. That’s one of the reasons why you deserve this power.” She placed a hand on my cheek as she continued, “That is also why I believe that you are up to the task ahead.” Then she drifted away, seeming to disappear into nothing.

“What happens now?” I could feel that hard times lay ahead of me but I had no idea what those looked like. I also had a foreboding feeling that my family would be in danger on more than one occasion. That fact alone terrified me.

“Now, the world needs you.” I heard Elania’s voice from all around me although fleeting.

I was once again, left with my thoughts, which were swimming in unanswered questions. I wandered around as I pondered the future. What was the great deed that I needed to accomplish? Where did I have to go? What exactly was I meant to do? These were questions I had asked myself but now they had an entirely different meaning and source. This was my home after all. I would protect it as best I could, but the world? How was I supposed to protect it? What was going to happen? I found myself standing at the edge of the cliff that I’d seen so many times. The slight nervousness of the height was gone. The two-hundred-foot drop felt like a small step to me now. A stray breeze could have thrown me from the edge but there was a feeling of complete confidence that welled up in me. There was no fear as I stood with my toes dangling off the edge. Down below, I could hear the life of the forest. I could hear it all. The pines whipped with the growing wind. Squirrels ran amuck in the branches of trees and scurried along the forest floor. A family of bears slumbered in a cave awaiting the end of winter. Owls soring through the air in search of a small critter to snack on. I could even hear the spiders weaving their webs in the trees. It was like hearing the forest for the first time.

When I looked up at the stars and moon again, I realized that I could see past the atmosphere. I saw the blazing surface of the stars in all their glory. The tranquility of the surface of the moon, devoid of all but rock. I could see the roiling storm that covered Jupiter, the icy surface of Pluto and the constant swirl of rock that surrounded Saturn. I felt like I could have lost myself in the endless blissful void of space, but I knew that I had to stay here on Earth. I had to force my focus back in front of me, staring once again down the side of the cliff face.

Still to this day, I don’t know why I jumped from that cliff. Maybe it was a latent urge to experience something that I hadn’t before. I honestly didn’t know. I found myself putting my arms out and enjoying the slicing sound of the air passing by.

Suddenly, my tranquil thoughts were interrupted by a whimper down in the valley. It was not the whimper of something that was being attacked, as the way of nature intended. This was the sound of something that was trapped. I planted my arms at my sides and plummeted through the air like a bullet. As I got closer to the ground, I flipped so that my feet were beneath me. There was a loud crack and the sheer force of my landing cracked the ground around me into a small crater. The trees in my immediate vicinity were flattened and rock was thrown in every direction. It was like a giant had suddenly plunged his fist into the Earth. I lept from the crater and stopped to listen for the sound again.

The whimper persisted directly in front of me and I rounded a thick tree to find a female grey wolf caught by her paw, in a bear trap. Her fur was a shining white that was beautiful in the moonlight. When she saw me, she growled fiercely, baring her fangs into a snarl. I put up my hands and sighed, “If you bite me I’m not going to help.” I don’t know if she had understood me but she sniffed the air experimentally before sitting down with a loud sigh. I looked down at the trap and found that the teeth had bit deep into her leg. Most of her trapped leg was covered in blood from struggling to get out. Now that I was close to her, I could get a real look at how big she was. She had to be five feet at the back and twice that long. The pure white fur didn’t have a single blemish to be found. She was the embodiment of a thriving wolf. I ventured to pat her side, which she seemed to be okay with. “That a girl, everything is going to be alright.” I took hold of the clamps and tensed for the resistance of the metal. I may have been strong before but I could still feel resistance when it came to stuff like metal. This time, I simply tore the clamps completely off the base, sending them flying into the trees.

The wolf hopped back and gingerly licked her wounded leg, sitting calmly in front of me. I was looking at my hands, if I was strong before, how strong was I now? “Thank you, Great One.” A woman’s voice came from the wolf. I was taken aback. Did I have the ability to speak to animals now? That was pretty cool.

I inclined my head to her and sat back on the ground, “You’re very welcome, she-wolf.” I had said it as a joke, but she tilted her head to one side like she could understand me. Had I actually gained the ability to speak to animals?

She stood on her feet and took a few steps toward me, “You can understand me?” She seemed just as confused as I was by the phenomenon.

All I could do was shrug, “I guess I can.” I saw that blood was still pouring out of her leg and grimaced, “Mind if I take a look?” I pointed to her paw as I asked, just to make sure that I was being clear.

