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Asika rushed into the small cave opening breathlessly, pulling the door mat of twigs, grass, and leaves shut behind her. She walked slowly, and carefully, deeper into the cave, her hand trailing on the wall so that she wouldn't get lost in the darkness. The wall took a sudden turn to the left, and the glow of a fire appeared faintly. It only took a few steps for Asika to see that Ekindo was the only one sitting up. Akina, Asikas five year old sister, was sleeping near the fire. The flames glinted off Akina's fiery red hair.

Asika stood at the end of the cave, watching the scene. She wondered to herself, as she stood there, if it would ever end. If the great war that had torn the elementals apart for generations would stop some day, some how. She walked quietly down the passage way, she had stalked down it enough times to know every pebbly step by heart. And hate it. Its dank earthiness made her squeamish, and wary. She had been fighting in this war the day she could walk, as had her parents, and their parents before them, and even their parents before that. It had changed worlds, environments, and people. Separating friends and kin and alike. It showed as much mercy as the way it was started. As a knife across a throat.

"Oh, Asika! Don't startle me like that! I thought you might have been one of Itinro's." Ekindo jumped as Asika came up behind him, tapping on his back. She had been wrong to think that he was the only one up. He, too, had fallen asleep near the warm fire. He yawned and scratched at his bright blue hair. He had no relatives to know of, they had been some of the many casualties of the war. Along with her parents, and many like them.

"I didn't think you'd try to stay up so long." Asika said with a splash of gladness in her voice as she sat next to Ekindo by the fire. She tried to replace a few strands of her emerald green hair back into her long braid, but failed. All she could do was tuck them behind her ears, and sigh.

"Not stay up for the news? Not this time, not when it's this important!" Ekindo said jokingly at first, but his voice faded into a deep, harsh growl. He, unlike her or her sister, had seen his parents murdered in front of his face when he was a young boy. And the dark spark of revenge burned in his soul like a tiny black flame.

"Hush, you'll wake up Akina. But, yes. They agreed. We meet at the high plateau at sunset, on the Day." Asika spoke the words softly, but harshly. War was bled into their veins, and blood would be bled out of the enemies. Asika glanced up quickly as Akina sat up silently, awoken by harsh voices at a late hour.

"Asika? What's going on?" Akina asked sleepily, stretching her short, lean arms up into the air. They barely had enough to survive, and all Akinas baby fat had disappeared long ago.

"Hush, Akina, hush. You go back to sleep now. Everything will be all right in the morning." Asika said, hoping the five year old wouldn't notice that her clothes were still wet from the rain pelting the darkness outside.

"Why were you out so late? Is it still raining?" Akina asked with the inquisitiveness of any child. "Is everything going to be all right?" Akina threw the last question in with a piercing glance of her odd, ember eyes. Eyes that could have belonged to an eighty year old women with all the wisdom reflected beneath them. Wisdom, not of an eighty year old women though, but of a young five year old girl who knew the struggles of watching, and surviving, war.

"Yes, Akina, everything is going to be fine. But go to sleep now. It's not yet morning." Asika said pleadingly to the young girl. She knew, now that Akina was awake, it would be next to impossible to get her to sleep.

"Tell me a story." Akina whined, knowing that she would get that one little favor.

"Fine." Asika sighed, selling out to the little girls simple demand. "What do you want a story about? Underwater adventure? Plant palaces of Ancient Ea?" Asika started naming of fairy stories that she knew.

"I want the story of How Ea Became Ergo!" Akina demanded in her soft five year old voice.

"Why the history lesson all of a sudden?" asked Ekindo, keeping his eyes closed while he leaned against a rock.

"Because!" Akina shouted, but then fell silent. Knowing that if patrols found them, a late night story would be the least of her problems.

"Okay, I'll tell, I'll tell! Maybe it'll get both of you lunkheads to sleep." Asika said with a laugh in her voice, holding up her hand in defense against two angry glares. "Where should I begin?"

"At the beginning would be nice." joked Ekindo, grimacing as Asika whacked him with an outstretched toe.

"Shush, mister smart aleck! I'll start at the death of Queen Akatari. After she died, people started noticing that Plant would no longer respond to one ruler. Many took the throne and tried to make it other wise, but all failed, and some died. Five years, maybe longer, maybe sooner, no one can remember anymore, after Queen Akatari died, King Iklori followed her into the grave. And that is when things went from bad to worse. Tsunamis would spring up without reason, forests would dry up, and deserts flooded. A young king was on the throne of Land, Iotto! He declared that Plant and Water were destroying Ea in a false belief that Land was behind the death of Koyoko and Ishikari. But everyone knew this wasn't true. Plant and Water would never sacrifice something so great in a plot of revenge. They did not put up a fight against their treasonous leader when he put a warrant on the head of every man, women, and child of Plant and Water. So began the rebellions true fight for survival. People started calling Ea Ergo. For you can not call a world Ea if it no longer is a world by any definition. Ea had been destroyed when Iotto had cut Ishikaris throat. It had been replaced by Ergo when the wave hit the Palace of Plant. So ended Ea and so started Ergo..." Asika let the last sentence trail out of her mouth, and looked around. The fire had burnt into a pile of embers, and both Akina and Ekido were both soundly asleep. Asika curled up on the ground beside them, and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

In the Cave of Elders, soon after Asika left...

The gathering of the elder people watched Asika duck under the caves small rock opening and rush out into the midnight storm. An old women among them, with the silvery green hair of age, shook her head silently in sorrow. An old sea man came up and sat down beside her, patting her on the back softly.

"She'll be okay, Apala, she always has been, and always will be." The old man spoke softly with a raspy voice that age and sea spray had given him.

"I know, Tritro, but I can't help thinking that the war should have ended by now. We shouldn't have to send our grandchildren, and great-grandchildren off to die." Apala said harshly, her voice grating against her old throat. She had known Asikas grandparents when she was young, and still fighting in the war. But age had caught up to her, and she could no longer run fast enough to stay alive. All she could do now was give advice to young ones who could fight, and watch them die for a war that was shrouded in the mysteries of fairy tales and ancient times. And hope that she could live long enough to see the war end, and the children play in the sun without fear of being killed by a stray swipe or blast. Or taken in to be hung as traitor at a midday gallows.

