The pair continued across the school’s backyard until they reached the grassy hill erected behind the school. Dizzy from the head injury he got earlier, Kai wearily scanned the hill. On its peak stood three figures. On the left was a mixed girl dressed in a white robe with red highlights.  She had bold azure blue hair that draped past her shoulders. Her attire almost made her look like a princess. On the right was an asian boy with jet black hair. He wore a school uniform that was not familiar to Kai. The last was someone with a black hoodie pulled over their head and their hands in their pockets.

“Let’s go Kai! We’ve got to leave!” The girl stated with concern, pulling his arm once more.

Kai yanked his arm away from her angrily.

“WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?! WHAT DO YOU WANT?” Kai yelled in fear and frustration.

The hidden figure removed his hood to reveal a brown-skinned boy with a large messy afro. His face showed no emotion. Neither sadness nor joy.

Kai’s eyes widened.

“You...you’re…” 

The brown-skinned boy removes his hand from his hoodie and holds it down from the mountain towards Kai.

His mother’s words rang loudly in his ears, “They bring light that burns dark.They are called…”

“We... are the Saints.” The brown-skinned boy states calmly.

“And…we wish to bring about the end of this world.”

After he spoke, Kai felt the tension in his body begin to ease, and then, he collapsed.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Filled with a spirit that melts all doubt, led by hope that burns the chains of evil to ash. Persons with abilities, so strong, all nature bends to their will. They share the light that scares the dark.They are called the Saints.”

Six year old Kai was crying and surrounded by fire. He held a black book imprinted with a golden circle in his hand as he looked around searching for his mother. He heard a voice call out to him from the flames.

“It’s ok, Kai. Come to me.”

The crying Kai turned around to face a brown-skinned boy with an afro. The boy did not look much older than he was. The flames seemed to wrap themselves around the boy and didn’t burn him as he approached. He extended his arm to him and Kai reached for it.

Before he could touch his palm, the world suddenly became dark. Teenage Kai floated in the abyss. He felt lost, cold and neglected. Suddenly, a large door floated towards him through the darkness. It hovered in front of Kai as if it was meant for him. He began to hear knocking from the other side.

The knocking stopped. 

Then started again.

And again.

And agai…

Kai gasped and awoke out of his sleep. He sat up quickly and panted heavily. He looked around and realized that he’s back in his room at the inn, laying on his bed. Confused, he looked out the window to his left and realized that it was nighttime. As he began to move out from the covers, he noticed that his shirt had been changed into a white Tee with red sleeve ends. His head wound was completely gone and someone had even wrapped his forehead in bandages. As he caught his bearings, he started hearing voices downstairs.

Kai crept down the steps to hear two people arguing in the main area. He peeped over the railing and saw Mr. Sacclin standing in the middle of the room talking to the asian boy who he had seen on the hill earlier.

“This is not what he would’ve wanted! Kai is not ready for that world!” Mr. Sacclin shouted to the boy.

The boy leaned his back against the wall and folded his arms. 

“He should be able to make that decision for himself. Besides, him staying here is no longer an option.” The boy stated calmly.

“What do you mean? Why can’t he-” Mr. Sacclin tried to continue but was interrupted.

“You can come out now Kai.” A voice spoke.

Kai walked down the stairs and revealed himself to the room. Now fully standing in the area, he saw the voice that called him. On the far side of the room the brown-skinned boy with the afro sat leaning forward and with his hands together. He was sitting next to the girl he saw on the hill with dark blue hair. She appeared very beautiful to Kai. She looked at him and smiled slightly. He turned his gaze back to the boy with the afro, slightly blushed.

“You...I remember you…You saved me that night…In the fire…” Kai began, but then felt his body go limp and he began to fall.

Before he could tumble someone caught him and held him up. He looked down to see the blonde haired girl from his class. She had a concerned look on her face. 

“Careful, I healed your wounds but your energy levels are still low.” She states.

He was visibly confused by her statement but chose to ignore it for the time being. He instead wondered why he didn’t notice her by the stairs earlier. He also wondered how such a small girl could hold him up so easily.

“I have so many questions...but I don't know where to start.” 

The room became deafeningly quiet.

Kai removed himself from the blonde girl's arms and sat on the stairs.

“You said, you are the Saints, As in the Saints from the stories?” He asked.

The asian boy raised his eyebrows.

