Novels by 1stCerulean

It happened so suddenly that if Colin and Honey were even half a second slower, Zafir would be dead by now.

The Maleficent Air Tournament was a wyvern lover's paradise on Earth, held over a span of three or four days, in an island in the middle of the Wildlands territory south of the City State of Bali. It boasts its own private Portal Terminal, a resort town, the Tournament grounds, and of course, its own Border System. Public access is allowed for the resort and the terminal, but the grounds (which actually make up about 70% of the entire island) are closed off until Tournament period. Being a Tournament open to all three races and thus gaining attention from all levels of society, the competition among the participants is fierce. However, their hot-blooded drive to dominate in a show like this pales to nothing compared to the energy generated by the fans and enthusiasts in the betting hall. For the next few days, staggering amounts of money and assets will be changing hands, making or breaking the fortunes of the people involved. Since his father is the Tournament's sole proprietor, Co

Madam Josefa was all dolled-up. She wore crimson robes embroidered with chrysanthemums in silver and black thread, and her white curls were done up in matching black pins that twinkled in the light. Her fan today was of the same shade as her robes. Even as she gave me that ominous prediction, she stood tall (figuratively, since she's only five-foot-three) and confident. She reminded me of Grandma Susana and her wealthy old lady friends who like having tea parties in gardens, or playing high-stakes mahjong in the mansion. I could easily imagine Madam Josefa in that crowd, and I wondered if she and Grandma Susana weren't already friends. I glanced at her escort, dressed in his trademark white racing suit, with his initials emblazoned in bold black letters on his chest. I haven't seen him in months. Elves are naturally tall and leanly built, but Colin was more on the short and stocky. He was only six feet tall, and in my five-inch platf

Morning came bright and sunny. I woke up too late to join the others for breakfast, but Bea assured me there was nothing to worry about. According to her, everyone was pretending I hadn't dramatically walked out of the dining room after a short, emotional outburst that would have gotten me a scolding if Grandma Susana had been present. In fact, no one seemed to want to talk about Dad's decision to retire and work with the AG, or my decision to...well, I actually hadn't decided yet. That talk with Dad hit me harder than I thought it would. Maybe it's because ever since meeting Madam Josefa, I had been thinking about my current situation from different perspectives: the perspective of my family, for one, and the perspective of the Tower, for another. In all honesty, I wouldn't be having this problem at all if I hadn't been a Vega. The TWMO has full authority when it comes to the Gifted--from evaluating and training them, to policing and de

It was Marcus who first figured out I had a special power. He was the one who told the adults that I did something strange that day. It was a few weeks after the butterfly incident. We were in my bedroom, sitting on the carpeted floor, playing with Nanny's old dog Corgi (who was actually a beagle, and not a corgi at all). Corgi was a sweet dog, with dull grey fur that blended with the pavement, but had beautiful brown eyes that made you want to give him every scrap of food you could spare. Needless to say, Corgi was fat and arthritic and couldn't move very fast. This made him the prime target of a six year old girl who had just learned how to tie ribbons. There were already five ribbons haphazardly tied to his tail, in almost every shade of the rainbow. Marcus handed me a black ribbon to tie around his floppy ears when we heard a faint thump, like something heavy had been dropped. Corgi stood up, suddenly tense and alert, and a second later he dashed out o

None of us were surprised that Dad had chosen Conrad as his successor. We were surprised though, by the fact that Dad chose to tell us NOW. I was especially worried, because I could tell that although this succession announcement was important for him, there was something else he really wanted to talk about. Anxiety and guilt flew like sparks around him and because Dad is one of those naturally confident types, seeing him like this was... disturbing. The others, though, thought that his retirement was the biggest news they were going to hear tonight. After a few seconds of stunned silence, everyone began talking at once--congratulating Conrad and making jokes. It was only Conrad who was protesting. Beneath his surprise was a thick current of worry and uncertainty. No one in the family would ever contest his claim as the most qualified to step into Dad's shoes, so the uncertainty was more about his own assessment of himself. My eldest bro