Beast Planet

Dischordia: Book one

Chapter 1

Discoveries

A soft dawn broke upon the island of San Mistas in the middle of the Pacific ocean, an insignificant speck of land and part of a chain of five islands unknown to much of the world beyond their little slice of ocean, beneath her sheets a young girl slumbered as fingers of dawn slanted in through her window to begin to chase the chill of the night from her room raising the temperature as her alarm clock finally chimed to welcome the morning.

CRUNCH! A loud sound filled the silence as a slender fist descended to try and turn off the clock but wound up rendering it nothing but a mess of plastic and broken circuitry, Holly groaned as she gently rubbed at her eyes chasing the final specks of sleep from bright green eyes, another loud groan and she rolled over to bury her face in the pillow as the irritating light threatened to snap her from her dreams, dreams where she stood before a mighty beast, a creature with three heads, one a serpent, one a goat, and lion it had stared into her eyes and surrounded her in flames exhaled from each mouth but she had been unharmed staring the beast down as she lifted a crystal before her drawing the flame into it to shield her flesh as her right hand had lifted, flourishing her fingers and summoning the flame from the crystal to return their exhalation to them. Again she rolled over and groaned, it had been so real she mused as she looked to the ceiling above her head, the detail of the beast had been so clear that it was as if it had been real, she could still smell the scent of smoke and burning Beast flesh, filling her nose, hear the roars of the beast filling her ears and even see its faces on the blank, plain white ceiling high above her head.

“Mmmf” Was all she could say as she rose from her bed to slip towards her closet, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes before turning to look at the face of the smashed clock beside her bed, fifth one this week she grumbled silently to herself, they really should make them sturdier, but she froze as she looked upon the frozen face, even though it was a digital clock the face had kept the time frozen on its screen.. And the date. Green eyes shot wide open and Holly gasped, “OH NO!” She raced for her closet on bare feet and quickly threw on a fresh change of clothes stepping out again to look herself in the mirror and cluck her tongue, the pink frilly top and inside out jeans look probably wasn't the best, again she disappeared into her closet and emerged in short order, her fluorescent orange shorts and just as bright green tee shirt weren't the best mix either, silently she ground her teeth in frustration, third time was the charm though it seemed as she emerged from her closet a third time straightening her jacket as she looked towards the mirror with a small sense of accomplishment, tight leather pants clung to her legs and moulded close against her skin although the ankles flared slightly sensible and tough the material would be a great benefit today of all days!

A tee shirt covered her chest a black tee shirt cut off well above the belly button to display pale skin although dotted with soft brown freckles, a gray deaths head decorated the dark material and over the top of that rested her black leather jacket, a most unique jacket as it happened, with long slivers of crystal woven into the cuffs of the jacket caught the light, glimmering and sparkling in the early morning light sending shafts of rainbow color dancing all about her room as she spun for the door, shafts of light dancing crazily as she leaped through the door and sprinted through the shag carpeted halls of her home till she spilled out and onto the sun kissed sidewalk.

Slowly her eyes turned North as she felt the sun continuing to rise into the sky, the minutes were ticking on, she was going to keep getting later and later! And it seemed her mother had already left to wait for her daughter, a shaft of sunlight illuminated her destination and a drop of sweat trickled along her cheek to fall upon the tarsealed sidewalk with a soundless plop, that was going to be a run and a half, but green eyes shone with determination as she began her race for the North, the building that was her objective breaking the sunlight shaft into a glorious dance of color that gleamed, glittered and twisted as the sun moved and the light changed, a building, a large laboratory seemingly grown out of a great crystal, a singular crystal with numerous natural protrusions in geometric shapes that interlocked and interwove, this was the start of a brand new day and she sighed as she raced along the sidewalk, raven black hair streaming behind her as her bare feet slapped the pavement with each stride, oh crap! She had forgotten her shoes but now was not the time to turn back.

She raced along the street so quickly dust rose in her wake and even as she turned the corner to ascend the Doctor's driveway she knew she was late, the soft grass underfoot though was much better than the heating pavement as the sun had warmed it beneath her feet but now.. She stood before the laboratory its large glass double doors remaining firmly closed even as she approached and her heart sank, then with a hiss they opened! A large man stood within the door frame, almost filling it with a bulk of muscles upon muscles!! He towered over Holly like some monolithic monstrosity himself! A lab coat snug about his shoulders and bulging at the buttons over his chest he looked down from behind horn rimmed spectacles as he laced muscular fingers before himself with an audible crack!

