Sholaria Tales

Chapter 1: Tragedy

The sound of explosions, gunshots and clashing metal echoed across the battlefield in the orange coloured sky. The floating city of Aeros, the main capital of Kingdom Four, was suffering heavy assault from enemy forces. Green and purple blasts from each side of the battle respectively flew across the sky in a flurry. Each shot was soon followed by an explosion as the blasts hit their targets in the air or in the city.
The whole scene was very easily seen by the incoming drop ship that flew towards the battle. Within the drop ship were a battalion of soldiers from another Kingdom, specifically Kingdom Eleven. The soldiers within the ship were experienced warriors who carried the basic weapons load out consisting of a primary melee weapon and secondary long ranged weapon. Swords, pistols, hammers and axes were just to name a few. However, a few particular soldiers were so skilled that they only needed the one weapon; the only warriors who qualified on board this ship were the commander in charge and all of the members of Unit V-11, the special Versatility Unit of Kingdom Eleven. One of the very members of this unit was watching the whole scene from a window on the ship, his arms folded across his chest with a grim expression on his face.
The dark skinned young warrior, who looked in his early twenties, had black dreadlocks which were all tied together by a brown hair band. He also had hazel colored eyes and wore a white t-shirt which was visible under his very light aqua coloured trench coat, which was given to him by his grandfather. To compliment his trench coat, he also wore baggy pants which were also the same colour as his coat and he also wore grey coloured shoes.
"Z! Let's go!" A voice called to him from behind.
The man, Z, turned away from the view in the window and set off towards the stairs, his trench coat trailing behind him without touching the floor. Once he made it to the bottom of the stairs, he took a left and soon enough entered the hanger which was filled with warriors. Each warrior was wearing identical black clad armour on their torsos, a black helmet on their heads and black armoured gloves. In fact, the only things that seemed to set the warriors apart from each other (apart from the different coloured skin that they had and eyes) were the colours of their baggy trousers that everyone in the room wore. Each colour and design identified what Kingdom they hailed from and what element they could manipulate. Z's aqua coloured trousers signified that he was an Aeropian, born in Kingdom Four and that he could manipulate the element of air.
Despite all of the warriors in the room, there were definitely two that stood out the most on the corner of the room which was furthest from the door. One of them was the leader of the particular group, Commander Spike. Unlike everybody else he was shirtless and simply wore his baggy pants and black armoured gloves. He was a muscular man with red spiky hair. The other one was another member of Unit V-11. He was particularly large man with black and red armour and red baggy trousers (which signified he was a Pyropian, born in Kingdom One and could manipulate the element of fire). On his back were to noticeably large hammers which formed an X shape. The large man had a thick black moustache, thick black eye brows and a particularly large nose.
The large man beckoned Z to come towards him and the latter did so. The man then handed Z a weapon. It was a long golden staff with turquoise blades on each end.
"I know you were in a hurry to go and save your home, but don't forget the tool you're going to save your home with in the process, Ok?" the large man said in a deep voice.
"Yeah, you're right. Thanks Goh," Z replied.
The large man, Goh, also had a concerned look along his face. "Your mother will be fine; she was probably one of the first to be evacuated."
"I hope so," Z replied.
The conversation was interrupted by the Commander, who cleared his throat.
"Get in line!" he barked.
Z and Goh joined the battalion of soldiers and stood at the very front of the group, who had now assembled in lines of 10 with Z and Goh being dead center, being 5th and 6th in line respectively.
"You people should know the drill by now! But for the sake of protocol I'm going to go through it again!" The Commander started. "We are going straight into the frontlines and I want this battle to be done effortlessly! I only assembled the best warriors for this mission and I want you men to show these Prophets no mercy at all! I want to guys to beat these Prophets so badly that even the war will finish! Is that clear!?"
Despite the lack of realism in that request the soldiers shouted an enthusiastic "Sir, yes sir!"
"Good!" he continued. "For those of you that can't fly, there are Hover Disks available near the door. The rest of you, get ready to head out on my mark!"
There was a flurry of activity as those who couldn't fly quickly went towards the side of the hanger and grabbed their Hover Disks.
Once everyone had grabbed their Hover Disks and equipment, the large hanger doors opened to allow the battalion of troops to be deployed.
"GO! GO! GO! GO!" the Commander shouted as soldiers filed out of the drop ship and jumped into the sky.
A few of the troops were using Hover Disks; however a majority of the troops were able to fly using their various elements. Z dashed out in front of the pack, using the wind to form whirlwinds around his feet which propelled him through the air. He was quickly followed by Goh, who was emitting flames from the soles of his feet similar to jet boots. The large sea of new combatants roared through the sky, hurtling towards the enemy.
The enemy army that the group was facing wasn't particularly nice looking enemies. They were called Prophets; however the name did their looks no justice whatsoever. Their skin was purple and scaly and they wore white robes around their waists. Their oval shaped heads were completely covered in bandages apart from their singular huge eye which occupied the centre of their faces. They also had bare feet and pointy fingers. These creatures weren't flying on their own; they were riding on the backs of grey dragons which any inhabitant of Kingdom Four would know has the minions of the legendary beast of Kingdom Four, Wyvern.
As Z hacked and slashed through the incoming Prophets, he couldn't help but wonder something.
"Why are the Wyverns teaming up with the Prophets?" Goh shouted from behind Z as he smashed one of his hammers into the gut if a Prophet, causing it to explode into purple dusts which quickly evaporated.
The same thought had crossed Z's mind as he stabbed his glaive into a Prophets chest. Wyverns were fiercely territorial and would never under normal circumstances let another species ride on its back. They were a faction of their own.
An urgent shout from Goh brought Z out of his thoughts. Z turned around just in time to see a Wyvern with a Prophet on its back dash towards Z, aiming its bite to take his face off. Z new that at the speed it was coming at, he'd only get one swing of his glaive, and at the angle they were coming at he'd only get to kill one of the other. Suddenly, a beam of lightning shot towards the animal and pierced right through the side its head, leaving a gaping, smoking hole in its dome and ending its life. Z took his opportunity to fly a little higher in the air and swung his glaive at the Prophet, slicing through its waist and separating his upper half from its lower half.
He looked at Goh, who was letting out a deep sigh of relief, and then looked at the city of Aeros. Despite not knowing where the shooter was positioned, he knew exactly who fired the shot and waved in the general direction of where the shot came from. He then turned around and continued to fight the oncoming forces.

