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black-suns-rim · 1 month ago

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The Trials: Part 1

This is part 3 of the Ethereal Star AU story. You can find the other parts here:

Part 1 - The prophecy // part 2 - The child

Content warning: Violence, blood, injury

Word count: 18,608

“You are just as nervous as all of us… if not more.” The water prophet held a pendant in her hands, rubbing it with her fingers. All four of the prophets and the overseer were sitting around a campfire.

“I am… very nervous. I fear for them.” Anubis was staring into the fire.

“We have taught and prepared them the best we've could.” The earth prophet tried to comfort Anubis's worries.

“Yes, I know. I am more worried about their spiritual rebirth. What they will go through, I don't know how it will affect them in that way since they are so young…” He took a deep breath in and sighed.

The fire prophet placed a hand on Anubis's shoulder, “They will be changed when they go through the trials… that's for sure. Everyone is changed when they go through. Their ember may not be aged, but the worst outcome that you are thinking of… it most likely won't happen.”

“We must keep a positive attitude about this. The young embers will sense our negativity if we bring It tomorrow. We don't want that affecting their performance in the water trial.” The air prophet gave a weak smile, trying to encourage everyone else.

“Yes… hmmm…” Anubis stood up, having an idea pop into his mind. He grabbed his handmade drum, “Grab your instruments. The young embers would probably love some music before bed. We will play our song to them.”

“Our song? We haven't played it in years… I don't know if I remember all of it.” The fire prophet got up and followed Anubis's lead.

“Oh, the young embers will love some music.” The water prophet cooed.

“We will play the music in front of the large fire pit in the center of camp.” The overseer said as he exited the tent. The other prophets nodded.

“I’ll light the pit.” The fire prophet quickly made his way to the center of the camp.

The other prophets grabbed what they needed and headed over to the large tent where the children and the young adults had been eating their evening meal. They seemed a little surprised to see the prophets and overseer.

“Young embers, join us outside of the tent for some music! Bring your meals with you and circle around the large campfire.” Anubis was holding his drum under his arm as he spoke. There was a strap that was connected to his drum that he used to sling over his shoulder, making it easier for him to hold the large drum. The kid’s faces lit up when he announced the music. They quickly grabbed their bowls and trailed out of the tent after the overseer. The young adults didn’t seem as excited as the kids, but they followed anyway.

As Anubis led them to the center of the camp, he patted his drum softly, trying to recall how to play some songs. The more he started to remember, the louder he played his drum until it was loud enough for the children to hear. The other prophets tried to quietly practice as well when they had noticed Anubis was. Once they arrived at the large fire pit, he directed the kids and young adults to sit around it. The fire prophet wasn’t at the campfire, so they waited for him to return. Anubis saw him jogging to their tent - he assumed to grab his instrument. When he returned, he was slightly out of breath.

Anubis gestured for the prophets to come near him, “We play our song first, then we should let the kids request songs, alright?” The other prophets nodded in agreement. They spread out and faced the children. Anubis began to pat his drum, setting the rhythm of the song. The song started off with a few mess-ups, which the prophets were a bit embarrassed about, but the kids found it entertaining. The rest of the song, they played without mistakes. Though their song didn’t have any lyrics previously, Anubis decided to free-style some on the spot in the middle of the song:

Who are we?

We are the future, we are embers.

We are our parent’s children, we are embers.

Our light shines the brightest at our core, our cores are who we are.

We are embers.

We are the descendants of the stars, we are the light in the darkest time.

Who are we to this world?

We are the future.

We are our parent’s children.

We are of the stars.

We are pure.

We are embers of light.

Once the song was over, the kids clapped and cheered. The water prophet was baffled, “This whole time we’ve known each other, I didn’t know you could sing so well.”

“Yeah, why have you never told us you could sing?” The earth prophet chimed in.

Anubis chuckled, “I guess it never came up.”

“Well, it should come up more. You have a really smooth voice.” The fire prophet complimented. Anubis became a little flustered with the compliments from the other prophets.

He then turned his attention to the kids, “What song should we play next?” The kids started to shout out different songs all at once.

“Whoa, whoa, raise your hands.”

The kids quieted down and raised their hands. One kid was waving their hand high up in the air, really wanting to be picked. Anubis called on them and they suggested that they play a traditional song from the forest region where they came from. Anubis nodded at the request, approving it. He turned to the prophets so they could discuss which song from the forest region they should play. They were quick to choose since the water prophet originated from the forest and knew many songs.

By the end of the night, the kids, the prophets and the overseer forgot the stresses and worries of the trials for the days ahead. And since the children had begun to dance and run around by the third song, they were very tired when it was time for them to sleep. A few of the kids had even fallen asleep around the campfire. The prophets and the young adults had to carry the sleeping children to the tents they were to sleep in. Once all the kids were settled down for sleep, the prophets went back to their own tent.

“The music was such a good idea. The young embers definitely seemed more happy.” The water prophet smiled at remembering their cheerful dancing as she changed into her night clothes.

“This should become a tradition before the trials.” The earth prophet suggested. The other prophets agreed.

“Yes, this should. I honestly do feel better now.” Anubis said as he took off his mask, placing it down by the pillow of his sleeping mat.

“I even saw the older embers dance and sing along to the music.” The fire prophet chuckled, “As edgy and cool as they want to seem, they couldn’t resist breaking that fake persona.”

“Did you guys see that one ember start to break dance? Oh great star mother, I wanted to laugh so bad. It looked so funny.” The air prophet shook their head with a smile.

“Oh, I’m so glad I wasn’t the only one who saw it!” The earth prophet mimicked what the ember had done and the two started laughing. Anubis smiled at his friend’s silly behavior, “We should settle down now and rest.”

“Right, right, the old man needs his sleep.” The earth prophet teased as they sat down on their sleeping mat. Anubis raised his eyebrows at the playful banter.

“Good night guys.” The water prophet said as she pulled a blanket over herself.

“Good night.” The other prophets replied. The rest of them settled down for sleep.

𓆩✧𓆪

“Three years have passed, and no child has come close to completing all four trials.” Anubis wore a black thick fur cloak that covered the majority of his body. The mask he was wearing wasn’t his ceremonial mask, instead, it was a basic mask that had some painted markings on it. He held his hands behind his back while looking out at the scenery, “But since you are here, the time for the child’s arrival must be close I assume?” He turned to Lamed.

“I’ve had no other visions about the child king, but I sense the time is near, yes.” She wasn't in her ceremonial clothing either. She was dressed in all white, long robes. Her hair was still covered and her face had a white veil over it. “Over the past three years, I’ve been doing research on how to teach a child. I also thought I would come to you for advice for my research.”

He smiled under his mask, “You are nervous about teaching our future ruler?”

“No… I mean… well… yes. I’ve never been a teacher before, let alone one for such an important role.” She held her hands together in front of herself.

“You’ve always been the one to overthink. And I see you haven’t changed. Just prepare the best you can and don’t stress about it. Children will be children. If you haven’t already, you should do research on child development rather than how to teach a child. Lessons are important, but the health of the child, whether it be mentally, physically or spiritually, it’s more important than lessons. A stressed child will never perform better under pressure.” He opened his arms and Lamed leaned in for a hug after hesitating.

She let out a sigh of stress, trying to let it go through her breath, “Thank you.” She uttered quietly.

“You’re welcome.”

She let go of him, “so, how long do you think you’ll be visiting on unofficial terms?” He asked out of curiosity.

“I’m not sure. I was just beginning to feel restless being in the vault. Rare, I know. But the other scholars know what to do without me, so I don’t doubt anything will go wrong in my absence. Maybe I can observe your trials once more while I am here?”

“I wouldn’t mind that. As long as you don’t mind waiting. We have a week of rest after the ceremonies and you just happen to come right at the beginning of our rest week.”

“Oh. Well, it gives me time to catch up with all my old teachers then.” She smiled.

“Yes... You are welcome to join us for dinner tonight. The prophets and I decided it would be great for us to leave the camp for once and dine out in the village nearby. Not in our ceremonial garments of course.” Anubis sat on the ground and so did Lamed.

“That would be nice. I’d like to join.”

𓆩✧𓆪

Alef laid in the long grass, looking up at the clouds. Veluboga and Kizuna laid on either side of him. The warm sun beamed down on them and a gentle breeze cooled off their skin.

“That cloud over there looks like a pot with butterflies coming out of it.” Vel pointed to a cloud off to the left of them.

“It does. Ooo, and that one over there looks like a candle.” Kiz gestured to the right.

Alef’s gaze went from cloud to cloud as his two best friends pointed at them. He had many thoughts going on in his head and he has been getting stressed out about Daleth suggesting to him to go through the ceremonial trials along with his friends wanting to do them together. He zoned out from their conversation and dozed off until their peaceful cloud watching was interrupted by rocks suddenly being thrown at them. They got up and shielded themselves. Kizuna began yelling after seeing who was throwing the rocks.

“Leave us alone Olali!” Kiz barked.

“The grass fields are mine! You have your own in your stupid tiny village!” He yelled back.

“The grass fields don’t belong to you or your friends!” Kizuna grabbed a rock that had been thrown at them and she threw it back. She clocked one of Olali’s friends in the head with the rock and they began to cry. Olali growled and ran at the three, ready to fight them. Alef, Kizuna and Veluboga bolted.

“You will pay for this! If you come to our grass fields again, it’s over!” Olali screamed as the three got away.

“They’re not yours, you pile of manta dung!” Kizuna yelled.

Once the three of them were in a safe place, they sat down.

“Ugh! I hate him.” Veluboga huffed.

“Me too. He acts like he owns everything that isn’t the village.” Kizuna growled, “I swear, if he ends up being in the trials with us, I’m gonna knock him out before he can do anything.”

Alef sighed, “or you can try to make peace with him-“

“Never! He’s always been a jerk to us! Do you remember what he did to you a couple weeks ago?!” Kiz crossed her arms.

“I do remember, but Daleth says we don’t know what could be going on with Olali to make him so mean. He says we should be nice to him.” Alef tried to reason.

“I’m not being nice to a jerk. I’m sorry Alef, but my momma says if he tries to fight us, we should fight back.” She rubbed her arm that had been hit by one of the rocks that was thrown at them.

“And my papa says the same.” Vel agreed with Kiz.

Alef frowned under his mask, “I think I’m gonna go home. I’ll meet up with you guys tomorrow at our spot.” He said with a saddened tone as he left. Once he arrived home to the small hut, he sat on the small living room’s couch. Daleth was in the kitchen preparing dinner when he saw Alef come in.

“You’re back home early.” He expressed with a bit of surprise in his tone.

“Olali chased us off of the grass fields by throwing rocks at us. Kiz and Vel won’t listen to me about what you told me.” He grabbed one of the pillows on the couch and held it as he laid down on his side.