“WELL WELL” He Boomed in a voice that shook the entire lab, “If it isn't young Holly! Did our newest recruit sleep in hmm?” He lifted a finger to twirl through his well oiled mustache and for a moment Holly struggled with the temptation to burst out laughing! The Doctor was a symphony of opposites, Lab geek and Musclebound wrestler observant and clueless, but sadly it seemed this was one of his more observant days, “HOLLY!” He boomed again as he looked down upon her, “You are late! And you laugh at these muscles?” He lifted his right arm with a wide and unfettered grin exposing gleaming white teeth that sparkled in the rising sun, his muscles stretched and bulged tearing the seams of his sleeves as he displayed his mighty muscles! “THESE GUNS!” He boomed again, “Will be in your dreams for the rest of your life! But You will not attain Muscles like mine without DISCIPLINE! GUTS!” He pounded his chest with a single closed fist and his glasses nearly popped off his face at the motion, but his fingers were fast and he pushed the spectacles back up along his nose, “Your mother is waiting for you to begin your final exam, she was kidnapped by Beasts!” (* The test)

That was a bombshell! How could her mother have been taken by beasts from this secure lab, protected by the Doctor himself!! “Alright then Doctor” She smiled, already she had figured it out, it was no real emergency, it was all part of the test! “Who's my partner? An Aeros?” She was almost bouncing upon her bare toes at that thought, mulling over the possibilities of her partner Beast! Normally all new recruits could choose between one of Six beasts, Aeros, Pyros, Geos, Aquaeos, Nox or Lumis, one for each of the main elements, Air, Fire, Earth, Water, Darkness and Light, they were basic beasts of course. But supposedly well trained. “Sorry Holly, you are LATE” He boomed again as he looked down on her “And there were six graduates this year, all the beasts are taken already!” Hollys eyes widened as she looked upon the Doctor, fear gripping her low in her stomach and feeling like it was turning her to ice! “You mean... I must fight Beasts barehanded!? You have no beasts in a beast research laboratory!?”

For a moment the Doctor looked thoughtful but then turned from Holly making his way inside without a sound, his large feet making no sound against the floor, he might have been big but Holly would give him this, he knew how to use it! She followed him, just as soundlessly, he hadn't given her an answer and that could be a very good thing! Slowly they made their way through a maze of delicate crystalline growths within the laboratory itself and Holly thought back on her lessons about Beast make up, her eyes distant as she recalled her lessons.

>Alright Young Holly, do you remember why we use crystals against Beasts to purify them?< The voice belonged to one of her old teachers, a rather beautiful woman of roughly thirty years with a mature, wise face, but devoid of wrinkles for now, and how she dodged time was a matter open for discussion amongst the class! >Umm, Because Beasts are Drawn to crystals Ma'am?< Aquiel smiled from her place at the whiteboard tapping her pen upon the board to draw the attention of her class, >Close Holly, a Beast is a being made up of energy, compressed energy that is almost solid due to a beasts will, after combat a beast is weakened, its will begins to waver and the energy that we put into the Crystals tries to draw it in like a magnet, but even with combat a beast can hold itself together which is why we need to attack with crystals, by touching a crystal to a beast, or cutting a beast with a crystal weapon we disrupt the energy and draw it into a crystal, this binds the Beast to us and allows it to feed on our materialization energy, most people can only manage to purify a handful of beasts at most, but a Tamer is special, we have the ability to increase our materialization energy each time we purify a beast, increasing our mental reservoirs< Holly had spoken then impetuous and curious, without raising her hand, that had been a little disciplining for later but she had wanted to know! >Is that why the doctors lab is made out of crystal Ma'am Saru?< Aquiel had looked upon her student for a short moment with a proud smile before nodding her head, >In a way Holly, the lab allows the Doctor to hold beasts, even purified beasts in containment units where he can perform experiments on volunteering beasts, he can synthesize a type of materialization energy from his crystal labs too allowing him to store an infinite number of beasts within his walls..<

She was snapped from her reverie though as she walked SMACK into the back of the Doctor, he had stopped without warning and was looking about himself as though confused, Holly too cast her eyes quickly around the chamber that surrounded them, a large dome shaped chamber with octagonal shaped plates of crystal pressed into special holding sections placed at regular intervals around the wall, each plate was wafer thin and shaved from a large crystal, each plate held a beast, its moving image flickering within the Plate and the rear of the plate was embossed with the name of the tamer who had purified the Beast within each Plate, Hollys eyes widened as she looked about herself, a huge dome, almost large enough to fit an entire football field within its walls and the stands to boot! Its roof was lost over her head as the light of the sun burned in through the translucent ceiling, hundreds... thousands of Beasts! The doctor himself seemed to have found what he was searching for though as he started moving again towards the far wall, again Holly was forced to follow him or be left behind and as he reached the wall he plucked a Plate from its position upon the dome shaped holding wall, offering it to Holly!

“HOLLY!'” He boomed in the enclosed space and she marveled at how the domes acoustics echoed his voice back in upon her ears “If you are SURE that you can handle yourself then I will give you this Plate, it contains a Mawra! Untamed! Its Tamer died not that long ago but it is about to become Tainted again” Holly looked upon the plate for a moment with wide eyes, a Mawra was a Dark element beast, she remembered her lessons quickly so she could know if she should take it or not, her mind busy churning over facts, Dark element, Low level, Beast class, she furrowed her eyebrows as she tried to remember all she could about the Mawra, “HOLLY! You must choose quickly or we will need to send a FULL TEAM of trained Tamers to try and recover your mother!” For a moment her heart sank and her stomach turned to ice, he was right! What if this wasn't just a test of her abilities! What if her Mom really had been captured! “Your mothers record was TWO beasts captured during the Exam! She was a skilled Tamer but she hasn't tamed any beasts since you were born Holly! Prepare yourself if you are going to take the Mawra and I will fire up the Teleportation platform!”

