Shadow: Hey guys!! Here's the revised Quest of Zyrith! The basic plot is still the same, but I've changed the charcters and some other things... Katrina is no longer a Chosen, but will appear in later chapters. Don't forget to review!!

The Quest of Zyrith

Chapter one: The earthquake

Cold. Very cold. That was all 15-year old Natasha could feel. She and her family had been separated when an earthquake hit their place. They were in the mall, and the earthquake caused commotion. The shaking of the building refrained her from keeping up with her parents who were trying to lead the family out of the building. The panic-stricken people separated her and her 12-year old sister, who also wasn’t able to keep up with the pace of their parents. Natasha knew that it was useless to try and find her sister with the crowd panicking around her. All she could do was hope that her sister and her parents would make it out alive. Natasha was able to get out right before the building collapsed, but she had no idea as to what happened to her family.

She was sitting on the sidewalk in front of what once used to be the mall. It had collapsed just as she got out. There didn’t seem to be any other survivors aside from herself. All around were the ruins of other buildings and schools. She could see just how destructive that earthquake was. She had never felt so alone. She was shivering in the cold night wind, but she didn’t notice. Actually she didn’t care. She just wished this never happened.

The sound of debris being moved around immediately alerted her. Turning around hopefully, she quickly scanned the place to see what or even better, who had made the sound, but nothing was moving, nothing else seemed to be alive aside from her.

Sighing, she turned back to what remained of the once so active place, which was now dull and lifeless. But there was someone standing in front of her. She fell backwards with a shriek. The person was an old man with a white beard that looked like it hadn’t been cut in years. He was wearing a white robe and holding a long staff.

“I hope I didn’t scare you,” the old man said in a partly amused voice.

Natasha was so surprised to see someone breathing, talking and well...alive that she stammered an answer “Huh? N-no! Of course not! Y-you just s-s-startled m-me.”

The old man smiled. “ Of course I did. You thought you were the only one who survived this, didn’t you?” He gestured to the ruined buildings then turned back to her. “Do you know how you survived?” he asked.

Natasha raised her eyebrow. “I ran out?”

The old man bent down. “You weren’t just lucky.” he said, “It is also because you have special powers protecting you. You’re one of the Chosen”

“Chosen?” she repeated, puzzled “What do you mean?”

“What I mean is, that earthquake was not an ordinary earthquake.” he said “It was caused by a power surge in my world, the Kingdom of Zyrith. Our king, Valgard, has become corrupt and now plans to throw our world into darkness so he can obtain ultimate power. You, along with a few others have been chosen to save Zyrith.”

“Me?! What can I do?! I’m just an ordinary girl!”

The old man rested his hand on Natasha’s shoulder. “You, my dear are anything but ordinary.” And with that, the old man stood and started to leave.

“Hey wait! Um,... uh... Mr...”

The old man smiled and proclaimed in a proud voice. “I am Daswel, former Chosen of the Dark. But now, I’m your advisor.”

“Uh... right...” Natasha answered, willing herself to believe this all was true.

“Come, we must meet with the other Chosen.” Daswel said, leading the way with Natasha trailing behind.

After walking for a while, Natasha found herself in the park. There were seven other people, but it was dark so she couldn’t make out any faces.

As she drew nearer, a familiar chorus of voices met her ears. She looked ahead and saw three figures running towards her. ‘Oh my gosh... Is this for real?’

“Nat!!” Natasha was suddenly pulled into a tight hug. “I can’t believe it’s you! We thought you were dead!”

“E-Emmy?”

Emmy released her friend. Her eyes, though clearly showing her happiness, were red and puffy, revealing that she’d been crying.

“Nat!!” came two other voices.

Natasha looked over Emmy’s shoulder and found herself beyond words. Coming towards her were her two other friends, Iruki, and Hai Ping.

“Thank heavens they’re alive...” Natasha murmured as she was once again pulled into a hug. The pain of losing her family remained, but was somehow eased by the fact her friends were still with her.

Daswel watched their reunion with a somewhat amused look on his face. ‘They are very young... I wonder if they can handle what they’re going up against...’ Clearing his throat, Daswel called the attention of the four girls.

“Sorry to interrupt, but we have little time left. Let me explain your powers.” He said, gesturing to the four others standing some distance away.

Once they were all gathered, Daswel first turned to Hai Ping, who immediately fell unusually silent. There was a look of confusion in her eyes as she watched Daswel come to stand in front of her.

“Hai Ping, correct?” Daswel asked.

“Y-yeah...”

“You are the Chosen of Metal, with the power of speed and ability to copy another’s magical capabilities. You wield the Sword of Reflection.”

Daswel walked on, stopping to face Emmy. “Emmy, you are the Chosen of Thunder and Lightning, wielding the twin Sword of Storm. You can control sound, and have the ability to command the capabilities of your enemy. In other words, you can use your enemy’s powers against them...” Daswel said with a smile, as Emmy nodded.

“Next, Henry Wong, am I right?”

“Yes, sir.” Came the reply of one of the Chosen whom Natasha didn’t know.

He was a bit tall, had raven hair that parted over to one side, and gray eyes. ‘He’s actually a bit cute...’ Natasha thought, a slight smile playing on her lips.

“You are Chosen of Ice.” Daswel said to Henry. “Master of teleportation and Cloning. You carry the Frost Dagger.”

“Touya and Kenji, Chosen of Water and Earth respectively” Daswel said, gesturing over to two guys standing over at the back of the group. They were twins, both had dark blue hair and amber eyes. “Chosen Of Water, power of mental telepathy and ability to shape shift. Wielder of the Arrows of Purity. While the Chosen of Earth has healing powers and the ability to move objects with his mind. You are also the Wielder of the Arrows of Rebirth.”

“Warren, Chosen of Fire.” Daswel said, nodding to a guy with shoulder length brown hair. “Power of mind control and speed. Wielder of the Spear of Eternal Flame.”

“Chosen of Light,” Daswel said, turning to Iruki. “with the ability to control physical movement and absorb the magical energy of her enemies. You carry the Holy Staff.”

Finally, he turned to Natasha. “Chosen of both Wind and Dark, Wielder of the Shadow Staff, with the power of invisibility and,” Daswel paused for a moment as if hesitating, but soon continued. “and the power to steal souls.”

Silence was met by Daswel’s words. Natasha looked up at the old man, confusion and fear in her eyes. “I- I don’t understand...”

Daswel bent down and said, “Your powers lean more on the element of Darkness rather than on Wind, and because of this you must be careful, for the Darkness can overpower you at anytime, if you don’t control it.”

Natasha just nodded, unable to say anything. ‘Chosen of Wind and Dark... power to steal souls... what have I gotten myself into...’

“This is the portal that will lead you to Zyrith.” Daswel announced, pointing to a huge shining sphere of light hanging in midair. “Are you ready, Chosen Ones?”

Silence again greeted his words as the Chosen stared at the portal. A portal that would take them away from their dimension, into another world. A world full of lies and deception, a world where anything could happen.