“Oh dear- were any of you hurt?” Daleth stopped what he was doing and came to sit right by Alef.

“I think Kiz was hit on the arm by a rock… she managed to throw a rock at one of Olali’s friend’s head. I’m pretty sure no one else was hurt.”

Daleth shook his head in disapproval, “reacting to violence with more violence will always lead to both sides ending up hurt. Nothing good comes from it. As long as you didn’t throw any rocks-“

“I didn’t. It was just Kizuna.”

Daleth could tell Alef was really upset, “would you like to help me make dinner? I’m preparing one of our favorites.”

Alef sat up while still holding the pillow, “I’m not hungry.”

“What? How could you not be hungry for sweet buns, sticky rice and fish?”

Alef looked up at Daleth, “you’re making sweet buns?”

“Yes. And I need someone strong to knead the dough.” He said with a smile.

“Maybe I am hungry.” He got up from the couch and walked to the kitchen. Daleth let out a soft chuckle as he slowly got up from the couch. He handed a bowl that was holding the dough over to Alef. As he worked on the dough, Daleth continued to chop up the fish, putting the small pieces into a bowl. The rice was already in a boiling pot.

After helping with preparing dinner, Alef took a quick bath as Daleth served the warm food. Halfway into their meal, Alef brought up the ceremonial trials.

“Kiz and Vel want to do the trials next week and they want me to join them, but I don’t feel like I’m ready to do them.” He said as he finished up eating the fried fish.

“There will be many things in life we will feel as if we aren’t ready for. But we will never truly know if we are ready until we just do it. You are probably more educated about what the trials are than your friends, which could be the reason for your hesitation.”

Alef nodded, “they just seem more excited about them than I do.”

“Very true… but look at it this way; would you rather go through this new experience with your friends, or all alone when you feel as if you’re ready?”

Alef thought for a while, “I guess with my friends. I don’t wanna do it alone…” he paused, “Daleth?”

“Yes?”

“How were the trials like when you went through them?” Alef took one of the sweet buns that were placed in the center of the small table.

Daleth thought for a bit, trying to remember, “Well, that was a very long time ago. They might’ve changed since then… but I do recall a lot of training before going into the actual trials. Believe it or not, I was really close to completing all four, but I became really cocky during the last trial. My pride was what made me fail.”

“What were in the trials?”

“I honestly don’t remember… I don’t believe anyone remembers what exactly is in the trials after they go through them. All I do remember, though, is the four trials are based on the four core elements of magic.” Daleth finished his food.

“I know that already.” Alef sighed, “why doesn’t anyone remember though?”

“I have no clue. I just always accepted the fact I couldn’t remember.” Daleth took his plate and stood up from the table, heading over to the sink to rinse off the dish. Alef finished up his food as well and helped put away the leftover food.

𓆩✧𓆪

Cool night air flowed through the small diner of the village, though cold, it wasn't uncomfortable. In fact, it felt relieving after the hot weather of the day. Lanterns overhead lit up the diner with a soft warm glow that was comforting and inviting. All the tables of the diner had been cleaned down for the night, except for one large table that held six seats.

Food was spread out across the table, drinks were empty or half full, and the occupants were reminiscing on good memories of their days as young children.

“I remember when Golden City was just a small village. The trouble I got into in that village was scandalous and I'm surprised my guardian didn't punish me a lot more! There were just too many things I did to just pick one!” The overseer laughed, “Though I did have a lot of energy and they were old. I was such a naughty child. I'm glad I didn’t turn out to be a smuggler or thief.”

“Well, you did turn out to be lazy.” The fire prophet took a playful jab at Anubis's ego.

“Lazy? Me? Talk to me again once you get your students in line.” He jabbed back. The other prophets laughed, one even playfully slapped the fire prophet's arm in amusement.

“I had never gotten in trouble for anything I think. I always obeyed my parents.” The water prophet paused, “well actually, I did get in trouble for forgetting to let anyone know where I was heading to. I had just decided to go on a walk late at night and it slipped my mind.”

“Ah yeah, of course the worst thing you got in trouble for was that.” The fire prophet teased, “You were always well-behaved. And quiet. And shy.”

“Jealous?” She teased back. The other prophets chuckled.

“Now you have to tell us what was the worst thing you got in trouble for.” The air prophet gestured to the fire prophet.

“No, no… you guys don't wanna know.” He crossed his arms and leaned back into his chair.

“Well now I'm interested.” The earth prophet leaned forward, placing their arms down on the table.

“Yeah, you got to tell us now.” The air prophet grinned.

The fire prophet sighed, “fine… but don't say I didn't warn you guys. So when I was really young, I was really into learning the anatomy of creatures. Outside and inside. I really don't know what sparked that interest, especially wanting to know what the inside of creatures looked like-”

The earth prophet cut him off, “Oh great star mother. Don't tell me you-”

“I did. I found a dead creature and ended up cutting it open. I didn't know that was wrong. I got yelled at and disciplined for it. But I think that's what also ended my strange obsession. Thankfully.”

“You could've ended up being a murderer.” The earth prophet was a little creeped out.

“Hey, I warned you.” The fire prophet got a little defensive.

“Alright, alright. We don't need any negativity tonight.” Anubis lifted up his hand to get their attention, “Why don't we move on?” The prophets nodded in agreement.

Lamed was listening to the prophets and overseer talk as she ate. She studied the outfits and personal styles of each prophet. She noticed that their non-ceremonial garments seemed to be more relaxed. The air prophet, earth prophet and water prophet all wore loose and layered robes while the overseer and fire prophet wore kimonos. They all had taken their cloaks off upon entering the diner.

Their masks were simple. All of them had the basic mask but paint and decor separated the sameness of the mask shape. The way the paint was applied to the mask made it clear to her what element they were a prophet of.

She began to zone out of their conversation, in thought of something that has been gnawing at her for the past three years… The sickened creatures… She's only had one other vision about them, but she has yet to make any sense of it. The two visions have left her with many questions and even more concerns. Anubis noticed how Lamed was zoned out.

“Lamed. Are you doing ok?” He interrupted the conversation to check on her. She snapped out from her deep thoughts and looked at Anubis.

“Oh, yeah. I'm fine. I was just thinking about something I had a vision of.” She gave a fake and nervous smile. He could tell something was bothering her, but he figured it would be best to talk to her later in private about it.

“I see. Well, I hope you are enjoying the food. This village has always served the best bread I've ever tasted along with its other desserts.”

“Yeah, the food is really good.” She complimented.

The other prophets continued to chatter and eat. Once their bellies were stuffed, they decided it was time to leave. Anubis paid for all of the food and the group headed out of the diner.

“Are you guys tired yet?” Anubis had something in mind. It was already very late into the night. The prophets shook their heads.

“Lamed?” He looked down at her.

“Hm?” Her mind was elsewhere again.

“Are you tired yet?” Anubis repeated the question.

“No.”

“I have a proposal.” He said as he walked in front of the group, turning to face them and stopped.

“Listening.” The earth prophet crossed their arms.

“We head to the grass fields and watch the fireflies.” He said with enthusiasm. The other prophets liked the proposal and agreed.

The grass fields were a mile walk from where they currently were. The ground was uneven with a lot of hills. It was lightwork to them. Lamed, on the other hand, she lacked the physical endurance they had and became tired quickly. She was starting to fall behind and the fire prophet noticed.

“Are you alright?” He slowed his walking pace to match her's.

“Oh, yeah. I'm just not used to… this.” She lightly panted.

“Do you need us to slow down?” He asked with concern.

“No. I'll catch up eventually.”

“You sure? We still have a ways to go until we reach the grass fields. Don't want you to get completely left behind- oh, I could carry you for a while if you need so you don't fall behind.” He offered.

“Well… hmmm…” She thought about his offer for a few seconds, “Sure. If it's not too much of a burden for you.”

“It won't be.” He knelt down and she stood in front of him. The fire prophet picked her up off of her feet with ease, carrying her bridal style. He caught up with the other prophets quickly. They glanced his way, taking notice he was carrying Lamed.

A while later, they arrived at the grass fields. The fireflies glittered throughout the giant fields. The fire prophet placed Lamed onto her feet. Lamed was amazed by the sight.

“This… it's so beautiful.” She uttered.

“It is.” Anubis began to run down the hill they were standing on top of, letting his inner child take over. The fire prophet followed. The air, earth and water prophets chuckled as the two ran down into the large field.

“Boys.” The water prophet rolled her eyes with a playful grin on her face. Lamed felt a smile creep onto her face. She was so used to the elemental prophets and overseer acting so professional, she almost forgot they had their own personalities. They eventually caught up with Anubis and the fire prophet who were laying down in the dewy grass, watching the fireflies flicker above them. The three ladies and earth prophet decided to sit instead of lay.

Lamed took in her surroundings while watching the fireflies. She was almost mesmerized by how they gracefully danced in the air. Besides just the hills, grass and fireflies, there were also large rocks protruding from the ground. These rocks, from what she could tell, were rounded and worn down. As she was studying the very few large rocks, she noticed something at the base of one of them.

“Guys… I think there's someone by the rock over there.” She pointed and they looked.

“You're right… I'll go check to see if they are okay. To my knowledge, no one lives out here.” Anubis got up and headed to where Lamed had pointed. The closer he approached, he realized this wasn't just a person, but a child. A young one. They were sleeping with this back against the rock, sitting up. Anubis knelt down a couple feet away from the child.

“Young ember?” He spoke with a gentle tone, concerned. The child was easily awoken and spooked by his presence, jumping up to their feet.

“Whoa, whoa, it's alright. I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm just worried.” Anubis spoke calmly, trying to ease them. He noticed how dirty they were. Their clothes were tattered and ripped and their hair was matted.

“Do you have any parents or guardians, young ember?..”

The child stared at Anubis for a while before answering, “No…”

He thought for a bit before speaking again, “I'm called Anubis. I'm the overseer for the ritual elemental trials. My friends over there, they are prophets of the elements.” He gestured to them. He thought talking would help calm the child down from their anxious state.

The child took a while to take in the information before responding, “I'm Olali.”

𓆩✧𓆪

By the end of the week, many excited students from across the realms arrived at the elemental trials’ camp for either fulfilling the prophecy or to go through the rituals for the sake of their sacred traditional rite of passage into adulthood.

Daleth walked with Alef as they made their way to the trials camp. Alef was holding a bag that carried a change of clothes inside and a couple of snacks. He still didn't feel ready for the trials, but he had promised his friends he would go with them earlier that week after Daleth's advice. Besides making sure Alef got to the camp safely, Daleth wanted to socialize with the prophets before leaving him for the two weeks.