Without any more hesitation Holly reached out for the Plate and immediately felt a power surging into her, opening her mind and drawing upon the energy found there, her mind reacting in kind by increasing its capacity by the amount used by the Beast! Her mind stayed active though and huge vistas seemed to open before her eyes time and space laid bare to her probing eyes as everything unfolded before her but then the impression was gone, she still felt the power behind her eyeballs as though someone had fired up some powerful and forgotten machine in the recesses of her brain, her capacity continued to grow as the Mawra bound itself to her and she gasped in pleased surprise as she felt six times the amount she had had to begin with lurking within her skull! The Dark power of the Mawra had filled her, stretched her and now left her ready to purify other Beasts!

“I'm ready” She grinned with a brand new confidence as she looked to the Doctor, all of a sudden those huge muscles didn't seem quite so imposing! She touched the octagonal plate to one of the small crystals sewn into her jackets cuffs and a soft flash of a dark energy passed between the plate and the crystal infusing the smaller crystal with the Mawra and emptying the Plate for later use “Thanks Doc I can feel her in my head now I'll get my Mom back AND beat her record” A soft crackle of dark energy flickered across the new tamers knuckles as she shook like a dog shaking water from its fur, shaking the old life off her shoulders as she prepared for a new life of adventure, she was even standing straighter as she felt the Mawra within her mind wriggling as it consumed her materialization energy.

The doctor shook his head for a moment as he looked upon Holly before turning from her again and beginning to lead the way back towards the main entrance doors and the room beyond after that, “I doubt it Holly” He mumbled to himself as he led her through the passageways of his lab, she moved after him like she was walking on springs, every step carrying her with a bounce as she felt the Mawras restrained power within her, it was amazing! She felt like running, jumping, singing, doing anything to burn off this energy but it was too late, the Doctor paused before a crystalline door and pushed it open to reveal another dome shaped room, this one was much smaller, just big enough for her to stand up in and light and color swirled through the walls like some holographic cyclone, it twisted and coiled through the crystalline walls and the Doctor pulled a weapon from within his long Lab coat, a dagger with a blade made out of crystal! A wonderful weapon for using against Beasts! Each touch would drain their materialization energy and feed it into the Tamer and would weaken them for Purification. “HOLLY! Prepare yourself I will put you down close to where your mother was last detected, ready?”

A simple wave and a grin and Holly pushed the unresisting doctor through the doorway, she was ready! She breathed deeply as she prepared herself to be transported for the first time in her life! This would be a great test! She could save her mother and beat her record all at the same time! Her eyes felt like they were lit from behind by powerful lamps as she stood impatiently within the dome shaped chamber, she could feel the very energy of the beasts impressed into the walls as they swirled about her their energies magnified within the chamber and she closed her eyes, finally the physics of this chamber came to her as she felt the energies and their nature, she had never really understood how this machine worked but now she did, the spinning motion of the beasts in the walls built up a cyclone of pure and unfettered power, the user then harnessed that power to accelerate the molecules of their body through the limits of their molecular make up, nothing more than a cloud of disassociated organic molecules moving at roughly the speed of light she could pass right through solid objects although she would move faster than she could think! For the first time a bead of sweat dotted her brow and then she was gone...

There are impressions that the human mind can take in that take less time than thought, there should have been pain as her every molecule was torn asunder by the power of the beasts but the body simply doesn't know how to react to that sort of sensation so just throws up a pathetic tingling sensation, but that sensation spread and became her whole existence, she chuckled... Or tried to inwardly she felt like she was made out of tingles! Light or something like it streaked past her mental essence as she zipped across the island from one end to the other and then came a strange moment... Imagine for a moment racing along in a car at over two hundreds kilometers an hour and then stopping in an instant... Now remove the car! That was how she felt as she felt the cold grass beneath her feet Holly had begun to feel rather queasy as her body simply snapped into existence with a loud CRACK of displaced air.

Move Holly! Move! She ducked into a low crouch and took off to the closest patch of bushes she could find in case her arrival had attracted any unneeded attention and it was lucky that she did! As she looked up she heard a snuffling sound, like a dog hunting a scent as it nosed the ground, wide eyes suddenly beheld something... No nothing! A puff of dust rose from the ground even without any wind pushing it and Holly tried to remember her lessons, the Beasts live in a world separated from our own by a thin barrier to prevent Beasts from harming normal humans, this plane where they lived was called rather optimistically the 'Spirit plane' while the humans lived on the 'Base plane' Beasts could effect non animal like life on the Base plane but could not hurt humans with low levels of materialization energy the puff must have been from a beast that still had not materialized! As she hit this understanding Hollys eyes lit from within as she looked out over the world through new sight, the world in the Spirit plane was different, she could see three canine beasts before her, Misena perhaps? A large German Shepherd like beast that had shorter legs but longer fur and teeth! The Misena snuffled along the ground as though hunting something.