Another member of Unit V-11 waved back at Z from her lying down position in the city of Aeros. She wore a smirk on her face, pleased at the fact that that was the 20th enemy that she had killed since she'd taken up her position on top of the high wall that erected around the city when it was under attack. That was 40 seconds ago. The young caucasian woman had black long hair with a yellow hair band. She also wore a yellow combat shirt and brown baggy pants with a yellow pattern design that looked similar to lightning. The baggy pants signified that though she was born in Kingdom Three, which was primarily occupied by Geopians, users of the element Earth, she was actually and Electropian, a user of lightning. The smirk on her face remained as she fired another electrical shot at another Prophet that was about to attack another one of her allies. Rona believed she was the top sniper of Unit V-11; she and her trusty gun, Trident, were the perfect combination for long ranged assaults. She'd have easily claimed that title too, if not for another member of the unit…
"Hey! Rona! Save some of those enemies for me won'tcha!"
She sighed.
Speak of the devil.
She looked to her left and watched as a young caucasian man with mid length blonde hair and freckles ran towards her position. He wore typical cowboy get up, cowboy hat, a yellow bandana around his neck, and brown gloves on his hand, he even had the accent. He also had twin pistols holstered on his waist and his baggy pants were yellow with white patterns on the, signifying that he was born in Kingdom Five but was a Solaropian, a user of the element of light.
"Shouldn't you be shooting somewhere else?" Rona hollered whilst remaining in position.
"Art's doing fine with the southeast cannons without my help" The blonde boy shouted as he continued towards her position.
"Look out!" a soldier screamed as a blast of purple energy hurtled towards the blonde boy's position.
There was a yellow flash.
Suddenly a purple explosion erupted a feet away from where Rona was position, sending her sprawling across the floor. When she looked up she saw that the blast had blown of chunk of the wall open leaving a large crescent shape in the road. There was a yellow flash behind her and the blonde cowboy appeared behind her whilst crouching. She turned around, startled that he was suddenly there.
"Damn it Wade!" Rona shouted. "You startled me! I hope that that near death experience has thought you to keep your head down while in battle. I swear your reckless behaviour is going to get you killed someday…."
Wade just sighed and tried to his best to prepare himself for the rambling he was about to endure.
Her potentially long speech was cut short as another blast caused the wall to shake violently as a purple flash appeared right of their current position. Rona looked over the wall in time to see an extremely bulky Prophet, which was standing on top of a Wyvern, get ready to fire what looked like a high tech bazooka. Rona pulled up her gun and the sound of gunfire erupted beside her. She realized whilst the Prophet was falling over that Wade had stolen her kill.
"Hey!" she exclaimed, looking clearly annoyed.
"What?" Wade said whilst feigning innocence.
"You stole my shot!"
"No, I didn't."
"Yes, you did! You're trying to trick me into losing the bet aren't you!?"
Wade grinned. "Maybe…"
"Well then, I bet I can get more kills than you today!"
"Alright then, it's on!"
The two gunners then began to unleash a volley of bullets at their incoming enemy forces, each of the bullets hitting their mark.

