Nestled in the mountains and valleys, the Terra Stronghold was a bastion of strength and stability. Ruled by Queen Gaia, the Earth Kingdom held a deep connection with the land and its creatures. Its people were skilled farmers and architects, crafting grand cities from stone and cultivating bountiful harvests from the fertile soil. The Earth Kingdom cherished tradition and resilience, believing that true power lay in unity with nature.

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I awoke to a gentle pinging like crystal being gently tapped with a mallet. I sat up instantly awake withdrew the glowing crystal from underneath my pillow and set it in its stand, it stopped glowing and the noise ceased also. I slid out from under my blankets pulled a crystal on a chain out of my shirt and gently blew on it causing it to slowly light up. I slipped my shoes on and walked to the corner of my room, looking up at the rough-hewn ceiling only five feet above me. I waved a hand and a square of ceiling disappeared in a small cloud of dust. Running my hand down the wall I formed a rough ladder of stone and began to climb, continuing to make more handholds as I climbed up the dark shaft in the stone with only my glowing crystal to light my way. Eventually the shaft elbowed to the left and I crawled along the tunnel. The tunnel came to an abrupt stop leaving me staring at the back of a metal grate. Sliding the grate aside I crawled out of the tunnel and onto the floor of one of the main palace hallways. I slid the grate back into place and stood up slowly, looking to either side for any hint of a guard's presence. I sneaked along until I got to a door made of clear crystal. I opened it slowly and stepped out into the cool night air. I was in a little courtyard near the center of the palace. I was surrounded by lots of sugar maples and azalea bushes. Turning off my glowing crystal I walked past one of the biggest trees and grabbed a watering can as I walked around the tree. I came to a bare patch of dirt made up of mostly clay. Pouring the water on the dirt I created a thick patch of wet clay. I kneeled next to the patch of clay and raised my hands and began molding the clay with my magic. The mud began to form a small humanoid about a foot tall with bulky rough-shaped limbs and stout arms and legs. I began to shape the face giving it a crude nose and ears and a simple mouth and eyes. I squeezed my hand into a fist and the clay instantly hardened. Then drawing life from the trees around me I filled my hand with a pulsating ball of light. I slowly moved my hand until I was pushing the ball into my figure. I sat back and waited for something to happen. I turned in disappointment and began to walk away when I heard a coughing sound. I quickly turned around and saw my clay creation turn and look around “Where the heck am I?” I heard him say in a somewhat deep voice. I ran over to him and said “It worked, it worked, you're alive!” “Of course I'm alive, why wouldn’t I be?” He said to me. “Who are you?” “I'm Jade.” I replied “Well hello Jade, I'm fli-” He froze. “Shards!” I said, I looked around and spotted a crystal growth on the walls of the courtyard. I ran over and quickly chapped a small ball out of the crystal. Then I ran over to him and unhardened his chest, quickly I pushed the crystal sphere into his chest and then rehardened him. I again drew on the life force of the plants around me and pushed that energy into the crystal on his chest. “Hi, I'm Flint.” I looked at him confused that he didn’t even notice that he stopped living. “What? Do I have something on my face?” He asked. “No you just ran out of life essence, so I fixed you.” “Oh, what's stopping me from that happening again?” He wondered. “I attached a crystal to you so you’ll lose life force a lot slower, it allows you to fill up with life force around plants.” He looked down at the crystal in his chest, then looked up at me. “So do you need something, or are you just gonna stare at me?” “Oh, I just wanted a friend, plus mom doesn't tell me anything so I thought having a little spy could get me more info.” I replied, “Well won't it be hard for me to be sneaky if I'm so big?” “I took care of that, you can make your crystal vibrate so your mass decreases, and whatever materials you eat will give you mass,” I said. He grinned then grunted and quickly shrank down to only a few inches high. He looked up at me partially buried in a pill of clay shavings. “I don’t want you to fall apart in my pocket so try eating this.” I reached out with my powers and quickly located some black titanium and pulled it to the surface. I quickly shaped it into a small ball. “Here, eat this,” I said handing him the metal. He opened his mouth and I placed it in his mouth, his teeth biting through it like it was bread, he swallowed and then began to shimmer, and then he was coated in a black metallic skin. “Much better! I feel like I could take on anything now.” He said.

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Suddenly I heard approaching footsteps and so I placed my palm to the earth and sank into a small hole, then I encouraged a plant to grow over the top of me and hide me. Torch light illuminated the space where I had been just seconds before. “Jade, where are you?” I heard a feminine voice call. I began to tunnel beneath the ground and crawled along until I was behind one of the biggest trees. I popped out of the ground and quickly placed Flint in my pocket. Then I encouraged the vines to pull me up into an old tree house. I looked down at the ground and saw my personal guard examining the pile of clay shavings Flint had shed. “Ruby! I'm up here.” I called. My guard looked up, her dark hair glistening in the torchlight. “What are you doing out here? You're gonna get me in trouble.” She called softly. I slid down a vine landing gently before her. “I couldn’t sleep so I went for a walk.” “In the trees? Jade, what were you doing?” I sighed and pulled Flint out of my pocket. “Why do you have to be so hard to lie to?” I said. Flint stood as still as a statue. “Can I see it?” She said reaching out. I handed him to her and she examined him. “This is really good sculpting.” She said handing him back to me. “Now if you don't tell your mother you were out tonight I won't say anything so long as you go straight back to your room. You need to get back to sleep, you leave with me and your mother on a trip tomorrow.” I brightened considerably at the suggestion. “Deal,” I said and began walking back to my room. “I don't even want to know how you snuck past me.” She muttered