It was evening. Euthalia had eaten dinner and finished her chores. She was reading her textbook again. As she reread the passage about the Prophecy of the Four Warriors, she wondered what the danger that Silica would face could be. Several relatively minor wars had occurred in the country’s history but the only terrible war had been at the country’s founding over 500 years ago. Legend had it that that was when the prophecy had been spoken but, of course, no one really knew for sure. As Euthalia was thinking, she heard rapid and loud pounding on her family’s wooden door. Her Father got up from the armchair he was lounging in and opened the door.

“Frahnk, what brings you out here at night?”

“Nestori, a rider from the capital has arrived with urgent news. He asked us to assemble all the villagers.”

Nestori was not a man to ask useless questions. If Frahnk said everyone was needed, then his friend wasn’t kidding.

“Euthalia, go get your mother. I’ll get your brother.”

Euthalia, who had heard the whole exchange, got up and went to go get her mother. Her family gathered, they headed toward the village at a brisk walk.

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Upon arriving at the village commons, they saw a large crowd gathered and a kingdom courier on a dappled horse. He seemed a little impatient and anxious, twitching every now and then.

A few minutes later, the Mayor of Teal stepped forward.

“That is all of us sir, what news do you bring?”

The rider opened a letter and took out several pieces of paper.

“From his Royal Majesty, King of Silica, greetings. This morning, a survivor of one of the recent sunken ships was recovered. According to him, the ship he was on was sunk by strange creatures he could only describe as monsters. The monsters were under the control of a man who wore armor bearing the symbol of the Baiṅgana-Kērājya army. Upon hearing of the news, communications were established with Baiṅgana-Kērājya. The representative denied the accusations. Shortly thereafter, however, several more Silican ships were sunk. Citizens of Silica are warned to be on guard and to be prepared for the possibility of war in the coming days.”

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“That is all. Here is a copy of the message for you to keep mayor.”

The rider gave a piece of parchment to the mayor.

“Is there anymore hospitality we can offer you sir?”

“No mayor, the water for myself and my horse were enough, I must continue spreading the news. Farewell.”

With those words, the rider rode off into the gloom, but as he entered the darkness, an orb of light surrounded him and his horse.

Yinyang magic! Euthalia thought to herself. Few people had that elemental alignment, meaning that courier was a high ranking messenger. This was very serious indeed if they sent out the Yinyang riders.

“Citizens of Teal. It is late and we need our sleep. We will meet back here at 8:00am to discuss this news. School will be delayed until the conclusion of our meeting. Good night folks.”

At the mayor’s words, everyone began to disperse back to their home. Euthalia looked at her father. He told them they would return to the house.

Once they returned, it was indeed quite late. Since mornings at the ranch started early, Euthalia and her family went to sleep immediately.