Fifteen-year-old Ryan Constave feels like a total geek. He has lived his entire life in the shadow of his older sister and his best friend, both of whom are smart, attractive, and athletic. The only thing Ryan feels like he has going for him is his straight-as-an-arrow moral compass, but even that seems to get him into trouble. One day, while trying to avoid some of his bully classmates, Ryan visits his elderly friend, Aiden, and hears a story about the Six Elements-magical objects that are said to grant remarkable powers to those who wield all of them. That same night, Ryan is blinded by a white light that transports him to a mystical world filled with wizards, elves, and talking horses. In this world, danger awaits around every corner. In a desperate bid to return home alive, Ryan enlists the help of two half-elf, half-human allies, Illian and Alantria, who serve as both Ryan's protectors and teachers. As Ryan sets out to find the Six Elements and use their power to send him home, he learns that that the fate of this strange new world and its inhabitants now rests entirely on his shoulders. But with his newfound power, Ryan is also faced with a dilemma: stay true to his morals-which have brought him nothing but misery-or abandon that path in favor of seizing what he deserves.

Auszug. � Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

THE PHOENIX SONG

WindBy Jonathan Fok

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright � 2011 Jonathan Fok
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4620-5646-0

Chapter One

Virtues

Ryan Constave's heart was pounding in his head. His vision had long since started to tunnel so that all he could clearly see was directly in front of him. His backpack bounced around madly on his back and with each pounding footstep, Ryan could feel the nylon strap cutting into his shoulder.

The street flew by as Ryan continued to push forward as fast as his thin frame would allow. Somewhere behind him, Ryan could hear shouting and although some part of him wanted to turn around to see what kind of a lead he had on his pursuers he had seen enough movies to know that the moment he turned his head to look he would trip and fall. Instead, his mind raced as he tried to determine when everything went wrong.

The day had started as most Tuesday mornings did, with his alarm clock screaming at his tardiness. As with most fifteen year olds concerned about their popularity, Ryan had carefully picked out an outfit for the day, something that he believed was hip and cool. Now as he glanced down at his blue t-shirt with an emblem of a metallic dragon pressed into the front, Ryan was sure his definition of cutting edge fashion did not exactly line up with today's popular culture. Blood from the cut lip he had incurred after a nasty spill earlier speckled the emblem, ruining his favorite shirt.

Should not have worn my Warcraft jacket Ryan thought to himself as he cursed himself with every sprinting step. With his social status at school already on the low end, Ryan mentally kicked himself for making the rookie mistake of wearing something that people could so easily ridicule. To make matters worse he did not even own a computer and the jacket was a gift from a friend who had one to spare. Even in the digital age, he did not even own a cell phone with his father thinking that the radiation from the phone would cause him to grow a brain tumor. That alone made him the butt end of many Luddite jokes.

Taking a corner as quickly as he could, Ryan felt his feet slipping under the sudden change in direction. Just as he managed to regain his footing, he heard a thunderous roar of anger and a quick glance down the street revealed an angry duo storming towards him. Without missing a beat, Ryan continued to run hoping that his pursuers were not smart enough to attempt to cut him off.

Reaching back once again, Ryan's memories skipped forward to the second mistake he had made that day. It had happened during his forty-five minute hike to school. Ryan had walked to same route so many times he could have done the journey blindfolded and with the lack of anything scenic on the trip, he would not have missed much. With no cell phone or ipod to occupy his mind, Ryan had grabbed a fallen branch and begun to slash the air around him. In his mind, the trees around him had turned into towering monsters, their branches now hideous limbs that reached out to grab him. The cracks in the sidewalk became fissures, threatening to swallow him completely while his stick became a gleaming sword, ready to hack and slice through any demon that would confront him. So engrossed in his imaginary world, Ryan had nearly struck a trio of girls who were rounding a blind corner. While normally Ryan would brush off the incident and quickly escape, one of the girls he had almost struck was his childhood crush: Catherine Hardy. In a feeble attempt to redeem himself, Ryan remembered the completely unimpressed look on Catherine's face as he muttered something about swatting bugs before scampering away with his tail between his legs. While the incident was embarrassing enough, Ryan knew that either Catherine or her friends would report the incident to their friends. His humiliation would spread through the school like wildfire.

The shouting behind Ryan jolted him back to the present. His legs were screaming in agony and his breathing becoming increasing labored, Ryan was beginning to regret angering one of the track stars of his school. While Ryan was fast on his feet, his thin feeble frame was built for short bursts of speed and not marathons. Already he could feel him reaching his endurance limit. The track stars pursuing him however, were one of the town's fastest one-kilometer runners.

Mistake number four. Ryan thought to himself. Even his thoughts were starting to come out in ragged gasps. Barely avoiding a honking car as he sprinted across a residential street in an effort to elude his pursuers, Ryan began to cut through some backyards. The one advantage he did have was that he was intimately familiar with this neighborhood having spent many lazy summer days near here.

Vaulting over a shrub, Ryan's mind drifted off one last time as he recounted his third and what he was sure the most significant mistake of the day.

His sister Megan, a budding psychologist with no real knowledge in the field had diagnosed him with obsessive-compulsive disorder stemming with his overpowering timid nature and his black-and-white view of the ethics and morals. Seven years his elder, Ryan knew that his sister loved him but she was far too old to be a playmate. Although she tried to look out for him Ryan was convinced she had long forgotten what it was like to be a teenager in Junior High. Contrary to his sister's insistence, classmates and bullies did not respond well to assertive demands of `stop it; I do not like you pushing'. All that did was fuel the fire.

With his inflexibility when it came to right and wrong, Ryan really only had one real friend. A former neighbor, Cory Schell had since moved across the city although he did remain a classmate. Sharing somewhat similar interests, particularly in the realm of fantasy and role-playing, Cory never had as much problems as Ryan did when it came to fitting in. In contrast to Ryan in every way, Cory was a stellar student, natural soccer player and a physically imposing figure with a heart of gold, Cory was well liked by everyone. While he could have easily shrugged off his previous relationship with Ryan after moving, Cory remained steadfast. Ryan was not sure whether Cory simply felt sorry for him or truly enjoyed his company but he did not question it for fear of ruining a good thing.

It was with Cory that Ryan had made his third mistake. The pair was walking casually through the halls after the final bell had rung. Cory, with a smile on his face and head held high while Ryan dragged his feet next to him, head down and looking pathetic.

"Cheer up man, it was just a pop quiz, you'll get it next time" Cory said with a firm pat on Ryan's shoulder. Ryan winced but otherwise showed no change in emotion.

"I got four states right" Ryan grumbled. "Out of the fifty States in the US I managed to name four of them. How sad is that?"

Cory shrugged as he waved at his fellow soccer teammates, "hey man you're Canadian. You don't have to know everything about the States right?"

Ryan gave Cory a pathetic look to which his friend responded with a heavy sigh.

"Look Ryan it's not the end of the world, relax! The quiz was worth like one percent of your total mark."

"You're right" Ryan muttered, "not like I was going for a hundred percent anyways right?"

Cory either pretended not to hear Ryan's self-deprecating comment or chose to ignore it as the pair continued down the hall.

"Hey Ryan where is your stick?"

Ryan looked up at his name but immediately averted his gaze from...

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