2 the FOUR PRINCES

"A very long time ago, there was an immortal being that's so powerful he created the stars. He flew through the dark sky creating the lights as he passed by.

"When he grew tired of his wanderlust, he created ten lands from a big bright star and dipped his feet to test them. He then chose the third land from the star to rest upon. It is neither hot nor cold, he said. The temperature is just right for him to collect his thoughts and rest. He called this Earth and the star the Sun. He called the other nine lands with different names and written it down on Earth. He smiled with amusement and said to himself that it was good.

"After a few days walking on this vast earth he noticed that he got thirsty. He is not accustomed to walking for he had floated his whole time. He noticed water coming out of his skin so water he should create to replenish. He collected sweat in his body and gently poured it unto the dry earth. Through his amazement, he saw transformations that occurred gradually into the great lands. He was amazed on what happened and he called the resulting immense waters sea and the vast seas oceans. He also noticed water forming inside dry land that came from the sky. He called the still waters lakes and the flowing waters rivers. He also called the blue ceiling of the earth skies and the forming water above clouds. He was contented and he said to himself that it was good.

"The vast emptiness saddened him exploring this great earth. After much contemplation, he decided that he can't leave the earth as it is. He created a tunnel of mazes beneath the earth, beneath the rivers, beneath the lakes, beneath the seas, beneath the oceans. He then created a well straight above the river beneath which directly feeds to it. He poured his blood in this well. 'It is painful!' he said, but lo and behold, things began to sprout through the seas and into the land. Miniscule creatures too small to see but can still be seen, nonetheless. He called the river beneath the earth the 'river of life' and the well that connects it the 'fountain of life', for life the well brought to the earth therefore life should be the name it should aptly be called. He took a step back to bask in his wondrous creation and he said to himself that it was good.

"Days passed by as he wandered still and through his amazement of these tiny creatures, he noticed they were growing, and growing, and growing till it reached the other lands, and the other, and the other. Some sprouted on mountains, other sprouted under seas. He called the small things that sprouted plants and the big one's trees. In his excitement, he wished to bring life once more; life that moves swiftly and life that grows quickly. He returned to the fountain of life and cut his hair. He tossed it unto it and wandered about to see and marvel to what was created. He went near the sea and with his amazement he saw creatures that move about freely. He looked and with joy, he saw great and small beasts that stroll about and tiny beings that slither and scurry. He called the sea creatures, Swimmers and Dragons; the animals, Beasts; and the tiny organisms, the Spawners. He was filled with delight to see his creations and he loved it so much that he stayed on earth for a long time.

"In his stay he made much deliberation and decided to move about the stars once again to step back and witness the growth of the world he has created unhindered by his presence but without him the earth would fall into shambles. He quickly decided that he should create beings like him, not physically, but in the image and likeness of his spirit. He returned to the fountain and concocted a being best suited for the job. He cut a part of his leg, his eye, his tongue, his arm and his heart unto the fountain. 'The person lucky to be born in this earth must have a foot to roam its vast lands, an eye to appreciate its beauty, a tongue to talk about its grandeur, an arm to defend it from destruction and a heart to love it as I love it.' He said this while dropping each one piece into the pool of life.

"Immediately, beings formed in front of him that sprouted miraculously from the earth. He then instantly gave them a part of his soul. 'In this way,' he said, 'you will be with me and I will be with you. Now you are complete as you are now me as I you. We are now bound. You are in my image therefore you are my sons. In your soul lies power for you to think, decide and protect the wonders that I have created. It is mine and being my children, it is yours too.'

"The beings who now can talk, and think, and move thanked their father. They called him Bathala, and Bathala called them Men and their equal counterparts Women, collectively they were called Mortals. Every morning and every night the Men and Women bowed and prayed for thanks to the great and powerful father they call Bathala. Bathala, seeing all of this was pleased and he said to them that it was good.

"Mortal years passed by quickly than Bathala anticipated for the concept of time are different between them. Bathala who roamed the earth for its wonders noticed that the mortals prayed and thanked him less and less as time grows. He then noticed that the men treated their women and their brothers poorly. He reprimanded them but nothing happened. Even harsh punishment does not get to them. The world ultimately turns for the worse and he was saddened by these events.

