Leon, hand in hand with his mother, stood in a long line in the town square of Fernhest. He looked up at his mother, her long white hair he inherited wound into a tight braid and complimenting her simple clothing well. She was the only woman in the village who could look this regal and elegant even in the ragged clothes that most of the townspeople wore. On his right was his father, a stout man who knew nothing but hard work and how to achieve the best outcome for your family with your hands alone. His father often said to him not to rely on the royal family or government, that they’d never help a village on the outreaches of the continent where Fanden constantly attacked.

That brought him back to a memory, his father and mother rushing him to the town shelter as Fanden swarmed the village. The demonic creatures controlled by the Demon King were strong, and they only had three people in the village who could control Seith well enough to fight back. Leon remembered being hidden inside that shelter with his mother for nearly a week until capital soldiers came. His father, Gaius, was the only warrior to survive. The sound of the screams outside from the town defenders echoed in his mind to this day, and he wished he could do more against the vicious, cursed beasts.

Luckily, today was the day he’d get to register with the royal government. All across Norn children that turned ten were brought to their respective village’s town squares to touch the spire — a feature that existed in every settlement and was supposedly gifted to the people by the king — and be registered to their bloodline. Leon could barely contain his excitement, it was his birthday today and he’d finally get to participate in the ritual. The act of registering didn’t just associate you to your family tree and the government, it also tested your innate magical circuits. It would tell someone how great their potential was to manipulate Seith, and their elements that favored them. There were four elements that Seith allowed the blessed to control, Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water. The people of Norn called these manipulations of the elements blessings, and most people were only born attuned to one element. Leon hoped he could get two, then he’d be able to fight for the Royal Army and move his family to the capital city, Garowin.

Leon’s mother looked down at him, smiling, as his father ruffled his hair, “Are you ready? We’re up next.” His dad said.

“I’m more than ready,” Leon said, determination in his golden eyes. His mother’s warm smile only made him more excited. It was his duty as a man to protect that smile, his father always told him so.

“Let’s do this.” He said with not a hint of nervousness in his voice.

His parents led him to the tall spire, a beautiful marble structure that stretched high into the sky. It looked like a spear piercing the heavens, and although it stood straight up, it wasn’t attached to anything at the base. Only the ambient Seith in the air managed to keep it afloat, and it was a nigh indestructible structure.

Leon’s mother let go of his hand, with his father giving him a gentle push. The other villagers watched Leon, the other children looking nearly as excited as he was. He took one step, then another, and then took a deep breath. Leon marched towards the spire, thrusting his hand towards the statue and placing his palm flat against it.

In that moment, it felt like the world shook. Leon lost his breath, the villagers around him went still, his parents froze in place, the birds in the sky were completely still. Leon couldn’t move no matter how hard he tried, and his heart began to race. His hand was still on the spire, it was stuck to it, he tried to open his mouth and he couldn’t. He couldn’t call for help, his father wouldn’t be able to move even if Leon could call out to him anyway.

After what felt like an eternity, something moved inside the spire. Glowing orbs of red, white, blue, and green flowed from its base and up into the middle of the spire. The orbs coalesced and glowed brightly. The light from the spire unfroze everything it touched, and Leon could finally move his hand. Soon, the world woke and began to move again too. Cheers erupted from the crowd and his parents rushed to him, his father swept him up into his arms and hugged him tight, tears rolling down his cheeks.

“I knew my boy was exceptional.” He said.

“Leon, my baby, promise me you’ll be careful.” Leon’s mother said.

“What..?” Leon was confused, be careful with what? He looked back towards the spire, the multi-colored light pouring out of it and onto the onlookers. “Oh..” Leon said, the realization hitting him like a ton of bricks.

Most people in Norn could only use blessings of one element, and occasionally some could use two. Even rarer than that, some humans were blessed enough to be able to use three. However, less than fifty children every decade were born with the ability to use four. These gifted and exceptional few were considered hero candidates, and were visited by the royal family themselves to take them to the capital where they would train to fight the army of Fanden and eventually the Demon King himself. Leon counted the colors of lights shining through the spire’s marble surface. There were four.

“I’m.. a candidate..” Leon mouthed breathlessly.

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A week later, on the road to Fernhest, a group of mounted royal knights were trotting down the path. Most were groaning about the trip, and Demark —the captain of the squad— tried to keep them all in line. “Gentlemen, yes, we are visiting a backwater village. However, there’s a hero candidate there. It’s not like we have a choice.”

“Captain, are you sure there’s a candidate? Since when can a dingy village produce someone as exceptional as that?” One of the men asked.

Demark turned, pointing a finger at his subordinate, “It matters not where one comes from, you moron. You judge your fellow men by their merits, that is all. Are we understood? You may possibly fight alongside this child someday,” Demark spat in his direction before returning his attention to the road, “Should you live that long.” The soldier lowered his helmeted head and remained silent as the group continued on.

