Akina
by: karen marie dumont

Akina walked down the overly crowded hallways of Meredith High School for what felt like the twenty-billionth time at the steady pace she had become so accustomed to. It was hard not to think about the scene that had just unfolded and her steps became agitated and edgy. “How could I be so stupid?” The silent cry was no more than a whisper, but had enough of a harsh tone to make her cringe. Akina just couldn’t believe Katia Sanders, her absolute worst enemy, had just found out her biggest secret on this living earth. She couldn’t believe that Katia knew about her powers.
Everyday since Akina stumbled upon the powers that set her apart from the rest of the teenagers she associated with, she had strived to keep it a secret. For you see, Akina had was empowered by a rare and strange magic that enabled her to do just about anything she wanted. Although the beautiful seventeen year old knew she had power, she didn’t know how she had it or to what extent her abilities went. The only catch was that she saw all sorts of things. Spirits to be exact. Some that were evil and some that were good. The good ones guided her in destroying the evil ones.
“Where is she?” Akina fumed as she continued her search for her best friend, Bella Worthington, to tell her the horrible affair. Bella Worthington is the only person Akina had ever entrusted with the knowledge of the secret that separated reality from her world. Akina’s pace quickened, her long flowing white hair swinging wildly in and out of place behind her. The vibrant pink that streaked it shone under the florescent lights of the tiny school hallway.
Finally after what seemed like years of searching, Akina found Bella with her two other closest friends, Devin Hutchinson and Krystal Star. “Hey dorks!” she called out playfully in spite of her dreadful mood. The three turned simultaneously towards her and were immediately by her side.
“Akina we’ve been looking everywhere for you!” Devin shouted so loud that Akina had to take a few steps back to keep from falling. Her large leather boots clanked against the cement floor and she almost snagged her favorite black wool sweater on the safety pins that ran through her above the knee black skirt. Against her will she found herself thinking that if they really had been looking for her she might have seen them sooner. Though she quickly pushed the thought out of her head with the return of the fact that they were now standing there with her and that was what was important.
“Whoa there! Down boy! What’s up?” Akina could see the nervous excitement on the faces of her friends as she asked the question.
They all looked at her in awe for a few seconds, and then Krystal was the first to speak,
“Didn’t you hear?”
“Hear what?” Akina inquired.
“Katia sanders is running around the school causing an uproar” Devin could hardly contain his worry as he spoke. Akina was beginning to feel a huge pressure on her as though the walls were closing in on her. “Security took her into custody a few seconds ago; they think she’s gone off the deep end.”
“What?!?” Akina couldn’t tell if she should be relieved of nervous. She knew that this would have something to do with her, and she wondered who everyone would believe in the end.
“Yeah, she has been running around telling everyone…” Devin hesitated before he spoke. He probably wouldn’t have said another word if Akina hadn’t been bearing her eyes into his like daggers. “…telling everyone that you’re a witch.”
Akina could feel her blood run cold. Her face had paled she knew, yet she struggled to gain her composure as she let out a strangled little laugh and tried to play it off as funny. “What the heck is she smoking? That girl must be on some kind of drugs, I mean that has to be the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard.” The silence that followed gave Akina a sense of betrayal. Unintentionally her fists clenched and she felt as though she would sock the people she loved if they didn’t talk soon.
“Of course that is ridiculous. That girl is obviously an attention hog or something. I mean she would even act crazy just to get some media.” To Akina the voice was as welcome as a singing angel, but she knew it for what it was. The person who spoke was the same person who was always there for Akina to bail her out of any sticky situation she got in to, and Akina got into some as sticky as molasses. She turned towards Bella and gave her a look of sincere appreciation as the conversation lightened with the teasing of Katia Sanders. Bella had been Akina’s friend since the sixth grade, and they knew each other so well they even finished each others sentences.
When it became clear that they wouldn’t be missed to terribly, Akina made an excuse to get alone with Bella to talk about what had happened. “Bella we have to get to class early today remember? We have that huge test to make up.”
The young girl with chestnut hair got the idea right away. “Oh crud! Your right, we got to go guys. See ya later.” As soon as they were out of earshot of the other two, Bella pounced on Akina with the strictness of their history teacher. “What the heck happened?”
“She saw me.”
“WHAT!?!” Bella shouted so loud that Akina cringed.
“Will you be quiet?” She snapped silently. “It’s not like I had a choice.” A sudden look of understanding came over Bella’s face.
