The weather outside was horrendous. Thunder rumbled loudly while lightning flashed across the sky, striking trees and sometimes setting them aflame. The oceanic waves were sized up from fifteen feet to thirty feet high and the many rip currents whirled around in the dark and murky waters, stirring the sand up from the rocky bottoms and lifting them into an underwater sand tornado. Waves crashed onto the dull beach, spraying mist into the damp air. The clouds overhead were blackened by lightning and poured rain on the west coast of California. It mostly hailed but it also rained.
Camp Carelton had the worst weather though.
In a dormitory in Camp Carelton near the General’s Quarters, a teenage boy with long dark purple hair and yellow eyes was sitting at his desk and writing a letter by candlelight. The letter said,
Dear Tearia,
How’s the weather on Tellios? The weather here is terrible; a helpless bird almost got zapped by a bolt of lightning. Well, at least there are no tornados! Anyway, I have some surprising news about the General. Call me a dog all you want when you hear this. The General doesn’t seem to have a . . . I don’t know . . . human scent upon him? He does have a little bit of human scent on him, but he has some sort of alien-like presence. No, not the type of outer space alien, but the type of scent and presence of a being from another dimension.
He has an eerie yet powerful aura that seems to follow him wherever he goes. The General would be a normal man for a couple of days, but then he would be all sinister and somewhat evil for a couple of weeks. I might have hypothesized a theory to all of this. He might have been possessed by something. Whenever he speaks at meetings, his voice would be strangely distorted. One time when he was talking to me, I saw an orb of red light dance around in his eyes. At that moment, a wave of evil washed over me! I felt something pierce through my mind, inflicting a terrible headache upon my skull. Something tried to see into my thoughts but I forced it out somehow. The thing spoke to me, and it called itself the Xerain.
The thing that was controlling the General must’ve had another of its kind go after me! After the conversation, I ran to my dormitory and began to write this letter to you. I hope all is well on Tellios. Is Prince Marikai and King Malikinth well? Please tell them I shall return to Aelia soon.

My best wishes,

Ultheron

P.S. If Ashaedia’s there, tell her the story of Mirethia and Galain.

Ultheron sealed the letter within an envelope and turned around in his seat. Beside his bed was a gold perch, and dozing on the perch was an unusually large raven. Ultheron got up out of his chair and walked over to the raven. The raven stirred, and jerked awake. It gave a tired carkk.
“Take this to Tearia, Nesilian,” Ultheron said. “And your reward will be your freedom. But after you deliver the letter, come back here so I may lift the spell. Understood?”
The raven gave a loud carkk and snatched the letter with its beak.
“Good. Now,” Ultheron said, walking over to the window and opening it. A couple of rain drops floated into the room and landed on the wooden floor. “Go deliver the message. Quickly . . . and swiftly.”
The raven spread its large black wings and in one wing beat, the raven was out the window and flying into the storm.
There was a knock on Ultheron’s door. Ultheron closed his eyes and screwed his face up in concentration. His hair got shorter and turned brown. He opened his eyes as his ears got more rounded and freckles appeared on his tan face. Ultheron’s eyes flashed violet, and then they turned blue.
“Come in.” Ultheron said. The door opened and a man wearing an army uniform with blonde hair and brown eyes was standing in the doorway. He stepped inside.
“Oh, hello, Joseph,” The man said, walking towards Ultheron. “The General’s deploying us for Tellios. I heard it’s going to be a wild ride getting there. Did you get deployed?” The man said.
“Indeed, I did,” “Joseph” said, gesturing towards his desk. A note lay on the wooden surface. It said:

Joseph U. Marike
You have been deployed for
Tellios
December 5th, 2010

“Have you been deployed also, Nate?” “Joseph” asked.
“Yup, I have,” Nate said. “And I’m actually excited to go. Just imagine it, Joseph. A world separate from ours . . . trees with sapphire-like leaves and flowers as pink as an amethyst. Clear blue rivers flowing down waterfalls . . . I’ll tell you this: If the General wants to blow the place to pieces, I’m going to pick a fight with him. When we get there, I’m going to search for a pretty little flower for my lady. Well, see you around, Joe.”
And Nate left.
Once Nate was gone, Ultheron walked over to the open window and watched the rain fall by. He snapped his fingers.
A shadow of a small bird-like dragon appeared on his desk. A red outline appeared over the dragon and it materialized before Ultheron. It had four long ruby feathers on its elbows. The head was spiky and red like the rest of its body. Its long red tail had a series of threatening spikes on it and the eyes had an emerald gaze. The wings were feathery and dark red. The belly was orange and on the tip of its tail were two long red, blue, orange, and yellow feathers. It hurred a happy greeting.
“Did you do what I wanted, Galo?” Ultheron asked the small dragon. It smiled and hurred, “Yes, I have.”
“Good, now you are free. You may return to Firoh.” Ultheron said.
But I want to help Ashaedia more! We need her . . . Galo said sadly. He lowered his wings and did a puppy-dog face. Ultheron had to admit, it was kind of cute.
“Oh, all right. But if you want to help her even more you should go back to your master.” Ultheron said.
Okay! And with a flap of Galo’s wings, Galo vanished once again.