Meanwhile, back in the middle of the battlefield, Z and Goh were handling the oncoming forces with ease. Z was slicing through multiple enemies, sending each Prophet to their demise. Goh on the other hand, was swinging his hammer wildly, smashing it into the body of any Prophet that dared to try and attack him. The battle in the sky was utter chaos as the Kingdom Four/Kingdom Eleven Alliance soldiers powered through the oncoming army of Prophets. Z gathered a swirl of air into his hand and thrust his palm forward, sending a ripple of air towards a group of Prophets sending them flying off of their respective Wyverns in different directions. One Prophet in particular was carrying a golden bow and was pulling the arrow back ready to fire. Z was ready to dodge the arrow when all of the sudden, a spear of high pressure water shot through the Prophet's eye, killing it. Z turned around just in time to see another member of Unit V-11 fly through the air on a Hover Disk. Darn, what is it with all the females saving him today?
The caramel skinned female warrior, dressed in blue top and matching blue baggy pants, jumped off of her board and drop kicked another Prophet straight off of his Wyvern. As she dropped through the sky the Wyvern turned around and dived after her, hoping to go for the kill. The Hydropian female quickly twisted so she was facing upwards and then threw a blade at the Wyvern. The blade pierced its head, killing the beast as it erupted from the other side also covering the blade in green blood. Z dashed towards the blade and caught it, the blade was unusually long and then he remembered that it was actually a closed fan. The Hydropian's Hover Disk swooped down and caught her. As she flew back up towards Z she gestured for him to pass her the fan. He tossed it to her and she caught it.
"Lucky I was there to save your butt, Z" she joked with a smile.
He crossed his arms and smiled. "I could've handled it."
"Could've, should've, didn't."
Goh flew towards the two. "You're only mad because you can't fly yet, Mai" He said with a smile.
"Hey! I've been practicing, I'll think of a way eventually!" Mai replied.
"Sure thing, none-flyer," he said whilst gesturing at her Hover Disk.
"No fair! Wade and Rona can't fly too."
"Well, Wade can teleport and Rona can…well…..you're just funnier to annoy."
"He has a point," Z said with a chuckle.
"Z, don't you start on me too."
"What's going on down there!" a familiar voice barked through the threesome's earpieces.
"Oh? Commander Spike! We're, um, just coming up with a new strategy!" Z replied to his earpiece.
"New strategy my backside, you're just lucky that all of the Prophets have decided to line up in formation." Commander Spike replied.
Z stopped to consider the phrase and then looked at the oncoming forces, funnily enough; the Prophets riding their Wyverns seemed to line up in rows almost as if about to do another charge.
Z, Goh and Mai instinctively mimicked their formation as well as all of the other members of the Kingdom Four/Kingdom Eleven Alliance Army.
There was an eerie silence in the air; it was amazing the contrast between the sound of energy bullets and metal clashing and just the single sound of the wind howling.
Everyone was still, almost as if the opposing armies were having a staring contest.
Suddenly the army of Prophets parted like the sea. The space that they left was huge; Z half expected an army of Wyverns to emerge from behind the army.