“Oh so there was a…” She paused, not wanting to say the next word out loud. Akina got the meaning though and nodded solemnly. “Really? It must have been pretty bad for you to fight it right here in public.”
“It was unlike any I have ever come across. This spirit had a form. It looked like a man, and it was so strong too. I got it to go away, but I couldn’t even kill it.” Akina watched Bella’s eyes widen in horror as she told her tale. Akina had gone up against some awful things in life, having been in a gang and because she came from a haunting family who held only abuse for Akina. Bella had even witnessed Akina die once, but she had even been strong enough to wake up from that.
Bella was so largely entangled in Akina’s life that she couldn’t turn back if she wanted to and she listened aptly as Akina continued her tale. “This spirit even had a name. Zandalin I think. He was the strangest person ever, and Katia could even see him. He said that he had come to kill me, but I guess he was shocked by how well I handled myself because when I blocked his first attack he lost his composure. After I finally got him to get out of here he said the classic “I’ll be back” line and disappeared. I would have used my power to make Katia forget, but by the time I had turned around, she was already out of the room and I couldn’t find her.”
The last words had left a feeling of dread in the air and Bella had to think of something to say before the silence overtook her. “Why do you think he wants you dead?” Definitely not the words she knew she should have said, but they had just come out.
“I haven’t got a single clue.” Akina sighed, she really didn’t know. “But I’m going to find out. If only I didn’t have to worry about Katia too.”
“Don’t even waste your breath on her, nobody will believe her. I mean they haven’t got any proof and the idea of it must seem farfetched to them.”
“Yeah I guess your right.”
“Good now lets go to class and we can think about this later.”
“Alright” Akina followed her friend to class, but she knew she would never be able to concentrate. This Zandalin guy had meant business, but she knew she could take him. What was really bothering her was that Katia had always gotten her way before, so why should this time be any different? As Akina went into the classroom she found herself wondering in the end, who would everyone believe?

“Finally school is out.” Akina said to herself as she took her normal shortcut home through an abandoned park. Despite the massive population of Brooklyn, it seemed to her that every soul moved around this small chunk of land that had become paradise for Akina’s quieter soul. As she continued through the park she felt the air around her change. She knew that an evil spirit had come into the area and she knew not to give her game away. So Akina continued nonchalantly towards the other side of the park. When she felt it come closer she knew it was time to attack. With the swift force of a samurai, Akina turned and prepared to attack.
A sharp blow to the side stopped short the awesome energy that was about to come out of Akina. Stunned, she fell backwards to the ground as she saw who the assailant was. It was none other than Zandalin, the strange attacker who had almost given away her secrets in the halls of Meredith High only hours before. “Who are you?” She questioned not letting her excitement at getting a second chance to pulverize this guy shine through. On the contrary she put on a sweet helpless scared face to see if she could get him to underestimate her.
“You know who I am. Do not play games child.” The ground shook with each word he spoke. Akina watched his eyes searching hers and tried to look away but it was too late. “Why do you pretend to be scared and weak? I know that you aren’t”
“You’re a clever little mind reader aren’t you?” Akina got up and brushed the dirt off of her skirt. She had been hoping to have some fun with this guy, but from the looks of it there would be no games, just a battle and a win. “Well in that case, what are you here for?” The words that followed sent an involuntary chill down Akina’s spine. It wasn’t that she was afraid, she didn’t really know fear. It was more that the way he said it was creepy.
“I have come to kill you, Akina.” With that he shot a surge of energy at her, which she blocked with ease.
“Alright, I understand that you have come to kill me, but why?”
“Because if I don’t, then you will be queen.” Akina had been just about to fire up a real strong attack that would have blown this loser to Timbuckfour, but as he said those words she lost concentration and accidentally blew up a tree. It burst into flames and Akina knew it wouldn’t be long before firefighting crews were here. She had to get out of here. First she wanted answers.
“What do you mean queen? Queen of where?” Amusement was apparent in his eyes as Zandalin realized that she didn’t have the insight to this matter that he had. Akina thought she saw something else though, shock or disbelief.
“So you mean, you do not know what I am talking about?” Akina shook her head and shrugged. Zandalin burst out in laughter.
“What, may I ask, is so funny?”
“You are going to become queen if I do not kill you of an entire world, yet you did not even know. How could you rule a place you have never heard of?” Akina could hear sirens approaching and knew it was time to split.