After several days of travel, the squadron arrived in Fernhest. The village was eerily quiet as they moved in, something they had grown used to in this line of work. When they visited towns in the furthest reaches of Norn they always seemed to be like this. A village this far away from the capital was harder to protect after all, and they frequently fell prey to Fanden attacks.

Being at the mercy of the enemy your entire life would make even soldiers like me lose hope, Demark thought.

The sound of the hooves against the cobblestone in the square brought a few villagers from their homes, their faces brightening at the spectacle before them. Some of the children ran towards them, the guards hopping off their steeds and greeting them with treats from Garowin.

As the crowd began to build, Demark looked around at the faces. He had hoped he would see someone who looked like the leader here, but all the faces were too young. Many of the adults hadn’t even reached their thirties, all but confirming that Fanden attacked this place frequently. After all, how could the elderly hope to get away from beasts that could move faster than the untrained eye could see?

Caught up in his thoughts, one of his men broke him out of it with a small nudge to his unarmored side. “Captain Demark, we need to find the candidate,” the soldier said.

“Yes, you’re right. Excuse me, everyone. Can I have your attention please?” Demark asked in a loud voice, the question more of a gentle command.

“We are here on behalf of the Royal Family, and I assume you all know what it is we are here for. However, if that is not the case, let me explain our presence. I am Demark, captain of the —“

“You’re here for Leon right?” A voice from the crowd interrupted. Along with the interruption came whispers from among the villagers, things like this tended to cause a bit of a commotion.

Stolen story; please report.

Demark, irritation plain on his face, nodded in return. “Yes, we are here to see a boy by the name of Leon, of the family name Kalis. Can any of you direct me to his parents or home?”

Two hands slowly raised from the crowd. The group parted for the captain, and there before him stood a man and woman. In the man’s arms was a boy with hair white as snow, and golden eyes. His hand was also raised, although his parents’ own hands had been lowered already. Demark put on a warm smile, the best he could muster, and approached.

“Greetings, you three. I assume you must be—“

“The name is Gaius, this is my wife Eileen, and our boy Leon. Follow me, no sense talking where everyone else can eavesdrop freely.” The man, Gaius, turned and began to walk away. This was the second time one of the villagers had interrupted Demark, and it was beginning to grate on his nerves.

Focus on your duty, not to worry. Not. To. Worry. This is harder for them than it is for me. Demark thought.

Demark followed Gaius towards a small home on the edge of town, a fence ran from one side of it to make a large pen for a herd of sheep— or at least what was left of a herd. The modest home and property made Demark think back to a simpler time, before he had joined the royal guard. It was a shame that now he was relegated to this duty. It always left a bad taste in his mouth, and he hoped that maybe this case would be different.

Gaius let Demark in through the front door, and Demark nodded as the man pulled out a chair for him to sit. Demark did so and cleared his throat, trying to shake his nerves. He had done this dozens of times, it was only natural for it to start to wear him down.

Gaius spoke first, “So you’re here to take Leon to that hero selection or whatever, right? Well, get on with it then. Tell us how this all works. We’re just ignorant country folk.”

While Gaius may have called himself that, Demark could see in his eyes that there was a greater intelligence in him than his words would lead one to believe.

“Yes, well, that is correct,” Demark acknowledged. “Leon is a hero candidate, and as such must be trained in Garowin along with the other candidates. If he does well, he’ll be selected, and then trained further to lead the way in the fight against the Fanden and Demon King.” Demark watched as Leon’s mother gripped the boy’s shoulder tight. Her knuckles grew white, and Leon just reached up to hold her hand comfortingly.

The boy is unafraid. This is good. Demark thought.

Gaius grunted, the man’s golden eyes obviously were imparted onto his child. However, his fiery red hair was not. The boy’s hair was as pure white as his mothers. Now their son, Leon, was a shining star of a boy. Leon was a perfect blend of his two parents and, if he had the intelligence Demark could see in his father, he was sure to be a quick study and promising warrior.

“Fine then. S’pose it’s his duty after all, I always knew my boy was something special. Very well. We’ll get to packing and be ready in the hour. Come along, Eileen, lets get our things ready.” Gaius said as he stood from his own chair.

Demark began to sweat, this was the part he always hated. “I’m sorry sir, I think you misunderstand me. We need to take Leon,” he paused, seeing it wasn’t sinking in. “Just. Leon. I’m afraid you are not allowed to come with him.”

Midway through his clarification he felt the air in the small home shift. Gaius, his fists clenched at his sides, was not the source however. Standing behind Leon, his mother’s eyes were enraged. The table began to shake slightly, and pebbles lifted from the ground. Gaius turned towards Demark, his stern gaze glaring down at him from above.

