The Elders & The East

"Heard about the new King?" 

The Far East was once home to mages and monsters. This part of the world was where The Elders lived, passing down and teaching both godly and dark magic to their families. Some remained unmarried and loyal to their craft, but most returned to their normal lives. But those were the ancient days, and when the modern age was arising, the surviving Elders sealed and spellbound their powers to a few rings and passed them down to their successors. The rings. Passed down centuries after centuries, mages after mages, Elders after Elders. The one who wears it wields the power until the user's death; it is connected to their bodies. So, one cannot just steal the ring because they simply wouldn't be able to use it. Only after the user's death will they be able to use it. Many waged wars for the rings, fought and died for the rings, and even killed innocents and stole the rings because there were no rightful users to the rings. Perhaps, The Elders made a mistake by binding their immortal powers to a mere ring. But most of those rings have vanished without a trace. Now only humans and animals are breathing the air. 

"King?" Bucky's eyes twisted. 

"Yeah! Granny told me this morning." 

"You mean to say, King Of The Realm?" Bucky returned the question. 

"Yes! They say he's God and that he disproved the existence of the northerner's Moon Goddess" 

"Hah! Like it was ever real, come on, Lars, we're going to be adults next year," Bucky chuckled. 

"They say he levitates in the air." Lars informed.

"And you believe that, Lars? I'll tell you what's real. This."

Bucky rested both of his hands on the red sand beneath him, and his eyes turned red. The portion of the sand he grabbed in his hand began shaking uncontrollably. The next second, tiny orbs of the red sand rose from within.

"Okay, okay, I get it, Bucky!" Lars was not intimidated, as it was not his first time seeing Bucky's wizardry. 

"See. Magic. Magic is real. Not Gods. And if they really do exist, it's most probably my grandfather, who passed down his ring to me. He's God." Bucky debated. 

"Bucky. You can't be seen using this. You've got to be careful out here. If anyone ever comes to know about the ring, you will be killed. You know it. You're the last surviving mage in the entire Realm. And you know what happens if you're killed..."

"The one who kills me obtains the ring, Lars; I know, you don't have to keep remindin' me." Bucky ended the speech for him. 

Bucky's ancestor was the last Elder who ruled and conquered the land areas during Kontello's reign. But he was banished from his army for being greedy for power. And so he went on to marry and birth several children, but he only chose one as his successor, and that was Bucky's great-grandfather. After his death, and after his son's death, and so on, Bucky was chosen. He was orphaned early in his life, and he spent all his life trying to hide his powers from the outside world, realizing power is only power when it's kept safe and in secret. 

"And how come you never tried to kill me, Lars? To take the ring for yourself." Bucky asked with a sarcastic smile. 

"Hah! I've always felt like doing so. But not for the ring. But because of your quirky face." They laughed it out. 

"I've never thanked you for anything, Lars. You are my only friend. And family. So, thank you. For everything." 

"Will you just shut up and stare at the tre...Oh, fuck Bucky!" Lars caught a sight

...

"Haha! So it's true! Ya filthy son of a bitch! You are the one with the ring! Come 'ere!" 

It was an ugly voice that came from an even more ugly-faced man with crooked teeth. He was one of the guards at the Elders Grave's gate. He had eavesdropped and seen the boy demonstrating his power, and behind the ugly guard stood three other guards with an evil grin. Equally ugly. 

"Nowhere to run, orphan! And you, runaway. I want nothing of you." He looked at Lars.

"Lars, I'm scared." Bucky panicked. 

"Leave us alone or you'll die," Lars, the powerless, threatened as he pulled a tiny kitchen knife from his sock. 

"HAHAHA! You both are funny brats! I'll give you that." 

The ugly guards wielded swords and steel shields with heavy armor. Their bodies stank of beer and mud. They wore a spiteful look on their eyes, and all of them were set on Bucky's ring.

"Alright then, death it is," Lars said.

"Bucky! Sandy steps now!" He guided him.