“We’ll talk later” She said as she disappeared into the nearby trees. To her surprise nobody followed her. As she continued at a slightly faster than usual pace her thoughts trailed back to what Zandalin had said. “He must be crazy” She thought out loud, but even as she spoke the words she heard the truth inside, there was no such thing as a crazy spirit.

Akina woke up shivering. Turning to her left she saw that her window was wide open. “That’s funny I don’t remember opening my window.” She thought as she got out of her bed to go close it. Slowly she pulled off her blankets, climbed out of bed, and made her way towards the opposite side of the room. The window didn’t have a screen, but she wasn’t worried since she was on the second floor. Not to mention at two in the morning, Akina wasn’t really all that concerned that somebody might have been trying to break in. As she reached to pull the window closed, she heard a breath behind her as a voice came through the darkness and shattered the golden silence.
“I wouldn’t close that if I were you, you’ll be going through it in a few minutes.” Akina turned around, ready for a fight, but when she saw the intruder she stopped short and her breath caught in her throat. She was staring at perfection. The voice belonged to a guy, from the looks of it Akina’s age. He had blonde hair that went slightly below his shoulders, but was pulled back by a strand on either side. He had a beautiful face, but what really caught Akina’s attention were his eyes. They were a deep gray blue and Akina found she was lost in them.
“Who are you?” Akina asked when she finally managed to breathe again.
“My name is ???????”
“That may be your name, but who are you? And how did you get in here?” It was the main thing on Akina’s mind at the moment, considering the only way up would be a ladder or to fly.
“Forgive me princess, I am…”
“Princess?” Akina was extremely confused now. First Zandalin was talking about her becoming queen, now this guy who had just appeared out of nowhere was calling her a princess. “I think you must be mistaken. I’m not a princess.”
“Ah, but you are, Akina. You are a princess, my bride.” With that he crossed the room to her and held her tightly as he tenderly kissed her. As soon as their lips made contact, memories flooded Akina’s mind like a river in spring. Suddenly she knew exactly what ??????? was talking about. Akina saw for the first time, her real parents. Her real world. As they pulled apart, Akina felt her legs cave beneath her, and she collapsed into the waiting arms of ????????. She looked for the first time, into the eyes of the man she loved.
“?????????. Where have you been?”
“Akina, when you were born, there was a horrible war going on between your parents, the king and queen, and an evil sorcerer named Zandalin. There is an ancient magic that controls the rule of the kingdom of ……….., a magic that is broken if the royal line ends. Zandalin was trying desperately to murder your parents before you were born so that he could take over the kingdom. However we were fortunate enough that you were born before he could. Your mother knew that you would never survive if you stayed in the kingdom, even in our world. So she sent you here.”
“Akina, you live in a whole different dimension. A whole different time and place.”
Akina was beginning to understand, but thoughts were still puzzling to her. “How is it, how are we? We must have been kind of young to be in love. Seeing as I was just born and all.”
???????’s eyes were filled with an excited sparkle as he answered her question. “Long ago, even before the time of your parents, a prophesy was made. It was about a child, a beautiful girl who would go away from the world, but would return and rescue her home from the evil clutches of a dark lord. It also spoke of love forming between this girl and a warrior from Enchland. The prophecy was written on a tapestry that hung in the castle, when you were sent away, the tapestry ripped in half, at the very same time I got a very unique scar.”
As he spoke the words he took her hand and moved it to his heart. Akina felt her heart race as he pulled off his shirt to show her what was beneath. A long scar in the shape of a cross ran across his perfect skin where his heart would be. As he saw the emotion that exploded into Akina’s eyes, ?????? knew he had been correct in his assumptions. “Ah, so I was right. You have one too don’t you Akina?” She felt herself begin to shake as she struggled to answer his question.
“…Yes.” It was barely more than a whisper, but as she spoke it she knew he was right and Akina found herself, for the first time in years, crying. She dropped to the floor and buried her head in her arms. Akina hadn’t cried in five years. The last time she cried was when she was twelve, before her best friend died in her arms. That day was very clear in her mind. Akina and her best friend James had been running around playing tag in the streets of Brooklyn. James was faster than Akina and he rounded a corner with her following from a distance. Suddenly two gunshots sounded from the next street. Akina could feel her heart freeze up as she turned the corner and saw an image that never left her mind, even to this day. James lay dying on the streets.
