In the following days, big changes had to be made because the powers had gone and with that...The hatred!

The Air Tribe continued to stay in the middle of their tribe and the Metal Tribe, even offering food to imply peace, but they were still being ignored, due to fear.

Mitch worried endlessly about Loralle, who had gone missing with their powers, and was unsure on how to proceed. He checked her earth house, outside of the Metal Tribe boundary daily, to see that she wasn't there.

Finally, he succumbed and went himself to go see the Air Tribe, wanting to know if she was there instead.

Walking straight past the Air Tribe envoy, he went to their village.

He knew his tribesmen would worry endlessly about him, but he had made up his mind.

 

He noticed that the wind that used to circulate around the Air Tribe, still seemed to have not reappeared, much like their own flashes...

They had wanted to find out what the Air Tribe wanted to do since a few days ago...So now, he was going to find out!

The Air Tribe watched him silently, as Mitch searched each and every earth house, to not see anything of Loralle. They did not attack him, and Mitch was pleased to see that they hadn't changed.

Putting his head against one of walls of the last earth-built house he had looked at, he started to think that maybe...Maybe Loralle was really gone...

No!

He put a fist against the house and took a deep breath. Turning around, he slid to the floor, finally looking at the Air Tribal members that were watching him. Their faces seem to look very similar to Loralle's curious gaze.

One pointed at the house, then at a ball and rolled it towards him. Mitch tried to smile but all he could think of was the memories that he had of Loralle.

The ball stopped rolling and Mitch stared at it...

…That's right, she was er, maybe they know where she went!

"The person that made this house...Do ya know where she is?"

They were stunned because he spoke, but after a long moment, they all shook their heads. Mitch fisted the ground in anger. "Dammit!"

They tried to console him with the ball, fruit and dried meat...But he just sat there looking a little sad.

 

***

 

Who was better because of the amount of power that they yielded? What about other things that relied on powers to use? How could they defeat an enemy now? What about defense?

They couldn't become the wind, they couldn't hide in their defenses, they couldn't produce what they used to and even cooking became more of a challenge!

They had to find other ways to live...Other ways to defend themselves, even against animals that never used to go into their territory!

In the next few years, the Air Tribe and Metal Tribe became great friends. They also weren't divided anymore and merged together to make a brand-new tribe. Mitch stayed with Loralle's earth-built homes and gradually had a family with someone that was similar to Loralle, that was originally from the Air Tribe.

The progress of merging their tribes happened a lot faster than Mitch predicted and there were just too many reasons to do this. The biggest reason was that since their powers were gone, and they weren’t sure if the ‘Magma Tribe’ had lost their powers, Mitch wanted to make sure that they would be able to live!

 

In fact, Mitch took on a role that nobody else did on the continent of Mondal, and that was a leader that trained others to learn movements with their weapons and using their bodies to attack and defend.

Since they had been able to keep their weapons, even though the flashes had disappeared, the tribe that was currently the most equipped and ready for a fight, was that of the tribe that the Metal and Air tribe had merged into…

Not long after they merged, they had also found a mine and spent quite a bit of man power to dig out the metals to make more things!

To know that the ‘Magma Tribe’ were so far away, was a great benefit and helped ease Mitch’s worries a bit, yet, he could not let his guard down just in case…The other reason he so easily merged, was because Loralle was not only known by the people of the Air Tribe, but it was like he had found he saw her everywhere here…

It hadn’t helped for him to get over her, but it had helped him gain a few friends and it seemed to have worked out.

Being with another woman and having a family just sort of happened one day and Mitch was finally able to let Loralle go and be the ‘boss’ that everyone knew.

On a small note, the members that used to be apart of the Air Tribe ended up learning how to talk and some picked up what Mitch was teaching…Some even helped work in the mine to get metal…

 

 

The Fire Tribe had a lot more drama and Mitch would probably feel like an idiot for ever thinking that he should have worried about this so called ‘Magma Tribe’!

After everyone realized that no one else had powers within the Tribe, the commoners who had banded together for so long, took this time to ask themselves what they wanted to do now.

They could fight back if they wanted to now, but do they even want to?

Some of them wanted some revenge but realistically, were they people that could kill others or become a dominant person after so long of being the opposite?

It was about a week after the change, that the commoners decided to leave the tribe and go elsewhere, thinking that was going to be the biggest type of revenge for the so called ‘nobles’ that they would leave behind.