"Silence, all of you!" An old women, the eldest of them all, spoke softly. It was a strain to hear her voice, but the impact was still strong enough to deaden the talking. "We heard Asikas report on what the other parties are planing to do next week. And we all know they will probably not survive long enough to see the light of victory, if that light chooses to shine. I know that we cannot talk them out of this battle, because when I was their age," Katias speech was interrupted by a coughing fit. She finally took a sip of water from a small, silver canteen she had at her side at all times. She continued her talk. "As I was saying, when I was a child and saw the possibility of the end of the war in my grasp, I would not have hesitated to reach out for it. No matter what advice anyone had given me. And so, I tell you this now, we cannot try to stop them from fighting this battle, but mayhaps we can guide them in a way so that they can win this battle. And with any luck, this war." Katia stopped talking and sat down, tired from the exertion of giving, in what were her terms, such a long speech.

She was an ancient lady, all of the elders gathered around her had remembered her from when they were young, and maybe even their parents had as well. Some even said that she had known Kyoko herself. Her hair had long since turned white, and no one knew if she was Plant or Water. She was tiny, barely standing to the height of a short ten year old, and she wore nothing but a dark robe. It had never been seen in the light of day, so nobody knew quite what color it was. Probably black, but the other elders wore blue or green, depending on their heritage.

"But what if they are all killed? The war would end that way, but even Ergo could not survive then!" Pelen, an ancient Water, shouted as best he could from the back of the small crowd. He had been known as a pessimist since the day he had asked if the world was ending, when he was two.

"Great thought there, Pelen. Now we can worry about our survival and theirs!" Apala spat at him. She had never liked Pelen, and had made sure everyone knew that every second she got. Ever since they were children, his attitude on how they could all die any second had blown her fuses.

The crowd erupted at Pelens comment, many thought he had a point. Others said that he was foolish, everyone had always been in danger, battle or not. But this time, they might destroy that danger once and for all, or increase it ten fold. Katai stood at the front of the crowd, looking at Pelen with her dark, ink eyes. If looks could kill a person, Pelen would have died in front of the elders the moment he had made his rude comment.

"Silence, all of you!" Katia whispered with an angry edge. " Quit acting like children! Pelens right, we don't know if they're going to win, or even survive. And there's no way we can do much about it until one of the others has returned. We have agreed to complete radio silence until after the battle is ended. So we shall just sit here and discuss our options until the battle." Katia said finally, leaving no room for argument. She sat down on a rock by the fire and drifted off into a light, restless, sleep.

At the Palace of Land, the next morning...

The throne room was crowded with stuffy royalty wearing the latest fashion. Clothing that looked like it had come straight from Shakespearean times. There was a single red carpet down the middle of the crowd, leading from the gigantic marble doors of the hallway to the enormous stone throne. The young king, Itinro, sat on the throne, bored of the conversation of whether Land had actually captured the king of Plant or not. He knew it was untrue, from all the history texts he had gathered and read from his ancestor Iotto's time, there was no longer the possibility of a King of Plant, or Water. His mother, Queen Insilra, direct decent from Iotto, had told him so when he had been five. She didn't want him to think that he could win the war by capturing Kings that could no longer exist.

Itinro spotted the Head Advisor, Ooren, making his way through the crowd, avoiding touching or talking to as many people as he could. He had always hated royal gatherings of any kind, he thought of most of the people as flakes and suck ups. Not that he was far from the truth, mind you. Itinro wondered what could have gotten Ooren out of bed at such an early hour, he always complained that his old bones couldn't move until the decent hour of eleven after sunrise. It was barely nine and half past.

"Ooren, what brings you here so suddenly?" Itinro asked him as if it were nothing more than a joke that had brought the Head Adviser to the throne room at such an early hour. But Itinro was eyeing him carefully through wary eyes, and noticed that he was nervous, and afraid.

"Your Majesty," Ooren said, bowing. "I have something that I must speak to you about." Ooren looked around, as if for spies. "In private."

"Why, of course! We wouldn't want the entire kingdom to know anything before I did!" Itinro laughed once more, his grin making Ooren ever the more nervous, but women who were flocking around the throne trying to get his attention giddyily. He flashed another smile from beneath his blond hair, and left the room with the elderly advisor.

They went down the main hallway, taking turns at strategic points, a left here, a right there. Itinro looked as if he had memorized the entire layout of the palaces maze of hallways, and was following a path no one would ever be able to find again. Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, Itinro and Ooren found themselves at a small, unnoticeable wooden door. Itinro grasped at his collar, and removed from over his head a necklace with a small, ancient key at the end of it. The key fitted into the doors lock perfectly, and Itinro twisted it. The door opened like a well oiled machine to reveal a small room. The room had a dark blue velvety carpet, and what looked to be deep emerald colored silk walls. In the middle of the room sat a mahogany desk, covered in what looked to be political and war strategies from olden times.

"So, Ooren, like the room? It belonged to Iotto you know." Itinro said like a little boy showing off his best toy. Ooren wondered if he was as mad as Iotto was said to be in the history texts. Not that anyone said that of course, but the facts spoke for themselves. Slaughters, murder, death penalties, the starting of the great war, attempted genocide of two entire races. Ooren didn't like the room, and barely held back a shudder.

"It's very nice, your Majesty. But why is it colored in blue and green, not the popular shades of brown?" Ooren asked meekly, he was truly curious to now why Iotto, the man who had sentenced every man, women, and child of Plant and Water to death would use their colors to decorate his private study. Maybe he was more psychotic than Ooren thought.

"I'm really not sure, actually. But from what I've dug up from the ancient journals he kept hidden around, he was really hung up over that Princess Kyoko. That's all the proof I need to see that he didn't start the 'great war'. I mean, if the guy loved her so much, he wouldn't go and kill her, would he?" Itinro asked, staring at Ooren. Ooren looked about the room, wondering whether or not the question was rhetorical. He went over to the sole book case in the room, and started fingering the ancient books. They were still in good condition, even after a few centuries of storage. Even the cherry colored bookcase looked as if it could go another hundred centuries without breaking a sweat.

