Fiery spirit

Fiery spirit

Sanura, once a beautiful island state in the Pacific Ocean, a cultural capital and democratic stronghold, most known for its fine musicians and sculptors, its high spiraling towers and other beautiful architecture, now one of the most dangerous places on earth.

Since the civil war split the land in halves two years ago, nothing had remained the same. Six years ago, President Osee had won the elections. At first he had been pictured as a man of peace and wisdom, but after only three years he had revealed his true nature…

He was a terrorist leader and a war criminal. Using loopholes in the law he managed to make himself emperor for life. Nobody could do anything against it, not by law and especially not by brute force.

The people of Sanura were artists, not warriors. Nonetheless they had tried to rebel against Osee.

Tried and failed miserably. He had a small personal army at his disposal, consisting of thieves, mercenaries and other war criminals. Plus, he had had access to nearly limitless amounts of money.

He had plundered Sanura’s treasury and had secretly bought a whole lot of modern weapons: Tanks, intelligent missiles, automatic rifles, remote controlled drones and other toys of war. When the people of Sanura had started a rebellion against him, he had simply squashed it within two days.

A lot of people had been taking prisoner and were now forced to work in Asura’s coal and iron mines.

President Oree ruled the small island with an iron fist an every opposition was destroyed completely, before it could even settle in.

Of course the people of Sanura didn’t just take everything that had happened, but instead they created many different underground organizations in order to weaken Oree’s grasp.

Sadly enough there were too many of these small groups and they didn’t communicate with each other well. So, even though Oree’s troops were far less than all the underground organizations combined, they could just easily target one group after the other, because none cared about the other groups.

That was until now. Something had changed, turning the underground attacks into an open rebellion.

One girl, whose origins were unknown, had managed to unite all the small groups into one big. Her spirit was so fierce and fiery as her hair was red.

She was called Amber and that was pretty much everything that was known about her.

As hard as Osee’s spies tried to find out something about her background, as hard they failed. Nobody, not even her closest advisors knew anything about her.

She had started the revolution in one small outcast group and quickly sized leadership over it.

Within one week, she had robbed two weapon convoys, freed the prisoners of the northern coal mines and even attacked the guard outpost at the dragon cliffs. Many people from all over the island sneaked off in the night and joined the rebellion.

Jay was one of them.

His father had been captured during the first revolution and since then his mother had been grief stricken. She still cared for her children, Jay ad his brother Jason, but other than that she was just an empty shell. Not even capable of weeping anymore…

He arrived at the Routa Plains, where the rebels had set up their camp. However, before he could enter, a guard blocked his way. “Who are you and what do you want?”

“My name is Jay Skye. I live on the other end of the island, near the Eagle cliffs.” Jay answered.

“And what do you want to do here, so far away from home?” The guard asked a little unfriendly.

“I want to join your forces. My father fought in the first rebellion, but was captured in the end. It’s my duty to free him, from Osee’s grasp.” Jay said.

“Not only yours. Mine too.” A voice said.

Both, Jay and the guard flinched and spun around. They were facing another boy, a little smaller than Jay, but otherwise looking very similar.

“I won’t let you do this alone, Jay.” The boy said.

“And who are you?” The guard asked. Jay sighed. “He’s my little brother, Jason, and it seems that he followed me.” He turned to Jason. “Go home. You can’t leave mom alone. It’s irresponsible!”

“Oh, but you are allowed to come here and fight against Osee’s troops. Yeah, that seems totally fair.” Jason shot back. “Plus, you were the one leaving mom alone in the first place.”

The guard looked at the two boys. “Well, seeing that you both have someone to attend to at home, I won’t let you in. Besides, who assures me that you are no spies sent by Osee?”

Jay and his brother stopped arguing and looked at the guard, both shocked.

However, before any of them could reply, a voice called from behind: “Let them in, Ralph. I know these two, they are certainly no spies.”

The two boys and the guard flinched and looked around.

Jay spotted a red haired woman, wearing tight red and black leather armor. She was about medium height and her red hair flowed long past her shoulders, nearly reaching her butt. Her sparkling, green eyes built a nice contrast to her hair, giving her a mischievous look.

‘She is pretty…’ Jay thought. ‘But there’s something otherworldly about her…’

The guard noted her presence and bowed slightly. “As you wish, Lady Amber.” He said.

“Oh come on Ralph. Why are you always so formal…? I’m just a human like you.” Amber said and winked at the two boys and walked away.

“Okay you can come in.” The guard told the two boys and stepped aside.

Jay and his brother walked into the camp. “Seriously, why did you follow me?” Jay asked.