Were they coming for her? There were three of them and Misena were known for their ferocity when it came to humans! Her high levels of materialization energy would make her a tasty snack for those three! Saliva dripped from powerful canine jaws as they snuffled the ground, beading the dirt beneath them as they crunched over the ground to the spot where she had emerged from her teleportation, they lifted their snouts and bayed in an eerie call that sent fingers of ice along her spine, like the dying cry of a wounded animal, they had picked up her scent, she was going to die! A soft warmth blossomed at her wrist for a moment and she looked down in dumbstruck shock, how had she forgotten! Energy welled up within her mind as she looked upon the three Misena and she rose to her feet knowing it was no use hiding now that they had her scent. As they caught sight of her the three Misena went crazy, their canine ears quivering and the drool that dribbled from their jaws began to hiss as it struck the earth leaving small pitted holes upon the earth, as one they lunged towards her, like one entity they raced on short stubby legs with a vicious speed and her power continued to swell within her mind, finally it was unleashed into the crystal that housed the Mawra at her wrist, a black spire rose high into the air, but to call it black was like calling the sun a little bright, it was as dark as pitch, as pitch in a perfect void without a single ray of light to illuminate it, the Misena struck the pillar of dark energy with a bone crunching THUD, backing off the three Canine beasts tried to see inside the pillar of Dark energy but to no avail, they circled to try and get around it to nab the tasty treat that pillar defended but it grew outwards, slowly beginning to enfold the human, enfold Holly inside it.

Even she was scared and she was not afraid to admit it, the darkness had swelled and moved like a living thing, drifting about her body like a fog until she was completely swallowed in the void that her own power had unleashed, a figure appeared within the mist, that of a shapely young woman about the same age as her flickered into being before her, a figure made of light that smiled upon her with a warm look in her gentle eyes, “You are my Tamer?” The young girl smiled as she spoke but her lips did not otherwise move, a soft shimmering white gown drifted about the young girls ankles as she looked upon Holly and finally she understood, “I am, you are my first Beast and I hope...” She swallowed, still afraid of what lurked behind those walls of darkness, “I hope we can work together” The luminous spirit before her frowned slightly as it heard her speak, “Your first? You are weak” And then it was gone, the dome of dark energy blasted outwards as though it had been an explosive, detonated by the creature within!

The Mawra were a dangerous species of Beast Dangerous as they were known to hunt both Humans and other beasts for food, they had the unique ability to actually destroy other beasts completely by devouring them, this particular specimen seemed just as bad tempered as Holly had heard, the Misena had been flung back by the detonation of the Mawra's first materialization using Hollys energy grass lay flattened in a perfect circle about them, bent and flattened by the power, twisted in a circle that seemed to be rotating clockwise about the point where Holly had stood with the Mawra, as it drank in the last of its materialization energy, the Mawra's eyes snapped open, it stood shorter than the Misena but a great deal better protected, its animal body covered with dark black chitinous scales, like a dog the Mawra was four legged, its body also very canine in nature, powerful legs pawing the ground three extended claws from the front of each foot digging into the earth in both the spirit plane and the Base, any thoughts of it being a dog covered in armour plating though disappeared when one saw its neck, long and just as armour plated as the rest of its body the Mawra's neck rose vertically like the letter S its jaws long and powerful... Both sets! In the front of its mouth, set just below its snout were a pair of wide and powerful jaws, seemingly attached to the muscles of its neck the Mawra would have one hell of a biting force, but that was not all, in the rear of its head were a set of longer, thinner jaws that would allow it to bite in two directions at once, these rear jaws were open and a tongue lolled from its mouth as its front jaws curved into a wicked grin before speaking, “But for now you are my Mistress” The voice was at complete odds to its appearance, soft, sweet and most definitely feminine.

The Misena circled Holly and her new Beast warily as though afraid of the new arrival, their own jaws snapped as thick ropes of drool spilled upon the ground hungry for the energy they sensed within Holly like a blinding beacon, the Mawra too possessed more than any beast had a right to and they hungered to drain it of its materialization energy, circling ever circling the Misena searched for an opening in their defense surely the Mawra could not protect them BOTH well? They found one, as they circled one of the three lunged for the Human, with the Mawra occupied with the two in front of it the Human could be easy meat! An Easy target for slavering jaws, they did not take into account though that the human too could have been armed, with an easy motion Holly drew her crystal knife before she even knew what she was doing, training taking over her body as the Misena lunged for her, the tip of her blade scribed a lazy twist within the air as she twisted herself aside, the dagger raking along the beasts side instead as it flew past, hungry, infuriated, and now hurt!