"But, your Majesty, Koyoko was killed in the tsunami..." Itinro cut him off before he had time to finish the sentence.

"I don't care about any stupid tsunami!" an enraged Itinro shouted out, slamming his fist onto the desk, causing papers to flutter to the ground. "Plant and Water started this war when their stupid Princess was killed in a freak accident, and were to lazy to do anything but blame Land for their own faults! The bunch of bloody bastards!" Itinro shouted out, as if his anger would make Ooren see things in the same way he did. Ooren wondered to himself if it were true about psychoticness running in a persons family. Itinro was compared to looking like Iotto a lot, except for the black hair. Ooren hoped that Itinro would calm down and forget about everything, Ooren gave himself a helping shot by agreeing with Itinro.

"Of course, your Majesty, of course. King Iotto did nothing short of what was in his rightful power to do." Ooren added a bow in for good measure. He peeked up and saw that Itinro was grinning. Ooren stood back up again and looked at Itinro, who was now seated at the wood and leather chair by the desk. He had propped his feet up on the desk and was now reading an ancient document on what looked to be the Battle of Lucifer's Eye, named because during the battle, the sun had been at straight noon. A rock formation looking over the battle field had cast a shadowy eye outline on to the fighters. Some took to their heels an ran the instant they saw the eye looking down. The battle ended in a loss of troops never matched since, well over three hundred thousand. People still say to this day that the eye was an omen the ancient King Iklinrod should never had ignored, and maybe many of the soldiers had survived.

"Well," Itinro jumped up and scared Ooren. "I'm glad that you see things right! I might have thought you were helping the resistance for a second there! But I should have known an old guy like yourself would never betray your king!" Itinro grinned and got up, throwing the old paper to floor, and slapped Ooren on the back. Ooren had to take a stumble forward to regain his balance before he fell to the ground. Itinro moved over to the hearth and started a fire with a match and some wood that had been set up before hand. He looked into the box of wood that was next to the hearth to make sure that there was enough wood. "You were saying back in the throne room a bout something important? Don't tell me you dragged me all this way for nothing." Itinro frowned at peered at Ooren with eyes that seemed to go from a glowing hazel to a piercing birch in a matter of seconds.

"Well, your Majesty." Ooren managed without a stutter." It's about the rebellion." Ooren told Itinro while looking down at the dark blue carpet, and the shadow of flames dancing across it. He hoped he hadn't set off Itrinos temper, for it was a deadly thing to mess with.

"And what about the rebellion? Are they planning something? Have they been eradicated? Have they surrendered? What!?!" Itinro shouted at the old man, pounding his fist on the desk once more, causing an avalanche of old scrolls and paper to barely miss the fire.

"Well, sir, we have reason to believe..." Ooren started the sentence, but Itinro interrupted him before he could finish. Ooren flinched when Itinro started shouting.

"You have reason to believe! Don't give me that 'reason to believe' crap! I want facts, something that I can work with and sink my teeth into! There is no such thing as 'reason to believe'! There is either do believe, or don't! I don't want to be bothered with your stupid theories every time it starts raining to hard, or the plants die!" Itinro growled out the last words, his temper flaring. He was pacing the room in anticipation of Oorens unfinished sentence. He shot a glance at Ooren that, in ancient times, would have signaled his execution. Ooren cleared his withered throat and continued where he had been interrupted.

"We, um, the rebellion parties have cut off all radio contact with each other, your majesty. They have, in a way, gone dead. We can neither locate them nor know what they are planning at this point in time. We think they may take another try at, er umhm, Unicorn Peak." Ooren finished, and shook his head both sadly and nervously.

The Battle of Unicorns Peak was known to every child with an ounce of compassion. Every little girl or boy who had ever cried themselves to sleep at night knew the battle well, and shed many a tear in its name. The Battle of Unicorns Peak had taken place during Queen Asayas time. Queen Asaya had been the granddaughter of King Iotto, and had fought the war bravely. Then, as now, the rebellion had put up a radio silence. One week later, on the day of the death of Koyoko, the rebellion had gathered all of their forces and marched to a high peek on the middle of a plain. The peak was actually more of a natural, rock tower. Queen Asaya had marched her forces there, and a great battle was fought. Day turned to night, and thunder clouds rolled in. Lightning was flashing when someone pointed to the top of the peak. Nobody knows quite how it had happened, but a unicorn was running on the top of the peak, as if the battle had trapped it. Too late did Queen Asayas archers notice, and they let fly another wave of arrows before they were commanded to stop. Too late was this command, for one black arrow flew smooth and strong, puncturing the Unicorns heart. It flew up wildly once more, red blood was dropping from the wound. People swore that it looked like a human girl when the lightning flashed. The Unicorn fell from the top, high above the plain. People saw it land, dead upon the crowd. The battle was ended there, for no matter how hard and how deep the hatred flowed, a Unicorn was still an innocent. They were to great to be caught amongst a mortal battle, and yet there lay the beautiful beast. Its blood flowing upon the earthen ground. They Unicorn had been buried there, and no battle was ever fought there again. To this day, so it is said, a silver rose grows upon the hallowed grave of the mystic creature. The battle had also cost the lives of countless numbers of soldiers, going on the record books as one of the most bloody and desperate of the entire war.

"Battle of Unicorns Peak, you say? Well, if I remember my history right, we won that battle gloriously. And if those weaklings who call themselves want to do battle, and lose. once more, than so be it! I could do with another squirmish, there have been so few lately. And if they have gone to radio silence, why don't you just use the spies?" Itinro peered at the Head Advisor with his steely brown eyes. Ooren could feel the gaze unmasking his face and staring right into his soul. Ooren pretended there was something on his clothing, and started picking at his sleeve.

"Well, your majesty, we have sort of a problem with spies you see." Ooren could feel the anger emanating from Itinro in waves. Itinro stalked over to the fire place and started to poke at the inferno with the fire poker.

