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Annika Smith
November 13, 2014
ENG 265 ONLN
Professor Biddle
Portfolio
Nicaragua Palace Resort – Your Tropical Getaway!
Are you searching high and low for the perfect tropical getaway? A place where you can
have the convenience and fun of staying at a big resort and experience quaint local culture?
Look no further than the Nicaragua Palace Resort!
Our new, renovated rooms set the mood for your vacation with lush tropical décor, free
cable television, and calming views of the beach. Want to transport yourself to the shore even
before donning your swimsuit? Why not open the window and breathe fresh sea air, right from
your room!
Once you’re down at the beach, experience local sea life by snorkeling. This popular
attraction offers a wonderful opportunity to get close to Nicaraguan nature. Sea turtles,
barracuda, and other tropical species abound just off shore!
Next get to know the locals at the small town only a short walk from our resort. Stroll
through the street bazaar and pick up souvenirs for yourself as well as gifts for friends missing
out on the fun back in suburbia. Sample the local selection of beers to immerse yourself in the
culture as you shop.

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Afterwards come back to the resort and enjoy fresh local delicacies for dinner. A favorite
is tangy conch seasoned with local spices – but if seafood isn’t your thing, don’t worry! There
are plenty of dishes to try on the menu. When dinner is over, head to the outdoor bar to relax
with a drink and live music while the dusk sun sets the ocean ablaze with color.
Don’t wait to schedule your stay. The best time to enjoy your tropical getaway at the
Nicaragua Palace Resort is now!
What Came to Them
“I’m back!” Tempe called, closing the front door behind her and taking off her coat.
Zak’s footsteps came steadily towards her, the soles of his heavy-duty boots clapping against
the hardwood floors. He entered the hallway, gave her a quick kiss, and then took Tempe’s coat
to hang it up in the nearby closet. His dark eyes tracked her as she moved forward into the
house, her own high-heeled black leather boots striking a light staccato beat on the hall floor.
She tossed her designer purse onto the kitchen counter and pulled a bottle of wine from the
cabinet above the fridge.
Zak returned and leaned against the counter, a dark thunder cloud incarnate. His loose-
fitting black clothes, swooping coat, and dark hawk-like eyes only added to the imposing
appearance created by the hard tanned lines of his face and his six-and-a-half foot height.
“You seem like you had a bad day.” Zak’s baritone voice showed only a hint of curiosity
and nothing more.

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Tempe rolled her eyes, yanked the cork from the bottle of pinot noir, and took a
swallow. She smacked her lips. “They refused to give me a raise. Again. Even though I’ve
practically taken over Delaney’s job as Director!”
Zak grunted and crossed his arms over his chest. “You won’t need to wait much longer.”
Tempe’s phone rang just as she took another swallow of wine. Sighing in exasperation,
she flipped the phone open and answered the call.
“What?” She was already annoyed at whoever it was.
“Mage Donoghue,” a rat-like male voice said.
Tempe groaned. “What do you want, Director Delaney? I just left work.” She sent a
meaningful stare over to Zak, who stepped quiet as a cat closer to the phone so he could hear
both ends of the conversation.
“We just got some fresh intel.” Delaney’s voice scratched against Tempe’s nerves like
nails against a chalkboard. “The sorcerer Zak Sullivan has been detected inside the town. We’ve
received the go-ahead to track him down and arrest him.”
Tempe met Zak’s stormy eyes as she replied to her boss. “I’m off-duty, Delaney. I’m not
doing more overtime without a raise.”
“This isn’t negotiable, Donoghue.”
Tempe cursed under her breath. Of all the times for Delaney to grow a backbone . . .
“Fine. But don’t expect me to be happy about it.” She slapped the phone shut before
Delaney could respond, and slammed it on the counter. She swigged another gulp of wine, then
looked to Zak.
“You heard?”

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Zak nodded sharply, his expression unchanging. Tempe handed him the bottle of pinot
noir, and he took a few seconds to drink.
“You’ve got to get out of here,” Tempe said. “I’mnot the only Mage around town who
can sense sorcerers.”
“We’ll leave together.” With a twitch of his finger, Zak used magic to bring the wine
bottle’s cork sailing back to him. He jammed it back into place and set the bottle on the
counter. “But there’s something I want to do first.”
Tempe’s eyes gleamed, and a smile slowly crept onto her face. “You mean . . . ?”
Zak tipped his head to her with a small smile. “It’s time to cut yourself free.”
#
They traveled by magic from Tempe’s kitchen all the way to an abandoned parking lot at
the back of the town’s Mage League headquarters. When they arrived, awash in magic and hair
blown wild by wind, they took a moment to gain their breaths. Then they turned to the
nondescript building before them, an unappealing cement warehouse not detectable from the
outside as a headquarters for the nation’s force of magical law enforcement. Tempe curled her
lip. She’d attended work faithfully at that building for the last four years, going over and above
what was expected of her. All for nothing. Not even a word of thanks did she get in reward for
her hard work and dedication.
“We’ll collapse the building on their heads.” Zak’s cornstalk-blond hair blew in the wind,
thrashing about his head like miniature whips. His lips were pursed as he evaluated the enemy
outpost. “We can’t risk a full fight.”