"Bathala, who went near his favorite lands to retire one day, found out and saw that the men have the tendency to aggressively claim their lands as their own. The Mortals decided to group up, subdividing all of their lands to protect. Some men tried to expand their grounds in the expense of Plants, Trees, Beasts, Spawners, Swimmers, Dragons and even their own brother Mortals. Some came to the brink of extinction. The dark desire of Mortals to lust for more, to crave for everything in sight, endangered his perfect creation of life. He anticipated that there would come a time that the world will collapse into nothingness leaving them all to perish.

"Being the creator, the father of all things living, he didn't want that to happen. He wanted to create a new world, a world where all Mortals will feel content, will have everlasting satisfaction and will not want and will not need any longer: A world of equality and peace and immortality that only the spirit of the right and just can enter. It is a land without evil where the good Mortals on earth can be rewarded to enter and the wicked ones are banished to remain on earth to be transported to another place upon death. He called the land for the pure Paraiso, Paradiso or Paradise in shorter tongues, and the land for the wicked Impierno, Inferno, or Hell in shorter tongues.

"He said he will return one day to collect all the living with him but the problem with the Mortals will still persist in his absence. Without Bathala they will be wrecking the world long before he returns and there's no way to save his creation. He thought it will be meaningless if he leaves. So he got to thinking, and thinking, until he found out that the only thing that will enable the Mortals to reduce all life into the dark abyss of nothingness is if they knew about the well that he created, the well in which connects the river of life below, the Fountain of Life. He firmly believes that its secrecy should be protected at all cost in order to avoid its corruption that will lead to the extinction of all life as it is.

"So, he gathered all those who are to him pure and just, that protected the weak and the oppressed, and found three tribes with their leaders: Nagozul the Kindhearted of the West, Yagisiv Haya the Wise of the East, and Daomagar the Righteous of the Deserts. The three are chosen to protect the sanctity of the Holy Lands and protect it from corruption of the Humans until he returns to gather them all to 'Paraiso'. He also appointed special abilities to aid them in their plight against anyone who might have the idea of destroying the 'fountain of life'. Nagozul the Kindhearted was given to command the elements in order to understand nature; Yagisiv Haya the Wise was imparted the power of insight to have understanding and preservation of life; and Daomagar the Righteous was given the privilege to commune with nature to help the other two in the protection of not only his most protected earth but its very existence itself.

"The three gathered all of their most loyal and humble people and lived on to the Holy Lands working together to achieve one common goal. Nagozul occupied the north island, Daomagar occupied the south, and Yagisiv Haya occupied the island between them.

"Yagisiv Haya who was the wisest of the three was ordered to keep the fountain of life safe and hidden. She, and only she, has the power to locate and open the fountain of life in which Bathala kept veiled. She obeyed his orders with all of her mind and with all of her spirit. Bathala who was pleased felt contented and so he set off to build a new world for all Mortals to dwell together forever…"

"Wow!" cried a young man wearing a fighter's uniform. "I can never get tired of hearing that story over and over Master Narra…" He was kneeling on the ground cradling his half-eaten lunchbox.

His old wrinkly master is sitting in front of him on top of a big rock on the ground. They were camping on a small hill at high noon at the Nilad Plains, a renowned area in the island of Nagozul where people go to for weapons training. The skies were vast blue, and no clouds were visible. The heat was not that hot for the cold misty wind blows from the south.

"It is a legend that was written by the three great leaders of the Holy Land themselves. A story that's really worth remembering and sharing about, but Karus, I only told you the story to pass time. Your lunch break is almost over so you need to hurry up eating or else you'll be suffering stomach aches later on."

"Yesh… Karush…" mocked another young man sitting behind Karus. "If you don't finish that up — and get shome imagineery pain again, you'll not be excushed!" He's wearing a green hunter's gear under a big furry muffler.

"Hey, don't talk to me like that Yosh! I'm your older brother so you ought to give some respect!"

"Yeah alright… KUYA-Karus…" he replied as if teasing his brother. He's been having this habit of forgetting to call him Kuya, a prefix needed when talking to an older brother. He says he forgets but that's usually a lie, sometimes he does this to get on his nerves.

"Hey, don't fight you two. Just finish your lunch," entered Kayzar sitting next to Karus wearing loose long-sleeves shirt under a vest. "…Sheesh, can't you get over it Yosh! You lost the wager and you have to accept that. And he's right, pay some respect and don't lose those magic words or else—"

"Or else, what? Blow me away to Daomagar?"

