CHAPTER ONE
For countless years, the six kingdoms have quarreled copiously. Upon the upcoming tournament, they have temporarily put aside their differences to contend with one another in order to find out which of them is superior to the rest. A contest of sorts shall commence and the six of them-light, darkness, earth, wind, fire, and water-will compete.
In a dark and sullen valley, a mage of light stands over the fallen master of a defeated legion of undead, grunting with the triumph of his victory while striking the final blow. When the powerful sorcerer returned to his land, satisfaction on his face and success in his heart, the crowds cheered and rejoiced in his homecoming. Throngs exalted him on his return, him along with his teammates by his side, faces shadowed by their overhanging heads in recognition of his greatness.
Within the light kingdom, an unexpected hero, Xentra, opened his eyes ruefully, realizing it had only been a dream. When his vision came into focus, he witnessed the sunshine stream through his vermillion-shaded window, giving his bed welcomed glowing warmth. He sat up, looking sleepily at the opposite wall, seeing his best friend standing their, arms crossed with an impatient expression on her face. He hurriedly jumped out of bed, not wanting to be late for the gathering happening that day. He looked in the mirror, satisfied by his arcanist outfit and snow-colored, slightly disheveled hair. Gryffa, a winged warrior of light, took him by the arm and led him down the corridor, out of the dormitory wing of the building.
"C'mon, hurry! You're gonna be late!" Gryffa pronounced every word with great urgency. Xentra immediately appeared alarmed. Dressed in his ceremonial white robes, he rushed after Gryffa, outside and toward the ceremonial hall, where the other two representatives from the light empire waited. Pikarri, an angelic being like Gryffa, and Raniim, a paladin of sorts, darted their eyes towards the arriving mage, who unexpectedly entered with another in tow. Lumar, the ruler of the light realm, acknowledged the light warriors who stood before him. There seemed to be one more than anticipated.
Pikarri quickly pointed out Gryffa and made sure a guard escorted her outside. Though persistent, she was her attempt to see what was going on; Gryffa could not make out much of what was happening with her view from the entrance of the hall. Once the selected were alone with Lumar, he continued.
"You have all been chosen as the best of your fields, and now, when you are needed most, I call upon you three." Lumar's voice echoed through the hall. He carried on, consulting each one individually, "The competition commences in two days. You all must be ready by then. Raniim, you must hone your skill as a swordsman of light. Pikarri, you also need to harness your powers as a winged soldier of light. Finally yet importantly, Xentra, you must make certain that you build your talents as a mage. We may in fact need you more than the rest. You all should have mastered our trademark spell, Light of Radiance. If not, then I fear, for you might not be ready when the real threat presents itself." Lumar looked downward to his feet, frowned, and then looked at his combatants hopefully.
After much more preparation talk, Xentra appeared overwhelmed while Pikarri and Raniim seemed stoic about their fate. One by one, they exited the hall, having solemn expressions. Pikarri glared at Gryffa on her way out, and then stalked off. Raniim nodded back toward Xentra then followed behind Pikarri. Xentra glanced toward the other two, but stopped at the sight of Gryffa. She had a worried expression upon her face.
Before Xentra could fully open his mouth for an explanation, Gryffa inquired about the discussions that occurred inside. Xentra replied with a grave facial expression, "There are only two days left of preparation before we leave. He gave us these charms, stolen from another kingdom. He didn't say which." Out of his pocket, Xentra pulled a steel ornament; it looked as if it was meant to be worn around the neck." They're supposed to induce invisibility." Gryffa gaped at the charm. It is a polished silver miniature of a dragon. Xentra nonchalantly put it back into his robe pocket. Xentra led her back to his room, thinking about what was yet to come, hoping it would not be too formidable. .
As the sunlight waned, the pair went back to Xentra's room. While still marveling over the talisman Xentra had shown her, Gryffa thought about how she might use it. Xentra distracted her from her contemplations by starting explaining what exactly went on earlier that day.
Even though Lumar himself forbade doing so, he did not think anyone would find out. Xentra sighed and continued. "He told us that if we wanted to defeat the enemy, we had fight like them, copy their style, and beat them at their own game. That is why Lumar gave us the talismans of invisibility."
Gryffa sat in silence, dazed from what Xentra revealed. Overwhelmed by the news he had just presented her, Gryffa tried to avoid the subject. She halfheartedly wished Xentra a good night, departing with a swoosh of her wings on the way out.
The next morning, at dawn, Gryffa woke Xentra. The pair went into the nearby wilderness to train his abilities. When they came to the first clearing, they encountered Pikarri, who had been honing her power of flight. Looking at her own angelic wings, Gryffa frowned. Gryffa felt hers were not as majestic. She had the impressions that this meant her wings were not as powerful. Not wanting to wait around for Pikarri to notice them, Xentra approached her, hoping she might move, if not share the spot, but his attempts were to no avail. He thought about and in the end decided against the idea. As he turned back to Gryffa, she put her hands to her mouth as she gasped from surprise. Xentra spun back around, just in time to see Pikarri flying straight at him. Instead of doubling over from her wing attack, Xentra dove onto some nearby earth, as if he expected her onslaught.
