"You're up, Tajahnѐ!"  Taj tied back her dark curly hair as she prepared for the task. She bounced on the balls of her feet and took off at lightening speed to the obstacle course before her. As the first concrete flying saucer came towards her she reached for the gun at her back and shot it down. She tried to ignore her unusually upbeat sister behind her cheering her on as if it was a contest instead of a serious warrior training session.

Focused, she leaped over walls and dodged every other obstacle flying at her that she couldn't shoot, all while keeping her speed between fifty and fifty-five kilometers per hour. Tajahnѐ glanced at her trainer, Susan Sector, standing on a pedestal overlooking the training field as she barked orders and insults at her.

"Push it, lady! My great-grandmother in her grave could whip your butt!" Sector's hands danced in front of her as if she was directing a symphony as she manipulated the elements to add more obstacles to the course. As warrior and current leader of the Warrior Clan, manipulating the elements was a piece of cake for her.

She stood high off the ground and waved her hands around to create dust tornadoes and sent dozens of concrete saucers flying towards Tajahnѐ. Taj cursed as she saw what Sector was doing and pushed all the harder to shoot down the saucers before they went slamming into her face. She smiled slightly as she saw the checkered flag signalling the finish line. She raced towards it, falling, rolling and sliding away from more targets as they came full force towards her.

She almost reached the flag when out of nowhere came a piece of a tree trunk. It hit her right in the stomach and she skidded and smashed into the wall she'd just scaled.  She could almost see the smirk printed on Sector's face through the stars swimming around her head.

"Always be prepared for the unexpected!" Sector shouted.

Taj growled at her, not caring if she would be punished for it afterward and walked back to where her sister and other training mates waited.

"I hate that woman," she said as soon as she reached her.

"Taj, don't say that out loud," Xenna hushed.

"What? I do. And I know you hate her just as much as I do," Taj countered.

"Well, you know we could get in so much trouble just for saying something like that about somebody in authority. I'm just trying to keep you from judgement."

  "Yeah, I know. I miss Mr. Fillion," Taj said, referring to her old trainer.

"Me too, Taj, but he shouldn't have done what he did or he'd still be here." Xenna touched her sister's arm to try and comfort her.

"Done what Xenna? Stood up for what he believed in? Zefron has all these rules and we just follow them blindly, never asking why. 'Do not disrespect a superior clan or clan member or you'll be punished.' 'Do not cohabit with members outside your clan or you'll be killed.' Blah blah blah. "

"Shh Taj. Let it go, there's nothing we can do about it now." Xenna rubbed her hand up her sister's arm, secretly praying no one overheard their conversation.

"Whatever. I want to go to the shooting range after training and pretend Sector's a target. You coming?" Taj asked after a moment.

"I have homework to do."

"Xenna, it's Saturday. You can do your homework later. Come on."

Tajahnѐ positioned herself for shooting stance with the 9mm aimed at the target before her. The gun was loaded with silver bullets that were set to explode once body temperature was detected. She aimed and fired until the clip was empty, all the while envisioning Sector's head exploding in front of her.

"Why do you insist on using specialized bullets for fake targets?" Xenna questioned as she took a shot at her target with her rifle.

"Because it's fun and we aren't running short on specialized bullets. Besides these make the guns heavier, it's good to practice with it sometimes. Get a good feel of the weapon in case you have to use it."  Taj turned a slug between her fingertips as she watched her sister fire five shots and hit centre-target.

"Nice, you're getting better at this. Have you been practicing without me?"

Xenna smiled. "Maybe."

Taj sensed him even before she saw him. His aura was one which brought a sense of power, strength and fear, but also one of great love. He came from behind and brushed his lips on her cheeks. She couldn't stop the smile from spreading even if she wanted to.

"You're a brave man, sneaking up on me like that when I'm holding a loaded gun."

"Unless I did something to upset you within the last twenty four hours I figured I should be okay. Hello, love."

"Hi Steven," Xenna wiggled her brows at her sister and her main squeeze.

Taj watched as Steven disarmed her sister of her rifle with one swift motion and emptied the clip in the dummy in the target lounge. His muscles flexed beneath his smooth ebony skin, and the Epsill tattoo on his upper arm vibrated with each release of the trigger.

Steven was a part of a special group of Warriors known as Epsills. They were top grade Warriors and were often referred to as the "Special Ops" group of the Warrior Clan. They were the Royalties' closest security and were sworn to protect and serve their planet at all costs. Epsills held the keys to many secrets of Zefron and were responsible for guarding such secrets. 

"Aren't you on guard at the Palace today? What are you doing here?" Taj asked him, trying to ignore his impressive skills.

"My shift doesn't start for another two hours. Figured I'd come visit my favourite girl and her partially neurotic sister." "Hey, watch it about my sister now."