“Because we both know that when things get tough, and they will get tough, you can’t manage the situation anymore. You’ll break, Jay. You weren’t made for war.” Jason said.

“Hrmph. We’ll see about that.” Jay murmured, spun around and walked away.

-------------------

Later in the evening Amber gave a fiery speech, with which she motivated everybody in the camp for the next morning and the battle that it would bring.

Scout reports had shown that Osee’s army had their camp on the other side of the small plain.

Although they were far outnumbered, they had much better equipment and some people had tried to sneak away, afraid that they could die in the battle.

Not that anybody stopped them. Amber and the other leaders thought that only those really willing to fight should fight.

After her speech a few people left, though most of those that had listened to her stayed and cheered. They simply wanted to get rid of the despot and were prepared to do anything to achieve their goal.

That night Jay didn’t sleep well. He couldn’t stop thinking about what his brother had said.

‘I will show them all what I can do!’ was his last thought before his mind drifted off into an unstable sleep full of nightmares…

-------------------

The next morning, before the first light of the sun even touched the horizon, the rebel army marched onto the plains.

Amber had created a surprise plan: About half of the actual strength of the army would hide themselves in specially prepared places in the plains. The rest of the army would march up normally in the first light and try to distract Osee’s forces.

As soon as the enemy would’ve rolled past them, the hidden forces would strike.

Four hours later, half an hour after sunrise, Osee’s troops rolled out of their camp.

As expected by Amber they spotted the rebel army pretty quickly and advanced on them. They passed the hidden rebels, without noticing them, a few tanks firing long range shots at the visible enemies.

Amber was about to give the order for the surprise attack, when suddenly everything went wrong:

Without warning, Osee’s troops turned around and fired at the hiding places of the rebels.

-------------------

A few seconds before the bombardment started:


“Something is very, very wrong…” Jay murmured. “You’re right…” his brother answered.

Suddenly the tanks that had just passed their hiding place turned around and fired.

“Watch it!” Jason shouted, but it was too late… the shell hit directly in the middle of the hiding place, instantly killing half the rebels and scattering everybody else.

Soldiers appeared around the small grove where they had been hiding and threatened them with their guns.

“Get up and leave your weapons on the ground.” One of them, probably the commander, ordered.

Jason and the other survivors slowly rose from the ground, careful not to make a too fast move.

“Sir, what about those that can’t walk on their own?” Another soldier asked. “Kill them.” Was the simple answer. “Yes Sir!” the soldier replied and gestured for his comrades.

At that moment Jason noticed that his brother hadn’t gotten up from the ground. Jay was too wounded to do anything…

“No…” he breathed, but it was too late. The soldiers had already opened fire at those still lying on the ground…

“NOOO!!” Jason screamed as they dragged him away. Away from his dead brother…

-------------------

The soul glided over the battlefield. It knew that it actually had to go, had to pass into the underworld, but somehow it couldn’t. Something held it back…

“Why can’t I go…” it quietly asked itself. But it knew that there was no answer…

A time that seemed like an eternity passed, but the soul still couldn’t let go. Suddenly it felt a strange sensation. “It’s as if… as if someone is watching me… but… that can’t be… there should be no one here…”

It searched around in order to find the thing that was causing this emotion.

After a brief time its eyes set on a strange glowing orange orb. “What is this?”

It moved closer to the orb and carefully examined it. However, as soon as it moved any closer, the orb retreated backwards, for exactly the same distance that the soul had gained on it.

This continued for a short time, until suddenly the orb exploded in a shower of red and orange sparks.

“ARGH!!” The soul floated backwards, shielding its eyes from the explosion. It was a reflex that showed that the soul was still more connected to the real world than to the realm of souls.

When it opened its eyes again, it gasped in surprise. The orb was gone… replaced by a girl.

“Wha… what ha-happened?” The soul stuttered.

<You…> the girl breathed. <You are not like the other souls on this field… you don’t belong here…>

“I… I…” the soul stuttered, but couldn’t get any straight word out. <Shh…> the girl moved closer and put a finger on its lips. <It’s okay… I won’t harm you…>

She closed her eyes and started humming a soft tune. ‘What is she doing…?’ The soul asked itself and fear began to spread in its mind. It tried to pull away from the strange girl… but it couldn’t!

The tune that the girl was humming had a magical effect and forced the poor soul to stay in place.

<You are not dead…> the girls stated after a while. “WHAT?” The souls exclaimed in disbelieve. “Of course I am, I mean look at me I-“ <You are not dead…> the girly simply repeated.