Alef found his friends and ran to them. They too had small bags with them and they seemed rather ecstatic to be at the camp officially. The three of them talked for a bit before joining the other kids who were in the camp. Everyone was directed to place their belongings inside of the sleeping tents right next to a mat of their choice. The children had a separate tent from the young adults. When Alef, Kizuna and Veluboga chose their sleeping mats and placed down their stuff, they lingered in the tent for a while.

“This is gonna be so fun! I'm so excited!” Kizuna clapped her hands together.

“We are gonna be having a sleepover with the other kids for two weeks. I hope we get to play fun games while here.” Veluboga had a big smile on her face.

“You know we are gonna be training for most of the time, right? I doubt that they are gonna have games for us-”

“Don't be such a party pooper, Alef.” Kiz interrupted.

“I'm just being realistic.” He shrugged. They walked out of the tent and saw that the other children were playing a game of sky ball, so they joined in. From a distance, the prophets were watching everyone settle.

“It's always such a pleasant sight watching the young embers play with one another…” Anubis had a soft smile on his face, “Olali, why don't you join the others and get to know your fellow classmates?” He turned his attention to him. Olali was playing a board game with the fire prophet.

“I don't do well with other kids.” he had a bitter tone, “No one likes me, so I don't like anyone.”

“The vast majority of the young embers here are from across the realms. Surely you will find some who like your company.” The fire prophet said as he moved a couple of pieces on the board game.

“No.” He stared at the board for a while before moving a few pieces to counter the fire prophet's moves, “Even the friends I did have ended up hating me.”

The overseer sighed at Olali's negative mindset. But from what little he's shared about his past, Anubis couldn't blame the kid for being so negative.

“Eventually, you will interact with them. Teamwork is a part of the trials.” Anubis sat down right next to the fire prophet and watched as they played the game. Olali loudly sighed, showing frustration with the conversation. Anubis decided he wouldn't push any further. The fire prophet put their hand to his chin, thinking how to move next on the board.

Anubis examined the board, “Are you losing to someone centuries younger than you?” He teased. The fire prophet smacked Anubis in the arm, “Quiet, I'm not losing.”

Anubis chuckled, “I thought you were the master of this game.” He teased more.

“Hush! Away, go. You're going to break my concentration.”

Anubis laughed and got up, amused how quickly Olali became good at the board game within the week he's been playing it with the fire prophet. As soon as he stood, Daleth approached him. Anubis recognized him as the village leader right away.

Daleth bowed, “Good morning.”

Anubis bowed as well, “Morning to you. What brings the village leader here?”

“I came to drop off the young ember that has been in my care for the past three years.” Daleth found a small mat to sit on and Anubis sat in front of him.

“Oh, and who might that be?”

“Alef.”

“Alef?.. I believe I've heard that name before… Ah yes, I remember now. Him and his friends snuck into my trial caves once during training years back.” Anubis was recollecting how they got into the cave and smiled at how eager they had become to learn from him after their fear of him had worn off.

“Oh! Really? I had no idea they did that. I apologize.” Daleth was shocked and a bit embarrassed.

“It's fine. It was years ago, plus they were respectful of my request of not returning until it was their time. At least to my knowledge.” He chuckled.

Daleth nodded and paused to think before speaking again, “When are the trial ceremonies held?”

“Week two, on the fifth day of the week. For three days we hold the ceremonies and celebrations. Would you like to see the general schedule?” Anubis offered.

“Yes, I would appreciate that very much.” Daleth said in a cheerful tone.

“Alright, I'll fetch the schedule.” Anubis got up and walked off to one of the tents. As Daleth waited, he glanced over at Olali and the fire prophet. He recognized the board game they were playing, but it has been a long time ever since he's played it for himself.

“Who's winning?” Daleth turned his body to face the two.

“I hate to admit it, but the young ember is winning.” The fire prophet almost sounded embarrassed, “He's picked up on this game very quickly. I regret teaching him.” He gave a small chuckle to try and deflect his embarrassment.

“Ah yes, young embers do pick up on things quickly. What are your names?”

“Well, during the training week and the trials, I'm known as The Prophet of Fire. On my off week, you can ask me for my real name then.” He moved a single piece on the board. Olali stayed quiet, not really wanting to talk to Daleth.

“What about you, young ember?”

Olali moved a couple of pieces on the board, ignoring the elder. The fire prophet saw his silence as slightly disrespectful, “He's Olali.” The prophet answered for him. Daleth knew that name… He hoped for the sake of Alef's friends it wasn't the Olali that they knew.

“What a beautiful name. Do you know the meaning of the name?” Daleth tried to get him talking. Olali only looked over at him, now acknowledging him, but he still didn't talk.

“It means ‘one who brings love.’”

Olali rolled his eyes and then turned his attention to the board again. Right as Daleth was going to say something else, Anubis sat down in front of him and handed him a paper copy of the schedule, “I was lucky enough to find this. The only other copies we have are on stone.”

“Oh, thank you so much.” Daleth looked over the schedule. Once he was satisfied, he slowly got up, using his staff to aid him. Anubis was quick to get up onto his feet so he could help Daleth up.

“Thank you.” Daleth tucked the paper away in the small bag he had at his side.

“You're welcome.” Anubis nodded.

Daleth began his journey back to the small village, leaving Alef in the care of the prophets and overseer. As the day continued, all the students were served lunch and dinner, being allowed to settle down in between meals as the last of them arrived at the camp. It took a while for the children to settle down after dinner, but they all were eventually able to go to sleep.

𓆩✧𓆪

As the sun was rising, the prophets were the first to leave their tent. Today was the first day of training. The children and the young adults were separated so that the lessons would go smoother. The young adults and the children were split up into two large groups, making four groups in total, that would be switched in between the prophets so all groups can get the same lessons throughout the week. The lessons were less about the elemental trials, but more about the techniques that they all would need to know before entering any of the trials.

Alef was grouped up with his friends and many other children he recognized from the village as well as from the prairie light temple - his classmates. The prophet they had as their teacher for the day was the prophet of water and the location of their training was the sandy shores a ways away from the camp. It was far enough that they had to take a flying boat to the location, otherwise it would take half of the day to travel to the location by foot. When they reached the sandy shores, the children were quick to start playing as the water prophet set up the mats. Unlike the other kids, one decided to refrain from playing and helped the prophet set up instead. Alef, Kizuna and Veluboga sat in the sand by the water, making things out of the sand.

Alef was more so watching Kiz and Vel as well as observing the other kids. He didn’t feel in the mood to play since he was feeling anxious. As his gaze trailed from child to child, Alef noticed the one child helping the water prophet. For some reason, they seemed familiar to him, but he couldn’t figure out why. His thoughts were distracted by sand suddenly being flung at him.

“Hey!” He instinctively shouted.

Vel was digging in the sand like a dog and had her back turned to Alef. She turned to look at him once he shouted, “Whoops, sorry.”

Alef brushed the sand off of himself, “Watch where you fling that stuff next time.” He sounded a bit irritated.

“Lighten up, she didn’t mean it.” Kiz was building a manta from the sand. Alef sighed.

Once the water prophet was done setting up the mats and a few other objects, she called all the children over. Most of them quickly flocked to her, excited and full of energy. Others were sluggish and still sleepy. She directed that each of them find a mat to sit on. They chatted with each other like a noisy flock of birds but quieted down once the prophet began to speak.

“Good morning young embers! As mentioned earlier before we came here, this group is the group you will train with for the rest of the week. Let’s take a moment to share our names and remember each other’s faces before we get started.” She pointed to the child in the front at the very left, “Introduce yourself to the group.”

Each child took a turn telling their name. Alef, Kiz and Vel sat in the middle of the group. All the children’s eyes followed who spoke and who was next to speak. As the second to last child said their name, all their attention turned to the last child. They were looking at the sand, drawing patterns in it with their finger. When they hadn’t noticed it was their turn, the child next to them nudged them. They looked up and stared off before remembering what everyone was instructed to do. They sighed and quietly mumbled, “I’m Olali…”

Kizuna’s eyes widened as she recognized him. She suddenly stood up, “HIM?! I DON'T WANNA BE IN A GROUP WITH HIM!”

Olali immediately realized who said that, “I DON'T WANNA BE IN A GROUP WITH YOU EITHER, BUT HERE WE ARE!” He yelled defensively and in sudden anger.

Alef felt embarrassed, “Kiz, sit down.” He said quietly as he tugged on her hand.

The water prophet took a deep breath in and then spoke, “Sit down.” Her tone was very stern. Alef tugged on Kiz’s hand more. She kept standing for a while before sitting back down. She crossed her arms, “You’re not making me do anything with him!”

The water prophet could already tell that this was going to be a problem, but this was something that was going to have to be worked out between the two. Once groups were assigned, there was no trading or switching allowed. The other kids could feel the tension and it made them a little nervous. The prophet of water wanted to deflect their nerves.

“The lesson for today will involve controlled breathing techniques that will help ease any anxieties you have and ground your mind,” She began, “you will be able to use these techniques in all the elemental trials, or any time in your life when you feel overwhelmed.”

The children listened intently. The prophet took her time explaining the techniques and having the children practice alongside her after showing them examples. When she noticed how the children became restless after two hours of sitting, she decided it was a good time to let them have a break to go play. The children broke out into small groups and scattered. Alef and Vel were being dragged by Kiz, who wanted to get as far away from Olali as she could.

“I can't believe he's here. Ugh!” Kiz sat down on a decently flat rock and let go of her friend's hands.

“Yeah… and in our group.” Vel sat in the sand.

Alef sighed. He stayed standing and looked back, noticing how Olali was on his own, still sitting on the mat. He didn't know why, but he felt bad for him. Olali just looked depressed.

“It's not the end of the world if he's here.” Alef glanced at kizuna.

“You don't understand, Alef!” Kiz snapped.

“Then explain to me! He's done things to all of us, but you act like he's only done things to you!” Alef yelled at her, which left Kiz speechless. In the three years they've known each other, Alef has never yelled or raised his voice other than in excitement.

“I-... He-...” Kizuna wanted to explain, but she couldn't find the words.

“If you can't explain, then stop complaining. I don't want these two weeks to be dragged out with your negativity. You're always so negative, it's irritating.” All of the inner thoughts Alef has been holding back for weeks finally came out. He's had enough.

Kizuna's eyes began to fill with tears and she started to whimper. Alef realized he was too harsh, “Kiz-”

“I DON'T WANNA BE FRIENDS WITH YOU ANYMORE!” She cut him off, getting up from the rock she was sitting on and grabbed Vel's hand. Vel didn't know what to do, so she went with Kizuna as she ran off.

Those words stung Alef and made his heart break. He wanted to follow her, but he just felt too hurt - though, he couldn’t get himself to cry. He sat down, pulling his knees to his chest and buried his face. He didn't know how long he stayed like that but he heard someone walked up to him, their feet shuffling in the sand.

