It had been fifty years since the last western raid. Red flags with phoenix insignia were seen no where else across the realm except at the sky high volcanos in the Red Stoichi Villages of the Blazing Sun.

Dakyres from the other three Stoichi Tribes never dared near the Lava Sea let alone set foot on the red sands of the Red Stoichi Tribe. They were considered traitors, betrayers to their own existence.

The alliance between the westerners and the Red Stoichi Tribe dated back to days no one could remember. The Dakyres who knew were dead, well most of them were. The ones who were still alive were too disfigured to talk or traumatized to remember.

Fifty years and the people still suffered from the ruins of the last western raid, or hoist, as the people of the Blazing Sun had began to call it. Just to make fun of the agony other Stoichi Tribes had to go through every fifty years. Dakyres were immortal, but without the necessary nourishment of food and water they would die. They could live on for centuries in the right circumstances and add just a year or two to their lives, so fifty years was a very short time, a week if you were to compare to the mortal westerners who were relentless and invincible to whole lot of the Dakyrian population.

DELTA:
A VILLAGE IN THE BLUE STOICHI TRIBE OF THE DAKYRES OF THE CRESCENT MOON.

"You need to come inside, Faldrey. It's getting very late," Zaneri called out to her son from the balcony of their wooden cottage.

The Water Dakyres lived and associated in a very unique way, they lived on islands surrounded by sea. Each island was a village, and across every sea was another island which housed a Crescent Moon village. Faldrey and his family were from Delta village, the island closet to thick tropical rain forests of the Green Stoichi Tribe of the people of the Great Mustard Tree.

"But mama, the sprites are more active at night," Faldrey whined.

"I know, but it's not safe. Your sisters are already asleep, you should sleep too."

Faldrey stopped making the water sculpture he was creating, making the water splash all over and soak back into the soil. He skipped over to the stairs to plead with his mother to let him stay.

"I was going to ask the sprites to teach me a new water trick," Faldrey spoke with his soft voice.

He had just turned seventeen, despite his age he still had a joyful spirit like that of a child, and had no intentions of becoming a warrior like most of his peers. He paid more attention to healing and craft, practices considered to be the work of the female Dakyres with an affinity for water.

"But you're still learning the water sculpture, you haven't perfected it yet." She smiled, stroking the tender skin of his face.

Zaneri and her husband had two daughters and a son, but deep down within her, she felt she had three daughters. Faldrey looked just as beautiful as her daughters, with long, wavy, soft hair and cherry blossom pink lips. He was seventeen but hadn't started having any major male growth sprouts, like thick arms, broad shoulders or a firm abdomen. He had a slender figure like his sisters.

"Yes, but I've understood the whole concept of it already. I'm ready to learn something new." He countered.

Faldrey was the last among his sisters, they were both older than him. He was closer to his mum for many reasons: Lancelot, Faldrey's father always complained about his slender figure and long hair whilst boasting about how he had developed strong arm muscles by the age of twelve, he also tried to get his son to participate in male activities like hunting and fishing.

"Okay how about this, you perfect the water sculpture today inside the house, then tomorrow you can spend time with the sprites and learn a new craft."

"Promise?" He beamed toothily.

"I promise." She assured him, stroking his long, brown hair which usually turned a bright blue whenever it got wet. It was the same for everyone in their family except her first daughter, Veera. Who wasn't gifted with an affinity for water like the rest of them.

He walked around and got into the house, joining his mum at the balcony.

"Come on let's go inside." She wrapped her hands around her son and ushered the both of them into the house.

On getting inside Faldrey noticed everyone was still awake. His father was sitting by the fireplace smoking his pipe, his sisters Veera and Daeli were playing _A Full Moon_. A Crescent Moon board game.

He gasped and looked at his mother with sad eyes.

"But you said they were asleep," he whined.

"They're supposed to be asleep." She enunciated, squeezing his arm gently. "But go on, you can join them." She nudged him lightly, urging him to join his sisters.

"I wanted to play with the sprites, but now I get to play with them." He motioned with his hands at his current predicament.

"Lucky you." Daeli chuckled, grabbing his arm and pulling him to join them on the floor.

"They always win! I don't know maybe they cheat?" He paused, "the sprites never cheat." He grumbled as he sat.

"You need to stop playing with those sprites," Lancelot turned in his chair to face Faldrey with a stern look. "If you're going to keep playing with them at least tell them to teach you some warrior techniques. You know nothing." He scolded, with a handful of disappointment.

"I don't want to learn any warrior techniques." Faldrey muttered under his breath, but it was loud enough to get to his father.

"No you don't," he scoffed, "your sister Veera will be more of a warrior than you'll ever be, if you continue like this."

That statement wasn't new to him, he'd been hearing it since he was ten. It was his father's anthem now and he'd managed to develop a thick skin to it. He didn't mind at all, he wasn't bothered by the fact that Veera might actually be a better warrior than he was. He had no desire to be a real warrior anyway.

Zaneri walked over to her husband's side and took a seat beside him by the fire place, looking at him with pleading eyes. Lancelot completely ignored his wife's plea. He thought the reason Faldrey turned out this way was because of the way she always pampered him.

"We're going hunting together, on the next Dwokaan," he puffed smoke into the air, "you better get ready."

Faldrey stopped his play when he heard what his father had just said. The Dwokaan was a festive period every year when Zaal, the god of nature, permitted Dakyres to hunt down and kill other living things around them. It occurred only once a year because the cycle of life had to be balanced. The Red Stoichi Tribe however, gave absolutely no care to the balance because they hunted down and killed animals anyhow they liked. Dragons were almost extinct. They'd turned into violent, hostile creatures. They used to be friendly to the Blazing Sun Dakyres until they started hunting them down for glory and for meat.

