At the height of sunrise. In the small village of Raguar, a carriage finally ventures into the shelter shades of the forest after a long extent journey out in the hot desert. A young boy and his father sits inside its comfort along with six of their utmost of warriors on their horses around it, guarding the vessel. The misty wet forest, fresh out of the morning fog of cultivating clouds, the slow rush of river water flowing through its seemingly endless stream and the animals that resides in it. The boy felt one with nature. For a foreigner that came from the land of vast deserts, the new landscape was refreshing and unique to the eyes. As the boy adjusted the mask that he is wearing on his head to peek more of the scenery outside the carriage window, his father stopped him. The man spoke in their language.
* "Do not take off that mask", the boy flinched but obeyed, behaved in his seat at the sound of his father's command.
*"They mustn't see your face, my son", he looked at his father with curious eyes for he is still not yet very well adjusted to being called 'son' by the man.
The father looked outside and inquired from his soldiers. *"How much longer?", the man asked in a rushed tone.
*"Please wait a little more, Your---My lord. We are almost there". The soldier rephrased his words when the man glanced at him. For they aren't allowed to be called as what they are outside their territory in respects to their safety. In their disguise, they are simply a traveling merchant with a package to deliver to a nearby temple.
Instead of listening in to their conversation, it was more of the boy's best interest to enjoy the view and did as best he could to see from the small hole in his mask. Not just a mere mask but rather more like a headpiece. With the shape and design of the fierce desert wolf, dazzled with ornaments and a dark veil. Not only his face is covered but also his head and he must wear it so, for certain traditions in their culture forbids their face from being seen by ordinary men.
This is his very first time seeing a mountain, the boy was bewildered by the view. So much greens. He had never seen that many trees before in his life and neither had he heard of the peaceful twittering of the birds and insects of the early morning. 'So, this is what a real forest looks like', the boy thought. Only having heard of the distant lands like these from stories in books and his teachers, he finds the whole experience to be a bliss that it feels like just a dream for him.
Feeling the cool breeze on his skin, he closed his eyes as he begins to wonder what kind of people must be living there.
* **
The protagonist of this world comes from a long line of royals. Born as the 8th child of the great King of Solkara, a powerful kingdom in the great deserts that rivals that of Edzhilflare, my current nation. His heritage came from a large history of bloodlust for the throne, that's why, his mother, a mere palace maid took him away from that life. But it only ever did made things worse for him.
Besides, the great fays in ancient times, the only other race that has phenomenal abilities are the people of Solkara. One of the race that are descendants of pure fays. Their power is of being one and in control of the elements. Although, the common folks are only blessed with one element and are not able to use it to a great extent, unlike the royal bloodline they are still capable of harnessing such power.
The Ariks.
The family that ruled the lands of Solkara through countless centuries and generations that saved them from many great wars and draught. Each blood member of that family possesses 2 or more elements being the direct purest kind of the descendants. They thrived from materializing their abilities for power, wealth, war, and not only that but also manipulating their environs.
And the more elemental ability a child of the king has the most likely they are to become the strongest candidate to be the next King or Queen. It wouldn't matter if you are the eldest, the youngest, the smartest or the toughest among the children because whoever has the strongest ability of them all, becomes the next ruler. To determine that, at the king's will or death, all the royal children would have a showdown to claim their worth for the throne. Because of this their family are encouraged to have as many children as possible for the sake of finding the most suitable candidate for the throne. But this did backfired as it caused the children to begin assassinating each other for the crown even before the set ritual.
And that is exactly what drove our protagonist into his tragic life.
Being missing from the palace for 4 years of his life, his ability was unknown until he was later found. To which his power was then discovered by his father. Bewildered of what he had witnessed, he oath to trust none of his great wizards to check the strength of his child's ability for he knew what would befall a child with such omnipotent blessing. His fear was so great that in fact, he dared to travel into enemy territory just to seek out a powerful fay priestess to determine for his son's ability.
The temple of the elf priestess, Uie in the mountains of Edzhilflare. Yes, the same temple that is in my village and the same hill in the mountain that I've been camping out in.
As early in the sunrise when I was out to selling peaches. I heard the latest gossip of the morning tossed around in the marketplace. Locals spotted a mysterious, luxurious carriage venturing from deep beyond the border into the forest this early in the morning. They say they were foreigners from the West, probably merchants or perhaps nobles who came to seek the temple. If they were either, whoever they were must be wealthy because instead of horses, the carriage was being pulled by the rarely tamed desert monitors. A giant specie of desert lizards who are most adept in the desert and wild.
I immediately rushed to see who the rumored guests of the temple was. I tailed and followed them until they went up the hill where I climbed the nearest tree as the carriage enters the gates of the temple. Even when there's such a revered temple here, it is the rarest of occasions to see an obvious carriage venture into this village because it is too remote from the rest of the territory. A carriage with that style wouldn't make the journey up this mountain, which can only mean one thing. It didn't came from below, but rather…above. I stared further within the gates hoping to get a glimpse of the new visitors but to my disappointment I actually could not.
'Tsk'.
As two people began to get off from the carriage the very moment they step foot outside, some guards surrounded them and covered them with a huge parasol.
I observed the guests closely as the monks greeted them.
"To whom do we owe this pleasure?", an elder monk smiled at the soldier.
"Warriors of Solkara Dominion", the moment the soldier mentioned the kingdom, I saw how the monk's expression changed and immediately panicked.
"W-welcome! We welcome thee thy precious guests!", he bowed deeply along with his companions. And after they paid their respect, one of them got up and ran back inside, probably to alert the priestess.
In an instant, I felt overjoyed. That was the only confirmation that I needed to hear. With this all my worries seased. Today is the day where all my suffering in this village comes to an end. In this glorious day, I am finally meeting him.
I looked down at the old broken cart at the temple wall and to the peach tree in the distance. The cold morning breeze felt like the afternoon's as I began to wonder how we'll meet. Finally seeing the most important stranger implanted in my memory, I wonder what he may look like.