“Young ember, are you alright?” The water prophet kneeled down and placed a hand on his shoulder. Alef looked up to her. He shook his head.

“What's wrong?” Her voice turned tender and soft.

“My friend doesn't want to be friends with me anymore…” He mumbled.

“Aw… I'm sorry to hear that. Would you be okay with sharing why?” She moved to sit in front of him.

“I said something a little too mean to her… I wanted to be honest, but it came out wrong.” He admitted quietly.

“I see… Well, she might need some time to calm down. She probably didn't entirely mean it. In the meantime, why don't you go make friends with the other kids to help get your mind off of it for now?” She patted his back and stood up.

“Alright..” He stood up as well. He looked around to see if he could spot Vel or Kiz, but he had no luck spotting them. Olali was still sitting at the mat. He thought for a while and decided he would go over to him. Sitting down right next to him, Alef didn't say a word.

Olali glanced at him, “What are you doing here?” He asked somewhat aggressively.

“My friends don't want to hang out with me.” Alef saw no reason in making something up.

“Not my problem.” He rudely stated. Alef ignored the rude comment and stayed silent. Olali felt uncomfortable how he was just sitting right next to him, not speaking. Not doing anything. He pushed Alef, “Get away from me you freak!” He growled. Alef didn't react, he just stared at Olali, which made him further uncomfortable.

“Ugh!” He stood up and walked off. Alef sighed. About 30 minutes later, the water prophet called over all of the children to continue the lessons for the day. When Alef tried to go over to Kizuna to apologize to her, she ignored him and kept her distance. So, Alef just sat by himself. Veluboga was looking at him, wanting to have them all sit together, but she felt like she couldn't do anything with Kizuna still feeling upset and resentful.

The water prophet stood in front of the group once they all had settled down, “During the trials, you will need to have control over your mind, body, and spirit. Your mood can affect your body and those around you. Keeping a calm mind in the middle of hard times will help you and those in your group. Now, let's practice those breathing techniques again.” This time, she had the kids stand up and mirror her movement.

By mid day, the children became hungry. The water prophet gathered up the kids and they all headed back to the camp for lunch. They were a bit early since the other groups weren't at the camp yet. The water prophet let the kids go play around camp until the other groups arrived.

A couple of camp workers - hired from the village after the influx of participants in the trials - were preparing lunch. Olali watched as they worked. He sat on a large pot in the tent they were working in. The workers of the camp had become acquainted with him after Anubis brought him back to the camp the week before. The water prophet entered the tent and plucked some fruit from a pot, eating it.

“Hey.” Olali took notice.

The water prophet looked at him, “You don't see anything.” She chuckled, “How are you doing today?”

Olali shrugged. The water prophet sat on another large pot right next to him, “Half of the training with me is over, are you excited?” Olali shrugged again. She patted his shoulder before leaving the tent. He watched as she left. His eyes ended up on Alef, who was by himself. He was doing something that caught his attention. He couldn't figure out what Alef was doing, but he was intrigued. Hesitantly, he went over to Alef. Alef was quick to notice Olali's presence, but he didn't pay any attention to him as he practiced some light magic.

Alef was sitting on the ground, moving his hands back and forth, influencing the way a few embers were fluttering around. Olali watched this for a while before breaking the silence, “How are you doing that?”

His concentration broke, letting the embers flutter away. Alef sighed and then looked at Olali, “Light magic.”

“Didn't look like that.” Olali watched the embers disperse.

“Well, it's more like the influence of light magic than actual light magic…” Alef stood up which made Olali slightly flinch back. They both stood there in awkward silence for a while, both not knowing what to say. When Alef was about to say something, a loud horn blew. The sound came from the center of the camp, which both Olali and Alef turned their attention to. The horn blew two more times before a thunderous voice began to speak.

Alef couldn’t make out what the voice was saying, so he quickly made his way to the center of the camp. Olali trailed far behind Alef, not following too close. The other members of the camp gathered at the center as well.

“Lunch is almost ready! But before you go rushing to the dining tents, I have a few announcements to make.” The fire prophet was standing on top of a large boulder as they spoke at an unnatural volume.

“First, a reminder that the group you are in, is the group you will stay in until the trials begin. If there are people in your group you don't like, tough luck. Second, you should not have any reason to leave the camp unless you are with your group or if you have been given permission from me, the overseer or the other prophets. Third, you will sustain injuries during the trials and during some training. If you are paying attention to what you need to do, you are less likely to get injured.”

The fire prophet looked over to the other prophets who were in the crowd. He was waiting for their approval. They nodded at him, “Alright! You may head to the dining tents!”

The children rushed to be first in line while the older kids were slower to arrive at the tents. Alef spotted Kizuna and Veluboga, running up to them. Kizuna completely ignored Alef, she was still mad at him. Vel on the other hand, she couldn't stand to be silent towards Alef. She had enough of Kiz's grudge.

“I can't wait to eat! I'm so hungry.” Vel walked right next to Alef.

He gave a weak smile under his mask, “Yeah. I can smell the food from here. It all smells so good. I wonder what they even have…?” He was still hurt about Kizuna.

“Hmmm…” Vel took in a large sniff of the air, “Smells like vegetable soup, fresh bread and…” She took another sniff, “Something smoked over a fire.”

“I still don't understand how you're able to do that.” He chuckled.

Veluboga was right; as they entered the dining tent, large pots full of soup laid on stone tables. Loaves of pre-cut bread were right next to each pot. Further back in the tent, there were different smoked meats. Alef's stomach rumbled as he grabbed a bowl. Once they got what they wanted, Alef and Veluboga headed over to the floor tables. Kizuna stayed quiet as she followed Vel. Vel and Alef spoke as they ate.

Alef periodically looked over at Kizuna, who was somehow always glaring at him every time. He didn't know if she was staring at him the whole time or if she just happened to catch his eyes.

“Kizuna, I'm sorry for what I said.” He attempted to apologize to her, but she turned her back to him. Alef sighed. Vel didn't like how Kizuna held grudges so easily, and she especially didn't like how she was treating Alef. Once all three of them were done eating, they went outside of the tents to play as they waited for everyone else to finish up eating.

𓆩✧𓆪

The last hours of the day's training went by quickly. Before the children knew it, it was time for dinner. The Overseer decided to socialize with the young embers to see how they were feeling after the first day of training. The other prophets ate in their tent, away from the kids. Though some of the children were frightened by his intimidating stature at first, they were quick to warm up to him after they heard his soft voice and saw his gentle mannerisms. The last thing he wanted was for the young embers to fear him.

Alef, Vel and Kiz sat in a circle in front of Anubis and listened to the conversations he was having with the other kids.

“How old are you?” A slim child asked, not knowing the question is rude.

“Very old. Much older than your parents and guardians for sure.” He didn't want to give out his exact age.

“You don't look old.” Another child spoke up.

“I eat very healthy.” Anubis chuckled.

“Do you have a favorite color?”

“Do you have any pets?”

“What's your name?”

Some of the kids bombarded him with questions as other children sat down in the circle. It was starting to get hot and crowded. Anubis did his best to keep up with the questions.

“Purple. No. And you can call me the Overseer.”

“Overseer isn't a name.” One stubby child sassed.

“It is my title, and it is what you will know me as. Just as you know the prophets for their titles.”

Alef didn't know why the prophets and overseer were so secreative with their real names. What was so important about their names being hidden? Alef nudged Vel, “You almost done with your food?”

“Almost, and then we can go to the campfire outside. Right Kiz?”

“Yeah.” Kizuna had already finished her food. Throughout the day, she had slowly started to warm up to Alef again. But Alef still felt that tension from her even though she had started to talk to him once more.

“It's getting hot in here, so hurry if you can.” Alef pinched the front of his shirt and tugged at it to let cool air through. He could feel beads of sweat forming on his back and chest. The air flow felt nice on the sweat. He finished up his bread and then turned his attention back to the Overseer.

He was showing off some simple light magic tricks. Alef watched as he tried to mirror him. The Overseer noticed what Alef was doing, “Interested in these tricks, young ember?”

It took Alef a second to realize he was talking to him. With the other children's eyes looking at him, Alef sheepishly answered, “Uh… yeah… I- I have been studying…”

“A student of light? How far into your studies are you?” Anubis kept the light in his hands, manipulating it back and forth.

“Uh… light manipulation, but not direct light magic.” His voice was quiet. He felt so embarrassed with all the eyes looking at him.

“I see… then you've had practice with what I'm doing now I assume?”

Alef nodded.

“Catch the embers.” Anubis gently thrusted his hands forward, palms facing out to Alef. He quickly held out his hands, slightly panicking at the lack of preparation he was given. The majority of the embers dispersed, but he was able to catch about a fourth of them.

As Alef tried to keep the ones in his grasp from dispersing, the Overseer observed, “Keep your palms tilted inward, shoulders relaxed.” Alef did as he said, slowly noticing those small changes helped him to keep better control of the embers.

“Good.” Anubis waved his arms, collecting the embers that Alef wasn't able to catch, “You need to be less tense. The flow of light follows your mind and body. Both must be at ease.”

Alef noticed how almost everyone was staring at him, which distracted his concentration. The embers dispersed and Alef's face grew hot from embarrassment. Anubis collected the embers, “You have a natural gift for the light. Keep practicing, young ember.”

Alef got up and walked out of the tent. He was too hot to stay in there any longer, plus he hated how everyone was staring at him. The night air was much cooler than the muggy air in the tent. It hit him like a wave and it felt very refreshing. Shortly after, Kiz and Vel followed him out. They walked to the camp fire in the center of the camp, only to find someone else at the fire. They stood up when they saw the three. Kizuna immediately recognized who it was.

“Why do you always have to ruin the good spots?” She antagonized Olali.

“Why do you always have to ruin everything good? I was here first, so go somewhere else.” He already sounded irritated.

“How about you go somewhere else so me and my friends can enjoy the fire? It's not like you have anyone to share the fire with anyway.” Kizuna said with an acid tongue.

This offended Olali, “Bitch!” He yelled and grabbed a rock nearby, throwing it right at her. Instead of hitting her, it hit Vel right in the face, knocking her to her feet. Vel started to cry as she placed her hands over the spot the rock hit her. Kizuna yelled and then lunged at him after seeing the rock connect with Vel's face. Alef immediately kneeled down to check on Vel. She was bleeding. He panicked as he saw the blood pouring down from her face.