Kayzar gave him a stern look and an emerald that is embedded in his forehead began to light a neon green glow.

"All right all right! Yeesh… can't take a joke, now can you?"

"Good."

"You two are so brave because I can't access my elemental skills yet…" he mumbled grumbling.

"What did you say?"

"Oh nothing…" he quickly replied with a big grin.

"I thought so too."

The three brothers that sat there have crystal like gems that are embedded in their forehead accompanied by a complicated tattoo around it. Karus have a gem similar to Kayzar that is hexagon shaped while Yosh has a shiny yellow topaz, pentagon in shape with the point upwards. The tattoo on Karus and Kayzar looks like two dancing snakes touching the gem's both sides while Yosh's looks like a mountain surrounding the gem.

The three of them have the same short-trimmed shiny black hair but they differ in their hairdo. Karus and Kayzar, who are twins, have their hairstyle brushed back, although one of Karus' small groups of hair in front dangles in his forehead almost touching his right eye. Yosh, on the other hand, has a short spiky hair.

The three princes have handsome faces. Kayzar has a manly look with his prominent jawbones while Karus has his face looking young and round. Karus is sometimes teased by his brothers for being too handsome he can pass up to be a girl but no one dared to do that ever again, not after the time he went on a rampage almost ending to a fatal encounter – being too hot headed. Yosh on the other hand has his face looking as if he was the same age as Karus. This makes Yosh very popular not only to little girls but also to the teenagers that's in Karus's age.

Kayzar smiled after straining his eyes to prove his point which then made Yosh gulp in fear."—there's no imaginary pain," Kayzar continued. "He really feels it. That's what happens if you fuse the wrong Amplifyer in your body… I know you've been taking that subject in your classes. You should know that, Yosh."

"It's not fair! They wrongfully assigned the gem to fuse with me when I was born. They put an emerald instead of a ruby! An EMERALD! Clearly, I AM A FIRE ELEMENTAL!!! A FIRE STARTER!!! Now, it's taking its toll on my training. Stupid seers."

"Silence young prince!" Narra snapped "Mind your words. You shall not have any mockery against the seers, understood! —and obviously that is not the way a noble speaks his mind."

"But it's true, Master! Sure, I have a little innate element of wind but that doesn't mean that I am a Wind Blower! We only found out last year that I was brought by the will of Fire. Clearly a ruby should be put here instead of this junk. It's their fault. How can they miss that?" he lectured with frustration while pointing at his forehead only this time maintaining a calm voice.

"Hah! You're lucky you got two elemental innates 'cause I only have one. I don't know why you're making such a fuss about it. You should be praying to Bathala, giving him thanks rather than gloom about it," sneered Yosh as he cleans the mess he usually makes during lunch. "Well, you can't remove it, now, can't you? If you pull that out, you can end up losing your command on your two 'RARE' elemental innates or much worse…. Losing your way to the ladies!" Yosh laughed maniacally putting the two in a gloomy state.

"Yeah he's right. With that Amplifyer you can't manipulate fire easily," Kayzar finally spoke ignoring Yosh teases. "Emeralds amplify mind concentration not immediate incineration. That's why you've been having those painful headaches when you try to create fire. I think your Fire Innate overpowers your Wind Innate and it doesn't know where to release its energy so it's messing up your body – but that's just theoretical."

"The headaches are too much painful nowadays, you know that Kayzar. You've seen me bleed in my eyes, right? In those times, I wished that I wasn't a noble. Only nobles get to fuse with their Amplifyers in their forehead. If I'm a commoner, one trip to old man Juni and all of this will be over."

After saying this, Karus' face immediately appeared with great sadness. Seeing this, Kayzar shook his right shoulder.

"…Hey, don't say that— Wait a minute! I think father can help you to remove that…"

"Can he really do that? I mean you know how our father's powers work…"

"…Yes, he can. If no one can, he can!" assured Kayzar though doubt was in his deep thoughts. "He's the greatest of all Nagozulians and best of all he's a Life elemental, one-of-a-kind!"

"What about Kuya-Reus, he's a Life elemental too right?" Yosh inserted.

"Well yeah… but they're two of a kind…" explained Kayzar.

