Legendary Stars

Part 4 Chapter 1

Boaz was gliding through the sand-covered desert of Theyra on his raft. He was almost there. It had been two days since Aqila dropped him off at home. Those were the most challenging two days of his life. He told his parents the truth that haunted his earliest memories. He told them that he had to go. His parents' arms were so warm, full of love and support. He embraced his younger brother and sister. He didn't tell them why, only that he must leave them. Boaz wanted to promise he would be back, but he could not. He would never make a promise that he could not keep. As he parted his lips, the distasteful metallic essence consumed his nostrils. He was close.

Pushing on until the desert turned into rocky terrain, he heard screams. The ground trembled over and over again. If he wasn't a Landkeeper himself, walking would have been impossible. To anyone else, they would have thought that Theyra was being bombed. However, Boaz knew better. The scary thing was this was normal to him. He looked around, and everyone walking by attempting to carry out their daily business seemed numb to the fighting. There were children headed to the school house, stepping over dead bodies like how one would walk over a log in the street. Boaz thought about his siblings, Batu and Bali, going to school and stepping over dead bodies. It sickened him.

He recalled traveling to the Ember border with Sheraga and couldn't smell the smoke or blood until he was right up on it. Even now, his nose has grown accustomed to the sight and smell of death. Boaz did not want this for his people any longer.

Up ahead was a metal fortress. It was grand in appearance. When he squinted, he could see heavily armored soldiers on the lookout.

He sighed, "Here goes nothing." Boaz walked for nearly an hour. He could have made it faster, but he was thinking about what he would say. As he approached the line, a great divide in the rocky land wedged a mile deep, someone bumped into him. A tall, incredibly stocky man who looked no older than Boaz himself.

"Sorry 'bout that, brother. Are you gonna fight? You're gonna need to put something in ya hands. Metal demons don't play."

"How long have you been here?"

"Two weeks straight, my old man didn't come home some months ago. Imma take every metallic head I can til I drop dead."

"Do you have a family, brother?"

"Just my maa and sister now. I'm the man of the house, and I'm gonna fight!"

"You should go home, make your house a fortress. Make sure your family is alright. You know, they're going to worry for you. Please, don't leave them alone. If the enemy comes into your home, you can protect the people you love," Boaz advised him.

The young man, who towered over Boaz, thought for a moment, "Brother, you're right! Name's Quillon. You set me straight. If I'm a man, I gotta protect my family. Hey brother, come to the last mudhouse on the border tween here and the desert if you need something. We'll fix ya some food."

"Thanks, I'm Boaz, and I'll fight in your place."

Quillon nodded. Sincere appreciation was evident in his hunter-green eyes, "Bo, take care. You don't look like ya from 'round here."

"I'll keep that in mind," Boaz called out. Boaz pushed his way through the crowd of shouting Landkeepers. Once he got near the front, he saw Landkeepers ushering masses of rock against mounds of metal. "This is it," he whispered.

Placing his hands on the uneven Earth, Boaz summoned his favorite ability. The moment he felt its presence, he captured it and called it forth from the Earth's core. He propelled himself upward into the sky. Gasps could be heard from both sides, and the fighting ceased instantaneously. Boaz wasn't hiding anymore. It was alright to claim himself in his entirety. Fire, Air, Water, they had all been revealed. The moment he had been waiting for had arrived. He knew when he set his eyes on them who they were. He knew the moment they realized the power within themselves. The satisfaction that led to this one moment made the painful waiting worthwhile.