5. 5
Tempe sighed, but nodded, lamenting the opportunity to see Delaney’s face as she got
her revenge. But it was for the best. “Together?”
“Of course.”
In synchrony, they raised their hands, palms facing the Mage League headquarters. Eyes
narrowed and spines stiffened as they concentrated on summoning and commanding the wild
force known as magic. In only a few seconds, a smoky black cloud with pinpricks of white light
like stars in a moonless sky had gathered around Tempe’s entire body. Beside her, Zak was
shrouded in a mist of opaque poisonous green magic.
“Now,” Zak said.
With a mental command, green and black magic shot away side by side, like bullets shot
from pistols. Tempe narrowed her eyes, concentrating on maintaining her control of the spell
she had released as it rocketed toward the target. It bucked under her control like a wild
stallion forced to keep to one course even as it shot along the trajectory Tempe had set it on.
Then the magic hit the building. Cracks appeared in the cement walls, moving outward
and forming dark jagged lines in the formerly unbroken surface. First the walls began to
crumble, sounding like Rice Krispies amplified on a microphone. Workers inside screamed as
the walls began to lean, then collapsed, allowing the roof to fall. The screams cut off as the roof
crashed to earth and sent a cloud of disintegrated cement, wood, and sheetrock ballooning
outwards.
Even from three hundred feet away Tempe could head the piteous, pained cries and
moans of the survivors – her former colleagues, now her enemies.

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“You missed one.” Zak nodded to a patch of rubble which was slowly rising through the
air, buoyed by a cloud of pale blue magic. One of the Mages was still alive, then.
Not for long, Tempe thought, sending an inky spell to the rising wreckage. The blackness
enveloped the blue, then dissipated altogether, allowing the rubble to fall, back under gravity’s
control. Someone screamed as the wreckage plummeted, but then the scream fell silent when
the rubble crashed into the ground.
Tempe grinned when no further signs of life came from the disaster zone.
“Feel good?” Zak raised an eyebrow at her.
Tempe shook out her arms. “Oh yes.” She planted a kiss on his lips, to celebrate, but
didn’t allow it to linger. “We need to leave. Feds will be swarming the place soon enough, and
they’ll find traces of our magic.”
“I’ve got a place to go,” Zak said.
They joined hands and disappeared from the scene of their own terrorism, triumphant
smiles on both of their faces.
#
Tempe gritted her teeth as she tried to keep the Mages and their team members at bay.
Spells and bullets were flying in every direction, but the majority of them came towards herself
and Zak, who stood beside her. They were outnumbered by far, facing two Mages along with
their two apprentices and two teams of non-magical soldiers trained to fight sorcerers. Roughly
twenty opponents altogether.
We should never have stayed to destroy that Mage League outpost, Tempe thought,
wincing as her shield of smoky black magic was hit by a mix of spells and bullets. The barrage

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was so harsh that she and Zak didn’t even have time to disappear – they couldn’t spare the
concentration needed.
It was silent aside from the magically dampened gun shots, grunts of the combatants,
and howling wind. Not even birds sang in the desolate winter forest to add life to the scene.
The only bright colors against the pure snow and dark trees were spells fired by the magicians.
Tempe and Zak had both formed walls of magic in front of them. Their shields
ricocheted bullets away and absorbed other spells, protecting the two sorcerers from the
attacks. But the amount of concentration it took to maintain the shields didn’t allow time to fire
any spells in return, and Tempe could feel her mind tiring. She and Zak had been under attack
for a good ten minutes now, and not once had they been able to launch attacks of their own.
A brief lapse in gunfire allowed Tempe to extend her magical sense behind her, trying to
sense anyone sneaking up behind. The trick wouldn’t work in detecting Mages, but it would find
any non-magical trying to catch her by surprise. Thankfully, no one was there. The forest they’d
been ambushed in did not offer any decent cover, and Tempe was constantly distracted by the
idea that someone could be sneaking up behind herself and Zak, ready to finish them off.
Tempe’s panting breath echoed in her ears as she waited for a chance to spare attention
for an offensive spell of her own. Her black gothic dress clung to her sides with chilled sweat,
which also beaded on her brow and dribbled into her eyes – a potentially fatal distraction. A
strand of her sweat-dampened black hair whipped into her mouth, but Tempe didn’t – couldn’t
– react. Her entire focus had to remain on her control over magic. Anything less than her full
attention would get her killed.