"What about the late king?" said Yosh in a teasing tone.

"What? Well… that's not the point!" defended Kayzar in a frustrated pitch. "The point is it's so very rare that only people who are born in Royalty can achieve that element. Besides, we haven't seen him for two years now. Maybe he developed some new tricks that can help you."

Suddenly a little hope sparkled in Karus' eyes and he smiled.

"You're right, maybe there's still hope after all…"

"Speaking of which, look…It's Kuya-Reus!" shouted Yosh with a big grin on his face.

"Do you see him carrying his assignment?" added Kayzar smiling as he moved a little closer to the edge to spot his walking brother.

"Nah, I think not. I can tell by the looks of it…"

They saw Reus walking just below them looking as if he's dragging his body on the meadow feeling irritated. He then later climbed up the hill to meet up with them.

"So, Reus? Found your lunch yet?" Narra whispered to him smiling.

Reus shouted in what seems to be a complaining tone. He is wearing a pair of spectacles that are fixed unevenly in his face – as always. His short-trimmed hair is all messed up and his robe is quite dirty filled with lots of holes and cuts. He has the same forehead-embedded gem where a diamond shaped like a four-sided star lies in the middle with some tattoo looking like an arrowhead on both sides of his forehead. He had a brown sling bag made of leather hanging. Inspecting closely, you can see bruises in his knees and elbows.

"I can't do this Master! I am a scholar, a thinker! Not a warrior! Please let me pass this training, I've been doing this for as young as they are!" He points to Karus and Kayzar who appears to be smiling at him. "Just let me pass so that I can join Mother and Father at the Northern Encampment. Look…" he grabbed something in his sling bag to what seems to be a lunch pack that is seriously defiled and full of dirt. He then showed it to Narra with both hands. "…I finally found one. So, I think this can account for something… right? Please Master… I beg of you!"

"Hahahaha! Reus, Reus, Reus! You know you remind me of your father. He's a scholar too, except that he aced my training and finished it for only a year," He smiled and tried to uplift his spirit. "I know you're the smartest person around but your lack of confidence in your self is holding you back. What if you were trapped in a jungle, or a desert? How can you survive your Quest for Wisdom if you can't even finish your basic survival training let alone find a clean and decent meal? This is what we've been doing for a long time—"

His old wrinkled smiling eyes gave Reus some comfort as he nodded in agreement but Narra knows it's just for show.

Reus hunched in gloominess as he went near to sit with his brothers. Karus who ate only half of his hard-find survival lunch, gave his food to his brother Reus. Reus, who smiled upon accepting it, ate it slowly without enthusiasm and with a sad look on his face. Yosh also gave three lunch packs that he seems to call the 'Three-pack Combo'.

"Here you go! Picked this up when hunting and thought you might like it. It's a combo of veggies, meat and fish," said Yosh surprisingly without smiling or any hint of sarcasm.

The three brothers felt grief for their brother who should've been completing his Quest for Wisdom: the final rites to becoming a full-fledged Nagozulian Prince and a general or a seer in its domain.

They felt ashamed for smiling at their brother's clumsiness earlier not to have found his lunch hidden in the Nilad Plains. But, they thought, who can blame them? Their Master Narra placed a hundred, if not even more, hidden in the whole plains just to let Reus pass the test this month and he already kept on doing this for two months now. That's why Yosh is now apparently satisfied for the very first time in their two years of training.

"Okay settle down now. I have some important news to tell you all," Narra clapped his hand to ready. He stood up and announced. "Today I'll let all of you pass the survival training! I'm finally assigning you all to your assigned mastery."

With this their faces lighted up with much anticipation.

"Really Master!?" cried Karus who is excited to know the result of his yesterday's weapons examination and demonstration.

"Now now," raising his palms in front of him trying to calm the excited princes who are now standing up and leaning closer to him, except Reus who just sat there still taking his time on chewing his lunch. "You will all get to try your real weapon assignments today and you will be fighting my skilled and loyal apprentices of the past."

After uttering these last words Narra saw Reus with a glint of fear in his eyes now standing slowly as if knowing what he's saying. The others caught their master's look and directed themselves to Reus.

"Don't worry Kuya! You'll be safe with us," said Kayzar.