"What sort of problem, Ooren?" Itinro turned around to face Ooren once more, the poker in his hand still glowing from the heat of the fire. "What sort of problem are we having with spies? Don't I keep you around to solve these problems!? Isn't that the only reason you're here? To make sure that the war gets won while I'm on the throne! Any problem we have with spies is your problem, not mine! Now, as you were saying." Itinros voice dropped from a shout to the deadly softness of a tigers pur. Ooren was starting to get worried, he would not be the only advisor to go missing if he disappeared. Itinro was known for using the advice of 'kill the bearer of bad news'. Ooren saw that he was closer to the door than Itinro. But at his old age, Itinro was more than a match for him. Ooren swallowed harder and continued, wondering what fate had in store for him. He thought he knew.

"Well, sire, every spy that has ever infiltrated their ranks ends up dead. Within a month, no more, usually less. We have no means of knowing what they are planing, but we did pick up something about a battle on, um, the Day. Ahp." Ooren gasped as the hot poker pierced his stomach, and was removed by the King. Itrino just stood above what he thought to be a dead man, looking at him.

"Ooren, Ooren, Ooren." Itrino said, sadly in a sarcastic way, shaking his head. "I told you that if there was a problem with information of the rebellion, it would be your fault. And just look at the mess you made, I'll have to get the room re-carpeted now." he kicked the body and left the room without a second thought. Itrino wondered to himself who he should choose to be Head Advisor. "Keroo always had a good head on her shoulders..." Itrinos voice faded into nothingness as turned a corner, not noticing a figure stumble out of the tiny room and down a different corridor...

At the cave of the Clan of the Southern Springs...

"I don't care what anyone says, I am not letting my son go off and get killed in that bloody battle of yours! He's barely sixteen! He's going to stay here, where it's nice and safe, not trampling around like a target for Itrinos men! And that's final!" Helania yelled at her husband, her voice bouncing off the walls and ceiling of the gigantic cave. The cave wasn't as huge in the sense of all at once, but in depth. The cave stretched for miles, winding its way into the hillside, with off shoots that worked perfectly for individual families to live in. People were starting to poke their heads out of their doors, mats really, and stare at the room the noise was emanating from. Helania gave them no mind, and continued shouting. "Next thing you know, you'd want me to ship Icris to go off and fight with you! Sure, she can only crawl, but that's old enough for you, isn't it!" Helania was losing her temper, and her bright blue hair was flying up in waves as she turned to stare at the cave painting that hid the grotesque wall. It was a beautiful painting to her, and always helped calm her down. It was a drawing of the sea, there were dolphins jumping in the background, and the foam was lapping quietly against the soft sandy beach. In the distance, strolling along the sand, it showed a unicorn. A unicorn just peacefully walking, as if it knew that all life's sorrow could be hidden away by a walk on the beach.

"How dare you! You know just as well as I do that Hanoo is well past the age of learning how to fight, and join his first battle! I was barely nine when I went out! And he's no safer here than he is out there, we could be found and massacred in a mater of seconds! Helania, I know how you feel." Keroo put his hand on his wife's shoulder. She shrugged it off, pacing to another part of the small room that held the family of four. She went and sat on one of the stones, a chair in their home, and picked up some clothes she'd been mending with another patch. The entire Clan of Southern Springs practically wore the same thing. Blue pants made out of more patches than cloth, and loose blue shirts in the same condition. The color varied for all families, some were sky blue while others were practically midnight. It all depended on the patches.

"I don't care how old you were!" Helania shouted once more, her unshed tears showing in her voice. "I don't want Hanoo to see blood, and, and death and think it part of life! It isn't right, the war should've ended by now!" Helania broke down into tears, sobbing into the midnight blue shirt she was mending, glad that her children were not there to see their mother crying. To see the one thing in their lives that was solid break, might break them. And Helania knew it. She had sent Haroo and his younger sister, Icris, off with others to gather food from a food cavern.

The food caverns were caves where the ceilings had fallen in. They couldn't be lived in, but food could be safely grown in them. Since they were safe, most of the time, from attack, little children often went to gather the food instead of the adults, who were often to busy trying to survive the war. Icris, although she was barely two, already knew to stay under cover at all times when she was outside. But liked the freedom of running around strawberry patches without fear of being killed. But Helania knew that one of these days, hopefully later rather than sooner, Itrino was going to find the caverns, and then them.

Keroo looked up as a child came running down the caves main route, screaming at the top of his lungs. A middle aged woman, Talia, grabbed the boy and shook him, asking what was wrong. Everyone was gathering around in a crowded circle. They could all tell from the boys tear streaked, terrified face that something terrible had happened.

"What happened, Jeorat, what's wrong?" Talia asked calmly. "What's happened?" Talia could not hide the lines of worry that were sketching her face.

"Th, th, the cavern!" Jeorat managed to say. The crowd erupted into murmuring, and one or two people started running for the cavern. Helania was determined to hear what the five year old Jeorat had to say.

"What happened at the caverns?" Talia asked calmly. Terror was beginning to twitch through her mask. All three of her children, aged three, seven, and nine, had gone to collect food.

"We were playing, and, and Itrinos men..." Jeorat started crying, but bravely continued to tell what had happened, more people were running to the caverns. "We didn't see Itrinos men until, until Kaylasa was hit and, and..." that was enough for everyone to hear. Itrino had found the caverns, and he couldn't have picked a worse time. It was harvest. People ran to their homes and grabbed their bows, heading for the food cavern.

When they got there, Helania could tell that they were too late for many, if not all, the children. Bows were raised, and arrows fired. It was a short battle, no more than five minutes long, but the consequences were heart wrenching. The enemy had been forced to retreat, and people went topside to make sure it stayed that way. But the job left for those who stayed behind was worse, far worse.

Helania found her daughter, Icris, in the strawberry patch. She started sobbing as she remembered how much the two year old loved to dance in the winter sun that streamed down while she ate strawberries. Helania noticed, in the soft light of the evening sun, that Icris still had strawberry juice stains around he mouth. Helania reached to wipe them off, and gasped as she realized they weren't strawberry stains, but blood. She started crying anew, clutching the small body to her chest as if she could protect it.

That is where her old friend, Terik, found her minutes later. He ran up and shook her gently, to get her attention.

"Terik?" Helania asked, as if she were still a thousand miles away. "What's wrong?" She got to her feet slowly, and was barely able to keep upright at the sight and sounds coming from all around the cavern. Mothers and Fathers were finding their children all over the fields, dead.