Kizuna and Olali started to physically fight with each other, both throwing punches, grabbing shirts and screaming. Olali punched Kizuna right in the face, knocking her to the ground. He sat on top of her torso, pinning her, and began to throw punches directly at her face while screaming profanities at her. She put an arm over her face while she used the other arm to punch Olali right in the throat. He gasped and gagged for air as Kizuna pushed him off of her. Her lip was busted open and she could taste blood in her mouth. She grabbed Olali by the hair while he was still gasping and threw as hard punches to his face as she could. The first of her assaults got him in his right eye.

The commotion brought out the prophets and Overseer from the tents. When Anubis saw the fight, he bolted towards them. The fire prophet was the first to the scene and he immediately broke up the fight, holding each child under his bulky arms. Kizuna and Olali screamed at each other, still trying to hit one another even though they couldn't reach each other.

Anubis ran over to Vel who was bleeding profusely and crying. Alef was trying to calm her down. She was still holding her hands up to her face. Anubis tried to move her hands out of the way to see the injury, “Let go young ember, let me see.” He spoke gently but in a slight panic. She moved her hands as she continued to cry. She was bleeding from the bridge of her nose and out of her nose.

“Shit.” He uttered to himself, letting the word escape his mouth. He solemnly swore since he didn't like profanities, but this was a serious injury. The Overseer picked up Vel and ran to the medical tent with her in his arms. Alef followed. The four prophets took care of Kizuna and Olali as Anubis rushed Vel to get medical attention.

The other children had peaked out from the dining tents to watch the prophets break up the fight.

Anubis sat Vel down on a stone examination table and pulled out gauze. He placed it over the wound, “Hold this, sweetie.” Anubis always referred to the children as young embers for professionalism, but he let that word slip out of his mouth. Vel held the gauze to her face. Anubis quickly grabbed some herbs from different pouches and placed them into a stone bowl, adding a bit of water to it. He quickly ground up the herbs into a paste. He then grabbed a new piece of gauze and applied the paste to it.

He switched it out with the other gauze that was now soaked in blood, “This will slow the bleeding and ease the pain.”

Alef climbed up onto the examination table and sat right next to Vel. He rubbed her shoulder to try and comfort her. Outside of the medical tent, Olali and Kizuna were still screeching at each other.

“GO DIE SO YOUR EMBER CAN BE USED FOR SOMETHING GOOD FOR ONCE!” Kizuna shrieked.

“YOU'RE A GOOD-FOR-NOTHING PILE OF MANTA SHIT!” Olali shrieked back.

“LANGUAGE! BOTH OF YOU, SILENCE!” The fire prophet's low voice rumbled like thunder which frightened the both of them to silence, but they were still enraged. The fire prophet handed off Kizuna to the earth prophet.

“Who started this?” The fire prophet sounded angry. Both Kizuna and Olali tried to speak over one another.

“One at a time! Young ember, you tell me first.” He spoke to Kizuna.

“He started it!” She hissed.

“Not true! She started it!” Olali interrupted.

The fire prophet growled, he didn’t have the patience to deal with children, “Olali! Let her speak.”

“He threw a rock at my friend’s face! She’s hurt because of him!” Kizuna glared harshly at Olali.

“That rock was meant to hit you in your buck-toothed gangly face, not her!”

“That’s enough! You threw the rock though, yes?” The fire prophet looked down at Olali.

Olali looked away from the prophet in shame, “Yeah… But she came at me and started hitting me.”

The fire prophet sighed, “Both of you will be punished-“

“What?! But he’s the one that hurt my friend!” Kiz interrupted.

“BOTH OF YOU INFLICTED HARM! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANY MORE OF THIS!” The fire prophet was beginning to get agitated. Kizuna fell silent.

“The Overseer will decide your punishments. For now, you will be confined to the sleeping tent.” After dealing with them, the fire prophet went to the medical tent to check up on the child that was hurt and to report to Anubis.

Veluboga was no longer crying since the herbs relieved her pain. Anubis was using his healing magic to help close up the wound enough to where it would stop bleeding completely. Some blood was still dripping out of her nose though. Alef looked at the fire prophet as he entered the tent.

“How is the young ember?” The fire prophet crossed his arms and leaned up against the exam table.

“Well, I’m pretty sure her nose is broken. Did you find out what happened?” Anubis got the bleeding to stop. He grabbed a cloth and some water. He wiped the blood from her face and then he tried to get some of it off of her shirt.

“Olali threw a rock at this ember’s face. The other ember attacked him out of defense for her.”

“Olali did this?” Alef was slightly confused on how they knew Olali and he noticed how the Overseer sounded disappointed. He spoke up, “Olali and Kizuna are enemies. I don’t remember how it started, but they can’t get along. They always fight and we get in the crossfire.”

“I see…” Once Anubis got Vel cleaned up, he began to clean off the blood from himself.

“I confined the two in the sleeping tent. They will be waiting for your punishment. Is there anything you need me, or the others, to do?” The fire prophet stopped leaning on the exam table and switched his weight to his other leg.

“Thank you. And yes. Concoct a paste to help with the swelling for her while I talk to those embers.” The overseer dumped out the water he had been using to clean up the blood.

“Yes sir.”

The Overseer left the tent and the fire prophet did as he said. He saw how Kizuna was bleeding from her mouth and uttered something the both of them couldn't quite hear. He pulled out a cloth from one of his pockets and handed it to Kizuna.

𓆩✧𓆪

Overnight, Veluboga was monitored to insure her injury wouldn't cause her any problems. Olali and Kizuna were punished with chores; cleaning dirty dishes, filling the water containers, and other tasks the camp staff would need help with. Of course, they'd have to do the chores after their training.

Alef's group was training with the earth prophet today. The earth prophet was very different from the other prophets - they had four arms. Alef found it really strange, and he wanted to ask about the arms, but he didn't want to be rude, so he kept it to himself. The earth prophet gathered the children for a walk to the grassy fields a mile away from the camp. The children noticed how the earth prophet didn't carry any supplies like the water prophet did when they had her as a teacher yesterday.

Once they arrived at the grassy fields, the earth prophet immediately got to training with them, “In my trial, the earth trial, you will need to learn how to be resilient. There will be many obstacles, much jumping and much balance. We will start with some warm up exercises to get your muscles ready.”

The earth prophet led them in stretches. Unlike the water prophet, they didn't have much to lecture about. Once they were all warmed up, the earth prophet started the lessons. They first started with balance. Alef had been working on his balance over the years and he had improved greatly. He no longer wobbled when he attempted to balance. Veluboga on the other hand, her balance hadn't improved much. When a child would fall over, the earth prophet would give them tips on what to do better on, though it seemed more like a scolding rather than a helpful pointer.

By mid day, the children were already exhausted from the vigorous exercises. But at least these ones gave the children and idea on what to expect in the trials. Vel and Alef sat together while they ate lunch back at the camp.

Kizuna had to help clean up the kitchen before she could join them - as the punishment she was given. Her lip was tender from the night before and slightly swollen, but she wasn't in too much pain. She did have a few tender bruises here and there as well. Olali on the other hand, his eye was swollen shut and bruised over from Kizuna’s ruthless punches.

“How's your nose?” Alef had noticed how Vel kept periodically touching it.

“It hurts, but it also feels weird… It feels hot.” She touched her nose again.

He also noticed how it was swollen, “Maybe you shouldn't keep touching it, so it can heal.”

“Right-” Vel took a bite of her food. After a while of waiting, Kizuna showed up with a full plate of food. She sat down right next to them.

“They gave me a hard candy for my work, but I don't like this kind. Would you guys like it?” Kiz held out a wrapped candy.

“I do!” Vel immediately grabbed it, not letting Alef even see it. He didn't mind though.

After lunch, they had more vigorous training with the Earth prophet. By dinner, all the kids were sore, tired and ready for bed.

𓆩✧𓆪

The third day of training… Alef laid on his mat, stiff and groggy. He really didn't want to get up or move. All his muscles screamed at him, stung and pinched from the earth prophet's training. The air in the tent was cold and under his thin blanket was a warmth that he didn't want to leave. He heard someone rustling beside him, not paying attention to it. He assumed it was either Kiz or Vel getting up. There was a pause.

“Alef..?” Vel whispered.

“Mmh?..” Alef kept his face buried in his pillow.

“Where's Kizuna?” She sounded a bit worried. He sighed as he forced himself to slowly sit up. He rubbed his eyes and then looked around the sleeping tent. Kizuna's mat was empty and so were a few other mats.

“Uh…” He couldn’t think of an explanation. He got up and peaked outside of the tent. There were no signs of anyone awake yet. The camp was dead silent and lifeless. It almost felt unnatural. He turned back to face Veluboga and shrugged.

Vel looked around the tent again, scanning it with her eyes. Then she noticed something she didn't before, “I don't see Olali either… what if-”

“Shh!” Alef heard a sudden faint noise. He listened carefully, holding his breath to see if he could hear it again. He heard the faint noise once more. It sounded like yelling. Alef ran out of the tent and Vel stumbled to get up as she tried to follow him. He hoped it wasn't what he was thinking. The yelling came from the grass fields not too far from the camp. As Alef got closer, he was baffled by what he saw. He slowed down, panting, and just stared. Veluboga caught up with him, panting as well. The two were standing on a small hill, looking down at the scene.

The Overseer was watching over about five kids. Olali and Kizuna were among these kids. As Alef watched, he realized the Overseer was instructing them to hit, punch and kick some kind of sack. He couldn't make out what the Overseer was saying to them…

“What are they doing?” Vel was just as stumped as Alef.

“How would I know?...” He sighed, “I'm gonna go back to sleep.”

“You're not gonna watch?” Vel sat down.

“No. Kiz will probably talk to us about whatever this is later.”

“Oh.. alright.” Vel turned her full attention to the small group of kids as Alef made his way back to camp and back into his still warm sleeping mat.

A while later, the other kids inside of the tent began to slowly wake. As for Alef, he was completely knocked out, unbothered by the commotion around himself. It wasn't until Kizuna herself shook Alef that made him wake up.

“We are gonna be late for breakfast if you don't get up!” She was patting his back playfully now.

“Ugh…” He groaned as he rolled over to his side.

Kizuna stood over him, “C'mon Alef! Food!” She grabbed his arm, impatiently pulling him up to his feet. He stumbled as she dragged him out of the tent. When they got to the dining tent, Alef's eyes started to blur with tears as he yawned. He rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes. Kizuna shoved another empty plate into his hands. Veluboga was standing right next to him all of a sudden… or had she already been there the whole time?

The three of them filled their plates with hot food and went to sit at the campfire at the center of the camp. Other trial students came to sit at the warm fire as well. Alef noticed this morning was much colder than it had been compared to the other mornings.

“So, what were you doing out in the grass fields this morning?” Vel asked before shoveling food into her mouth.

“The Jackal teacher was making us take out our frustrations.. I thought it was stupid that he woke us up for that.” She began to inhale her food as if she hadn't eaten for days.

