1 GUARDIAN BEASTS AND THE BIRTH OF A NEW AGE

Prologue: -

This is a tale of the powerful and the weak; bravery and cowardice; loyalty and betrayal; evilness and goodness. This tale is about a place called Fortis Terra where Humans, Nanus, Ice Humans, Anguinaags, Beastmen and Hosilmius marked their existence. Fortis Terra wasn't an ordinary place, its people weren't ordinary. They are never alone, there is something which is always with them, keeping an eye on them; a soul attached to them, the soul which protected them, which was their guardian. All the people called these souls, 'The Guardian Beasts'. These souls didn't fight themselves instead they gave their powers to their Triprid (A term used for the person whom the soul protected) and let them fight. These souls are always with their Triprid but appear only when they need it the most. These Guardian Beasts appeared as giant mythical beasts who were almost transparent with a bright colored light coming from them which was called the Aura of the Guardian Beast. The Aura of the Guardian Beast depended on the element from which it extracted its power from. There were total 6 elements known to the people of Fortis Terra: - Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Thunder and Metal These Guardian Beasts had their own thoughts and feelings but there were very few people who understood their feelings and could talk to them.

All the guardian beasts had some specific powers which helped them to protect their Triprid. Not all of the souls were extremely powerful, some of them were less powerful as compared to others. But they had enough power to protect their Triprid. All these souls always stayed with their Triprid and gave them their powers whenever they needed it. People inherited Guardian Beasts from their parents. When the person became efficient enough to handle the Guardian Beast, he/she was considered a mature person. Boys inherited Guardian beasts from their fathers and girls inherited guardian beasts from their mothers. Two people couldn't have the same Guardian Beast. When the child of a person became efficient enough to handle and control the Guardian beast, the person lost his Guardian Beast to his or her child. If the abilities of the person did not match the abilities of the Guardian Beast of their parents, then a new Guardian Beast was born. But it happened in a very rare situation. It last happened with Ashoka Fortave, the king of Fabularis at the time of Battle of Terra.

The people with powerful guardian beasts tried to dominate others and from there the kingdoms started to form. Those families having the most powerful Guardian beasts started to rule others. Almost everyone wanted to be in power and rule, that's why several wars took place between them to claim the kingdoms. A lot of bloodshed and massacre took place during these wars. The Fortis Terra which was known for its unity broke into 8 kingdoms: - Kingdom of Fabularis, Kingdom of Serpentis, Land of Nanus, Aquantis, Crystopias, Plantania, Volcanis and Kingdom of Hosilmius. Most of these kingdoms were ruled by the humans. The most brutal war that took place was the Battle of Terra which happened because of the difference between the mindsets of the two royal dynasties and their hunger for power. These dynasties wished to rule the part of Fortis Terra, east of the mountains of glory. The two royal dynasties were: – Fortave and Baldrilt.

But it was long time ago, now around two hundred years had passed; two hundred peaceful and long years. After that, all kingdoms cooperated with each other and there was not even a single war that took place since the partition of kingdom of Fabularis and Volcanis. Although there were some minor disputes that took place between the people of Kingdom of Fabularis and of Volcanis. Since then all the other living beings thought that the humans were the most violent and brutal ones among all the living beings. But I think, it is wrong. Violence done by some of the humans couldn't determine the nature of all the other. Humans also liked peace and wanted to live peacefully with others. Although their relations with the Anguinaags were not too great but still they wanted peace. Fortis Terra had been free from wars since then because everyone had experienced the destruction that was caused due to the war.

Now it was the Golden age of Fortis Terra. The cities were becoming more and more prosperous and developed. There was development taking place in the war methods also. Modern Warfare, Artillery and cavalry were developed, although it had not been used till now. Peace was dwelling all over Fortis Terra, people were living a happy life. All kingdoms cooperated with each other except the home of Anguinaags, Kingdom of Serpentis. Kingdom of Serpentis was an isolated place. This Kingdom was ruled by Anguinaags. Anguinaags were a mixture of Humans and snakes. They were cold-blooded beings with physical structure same as the humans, although they were way too flexible, their skin was also covered in scales. Their tongue was same as of snakes and they were also venomous. Serpentis was a place far away from the Main Land, on the southern end of Fortis Terra. This was a place about which people knew very little. The Kingdom of Serpentis could be reached but no-one wanted to go there or I should say that they didn't wanted anyone to come. The outsiders were not allowed to enter the territory of Anguinaags. People who went to the Kingdom of Serpentis secretly were either imprisoned for the whole life or they were killed on the spot if they were found. But the Anguinaags were allowed to go to the other kingdoms for trade purposes.

