Sydenham Town was located at the southern side of Gontu, a few meters away from the Tiger River. It was a small farming town known for their fertile lands and planting techniques. North of the town was the busy Saddleback Road which was surrounded by Easing Grove on either side. Easing Grove was a forested area where the majority of the wildlife in the southern part of Gontu lived. Carriages and carts could be seen taking the eastern Tessle pass towards Ensom City, the greatest city in southern Gontu. While on the western path, two persons could be seen riding a packhorse on the road towards Talawa Stables.
Ser Roth had escorted the father and son as far as the city gates before turning around and resuming his duties only a few minutes ago. Khal was too preoccupied with his excitement of being outside the town to notice the frown on his father's face. "Pa, is being outside the town as dangerous as they say it is?" Avery adjusted his expression before turning to his son with a smile on his face. "To most people it is, but your father has been traveling before you were born, there is nothing to be scared of once you're careful enough." To someone who had been traveling throughout Seabo all his life, being fearful of rumors and tales were beneath Avery. Despite knowing that the petty Poe was trailing them some distance behind, Avery knew that without open conflict, the most Poe would do was spew insults and act like the man-child he was. However, today was Khal's awakening, Poe couldn't have chosen a more inopportune time to cause trouble.
Khal giggled at his father before looking over the man's shoulder. The distance between him and the only home he'd known kept increasing. He could barely see the tall brown watchtowers and the iron gates in the distance because of the rising dust clouds. He could make out at least 10 horses headed in their direction but to a child who had only known love and happiness, he could not detect the ill intentions of those pursuing him or his father. "Pa, what is awakening? You promised to tell me when we got out of town," Khal looked at his father expectantly.
"Hmmm, awakening is a ceremony used for those with Elemental powers, son. It happens the moment when the blood becomes saturated with spirit energy that your body has been converting since you were born. Elementum knights are able to convert world energy into spirit energy and store it inside their bodies. Elementums awaken between 5-8 years old and those with great talents awaken earlier." Khal was surprised by his father's answer. He couldn't help but ask, "I thought only those of noble blood can become elementums Pa, how am I able to become one?"
Avery rested his hand on his son's shoulder before continuing, "There are many things that can't be explained until you are older Khal, just trust in your father." Khal looked down at the moving horse. It became quiet as he thought about what his father's revelation meant. How was he able to become an Elementum Knight? How did his father even know? Does that mean that his father was also one? He had too many questions to ask the man.
Poe's group of men finally caught up to Khal and his father while he was deep in thought. "We meet again Avery. It's not good ter ignore brother Poe's invitation like that, hehe." Khal looked up to see a group of soldiers suddenly surrounding him. His father wrapped one arm around him while his other was holding the reins for his horse. "Whatever happens son, stay close to me," Avery whispered to Khal before turning to Poe. "What do you want Poe? Last I checked, you aren't allowed to oppose Lord Tommel outright. Does this mean that House Black has had enough of sharing the town with my Lord?"
Avery stared at Poe intensely, causing Poe to avoid his gaze. For that brief moment, Poe could feel the pressure Avery exerted with just his eyes. It was as though he was standing at the bottom of the ocean with a black monstrosity pressing on his chest. This was killing intent only possessed by knights of great strength. Poe knew Avery was just a farmer in service to a lowly Noble. There was no way he could ever be a threat to him, so how was he displaying such strength? "Hahahaha," Poe palmed his face with his right hand as he giggled to himself at the folly of his thoughts. "Yer almost had me there, still tryin' ter act tough I see. Let's spot how tough you are after I'm bloody well done with yer. Guards!"
Poe signaled to his men to approach Avery. It wasn't every day that a chance like this would present itself and Poe couldn't find a better way to get rid of Avery without alerting the town. Avery, seeing that Poe did not bother to restrain himself, became angry. "Pa, why is Mr. Poe after us?" Khal asked his father. Without responding, Avery made sure that Khal was holding on tightly before he pulled on the reins of his horse. "Neeeeigh!" The pack horse kicked back, landing a hit into the chest of one of the guards. The horse then advanced forward towards another guard causing him to flinch in surprise. The guard's horse stood on its hind legs with its forelegs in the air, throwing the guard to the ground.