Alef thought, “You probably needed that… So you don't start anything again.” He wanted to say that to her face, but he knew she would get upset. He noticed, though, that she's been the aggressor towards Olali ever since they arrived at the trial camp. What changed?...

Unlike Vel and Kiz, Alef took his time eating. He was still half asleep anyway. Right as they got done eating, it was time for the groups to gather up for the daily training. The Air prophet was their teacher today… She took the group to one of the boats and loaded the children up onto it. Once everyone was seated, she nodded at the ferryman, signaling that they were ready for the short journey. The boat took off to the clouds.

“By the time you get to the trial of air, half of you will have made it,” She stood in the center of the boat, “And the other half will have gone through your spiritual rebirth.”

Spiritual rebirth? This is the first time Alef has heard of this. What was that and what did it mean?

“In the air, you may think you have control, but you do not. You are merely guiding yourself to your destination in the air. Once you let go of the illusion of control, you will know the air and it will know you.” She began to slowly pace back and forth on the boat. She glanced at the students as if she was getting ready to decide on something…

“Some of you may obtain light capes in your current lives. In your next life you may, or in your past life you have…” She spotted a child who was talking to their friend rather than paying attention.

“Kiklo! why don't you come here?” The prophet's voice sounded like a parent’s scolding. The child was baffled when she spoke their name, immediately turning their attention to her. The prophet pointed to a spot where she wanted them to stand. The child begrudgingly got up from their seat and stood where she had pointed.

“Today, I will teach you how to glide in the air.” The air prophet pulled out a round bottle and pulled out the cork that kept the liquid inside. With some quick hand movements the prophet turned the liquid into a mist and it spewed out of the bottle like a fountain. The mist was thick and it touched everyone in the boat. Suddenly, Alef noticed how his body felt lighter. Once the mist dissipated, the prophet spoke once more.

“Kiklo, you will go first.” The prophet led the child to the edge of the boat. They looked down to see endless clouds. They became very nervous when they were placed near the edge.

“The potion I just applied to everyone will allow you all to fly above the clouds. You may have a sense of lightness through your body. If so, then you are feeling the effects of the potion.” The air prophet held their hand up, signaling for the ferryman to stop the boat.

“All you need to do is jump. Once you reach the clouds, open out your arms as if you're going to hug someone. Let the air guide you, don't force it to take you.” The prophet stood on the rim of the boat with a cockiness in her steps.

The child hesitated, “But… What if I fall through them?...” They seemed scared.

The Air prophet held out her hand towards the child, “You won't.” Her tone changed to be more soft and reassuring. The child took her hand. The air prophet jumped off of the boat, diving into the clouds below, taking Kiklo with her. Kiklo screamed as they plummeted down. All the children in the boat scrambled to the edge to watch what might happen next.

For a couple of seconds, the air prophet and the child disappeared into the clouds. Each child unknowingly held their breath in suspense as they waited for any signs of movement below. Suddenly, the air prophet and Kiklo sprung out from the clouds. The children gasped in amazement as they watched them hover above the white endless hills. The air prophet glided effortlessly over the clouds. She let go of Kiklo's hand to let them practice gliding for themself.

Kiklo struggled to maneuver. They looked like a drunk fly trying to move in a straight line. The air prophet yelled a couple of things to Kiklo, but they were too far away for the other kids to hear. Alef looked over to Vel and Kiz who looked way too excited.

“This is so cool!” Kiz suddenly grabbed Alef's arm, pulling him close to the edge of the boat, “Just look at the air prophet! She's so cool!” Alef pulled his arm away from her and stepped back from the edge, “yeah… She is. But just don't do that again.” Alef didn't want to be that close to the edge of the boat.

“I wanna go next!” Vel ran up right next to Kiz as they watched the air prophet and Kiklo. A couple of minutes passed by and the air prophet flew back into the boat with Kiklo once they got the hang of gliding.

“Alright, two at a time. Pair up with someone and they will be your gliding buddy.” The air prophet stretched her arms and legs. Kizuna, Vel and Alef looked at each other, a bit sad.

“You two can be paired up. I can find someone else to be my buddy.” Alef offered.

“Are you sure?” Vel wanted to make sure it was okay with him.

“Yeah.” Alef sat down as he watched every other kid pair up with someone. He noticed one other kid wasn't paired up with anyone, but he hesitated… The air prophet noticed how Alef and the last child weren't paired with anyone.

“You two, you will be buddies.” She said as she pointed at the both of them. Kizuna looked over to see who the air prophet had pointed to, and she didn't like who it was. Olali sighed and sat near Alef. His arms were crossed and he seemed like he didn't want to be on the boat. Overall, he just seemed in a grumpy mood. The first of the children to practice were Vel and Kiz. Both of them got the hang of gliding pretty quickly, Kizuna even dared to try and do a couple of tricks for fun.

Some kids were quick to catch on, while it took others a while. Two by two, they all took turns in the clouds, until it was Alef and Olali's turn. They were the last to go. Alef stood up from his seat, but Olali stayed where he was. The prophet walked up to him, “You need to get up and practice.”

“Do I have to?” He asked in an agitated tone.

“Yes.” She motioned for him to get up which he replied with a dramatic and grumpy sigh. Standing up, he walked to the edge of the boat. Alef was more hesitant to get near the edge. The prophet noticed Alef's hesitancy.

“It's alright.” She tried to reassure him. Olali raised his eyebrows, seeing how Alef was afraid. He stood on the edge of the boat and faced Alef, “See you in the clouds, coward.” He held out his arms and fell back, dropping into the white hills. Alef took slight offense to what Olali called him.

“I'm not a coward.” He uttered. Alef took a couple of steps back from the edge. He ran and then leapt off of the boat. As he fell, the wind pushed against his clothes making them cling to his body. He had his eyes closed as he fell, waiting and hoping to feel anything but the ground. He then remembered to hold out his arms. Suddenly, he felt the tiny needles of water vapor pierce his arms, neck and legs. Then it was as if something pushed him away from the clouds. He still kept his eyes closed, trying to get the feel of how to move about.

“You have your eyes closed? Are you really that scared?” Olali mocked Alef. His voice sounded like it came from in front of Alef. Alef decided not to respond to Olali. He kept his eyes shut as he only focused on how everything felt. Though, he couldn’t keep himself from flopping around like a fish out of water. How did everyone get the hang of this so quickly? Many minutes must've passed by as he tried to get the hang of gliding, because the next thing he knew, his hand was being grabbed. For the first time, ever since he jumped from the boat, he opened his eyes just to see the air prophet taking hold of him. He had drifted pretty far from the boat without realizing it. How could he have known? His eyes were closed.

“I was wondering why you were going so far off.” The air prophet chuckled. Alef became embarrassed. She glided her way back to the boat, gracefully diving down and shooting up to land perfectly on the edge of the boat. Once Alef sat right next to his friends, the prophet spoke, “All of you did good today. Remember who your buddy was. After lunch, we will practice again.”

“You're not a coward, don't listen to that pile of poop.” Vel nudged Alef, “I think you did good.”

“Thanks…”

Back at the camp, Alef had grown quite the appetite after smelling the food. He usually didn't eat much, but this time, he ate as much as he could fit onto his plate. When it came time to practice again, Alef still couldn't get himself to open his eyes while in the clouds. But what he couldn’t see, it amplified his attention to everything he felt. He noticed that moving his arms wasn't enough to feel a change in the direction he was going, he needed to move his whole body… Once more, right as he was getting the hang of turning, he felt someone grab his hand.

“Your eyes, young ember, you need to open them.” The air prophet guided him back to the boat. By the time everyone was done practicing, the sun was beginning to set.

𓆩✧𓆪

The fourth day of training… Alef was laying on his back, staring at the ceiling of the sleeping tent. He had woken up before the sun even rose and he couldn’t fall back asleep. He felt restless, so he decided he would wander the camp even though he knew he shouldn’t. He just needed to get up, he needed to move. He brought his thin blanket with him since it was freezing outside of the tent. Alef wrapped the blanket over himself, clinging onto it tightly as he walked to the center of the camp. He noticed there was someone at the large stone near the extinguished bonfire.

Slowly, he approached them only to realize it was the Overseer. He was meditating and his back was turned to Alef. As he got closer, he noticed there was a second person. Someone he didn't recognize. They were dressed in all white intricate robes and they had a veil over their face along with a khimar. They too were meditating and they faced the Overseer. Alef now remembers about hearing rumors of this mysterious white figure roaming around the camp, but he'd never believed those rumors until now. He also was surprised to see that the Overseer only had a sleeveless shirt on and harem pants. Wasn't he cold at all?

The figure dressed in white opened their eyes to see Alef after hearing him shuffle in the sand. Alef stopped once he noticed they were looking at him. They motioned for him to come over to them, but Alef was hesitant. Anubis opened his eyes when he heard the white figure moving. He turned himself to see what they were looking at, seeing Alef.

“What are you doing up at this hour, young ember?”

“I can't sleep…” Alef shyly replied.

“Come here then, join us.” The Overseer moved over a bit and patted a spot on the stone for him to sit at. He stood there for a while before joining them. He made sure his blanket was under himself so the cold rock wouldn't touch his warm skin.

“How long have you been out here in the cold?..” Alef asked in a quiet tone.

The Overseer looked to the sky. It seemed he was looking at the moon and comparing it to where it was when he first came out, “Hmm… I'd say about an hour and a half.”

“Aren't you freezing?” Alef wrapped his blanket more tightly around his body.

“No. I'm used to how cold it gets around here. It feels nice to me as well.”

“What about you?” Alef turned his attention to the white figure, asking quietly, still a little shy.

“Oh, I'm freezing. It's why I have so many layers on.” They chuckled.

Their voice sounded so familiar to Alef… it was a feminine voice he swears he's heard once before.

“Why are you out here meditating?”

The Overseer began to stretch his arms, “We couldn't sleep either. Meditation can be just as restful as sleeping. Though, it doesn't replace sleep.” He stood up and stretched out his legs as well before sitting back down.

“Who do you have as a teacher today, young ember?”

“The fire prophet.”

The overseer nodded, “I see. Hopefully your group isn't rowdy then, the fire prophet has a temper when it comes to disobedience. But he's nothing to be afraid of. The roar of his voice is mightier than his swift hand.” He chuckled.

Alef couldn't stop glancing at the figure in white and the Overseer took notice, “This is Lamed, if you were wondering.”

“Lamed…” Alef quietly echoed. The name seemed very familiar to him, but he can't remember why.

“I think I have frozen long enough out here. I am going to prepare myself breakfast and get warmed up.” Lamed stood, “It was nice seeing you, young one.” She made her way to the prophet's tent. Anubis waved as she left.