"Oh, don't worry, Xenna is the favourite girl I was talking about." Steven flashed a wicked grin as Taj gently punched him in the arm.  "What are you girls doing back here by yourselves anyway?" Steven asked, handing the rifle back to Xenna.

"Your girl here said she needed to blow off some steam and decided to drag me here with her." Xenna answered, eyeing her sister.

Steven giggled, "Sector again?"

"The one and only," Xenna answered.

"You can't stand her either," Taj countered.

"True, but I'm not stupid enough to admit it out loud. Have to be careful these days Taj, it's not like when we were kids."

"No, not like when." Taj flashed back to when they were about eight years old and she remembered when everyone lived in harmony with each other. The Zefron Hierarchy was more of a thing of knowledge rather than actual formality. It was common knowledge that Clans were formed based on the powers they were born with.

The Royals were most reverenced, protected families in all of Zefron, and possessed four of the five gifts of Zefron. Speed, extensive strength, levitation and channelling or manipulation of the natural elements. Second to Royalty were the Priest and Priestesses and Emperor Clans. They all possessed the same gifts – speed, space travel, levitation and element manipulation – but their duties were different.

The Emperor Clan were responsible for making the rules for Zefron and presenting them to the King and Queen, while the Priest and Priestesses were the enforcers of those rules.  Next was the Warrior Clan. They possessed the gifts of speed, strength and space travel. The warrior clan was the only clan that placed members in levels based on how developed their gifts were. Top grade warriors were the only Warriors who possessed the gift of element manipulation and usually ended up being trained as Epsills.

Lastly was the Peasant Clan. Members of the Peasant Clan usually possessed no gifts and if they did it was usually the gift of great strength or speed. They were the regular every day citizens of Zefron whose jobs were to ensure the everyday routines of Zefron running smoothly, and to serve all the other clans. They kept the balance between clans and were a constant reminder that all powers were gifts and should be cherished and used wisely.

All the Clans were almost completely in sync with each other despite their separate gifts and strengths. The Royal children and children of the High Priests and Priestesses would play with the children of Warriors and Peasants. There was no discrimination among clans and even the members of the Peasant Clans had a noticeable place in Zefron. All that changed when the uprising happened. Clans fought against each other for more power and status. Clans wanted a change in the structure and order of Zefron.

Nobody really knows how the uprising really began or who initiated it, but every finger was pointed at the Peasant Clan as they were the majority part takers. Now every clan pretty much kept to themselves. Peasants were further downgraded and the Priests stripped them of the little powers they possessed. These days if a Peasant was born with powers, they keep it to themselves for fear of their lives or it being taken away.  

Taj snapped back to the present with Steven's hand waving in front of her face. "Where'd you go just now?" he laughed to hide his concern.

“Just thinking. It's getting late, Xenna, we should probably head home."

"I'll walk you ladies home then head to the palace," Steven offered.

"Actually you two go ahead, there's something I need to do first," Xenna countered.

Taj raised a suspicious brow at her sister. "You've been doing a lot of that lately, now that I think about it. Where're you running off to- ouch!" Taj gave Steven a look that could burn holes into his eyes as he poked her in the ribs.

"Have fun Xenna, and be careful whatever it is you're doing," Steven put in.

"I need to know where she's been running off to." Taj watched Xenna through the glass in the door as she sped off down the street.

"No, you don't." Steven steered Taj from the building and led her down the opposite direction. "Stop worrying; she's just being a regular eighteen year old."

"That's exactly what I'm worried about. Do you remember what I was like at eighteen? Do you remember what we were doing at eighteen?"

Steven thought about it for a second. "Okay maybe you should be a little worried." He grabbed her hand as he felt her trying to steer away to follow her sister. "Taj," he warned.

"Okay, okay, but if she does something stupid I'm blaming you." Taj barely glanced at her surroundings as Steven had all her attention. She knew though, that as much as he was all she saw, Steven was perfectly aware of his surroundings and took in everything at every glance. From the skyscrapers which crowded the sunshine in the city to the cars that blared their horns at pedestrians like themselves.

She knew even, that if she asked him for an estimated count of how many royalties and priests they had passed since leaving the training ground, he'd be able to tell her without a second of hesitation. Not only was Steven brilliant, but as an Epsill he was trained to know these things. Not that they were hard to spot. Royalties had the habit of wearing the royal colours even if they were dressed casually. She spotted the group of girls ahead crossing at the light and smiled as it emphasized her point. Two of them were dressed in royal blue tanks and dark jeans and the others were dressed in shimmery gold and silver tops, white long flowing pants and capris respectively.

They all snickered together as they shared a joke among themselves, and barely glanced in the direction of the people who paused and gave a slight bow. Even without all the obvious signs of royalty, perhaps the biggest telltale sign was the way they moved, as if the glided above the ground rather than walked.