Akina’s thoughts of the past brought fresh tears. ??????? watched her as she shook with sobs. He knelt down beside her and lifted her chin. Then he took her hands and helped her to her feet. He gently touched her cheek and wiped away her tears. Akina closed her eyes and felt his lips gently press against her shut eyelids.
“Please do not cry, Akina. You have quite a journey ahead of you.” Akina looked up and wiped away the last of her tears. She gulped down the last ounce of suspicion she had and took a deep breath.
“What must I do?” The look of relief was apparent on ??????’s face and his joy grew as he spoke his next words.
“You must return to ……… There is a battle to be fought and it will not be an easy one. Akina, you must defeat Zandalin.” ??????’s face became extremely somber as he continued to speak. “He has thousands of warriors and spies all over the kingdom.” He began walking around her room pulling out things from drawers as though he was searching for something. He continued his search, but when he turned and saw the shocked look on Akina’s face silhouetted by the moonlight shining through the window he walked over to her instead.
“Akina,” ????? touched her face as he spoke. “Do not fret, you will have help.” He began to move about the room again. “I don’t know where you will end up when you jump, but…”
“Wait? Did you say jump?” Akina had been trying to follow this conversation, but it was all a bit much for the seventeen year old to grasp. She knew she was different, but the princess of an entire world, in a different dimension? Akina could feel a few pangs of doubt starting up in her stomach. ?????? nodded and pointed to the open window. Akina shook her head. “Oh no. No way! Are you kidding me?” ????? smirked and shook his head.
“Not at all my love. You must jump, but do not look so worried. If you just have faith, then the ground will split in half for you and you will soon be where you belong. In your journey you have to help somebody. Once you get there you won’t know anything except that you are there to help somebody. You wont remember this meeting or that we are in love. Or that you are a princess.”
“Akina! Do you have somebody up there in your room?!” The question came from downstairs. Footsteps could be heard as her drunken father climbed towards her bedroom.
?????? looked at her with alarm. “Akina, you must go now. Before it is too late.” He came towards her and kissed her forehead, at that moment Akina felt something happen on that spot and reached up to feel it. To Akina’s surprise where her smooth skin used to be, a perfectly oval shaped diamond was now resting. ???? reached for her hands gently. He stared into her beautifully green eyes as he said his final words to her. “Good luck, my love.”
Akina’s father opened the door to her room in a rage. When he found whoever was in here with her he would beat them both until they bled. As the door noisily crashed open and he looked around the room and to his surprise found it completely empty. In spite of his anger, he felt a strange worry come over him as he realized that the window was wide open. Quickly he ran to the window, afraid of what he might find if he looked out, but when he looked over the edge he saw nothing. Now his anger overflowed like boiling water. “Akina!” He shouted in his rage. That girl would pay for staying out so late, as soon as she got home.

Akina could feel the energy rushing through her as she free fell through time. She couldn’t believe she had jumped, but she had and now she was falling towards some unknown destiny. The air around her grew dense and breathing became a great task. Akina had kept her eyes tightly shut throughout the trip, but she decided to open them up since the chances of her doing this again were extremely slim. Slowly she peered out at her surroundings. Whatever this place was, Akina liked it. She was in what appeared to be a purple tunnel. There were little branches of light or energy coming out from the sides. Akina was just beginning to enjoy herself when the tunnel began to shake, and then everything went black.

Jestun Spawklin was doing a great job of fighting off the demon runners and he could have killed them alone, but as he looked up for the first time he realized that he wasn’t the only person fighting them. There was another person there, a girl. He let his guard down and decided to go after her as he remembered that while he had been away looking for food, these demons had shown up and Tholinar, one of his companions, had been mortally wounded. She was about to slaughter another one of the demons when a sword came out of nowhere and pinned her to a tree.
Jestun felt himself cringe at the thought of such a beautiful girl being killed, but he had bigger fish to fry. He turned around and swung his sword at the last demon runner as it came at him. With as much force as he could muster, Jestun hurled the sword across the way and watched as it hit its target and sunk deep into the head of the demon runner. The evil creature taken care of he rushed to the aid of his friend and companion Tholinar. When he reached him, Haggles and Linden, his other two companions, were already there keeping after him.
Haggles turned towards Jestun and then motioned towards Akina, “The girl, is she dead?”