“Who is she?” Alef couldn’t shake the feeling of familiarity.

“She was a former apprentice of mine. She’s come to visit and watch over these coming trials.” The Overseer stood to his feet and looked down at Alef. He wasn’t satisfied with the Overseer’s answer.

“But, WHO is she?” Alef stood as well.

“If the name Lamed doesn’t connect to any title with you, perhaps that’s the best for now.”

Alef grew frustrated with his illusive answer. As he was about to say something, his stomach growled loudly and he placed his hands over it, slightly embarrassed.

“I guess it is time that you get some breakfast as well.” Anubis chuckled, “The sun is almost over the clouds, so the cooks will have some things already prepared by now. Come, I’ll take you for breakfast early.” He gestured for Alef to follow him. Alef adjusted his blanket and trailed behind Anubis as they made their way to the dining tent.

“Good morning crew!” The Overseer greeted the workers. They all waved to him as he entered. The Overseer grabbed a bowl and handed it to Alef, “Go, get what you please.” The workers eyed Anubis. He was known for letting some children in early, which they didn’t mind but it interrupted their work flow. But they couldn’t say anything about it since he was their boss and they were already being paid generously for working around the clock to prepare meals for the many mouths of the camp.

Alef tried to not get in the way of some of the workers as he grabbed what was appetizing and appealing to him. Once he was done, he quietly thanked the workers and walked over to the Overseer, who was eating one of the fresh fruits he plucked from a bowl. He looked down at Alef and his bowl, “Good choices I see… Your name is Alef - am I remembering correctly?”

Alef was a little caught off-guard by the question, “uh.. Yes.” He replied sheepishly.

“You and another student are pretty similar. I think you two would get along… I believe he’s in your group too. Does the name Olali sound familiar?”

Alef sighed at the name, “Yeah… But my friends don’t like him.”

The Overseer suddenly remembered how his friend and Olali fought the other night. Sometimes, it was hard for him to keep up on which child had drama with who, “But what do you think of him?” The Overseer gestured for Alef to follow him to the mats on the floor. They sat.

“I think he’s mean…” Alef began to eat what was in his bowl.

“Just mean?”

“That’s all he’s ever been. To me, and to my friends. But I can’t find it in me to hate him like they do. Especially Kizuna… She hates him a lot.”

“I see… What if I told you, you both have a natural gift for the magics? The other young embers, there are none I have seen with any inclination for it like you and him. Maybe, that’s something you two can bond over? That is if you are willing to give a friendship with him a chance, seeing as your other friends have negative feelings towards him.”

“He has a talent for magic?” This surprised Alef.

“Yes. But unlike you, he’s never had lessons. I’ve seen how you handle the sacred embers.”

Alef thought for a long while… Was he suggesting he teach Olali?

“Does he know anything?”

“He knows nothing but the very basics us prophets taught him when he arrived here in camp before the other trial students came.” Anubis finished eating the fruit and discarded the core, “It is up to you, though. I do not want to make you feel as if you have to be his friend based on your inclination for the magics.”

Alef nodded. He thought as he ate. Before he knew it, the other trial students of the camp started to come in for breakfast. He finished his breakfast as the first of them sat down to eat. What he didn’t notice was that the Overseer had left the tent when he watched the others come in. For someone as large as he was, Alef noticed he was very silent and almost sneaky.

“You were up before us!” Kizuna sat down right next to Alef, “And you got breakfast early? You should’ve woken us up.” Veluboga sat right next to Kiz.

“I was up before the sun.”

“Oh, never mind then. I don’t like getting up before the sun.” Kizuna shoved food into her mouth.

“You guys remember the rumors about the person in white robes being in the camp?” Alef stretched his legs from the crossed position he had them in. Both Kizuna and Vel nodded.

“They are real. I saw them this morning with the Jackel teacher. Their name…” Alef paused as he had an epiphany - he finally remembered who she was. It was a big deal that she was here the last time… if she’s here, why isn’t it now?…

“Their name-?” Kizuna waved her hand in front of his face since he had zoned out.

“Oh right… Their name is Lamed. Does that sound familiar to you guys?”

Both of them shrugged at Alef’s question. The two were more focused on their breakfast. He sighed. He also wanted to bring up what the Overseer had said about Olali, but he decided to keep quiet about it.

𓆩✧𓆪

The fire prophet led Alef’s group through the trial caves. They were heading into one of the many caverns, “Stay close, young embers. And don’t wander off. The last time someone wandered off… they were on the brink of death when we found them.”

Kizuna and Veluboga both clung to Alef with either of their arms locked onto his. The group huddled close together as the fire prophet led the way. Unlike the main part of the cave, this part wasn’t lit up. The fire prophet kept a flame in front of him as he walked. Alef’s skin crawled as he felt the breath of the other kid’s on his neck. He had a tightness in his chest when they all decided to squish together. Once the cavern opened up into a large room, the fire prophet lit a huge pit, lighting up the entire room.

“Courage is not something you have when you aren’t afraid. Courage is doing something even though you are scared. To have courage in the face of something you fear is to have bravery.” The fire prophet sat down in front of the fire pit and the others sat as well.

“The absence of light is darkness. And the darkness holds many things. Just as the light. It’s not the fact that it’s dark that makes someone afraid, but it’s what they cannot see and what they do not know that may lay in front of them. Who of you are afraid of what you cannot see?”

The majority of the children raised their hands. Alef took notice of Olali’s hesitation. He was sitting the farthest from the group. Outcast… that was the word that popped into his head when he realized that Olali had kept his distance from the group this whole time. Every lesson, he’d keep to himself. Never did Alef see him with any of the other kids…

“Though I’m not supposed to say what’s in my trial directly, I will say that the light will be your friend and your friends will be your light. Not many will make it to my trial, but I have had surprises in the past. Now, let’s get to the exercise.” The fire prophet dimmed the fire’s light, almost reducing it to glowing embers.

“Your enemy will be your friend in a time of need. If one of you perishes, then you both will. Relying on the light of your enemy will save the both of you.” The fire prophet stood up and retreated into the darkness. The children scooted close together as their anxiety rose.

“The sacred light of the white candle, it will aid you in your journey.” The fire prophet’s voice came from behind them. The children turned their heads to his voice, “But it won’t save you.” He paused for a while, which made everyone tense.

“Pair up in two’s.”

The children were quick to scramble for a partner. Alef let Vel and Kiz pair up as usual. Alef looked around, squinting in the darkened room, trying to see who wasn’t partnered up. Then he noticed from the corner of his eye someone standing up against the wall. He walked up to them before realizing who they were. He asked hesitantly, “Do you… need a partner?”

Olali growled, “Don’t talk to me!” His back was up against the wall along with the palms of his hands.

Alef stood right next to him, pressing his back up against the wall as well. Olali stared at him, “Get away from me.” He hissed.

Alef scooted a foot away from him. He could hear Olali breathing heavily and with a shaky breath. He was terrified… But he also heard him quietly vocalizing… The fire prophet began to hand out white candles, that were lit, to the pairs of children. When he got to Alef and Olali, he handed Alef the candle.

“With these sacred candles, your way will be lit… in this room, I want your pairs to find the altars. There are twenty of them and there are many halls that come back to this room. The twelve of you will return the candles to me once you come back from the hall you choose to go through. Stick together and keep close.”

Once he was done speaking, six halls lit up that split off from the main room. The light was only bright enough to illuminate the entrances. Alef could barely make out the form of the fire prophet standing in front of the entrance they came from to get into the room. As the other kids split up with their pair, Alef stayed where Olali was.

“Would you like to hold the candle?” He offered.

Olali glanced at Alef and then at the white candle. He took the candle from Alef's hands, holding onto it with a tight grip. His hands were shaking. He realized Alef was staring at him and he responded to that by walking past him, shoving his shoulder into Alef's aggressively, “What are you staring at, coward?” He growled. Alef followed right behind him as he chose a hallway to go into.

As they walked through the narrow hallway, they came across smaller candles on the floor. Olali lit them along the way. The silence between them was making Alef uncomfortable, especially since he could hear the groaning of the wind through the hall. It was loud and eerie.

“So… how's your eye doing?”

Olali stopped walking and turned to look at Alef, “Don't act like you care about me. You hate me, your friends hate me. So stop trying to be nice to me.”

“I don't hate you.”

“Liar.”

“I'm not lying. I dislike you, but I don't hate you.”

Olali stared at Alef in distrust. He hit Alef in the arm, “Everyone hates me!” He kept walking forward.

He rubbed his arm, “Ow…”

They walked for what seemed like forever, trying to navigate in the vast darkness of the carved out hallways. The loud eerie growling of the wind suddenly roared past them. Olali stopped suddenly, causing Alef to run into him. Alef walked to the side of him, “Why'd you stop?” He looked around but saw nothing that would make him pause. He looked back at Olali, seeing how hard his hands were shaking.

“Olali?”

“SHUT UP!” He bursted out, “SHUT UP, SHUT UP!” He put his back up against the wall, threw the white candle and repeatedly hit his head with the palms of his hands. Alef quickly fetched the white candle, making sure the flame wouldn't go out. Then he turned his attention back to Olali. Placing the candle on the floor, he grabbed Olali's hands so he would stop hitting himself. Olali was whimpering, breathing heavily and groaning.

“Remember what the Water Prophet taught us? Breathe in through our nose and out our mouth.” Alef tried to help him to calm down. The whole time, Olali was groaning, trying to soothe his anxiety, and it became quieter the more he calmed down. The groaning turned into vocalizing and his heavy breathing subsided. Alef grabbed the white candle and held it towards Olali, “Are you… okay?” Olali sat on the ground and Alef did the same.

He stopped vocalizing to speak, “Yeah…”

“You don’t like the dark, do you?...”

Olali grabbed the white candle from his hands, “Shut up.”

“I won’t tell anyone, I promise. I don’t like the dark that much either, if I’m being honest with you.” He scooted right next to him, “Something that always helps me when I get scared is to imagine someone I love right next to me, telling me everything will be alright.”

Olali looked saddened, “I don’t love anyone.”

“No one? Not your mom or dad?”

“I don’t have a mom or dad!” he growled, “and I don’t have friends or family either!”

Alef frowned. He leaned in to hug him, feeling bad for him, but Olali pushed him away, “Don’t touch me!”

“Sorry…” Alef got up, “Do you wanna keep going? I’m starting to get really cold.”

Olali got up, sighing. He started to vocalize again, but very quietly. Why was he doing that? After what seemed like forever, they finally reached the main room. Everyone else was sitting around the large fire in the center of the room, talking, laughing and playing. The fire prophet must’ve lit the pit up again once everyone had gone into the carved halls. Olali fell quiet after seeing the room lit up. He walked over to the Fire Prophet and handed him the white candle. Alef went over to Kiz and Vel, sitting with them.