Another place which was isolated was the Forbidden Island. This place could not be reached as it was surrounded by Sea of Caligo. Sea of Caligo was always covered in a green-colored mist which was so dense that not even sun could be seen from there. Anyone who tried to reach the Forbidden Island got lost in the mist of the sea and could never come back. No one knew what happened to those people. Some thought that they got lost in the mist and wandered forever in the sea while some thought that there was a monster in the island who killed every single person who tried to reach the island.

Well that's another story first let's focus on Fortis Terra. Now Fortis Terra was being ruled by eight mighty dynasties: - Baldrilt dynasty of Volcanis, Fortave dynasty of Kingdom of Fabularis, Heemson dynasty of Aquantis, Naitro dynasty of Plantania, Irium dynasty of Crystopias, Magnan dynasty of Land of Nanus, Sheren dynasty of Kingdom of Serpentis and Apeun dynasty of Kingdom of Hosilmius. All the kingdoms had good relations except some of the Kingdoms. There were mainly two allies, kingdom of Fabularis, Crystopias, Land of Nanus, Plantania, Kingdom of Hosilmius and Aquantis on one side and Volcanis and Kingdom of Serpentis on the other. It was not in a state of war though but still it could be seen in their trade and policies.

People were carrying on their work, children were attending their schools, Vocket Ball (a popular game played in Fortis Terra) was being played in the stadiums and ministers were administerating their states. Everything was normal. But it was the silence before the storm. There was something which was going to happen in Fortis Terra, something which would change the fortunes of the people and would be written in golden letters in the history of Fortis Terra.

Chapter – 1

The Lost Prince

The year was 1807 A.P. and it was a dark and stormy night. In the darkness of the night an earthen lamp was lighting bright in the Temple of Initium in Elementis, the oldest city of Fortis Terra. King Satos Fortave who had become a father a few minutes ago was praying to God Baohuzhe for the wellbeing of his kingdom's people, his wife and his newly born son. He had come to Elementis with no proper security. He came with just 5 soldiers as it was an emergency. Queen Genaios was about to deliver the child and it was important to reach Elementis in time. Due to this reason King Satos came without proper protection.

This news spread rapidly that the heir to the Kingdom of Fabularis took birth in Elementis and King Satos is there with just 5 soldiers. The news reached Volcanis and this was not a good thing. A spy of King Brenton Baldrilt of Volcanis told him about this news. Brenton became the king just 4 months ago after his father was killed by Satos in the War of Tenebris, a small war that had a large impact on Volcanis. Brenton Baldrilt was the evilest king Volcanis had ever seen. After becoming the king, he immediately became a good friend of Lord Rex Vehemens, King of Kingdom of Serpentis, whose real name was Aldrich Sheren. He was the evilest person Fortis Terra had ever seen. Their only goal was to rule Fortis Terra. Brenton was more like a sidekick for Aldrich or I should say Lord Rex, because he didn't want anyone to call him by his real name. Brenton always wanted to invade Kingdom of Fabularis and this was a good opportunity for him.

"Queen has given birth to the heir of Kingdom of Fabularis", said the spy, "Then what is so good about it?", replied Brenton. He seemed to be annoyed by the news. "It's good because Satos is there with just 5 soldiers.", the spy answered. "What! Really!", Brenton said with a triumphant look on his face. "We can't get a better opportunity to attack their king.", said the general. "No, No, No, no don't underestimate them, they will be his 5 best soldiers. They alone can beat hundreds of ours.", said a minister in the court of the king. "But they can't beat an army of thousands. We will send our troops inside Fabularis through the Barren Land where there is very less security.", said Brenton with an evil smile on his face. "Then why don't you attack on Fabularis from the front?" asked the general. "Because I don't want my soldiers to die. I don't want to take any risk of getting defeated. Why should I take risk when I have this golden opportunity to kill Satos without even fighting? "Start the preparation, General. Fabularis is going to be set on fire", Brenton ordered the General. "For sure Your Highness", replied General Zark.

In Elementis, a large event was organized to celebrate the birth of the prince. In a few hours, the prince was going to be named by Magister Kautilya who was meditating in the Temple of Initium. Magister Kautilya was an old and mysterious person who appeared only when something special was going to happen. No-one knew where he lived or what was his age. Some people said that he could talk to God Baohuzhe through his Guardian Beast while some believed he was an incarnation of God Baohuzhe. Well second option seemed quite appropriate option as he was said to be more than some 1000 years old whereas the average age of a human in Fortis Terra was only 90 – 95 years. He was a tall and muscular man who had a very serious look on his face most of the time. He had pearl white hair and a beard which was so long that it touched his knees. He wore a dhoti with a silver armor on his upper body representing him as a warrior as well as a Magister (A term used for a high priest or a Mahaguru (A Great Teacher)). He was the most powerful and wise human alive on Fortis Terra. He was said to be extremely powerful but no-one ever saw him fight because he didn't fight until no other option was left.

