"Huff, Huff......"

A young boy was running in a jungle. It was almost dusk and you could still see the moons shining brightly.

In the distance one could see 'the Great Mountains of Crystals'. It refracted the moon lights splendidly in every direction.

The boy's face was completely flushed, probably because he ran continuously for quite some time.

It seemed as if the boy knew his way around the forest splendidly. He changed directions several times and seemed to know the terrains of the forest quite well.

It was also not strange that he did not encounter any wild beasts that lurked in the forest. Even so there was not a single path in the forest which looked like it was treaded before.

It took him about 15 minutes of running when he finally neared a place that he seemed to know. Even then, he didn't stop running.

In that area there were several trees which had tree houses built on top on them.

But there was no source of light coming from any of the houses.

The boy immediately ran up to a tree which had bells hanging from one of the lower branches and started ringing them.

He didn't ring them loudly but in a way that it could reach every house that was built on the trees.

As soon as he rang the bell, within seconds all kind of people started climbing down from the houses.

They were people of different races and were supposedly living in the same community.

The people continuously started climbing down the tree.

"Hurry the emergency bell has been rung, pick any thing that is light-weighted and can be eaten and lets leave quickly" one of the people said.

One of the girls that was climbing down the tree asked the boy "Clay, are they really coming? I really didn't wanna leave this place. This was one of the better places that we found"

The girl's name was Lily.

She looked about 14 years old but, she was a high elf, so her true age could have been even in the hundreds, or it might be really 14.

"Yeah.... Lily, I was out scouting when I heard them coming inside the forest.  Apparently, they want to build a road through this forest that connects their capital to the mountain"

The girl was clearly disappointed, but most certainly was not scared.

Just like the other people she started going towards the group the was being formed.

While all of this was happening, Clay looked up and shouted in a low-pitched voice "Nero, come down quickly. We don't have much time"

Just as he said that a boy literally jumped from inside one of the houses on top of the trees.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

While falling he grabbed onto the many branches below and landed swiftly.

"Careful"

"We don't have the time right?"

All the children assembled there didn't look much older than 20.

But it was hard to tell because of their different races.

As soon as everyone gathered, Clay took command.

"Okay, I really didn't want to be the deliverer of bad news this time but we have to move again. The dark knights are coming this way and considering that they are dark knights, we don't have much time left"

Then Clay took out a huge map and pointed to a location.

"Since this was decided as the next location when we came here, we will go here."

A girl named Bella stepped forward.

"So it is huh. I really didn't want to go to this place, but we have to make them keep guessing our steps so it can't be helped."

Everyone in the group frowned.

Bella then said "You know the drill, every one above the age of 15 form a circle and hold each other's hand. The children younger than 15 or equal should stay inside the circle"

The people immediately formed a circle. It seemed as if they even knew their positions of who should stand beside who.

All of a sudden, a magical aura started emanating from inside of Bella.

"I request the God of Lightening 'Blaze' to take us to the Gauntlet of the Graveyards,

In turn we offer to you our mana and hope that it suffices your conditions".

Suddenly, all of a sudden clouds gathered around the area where the children were standing.

In a place close to this a group of hundred Knights were running towards this place.

These soldiers were more like a cloud of black mist moving at a furious speed towards this place.

"Those little creeps have begun their magic, we need to move more quickly"

"Damnit". One of the knights exclaimed as the clouds started crackling because of thunder.

The knights started becoming a haze as their speed exceeded the human limits by hundred folds.

It looked like they were dead set on capturing the kids for reasons unknown.

It was because it was a direct order from their king. To either capture and bring back the children alive or have their heads beheaded and their bodies fed to the werewolves.

The lightening became more and more frequent and all of a sudden it went quiet.

Then suddenly a huge bolt of lightning fell on to the place where the children were standing.

It went pitch black after that. The bolt of lightning was so huge that it covered the whole of the area where the houses were built.

With the strike of lightening the children all disappeared. The area that once surrounded them was completely charred.

Just as all of this happened the dark knights arrived on the scene.

"They slipped by us" One of the knights said.

"There is nothing we can do now except for track them down. We have a limited number of days and we can't go back empty handed. I like my head where it is now"

The leader spoke.

"Form a team of twenty-five and take the four directions from here who ever catches them keeps the reward. AT least you would have saved our lives. In the glory of the Dark God 'Silas'"

Instantly the group disbanded.

What was once a lively place with lots of children was now completely silent. There were only charred trees around fuming with smoke.

In a place far away from the forest the same lightening again fell down in what appeared to be barren land. There were many cracks on the ground as wide as 50 meters and deeper than the eye could see.

There was absolutely no sign of any life form around.

The sun was already up and shined brilliantly.

This was the place known as the Gauntlet of Graveyards. IT was a dangerous place the very few in the world had survived.

"We are here" Bella said.

"Okay. Diamond formation. Now" Clay instantly shouted.

Every one present there including young children formed a shape of diamond.

"Isn't that just a myth. Will it really come?" A boy named Nate asked.

"No…. It is here alright." Clay sighed.

Suddenly the ground tremored and started splitting apart.

A loud ear deafening shriek could be heard. Actually, the ground split because of the noise. 

"Yup. You were right Clay" Nate said exhausted.

The children looked up. What appeared like a bird a big as a castle was flying towards them.

If one looked closely without going blind they would observe that the bird came directly from inside the sun.

The children began to feel the heat from the majestic bird that was coming down, that could destroy them within seconds.

"Let's see if what father said really comes true or not" Clay’s voice faded as the bird neared closer to them.