CHAPTER 1-THE JOURNEY

Long ago on the island of raven, there were six villages, each representing one of the elements, fire, ice, water, lightning, stone and air. From each village there was a guardian representing the element symbolised by their village. When a guardian was two years from death, a teenager was sent to the temple for training.

I was the next. My name is Fira. I had just turned 16 when I was chosen to become the next guardian.

My friend, Loch dar, from the village of lightning, and I had agreed to meet in the fairy glade. But on my way, I had to cross the barren lands, a most dangerous place. I ran across the desert land, alert for danger. Then, a rumble. A hole appeared and out of it came a creature, all fangs and claws and daggers. This fearsome creature, which I realized was a Morbu, stood before me and drew his sharp claws for a deathblow. I drew my sword just in time to block the attack but it snapped my blade in two. I cringed in fear, throwing up my hand. Then a stream of fire shot from the space in front of my hand and wrapped around the Morbu like a Kaalu snake. The Morbu could take no more pain and retreated into it's burrow and disappeared like it hadn't even been there. I raced on not keen on meeting up with another Morbu. When I entered the fairy glade, I knew it because of all the fireflies around me. I had agreed to meet Loch dar on the Dwarven Bridge, and when I reached the clearing, Loch dar was there. It was getting late, so we decided to camp for the night, knowing that the creatures of barren lands became more dangerous by nightfall. I told him about the battle with the Morbu, somehow I knew he was troubled by a similar incident, I don't know how, I just did.

When daybreak came, we set off on our journey again, more alert than I had on my to journey to the Fairy glade. We ran on with our swords ready. The night before I had been cleaning the pieces of my sword and before my eyes they started melding until it was better than new. Finally, after scaling the 3rd mountain, we caught sight of the Great Temple. An ancient castle with six spires, each representing one of the elements, above the temple was a faint outline of a raven. We eagerly sped up, knowing our journey was nearly over.

When we entered the temple, it looked like it had been deserted for decades. We decided to split up and find our way around and to see if anyone else was there. I crept cautiously through one of the many corridors. A whisper of a creak that normally I wouldn't have picked up on! I whirled around just in time to see a blur drop down from the ceiling. I drew my sword, ready to strike, but I was blown off my feet and down the hall. I managed to regain my footing and fought hard to get back up the corridor. I realized that this was a Kalasu, a spidery creature with two big pincers that could snap an old redwood in half with one strike, known to have a strange power over air. I shut my eyes to shield them from the wind. Then the wind started to slow down, I reopened my eyes to see that the Kalasu was glowing with heat. It let out an ear shattering unearthly shriek of pain and disappeared. I fell to the floor from the sudden absence of wind. I picked my self up and got ready to run to the next corridor, eager to finish the job when I heard this strange voice which didn't make a sound but was as clear as if it had been shouted. It was like I heard it but at the same I didn't hear it! Then I realised that it was mind-to-mind speech. I had heard that the guardians and the Kuusa (wise ones) could do this but I had never experienced this before. "well done" said the voice "not very many people can take on a full grown Kalasu and win".

"Where are you," I shouted aloud, "show yourself."

"right here, up here," he replied I looked up to see him descending to the floor on jets of fire. I sheathed my sword and bowed, "I am honoured by your presence, Kuusa," giving the ritual welcome.

"I don't think that you should be honoured seeing as you have enough power right now to bring me down," he said "now, off to meet with the others"

"With who," I asked.

"Why the other Kuusa and the other chosen citizens" he answered.

I followed him through a maze of corridors for what seemed like hours until finally we came to a dead end with six outer markings and six older and smaller markings of the same shape with small canals connecting them, he stopped and held up a stone that had been hanging around his neck. The stone started glowing, sending light on one of the inner markings and the light started moving to the other engravings, soon the whole wall was shining, suddenly it just disappeared. Behind it was a huge cavern with a huge drop going down as far as the eye could see. There was a spiral staircase going around the edge of drop with doors at intervals inscribed with a language he had never seen before. They stopped at one, he took his necklace off and used it as a key to open the door and inside the first person I recognised was Loch dar and then I noticed Varna who I had battled in the recent bow staff tournament. "You" he snarled at me when he realized I was there.