“What took you so long?” Kiz pulled him into a hug.

Alef looked at Olali, then he turned his attention to Kiz, “The hall we chose was long I guess.”

“Oh… and who was your partner anyway?”

“Um… Olali.”

“Really? Ugh, why do you keep getting paired up with him?” She rolled her eyes. Alef shrugged.

The Fire Prophet counted up the children, satisfied they were all here. He placed the last of the white candles in a bag and slung the strap of it over his shoulder, “Alright, the first exercise has been completed. Let’s go get lunch.”

𓆩✧𓆪

The second half of training with the Fire Prophet wasn’t much training. Rather, it was more so games, which caught Alef by surprise. The other prophets didn't have games with their lessons. The games were held in the central part of the cave. Skyball, freeze tag, hide-and-seek, and a few other activities.

Olali watched from a ledge as the other kids played with each other. He was holding a smooth rock in his hand, rubbing his fingers against it. The Fire Prophet sat right next to him, “How are you holding up, bud?”

He shrugged, “Fine, I guess.”

“Don't you wanna go join the other kids?”

“No.”

“Alright.” The prophet got up, “Just remember not to isolate yourself.” He walked over to the kids playing skyball, joining in with them. Olali sighed and tossed the rock he was holding. He jumped down from the ledge and kicked the sand.

“Pass me the ball!” Kizuna waved her hands, trying to get Alef's attention. He dodged a kid who tried to steal the ball from his feet. He kicked the ball to Kizuna who caught it in between her feet. She then ran with it to the small goal post. Suddenly, it was knocked out from under her, the ball was sent flying to the rival team. She growled as the culprit laughed and ran for the ball. It was passed to the Fire Prophet, of which he passed it on to someone else. The ball ended up back into the grasp of Alef's team and they scored their last goal, winning the round. Alef, Kizuna and Veluboga were out of breath. They sat down for a break.

“What do you think we'll do tomorrow?” Vel was breathing heavier than Alef and Kiz.

“Don't know. I did overhear the other kids talking about a possible lesson with the Jackal teacher though.” Kizuna laid on her back.

“A fifth day of lessons?” Alef sighed, “I was hoping to get a day of rest after all of what they have been teaching us.”

“Well, that's just what I heard.” She took her mask off and rubbed her face. Veluboga did the same.

“Your nose healed, Veluboga.”

Kizuna immediately sat up in a defensive mode when she heard that voice. She stared at Olali with a snarl, “Get away from us.”

Alef looked at Olali. His eye had started to heal, but it was still somewhat closed. Alef placed a hand on Kizuna’s arm, “Hey, maybe we can be nice to him for once?” Kizuna responded to his suggestion with an angry sigh, “Why should we?”

Alef looked at Olali, then at Kizuna. He took a deep breath in and let out a sigh. He wanted to be honest with her, “Why should we continue to be mean to him? He’s started almost nothing the whole time we’ve been here. You’ve started everything by being mean to him.”

Vel spoke up, “Yeah, you’ve been the only one to start things.”

“Don't you remember when he called you a coward? Huh? Don't you remember what he did to you, Vel? To me?” Kiz hissed.

Alef sassed, “Don’t you remember what you did to him?” Alef gestured to Olali’s eye, “We’ve done enough. We’ve all hurt each other. So why bother continuing this hate? Daleth told me to be nice, even when people are mean. You hold grudges and hate so easily, and it gets tiring.” Alef stood up, “I don’t like being like that, Kizuna.”

Veluboga also stood up, “I also don’t like it… My papa only said to fight back if someone fights me, but he never said to be mean…” She now recalls.

Kizuna stood up, “You guys suck!” She stormed off. Olali was still standing near them, awkwardly. Alef looked over at Olali, “Are you tired of being mean, too?”

𓆩✧𓆪

During dinner, Kizuna kept away from Alef and Veluboga. She sat with some other kids she had made friends with during the four days they have been at the camp. Olali was sitting far from Alef and Vel even though he had been invited to sit with them.

“Now I know how you felt on the first day…” Vel referred to Kizuna’s stubborn grudge.

“Yeah… but, she might come around again.” Alef held his bowl to his face and sipped the soup from it, “Your nose does look better. How's it feeling?”

“Doesn't feel weird anymore, but it's still sensitive.” She gently touched the bridge of her nose.

“That's good.” He yawned and drank the last bit of his soup, “I think I'm gonna sleep early tonight. I'm too tired to stay up.”

“Okay. I'll see you a little later.”

Alef got up, placed his bowl where the other dirty dishes were and left the tent. He rubbed his eyes before putting his mask back on. As he was walking to the sleeping tent, he noticed a large manta with a saddle laying on the ground right next to the prophets’ tent. The saddle on the manta was decorated like nothing he'd ever seen before. Curiously, he went over to the tent and manta. The manta was sleeping, so Alef gave it a couple of pets before realizing people were in the prophets’ tent. He stayed quiet to listen in on what they were talking about. He recognized all voices but one; this voice sounded really old, stern, and raspy.

“Don't you feel it, child? This is not the way. I've seen the future, and it is a dark one!” The voice warned.

“I… I don't know. My visions are never faulty, and I have not seen what you claim.” A familiar voice spoke. Lamed.

Alef leaned closer to the tent, trying to hear better. Their voices were muffled somewhat due to the thick fabric of the tent.

“No warnings? No bad omens? Nothing that concerns you? With as powerful of visions as we have, we always have its complement. There is no good vision without it's bad and no bad vision without it's good. Lamed, you must tell us now, have you seen anything that is concerning, even the slightest to you?” The voice sounded almost anxious.

The manta woke up from its nap and decided to nip Alef's heel. He let out a yelp. The voices in the tent fell silent. When he realized they all stopped talking, Alef ran to the sleeping tent right as the Overseer came out. He made it to the sleeping tent before the Overseer spotted him. He hid under his blanket on his mat as he panted from how hard and fast he bolted.

“What were they talking about?” He thought to himself.

𓆩✧𓆪

Alef jolted awake, sweating. He sat up as he breathed heavily. Looking around the tent, he saw all the other kids asleep around him. He rubbed his face, wiping away all the beads of sweat that had formed. Tears started to form in the corners of his eyes, but he tried to blink them away.

“Bad dream?”

Alef turned his head to where the voice came from, wiping his eyes as well to be able to see who spoke. Olali sat up and stared at Alef.

“Yeah…” He grabbed his blanket and wrapped it around himself, “What are you doing up?..” He asked quietly, not wanting to wake anyone.

“Can’t sleep.” Olali got up and grabbed his pillow. He sat down right by Alef, “We should raid the dining tent.”

“What? N-no-”

“No one’s in the dining tent at this hour. Plus… food helps me after bad dreams.”

Was he trying to be nice? Why is he being friendly all of a sudden?

Olali stood once more and gestured to the tent’s exit. He began to head out.

“Wait-!” Alef got up to follow after him, holding onto his blanket. When exiting the tent, he was hit with frigid cold air. He shivered as the slight breeze chilled his sweat. He caught up to Olali, “What if we get in trouble?”

“I've snuck food from the tent before, and I haven’t gotten in trouble.” He pulled back the flap of the dining tent and entered. He was quick to start rummaging through the food that had been packed away for the night. He grabbed a couple of buns along with some fruit. He handed Alef a bun.

“I’m not hungry-”

“Take it.” Olali bit into one of the buns he grabbed. Alef sighed, feeling this was somewhat wrong.

“You’re still a coward.” He sat on one of the counters.

“I’m not.” Alef shoved the bun in his mouth.

“You are. You hide behind Kizuna. Same with Velobuga. You can’t fight, you just run.”

“Why are you being mean?”

“I’m not.”

“You are.”

Olali shrugged, “I’m just telling you what I see. How is that being mean?”

Alef sighed, “I’m going back to the sleeping tent.” He ate the rest of the bun and walked out. Olali sat on the counter for a while after he left and thought…

𓆩✧𓆪

After breakfast the following morning, all the trial students were gathered to the center of the camp around the large bonfire. Alef assumed it was for some kind of announcement. Vel was sticking right by his side as he sat down in the sand. The older students, he noticed, all seemed more tired.

The Overseer walked to the bonfire along with the other prophets following behind him. The Prophet of Fire blew into a horn to get everyone's attention. Once everyone was looking, the Overseer spoke, “Good morning everyone! I'm happy to say that your training is almost complete. There are a few more lessons that must be taught before you all are fully prepared to go into the sacred trials.”

Some of the kids groaned and sighed.

“These lessons won't be as intense compared to the ones you have gone through, I assure you.”

As the Overseer continued to speak, Alef zoned him out. His gaze wandered around the crowd of the other students at the bonfire. He spotted Olali, who was only a couple feet away from him, repeatedly covering his ears with his hands and then removing them. Alef's brows furrowed. He held up his hands and then put them to his ears, copying what Olali was doing. The auditory sensation felt weird to his ears - from going to muffled sound to clear audio. He stopped after doing it a couple of times. Alef then turned his attention back to the Overseer who was still speaking.

“-And with that being said, we all will head to the central cave.”

Everyone began to stand up. Alef quickly stood, “What was he talking about? I didn't pay attention.”

“We're going to the big cave for our last lessons.” Veluboga headed towards the cave along with the other students. Alef followed.

These lessons didn't stand out to Alef as anything significant. They were more of a repeat of what the other prophets taught throughout this week. But, there was something that came up that caught Alef's attention. Spiritual rebirth… He kept hearing about it, but it hasn't been explained to him or the other students. When the Overseer let the children take a break from the lessons, Alef went up to him.

“What's spiritual rebirth?”

“Hm?” The Overseer looked down at him.

“Spiritual rebirth? You guys keep mentioning it. What is it?”

“It is a process… and a product of going through the trials. It's nothing to fear, though.”

“But, WHAT is it?”

“It is better to learn what it is by experiencing it, rather than me explaining what it is.”

Alef huffed. He made his way over to Veluboga as she was playing with a hacky sack on her own. She was trying to get the hang of it ever since one of the other students showed her the other day.

“Do you wanna play with me?” She asked as she tried to balance the sack on her foot.

“Mhh… sure.”

They both attempted to play for a while. The last bit of the Overseer’s lessons went by quickly. Before they knew it, it was time for lunch. Alef and Vel were talking about one of their adventures, but they stopped when Olali walked up to them. The three stared at each other in silence before Alef spoke up, “Do you wanna sit with us?”

Olali sat down right next to them without saying anything. Vel and Alef continued their conversation and Olali listened in. For the rest of the afternoon, all the students had the time off to relax. And for the last two days of the week, the prophets organized recreational activities before it came time for the sacred trials the following week…

𓆩✧𓆪

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