Charlie Grat sat at the bar, he slugged back double shots of whiskey. Not his drink of choice but nothing had really been his choice since he was ten years old. He scratched his beard, the short stubble that it was. He stretched his neck and felt his joints pop. Though his years only numbered somewhere within the forty mark, he had really lost count somewhere around thirty like all people. But where he differed from the others around his age at the time was that while his friends and family remained youthful in appearance, he had begun to age. That is because Charlie Grat was a child of the Wind and everyone that he knew was a child of the Rock. 

Now, you may ask, “What is the difference between the rocks and the winds?” Well here in this tale of Charlie’s you shall find out.

    Charlie drank another shot and he stared into the mirror behind the bar. Age had hit him hard in life. Wrinkles and scars, hair beginning to turn gray, joints and bones ache every day. Still, this was the life that he had chosen, and he did not regret it.

A trio of men approached the bar from behind Charlie. The trio were all rocks. Charlie had gotten kind of a knack for distinguishing rocks from winds and he was proud of it. The three were loud and rambunctious. They spoiled the sort of miserable quiet that Charlie liked. They were talking about the local sports team and how perfect they had become. For everyone with normal parents encouraged their children to become rocks at ten and live forever. However, Charlie’s parents were not normal. Indeed, they were extremely obscure. All of his family, local and extended, were children of the wind. Children of the wind were not long lived, but they were gifted with the power to reshape the world around them. They were sorcerers. Mighty power was bequeathed upon them, for they would eventually die. Pass away like a wind leaving the rocks behind. Thus, this phrase is how the two subspecies began. It is at the age of ten that their path is chosen. And the child is the one to choose his way; of life or death.

The three rocks made their presence known and it annoyed Charlie. Charlie placed an appropriate amount of money on the bar and pushed away. He straightened his coat and tried to make his way out of the bar and onto the busy street. Tried and failed.

The loudest of the three rocks grabbed Charlie’s left shoulder, very disrespectfully, and stopped him from going out.

“What of you, windy?” His voice had some gravel in it and it seemed that his drink was quickly catching up to him. “What did you think of the game?”

“I didn’t see it. I was quite happy in this charming dark bar not seeing anyone around. It is not in my interests to watch the ageless play games that they have played ten thousand times before.” Charlie tried to sweep the rock’s hand away from his shoulder and leave before things got bad. For an unspoken rule existed between the Wind and the Rock, a fight must take place in dark bars when the two meet in drinking circumstances. Charlie had been in enough fights to know that it would be a bad fight and three on one was not good. 

“It seems like you are trying to leave in a hurry, why is that?” The lead rock asked. He tightened his grip on Charlie’s shoulder.

“I left my coffee pot on and I need to go turn it off.” Charlie winced under the pain and he began to see that these three may have been quite old. Far older than he wished to dance with. 

“I think you ought to stay and buy my friends and I some drinks.” A sort of menace began to show in his eyes.

“You’re filled with that sickness I see. The immortal madness. You know you can get help for that.” Charlie had seen that madness all too much in recent days. The ageless go out seeking death and are unable to find it and the Winds are truly the only ones able to grant them the reprieve from life.

“I don’t need the help of a support group. Now, c’mon and fight me!” The lead hauled back and threw his fist square into the stomach of Charlie.

Charlie coughed and wheezed. The grip of the rock was still on his shoulder even after he doubled over in pain. The time for words was over. These men were filled with bloodlust, whether it was his or their own someone was going to get hurt today. 

Charlie may not have had as much fighting experience as his opponents but he did have fear of death on his side. While the rocks may have been ageless, death was not as near to them as it was to Charlie. He could not afford to stay in one place very long, for the rocks constantly sought death as they could no longer cope with the ageless lifestyle that they had chosen when they were kids.

Charlie gathered himself with a deep breath and let loose a great gust of wind, pushing back the other combatants, along with the other patrons and all of the furniture. He began to gather up what power that he could for he could still see the rage within their eyes, they glowed red. The three gathered themselves and stood and rushed him fast. The power that Charlie had was not nearly enough to subdue all three, but it was enough to make them try a different tactic. They spread out and tried to force Charlie to use area effects. 

Charlie was not about to do that for it was obvious that they wanted to fight for fighting sake. But through the many trials and tribulations, Charlie learned to fight to the death. For the rocks were notoriously hard to kill. No matter how many times he tried to knock a rock out they would get back up and continue the fight. So make them bleed and they would stop, that is the key to fighting the ageless.

Charlie formed a cone of piercing wind along his right arm, since his left arm was still throbbing from being crushed. HIs right was not his strongest by far. But having a super needle on his side made even the weakest, broken arm into the most dangerous of limbs. The lead came at him first and Charlie pierced the left side of his chest and the wall behind the lead rock exploded into a vibrant red color. He hit the wall after his insides and slumped against the wall and groaned. He wasn’t dead, at least not yet.

The two underlings came next. They attacked fast and hard. One threw a punch to the chest while the other tried a headlock from behind. Charlie didn’t have time to counter or power up effectively, so he took the punch and got thrown into the rock that was behind him. Thankfully the rock didn’t see it coming and provided some cushioning for the fall.  

Charlie felt sore from the punch but still he fought on. With the small amount of energy that he gathered, he rolled and sliced upward causing a massive laceration going from pelvis to neck. He stayed on the floor, he made no sound. 

One left. Charlie felt sore and weak. The last rock was keeping his distance. With the pack mentality down, he wasn’t exactly sure what was going to happen. That was perfect for Charlie. The five seconds that the rock took to figure out what he was going to do next, was enough time for Charlie to attack first. With two graceful arcs of his hand, he commanded the wind and neatly cut off the rock’s arms. The fight was over.

The rocks had lost. Charlie made his way out the door and left the three men as several ambulances came down the street, sirens blaring. The rocks were still alive, and most likely make a full recovery. Charlie just needed some rest and he would be fine too.