The dragons couldn't leave the red sands or the volcanic mountains of the Red Stoichi Tribe, because they couldn't survive anywhere else in the realm. So they secluded themselves to the highest parts of the volcanic mountains, survival instincts turning them into ferocious killers.

It only applied to three Stoichi Tribes, the blue, the Red and the white. The Green Stoichi Tribe of the Dakyres of the Great Mustard Tree were vegetarian monks. They lived off only the plentiful leafs and vegetables, and the bountiful bouquet of fruits that grew all over their villages.

"I don't want to go hunting, I hate the Dwokaan." Faldrey protested.

"You don't have a choice." His father replied dismissively.

"But I should! I can't kill an innocent bear or a beautiful cattle egret." Faldrey argued, his voice rising above his father's.

"You should watch your tone, young man." Lancelot warned.

Faldrey grunted but took the warning seriously. His father was gravely intimidating when angry.

"And yes you can," Lancelot continued, "we're permitted by Zal to do so. It's the one time of the year when we are allowed to slaughter and acquire meat for ourselves. The meat that you love so much." He emphasized on his last sentence.

Faldrey was rendered speechless, he couldn't argue anymore because he was caught guilty. He did love meat.

Despite all of Zaneri's attempts to calm her husband down with her eyes, he ignored her gaze and continued puffing on his wooden pipe.

The silence in the room spoke volumes, everyone felt tense, especially Faldrey. He'd gone numb he couldn't play anymore, he just sat there staring at the moon board wondering why it was so necessary for him to become a warrior.

They kept telling them stories of the westerners and the Fire Dakyres who had fire in their eyes. Stories of the western raid and how it had taken place almost every fifty years for as long as they could remember. They warned of the dangers of another raid that might be looming since it's already been another fifty year. Boys had been training to be warriors, but things got especially serious this year. This year marked exactly fifty years since the last raid.

He was wise enough to know it wasn't a myth, everyone knew about the raids. It wasn't a myth to anyone. The tribes were still recovering from the ruins of the last raid.

"I could umm, go hunting with you again this Dwokaan, if you like. Since Faldrey is still not ready to go." Veera offered, attempting to reduce the tension in the room.

"No!" Lancelot chided, his voice had gone all the way up to the roof of the room. The sound of waves became louder as the water responded to his anger. Cold air had taken over the room, chasing all the warmth out and putting out the fire in the fire place. "Faldrey is coming with me and that's final!" His speech was reinforced by the element he had involuntarily stirred due to his anger.

Lancelot felt regret the second he realised what he'd done. He did have problems with losing control of his Stoichi and agitating his element whenever he got angry, but this seemed like the peak of it. He lost control in front of his entire family.

He heaved a heavy sigh while rubbing his temples.

"Pardon me," he huffed. He got up slowly from his chair and started heading towards the door to his chamber. When he got to the door, he turned lazily and looked straight at Faldrey with his sad, tired eyes. "You know, during the last raid my father got killed. Mother, my siblings they all got abducted. Your mother's twin sister and her mother died as well. All I could do was grab your mother and run to the sea. I ran because I was naive, and scared, and too weak to do anything that would've made a difference." He spoke expressing his bitterness with the motion of his hands, and his now teary voice. "I vowed to never let that happen again," he sniffed, "I'm just doing this so you don't feel the same way I felt. I'm just doing this so you don't hate yourself for not being able to do anything, not being able to defend yourself and the ones you love." Tears had already begun to trail down his face but he centered himself and wished them away so his children wouldn't see him crying. "I love you all, I'm trying my best to be strong for the ones I love." He looked at everyone in the room, then his eyes landed on Faldrey. "You've to be strong enough to protect the ones you love." With that he exited the room.

Lancelot hit the mute button before leaving the room, everyone was dumbstruck. Faldrey had begun to cry, he felt like a disappointment. He wasn't as strong as his father wanted him to be. He feared he wouldn't be strong enough to protect the people that he loves when the time comes.

Zaneri was the first to speak.

"Okay children, it's time to rest your heads and float on the calm sea." She ordered, getting the children to stand up and make to leave the room.

"Faldrey, dear." She called him before he could leave.

Placing both her hands on his shoulder she blew softly at his face, the cool breeze from her mouth instantly dried up Faldrey's tears. She always did that whenever any of her children cried.

"There, much better." She said, straightening his robe.

Faldrey didn't feel any better, though he'd stopped crying.

"I need you to listen to me," she started, "your father loves you so much, he loves all of us so much. He's just sad that his son has no interest in becoming a warrior, and that's fine!" She spoke assuringly. "You don't need to be a warrior to protect the ones you love, there are so many other ways you can help. Your destiny is different from his, I know that because you're my son. And because you're my son you're destined to achieve great things, keep your head up and prepare yourself for the time when you'll need to fulfill your destiny." She held his chin in between her thumb and her index finger, slowing tipping his head up. "Okay?"

Faldrey sniffed, he felt like he was going to start crying again but there were no tears. He just nodded.

"Okay?" She repeated.

"Mhmm," he hummed, nodding his head again, a bit more agile this time.

"My boy," she pulled him close into an embrace.

Zaneri being a tall, beautiful woman was still a few inches taller than her seventeen year old son.

"My beautiful, beautiful boy." She muttered into his soft, long hair while passionately placing kisses on his head.