The atmosphere on board the drop ship was extremely intense, despite not actually being in the midst of the battle. The drop ship was a little further away from the battlefield; it was also higher up, providing the bridge of the ship with a good view of the overall battle. On the bridge of the ship, sitting in front of the bright-lit and confusing console of buttons and holograms, was the Mission Observer of Unit V-11. She wore a simple dark green crop top and green baggy pants; she was born in Kingdom Nine and was a Chloropian, a Sholarian that could manipulate plant life. On her face was a pair of high tech goggles which functioned as ear pieces and also scanners that could detect Djinn Soul. Almost every creature in the world of Sholaria contained Djinn Soul, which was common knowledge among most of the population of the planet. It was what allowed Sholarians to manipulate their elements in the first place, it was genes that determined what element they could manipulate.
"Something's up," Commander Spike said from behind her. She almost forgot that he was there; he had been unusually quiet the past few minutes.
She assumed he was expecting an answer so she replied. "I feel that too sir,"
"Prophets don't usually do things like this unless they are clearly losing, or they have a plan." Commander Spike said.
"Let's hope that it's the former that applies to this situation," she said.
She continued tap a few keys on the high tech keyboard, bringing up different statistics.
"It seems that only 11% of our troops have been lost since we entered the battle. The other side has, obviously, sustained an immeasurable amount of casualties, though their numbers don't seem to have dwindled in their army."
"Which means that their troops are somehow being replenished, can you detect any Dark Doors on the ground?" Commander Spike requested.
Dark Doors were contraptions that the Prophets used in order to come to any location that they place them in from an unknown location.
"There shouldn't be, which means that there must be one on the sky or something," she concluded.
As she finished that deduction, she heard a beep in her earpiece that drew her attention to the map tab. She pressed a few keys and then a hologram came up with a map being displayed. A large green dot appeared on the map and she pressed a few more keys. Her eyes widened as she grasped the sheer horror of the situation.
The Commander's grip on her chair tightened.
"Link my headset to Channel 1, now!" He shouted urgently. She tapped a few more keys and soon he was connected.

The entire army heard the urgent and hurried voice of the Mission Observer as she spoke into their ears.
"Everybody! There is a colossal mass of Djinn Soul heading towards your position, Stay on your toes and wait for further instructions; I repeat stay on your toes!"
Wade stayed crouched behind the wall reloading his gun. "To be fair, the people out there in the battlefield probably couldn't stay on their toes since their flying or whatever. Apart from those on Hover Disks I guess but…."
Wade was interrupted by a tap on his shoulder. He looked upwards to see that Rona was standing up in full view on top of the wall, trembling with fear.
"Hey, what's up?" he said, getting up to stand beside her. What he saw took his breath away.

Z looked on in shock and awe at the incoming monster that approached them. This was something that he hoped as a child he would never see, something that he only saw in text books and never dreamt of being so near.
Flying towards his home city right before his eyes, the Kingdom Four Giga-Beast Wyvern emerged.
The huge beast was a grey colour and had only humongous legs and powerful wings, no arms. One flap of the huge beasts wings were enough to blow away a large amount of Prophets that were floating nearby on their own small Wyverns. Its wide mouth was clamped shut and its red eyes seemed to pierce into the eyes of every member of the Kingdom Four/Kingdom Eleven Alliance Army, petrifying them. It was one thing to have the minions of this murderous beast on their side, but for the Prophets to have the actually have one of the Ten Giga-Beasts of Sholaria on their side is a great feat.
Z couldn't help but notice that on the top of the large beasts head was what looked like a large building of some sort.
"Is that some kind of crown they built on its head?" Goh mumbled loud enough for only Z and Mai to hear.
"Looks like a factory to me," Mai said trying to muster some bravery in her voice.
The Allied Army suddenly began to regain composure; however, none of them were nearly ready enough to fight this new combatant.
The Wyvern then opened its mouth, revealing its several hundred thousand teeth and black tongue. Instead of letting loose a roar, it began to suck in a large mass of air, dragging in a few Prophets and Wyvern's in the process also, soon enough a purple orb began to slowly grow in its mouth.
"EVERYBODY MOVE, NOW!" The Commander screamed at the top of his lungs into the headsets of the army, snapping the Allied army out of its trance. The troops of Kingdom Four instinctively flew downwards towards the cities on the ground, whilst a majority of the Kingdom-Eleven troops flew towards the drop ship.