She looked from my hand to her paw before licking it one last time. Then she limped over to me and carefully placed her paw in the palm of my hand. I inspected it with all the knowledge that a fifteen-year-old would have from biology. There was obvious bleeding from an artery of some kind. I only moved it when necessary to get a better angle because I knew that such a wound would be painful. Based on the small angle that was supposed to be straight, I guessed that the trap had not only severed a tendon or two but broke clean through the bone. The only reason I could even make that assumption was because I took an anatomy class that year. I knew that I’d have to reset the bone, but there was nothing I could do for the tendons. There also wasn’t anything clean around to bandage it, let alone stay bandaged long enough for the wound to heal properly.

As I thought about the process of fixing the injury, a light came from my hand and I watched as the bone simply reset itself and the wound closed up. It was astonishing. Aside from gaining the ability to talk to animals, I could heal now as well. The she-wolf gave a sigh of relief as the pain was washed away. When I released her paw, she went bounding around the small clearing that we were in, like she was a puppy again.

She came to lay at my side, “Again, thank you, Great One!” She nearly shouted at me. Then she sat up and bowed her head in what I could only assume was a wolf’s version of kneeling. “My mind, body, and soul are indebted to you and I give them to you in service of repaying that debt.”

I was hardly listening to her as I looked at my hand in disbelief. It was like I was seeing my body for the first time, with all new strength and so far no weaknesses. When I looked up, I was surprised once again. Had she grown bigger in those few seconds? I decided that I would take note of all these new powers and investigate their full range. “No disrespect meant, but I hope that you don’t mean that literally. I’ve never really had a companion before.”

She scooted closer and laid her head on my leg, “Yes, I mean it literally and I’m not going to be your companion. I am your beta in every way.”

I tried to remember what I knew about the hierarchy of wolves and found that beta was basically a subordinate. I only needed to think about it for a minute before I nodded my head. “Alright then, my name is Seth. What should I call you?” I held out my fist with a smile, having found a friend in such strange times.

She placed her paw on my fist with her tail wagging behind her, “My name is Kerana but my pack calls me, Mother Moon.”

I looked to the stars once again, “Well, it’s nice to meet you Kerana. Would you be able to find my house by scent?” I knew that she probably could. One of the things that wolves were most known for was their sense of smell.

Kerana stood and barked at me angrily, “Of course I can!” She screamed in my head. “I’ve already memorized your scent pattern because you’re my master!” She seemed insulted by the prospect that she may not be able to.

I brought up my hands in surrender, “Ok, then I’ll meet you there. And Seth will do just fine, thank you. Now more of that master business.” I stood from the ground and started walking toward the entrance to the valley, where I knew the main road to Salmon was.

Kerana fell in step with me, “Alright Master, Seth it is.”

I mocked a glare at her and she seemed to giggle. I chuckled myself having somehow gained a grey wolf, one of the most dangerous land predators, as a pet. “Fine, suit yourself.” Then my thoughts drifted to my home, with mom and dad waiting for me, probably worried beyond anything about me. What are my parents going to think about all this?

As the thoughts continued, there was a bright light and I found myself walking down the main driveway. Kerana still at my side. She was shivering a little, probably from the fact that we had just teleported. Another point in Power Bingo. This was seriously getting out of hand. Talking to animals, healing, and now teleportation. What were the limits of the Power of Change?

I saw the porch light come on at the house and I saw Dad standing at the bottom of the steps. His arms were crossed and he did not look happy. Mom was standing by the door hugging herself in the cold air. This wasn’t looking good. My father was not a small man by any means. Standing at six feet and weighing in at two hundred and forty pounds, most of which was in his shoulders and arms. Even with my new muscle structure, I didn’t think that my shoulders were as wide as his. My mom wasn’t a slouch either. She may have been five-six but she could stomp most guys any day of the week. They were both wearing black slacks with button-up Ts and black sneakers. That meant that they were done with their evening security. Both of my parents were a part of a special security force for a classified facility that did testing on nuclear material, as well as other radioactive waste. My Dad was a Captain in the security system and my Mom was one of the advisers. Practically everyone that worked there was some kind of ex-special forces.

I looked down at Kerana and sighed, “Be sure to stay close to me. I don’t know how they’ll react to me bringing a grey wolf home.” To be honest, I wasn’t all that worried because my mom loved dogs. If it was up to her, we’d have dozens of them.

When I got to the front yard, the two of them just stared at me for a time. It was like I was having a mental Mexican standoff with my parents. Whoever spoke first would start the gunfight. Then my father stepped off of the porch and another thought came to my head. What if they didn’t recognize me? I had changed completely. It was entirely possible for them not to recognize me one bit. I was frozen in place as Dad strode right up to me and stared up at me. His head bald head was about as high as my collarbone, so that put me at seven feet, damn.