Jestun stared at the body dangling from the tree, “I would assume so. I mean not many men could take that kind of wound, and this looks like a very young…” His words were cut short by the astonishing thing that was happening. The young man couldn’t believe his eyes. As he was announcing this strange girl’s death, she had risen up and pulled the sword out from her chest. Jestun couldn’t quite see her face, because her beautiful long white hair was covering it. He watched her as she moved hurriedly towards Tholinar. She knelt down beside him and looked him over. As all the others watched, she ripped off a small section of her oversized shirt and began to dress Tholinar’s wound.
Suddenly Haggles jumped up with drawn sword and raced toward the unusual girl who had appeared out of nowhere. With a thunderous scream he ran at her. Right as he was about to swing she pulled her leg out from under her and tripped him. Haggles fell of to the side and she stood up with her hands in front of her as if surrendering.
“Who are you?” Jestun asked as the young woman pulled her hair back and for the first time showed her face. Before he could even receive an answer he knelt down to the ground and bowed down to his queen.

Akina had no clue where she was, all she knew is that she had to protect Tholinar, and these people he was with were a bit of a distraction.
“Who are you?” The man who asked the question looked like he was in his mid twenties. Akina pulled back her hair and was about to answer when something made her stop. The man was bowing to her. Akina was shocked. Just a few seconds before these men had attacked her and now they were bowing. She decided that is must be the way they greeted people and she quickly dropped to her knees as well.
“My name is Akina Elektra. I have come to protect that man.” Akina pointed at Tholinar and waited for a response from one of the other people in the area. The man who had asked her name was looking at her in wonder. She began to wonder if she had done something wrong.
“Why are you bowing to us?” The man stood and walked over to her. When he reached Akina, he stood her up nice and tall and then fell once again to his knees, “You bow to no one, Akina. My name is Jestun Spawklin. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

They had been walking through the woods for quite a while now, but they still had a long way to go for help. Akina brushed some loose hair out of her face and started to think about what had happened that day. She didn’t remember how she got here, but she knew where she was. Then she began to think about the reaction she had gotten when she pulled her hair back. She decided now was a good time to ask questions.
“Jestun?” Jestun turned towards her obediently.
“Yes Akina?”
“Why is it that when you saw my face you bowed to me? Do I know you from somewhere?” Jestun stopped walking and looked at her with disbelief. Slowly he began to move again.
“Akina, when I saw your face, I noticed the symbol upon your forehead. That is the sign of a person of great power. You must be very strong, or very powerful.”
Haggles spoke then, “Indeed you must Akina, seeing as you pulled a steel sword out of your stomach and are still walking. Not only that, but you were stabbed twice before. You are a miracle in the flesh.” What Haggles had said was true. When Akina got there, she had most literally fallen out of the sky. She had been like a spirit. Akina had floated down from the tunnel and had fallen right on top of Tholinar. At that very time, a demon runner was about to strike Tholinar with his sword, but Akina got there right as he stabbed the steel into Tholinar and the sword had gone through both of them. After that, she had been trying to kill the other seven and had gotten two more good hits in the stomach.
Akina’s train of thought was broken into at the thought of Tholinar; she glanced up at him sitting on Carmella, the caramel colored horse that had accompanied the three men along the way on their journey towards Enchland. His breathing was unsteady and he seemed to be fading. “How long until we get to Enchland?” Akina asked, feeling nervousness filling her heart.
Jestun looked at her and then at the sky and said, “Probably one more day by foot like this.” Akina could feel her jaw drop.
“But that is too long. Tholinar will be dead by then.” Linden looked at her with understanding, but he didn’t want her to get hysterical so when he spoke he laid it on strictly.
“Miss Akina, what is it you would have us do? There is room for two on that young horse, and if one of us takes Tholinar, then you will surely die. It is best just to stay together.” Akina looked around them in desperation. Suddenly an idea jumped up and bit Akina in the butt. She raced forward and grabbed for the Carmella’s reigns.
“What if I rode to Enchland, then we could both get help.” Haggles and Linden both lit up in agreement, but Jestun wasn’t getting his hopes up yet.
“Can you even ride a horse?” Akina looked at the horse that stood at least two feet over her head. She began to have second thoughts, but she looked at Tholinar and knew she had no choice.
“Of course I can ride a horse. Cant everyone?” Jestun gave her a suspicious look, but then he too looked at Tholinar and decided it would be worth a try. He turned back to Akina. The hopeful expression on his face quickly turned to worry as he saw her wobble for the first time. She was beginning to weaken and Jestun wondered how much longer she would last.