<Your body is still in one piece and the wounds are not too deep… Right now you are dreaming… your soul wants to come free, but at the same time you want to live on…>

The soul didn’t answer. There was no need to. Everything that the girl had said was true…

“But… how…?” It asked. “I can’t go back into my body… it won’t work…”

<You’re right… it won’t work… without help…> she answered.

“Help?” <Yes… I can help you to get back into your body… but there’s a price to pa->

The soul screamed in fear and retreated backwards. “I won’t give you my soul!”

The girl made a sour face. <Don’t be childish… I am not a demon who trades his help in exchange of souls… I meant something different…>

“Like what?” The soul asked, not totally convinced.

<I… I want to come with you…> the girl breathed.

“With… me…?” the soul repeated startled. <Yes… it’s been so long that I had a real body… I’ve wandered around for years now… that alone would have been enough for me…>

“That alone?” the soul asked curious. “You mean, there was more than just that?”

Nodding the girl answered: <Yes… before that I was locked up in a temple for a whole millennium… sealed off in a crystal, with only my sister to keep me company… When were freed a few years ago she managed to find a body to accompany… I stayed with her, hoping to find one for me too, but… I lost her… Three months ago, I lost all track off her and since then I’ve been haunting this island back and forth, hoping to find her somewhere…>

The soul said nothing when tears started flowing down of the girl’s cheeks. It simply floated closer, embracing the little girl in a gesture of comfort.

<I had hoped to find her today… had hoped… that she would be here on either side… but… she wasn’t here… all I can find are the souls of the dead, lingering in place for a few moments, before passing into Moranda, the underworld…>

She looked up, tears all over her face. <You are my last hope, Jay… without you… without a chance to get back into a real body… I think I will lose myself and pass away… but I don’t want to!> Crying fits shook her body, as she clung to him. Emptying her heart in front of him…

<Please… take me with you… I can’t stand the emptiness anymore…>

The soul stared at her, but it didn’t see anything. ‘Jay…’ the name radiated through its entire being, reminding it who it had been before.

Jay blinked his eyes and looked into those of the girls. “What… what do I have to do?” he asked.

-------------------

Pain. Pain was all he found by returning into his body.

<It won’t last for long… your body can’t support you anymore…> the girl told him in his head.

“But… you said that I would be able to live on…!” he replied. <Yes… but I also said that there would be a price to that…>

“We already had that topic.” Jay groaned, the pain nearly driving him unconscious. <Yes… but I never told you what the price is…>

“Well then, be out with it…” Jay whispered, shivers of pain running all over his body. <You would have to fuse with me…>

The sentence hung in his head for several seconds, as Jay couldn’t find an answer to it.

“F-fuse with m-me…?” He stuttered. <Yes… your body would change to match mine, though you’d remain in full control… and you promised you’d take me with you…>

“I… I would become…. become a girl?” he asked shocked. <Yes…> the girl merely replied.

‘Actually I don’t want this…’ Jay thought for himself. ‘I don’t want to become a girl… but at the same time… I want to stay alive, not die here in this lonely field… I want to avenge my father… and my brother…’ his mind paced back and forth and it took him several minutes to reach his decision.

“Fine.” He said. “Do what you have to… but you promise that I will stay in control!”

<I promise…> she said.

Suddenly his whole body lit up in orange light. Slowly at first, barely noticeable, he started to shrink. His whole body slimmed down, any unnecessary fat being removed from it. Jay’s skin began to tickle, as all his body hair receded back into his skin, leaving it soft and smooth and also a bit lighter than before.

He groaned in pain, as his wounds closed, leaving not a single mark that he had been doomed to death just a few seconds ago. With an enormous effort of will he managed to get himself into an upright position, only to have something fall in front of his eyes. Something brown and dirty.

When Jay reached for it, he noticed that it was his own hair. It had grown well below his shoulders, almost reaching his waist. Changing color into a dirty brown as it grew.

He had to blink his eyes furiously for a few heartbeats, as if dust had settled into them. While he was doing so, they grew a little bit larger, just as his eyes lashes. Their color changed to a deep brown, a little similar to his hair color.

By now, he would’ve easily passed as a woman, albeit a flat chested. No visible part of his body signified that he was actually still a man. And the covered parts were already retracting, creating a fully functional womanhood and turning Jay into Jane.

Slowly a rising pressure built up in her stomach. With every breath that she took, her chest inflated, as did her butt. It felt as if an air cushion was being filled below her, raising her about an inch. A few seconds later her chest stopped growing at a healthy B-cup.

With an admiring look on her face she looked down at her new body. Right now most was still covered by her old uniform, but that was to change soon.