It was bleeding now, droplets of materialization energy splattering upon the grass of the Spirit plane as it turned to glare at Holly and that was its second mistake. Still keeping its eyes upon the pair in front of it the Mawra none the less sensed the wounded Misena behind it and rear jaws parted with a bone grinding CLACK! Loud enough to make any other species flinch the Mawra's jaws opened impossibly wide before closing again around the backside of the poor Misena! It was wavering now, indistinct and in great pain, it gave a howl of pain to the sky above and Holly acted, numb still from her first real fight and still letting her body follow its training in the absence of orders from her brain! Her hand lifted and she plucked one of the small crystals upon her jacket sleeve from its housing before slapping it against the Misena, another howl and the Beast became transparent and vaporous slowly it was drawn into the crystal, tugged into it as though it could not escape its new home! It writhed, it squirmed and howled again and then it was gone...

The pair that remained looked to one another, bright intelligent eyes flashing rapid communication back and forth, they would not win this fight it seemed! Turning their tails the pair darted off over the grasses and away from the crazy girl and her terrifying companion. The Mawra turned as it licked its broad jaws with a tongue that seemed far too long for such a short creature, cleaning one of the maws that had resulted in the name of its species, it grinned then, a terrifying sight and spoke in that gentle, feminine voice, “Perhaps you are not so weak” She was dizzy, this second Beast tethered to her energy filled her with a nausea that forced her knees to crumple and send her spilling onto her backside as this second beast filled her mind like the Mawra had, sharing her and making her eyes dance as she gradually, but quickly learned to moderate the amount of energy that both Beasts were receiving.

Slowly she stood with a growing confidence but much less arrogance, now she understood, one beast was easy to control but more could seriously strain the mind! She looked to her partner and grinned, “Or maybe I am, but I'm learning” This was a small shock for the Mawra but it refused to show its surprise upon its features, always the humans it had been forced to serve had claimed they were stronger than it, were superior to it and forced its cooperation, but here was her new tamer, a young girl instead of some musclebound brute and confessing that she was not all that strong, still the Mawra regarded her warily as the human led the way, following on her heels as it for the first time truly sampled the energy that was being fed to it by the new tamer, its eyes opened wide and it gasped as it was forced into perfect solidity upon the Base world, her power... Even if she was not yet strong the energy she exuded was amazing!

“Human” Her voice was soft and gentle as she spoke to Holly, “Stop a moment” Holly turned as she heard the voice of her Mawra and smiled a warm and welcoming smile, “Yes?” It was dazzled and shocked again, not only was its request honored but it was greeted with such a smile, “I have a gift for you, a shield” The Mawra frowned slightly as it looked upon the human girl a flicker of a dark energy rising within its eyes almost like fire, flickering and dancing like a campfire, warm and crackling cheerily it rose from the Mawra and began to surround Holly, a wall of black flame through which she could not see and for a moment Holly had serious misgivings but she trusted her partner as well and opened her arms, letting the dark flames sink into her flesh and burn through her veins, it should have been painful but her trust was a shield against the pain and her faith in her partner showed as she did not scream or reject the energy like most humans. The Mawra smiled faintly and shook its head, it was becoming fond of this girl already!

Patterns and shapes danced behind her eyelids as she was forced to close her eyes under the influence of the dark energies that shook her body like a rag doll, stretching her mind and increasing the power that flowed from her till her dark energies coursed from her body in visible waves as she became acclimatized to this alien energy, as her eyes opened they gleamed, they sparkled in the light overhead as they drank it in, twin polished obsidian orbs had replaced her usual eye color as she looked about herself as though through a pair of sunglasses, a small smile on her lips as she again felt that brush with a dangerous feeling of invincibility, “Thank you” It was all she could say as her knees buckled and she reached forth to encircle the Mawra with her gentle arms, hugging it close for a moment, she had heard stories of the gifts that Beasts could bestow but she had heard too that a beast had to trust you completely before it would provide you with such a gift, “Oh stop it” Muttered the Mawra blackly before turning its back on Holly, “Which way?” Although Holly could not see its face, its forward jaws, she could almost feel its smile in that tone.