He continued to stare at me until a broad grin came over his face. “You’ve met Elania, haven’t you?” He crossed his arms and chuckled, “She sure did a number on you.” He was leaning about looking me over, like a prize stallion that had just come on the market.

Wait a minute, Dad knew about Elania? He also recognized me immediately. What the hell was going on? He somehow knew that this was going to happen? Obviously, I’d changed quite a bit, but what did he mean by, did a number on me? These were the questions that flew through my head as I stared, dumbfounded, at my father. I was about to start asking them but Dad held up a hand to stop the avalanche of questions.

“First off, she’s not just your guardian angel.” Dad started as he slowly started walking back toward the house. “She was mine as well, while I was growing up. To be absolutely correct, she’s our family’s guardian angel. Before the first humans started to populate the Earth, each family was given a guardian angel to watch over and guide them. Now, of course, the guardian angels are far and few between, with families having either spread so far that only a few can be watched or families dying out completely over the course of history.” He stopped next to Mom and sighed, “Looks like you won. I’ll start getting dinner ready.” Then he opened the door and disappeared inside.

Mom was all smiles as she walked over to me. “I just knew that you were ready to receive your power.” She reached up and cupped my face with both hands, which I had to lean down for her to do. “And what a power it must be.” Then she looked next to me and her smile only broadened as she started patting and scratching Kerana. “And who might this gorgeous girl be?”

Kerana was wagging her tail like mad as Mom scratched her behind the ears, “Your mother is quite enjoyable.”

“Oh, you think so?” Mom said, which caught me off guard. She locked me with a smirk as she continued to scratch Kerana. “What, you didn’t think that you were the only one who had abilities did you? Mine is limited to only a few things though. My guardian angel is probably looking after Austin right now.” She sighed as she stood and started walking inside. “Why don’t you go freshen up and get some clothes on before coming to dinner? I know you must have loads of questions.” She seemed sad as she continued into the house.

I was at a loss. My parents had been keeping all of this from not only me but Austin as well. I was ticked off, but at the same time, I understood why they would do such a thing. Based on everything that I knew about the world, our family was definitely abnormal to the extreme. I was basically in a haze as I walked around the house back to the guest house. My Dad must have similar abilities as mine since he had Elania as his guardian angel. Mom, I had no idea aside from talking to animals. Whatever was going on, I was going to get some answers when I sat down for dinner.

Kerana quietly followed along behind me as we came into my room and I shuffled through my dresser for a pair of gym shorts and a stretchy shirt. I knew that those would be the only things that would fit me. When I saw Kerana sniffing around the room, I remembered something that I had from my grandparents. The only thing as a matter of fact. I’d never met them because they passed away before I was born. It was a belt that had the symbol of a wolf’s head on the buckle. “I want you to take this as a way of identifying you, alright Kerana?” She sat patiently as I wrapped the belt around her neck and was mildly surprised that it was the perfect size for a collar. “Also, fair warning that my Mom is going to want to give you a bath.”

She tilted her head to the side like she was confused, “What’s a bath?” Her tail was still beating against the floor as she looked up at me.

I chuckled, “A bath is when you clean all the dirt off of yourself so that you’re clean. I’ll let Mom decide and I’m telling you right now, if she wants to, she’ll wash you herself. Mainly because she loves dogs.”

Kerana seemed to scoff. “As if I were some house pup? I will not be treated as such.” She puffed out her chest as if to defy the very thought of being cleaned against her will.

I opened the door and headed back outside, chuckling to myself, “I don’t know. I think you’ll come to like it.”

She didn’t respond to that. She just fell in step behind me as we made our way to the back door of the main house. I opened the door for Kerana before stepping inside myself and turned into the kitchen from the storeroom to smell Dad’s favorite, stroganoff. Mom had set a plate down on the ground for Kerana, filled to the brim with stroganoff. She held up a hand to Kerana before she could start chowing down. “No spilling and if you have to relieve yourself, go outside.”

I chuckled as I sat down, “I think you’re going to love this stuff. Just be careful while you eat.”

Kerana laid down in front of the plate with her tongue hanging out. “I’m perfectly fine as long as I don’t have to get a bath.”

Mom clicked her tongue in response. “Oh, don’t worry about that. I’m giving you a bath after dinner.”