After 21 hours of meditating he opened his eyes with a very tensed look on his face and ran towards the Announcement Stage of Elementis and summoned King Satos and all the people by striking his wooden stick on the ground which made a noise as loud as a lightning bolt striking the ground. People reached the stage as fast as they could to hear the announcement. King Satos who was filled with joy and happiness reached the stage with his son in his hands. Magister Kautilya was delighted on seeing the prince. He walked straight towards the prince pulled a dagger which was tied to his arm and made a small cut on his thumb and drew a trident on the forehead of the prince with his blood and gave the child a trident shaped locket made of the same wood with which his stick was made with teary eyes. He had not done anything like this before. This showed that something terrible was going to happen.

On the same time the army of Volcanis led by General Zark invaded Kingdom of Fabularis from the Barren Land and had already reached the town of Orenton. Now the army was moving right towards the town of Elementis through the Northern Mountains cause they wanted to attack the King without going anywhere near the capital, Yostronis which was highly guarded by troops. They were marching towards Elementis, destroying cities and killing people. The town of Guren was completely set on fire. Now they had reached the outskirts of Elementis. "Kill them all" ordered General Zark.

On the other side, Magister Kautilya ordered the King, "Take the Queen and the Prince back to the castle of Yostronis. The army of Volcanis is going to attack Elementis. They know that you are here with just five soldiers". But King Satos was a brave man, he wouldn't let his people die for him so he denied to leave and asked for blessings from Kautilya to fight for his people, "I can't leave my people here to die for me. Bless me Magister that I fight bravely and protect my people successfully". "Take the Prince to the Queen", Satos ordered his servant. "You don't understand, they are in thousands and I have seen, it is not good for Fortis Terra. You need to leave.", said Kautilya trying to explain what was going to happen but it was too late now. An arrow pierced the body of a villager and then thousands of arrows were coming towards them.

Suddenly a large lion appeared approximately fifty times bigger than a normal one. It had a green aura and was almost transparent. It was the Guardian Beast of King Satos. Its name was Royal Beast, the Guardian Beasts of all the kings of Fabularis except King Ashoka. It was extremely powerful and was the symbol of Royalty and bravery. With a single blow, all the arrows were of no work. The army of Volcanis attacked on Elementis. All the five soldiers and the people who were capable of fighting called their Beasts while the children and the remaining people started moving towards Yostronis. The army of Volcanis was filled with powerful and dark Guardian Beasts. The most prominent one was the Black Eagle, the Guardian Beast of general Zark. It was as big and fierce as the Royal Beast and was completely black in color. It didn't have one eye. It was looking at the Royal Beast in a way as it wanted revenge.

The army of Volcanis was dominating the war, killing people and destroying the city. The king ordered one of his soldier, "Go to Yostronis and send help. Take the queen and the prince with you. Keep them safe". Satos was breathing heavily. It seemed that the king was losing vita energy rapidly. The Guardian Beast gave powers to its Triprid but it was the Vita energy of the Triprid that kept the Guardian Beast alive. When this energy was finished, the Triprid died and the Guardian beast disappeared. The soldier ran towards the great hall where the Queen along with her son was waiting for the king. "Volcanis has invaded Fabularis. Their soldiers have attacked Elementis. The king ordered me to take you and the prince to Yostronis and bring help. We don't have time please come quickly, I will grab some horses", said the soldier anxiously with a fearful look on his face. The Queen wasn't an ordinary lady, she was the daughter of the king of Plantania. She was not only a Queen but she was also a powerful and brave warrior. "Go to Yostronis as fast as you can William but without us. We will stay here and fight.", she ordered the soldier and he left for Yostronis without any objection. The Queen gave the baby to her sister Emma who was also there and said, "Do whatever it takes to protect my son from those evil souls". She kissed the forehead of her son with tears in her eyes and left.

She called her Guardian Beast which was a tigress, with a white aura and as big as the Royal Beast. It had unusually long canines and a sword tied to its tail. When she reached, the announcement stage her eyes got filled with tears while seeing all those dead bodies of hundreds of people of Elementis. With a flaming rage in her eyes she ran towards one of the soldiers of Volcanis and killed him with a single stab of the sword tied to her tail. She teamed up with King Satos and they both fought like an unstoppable force. But still it wasn't enough. The time of their defeat was coming nearer and nearer, and there was nothing that they could do except waiting for the army of Yostronis.