The moment of lapse caused a small opening in the circle surrounding Avery and he took advantage of it. He maneuvered his horse between the incoming guards until he was out of the circle. Avery held on to Khal as they rode further west. "Bizz!", An arrow flew towards Avery's back as he made his escape. Avery furrowed his brows then unexpectedly a black shadow snapped the arrow into halves before disappearing from sight. Avery knew that he had to protect Khal and thus could not remain to fight with Poe. "Oi! After 'im!" Poe shouted as he ordered his men to pursue but Avery's packhorse seemed extraordinarily fast. No normal packhorse could be so aggressive or run as fast as the one Avery owned. It didn't take long for Avery's horse to run too far along for them to catch up.
"Pa!, Pa!" Shouted Khal as he looked at his father's face. Avery snapped out of his trance as he stared at his son. He knew Khal had never experienced any conflict or violence personally but all of it was necessary for his awakening. "Hmm? Don't worry son, everything will be ok." Khal looked at his father curiously. He had anticipated his first journey outside to be troublesome but never had he thought that Poe would be the one to initiate conflict outside the town. He knew Poe always hated his father but was too weak to oppose him. What had caused the change? Was it because he had finally caught his father outside the town? Khal didn't know the reason but it didn't matter to him. He completely trusted his father's judgment.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
After hours of constant running with Poe's group in pursuit, Avery saw a caravan of merchants ahead of him. He stopped his packhorse then smiled before removing a medallion from his pocket. Khal could see the medallion beginning to glow slowly before the light suddenly vanished. Just before Khal could ask his father about the maginite medallion, he saw 5 men on horseback approaching them from the caravan. Khal looked around curiously at the distant pursuers before turning towards the incoming men from the caravan. He did not know what was going on but his father's calm demeanor helped to alleviate his fears. Khal jumped down from the horse with his father as they waited for the men to approach his father's horse.
"Well met Avery!" Said a bearded man who appeared to be the leader of the 5. "Yer weren't supposed ter be here for another 3 hours. Don't tell me farmers and butlers have yer by your balls! Ha ha ha!" Avery looked up at the man and grinned before looking at Poe's group in the distance, "As always Bunsen, I leave the lowly ones for you." Bunsen smiled before getting off his horse. He turned towards Khal then shouted, "Watch me, boy, watch the power o' us Durmondae!"
Khal watched as the man's fist started to burn uncontrollably before slowly becoming a tamed flame. The flame extended down his arm until it reached his elbow. He placed his fist into the air. Swoosh!!. Khal stared in shock as the flame was shot into the air in the direction of Poe's unit. Boom!!!!!. The earth shook as dirt rose into the air, preventing Khal from seeing the results in front of him. All he could hear was the screaming and burning of horse and men before it quickly died down.
"Elementum knight!" Khal shouted before falling on his rare end. Bunsen and his men began laughing at Khal's outburst before turning to Avery. "Come, time be wot we don't have, the young lad needs ta begin his awakenin', me men can tidy up out here." Avery nodded before he, along with Khal followed the man towards the caravan. "Khal, listen, the awakening is a dangerous but necessary process. This will determine what sort of knight you will become. Follow Bunsen closely and you will succeed without fail."
Khal looked at his father and for the first time, he could see the look of worry on the man's face. He wasn't sure of the process for the awakening but for his father to be so worried meant that it was an important event. The trio reached a tent next to the caravan which was surrounded by at least 100 soldiers. "Son, be brave, I'll be outside so there is nothing to be afraid of." Avery hugged his son before watching him enter the tent. He knew this was the only way to protect his son and teach him how to control and hide his abilities.