Then you had the Priests who were the only other Zefronian clan who thought of themselves as royalty, even though every other clan refused to acknowledge them as such. They simply over did it. Always dressed in excessive amounts of jewellery and usually wore way too many bright colours at once, they weren't hard to miss. They made an extra effort to turn their noses up at the other clans, especially the peasants, and walked slowly as if waiting for people to bow to them.

Warriors on the other hand tended to stay close to darker colours and very rarely wore white. Taj scoffed at the blonde priest who crossed the street just to avoid walking past a homeless peasant and dropped a few dollars in his cup.  "Pathetic," she mumbled. Taj dug into the pocket of her gym shorts and dropped some coins in the peasant's cup. "God bless you ma'am." He smiled a rotten grin as he shook the cup that was no longer empty.

She stopped at the pedestrian crossing and turned to see Steven smiling down at her. "Don't start." She said as she tried to hide a grin.

"You really do have a heart of gold, you know."

"Be careful Sergeant McCay," she said addressing him by his official Epsill title, "People might start to think you're going soft."

He laughed, "If they want to think I'm soft for telling the truth let them think it. Not many people pay attention to the poor anymore."

"And it's a damn shame, really. They're people just like me and you. Sometimes all they want is a meal."

"True, but not many people think like you do. It would be a different world if they did. More peaceful; happier."

Taj stopped and gave Steven a questioning stare. "Way you're talking you'd think you were in love with me or something."

"Or something," He said after a moment when his face became serious.

Her heart sped up as she recognised the familiar look in his eyes. For a moment it seemed like the whole world stopped and it was just her and Steven. She watched the Adam's apple bounce in his throat as he swallowed audibly. She turned back to face the road and saw the light for pedestrians was on green. She sighed as she crossed the road, not sure if she was sad or thankful that moment was over. Did he just admit to her that he was in love with her? She knew she was in love with him, how could she not be? He was gorgeous and even though he could be a real jackass sometimes, he was still really sweet. But even though they'd been dating for nearly three years they'd never said it out loud.

As an Epsill it was recommended that they didn't get into serious relationships because of the requirements of the job. It was seen as a major distraction and some thought it should be banned. Some Epsills took the chance and did the whole deal, marriage, kids and made it. For others it just didn't work out in their favour. Most Epsills, especially highly ranked Epsills just remained single to avoid the heartache and pain or distraction from the job. 

They walked in silence all the way to her house. When she reached the gate she turned pressed her lips to his without a word. She took a moment just savouring familiar baby soft lips pressed to hers. "Be careful tonight," she whispered to him when she stepped back.

He leaned in a kissed her forehead. "Always."

She watched him as he left, and went inside with every intention of speaking to the one person she went to with all her relationship woes. He father. She opened the front door and stepped into the living room. The room, like the rest of the two story house was what she considered humble and homey. The walls were painted in pale pastel colours and decoration with family and individual pictures. The entrance table held a statue of the great King Charles, a revered past king on Zefron.

She saw her little brother Chad, doing what he did best – playing video games. "Mom is mad that you stayed out so late." He said without looking up from the TV screen. She glanced down at her watch, "It's seven," she said simply.

"Dinner starts at seven and you're on kitchen duty tonight." His green eyes met hers, "And I'm starving." She barely stopped herself from cursing as she made her way to the kitchen. Beth is going to be fuming, she thought. The sweet aroma of her mother's mango chicken pasta caressed her nostrils as she stepped into the kitchen.

Beth opened the oven to retrieve the pasta and said without glancing Taj's way, "You're late for dinner. Again."

"Mom, I wasn't keeping track of the time I'm sorry."

Her red hair whipped around as she turned to meet Taj. "Tajahne you're a warrior so don't even start with that time excuse. Time should never be an issue for you. I have rules in my house, simple rules that you seem to constantly want to break."

Taj rolled her eyes as her mother turned to take slices of garlic bread from the oven. Leave it to Beth to give the "you don't respect my home" speech because you're a few minutes late for dinner one night. "Mom, you're being dramatic I'm not even that late."

Her green eyes bore holes into her forehead. Taj saw the colour rise in her pale skin and knew exactly how this would end. "Not even that late? It is seven PM Tajahne, and the table has not even set! Dinner starts at seven and has started at seven for twenty six years – twenty one of which you have been here – every evening in this house unless otherwise advised. You're late and unapologetic."

Knowing there was no way she would win this fight she simply finished it. "I'm sorry ma'am it won't happen again."

Beth ignored the apology and called my father. "Ty!" Captain Tyrone Oyarzun walked down the stairs into the kitchen. Though currently retired from active duty, he still held the command of top Epsill. His dark face held no clue to what he was thinking but knowing her father, Taj knew he was slightly annoyed for having to leave his boxing match to calm his wife down. "Ty, you better speak to your daughter and speak to her real good before I put my foot down her throat."