Jane’s shirt began to tighten and shrink down to a very short and tight, dirty green mini top, which showed pretty much of her newly developed breasts. Her old jacket transformed into a camo colored leather vest. Attached to it were many small pockets, holding spare ammunition.

Same as with her shirt, her pants began to tighten and shrink down. When they uncovered her knees they split into two parts: One creating tight leather pants, of the same color as her shirt. The other part morphed into a short, camo colored skirt. A belt formed around her waist, supporting more small bags for spare ammunition, a water bottle and even a few grenades.

A camo colored hat appeared on top of her hair, shielding her from the burning sun and her old combat boots shrank down a few sizes to match her new body.

In the last step a semi-automatic rifle materialized in her hands, a long leather strap fastening it around her shoulders.

Blushing slightly at so much exposed skin, she admired her body out of every angle she managed to bend it into. Despite her petite appearance, she had very flexible and strong muscles. And there was also something else… a strange burning sensation deep inside her, radiating power through every fiber of her body.

<You seem pleased…> the girl whispered in her head, causing Jane to flinch. “Whoa… I had forgotten you’re in here too…” she admitted. “You gave me quite the shock.”

The voice giggled in her head. <I hope you can archive what you have to now… I will rest… the transformation burned all my power reserves… I think… … …> she fell silent and Jane could feel that she retracted into a corner of her mind, only semi-conscious.

‘Well, at least she’s alright.’ Jane thought for herself. ‘Now I have to find my brother and settle a score with Osee…’ With that set, Jane climbed out of the small grove that had once been a rebel hiding spot and slowly walked back to the ruined campsite.

From the shadows a red and black clad figure watched. “I’m glad you found someone to stay with, sis.” She softly whispered to herself. “Maybe one day we can meet again…”

-------------------

Jason awoke in the dark prison cell. Beside him he knew that his comrades would still be sleeping.

They had locked them all away like this for several days now. Over day the soldiers would torture them to their amusement, or let them fight in some kind of arena.

He shivered when he thought about the demonic creatures he had seen there. Not only had Osee plundered Sanura’s treasury to finance his warmongering, but apparently he had also struck a bargain with the forces of the night…

‘This won’t end well for our island…’ Jason thought glumly. Then he shook his head. He had other matters to attend to. For example try and break out of here.

After a few of his comrades had died in the arena matches, the enemy general had berated his troops for being so stupid. At first Jason had thought that he meant the arena fights in general, but in fact it was something different. Osee had something planned for them, for which they had to be alive at all costs.

‘Probably a mass execution in the capital…’ Jason thought, but after seeing the devilish creatures, he wasn’t entirely convinced that they’d simply be killed. It would be something much, much worse…

Half an hour later he and his comrades were brought out of the cell, towards the battle arena in the middle of the camp. Even though the enemy was very careful about the lives of their captives, they didn’t mind a few flesh wounds.

Jason feared that it would be his turn today. He had already fought in the arena, fighting against a giant Shadow wolf from the northern massive, and he had only survived by pure luck and coincidence.

The soldiers that escorted them pushed them in the usual preparation room. Jason’s fear came true when one of them dragged him along to into the arena.

A small blade was thrown to his feet and Jason picked it up, knowing that it would be his only defense. On the other side of the arena a metal gate opened and a giant lizard like creature crawled through it, its eyes fixed on Jason, the tongue darting in and out of its mouth.

‘So this is it…’ the boy thought. There was no way he could beat that thing with the tiny blade in his hands. Even worse, he didn’t think it possible for anyone to save him if the beast decided that he should serve as a snack. The scales of the thing were so big that even bullets wouldn’t harm it…

He began circling around in the arena, keeping his eyes fixed on it.

Even so, he was startled when it attacked, suddenly surging forward with immense speed. Having no other chance to dodge, he rolled to the side, only to be hit by the flailing tail. Jason got knocked through the air, landing hard on the sand, close to the arena center.

The crowd roared and applauded for the beast. ‘I won’t let them have this triumph over me…’ Jason thought, gritted his teeth and slowly rose from the ground again. Pain cascaded all over his body, but he ignored it.

The creature surged forward again and this time he was too late to dodge. ‘It’s over…’ he thought and hated himself for thinking like that, but he saw no escape. Preparing for his end, he readied his blade, wanting to stick it deep into the beasts throat and at least taking it with him.

The creature’s mouth opened and he saw all the long and sharp teeth. It snapped its mouth shut…

…barely an inch in front of his face. His sword was pulled from his hands, since the beast had bitten directly into the blade.

With a hush the crowd had fallen silent and Jason wondered what was going on. ‘Why am I still alive…? Why didn’t it get me…?  Something must’ve held it back…’ Slowly he moved backwards, until he felt his back brush against the arena walls.