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Then it happened. Tempe sensed a void in the invisible cloud of magic behind her. She
yelled as she diverted her precious attention for just a moment to fire a spell at the new threat,
relying on her sense of magic to direct the spell properly.
Zak jumped in surprise, Tempe’s sudden yell distracting him for one vital moment. His
shield went down, springing up again just a second later.
But that one second had been enough. The lapse allowed two bullets and a spell to hit
Zak’s torso. His shield fell again and he collapsed to the snow like a marionette without strings.
“Zak!” Tempe screamed. She let her own shield fall as she dropped to her knees beside
her love. The pristine white snow was already stained crimson below him; his eyes were glazed
and staring away from Tempe. His dirty blond hair was plastered to his forehead by salty sweat,
some of which still gave an illusion of life by trickling down his cooling brow.
Tempe’s hands hovered over his chest as she tried to identify the wounds. “Zak, Zak, no.
Don’t leave me . . .” She knew that he was dead but, irrationally, she still searched for a way to
make him better, as if he’d only scraped a knee. “No! Zak, no no no, you can’t. Just. Die!” she
shouted, clutching his bloodied shirt. She grabbed his chin and turned his face towards her, but
his dark eyes still didn’t meet hers. “Zak! Wake. Up!” she commanded, shaking his body,
sobbing all the while.
Rough hands grabbed her arms and pulled her away.
“No!” she shrieked, seized by sudden panic and straining to get back to him. “I can’t
leave him!”

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“He’s dead, Donoghue! He got what was coming to him!” one of the Mages said. “Worry
about yourself; you’re under arrest. You have the right to remain silent, you have the right to
an attorney . . .”
“No,” she whimpered, still staring at Zak’s lifeless body as the Mages dragged her away.
Breaking Boxes
“You really believe that? That you can be someone different from the girl your Destiny
predicts?” Victoire jabs a finger toward my chest as she says this, as if trying to force her view
of who I am onto me, and make me believe it. “You are Destined to kill, Mara Harrod, and
nothing you think will change that.”
She whirls and stalks away, joining up with her clique on the other side of the cafeteria.
They start talking animatedly and sending me hateful looks, which I do my best to ignore.
Gabriel wanders up behind me and follows my gaze to the group of girls. “They
bothering you again?”
I snort. “Why else would they deign to talk to me? But hey, who cares what they think,
right? I mean, their opinion is only shared by the entire world.”
“Not by me,” Gabriel says, sitting down at the table next to me. He looks at the
birthmark at the corner of my left eye that signifies my Destiny – a birthmark that makes me
look like I’m crying blood. “You can be whoever you want to be. Your Destiny has no power
over you as long as you don’t give in to it.”
I reach up and touch the birthmark, smiling faintly. Gabriel’s familiar words have drained
some of my tension. “Thanks for the confidence, Gabriel.” Then in my peripheral vision I see a

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tall, dark-haired figure swaggering toward me and roll my eyes. “Speaking of confidence, here
comes my brother.”
“Arrogance, you mean,” Gabriel says, smiling a bit. “You want me to distract him while
you run?”
I giggle. “It’s just Ace. And besides, he isn’t all rude and tough. He’s really quite sensitive
underneath the arrogant, condescending exterior.”
Gabriel rolls his eyes and snorts. “And I’m the varsity team quarterback.”
Ace is frowning as he reaches me and Gabriel. He doesn’t bother to sit with us. “Why
were you fighting again, Mara?”
“I wasn’t fighting. Your girlfriend decided to teach me about myself . . . again.”
Ace waves a hand in the air dismissively. “And I suppose you still don’t believe her? I
don’t know why you keep up the act. Everyone knows what will happen eventually. Not
everyone gets to be a hero like me, Mara. You get the Destiny you get, and you got stuck with a
bad one. I think it’s time you accept that and stop pretending to be as good as everyone else.”
I bite my lip – it’s the same old thing then, everyone still trying to put me in a box
labeled “Destiny.”
“Fine, it doesn’t matter what you think anyway.” I glance at him and am annoyed to see
that he isn’t even looking at me. He’s watching his hand, and the blue wisps of magic that he
has summoned to it. He grins, obviously pleased with his progress, and I feel my resolve harden
again. Who is he to tell me who I am if he won’t even bother listening to me?
I lift my chin and toss my silver hair behind my shoulder. “I’ve got AP Physics to go to. I’ll
see you after my interview, Gabriel.”

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“Good luck!” My friend gives me a thumbs up and a grin. I smile, then leave, giving Ace
about as much acknowledgement as he had given me.