“You know about the Saints?” The boy inquired.

“No...Not really…” the boy replied.

The asian boy appeared as though he would press Kai further for information but the Afro boy raised a hand up to stop him without even looking. The asian boy sighed.

Kai suddenly got flashes of what transpired at the school in his mind and began to shake with anger. 

“If the Saints do exist, why the heck are you here?! What do you want with me?! What is that monster?! Why did my friend...why did she have to die?” He shouts aggressively.

“Someone died?” Sacclin asks, completely stunned by Kai’s statements.

He was so surprised he retired to the nearby couch.

The room became quiet once more.

The afro boy then stood up and placed both his hands in his pocket.

“The Saints do exist. We’ve come here to fulfill a request from my master. His final wishes were for us to retrieve you from here and take you back to be with our people.” The boy begins. 

“Casualties were not supposed to occur today.” The boy moved towards Kai and then bowed his head with his hands to his sides.

“I apologize for not foreseeing the enemy’s interference. I am truly sorry for your loss.”

Kai sits on the stairs once more and grits his teeth. He shakes his head and grabs his hair with his hands.

“I don’t understand! How is this real? Why should I care what your master wants? I just want life to go back to how it was.” He bawled.

The afro boy closed his eyes and sighed. 

“Unfortunately that’s not an option.” The boy said. 

Kai looked up at him, his eyes red from crying.

“Why not?!” Kai asked, slamming his fist against the wall.

The room became quiet once more. After several seconds of nothing but crickets and sea breeze, the boy with the afro turned to the girl with the sapphire hair. She nodded at him and he looked back at Kai.

The brown-skinned boy turned and faced the door to the inn.

“Step outside and I’ll show you.” He said.

Kai remained seated and watched him. The afro boy looked over his shoulder.

“I’ll show you everything you need to see, so come along.”

Too frustrated to argue, Kai angrily got up and followed behind the boy.

As they began to move toward the door it opened and the blonde boy from earlier entered the room.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” The blonde boy stated while standing in the doorway.

“Not many people can see what’s out there and stay sane. Worse yet, he’s still a Blinded. It’ll be rough on him.”

“Says the one who Aura pierced him earlier,” said the blonde girl from across the room. Kai turned to her and noticed the fierce expression on her face.

“Hey, I said I was sorry,” the blonde boy chuckled while scratching his head. 

Kai had no idea what these people were talking about but was determined to discover what was out there. He owed it to himself to find answers. He owed it to Jalia. He owed it to his mom...

“It will be fine, the Most High is with us,” he said concisely. 

The blonde haired boy raised both hands in submission and moved out of the way.

On the porch, the two boys stood near the balcony. The sea breeze tingled Kai’s nose as it did every night, but he could also feel a new heaviness in the air. 

Kai observed the design of his hoodie. Mainly black except for three white circles spaced out on both sleeves that wrapped around the arm. As well as one large circle on its center back.

“You saved me that night,” He started.

“I did.” The boy responded.

“Are the Saints actually real?” Kai continued.

“We are.”

“And so the story about the place … in the sky … is real?”

“It...It is.”

“Do you people actually have...abilities?”

The boy nodded.

Kai walked across and leaned forward onto the balcony. He chuckled for a moment and lowered his head. 

“You were right mom,” He whispered to himself.

His head sprung upwards once more and he faced the boy.

“What do the Saints want with me? I’m just a privileged boy living a quiet life in some uppity private school.” 

“This was my master’s request. I’m simply carrying out his will.”

Kai balled his fist.

“Yeah, but why does your master care about me?! I have nothing to do with you!”

“That’s less true than you know. ” The boy assured him.

“So you want me to leave my whole life behind just to join some mystical group that I’ve only ever heard of in a story?” Kai scoffed,   “And who is this enemy you keep referring to?!” Kai inquired angrily.

“I can show you the enemy, but as my friend said, once you see this there is no going back.”

“Try me.”

The boy removed his hand from his hoodie and extended it toward Kai. Hepaused for a moment, then grabbed it aggressively.

Shoom…

Suddenly, both the boy and Kai were immediately submerged into darkness. He could still see glimpses of the porch and things in the distance but most of his surroundings were covered in black. Kai felt all of the air around him go cold and his body began to have micro trembles. He couldn’t feel anything. He started to panic and began to move until he heard the voice of the afro boy.

