History

And the Darkness found the Fire, for the Fire knew not what it was. And for a moment, the world of man was plunged into the Darkness of Slivara, for the Darkness overcame the light. None could stand against the Darkness - there was great weeping as the Earth was consumed by plague, pestilence, and war.

But the Wind, the one element unbound by man, intervened. The Wind understood the name of the Darkness, and the Darkness was powerless before it. The Wind drove the Darkness back, giving light to mankind once more, teaching Fire the meaning of its own name.

So the Darkness was pushed back, and the Elements live to this day, and shall until the day mankind forgets their names, and Darkness shall again sweep the earth.

- Avara Drakus, "The Grimoure of Names"

A New Guide

I'm honestly shocked this blog still exists.

I mean, I really, really, really expected the Order to have taken this down by now. Maybe they think no one will believe it, but I don't think so. This new guy they sent to us - Anders - he's different from all the rest they've sent us. I think the Order might be changing its game.

I'm writing this from the back of a van. We're doing about 90 down the freeway (sorry, can't tell you which one. That would probably the Others right to us). Greg is driving, of course. He always insists on driving, and Jordan always lets him. I swear, though, if the Others don't kill us, Greg will. He never actually got his licence, and I don't think it's for want of trying.

I realized that I never really got to tell you what happened to us - why we're leaving again. I got too caught up in the back story - and believe me, there's a lot of it. We've been running from the Others for nearly three years, after all. But there'll be time for all that later, I guess. Assuming we survive.

Yesterday, Jordan got a call from the Order. It always starts like that. They call us, usually totally out of the blue, and tell us we've been compromised. They send one of their members to us, and we pack all our things and hit the road.

Most of the members they send us - we call them Guides - look like they belong in a library. They're generally old, bespectacled, and almost always of some nationality other than American. We've had... eleven? Twelve? I can't remember - they all start to blur together after a while. Like I said before, a number of them have gotten killed trying to protect us.

Anders is totally different from the rest. He's still pretty young - well, he's older than us, but not by much - and he looks like he can handle himself. He's about... ah... 6'6", military haircut, pale. Lots of scars. He's British, too, but he doesn't talk much. At all, really. He hasn't told us where we're going, or how the Others found us this time. That's not normal - most of the Guides lecture us for about five hours on what we did wrong. Like it's our fault we're being chased by some kind of superpower.

We've been on the road since five in the morning. I've tried - on multiple occasions - to get Anders to tell us what's going on. I thought we were leaving because the Others had found us again, but I just realized that he never actually said that. Maybe we're leaving for a different reason this time. Maybe we're actually going to fight.

There's something about living your life on the run that just kills you inside. Every last one of us is sick of constantly jumping from place to place, never safe, never knowing if we're going to make a mistake and get all of us caught. We all want to take the fight to the Others. We've got powers, and we bloody well want to use them. Even if we died in the process, at least we wouldn't have to run anymore.

Well, Amy's kicking me, telling me to go to sleep. It has been a pretty long day, even if nothing's actually happened. And I should get some rest. You never know when you'll need it...

James
The Last of the Five

The Truth

They told us we'd be safe here. But of course They said that. That's what They always say, and They're always wrong. I don't even know why I'm surprised anymore. It's like Amy always says - I'm an eternal optimist. I never expect the worst to happen. Funny thing is, in our lives, it always does.

I realize I've probably lost all of you already. The thing is, nothing you know about me is true. They brought us here five months ago. If you have memories of me from before that, it's because They put them there. They can do that, and a heck of a lot more. They can do practically anything, seems like, except keep us hidden.

Argh, I'm not doing a very good job of explaining. It's kinda hard, though, when I can't even make sense of any of this.

Alright, it basically boils down to this. There are two powers in our world. The normal people don't see them, but they're always there. We're talking big, super-mega powers. Like, powers that own Disney and the government kind of powers. One of them is called the Order - that's what Jordan told us they're called, anyway. He's our leader, and the only one who's actually spoken to the head of the Order. The Order is our friend - I think. They've kept us alive for the past three years, anyway. For most of that time, we didn't even have a name for them - we just called them They, or Them. Whatever, you get what I'm trying to say.

Jordan says that the Order is some kind of weird mix between a cult and a company. We don't have any idea how big it really is - they only send one or two of their operatives to us at a time, usually when they've failed yet again to hide us properly. Quite a number of them have died in the process of saving us. I can believe the weird part, too - they've done some crazy stuff in the past in order to hide us. They've got a lot of magic at their fingertips, at least - they've fit us into societies as if we'd grown up there.

Oh, yeah, forgot to mention - magic is real. It'll help us a lot if you just went ahead and accepted that.

We don't have a name for the other organization. We usually call them the Others. All we really know about them is that they're the Order's sworn enemy, and they want us bad enough to kill any and everything that gets in their way. Which is kinda a given if you're a super-mega power, I guess. They've been chasing us ever since the Order found us. Ever since our lives ended.

There are five of us - five refugees. There's Jordan, our leader. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't be alive today. Greg is a warrior to the bone. He's probably killed more of the Others' minions than anyone the Order has sent to us. Stephanie is a genius. I mean, I've heard of people being able to cook up bombs and whatnot in their basements, but the stuff she does with science is just downright scary. Amy understands our gifts better than any of us. Sure, that isn't saying much - but she's absolutely brilliant with them. And then, of course, there's me. I'm... well, I'm just me, honestly.

We thought we were normal kids. We all grew up pretty normally, anyway. But the fact is, we're not. It's why the Order is protecting us. It's why the Others want us. Because each of us have a gift. I don't mean a Christmas present - I mean an ability. I call it magic. Of course, Stephanie absolutely refuses to concede that point. She's a firm believer in understandable science. But I think it's magic, and Amy agrees with me. That gives me some semblance of ground for my claim, I think.

We can all do things. Jared can control the earth using only his mind. Whenever Greg gets mad or starts fighting, he turns into a freaking Human Torch. Stephanie is a telepath and a telekenetic - meaning she can hear peoples thoughts and move stuff without even touching it. Amy controls water - it's downright impressive what she can do with it, too. I've seen her create mirages using just the water in the air, tricking people who were chasing us into going the wrong way. She's saved us more times than I can count.

I can control the wind. It sounds cool, sure, but it really isn't. I mean, if I was able to summon up tornadoes whenever I felt like it, that would be cool. As it is, I can scare our enemies away with a very threatening breeze. No, seriously. It's downright menacing.

That's sarcasm, for those of you who can't read in tones of voice.

Gah, Jordan's calling me. We have to move out soon. I just have to finish this up - I'm sorry if it isn't too coherent. Maybe I should start from the beginning - the real beginning - next time. Assuming I live long enough to see another computer again. I'm writing this 'cause you all have to know the truth. I'm sick of hiding this way. Sure, the Order will probably delete this before it ever even makes it up on the net - they own the internet, essentially - but I have to at least try. Maybe, if people know about us, we'll make some friends. And maybe if we have friends, we'll be able to stop running and start fighting. Maybe.

Or maybe I'm just grasping at straws, being over-optimistic. Argh, he's yelling at me, now. I really gotta go. Write more soon (baring gruesome dismemberment or some-such painful death)

James
The Last of the Five