Anduik: Jennifer and Linden

Chapter One

HI. If you didn't know -- which im sure you didn't -- my name's Jennifer. Right now Im walking down a three mile long tunnel, about to get a five week crash course on how to save the world.

Okay, maybe we should back up a bit.

It all started about 2 months ago, September 23rd, 2011. I was walking home from school(bored and grumpy as usual) when it happened. I had just started crossing the street when, suddenly, a car came screeching out of nowhere. I was terrified, of course(who wouldn't be?) but not being able to escape the car I stood there in the headlights like an idiotic frightened deer and waited for certain doom. Ten seconds. Nothing happened. I cautiously opened my eyes -- and almost fell over from shock. The car was hovering a few feet above the road, frozen completely still. It had some type of yellow force field surrounding the entire car, and the poor driver was freaking out, scrabbling around inside the car and trying to get out. But he was stuck in there, and that door wasn't opening anytime soon.

after standing there and staring for a really long time, gaping so wide im sure I looked like an idiot, I finally walked slowly back to my house and in the door, still gawking at the strange sight in front of me. As soon as I shut the door, I heard a crash and the sound of tires squealing, so I guess its okay and the guy wasn't hurt. that's a good thing. I wouldn't want him to be injured just because he was driving down my road. maybe a wizard lives on my street or something.

"Jennifer, is that you?" my mom called from the living room. "There's leftovers in the fridge if you're hungry." Normally I would have just grunted, grabbed a soda, and crashed in my room watching Dragon Ball Z or something. But today I was too stunned to do anything but slowly sit on the couch and stare in to space. Instead of asking what was wrong, my mom(like the weirdo she is) sat on the couch by me with this knowing look and said "Tell me how it happened." like she somehow knew that something super strange just happened in front of our house. I was obviously very confused by her reaction, but nevertheless I went ahead and told her the whole story. After I finished, she didn't look mystified at all. Instead she sighed "I guess the Wise will make you go on that Imogul mission now that you've got your powers. And I was hoping it could all be resolved without you. Oh. . . well."

At which point I accused her of being crazy and told her to go lie down for the rest of the day.

"No, wait!" she pleaded. "Just listen to me first, I promise it'll all make sense."  Oh, boy. I thought. So, I sat myself down and prepared to listen to my moms explanation of what had happened. This promises to be interesting.   

According to my mother I was a member of an ancient race called the Anduik (AHN-day-ook). They looked mostly like humans, except sometimes they had oddly colored hair, eyes, or any other body part that could be weirdly colored,  which explained why eyes were purple. they also tended to be fine-boned, with small noses and slightly pointed ears. wow, the only time in my life ive ever been normal. a really long time ago our race had been nearly hunted to extinction because we were 'different'. like bullying, but on a MUCH larger scale. There goes my sense of normalcy. it was fun while it lasted, I guess. the group of people later called the Wise (a bunch of Gandalf-type people from what I hear) had gathered us together into hidden places, so we couldnt be found. many decades we had lived in solitude, until people forgot about us. then, and only then, did we come out of seclusion. this time we were smarter. we did not reveal our presence nor use our power. slowly we infiltrated ourselves into human society once more, always wary, always secretly. like those guys in spy movies. my mother, father, and i were members of those of us who were among the cities.

when asked about our magics, my mother said this: all Anduik are capable of spells and other things of that sort, but some were stronger than others. our powers were gained around teen age, the youngest being 12 and the oldest 21. in the 5-6 years after we first got our powers we were at our strongest. usually Anduik had a specialty in some type of magic, such as healing, fighting, dealing with other-worldly things, etc. this did not emerge, though, until we were around 25, which was another reason why teen magicians were so valued.

my mothers mysterious comment earlier was also asked about, for which she also had an explanation. there was this evil dude whose name was Imogul, and he was planning to destroy the world on December 30. the reason it had to be that date was some long, complicated thing from his childhood i didn't really listen to. anyway, now that i had gotten my powers, the Wise would want me, along with 3 other kids my age, to go on a five-day long journey to stop him. before that, we would get 5 weeks to learn all that we could from the most effective teachers of our race. the reason i had to be one of the four was that i was one of the most powerful of the Anduik alive, which was evidenced by what had happened earlier. most Anduik only experienced something very small on thier first day, and almost none of them would be able to lift a car. even a bean would be slightly difficult for your average new magician.

for weeks afterward i would come home from a tortured day of school with new questions on my mind, one of the first of which was: " who hunted us all to extinction? it couldnt have been all human work." this, of course, was true. my mother went on to explain that aside from the Anduik, there were two new races that i didnt know about. one of them -- the one that had actually done most of the destroying -- was the Meridac't. they resembled something like the orcs from Tolkiens tales -- which was most likely where he got the inspiration for them, as he was one of the few humans that knew we existed and didnt try to kill us. instead he seemed content to learn all he could and wander among our realm. the Meridac't were scaled like fish, slimy, and had webbed feet and hands. thier eyesight was not as good as ours, with which we could see many miles, but it was good enough. thier sense of hearing, though, was exceptionally sharpened. they were feared and hated by our people, and by the other race -- Dunaid.

Dunaids, unlike the Meridac't, were a peaceful people. they were hardy and wily creatures, but often very friendly once they knew you were not an enemy. Dunaid tend to be on the small side, the tallest being 3 feet 2 inches, but dont be fooled. they have been known to be capable of killing 10 or more Meridac't alone. thier faces are craggy, and if they sit very still, you might mistake them for a rock, except for thier wings. thier wings are an entire contradiction to the rest of them. they are sparkly and shiny and colorful, much like a bubble in sunlight. Dunaid prefer to live alongside us in the forests and woods. we lived up in the trees themselves, though, while they preferred the earthy, cozy caves dug into the forest floor. And thus ends my boring tirade of information for you. sorry about that guys, but it had to be done.

one day i came home to find mom in the middle of the living room surrounded by piles of our stuff. "mom? what are you doing?" i asked, a little worried. she looked up with this urgent look in her eyes and said only this.

"its time."

we were leaving our home for Falin, land of the Anduik.