"Always with the dramatics, Elizabeth." He kissed her on her forehead and wrapped his arm around her waist. "What has my troublesome daughter done now?" he asked, turning his deep brown eyes on Tajahne, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"She was late for dinner, again. Xenna and Chad manage to be here on time every night, why can't she?"

His eyes became serious for a minute, "Taj, I know you're a busy girl but you still have your responsibilities at home. You need to find a way to balance the two, clear?"

"Yes, sir." Ty's lips twitched at his daughter's acknowledgement of rank. He knew she did it as a silent way of voicing her annoyance but he never commented.

"All this attitude and she is the one late for dinner. Tajahne could never admit when she is wrong." Beth murmured.

Ty looked down at his wife, "I'll help Taj finish up here. Dinner will be ready in five." He kissed her cheek and watched as she pulled off her apron and went upstairs to their bedroom. His smile widened as he raised a brow at Taj. "Why do you insist on upsetting your mother Tajahne?"

"I don't do it on purpose; she is just always so pissy."

He laughed, "Your mother just loves structure and organisation. It's who she is. It's what made her climb the ranks so quickly when she was an active warrior."

"I think she sometimes forgets I'm her child and not her subordinate."

"That's not true." Taj watched as her father took out a stack of dishes from the cupboard and put them on the table. His eyes met hers and his forehead creased.

"Tell me what's really bothering you." Like a book, her father was always able to read her.

She sighed as she began folding napkins. "It's Steven." "Ahh, boy trouble. Should I be sitting for this one?"

"Papa, I think he's in love with me."

"Oh," was all he said.

"I know you warned me about how hard it would be for me to be involved with an Epsill. Truthfully I never even expected it to go this far."

"Me neither." He mumbled more to himself than to her. "Look, even though I said it was difficult I never said it was impossible. Your mother and I have been married for twenty six years and to this day there's no other woman who drives me crazy enough, makes me happy enough, frustrates me enough or who I'd die for without a moment's thought – apart from you guys of course."

"Yeah, but I'm not like you and mom. You guys are the definition of opposites attract. I love her to death, but she's kind of crazy, and you're more level headed. You balance each other out."

Ty stifled a laugh. "True, but we are also very alike in the things that matter. I know Steven and I know you, if you are determined, you will make it work, no matter what. You need to decide if you want to make it work. If not, don't lead him on any longer. That boy really cares about you, Tajahnѐ." 

"I know, Papa." She pulled on a pair of mittens and took the pasta from the top of the stove and placed it in the centre of the table. 

"Go tell your brother and sister that dinner's ready. We can talk about this some more if you want after dinner."

"Thanks." She hugged him and kissed his cheek then made her way to Xenna's room.

She knocked and opened the door and found Xenna in her usual position lying on her bed, earphones in her ears and the only light shining from her laptop screen.

"Don't you knock?" Xenna's asked, annoyed as she pulled an ear bud from her ear.

"I did. Dinner's ready." She turned slightly to leave then turned back.

"How the hell did you make it home before I did?"

"I got a ride from a friend."

"None of your friends drive."

"He's new, you don't know him."

Taj could not place it but she had a bad feeling about this new "friend" Xenna had been running around with recently. "Mhm. Just be careful."

Xenna smiled, "Aren't I always?"

That night Taj went to bed and she dreamed. She found herself standing in the middle of the training field by herself. She covered her eyes as the dust rose and whipped around her like a tornado. A sense of panic rose within her but she could not figure why.

"You need to run Tajahne." She whipped her head around in the direction the voice was coming from but she saw no one. She was still alone.

"A warrior never runs." Was her only response.

"It's not safe. Don't get involved, just run!" The sunny blue sky changed and suddenly became dark red. Flashes of lightening and raindrops the size of oranges fell. She tried to run out of the rain but realised she could not move. "I told you to run didn't I? But you don't listen. You never listen! Now it's too late!" That voice. She knew that voice but could not quite place it.

"Why should I run? What am I running from?" A little girl about age six appeared before her. Her hair was soaked from the rain and she shivered from the cold. Taj did not recognise the girl but wanted so much to put her arms around her; to protect her.

"Danger Tajahne! Take her and run! It's the only way to be safe." Recognition hit her as Mr. Fillion's voice echoed in the air.

“I can't move. Release me so I can keep her safe."

"You have to do it on your own! Run Tajahne, and don't look back!"

Taj fought the invisible chains holding her hostage and grabbed the little girl. She took off running at top speed, tapping into her powers. As she ran the grass in the field got higher and higher, making it harder for her to see where she was going. She saw the glow of a light up ahead and ran toward it. Just as she was about to reach it she felt the ground beneath her shift and felt herself falling into nothingness. The screams from the little girl along with her screams jolted her from the nightmare.