William had now reached Yostronis and ran towards General Mark informing him about the situation in Elementis. "I told him not go to Elementis without proper security but he didn't listen to me. Oh! Satos what have you done my friend.", said Mark who was also a childhood friend of King Satos. "Prepare for the Battle as soon as possible.", ordered Mark in a loud voice. In Elementis King Satos was a second away from defeat and he knew it. "Take our son away from here, to a safer place. He is the future of Fabularis. He need to survive. Take him, please take him.", said Satos with tears in his eyes. "I can't leave you here alone. Our son is safe with my sister.", she replied. Maybe the Queen was wrong.

"Go, find the prince and bring that little creature to me.", ordered Zark to his soldiers. A large part of the army of Volcanis left for finding the prince as their only motive was to end the Fortave dynasty, their biggest rival. Brenton wanted to kill the prince in front of Satos to avenge the death of his father whom Satos killed during the war of Tenebris. So, to fulfil his king's wish, Zark sent a large part of the army to get the prince to him.

Emma realized that the soldiers of Volcanis were coming for the prince but there was nothing that she could do. There was no one near them who could help them. Emma and the little baby against the whole army. Maybe Emma wasn't that powerful but she didn't lack courage. She knew that she could not protect the prince anymore. "I need to find a way to protect him. He must live. The future of Fortis Terra depends on him.", Emma said to herself. She got an idea but it was too dangerous and would take the prince away from them for maybe forever, but it will protect him. She didn't have enough time for thinking, it was the time for the execution of the idea. She quickly brought a big basket made of straw and bamboo, kept a blanket in it and placed the prince who was sleeping, carefully in it. She ran towards the bank of river Gati and placed the basket carefully on the surface of water. The basket along with the prince floated on the water. Emma gave the basket a little push and the basket moved with the current towards the west, towards Plantania; and Fortis Terra moved towards a new age!

Emma returned back and saw that the soldiers had destroyed the place where the royal event was organised. "Where is the prince? Tell us or die.", said one of the soldiers. "I am not afraid of Death. Well, don't you know, life is more painful than death and death is more peaceful than life.", said Emma laughing at the soldier. "I am asking for the last time. Where is the prince?", asked the same man. Without answering that question, Emma started running towards the soldiers. She called her Guardian Beast which was an osprey and attacked the army alone. She killed 5 of their soldiers before being shot by an arrow. Then she fell on the ground and the only words that she said before dying were, "Fortis Terra Forever!".

On the other side, King Satos was finally defeated by Zark. It was the time for the Black Eagle to finally take his revenge. "What is your last wish? My lord!", asked Zark. "I don't need a coward like you who attacks on people's backs, to fulfil my wishes.", replied Satos. "I am not a Coward!", roared Zark "What have you got, after being so brave, Fortave? Sometimes it is not just the power and bravery that win you battles, it is your brain that win them. Don't worry, I won't kill you now. First I will take you to Volcanis and in the court of The Great King Brenton Baldrilt, I will kill your son right in front of you". "No! Take my life but leave my son alone. Please! I beg you.", cried Satos. "Now that's what I wanted. The Great Satos, the hero of the War of Tenebris, the murderer of my father, begging in front of me.", replied Zark and then laughed loudly.

"See, my soldiers are back with your son.", told Zark. "Give me that poor little creature", said Zark with an evil smile on his face, which wouldn't last too long. "I am so sorry, General. We couldn't find the prince. We lost him!", explained the soldier. "What do you mean you lost him! Come here.", called Zark. The soldier moved close to Zark and stopped when he was just a foot away from him. In less than a second Zark pulled his sword out and cut the soldier in halves. It was so quick that not even a single person saw the sword coming out and going back to its original position. On the other side Genaios was fighting with Veninia and her Guardian Beast, The white cobra with her full potential. Veninia was the most powerful women of Volcanis. She was not an Anguinaag but still her body was so immune to snake venom that she could drink the venom of more than a 100 species of snakes in Fortis Terra. She could also communicate with snakes. She was completely overpowering the Queen and finally she defeated her.