"Helania, we found Haroo. He's behind the group of sugar cane. Over there." Terik pointed to a large group of sugar cane, not looking at Helania, but at the ground sadly.

"Is, he...?" Helania let the question trail off, not wanting to know the answer, but needing to know.

"Yes." Terik answered. Helania let out a shriek, falling to the ground.

"No, he ca, can't be." She sobbed, her arms around her legs, her face on her knees. She just rocked there, in the middle of a small strawberry patch, crying. Finally, she got up and went to see her son. He looked as if he had died without noticing, Helania thought, his face looked so serene. He could have been mistaken for being asleep, if he hadn't had an arrow protruding from the back of his head.

Something snapped, right then and right there, inside of Helania. She saw Karoo coming up behind her out of the corner of her eye, and turned to face him. "We end this soon. If not now, then at the battle!" Helania growled at him under her voice. "I'm going to find the bastard who did this to my children, and I'm going to rip out there hearts and eat its still beating flesh in front of their face!" Helania stalked off, pushing aside some of the sugar cane.

Karoo just watched her go, and shook his head sadly, looking around at his weeping friends and family. Right then, he realized that Itinro had unleashed their ultimate weapon, and perhaps his ultimate undoing. A parents wrath...

The next day, at the Palace of Land...

The crowd was murmuring within itself as King Itrino talked with the general. Though the room was large and spacious, everyone seemed to have trouble clawing to overhear what was going on. Itrino saw the scene that he had cleverly crafted out of the side of his eye and chuckled inwardly to himself. He had made sure that the general had reported to him in the throne room. It was mid morning, and the news of his victory would be sure to have circulated around the kingdom by evening. Minor details, such as all the fallen were mere children, would be left out of course. By the time the evening rolled around, it would have two hundred warriors his soldiers had defeated.

"Your majesty, we found the cavern unguarded, but there was a corridor leading further into the mountain." Osa, the general, told Itrino nervously. He had noticed that people of rank would disappear after telling bad news, and he was glad for the protection of the crowded room. However long that might last, he did not want to know.

"What!" Itrino snapped to attention at the mention of the corridor. "Why didn't you follow it? You could have smoked half the rebellion out of there!" Itrino made sure to keep his voice low, and his face looking victories. He didn't want the crowd to think that anything had gone astray, but he still let a drop or two of anger drip into his voice. It had a devastating affect on Osa. Though the general was brave, it seemed to Itrino that he was afraid of his king. Itrino tried not to let his edging smile be revealed, controlling by fear was better than using loyalty.

"Well, your highness, we didn't know what could be in there. They could have set up the children as a trap, or something." Osa was beginning to sweat profusely, and regretted wearing his armor. He wiped his brow with a handkerchief that he always kept tucked away while at court. Itrino eyed Osa with a steely blaze that seemed to almost cut Osa.

"You idiot, why would they use they're own children as bait? No, you caught them by surprise." Itrino turned away from Osa, and the crowd. He stood there for a second, just staring at the large mahogany doors at the back of the throne room. "And now that they know that I know where they reside, we no longer have surprise to work with. We know nothing but that they reside within those caves, and maybe not even that anymore." Itrino walked toward the towering doors, and beckoned for his advisory council and the general to follow. They did. Itrino closed the doors soundly behind them, making sure nobody but the others in the room could hear what he was about to say.

The room was a giant library, the walls themselves were hidden by bookcases. The books traveled so far up, that to reach the topmost shelves, one would have to use a ladder. There were many of these set against the bookcases. Itrino walked across the deep maroon carpet to the fire place, which was the only source of light in the windowless room. The advisory council and general gathered around the king.

"General, and advisors, maybe you could inform me why these people still live, even after we surprised them at their caves. Where was this cavern again, general?" Itrino asked, not bothering to look up from the fire. The general twitched his head a little to the side as he remembered the exact location. No one noticed as a shadow in the background seemed to be paying close attention to the conversation.

"Beneath one of the first mountains in the Black Forest mountain range, I believe, sire. Mataro to be correct." Osa answered, the hairs on his neck rising as one of the advisors gasped. Itrino noticed as well, and turned to face the man.

"What is it you know, pray tell, about the Black Forest, Kataro?" a mean smile was twitching at the kings lips. Kataro stepped back a pace, and then thought the better of it, and stepped forward once more. Katero was not an old man, but his brown hair had a wisp or two of silver in it.

"Well, your majesty." his voice sounded empty against the empty space of the library. "The Black Forest region is known for its, er, um, uncontrollability. It seems that the very plants themselves are for the destruction of all people, whether they be from Plant, Water, or Land, it does not seem to care. It will house any, and all, creatures that will help them in their purpose." Kataro barely kept from stuttering in fear. There were many an ominous history regarding the Black Forest. Especially the Battle of Dunens Grune.

The Battle of Dunens Grune, so called after a pretty wild flower, had taken place in the midst of a beautiful spring. One of the ancient generals of olden times had strolled across a group of Plant people gathering dunens grune, and attacked. The people had fled into the Black Forest, and the small force had followed. One report told that the instant the army set foot in the forest, the sky turned from bright blue, to midnight black. The sun was swallowed whole, leaving nothing in its place with which they might see. The soldiers kept their forward march, finally the general Taranasa decided the trek was useless, and dangerous, without light. He ordered a short stop to be taken, and for the soldiers to light torches. The men started to pull branches off trees, but stopped once they heard the inhuman shrieks and howls the trees produced. The Taranasa, thinking the noise a trick, had cut down branches with his blade and divided them into the small group. Once the first torch was lit, it went out almost immediately, not because of wind, but because of the sight the light revealed. The people they had chased into the forest, were hanging on the trees all around the soldiers. The screams had not been the trees, but the people as they were being impaled by the trees. That was when the soldiers started to notice the branches scraping against their faces in the still evening air. Panic took a firm grasp on the group, people running every which way. Panic worked in the end, for one lone survivor made it out of the woods, alive. But his mind had crumbled against the terrors he had witnessed, and all he could hear was his friends screaming as the unseen horrors had descended upon them.

"Well," continued Itrino, "If this Black Forest is so bad, why would a stay band of rebels risk living by it?" Itrino asked Kataro, watching the advisor start to become nervous at a question that had not been in any of his books.