“This way” Without even a pause Holly pointed in the direction she 'knew' her mother was, something tart filled her nostrils, the scent of her mothers perfume and for a moment she wondered just how she could pick up a scent like that from such a distance, she shrugged though, shaking off the question as she moved across the grasslands that the spirit plane showed her rather than the wasteland that had begun to eat away at the grass in the Base plane, she kept her eyes on the spirit plane, her senses and felt the cool breeze wash over her body even though on the Base plane the heat was increasing as she moved away from her arrival point, the Base planes land was slowly becoming more and more like a desert, leeching the moisture from the air but with her senses within the Spirit plane Holly could feel the cool breeze calming her and steadying her nerves, a mountain rising in the distance before them that had no companion on the base plane and Holly nibbled upon her lower lip as she felt the confidence drain from her features, although the sun was bright and scorching on the Base plane she did not feel it, her body protected by the conditions on the Spirit plane the cool breeze seemed to emanate from the mountain before her dark clouds gathering at its peak as she drew ever closer, the air had begun to grow oppressively humid and for a moment she felt as though she were breathing in soup, it was thick and she struggled with it, drawing it into her lungs with labored breaths as she struggled on, a flash of lightning lit the sky and sent afterimages scuttling across the back of her eyelids, a loud crack of thunder tearing apart the silence of the spirit plane and she popped back into the Base plane with a cry of protest, collapsing into the sweltering heat after that cool place was a shock and a half to her system and Holly crumpled to her knees again toppling forth onto her chest as she fell upon the burning sand, for a moment she could not move, her lungs thanking her for the thinner, less liquid air as she gulped in breath after breath of the hot desert air but the heat was brutal, punishing, beating down upon her jacket and her bare feet were moments from burning beneath the sweltering sun.

She struggled again to her feet as she gathered her wits and her powers once again, eyes were the first to pierce the veil of the Spirit plane and she stepped on again, the heat burning the soles of her feet and beating down upon her back, her eyes searching the spirit plane searching the mountain that had been ground to dust in the base plane long ago for any sign of her mother, finally she reached its base and knew she would have to push herself once again with all of her senses through into the Spirit plane or she would simply walk through the mountain, with an effort that bordered on herculean she hauled herself from one reality and into the other, every sense again saturated with the thick moisture that seemed to cling to this mountain, she slowly began to ascend, hands and bare feet scrabbling against the perilous rock that crumbled under her hands and threatened to break off and leave her suspended from nothing but air, the Mawra grew indistinct and placed its feet against the mountains surface as Hollys concentration flagged, simply altering the rules of gravity to allow it to walk up the mountain as one might up the street, as easily, it was after all a spirit beast.

After some time, exactly how long Holly could not tell for every minute had seemed an eternity of protesting muscles and bleeding hands and bare feet, she managed to scramble up and onto a ledge that overlooked the grassland she had come from, as she struggled in the humid atmosphere to breathe Holly looked about her small ledge, her small place of respite and pitstop, right there, behind her and in the wall of the mountain behind her lay a large crack, a cavern of some sort perhaps? But for now she could barely breathe, her hands and feet throbbing as she sat upon the cold, wet stone, for now... She would have to set up camp and hope her mother was okay! She could simply not push on any further, every muscle protested the simplest and smallest action but she was nonetheless able to erect a small lean to against the mountainside and huddle down under it, constructed of fallen rocks it was not the most stable construction but it would not kill her if it collapsed... No.. She had learned better than that.

Chapter 2

Conquests

A blast of fire washed over her as she stood before the great beast, her hands gripping a crystal that soaked in the glorious crimson and orange flames, soaked them in and stored them, a great beast standing before her, one with three heads that glared at her with an ill concealed malevolence, it gave a terrible roar from each of its mouths, Serpent, Goat and Lion it roared a cacophony of animal calls as it glared down and into her eyes, her mother lying crumpled at the beasts feet bathed in sweat, she felt a great anger rising in her body and she stepped forward, past three shadowy figures in her peripheral vision, one she could recognise as the Mawra bu the other two she felt like she did not know yet, a growl left her own lips as she lifted her hand to touch the crystal that had stored the Beasts fire and she returned its roar in her rising anger, a purely human sound of rage and loss, her fingers flourished in the humid air and tongues of fire screamed forth for the Chimera, tearing into it with the thick, cloying smell of burning flesh...

Holly arose to the sound of water dripping, her eyes heavy and her body cold after the night spent on the side of the mountain she shook herself and whimpered at her own stiffness of her limbs and the sluggishness of her mind, her lean to still stood and for a moment she felt a swell of pride that filled her with a satisfied glow of warmth, she lay there for a moment flexing her fingers and toes before rising from an improvised bed constructed of her own clothing, redressing quickly and checking the crystals that held the Mawra and the Misena, gently she touched their crystals and was glad to feel a pulsating life beneath each crystal as she wriggled to shake her clothing into a more comfortable position with a grimace of disgust, she needed a bath and badly after the exertions of the day before but she knew she could not get one out here in the middle of nowhere!

Her dream still haunted her eyes as she left the lean to, two nights in a row that recurring dream had come to her but each time it had been clearer, more detailed and the last dream had scared her more than she wished to admit, she placed her hands before her and her eyebrows furrowed as she remembered the lessons of the Tamers Academy, her mind wandering backwards as she worked to call herself some breakfast. >”Remember Holly, focus, that mess isn't going to be able to sustain you at all!” Ma'am Aquiel stood with her hands on her wide hips looking down at the gelatinous mass that Holly had materialized and clucked her tongue, as she watched it wobbled and jiggled, even independent of outside pokings, “What IS that Holly?” Even the teacher looked squeamish as she watched it sway back and forth, vaguely luminous green it seemed to be mocking her with its very presence! “It... Um... Was supposed to be bacon miss Saru” Holly winced as she looked upon her accidental materialization her cheeks almost as green as the gelatinous mass. “Alright Holly, dissolve it and lets try again, remember your text books, organic molecules surround us all the time, no matter if we are within the Base or Spirit plane, organic matter that is loose and can be shaped by your materialization energy right?” Holly nodded wordlessly as she held her palms over the wobbling mass, letting it fly apart again into its component organic molecules, “Now with your energy you should be able to marshal the organic molecules together in a recognizable shape, but I think that you are thinking about it too much, don't try to force the knowledge, just let the power flow through your mind and allow yourself to channel it focus it in a single Mmph!”<