"We are one heck of an assault team ourselves!" exclaimed Karus with excitement, "With me in the front, and Kayzar backing me behind with full attack support from the deadly Yosh," pointing to Yosh holding his bow that seems to be very confident, "we are an unstoppable force!"

"Yeah! And you can get to move around with your throwing weapons in the middle behind Kayzar who specializes in traps and poison," said Yosh with gleam.

"Don't worry my men will be wearing only wooden weapons. They are one of the very best in the Daomagarians I believe."

Upon saying this, three men all covered in black cloth and armor appeared out of nowhere beside their master and this frightened them. They all have the same cold eyes and their movements are gentle but swift. Three years of training showed them how to assess the enemy in combat in just mere seconds and by looking deep into the eyes of their foes, they immediately found the huge gap of battle experience between them.

Narra then continued. "Your primary objective is as same as always, to grab the red flag that they are protecting in the middle of our training field. You can get to attack and position yourselves to your will. They will not retaliate. Their main objective is to defend. You will work as a unit and be victorious as a unit so no one should be captured nor be rendered unconscious in the event."

The four slowly moved backwards after seeing through the guards whose face were covered by a very suffocating long dark fabric only revealing their deadly piercing eyes.

"Hahahaha. You don't have to be frightened my dear princes. They have been guarding you all since day one. They won't harm a single hair on your body I promise."

The others tried very hard to compose themselves smiling as if fear hasn't captured their bodies apart from Reus who have his serious eyes fixated on the one in the middle as if he knows the warrior behind the mask.

"Karus!" Narra shouted jolting the three younger princes.

"Yes, Master?"

"…you are to wield one-hand bladed weapons..."

Karus forgot the intimidation he's been feeling and felt a rush in his body as he grabbed the gold sheathed short sword on the ground and braced it onto his body. He wished that he wouldn't train with pole arm, long swords or barrage swords ever again, which he despises so much, and his wish was granted.

"…Kayzar, you are to wield your personalized poisoned blades and projectiles…"

Kayzar grabbed his 'fun kit' that no one really dares to open. It is a bag made of leather with multiple pockets. He opened it to reveal ten daggers, five knives, five bottles of dark purplish liquid – of what seems to be a poison bottle that he's been bragging to paralyze even the biggest of the tigers – and a can with hundreds of pins inside. He then closed it looking satisfied and strapped his bag into his shoulder.

"…Yosh, you are to wield your bow…"

"What about my friends?" Yosh asked hastily.

"…oh, uhmn… you can bring your best friends along too…"

With this, Yosh smiled and created a loud complicated series of whistle. Seconds later, a dark brown owl floated into the sky and descended landing to his left shoulder directly below the hidden pauldron that is underneath his muffler. She has a modified sharp silver metal claw fixed into her talons and a light armor on her chest with the Royal Insignia of the Nagozulian Kingdom. Her curious rare gold brow makes her unique among her species – which is why Yosh has taken a keen interest in keeping her.

A few seconds after that, a black cat can be seen running and jumping very swiftly only to come to the side of Yosh. The cat has big round yellow eyes which sparkle as the light touches it. She has a thin coat of pelt which is shiny and smooth. She has a red silk collar around her neck with a dangling pendant with the emblem of the Nagozulian Kingdom.

After petting them, he grabbed his bows, inspected his arrows and smirked.

"Meet Stella and Luna…" he said directly to the heavily covered men before him. "Stella and Luna, meet the assault team that we will be beating later on…"

"…and Reus," Narra finalizes smiling, "Let's see the result of your secret training. Bring your metal projectiles and be ready." He stopped for a moment to look at them all and then continued. "Be reminded that this test will determine your skill training for two years. You will try for only a day. If by tomorrow at sunrise you haven't succeeded yet, I'll leave you all here to train more with my assault team while I return for the northern encampment for my monthly report to your father— but if you miraculously succeed, I will escort you all to the northern encampment myself— and you will be staying there for the summer…"

They all were stunned to the information that they've heard. A big smile began to sprout on each one of them looking like a group of kids given a new toy gift – except Reus. The thought of passing should at least give him a smile since it has been what he wanted for years but deep inside he knows it's a trap, a trap made by their Master every year, his usual trap that they might not luckily escape this year.