“Don’t move. Don't let go of my hand.”

It was at that moment Kai realized he couldn’t see his own hand but he could feel it holding the boy’s hand. In fact, It was the only thing he could feel. He attempted to slow his breathing but he couldn’t. As he tried to calm down, he could hear a hissing noise gradually getting louder, filling his ears. Something was approaching. 

Kai looked out into the darkness. The blackness of the night seemed to wave slowly like murky waters. He stared into the abyss for a while and then suddenly noticed that there were strange, faint, purple blobs hovering in the distance. The blobs slowly ushered themselves in their direction. He squinted at them as they approached to try and make out what they were, but as he focused on them they seemed to speed up and increase in size. Kai could feel his heart pounding through his ribcage as they drew near. 

As the blobs approached Kai noticed they began to change shape. Each of them twisted and contorted until eventually they morphed into something.

“Are those…faces?” Kai asked the afro, boy. There was no response.

The faces were horrific and flexed long gnashing teeth. They creepily hovered closer… and closer. 

When the blobs reached the bottom of the stairs Kai felt his heart pounding. One of the faces grew as large as the opening of the porch and stretched its open mouth toward Kai. He began to hyperventilate and raised his free hand to block his face and closed his eyes. 

He awaited his impending doom with fear in his soul. He waited … and waited, but it never came. 

After several seconds he questioned why he was still breathing. He began to slowly lower his hand and opened his eyes. The faces stared at him furiously from the bottom of the stairs and snapped at him with their teeth. The large face continued to try and reach him with its teeth but seemed to be blocked by some kind of invisible barrier. Kai still felt terrified, but in some strange way he believed he was safe from them. The creatures were persistent and kept attempting to reach him but to no avail. He was about to yell to ask the afro boy what was happening but then he heard his voice.

“Emunah…Resonance.” The boy stated calmly.

Suddenly, a flash of light came from where the boy was standing and it immediately blinded Kai. He could see nothing but white. It was disorienting but for some reason it didn’t phase or scare him. He also noticed he was gripping the boy’s hand intensely.

His vision started to return slowly and as it did he could see the creatures in the distance. The blobs had returned to their gasly forms and were moving further away almost as if they were fleeing. Kai's breathing slowed down and his heart rate started to return to normal. He felt the boy let go of his hand and the darkness receded from around them. Helooked around frantically and saw that everything was back to how it was. He then faced the boy and asked the question that anyone would ask in that situation.

“What…what are they?” 

“They are the things that will lead to your death if you stay here.” The boy responded with an expressionless look on his face. 

He fell backward to the porch railing and fear filled his heart. The boy leaned on the wall next to the front door and placed his hands in his hoodie’s pockets. The night’s air returned to quiet as Kai took several minutes to come to terms with what he just saw.

After staring at the floor for several minutes, Kai slowly looked up at the boy.

“Why aren’t you talking about it?” Kai asked.

The boy looked at him without changing his expression.

“That night ten years ago…with the fire. Why aren’t you talking about it?”

The boy remained quiet.

“You want me to come with you? You came into my life  over a decade  ago and immediately abandoned me when my world fell apart! Now what? You want me to come with you to your magic city in the sky?”

The boy remained quiet.

“I don’t even know what’s going on. I thought all these years you’d come back and tell me why…Why did my mom die?” 

Tears welled up in Kai’s eyes. He looked down and realized his fist was clenched. He closed his eyes and exhaled.

The boy walked over and leaned on the railing next to him. 

“I couldn’t stay. And you weren’t ready for the truth. I don’t even want to take you now, but I made a promise.”

Kai kept his eyes closed.

The boy sighed.

“I’ll make you a deal then. If you come with us, I’ll tell you everything you want to know.”

Kai remained quiet. 

“Including why your mother died.”

He opened his eyes slightly.

“Fine.” He responded silently.

The boy eased off of the railing and walked to the door.

“You should get some rest…you’ve had a long day.”

“Yeah…” Kai responded while drying his eyes with his shirt sleeve.

The boy stopped as he grabbed the door knob.

“Oh…but one thing. The truth you so eagerly seek, might not be as comforting as you think. When the time comes, be ready to accept it.”

That was the most the afro boy said to Kai that night, and he would soon find out that statement would turn out to be the second most important one in his life.