That had been her first try at Organic Materialization and she had failed, covering the classroom in strips of luke warm greasy bacon, she had almost smothered her teacher and half her classmates with that failure but as she focused on the spot before her a bowl was the first to materialize filling quickly with milk and something that looked like cornflakes! Holly applauded herself as she quickly tucked into her breakfast devouring the slightly greasy, bacon flavored cornflakes with a grimace, it was a mess, but it was filling at least, she called forth a little water from the humidity in the air, marshaling it into a single spot and condensing it so she could wash her feet and hands but it was as cold as ice and she could only gather such a small amount, beads of strained sweat dotting her forehead as she rose from her resting place to look upon the mountain before her with an appraising eye letting her sight appraise both the Spirit plane and the base plane as one, she could see nothing but the desert air in the base plane but the spirit plane image overlapped as she lost focus on the base plane, it was important of course to view ones surroundings and even she knew that, but she had been sure her mother would try and leave her some sign in the base plane, a marker, anything! Her nose twitched and she caught again the scent of her mothers perfume over the smell of the mountain and the grasslands of the spirit plane, her eyes glittered and danced, she could not smell blood, although she could smell sweat in that trail, still she did not marvel at the fact she could seemingly track by scent, it had not been an ability that she had before but then she had never been hunting her mother before, several scents reached her nose from further afield other humans closing in on the spirit plane, the smell of beasts clinging to them as they worked their way towards the mountain she would have to hurry there were five of them, five human scents a professional hunting team was coming!

Slowly she slipped into the crevice in the rock she had noticed the day before, her eyes searching in the darkness for any sign of obstructions or sharp stones that would cut her feet, slowly she worked her way along a passage that began to grow smoother as she made her way inside, heat had bubbled the rock, melted it and fused it almost into a glassy substance as she wound her way deeper, a thick scent of molten rock harsh against her nostrils almost obliterated the scent of her mother but she ignored that smell focusing as the passage began to split, a dim light rising from both passages providing passable illumination that showed high vaunted ceilings that rose so high above her head, almost ten feet into the air it was a most imposing sight but she could not let it stop her, delicately her nose twitched like a dogs in the air of both tunnels, attempting to track which one her mother was down, it was hard, over the scents of molten rock, fire and beast flesh further down both tunnels she was losing her mothers scent a look of quick fear scudding across her features like momentary dark clouds but she gathered her wits about her again as she tested the air, either of the trails could be dangerous... Would be dangerous, both smelled well trodden by beasts, her eyes closed for a moment as she gathered her composure around her to mask her fear, it could very well turn out to be a true battle from here on out.

She looked along both corridors and finally that scent she had been waiting for rose to her nose, the scent of her mothers perfume and sweat, still no smell of blood and for that she was grateful, her mother had once been a tamer so she was sure her mother could still materialize food and water as needed but she was still afraid, why would a beast have captured her mother in the first place? Slowly she began to creep along the passageway, the temperature rising as she made her way along the vaunted halls of melted and fused stone, slowly she wound her way deeper and kept herself alert for trouble. But not alert enough it seemed, she leaped to one side as a ball of fire shrieked directly for her head, consuming the oxygen hungrily as it impacted against the fused stone, she took cover behind a stalagmite as she entered the room where the fireball had originated, peering out carefully as she took stock of her situation.

The hallway had opened into a wide room about ten feet across in all directions, a circular room with the same high, vaunted ceiling, but in this place the heat had grown intense enough to make solid marble melt and drip in the same way as calcification in limestone caves forming stalagmites and stalactites columns and pillars of formerly molten rock, impact marks, scorch marks and ashy deposits showed that this room had been something of a battlefield and the presence of the fireball told her that there was one or more fire element beast in this cavern with her, her eyes carefully searched the room, roving about the columns and fragile growths of re solidified marble, searching for her assailant.

Finally it made itself known, a ball of flame crackling over the knuckles of its right hand and glowing like a miniature sun, finally it made sense to her, how this cave had formed, she pointed an unoccupied crystal towards the small creature and it began to grow more defined before her eyes, making out more details for identification, she racked her brain trying to remember what this beast was, a small flash of recognition lit her eyes and she mouthed silently to herself, “Ignia, Devil (Imp) class, Fire element, aa beast with a short fuse and the ability to conjure fire, if you don't have a fire element beast or a water class beast of your own get out of there fast” She mumbled softly to herself as she looked upon the Ignia and measured both its size and the size of its flame, it seemed the Ignia was talented, compressing the core of fire within its ball to increase the heat of the weapon, she smiled for a moment in admiration as she took in its features.