Bucky extended his hands in front of him and lifted them. A path of sandy steps appeared from the ground and kept increasing in height. Lars hopped on the first step and ran along on the following steps, and he was in the air in no time. He leaped from his height and slashed the tiny knife on the ugly guard's face mid-air. It got even uglier. 

"AHHH! You fuckin'…" He fell to the ground. 

"Careful Lars!" Bucky warned.

The two other guards simultaneously struck their swords at Lars. 

He quickly rolled over the attack, dodging it by just an inch.

"Urgh! Ditch him; go for the boy!" They commanded each other and sprinted towards Bucky. 

"No Bucky!" Lars yelled to his friend. 

Bucky inhaled and chanted.

"Sand shower!"

A gush of red sand sprayed from his hands and consumed the ugly guards, their eyes burning and their bodies shaking away the salty sand. 

"AHHH! Bastard! Soon, this power will be ours!" They brushed away all the sand from them and rushed again. 

Lars got up from behind and ran at them with rage. He was fast. 

"Runaway Bucky!" Lars ordered his friend.

Without a second thought, Bucky turned around and ran for his life. 

"Come, 'ere Bastard!" They were fast, even with the heavy armor. 

"Lars! If I die, take the ring, please! I beg!"

"Shut up, Bucky!" 

"I'm seri…" Bucky trembled on a rock and fell. His hands forcefully hit the ground, and the ring flew. The ugly guards didn't notice the ring. 

"Bucky! NOO!"

The guards stood above him and laughed like pigs. 

"Scum!" They spat at him before driving the two steel swords into his heart. 

Blood leaked like a waterfall from his body. 

"Bucky! Ahhh!" Lars cried as he fell to his knees. 

"Eh? Where the fuck is the ring?!" The guard noticed the missing treasure. 

Lars's tears fell to the ground, drop by drop, and suddenly a rolling ring fell in front of him, pulsating with a red beam inside it. Like a heartbeat. Its previous user was no more. Bucky was no more. 

Bucky's last wish rang like an annoying alarm in Lars's ears. 

"Lars! If I die, take the ring, please! I beg!"

Lars picked up the ring gently as his tears rained on it repeatedly. 

"AHH! That fucker has got it now!" The guards cursed, and they ran towards him.

"Only for you, Bucky." He whispered to the ring and wore it.

A beam of blood-red light radiated from inside Lar's body. 

The guards looked at him, astounded. 

"AHHH!" Lars yelled. 

The ring was now his. 

In front of him, the two guards blocked the way, so he turned around to find an escape, but more ugly guards had invaded the scene in disbelief. He was completely surrounded by animals, who were thirsty and lusting for the power that he now held. 

He turned back again at the two ugly guards and stood up with fiery red eyes.

"Yo, why's his eyes all red?" They asked, utterly baffled.

Lars spread his stance and ran forth at them.

"Sand storm!" He screamed.

The ground shook beneath them and swallowed the two guards whole, and Lars ran past them.

But he was still being chased by the other guards behind him, so he kept running, leaving dusty trails. He was as fast as the wind, but in a few more steps, the cliff came to an end, and a forest rested beneath the cliff.

"AHHH!"

He leaped into the landless air and screamed.

"Leaf bed!"

A bunch of leaves removed themselves from one of the forest trees' branches and formed a bed for the fall, and Lars fell into it unharmed. 

He looked above him, to the cliff, and gazed at the dumbfounded, ugly guards. 

"Catch me now." He said. 

…

Lars ambled along the unknown forest carefully. It was mid-day when everything happened, but he had walked so far away from home. So far, the day has turned to midnight. He wondered if he was even in the East anymore. It just seemed to be an endless walk of trees and the howling of wolves. The cold that was brushing through him was unlike anything he'd ever experienced, and he was growing tired with tears in his red eyes. Bucky was no more, and he couldn't believe it. One moment they were laughing, and the next he was dead. Slain by ugly and greedy guards. 

…

In a sudden instance, he heard a rustle behind him in the dark and damp forest. He turned back, but there was nothing, and when he turned forward again, there was a tall man in front of him with long hair, and next to him was a slender girl with a spear.