The first thing Khal saw when he entered the tent was an old man with a long flowing white beard sitting next to a dimly shining light with his eyes closed. "Come in and have a seat, boy. Let us begin." Khal flinched then looked towards Bunsen but the man no longer had his goofy smile on his face. He knew he didn't see the old man's lips move. Khal approached the old man before sitting directly in front of him. "Drink this," the voice resonated in his head again before the old man pushed a cup of clear liquid towards him. Khal looked towards Bunsen who nodded to Khal. Khal looked at the cup before slowly taking a sip. Nothing. Nothing happened as he had expected. Nothing mystical at all. It wasn't until the old man opened his eyes causing Khal to be drawn to it. When Khal realized what was happening it was already too late. He became dizzy and found it difficult to stay awake. What was happening?!
Instantly, he found himself in a golden palace surrounded by beautiful flowing flowers. The entire palace radiated an aquatic brilliance but what caught his attention was the sound of battle outside. Khal found it difficult to keep his footing because of the vibrations of the palace floors. Suddenly, a transparent image of a person approached Khal in an instant. "Huh?" Khal became apprehensive at the sudden appearance but before he could react, the spirit said, "Don't be alarmed little lamb." Khal stepped back as much as he could, panicking at what he was seeing. "Who are you? Where am I?" The spirit smiled before answering in a soothing voice, "My name is Vivian and this is the Kingdom of Durmond." Khal tried his best to regain composure as he thought back to the history lessons he learned from Lord Tommel. "Durmond was defeated 100 years ago. There is no way we could be in Durmond."
The spirit circled Khal before finally saying, "This is the spirit plane, young man. Anything is possible here. Before the Gusto Empire came to be, they were a subordinate Kingdom of our great Durmond. Only through deceit and disloyalty the Gusto King, Claudius Sax, was able to defeat our prosperous Kingdom. All in Valeria were envious of Elementum powers. Most of the world called those with 2 elements Vulcans but Durmond was special. We had the highest number of Vulcans compared to any other country. Many of our people were blessed with special bodies that allowed us to contain more than one element. There was even a being capable of controlling 3 elements. The world couldn't stand for this imbalance. They lent their support to Gusto, causing our entire Kingdom to crumble." The spirit gritted her teeth as she ended.
Khal scratched his head as he listened to the tale. He knew that the events that lead to the defeat of the Durmond empire were not known. For him to casually learn about it now was almost too comical to believe. "You said 'our kingdom' but I'm just a Katarian commoner, I have nothing to do with a dead kingdom." The spirit had an angry look on her face before she raised her hands, causing Khal's entire body to glow white. He found himself being lifted off the floor and his lungs shut tightly. "There is no mistake, little lamb. Lost is he who knows so little about his heritage." The spirit shoved Khal's body like a ragged doll along the corridors before continuing, "Your father's Durmondae blood flows through you just as much as your mother's Katarian blood." Khal stared at the spirit, surprised to learn of his father's origin. It was little wonder why his father refused to explain anything to him while being surrounded by Katarians.
The only known foreigners in Katar were slaves to landed nobles. The only reason Khal could think of as to why his father was not a slave was because of his Darwin peaks. They were features only Katarians possessed and his father having them only proved that either his father or mother was of Katarian blood. Khal looked at the spirit in closer details. For the first time, he could see the famous silver hair of the Durmond adorned with a golden tiara.
The spirit, sensing that Khal was finally beginning to understand, caused Khal's body to glow even brighter. "Now child, it is time I awaken the sleeping power that you hold!" Khal could feel a strange power invading his mind but he had no way of stopping it. Suddenly, he fell to his knees as his head began to ache. Images of the lives of the Durmondae became vivid in his mind. He saw their lives and their beliefs as palpable as his own heartbeat. Suddenly, the destruction of his homeland, the struggle to fend off the attackers as well as the sorrows and hardships were engrained into his mind. It was the first time Khal felt so many negative emotions in his life. He could see images of his ancestors escaping the destruction of Durmond and their escape to Katar. Khal began to scream in pain as his eyes glowed blue and black before fainting.