By now the soldiers were starting to panic, some running away, others shooting at something that was still hidden from Jason’s point of view. He could hear gun blasts and explosions. Smoke and dust filled the battleground.

Suddenly he could see a figure walking towards him. When the figure came closer he noticed that she was carrying a huge rifle, which she used to fire at the soldiers aiming for her. Suddenly she let go of it, taking a grenade out of a bag at her belt, removing the pin and throwing it into the crowd.

“We’d better get going. They’ll soon realize that it’s just me and no one else.” She said. Jason nodded, unable to take his eyes of her. ‘I know her… she looks familiar…’ he thought for himself, as the girl dragged him along to one of the doors leading out of the arena.

“Where are the others held?” she asked. “How... how do you know that it’s not just me?” Jason asked. “Because I saw you all getting carried away by them.” She replied.

Jason led her to the preparation room, where the others were surprised to see that he was still alive. They were even more surprised to learn that the strange girl, nobody had ever seen her before, had come to rescue them all and had done so completely alone.

“Who… who are you?” Jason asked after they had run away from the preparation room. They couldn’t escape from the camp right at the moment, because Osee’s troops were far too suspicious of anybody.

The girl with the brown eyes looked at him for a long time. “You know me…” was all she said, before turning away, leaving Jason standing with his mouth open in bewilderment.

“We should get going.” She said. She turned around and walked away, until she noticed that Jason was staring at her. “Something wrong?” she asked.

With shock and disbelieve Jason stared at the three birthmarks that created a triangle on her left shoulder.

“This can’t be…” he muttered. “What the hell is wrong with you Jason?” one of his comrades asked.

With shaking hands Jason pointed at the birthmarks. “There… there’s only one person in the world that carries such marks…” he whispered and tears started to flow out of his eyes.

“But… why are you a girl… Jay…”

The girl winced, then a sad look appeared on her face. “I had hoped you wouldn’t notice it… Yes, I am Jay. Or rather was…”

The other soldiers couldn’t believe what they were hearing. “This girl is Jay…?” “The friendly boy who died in the attack?” “How is he still alive…?”

“It’s a long story… for now just call me Jane. I will explain everything later, after we got out of here.”

Right in that moment a voice boomed out. “Flamethrowers ready! FIRE!!”

The group spun around just in time to see about thirty enemy soldiers, pointing their guns at them. About five carried large flamethrowers, which were spitting red and orange flames.

“JAY!” Jason shouted. He still wasn’t accustomed to the fact that his brother was still alive, much less that he had transformed into a girl. “I don’t want to lose you again…” he breathed, but it was too late. The flames had already consumed the girl.

Then something strange happened.

Instead of passing through Jane and consuming the others too, the flames concentrated at the point she had been standing. Slowly the blasts of fire turned into a whirling ball of death.

Everybody’s jaw hit the floor when the fire ball turned into a giant dragon.

It soared high into the air and then arced down onto the soldiers that had fired the weapons. The five men with the flamethrowers were burned to crisps in less than a heartbeat.

A few wisps of fire still hung in the air, but most of it had vanished, being consumed in the attack. For that is what it was.

Now that the flames had gone, the men could make out a shadow at the initial impact point of the flames.

Jane was still standing. Her eyes were half closed and Jason could see that they were glowing blood red. Unnatural windblasts twirled her hair around and two fireballs, big as beach balls, were dancing in her hands.

“I’d suggest you let us go.” She whispered in a dark and creepy voice, which was still audible to everybody. “Otherwise this could get a bit messy.”

As one the soldiers dropped their weapons and ran.

The fire burned out and Jane turned towards her brother and the others, her eyes back to the deep brown color. “We should go too…” she breathed and fell forward, completely unconscious.

-------------------

Two days later Jane opened her eyes again. “You’re awake!” Jason acknowledged this immediately and helped her to get into an upright position.

“Wha… what happened?” Jane asked. She was still a little fuzzy in her mind. “Well, after you saved us all from those fire blasts and chased the soldiers away, you fell unconscious. It’s been two days now and…” he stopped, unable to go on.

“You were concerned for me…” Jane whispered. “Y-yes.” Jason answered. “I’m your brother after all.”  She smiled at him.

“Where did you learn those… fire control skills? I really thought that it was over when they fired at us…” he asked. “Maybe one day I’ll tell you.” She smirked, as she responded. “Right now Osee is more important.” A fierce look settled on her face, matching that of her brother, which formed only a heartbeat later.

“Yes. He has to pay for what he has done to our country.”