They would no longer be able to depend on others to always get food and they would have to get someone else to serve them. They couldn’t bully just anyone anymore!

 

And so, after the split of the Fire Tribe, things went downhill for the nobles because they wanted to continue being lazy yet had no food and people to get things for them!

Yet, for the commoners who left, they simply found a nicer place to start their own, new tribe and most of them were a lot happier, even though they were still working hard…But at least this time, they were all working hard!

One part of the tribe declined rapidly and had to learn the hard way, especially when they had found these ‘commoners’ but they had fought back and won, leaving more of a distance between them afterwards. The other part of the tribe lived much better and even called their tribe a name and giving it a leader…

 

No longer were there thunderstorms upon birth and in only one area of the continent, instead, they came at random intervals, to rain on all the different lands of Mondal. It was also like the wind, sometimes it was windy, sometimes it wasn’t…

Where the barren, desolate wasteland once was, now it was with several different types of lands...Some of it was sand dunes, some turned into rocky mountains, half of it turned into lush, green tropical forests...One in which became a home to the last survivors of the Water Tribe…

The continent of Mondal moved on...To a future that no longer contained powers...It was as it was before the Elements had arrived…And now the humans were no longer victims.

And in time...Loralle was forgotten by all, except two...

Daniel was one, who was still angry, yet happy...And Mitch, who never met another woman quite like her.

 

***

 

"Wake up!"

"Yes, we want you to wake up, please!"

Loralle opened her eyes, to find sunlight on her face, making her blink and cringe her face in displeasure.

"She's awake!"

"Let us out aye!"

Wiping her eyes, Loralle looked around, to find nobody around. She found herself laying within a big grassy area.

…Uh?

"Hey, Hey!"

"Ah, miss...Miss?"

"Shuddup! I'm talking!"

"Both of you be quiet! Loralle, honey, make an earth ball for me, please."

"Mr high and mighty!"

Loralle shook her head and blinked.

Uh?

 

"Come on, come on, come on!"

"Loralle, honey, make an earth ball."

Making an earth ball, she saw it float above her hand and move around all by itself.

Uh?

"Me too, please!"

"No! Me first!"

Loralle let out a breath and blinked again. What a weird dream?

"Honey. Make a fire ball now."

She made a fire ball. "Yes! Ah ha. Awesome. Freedom!"

It too floated around on its own.

Uh?

She closely looked at the two balls, that seemed like they had a life of their own.

"I believe I'm next!"

"A water one this time, please honey!"

So, she made a water ball, then an air ball, then a metal one.

 

"Right, ey thanks little un!"

"Let's go!"

The fire ball drifted off, then a voice came once again, "You won't be able to go far without the vessel, Fire!"

"Then bring her then! Let's...Go!"

Loralle suddenly fell back, as the earth below her started to move.

Uh? Such a very...Strange dream!

"What's going on?" She finally asked.

"Oh, honey, we are meeting up with brother."

"Yep! Yep!"

"We'll help im get back tagether again, aye!"

Uh?

Loralle looked around as she continued to move on earth, that she wasn't moving herself..."Where are we?"

 

This place did not look familiar at all! It was quite a nice spot really, lush green grass as far as the eye could see. Every now and again there were little pretty things that came out from the grass…She wanted to stop and have a better look at these pretty things but wasn’t able too…They swayed slightly to the wind and Loralle was really speechless...Heaven? Has she died and gone to heaven?

"It's where brother is aye."

"This place is Kralaide." The strange, leadership voice had said. This voice seemed very sure of his answer, and that is because it was the Element of Earth and it had already ventured out quite far to get information.

"Yes, and brother is still not finished putting himself back together yet."

"Yeah, Haha, we beat you brother Arculas!"

Uh? What in the world are they talking about?

Kralaide? Where's that? How'd they get here? What kind of place is it?

"…Is Kralaide in Mondal?" Loralle asked, scratching her head, confused.

"No!"

"No way, humph, not going back there."

 

"Honey, we opened a portal and left Mondal, to come to Kralaide. Since you were able to connect us once again, you have to follow us."

"Earth." Loralle said suddenly.

"...Very good! Ah! She knows me!"

Earth...Is talking...To me!? For a moment, Loralle lapsed into a stunned silence...

Loralle smiled, why talk to me now!? Why hadn't Earth talked to me earlier!?

"Why talk now, not before?"

"Oh, well, honey...There was...Circumstances."

Loralle raised her eyebrows.