Narra smiled seeing them so excited. He then turned and walked away giving his final words. "That is a big 'IF'… I'll give you your time to prepare and coordinate. After then, come together and meet them at the training field…"

"YES MASTER!" they cried in chorus and excitement then bowed. After which they ran away to prepare.

The mysterious apprentices took their time removing their suffocating head guards that they put on as disguises as they exit making sure first that they were completely alone with their master.

"General—" said a deep voice of a muscular man that seems to be the tallest person in the assault team."—I don't want to speak out of terms, but do you think it is wise for them to confront us now? They won't stand a chance, let alone to reach at least twenty feet from the desired target."

"Hahaha! First of all, my dear friend Captain Gab, I'm not a general anymore. I retired five years ago. I told you many times before to call me by my name. Secondly, you underestimate them too much. In the two years that I've been teaching them, I've noticed that they have so much potential in fighting as a unit. If they fight alone to you one on one then I might agree with you but TOGETHER they fight like the First Grade Royal Prime Perfectus Guards, the finest warrior guards I've ever seen in my lifetime. That's why I invited you all here. As my apprentices from the past, I wished that you witness this and test them for yourselves. You've seen them all in action Lieutenant Tarni I assume? Surely you can attest to this…"

"Yes, General—" said a small voice of a woman who is the shortest of the team.

"There it goes again—" retorted Narra.

"I'm sorry… Master Narra…" smiled the young Lieutenant Tarni apologetic. "I'm still young, the youngest Master Sibara in my generation, but I can definitely assure that they will be formidable, if not dangerous. I've seen them simulate in last month's rescue operation. Their skill, speed, and coordination exceed any other assault team I've ever seen before. It's like they can talk with their minds – and the best part of this is that they're just children given sticks and stones! I really can't believe it that night. It's just superb. Their only downfall is that they tend to improvise a lot. It increases their risk but most of the time it yields positive results. I really can't wait to personally test them today."

"Hold the praises, Lieutenant. Are you sure you are not exaggerating your observation?" responded a feminine voice that is walking behind them. "No one in my unit, not even in my battalion, can withstand my sword barrage and if I do to them what I've been doing to soldiers in training, they wouldn't stand even for ten seconds. That may also include broken bones and legs, a serious injury I will try not to inflict to their scrawny little bodies. That's why no one wants to spar with me, and it is bewildering to understand why I am included in this little test of yours, Master Narra."

"You have to believe it Major Camyl, Ma'am!" tried Lieutenant Tarni. "It's like they've been possessed by the Karshivyk. No sense explaining them to you now Ma'am, you'll see their skills later today," she smiled and walked on ahead.

"…Heh—" smirked Major Camyl. "Looks, like Lieutenant Tarni found another enemy worthy of her skills."

"Yes, yes. Oh, be sure you contain her Major. I don't want the princes to end up losing their hands or feet for that matter. That girl can use dried up branches and turn it to a deadly weapon after all," said Narra with a concerned tone.

"Understood sir," she bowed her head snappy. "I will try my best to control her excitement the same way I control my strength. She's a skilled warrior but sometimes she forgets the difference between training and real life-and-death situations, a skill only Sword Masters like us can truly differentiate – especially with her kind of… radical… training."

"Yes, a childish master of dismembering…" added Captain Gab with a gloomy tone. "Another proud graduate of the Sibara."

"Be sure to remind her that she will be testing royal princes. I don't encourage you all to make this easy for them, if possible, give them the hardest time of their life. Just remember NOT to fatally injure them at all cost, you might be fighting with the future king and it would be really problematic if I am to explain any accidents to their father, and especially to their mother Anagea."

The two nodded in agreement, silent and smiling. Their mother is one of the most powerful Daomagar ranked number Four on the Great Twelve and no one wants to get on her bad side.

"Oh… by the way major," Narra added after a few seconds. "you can use your real weapons in this training, that's why I added that one bit of precaution."

"But sir, I remember you said…"

"I know what I said Major," Narra interrupted. "Create a plot, entice them and give them the chance to open up their inner warriors. Their father, the Grand Prince Artemus, really needs to know their progress. A storm is brewing my friends. If the King's prophecy is right, they might be the ones who can save us. They must be ready now. Not later. They must pass today but I must know for certain that they are truly ready."

"I hope you're right Master and I hope that this prophecy you talk about is true."

"I hope so too, my friend. I hope so too."