Small and ruddy skinned the imp hovered within the air using beating wings like that of a bat or dragon, tough and leathery but as rusty red as the rest of its body, a small loincloth encircled its waist and a single ruby hung from its neck to rest against its chest, it was male and for a tiny thing it was well defined and muscled, each rusty red finger ending in a long talon between which the fire crackled, not truly coming to rest against its skin, a crown of five horns protruded at regular intervals around its skull as it searched for the human who had entered its domain and cloven hooves pawed the air impatiently, at roughly eighteen inches in height it was not the most imposing figure but Holly knew better than to judge from outward appearances alone.

She had to get past it and that she knew, all she had for weapons were her beasts and her crystal dagger but perhaps she did not need to fight the Ignia, as it searched the cavern from its hovering position for any sign of her she quickly plucked a small stone from the base of the stalagmite, quickly looking around for the Ignia before throwing the stone with all her strength for the opposite side of the cavern, it clattered loudly and the Ignia's eyes turned towards the sound, that was all she needed and quick as a flash she moved from her position to dart to the next column, the Ignia turned at the flash of movement but it still had not seen her, judging her for the moment to be just a shadow it turned for the stone she had thrown to try and find the source of the noise, it was fast, it was observant, it had nearly caught her and so there was only one thing to do.

Slowly she knelt at the base of the column of once molten marble and touched upon the crystals inhabited by her Misena and her Mawra, a single soft touch was enough to confirm that they were both well and raring for a fight, for a moment Holly considered calling her Mawra again to deal with the Ignia but this time what she needed was speed, was distraction, a frown as she furrowed her eyebrows in concentration and a flicker of dark energy engulfed the Misena's crystal, the four legged canine Beast Materializing before Holly as she fed her energies into it, “I need your help” She smiled gently at the animal type Beast and lifted her right and to brush slim fingers over the fur of its head, between perked canine ears and it spoke into her mind, through their connection, “I am yours Mistress Holly, what do you need me to do?” She smiled as she heard its voice for the first time, clear and warm, loyal to the one who had purified it, she pointed to the Ignia and the Misena looked fearful, “You wish me to fight that Ignia Mistress? It may disperse me” His voice was fearful Misena alone were cowards she had heard, only in a pack were they brave and once again Holly doubted herself.

Could she handle this on her own, with only herself and her beasts against this world that none outside the Tamers Chain knew about? Could she handle the challenges thrown up against her? She furrowed her eyebrows as she looked upon the Misena and then smiled again, a bright and dazzling experession that surprised the beast greatly, “Of course I don't want you to fight it, but I need you to distract it, You are fast, Misena are amazingly fast and I know you can do me proud, you are not alone” The Misean swallowed faintly as it looked upon the Ignia, one blast from its fireball and he would be crispy canine! Still... She had asked so nicely, the fur on his back rose and his tail stood out at parallel to the ground, darting forward the Misena barked at the Ignia, catching its attention quite well!

A ball of flame screamed through the air but by the time the Ball struck the stone the Misena was gone, darting quickly through pillars and stalactites, stalagmites forming a perfect maze of cover for him as the Ignia rained fireball after fireball upon the stone, hoping to get lucky, slowly the Ignia turned as it followed the movement of the canine beast that had entered its lair, Holly took the opportunity, sneaking closer to the Ignia as it hurled fireball after fireball to protect itself, too focused on its target to notice the human sneaking up on it, crystalline dagger drawn, she waited, she watched, staying close as it grew more and more tired, each ball of flame taking its toll on the small beast, finally it began to waver, a little less distinct than it had been before and she lunged for it, her own blade hissed as it cut the air and connected with the side of the Ignia, distracting it from the Misena it cried out in an all too human pain that made Holly falter, a single mistake and a line of fire was scored upon her cheek from a sharp talon bringing a cry from her own lips, blood and materialization energy leaking from her wound to allow the Ignia to grow a little stronger even as its own energy drained slowly from the wound in its side, but Holly did not give up, fighting through the pain in her cheek she raised her right arm, popping an empty crystal from the housing on her cuff she lunged again for the Ignia, slapping it against the wound in the Ignia's side, it hollered, it howled and cried as it grew misty and indistinct fading into the crystal with an audible cry of panic.

“That's... Two” Holly panted as she

* Note, Any terms in brackets are the names of branching stories written either by the same author, or a different author using my characters! They may not all be as 'tame' as the main storyline and only the title will be given, no links within this story itself, this means if you want to read the branching stories you will have to find the branching archive. It will be in a main directory and separated into general audience, and adult audience folders! If you wish to write a branching Dischordia storyline please feel free, send it on to my email and I will read through each submission, the best Branching storyline will be mentioned in the main story although all will be hosted free of charge!