Suddenly the noise of horses running towards them and the soldiers chanting 'Kingdom of Fabularis Forever!' reached Zark. "Quick, Fall back soldiers. They have come. Veninia take the Queen with you and I will take Satos with me.", ordered Zark. He tied Satos to his chariot and left Elementis as fast as he could. Soldiers of Volcanis who were still left behind were killed immediately by Mark who was so angry that his eyes were blood-red. He followed their army as far as he could but he was not able to catch them. After coming back to Elementis he started looking for his friend Satos, the queen and the prince. He spent 6 hours looking for them. After being assured by the villagers and the soldiers that the king and the queen were now the prisoners of Volcanis and the prince was missing, Mark broke into tears and cried in front of the whole town. He knew that the only solution left was to attack Volcanis. But he couldn't even do this because Brenton might kill Satos if he hears the news of Volcanis being attacked by Fabularis.

Before leaving Elementis, General Mark tried to find Magister Kautilya but he was also gone. People said that he left Elementis just after the war started. No one tried to stop him because everyone knows that he won't fight until no other option is left. Perhaps there was still a possibility that everything could get normal again, that's why Kautilya didn't fight. He must have seen something in his visions that's why he didn't try to stop the invasion. Well, everyone had their own point of view but no one knew exactly what happened. General Mark left Elementis with most of his army but left some soldiers there to help the people of Elementis to repair the damage that had occurred due to the war.

On the other side, the prince was moving with the current and had reached Plantania through the river Gati. The basket was moving with such a speed that in a few hours it would reach the Ruhe Ocean. The nearest and last port was the Astara domestic port which was always very crowded. So, there were very less chances that the basket would cross the port unnoticed. When the basket was about to reach the port, an old woman noticed the prince in the basket and asked her husband to rescue the prince. "A child is there in the basket. Look, there, in the river. Go, fast.", she said in a hurry. The old man jumped in the water, the moment he heard his wife. He rescued the boy and brought him back to the land.

The old couple were about 50 years old. "Whose child he is?", asked the old woman. "I have no idea.", answered his husband. "Oh My God! Poor boy. Couldn't live a single day with his parents but why is this symbol drawn on his forehead?", asked the lady. "It's a trident and it is drawn with someone's blood. Believe me, this child is in a big trouble, that's why he was sent here like this. Maybe his parents are trying to protect him from someone. We need to take him somewhere safe.", told the old man. "Why not we adopt him and take him with us to Petronia. Our work here is also done. In about three days we will reach Petronia and then we can take care of him like our own child.", suggested the old man. "Yes, why not. We haven't got the love of a child in our entire life. Maybe we can get it now.", said the old lady with tears in her eyes. She hugged the child and took him with her.

They packed all their luggage and loaded it in the bullock and left for Petronia. In the way, they noticed the trident shaped locket in the child's neck and tried to take it off because it looked a little rough and uncomfortable for the baby. When they touched the locket, they felt a strong shock. They realised that it wasn't an ordinary locket. "Wait, what should we call him?", the old lady said with excitement. "We will call him Edward, Edward Olsto. Son of Benigno and Agatha Olsto.", said Benigno with a proud look on his face.

Suddenly a very old man appeared in front of the bullock forcing the bullock to stop. That old man was Magister Kautilya but Agatha and Benigno didn't know this. He came near Agatha and asked to see her son. Agatha was surprised as they had found Edward less than an hour ago and they hadn't told anyone about this. "But how did you know. Who told you that, that. Leave it. Yes, sure, here is my son. Kautilya saw the locket and realised that the child was the lost prince. Kautilya didn't tell them the truth and neither took the baby back to Yostronis because he thought that it was better for the safety of the prince if he let him live with these common people, so that the prince is out of danger. Before leaving Kautilya said, "Your child is very special. I would love to train him once he reaches maturity. Remember, one day, I will come and take him with me to train him, to teach him. Benigno and Agatha looked at each other in a very confused way. When they turned around to talk to the old man, he was gone, just like always.

Kautilya moved towards The Great Mountain, the highest mountain in Fortis Terra. It was located between the mountain ranges of The Mountains of Glory (which divided The Main Land into two parts) and the Northern Mountains (which was located at the top of The Main Land). The Great Mountain has an elevation of exactly 10,000 metres, not even a single centimetre more or less. Kautilya was going there to meditate. Climbing the Great Mountain is one of the most difficult thing to do in the Fortis Terra. Only 3 people had been successful to climb the Great Mountain and come back alive.

On the other side, Benigno and Agatha were deep in thoughts. They were continuously thinking about Edward, his parents and the people who were trying to hurt him. But there was nothing that they could find out. It was all a mystery. However, Fortis Terra never lacked mysteries. It had always been and always will be full of mysteries. Both of them decided to stop thinking about the boy and accept him regardless of his history. They took the boy with them to Petronia not knowing the secrets that lie behind him, not knowing that he was 'The Lost Prince'.