"I don't really know, sire. Maybe they just didn't know about the forest, or..." Kataro faded off, but his question was answered by another.

"Or maybe they were trying to throw you off the scent." a shadowy figure stepped toward the fireplace, but not fully into the light.

"Kisa?" Itrino asked angrily at the outline. It took another step, revealing itself to be the high military commander, Kisa. And the only person in the entire kingdom who didn't seem to be afraid of the king. "What are you doing here!? I didn't call for you!" Kisa appeared as if she could care less, sitting on a table that was near the fire. The flames threw flickering shadows across her face, and turning her blond hair strawberry, and revealing that she was not up to date on fashion. Though more than a few of the advisors wondered if this was on purpose. She was always dressed in a military uniform, black jerkin with the Crest of Land in silver, black armored pants, and a black belt with a blade. Making her skin appear unnaturally pale.

"Your majesty may not have summoned me, but that does not mean he may not have need of me. Talk of war, and old stories, does include my control, does it not?" Kisa asked with an evil grin, her silver eyes seemed to absorb the harsh light of the fire and reflect it back, betraying nothing of what she was thinking.

"It may include you, Kisa, but how did you get in here without us knowing?" Itrino asked, curiosity burning in his soul. He looked around at the assembled group to see if they, too, were in on the plot. They had amazement, and disbelief, written across their faces. They were equally unknowing.

"The cat should check his den, before letting the prey in." another wicked smile danced her lips.

"What does that mean!?" Itrino demanded of the military officer. Osa was shocked, as were the others, that anyone would defy the king so openly.

"It means check the room before you say it's empty. I was sitting in here reading when you and your little friends came tumbling in, looking as if you were hiding state secrets, or something. But I find all you're discussing is a failed battle, or shall I say a pathetic massacre, and why they were where they were." Kisa kept he laughs stuffed inside, letting them dissolve as she met Itrino's furious stare.

"If you think yourself so smart, commander, than perhaps you care to tell us about the battle?" Itrino with a hidden grin, thinking he had finally stumped Kisa. He found himself gravely mistaken, and when she answered, his face nearly fell to the floor.

"First off, don't call it a battle. Killing defenseless children is never anything to gloat about. Even doing such a thing was stupid, you should have taken hostages, and then killed everyone, including the adults, when they surrendered. Second, to answer your question, sire," Kisa spoke through her teeth as she pronounced the words, still angry that Itrino was calling the massacre of little children a battle. "The people knew perfectly well where they were. They had probably chosen the sight on purpose. No one just happens to live by the Black Forest by chance, or mistake. No, I think they were hiding from us, for what I think is a good reason, on their part." Kisa kept her distance from the others, but Osa saw the evil grin flicker across her face, and for the first time did not doubt why such a new recruit had made it so far. She was younger than Osa, about Itrino's age. Nobody knew where she had come from, she had just shown up one day and proved that she was better at being a warrior than anybody else. And held a heart sneaky enough to turn on itself if needed.

"And why was that such a good decision on their part, commander Kisa? And why, if you knew so much about them, didn't you send out a patrol earlier?" Osa asked eagerly, trying to drop Kisa's reputation in front of the king. Kisa didn't even bat an eye at the question. Rather, she seemed pleased that Osa asked it. Osa's instinct told him to late that he had committed political suicide.

"Because, they were hiding near the forest, so they wouldn't be forced to fight." Kisa watched the expressions of all in the room change from questioning to disbelief as they realized what the commander was telling them. "It's simple logic, really. The Clan of the Southern Springs was hiding, had no patrols posted, and were too slow at reacting to the news of the massacre. Had it been any other band, general Osa, you and your men would have been dead in a heart beat. All you did was ensure they fight in the coming battle, because you were stupid enough not to kill them. There is nothing an enraged parent won't do to seek revenge." Kisa got up and stalked to the door. Just before opening it, she turned and faced Itrino. "Believe me, I know." Kisa opened the door, and left. Itrino and the others heard the reassuring click of the door as it was shut. Itrino was a blaze of fury and anger at being openly defied by the commander.

"Why that little, no good, piece of..." Itrino swore at the door Kisa had just closed under his breath. Kisa did not fear him, and did not really care what mood her words and actions put him in. All she cared about was that she got her army to control, and enemies to fight. Itrino hated her with every bone in his body, but did not dare do anything about her. She was too good a strategist and fighter for that. He would just have to put up with her until a lucky arrow or blade found its mark.

"You majesty, now that we know this useful information, may we be permitted to leave and study it further?" one of the advisors asked, cautiously stepping forward. If she hadn't been wearing such a long dress, Itrino thought he might have seen her knees shaking.

"Yes, of course. All of you, go." Itrino waved his hand at them, signaling for them to leave. No one, including Osa, waited for him to change his mind. They had all scuttled out of the room in a matter of seconds, leaving the king to stare angrily at the blazing inferno of a fire in front of him.

At the Cave of Elders, soon after that...

Everyone was in an uproar, the news of the massacre at the Southern Spring Caves had spread like wild fire, and rumors of soldiers bathing in blood, laughing as they had killed the children, had not helped the matter. Katia stared through the murmuring group, lost in her own thoughts of the senseless tragedy. She had known many people of the Southern Springs, and even some of the children that had been slaughtered. They had been peace loving, and friendly. They had known the art of war, as did anyone who lived in such a deadly time, but had only used it in self defense. They had even run to the edge of the Black Forest in order to hide from the war and bloodshed. But in the end not even that had saved them, for their children were proof of that deadly fact. And now they had informed the Elders that, what once been a hand full of people, had turned into the whole tribe. They were joining with the others to help in the oncoming battle. A battle that would end the war, one way or another, in just a little over a day. Katia shook her head sadly as she came back to the reality of the situation, with everyone, even the representatives of the many tribes and clans, looking to her for advice. She stood up slowly, leaning on her staff heavily, and stared right back at them through the smoky air.

"I'm guessing you all want my opinion on what we should do, and if the battle should be joined, or not. Well." Katia tapped her foot as best she could on the ground, impatiently. "Don't just stare at me! Answer!" her old voice was practically a child's shriek against the air.