"Don't tell her, she doesn't have to know!"

Loralle frowned, "Fire."

"Uh? You knew!" Actually, Fire was very surprised. Many vessels hadn't even bothered to know which of them was which!

"Mmm." It seemed only natural that she could tell who her friends were...

What seemed to make it easier, was not only a feeling but people that she had meet from each tribe when she had visited them.

 

"I think it's okay to tell her, she's our friend, right?" Loralle wondered if that was Air.

"Who said!"

"Me! I like er! She's cool!" Loralle smiled, that kind of language...That must be Metal.

"Look...Honey...Our brother and us...We got into trouble. Our father broke us up and punished us because of it."

"Ha ha the old man sucks!"

"I miss im aye!"

"Shuddup, you idiot!"

"Now, now!"

"Fools. Both of you Shuddup!" Water...Loralle scoffed. The Water Element seemed to sound quite arrogant.

 

As the Elements continued to bicker and take her elsewhere, Loralle phased them out as she tried to get her bearings. …So, this wasn't some sort of heaven? I'm alive...And…Awake?

The last thing that she remembered was being at the field of flashes in the Metal Tribe.

What had happened?

Had she been approved...And now that she was...

Was I asleep that long that Mondal turned into Kralaide?

Loralle frowned, does that mean I'll never see anyone I knew again?

A sadness overwhelmed her, as she remembered her last days in the Metal Tribe.

The Elements...What had they said?

Putting her hand to her head, she felt...Weak.

What had happened!?

Shaking her head in displeasure, she wanted to at least return to Mitch once...

How could they leave like this?

Sighing in defeat, Loralle put a hand slowly on the earth beneath her. She was a little scared...Of finding out that what the Elements had said was true.

Seeing the unfamiliar terrain go into her head, she pulled her hand back in fright.

 

…She was no longer on Mondal. That or...Mondal turned into Kralaide...But…Having seen some strange, different things…Loralle couldn’t help but think that this was an entirely different place!

If she wasn’t so emotional right now, she would be very curious upon these strange, new objects but at the moment it all seemed a bit too much for her to take in…

Taking a deep breath in, she attempted to calm herself, but her heart started to race, and she could feel it throughout her whole body. As much as she tried to fight against it, nothing helped, and her heart continued to beat rapidly.

Clutching her chest, in panic, she felt herself fall.

The Elements had spoken to her by now, but she couldn't hear them, only able to see them float above her.

Her heart raced and her blood rapidly went through her, making her face flush a scarlet red.

Then...She closed her eyes and blackness overcame her sight…

 

***

 

"Maybe we rushed it too much."

"She's just weak! Why'd it have to be a weak bitch!"

"Calm yourself! I already reminded you that it was probably the portal!"

"Weak!"

"Yo man, I like er."

"You like everyone!"

"Yeah..."

...

"We'll just wait for her to wake up. I guess we didn't think of her before we left Mondal."

"Weak bitch! She should be happy to leave Mondal! They all treated her like crap anyway."

"Not all of us!"

"Yeah, I like er."

"Shuddup! We're here now, she can just deal!"

"Fire! I told you to calm down! Now cook this for her for when she wakes up!"

"Oh right, sure."

"Man...You confuse me aye. One minute, Grrr! Then the next minute, 'Oh right, sure.' So confusing man."

"Yeah, you want to fight!?"

"Both of you are irritating!"
"Yeah! And whenever you speak, you're like...Like..."
"Haha, so confusing man!"

 

What you can't see during each conversation that the Elements have, are the shaking heads, rolling eyes and sighs. But they happen frequently, well, they would if they had bodies...

At first, perhaps an hour, they were so happy to be reunited again...After that hour, they got over the formalities and started to bicker, as they had done so before they had gotten punished by their father.

Actually, their brother Arculas seemed to be the only one that could tolerate the Elements for a long period of time...

And they got into such mischief!

This time, they had left their own galaxy to cause mayhem...But they were caught, again, then harshly slapped onto planets and broken up, again!

It was quite a normal routine actually, but this time...It had taken such a long time to become one once again!

Even Arculas is taking so long...

 

It was obvious that their father had not let them rejoin themselves before a certain period of time...If there hadn't been those conditions...Long ago...They would have been reunited!

Then everything went backwards! The Earth Tribe got killed, leaving no one with all five of the powers and they had to wait for someone to get them all back together again!

It had been a true pain! If they had been able to kill everyone, they would have done it! But no, father had made it clear that human lives weren't toys! Humph!