Inside the drop ship, what could only be described as sheer Pandemonium occurred within the bridge. The Commander barked orders for other operators to be ready to open the hanger doors to let the troops in. Medical personnel readied themselves to receive injured soldiers. The Mission Operator of Unit V-11's fingers were a blur as she typed in keys and observed the situation with horror.
"The Wyvern is drawing in an immeasurable amount of air and also gathering an unbelievable amount of Djinn Soul for this attack." She said. "Calculations say that this blast will wipe out a fifth of the city and the falling debris will probably affect everything within a 50 ft radius."
The Commander stopped and looked at the Operator. "What about the evacuation squad in the Capital?"
"Only 82% of the population has been evacuated, sir!"
"What!? How come only so little has left?"
She looked at him in worry. "For the record 82% is pretty big sir, the population of Aeros alone is very high, plus, the lack of Solaropians in the city hindered the process. They only have a limited amount of Djinn Soul."
"Damn it!" The Commander exclaimed. "What about our own troops on the South wall?"
"On their own, they may not be able to escape the blast. However, Wade should be able to handle it."

Panic, worry, frustration, regret, those were the words that echoed across the South Wall of the city of Aeros as soldiers scurried to get off of the wall via the south east side. Wade was caught up in the evacuation team, meaning Rona had to run across the wall along with a group of five other soldiers until Wade could pick them up. The group of six ran across the wall like mad men and women, hoping to be able to make it to the edge so they could get to the drop ship.
Rona snuck a glance right as the Wyvern continued to charge its attack, the Purple Orb of energy was about five times the size it was earlier, meaning that it was getting closer to finishing. Where the hell was Wade?

On the Drop ship The Operator couldn't take her eyes off of the screen as the Wyvern charged up its attack even further.
"What's its status?" The Commander barked, sweating profusely.
"Judging from calculations and a bit of educated guess, I'd say the Wyvern's attack has charged at 66%, sir!" she replied.
"Damn it!"
Suddenly, a yellow flash appeared in the bridge of the ship. Wade, surrounded by a group of 19 soldiers appeared. And it looked like Wade was out of breath.
"Wade! What's taking you so long!?" The Commander shouted.
"I'm doing my best! It's tiring you know!" Wade said angrily.
"Sorry," The Commander said looking a little bit sympathetic. "Just one more group and it's over ok?"
"Alright, I don't know if I'll make it, but wish me luck." Wade said with a salute.
Suddenly in a yellow a flash he was gone. As he disappeared Z, followed by Mai and Goh, entered the bridge.
"How's the evacuation going?" he asked.
"Wade's on his last legs, last I heard only 85% of the population of Aeros has been evacuated and I need some Deodorant." The Commander said whilst wiping seat from his forehead.
"Excuse me for saying so sir, but I'm happy someone has some humour left in them" Z replied.
Whatever the Commander was about to reply was interrupted by a cry from the Operator.
"It's just spiked up to 88% sir!" She said whilst trembling.
"WHAT?" The Commander shouted. Now even he was starting to become scared. He looked around at all of the warriors that had gathered on the bridge. He had to make sure that the morale of his soldiers was high. But given the situation there was only one course of action to take.
"Vex!" The Commander called.
The pilot of the drop ship, Vex, jumped in his seat.
"Yes sir!"
"Pull us further away from the city!" The Commander barked.
"Got it," Vex said as he pulled the ship backwards.
Goh looked at the city in horror. "But sir, we're moving out of range for Wade to teleport back!"