"Yes. oh wise one." said one of the Northern Water people, his icy hair standing out among all but a few of the elders. But his hair was not white from age, but of the cold climate of his cold northern home, where blending into the falling snow could mean the difference between life, and death.

"At least one of you has some guts around here!" Katia snapped at the rest of the crowd, who looked at interesting spots around the cave sheepishly. "But yes, I say the time of the end of the war has come. Let us settle this once and for all, for us, our children, and the children that shall run free in the meadows without worrying about being killed for the clan they belong to!" Katia smiled broadly as she finished her short speech, and the crowd cheered. They would be facing death tomorrow, and being happy now might be there last chance before they marched.

"But what will happen if we fail?" Akisa stepped forward from the back of the crowd. She looked at Katia, and then turned to face the crowd. "If we fail, there will be no sunny meadows to play in, no peace for the elderly, no safety for any of us. If we lose the battle tomorrow, there will be nothing left for us to have fought for. Nothing left to fight for, nothing we can fight for. We will be hunted down and slaughtered, like animals ready for the kill. We won't be able to hide, and no one might survive the battle to protect the two year olds hiding in caves, wondering what safety is. If we go out there, we have no choice but winning, or complete annihilation. To me, nothing is worth that risk." Asika shook her head slightly to accentuate her words while giving her small speech. The crowd stared at her in disbelief, some taking her words as if they had been shot at by an enemy. A young sea man, Itano, stepped forward and confronted Asika, and then turned to the crowd to give another speech.

"Asika has told us what might happen if we lose this battle, yet she forgets to say what might happen if we do not fight it. Generations following generations will grow up in fears clutches from the moment they take their first breath. They will know nothing but torture, death, and slaughter. They will be afraid of the sun, and not know what fun is. They will learn how to kill while they learn to walk. They will be hunted down just for being of Sea or Plant. I do not speak for Asika, or any of you, but I do not wish to see the coming generations suffer as I have, and watch the road of misery unfurl from there. I say we end this know, and die fighting and defending our freedom!" the crowd cheered with Itano as he gave the speech, and Katania stepped up once more, looking at both Asika and Itano. Everyone stopped shouting, and the cave became eerily quite, as if in the presence of an oncoming storm.

"Both of these people speak the truth. If we do fail, or do not fight at all, the generations coming after us will suffer the same misery we have. Or have no future at all. But if we do win, we might possibly regain our freedom, and leave the word fear in fairy stories, watching our children running amongst flowers on sunny days. We stand at a crossroads now, and no matter how much advice I give, the choice is still only yours. I will not tell people to lay down their lives, for this battle field will not, and can not, be considered hallowed if it is won on the blood of those who fought unwillingly. Pressed into the arms of death by those behind them, forcing their way to victory. So I say this once more, choose wisely, for it might be the most important choice you have ever been asked to make." Katia finished her speech and sat down, and looked into the quite audience. Some were standing, others sitting, but all were contemplating the great responsibility that had been thrust into their hands.

"I will fight." said a man of Plant, stepping forward.

"As will I."

"I won't others take my battle!"

"I will stand proudly!" Others joined in on the cry, until the cave was a swirling mass of shouts and battle cries.

"Silence! All of you!" Katia shouted harshly. The crowd of warriors simmered down in respect. "You have all made your decision, whether to fight or not, I will not judge by. But you had better eat, and rest, for we have a long day ahead of us. We shall gather at the Heavens Gate Plateau at dusk. I shall find you there, or not at all." Katia sat down once more, and watched the people streaming out of the cave, hiding in the dense underbrush outside. She did not see a shadow with blond hair split from the brush, and run toward the Palace of Land...

At the Palace of Land, shortly afterwards...

Itrino watched from his small study as Kisa sprinted across the courtyard and into one of the palaces many back doors. He smiled inwardly to himself, and sat in a chair by the window, waiting for Kisa to appear at the studies door. He didn't wait long.

"So, what have you found?" Itrino gave Kisa a second to catch her breath, but she didn't need it. She walked up to the window, where Itrino had been standing just minutes before, and looked out.

"Nothing much, just the usual going ons of how they must win the battle to survive, how we would kill them all, just the usual." Kisa gave Itrino a grin, ignoring his murderous glance. Itrino wondered to himself why he put up with Kisa, after all her arrogance and attitude. But he put the question out of his mind nearly immediately. She was the best soldier in his army, and the best spy in the kingdom. He cooled his temper, knowing that Kisa deserved to be a bit arrogant.

"About the battle, you fool! What is the rebellion planning for the battle!" Itrino let anger seep into his voice, hoping Kisa would get the hint that he wasn't in the mood to play games.

"They plan to gather at the Heavens Gate Plateau tomorrow at dusk. It's a do or die mission, and if I were you, I'd make sure it was suicidal. Now, if you'll excuse me." Kisa walked away from the window and headed to the door. She stopped when she heard Itrino get up.

"And where do you think you're headed in such a hurry? Is there a battle I don't know about?" Itrino asked, an evil grin spread across his face.

"I'm going to go and do what any good soldier would do. I'm going to prepare for what could be my last battle!" Kisa slammed the door behind her as she left the room, not bothering to care what the king thought.

Itrino just stood in the middle of the small room, glaring at the door. In his way of thinking, Kisa had gone to far. No one should be excused for her kind of behavior. Itrino started poking the fire absently, and heard the door open. Itrino was glad Kisa had come to apologize, and he had the perfect acceptance in his hand. Too late did Itrino notice that it wasn't Kisa, it was Osa. The hot poker stabbed through the generals chest, replacing his heart, and burning out his life.

"Poor Osa, he was never a very good soldier anyway. Well, he was going to die some time." Itrino just shrugged his soldiers and left the room, closing the door soundly and leaving the hollowed shell of Osa alone, so he thought.

Ooren just stood in the secret passage, taking in the scene, shaking his head. He had seen everything from the small peek hole, making sure not to miss a moment. Ooren shuffled through the hidden walkways, once built to help the king, but now used to hinder him. The passages had been built in the time of Iotto, and had served a few generations well, but soon no king had need for them. And they had been forgotten, until a few years ago when Ooren had stumbled upon them in an old book. He had remembered, as best he could, where they went and left. Now, only he knew about them.