They all knew that the Earth Element had tried very hard to get the people of Mondal to start getting involved with it, but the people never seem to do anything but fight amongst themselves! How troublesome!

…Their father's other condition of the hatred, to make it even harder to stay together at the beginning, was the real piece of work! If the hatred hadn't existed, all they had to do was wait for the time limit he had put on them, because they were already together through the Earth Tribe's 'royal' line.

But no, the total opposite happened! They were all pulled apart and had to wait and depend on the stupid people of Mondal to be put back together again!

It was very lucky that Loralle had been born the way she was! Being abandoned in the cold earth for that short amount of time, was enough, and she had already a secondary line from being approved by water because of her father, which helped tremendously! The fire power was just an extra, but still...They couldn't communicate!

So, very tiresome!

But, luckily, the Earth Element blocked the hate and things happened the right way! Even though they had to wait a long time!

Finally!

Ah, the freedom!

 

***

 

(Note from Author: If you haven't and want to read 'Mahnu, An Immortal’s Journey', now is a good time.)

 

Following Mahnu's and Richard's death, five centuries ago, changes has happened to Kralaide. Obviously, population advanced, especially in Nowell! From three hundred people, Nowell's population excelled into thirty thousand!

And then there was currently a town that no longer was under the control of the 'King of Kralaide'! This town was Bena, in the southern east of Kralaide.

Actually, Bena was totally cut off from everyone and strangely they hadn't gained much in population in the last five centuries. Within the last fifty years, they had many people go missing and they were never been found!

Bena was under the domain of somebody named 'Hector' and the King of Kralaide had come to know...There was nothing he could do!

Hector was a God!

And this God was responsible for the doctor's that didn't do their jobs probably, back when King Richard was still alive!

 

Hector had finally left Bena, about two hundred years before, and came back with a chest. This chest, Mahnu herself knew very well! It was, 'The Chest of the God's'!

Following Hector's return back to Bena, he had gone into solitary confinement and taken into himself the power of the God's inside of the chest.

Hector seemed to have the ability to either trap or release. It was indeed, his 'trapping' ability that trapped all the God's inside the chest in the first place! He 'trapped' Mahnu's memories of meeting him in Bena, before 'The Siege' had taken place, back in the year of 423, to which now the year was 2180. He knew trapping the God's would work...As he had already done it himself!

He only had finished releasing and trapping the God powers and souls inside of the chest and into himself, ten years ago.

Not long after that, Bena became his and a barrier was even put into place, to prevent anyone from entering or exiting the town.

Food wasn't a problem, as Bena had been the town that rice was abundant in...But the people became very scared. They tried to revolt, which led to losing a third of Bena's population, but that was how they found out that Hector was immortal...

In fear, some people had tried to escape, but they had died. The barriers that they had tried to get through...Disintegrates anything or anyone! It was, indeed, another kind of 'trap'!

 

In the space of a year, Bena's population was drastically reduced. Then, the remaining population couldn't do anything but accept their fate, by being stuck in a cage.

After the people looked like they had calmed down, Hector searched for the 'Box', that held the God's Thelmos and Eliza, and finally found which town it was hidden in the year before.

To get it, he killed whomever was in Havlish at that time and put a barrier up around it also. At least half of the King's Loyal Knights had been stationed there, as well as their families…

Havlish had lost at least eighty thousand people...The event was quite a downfall to Kralaide, as the King couldn't seem to touch Hector and help tie up the revenge that the Loyal Knights in Conrella had. The Knights could not fight back and felt like they were lost with nowhere to go.

 

The Loyal Royal Knights, who weren't at Havlish at that time, were very sad and they could only gather together, quietly.

Even Bena's problem hadn't affected Kralaide as much as the loss of Havlish did…As the soldiers who keep Kralaide safe, they fell into a mess and many disbanded from their so-called duties, which left the King with half the amount of guards and soldiers in Conrella that he did before Havlish had been touched by Hector.

It started to become quite scary, as the King became somewhat defenseless...

In a time of peril, the King was offered help from a greedy governor...And within a couple of months, the 'royal' line within Conrella had been killed in high treason, shaking up the entire land of Kralaide even more!

Towns started to live by their own rules, even one of them brought back slavery, making the poor do the rich man's bidding. Costs of trade went up and they no longer all went to the capital, keeping what their town had for themselves...

The land of Kralaide was truly in a mess!