I could see the excitement leave Kerana almost immediately as she slowly took her first bite of the food, only for it to return with just as much energy. I filled my own plate but before I could start eating, I knew that I had to ask one question. “Did you know the whole time?” I still couldn’t quite believe that my parents knew and didn’t tell me. I watched Dad most of all because he had already known about Elania.

Dad put down his fork and clasped his hands in front of him. “Yes, we knew that you were stronger than everyone around you. We also knew that you were faster and smarter than everyone around you as well.” He didn’t hesitate one bit with his answer and there wasn’t a waver in his voice at all.

I racked my brain with rage as I thought about the situation. So, they knew about all that while I was growing up? “Why didn’t you tell me?” It was the only thing that I could think of. Why would they keep such a crucial detail from me?

Dad made a deep sigh before starting his explanation. “Your mother and I aren’t from the world that you know. We come from another dimension. We were driven out of our home by a mob that was driven to believe that we had committed a series of atrocities. Your mother was pregnant at the time and we didn’t see a way out of it. That is until we made an unlikely friendship with a witch who had taken residence here. She was the one who informed us about this place. It was like a golden opportunity had appeared before us. We ran straight for it with only the clothes on our backs.” He looked up at me with strain in his eyes. This had been difficult for him. Keeping such a thing from me. “We didn’t tell you because there was a chance that you wouldn’t gain abilities. Before we came here, however, we met a strange man of power. According to the witch, he was the one who made it so that you would gain power. She didn’t figure that out for sure until you were born. Then it became even more important that we keep it a secret because you are more special than you could possibly know.”

Before he could go any further, I spoke up with another question, “Elania said that I was supposed to help the world. What exactly does that mean?”

Dad blinked like it was news to him. “Wait a minute, she actually said that?” When I nodded, he shared a worried glance with Mom. “What was the name of the power that you were given?” He was very serious now, which meant that this was beyond important.

“She said that I had the Power of Change.” I saw fear flash over my father’s face before settling back into resolve. What was going on? Just how important was I?

Dad let out another breath before looking me dead in the eyes. “Son, you are what is rumored to be the Bringer of Change. A legendary being that is supposed to right the chaos that has gripped the ten dimensions.”

I could see that Dad was shaking with a mix of pride and fear, while Mom was shivering with sadness. What exactly was the Bringer of Change?

Dad spoke up then, “The Bringer of Change is rumored to be the last in a long line of mortals that are given the opportunity to replace God as the ruler of the gods.” Was it just a coincidence that he answered the question in my head? “No, it was not a coincidence. An aspect of my abilities is to read minds. I’m also a lot stronger than your average powerlifter. I received these gifts when I was fourteen. Your mother has the ability to talk to animals as well as the average strength of a powerlifter. She received her powers at sixteen. I know that I was a little early to receive mine, but that’s because I had to grow up a bit faster than most.” He picked up his fork and shoveled some food into his mouth before chewing and swallowing. “I know you have more questions but that’s about all we know. You can ask us more, but we honestly have no idea what you will be capable of.” He crossed his arms as he settled a stare on me, waiting for any further questions.

I sat there like a mindless dimwit. In the span of an hour, I’d gone from an exceptional teenager to the most important teenager in the world. To make things worse, I’d never asked for this in the first place. “What happened to my grandparents?” It just spilled out of my mouth as I started to doubt everything that I knew about the world.

Dad visibly clenched all of his muscles. I thought that he was about to shout at me, but he took a breath and calmed before he spoke. “My parents were nobles in the other dimension. A coup had happened and our family was on the receiving end of a lot of rumors. In the end, they were killed in our mansion and hung in the streets as an example to other nobles. They were good people. Only ever wanted to help the people that they were responsible for. And they were brutally murdered for their kindness.” For the first time ever, I saw tears fall from my father’s eyes. Mom started rubbing his back as she held his hand.

“It was a terrible time for both of our families.” She was shaking as she continued on, “My family were simple farmers and hunters. They had just finished gathering the harvest when the raids started. Every time they happened, my parents would lock me in the cellar to keep me safe. They would let me out when the fighting was over until, one day, they didn’t come to get me. I was locked in that cellar for days until your father came to find me. He ripped the door clean off of its hinges. He’d been looking for food after escaping the carnage in the capital. We escaped on our own, but the Kingdom’s soldiers wouldn’t leave us alone. Every time we were found out, they would send twice the number of soldiers after us.” She cleared her throat before sighing, “It was hell to get here and we weren’t going to allow that to happen to you and Austin.” Tears were streaming down her eyes as she looked at me.