Ooren stumbled out of one of the many back doors, and ran across the open plane to the cover of trees and bushes. He sat, hidden from view, panting. He was not as young as he used to be, and all the running was hard on him. But he got up and started his long journey to the Cave of Elders. He was going to betray his kingdom, and people. But giving freedom to his enemies was better than living under a mad king of a dead world. Ooren stopped again for a small breather, and continued his long trek.

The Cave of Elders, the next day at noon...

The people gathered about, most sleeping or sharpening weapons. That evening they would be going to battle, a battle where only one winner could be left standing. Suddenly, one of the Northern Clansmen stood up, his white hair seeming to be frozen solid.

"Everyone, scatter, some ones coming!" Kiseos voice sounded like a harsh wind blowing through snow laden caverns. But no one questioned what he was saying, and there wasn't a person left in sight within moments. And, from Kiseos hiding spot, a slumped over figure could be seen through the forest. He stood up once more and walked over to the stranger, his knife in his hands, ready for anything. Anything, that is, but possibly what happened.

"Who are you, and why come you to this place?!" Kiseo demanded sharply, threatening the old man, who had sat down on a stump, with his knife ready to slit his throat.

"I am Ooren, but I have deserted by post of Land. I come here seeking the Elders. I have news of the Heavens Gate Battle. It is urgent!" Ooren, though more than half dead from the long walk, had no fear of being killed. He had faced death once, and would again if he had to.

"Why should I trust you?!" Kiseo sneered at Ooren, knife ready.

"Because, he is telling the truth!" Kisa emerged from behind a tree, grinning at the shocked Ooren playfully.

"And who are you!?" snapped Kiseo, his temper getting the better of him.

"Surely you know your own twin sister when you see her, Kiseo." Kisa laughed at her brothers shocked face as she pulled off her wig. Her snow white hair tumbled out from beneath it.

"But, you, why didn't you tell us you were going recon? I was worried about you when you never showed up." Kiseo said, still stumped. Others from the northern water tribes stepped out from the bushes, chuckling. The two ice twins had gotten into more trouble than anyone in all of the war, and it was looking like it had paid off this time.

"We needed someone to get the inside scoop, and none of you sissies were up to it!" Kisa said in a joking manner. "All it required was a little intelligence..." Kisa trailed off as Katia stepped forward from the brush.

"But did you tell them, Kisa, but what did you tell them. Do they know about Heavens Gate, do they know about anything we are going to be doing." Katia asked Kisa slowly, knowing that Kisa had told Land more than she should have.

"Elder, I had to tell them of Heavens Gate. You all went silent without warning, and if I had not told something, I would have ended up dead, like the rest. Forgive me, but I did not tell them what Heavens Gate is really about. They think of it as a battle, but not as a mission." Kisa held her head at a level gaze. She feared nothing, not even Katia.

"Good, but you still make the job more dangerous." Katia turned around, and was about to disappear into the brush when someone called out.

"What do we do with him?" One of the men pointed at Ooren.

"Have you any major control over Land?" Katia asked him, knowing that he would not dare to lie.

"No, not really..." Ooren didn't have time to finish his sentence before Katia answered.

"Then kill him, he's no use to us." Katia disappeared into the brush, not wanting to see what would happen to Ooren.

"Please, no..." Ooren didn't even have time, or the breath, to scream as knifes dug through his body. Then, everyone turned and left, leaving his carcass for whatever scavengers that would pass through the region.

That evening, at Heavens Gate...

Everyone had turned up for the battle, and both sides were facing each other, none the wiser on what the other was doing. People were saying good luck to old friends, and enemies alike. Old family grudges were being cast aside, and new friends were made. It would be the last night any of them might see again.

Asika was practicing her aim, and making sure everything was in perfect order, when she felt someone pull at her leg. She turned around, and looked down. Gasping at what she saw.

"Akina!" She hissed through clenched teeth at the five year old. "I told you to stay in the cave with the other children, where it was safe!" Asika looked around, searching for a safe spot where she could hide her little sister. There was none.

"I know, Akisa. But I couldn't leave you all alone." Akina grinned from beneath her fiery red hair. Akisa noticed the battle command to charge given.

"You stay here with the elders, and hide." Asika ran with the others, toward her doom, not knowing that Akina was following.

The Elders, and other assorted people, all formed two circles, holding hands. One of Plant, the other of Water. They focused on controlling the element, aiming their great power at Itrino. Masses of vines, and thunderstorms, came whirling at Lands charge. But their effort was in vain, for Itrino had guessed what they were up to, and had prepared a special unit just in case. The Elders were dead almost as quick as breath was pulled into their lungs. Perfectly aimed arrows piercing their hearts.

Akina followed her sister, past knives and sword's, ducking arrows. But always staying at her sisters side. And that is when the fate of Ergo was chosen. Not by a great ruler, wise person, or powerful soldier. But by a little girl with red hair.

Itrino came tumbling at, and through, the rebels, his sword slicing through a forest, a sea of limbs as if they were paper, laughing all the while. He was upon Asika, and gone again, before she had any time to think. Her throat was split open, and she fell dead to the ground, Akina stared. And then something just snapped inside Akina, a feeling of great rage overcame her. Her hair was thrust wildly by an unseen wind.

The people around her felt the heat first, and then the entire battle field. But it was to late, Akina's fury was taking its toll. It was over in a matter of minutes, ten at the most. A unstoppable fire raged outward from the small girl, enveloping first the battle field, and then the world. The entire planet was engulfed, killing everything it touched, except for a small girl. The oceans were evaporated, forests were turned to ash, bodies were burned, everything on the planet of Ergo was destroyed.

Finally, it ended, and Akina did not have the strength, or the anger, to continue the inferno. She dropped to her knees on the burned battle field of blackened bodies. The rain started pouring down from above, and clouds of steam were sent spiraling upwards. And a Akina stood up once more, looking around at what she done, feeling alone and abandoned. A small tear trickled down her face, lost in the rain drops.

"Asika?" Akina asked, looking at the shadows moving in the dense fog...


Flames? Comments? Contact me at denki@angelfire.com