“I’m sorry, sir. I’m just an ignorant man from this small village you see around you. I think I misheard you. Could you say that again?” There was a threat in that voice. Demark could recognize it easily.

Demark stood as well, forming Seith around his standard issue captain’s sword and slamming the sheath of the sword into the dirt floor of the house. The table stopped shaking, the pebbles fell to the ground, and Gaius took a step back. Demark’s blessing of earth allowed him to regain control over the situation, the ground shifting slightly beneath his sword as a silent threat to the family. It was only right, as they had done the same to him.

“Sir,” Demark began, “I assure you, I do not take pride in this task. You will be well compensated, and Leon will be raised among The Royals as a son of the king. He will be taken care of by the best minds and greatest warriors in all of Norn.”

Eileen was the one to speak up next, “Are you saying you’ll pay me for my son? Who do you think you are? My son can not be bought—“

Demark once again tapped his sword on the ground, the tremors through the earth another warning. “Madam, I’m afraid you do not have a choice. You can either accept the offer of payment, or we will take your son by force if need be. Then you’ll get nothing in return. Again, I assure you he will be well taken care—“

Gaius charged so quickly Demark could barely react. The man had infused Seith into his legs, and having the blessing of wind— at least that’s what Demark assumed— he had been able to close the distance in an instance. Demark went to draw his sword, but Gaius’s hands clamped down on his own. The large man’s hands began to glow, heat pouring from them and onto his. Demark’s gauntleted fist was being used as a conductor, and the heat began to cook his hands from the outside.

Gaius has two blessings? It’s no surprise then that his child is a candidate.. Demark thought.

Demark dropped his sword, attempting to push Seith into his own hands to bolster their defense against Gaius’s own. The move was exactly what his opponent wanted however, as Gaius used the blessing of the wind once more to boost his own reaction time. Gaius grabbed Demark’s sword and drew the blade from its scabbard. Demark moved Seith into his arms and braced for impact, the blessing of earth hardening the material of his own armor.

With wind and fire being used together, Gaius’s speed and destructive power was so immense the air crackled with energy around him. Wind condensed around the sword as fire heated the blade, then Seith poured into his arms and funneled out as wind from his joints and skin. Gaius turned swiftly, his arms whipping the sword in a gruesome arc, the blade a bright molten red. The heated blade impacted against Demark’s armor, and it was as if the armor recoiled from the weapon as it sliced through it with ease.

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Across town, the other guards were lifting up the village children, playing with them while they waited.

“Me next sir!” One of the kids said as a guard threw another one into the air and caught them.

Suddenly, an explosion echoed from across town. The soldiers set the kids down and looked at each other, “Captain!”

The men began running towards the source of the noise, drawing their swords and preparing for the worst. A plume of smoke was flowing from a house on the edge of town, the herd of sheep outside running to the edge of the pen and frantically trying to get out. The side of the house was completely destroyed, a gaping hole left in its place with a matching one in the home across the gravel road. From the wreckage of the other home, Demark stumbled out through the cloud of dust. One of his arms was mangled and barely hanging on, the other covered in layers of earth that were still clinging to what remained of his armor.

A man stepped out from the home across from Demark. His red hair waved in the wind, and his eyes looked like the eyes of a predator. Gaius held Demark’s sword in his hand, his fire blessing being too much for the blade. The highly valued— but mostly decorative— officer’s sword was melted down to the hilt, making it useless to him now.

The soldiers watched in awe as their captain used his blessing of earth to build up soil and stone around his mangled arm. The rock molded and shifted, pressing into Demark’s arm and setting his bones. As much as the man tried not to scream, they could see the immense pain on his face as the cracking of bone echoed through the morning air.

The layer of rocks and clay continued surrounding him until Demark had fashioned a new suit of armor, and he charged Gaius. Before the captain could reach him however, a voice stopped him in his tracks.

“Pa. Stop,” Leon said. The small boy that seemed wise beyond his years wrapped his arms around his father’s leg.

“It’s okay. It’s a man’s duty to protect his family, right? It’s my duty, too.” Leon said through gritted teeth and tears. Gaius knelt before his son, and the captain watched as the two stared at each other. The doting father put his forehead against the boy’s, and a tear rolled down his cheek.

“It’s a man’s duty. Yes,” Gaius confirmed to his son.

Eileen ran out from the house and knelt down beside them, wrapping them both in a hug. Demark looked on with mixed emotions at the family who just assaulted a royal guard and appeared torn. Gaius caught his eye, and nodded to him.

“Sorry about the arm,” he simply said.

“I’m sorry as well.. about all of this,” Demark replied, a look of remorse upon his face as his clay armor fell off him piece by piece.