All I could do was get up and hug my parents. They had already been through so much, just to get here and raise us. How could I have even doubted that they would have a good reason to keep this from me? “No matter what happens. I’m still your son and I love you both.” I was crying before I knew it and Dad chuckled.

“We know that dummy.” He was rubbing my back as we all hugged and cried in each other’s arms. We stayed like that for some time, before Dad finally started to separate us. “Now, come on. Let’s not show Kerana such a sad show, huh?”

I suddenly remembered that Kerana had been there to see all that. She had stopped eating and was sitting next to me with her ears down against her head. “Master?” She slowly placed her head in my lap as I sat back down in my chair.

I patted her on the head with a sigh and a sniffle. “It’s alright Kerana. I’m ok.” Honestly, I wasn’t but there was no reason to worry her beyond how worried she already was. “What was the other dimension like, before the war?” I was curious because of two reasons, I wanted to change the subject and I was a total nerd about fantasy stuff.

We talked about all kinds of things, like magic and mythical beasts that were commonplace in their home. It was a much better topic than our family history. We spent the rest of dinner talking about it and I nerded out on every single detail. When we finished, Mom went off with Kerana and I went back to the guest house. I made sure that Kerana knew to stay in the vicinity of the house tonight before leaving though.

When I sat on my bed, a light appeared in my room and I didn’t even need to look to know that it was Elania. “So, what’s the word?” I figured that she wouldn’t appear without a reason and I wasn’t in the mood for small talk.

“In three days, you will leave for Russia from Idaho Falls,” Elania stated as she glided over to the window. “That is the time that you have been given to decide.” She clasped her hands behind her back and spun around with a smile, “So, how do you like your new power so far?”

I stood and walked to the full-body mirror that was in the bathroom. I really couldn’t recognize myself. I still had the same eyes and hair color but my hair was grown out and my facial structure was completely different. I removed my shirt to look at the symbol that was embedded in my chest. It still swirled and pulsed with the pump of my heart. I looked like I had the body of a demigod from legend. My muscles were easily three or four times larger than before and were even more toned than ever before. What really confused me was that I felt completely at home at this size. Normally, in theory, at least, I would have had a form of disorientation from such a drastic change in body structure. I was a completely new person but I felt more myself than ever. “It’s certainly interesting.” I finally stated as I walked over to the screen door, looking over the light of the moon. It was so much more interesting now that I could see the particles in the air. I was gripping my hands with the new strength that I had and saw Elania shaking her head with a smile, “What?”

“You’re just always out of the ordinary.” She crossed her arms and seemed to lean on the window sill. “Any other person would be wondering what to do with their new power. You, on the other hand, are trying to figure out what power you have so that you can protect the people that you care about. That alone sets you apart from everyone else.”

I heard the padding of paws on wood and opened the screen door for Kerana, who was now glistening in the moonlight. “I could get used to that.” She then spun around and lowered her head toward Elania. “Greetings, great mother of the Earth.” That took me for a loop. Was Elania actually Mother Nature and a guardian angel?

“Hello, Mother Moon.” Elania bowed to Kerana in kind and smiled. “I’m glad that you found Seth when you did.”

“Yes! He is my Master now.” Kerana’s tail was wagging like a storm as she responded.

The whole encounter was bewildering to me, so I just sat back down on my bed. “So, I have three days to decide?” I fell back and stared at the ceiling as I tried to fathom what my life was going to be like from now on.

“No, you have already decided, haven’t you? You just need to come to understand what that decision will cost.” She smiled with that foreboding sentence hanging in the air.

I grimaced as I twisted my body to align with the bed, finding that my feet were hanging off the edge. I only had a twin-sized bed, so my new height was going to be annoying. I pulled the blanket over myself and snuggled close to the wall like I always did and noticed a thud coming from the edge of my bed. I lifted my head to find Kerana nervously at the edge of my bed.

“Can I?” She threw a paw onto the bed to assert her point and I chuckled.

“Alright, come on.” I straightened my legs to make enough room for her and she carefully climbed in next to me and circled around before laying down. She faced the door like any loyal guard dog.

I sat there waiting for sleep to overtake me but it was a rough go with all the information rattling around in my brain. Then it did or didn’t, depending on how you view sleep. Everything went white and I found myself standing in the gleaning white desert from before. It was completely flat with no hills or dunes to be seen, not even a small lump of sand. There was a scrunch behind me and I turned for a fight. Why had that become by base reaction to anything surprising?

What I found standing before me was the man from before, but somewhat different. He still had on a pure white suit but his hair was spiked and he had red eyes that seemed to be ageless. “Hello there Seth. Mind if I join you?”