Rona and the other five kept running across the wall; they were exhausted from running. Plus, they knew that even if they made it to the edge of the wall, they may not have enough stamina to reach the drop ship, it was a lose-lose situation.
Rona's life started flashing before her eyes, the childhood days with her sister, moving to Kingdom Eleven for the first time meeting Unit V-11 for the first time, all of the banter with Wade, all of the fights and battles she's taken part in and all of this, to die, at the hands of a monster.
Well, at least I know it took one of the most powerful creatures on the planet to kill me, she thought to herself.
Eventually the group came to a stop out of exhaustion, one of the female members started crying and another female came to comfort her. Rona was also on the brink of tears, it seemed like it was game over. Suddenly, a familiar yellow flash appeared in front of her and the group. A sigh of relief erupted from her mouth as Wade appeared in front of her. He looked like he was barely able to stand but at least he was conscious. She dared a smile to for across her mouth as she and the group ran towards Wade. The cowboy took a step towards her and then collapsed towards the ground. Rona's smile she was by Wade's side screaming his name, begging him to wake up, crying because her and her comrades' final beacon of safety was diminishing before her eyes. One of the members of her group screamed and pointed at The Wyvern's mouth. The purple orb within it was so huge that it filled up its mouth completely.

"The attack has fully charged!" The Operator shouted.
There was a murmur among the soldiers as the announcement was made. The Commander watched in horror as the orb inside the beast's mouth stopped growing.
Then there was an eerie silence.
The crowd of soldiers each froze in position; they gazed out at the scene before them, wondering what would happen next.
Suddenly a bright light shone from The Wyvern's mouth and a gigantic purple beam erupted from its open mouth, followed by a deafening roar that sounded like the cross between a lion and an elephant. Mai, who was standing next to Z, started to cry and the latter put and arm around her, he could barely contain his own tears.

Rona and the group stood tall, standing in a straight line facing the beast. All of them held hands together as if they were ready to embrace death. As soldiers they knew the risk of death in their line of work, even if they had survived for so long. Tears were stinging Rona's eyes when the Wyvern fired its laser.
Well, this is goodbye, she thought to herself as the beam hurtled towards the wall. As she closed her eyes, she felt a hand grip around her ankle and she briefly looked down at the floor.
The last thing she saw was the brief image of Wade, lying down on the floor, his hand around her ankle and then a flash.
The colour of the flash was yellow.

All of the soldiers on the bridge of the ship watched in horror as the purple blast collided with the south wall and burst through the city. Buildings faded to dust as the beam ripped its way through the city and out of the other side. When The Wyvern's attack had subsided, the end result was more horrifying than the actual blast. The floating City of Aeros had a huge chunk of it missing, completely vaporized by the blast. It was almost as if the city was a painting and that someone had used their hand to wipe away a chunk of the city and replace it with the orange sky.
Eventually the silence on the ship was broken as the low sobbing sound of the Operator was heard. Z stood there amongst the soldiers completely stunned at what he had just seen. Though he had only stayed there for his childhood and a small amount of his teenage life, Z could feel nothing but a mixed emotion of anger and sadness as he looked at what was left of his home.
"Operator," The Commander said. He could barely say the words. "Um….status report, please."
The Operator pressed a few keys on the keyboard and the Hologram switched.
"The estimated damage towards the city of Aeros is about 24%. Almost a quarter of the city was vaporized in the blast. The fact that it was vaporized renders my earlier prediction of falling debris pointless as there is no debris left to drop. The blast managed to hit the evacuation tubes in the city dead on, meaning that anyone that was trying to escape when the blast was fired is certain to be dead."
More silence.
The Wyvern, who had finished its attack, flew away from the city and off into the orange sky. The soldiers watched the beast as it flew off into the distance.
Eventually, a soldier ran upstairs from the hanger and into the bridge.
"Guys," he said. "The seven members that weren't accounted for on the South wall have just appeared in the hanger!"
Z, Goh, Mai and Commander Spike were among the first to enter the room to see a sight that brought tears to their eyes. The five other soldiers who were running with Rona had huddled around in a circle. In the middle of the circle, Rona was kneeling next to an unconscious Wade, crying.

And that was the first Chapter of Sholaria Tales? Did you like it? Drop a Review if you have any comments or critiques!