While looking for a place to train, Pikarri had found herself a good, clear spot, perfect for practicing flying moves. It was not quite light yet, but she wanted to get an early start. After a while, she thought she was doing quite well, but was discouraged by a sudden fall. This did not daunt her enough for her to stop, so she continued, more determined than ever. After light came, the real fun could begin. As the morning sky had brightened a little, Pikarri started to elevate the level of training. She began to practice her wing attacks with the newfound light. This seemed to be going well, but during one of her landings, there came some unexpected guests…
Getting to his feet, Xentra dusted his robes off and looked back at Pikarri, just in case she doubled back. Instead, she landed. He approached her and asked why she had attacked him. She looked shocked and appalled at the question. Instead of answering, she scoffed at Gryffa and flew away haughtily. Gryffa started to protest but stopped herself at the last moment.
After their encounter with Pikarri, they left the spot she had been training on and ventured for a new place. Soon, they came upon Raniim, honing his sword skills. He was quite incredible actually. Xentra did not know much about him, only that he has trained as a paladin and will be accompanying him on the dangerous undertaking that they would depart for the next morning. Not wishing to disturb Raniim in his current state of concentration, Xentra and Gryffa moved on. After a little more walking, they saw a nice clear patch of grass, perfect for training.
She then suggested that Xentra train here, considering how available it was. He listened to her training there until the sun was high, attempting to strengthen his arcane skills. He did not worry about healing abilities, for he mastered them long ago, but the real trouble was becoming better at casting Light of Radiance. When he tried it, the spell dimmed at the last second. In the end, he decided to give up for the day, after going at it for several hours.
When they returned, they agreed how good of an idea eating really was. At the dining hall, Xentra and Gryffa retrieved some food from a line and ate ravenously. Training builds up an appetite. Although Gryffa did not actually train, she did help him do so, not to mention the fact she just loved to eat. However, Gryffa was not obese. On the contrary, she was slim, especially for how she ate.
After about ten minutes of chowing down, Xentra was finished. Gryffa had eaten three more courses than he had though, waiting as he was putting down his silverware. Actually, she was staring at him, waiting for him to be done. When he glanced up, Gryffa grimaced at him for being so slow. He knew that face by now. Xentra wiped his mouth, looked right back at her, and waited for her to say something.
Pushing her strawberry blond locks out her face, Gryffa began," Ya know, Xentra, maybe I could tag along with you three-just to keep you out of trouble. What d'ya thinks?"
Totally blown away by her suggestion, Xentra replied. At that time, only one thing came to mind, justification. "Well-uh-ya see, the thing is that…well, there's only supposed to be three representatives from the kingdom of light, and they've already been chosen." Noticing tears slowly well up in her eyes, Xentra acted hastily. "Since we're not gonna see each other for some time, I thought you should have this." Xentra fished out the talisman of invisibility and presented it to Gryffa.
Gryffa happily accepted, wiping away potential tears. She immediately put it around her neck. "How's it work again?" she asked Xentra, hoping he would know. As if merely not to disappoint, he responded," All you have to do is say the incantation: mor-grado. It's as simple as that really." Gryffa tried it; as soon as she pronounced the incantation, she disappeared. Not knowing what to do next, she repeated it. To her relief, she became visible once again.
Xentra's eyes darted around, apprehensively. He spotted Raniim, who had his own eyes looking at Gryffa's direction in a suspicious fashion. Grabbing Gryffa, Xentra hurried out of the dining hall, hoping to leave the prosecuting eyes behind.
Xentra led her to library. They stayed there for the remainder of the afternoon. In that time, Xentra and Gryffa studied up on the enemy from the other five nations of elemental power. There was not much information shared between the kingdoms, so little proved to be of any real help. What they did find, however, was information about their foes' special skills. The one they found most unappealing was the spell of Shadow Stealth, used by the darkness armies. One could penetrate any defense with, for while one has it in effect, they are temporarily invincible. This would prove to be especially troublesome.
Xentra did not know what to do. He left for the Plains of Viridia the next morning, and he was not ready for such an adventure. He shall never understand how became to be chosen as one of the privileged three. Lumar cast the decision down himself, for he apparently thought Xentra was worthy. Although he was no charlatan, Xentra knew he could not stand up to the warriors from the other realms, especially if the other two decided not to look after him. The moon began to wax, so Gryffa wished Xentra good luck, hoping that in some way, any way, she could help in this plight.
The next morning, the day of the journey to the Plains of Viridia, Xentra could not have been more anxious. He gathered all of his equipment he thought he needed for the quest: an extra set of pure white wizard robes, a bottle of healing elixir, and his trusty Glimmer Staff. With these items tucked away, he was ready to go. He arrived promptly at the ceremonial hall, just in time to depart. When he entered, Raniim and Pikarri were already waiting. It seemed to Xentra that he always seemed to lag behind the others.
As the sunlight grew, the trio said their final goodbyes, but Xentra could not find Gryffa anywhere. After Lumar summoned them to leave, he had to give up searching. At the entrance of the light kingdom, Raniim, Pikarri, and Xentra waved to the cheering masses, hoping to one-day return, with the ultimate news. As Xentra turned to their form of transportation to the plains, enormous orbs of light made for uses of transport, he felt a strong zephyr, as if someone, or something, had flown by swiftly. Xentra thought he might know what it could have been, but he was not positive. In the end, he figured that he find out in due time, so he joined the others on their way toward the orbs. Raniim, Pikarri, and Xentra nodded to one another, climbed into separate orbs, and ascended into the sky, starting the beginning of what may very well be their end...