INTRO

"7 years ago we were still here" Damen Repeated to himself, he walked towards the hill dressed in green. Wrinkles across Damon's forehead, his hair dulled down by time, he bore a scar from neck to eye and he walked like he was drunk. "You're killing me Sharon" Damen mopingly laughs. As he arrives at the graves of his family, he places food and pours water for them. "It's not going to get easier is it" 

Damen stared at the falling sky for hours talking to his past, to the ones he loved six feet under. Everything so far was peaceful but Damen always attracted trouble. He heard footsteps from behind him and could sense the immense amount of energy as well. He turned around to the gaze of a man dressed in a formal cloak, his lips were marked with the sign of nobility, his white hair shined deep with yellow from the setting sun.

"What do you want?" Damen asks, "never mind that… I don't want to disturb them."

"Damen?" the man asks, "are you Damen Rutha?"

"If you're going to try and fight me, I warn you I am not in a good mood."

"There is no need for bloodshed, I just want to talk"

"Talk?" Damen said, brushing the dirt off his bottom as he stood up, "Go ahead then, talk."

"I have something that might interest you." the man said, "my name is Ray Wrenchest, of House Raine. We've heard of your achievements, how you defeated the horde of Hurdues, and we want you on a special task."

"How much?" Damen asks, "For nobility to come this far east, it must mean the prize is well worth it."

"It's not for money," Ray responds.

"Then you came here to waste my time"

"It's for something greater Mr. Rutha, we can grant you your family back."

Damen stares at Ray intently and Ray continues.

"You heard of the tales about our guardian, yes? We are with the life god, We can grant this opportunity. We can revive your family, to their former selves, of course no tricks."

Damen looked in contemplation, he wondered of the task, and then of the reward, His wife at his side once more, his children able to play in the warmth of an afternoon spring, He yearned for this more than anything else, he felt a strong urgency, and knew this could be his only chance, "What is the task?"

"I cannot tell you until you have accepted this request fully"

Quickly Damen responds, "I accept, What is it?"

Ray gives Damen a satisfied smile, "There's been a prophecy by Seer Lindar,"

"Lindar?" Damen thinks to himself, "the same one that predicted the Divine barrier shattering?"

"He sees the arrival of a savior, a child of gray, the one who will defeat the darkest and repair the divine seal."

"You want me to find the child?"

"Yes, that and we want you to bring it to us, house Rain, and only us, not the other houses, even Lindar. Then you will be granted any wish by the power of our guardian."

"A child of gray" Damen murmurs, "is that all you know?"

Ray throws a sealed envelope of papers, "read this, there's a map in there as well, it's all the leads we have so far"

Before Damen could ask more questions Ray already disappeared. 

Damen opens the envelope inside 4 pages and a general map of the kingdom. Damen reads, "in the Andes district there is a boy connected to the Moon god, Kuso Yeng, a peasant boy…"

"Of gray" Damen thinks. He gave the grave of his family one last shine, he placed flowers and rocks around them, "I'll see you guys again" Damen says as he heads north towards Andes district. 

Kuso sat on the stone floor, wet to the touch, the cracks above dripped water endlessly. Kuso was tied to the bars of the prison, his hands in rusted metal chains. Bored from talking to himself for an entire week, he listens to the faint echoes of the keepers outside.

"There's been more demands by the houses Sir," 

"Just keep telling them no"

"Then who will get this boy? House spark is already willing to give us triple the amount requested"

"Obviously there's more to be gained, he's been blessed by the moon god, the prize will rise with time."

"Moon god, Moon god, Moon god" Kuso cursed, "why do they care so much?" returning his gaze at the rusted chains, he pulls it as hard as he could once more, but again a waste of energy. Kuso realized early on that the chains were not normal, they've been imbedded by magic, the only way he could get out was to decipher the seal.

As the hours passed, Kuso's hopeless moping ended when an echo of footsteps started to become louder, he could tell there was going to be another prisoner, the grunts of the man and the anger of the guards told him so.

The man arrived with a mean stare, his hair a nest, and his arms wrapped in tightropes. He waited for the guards to fully leave the building before talking, "boy blessed by the gods". His eyes shined blue across the room staring directly at Kuso.

"I have a name," Kuso responds.

"You're a peasant's boy, but you're blessed?"

Kuso was annoyed by the constant words of him being "blessed", "Blessed? I have been sitting in a cell for the past few days, might as well be a curse."

"The gods picked you for a reason," the man responds. "Show me your hands boy."

"For what purpose?"

"I will break you out."

Kuso laughs sarcastically, "I don't trust strangers sir."

"Wise, but you yourself said that you're stuck, now you have a possible opportunity to leave. Will you use it?"

Kuso raises his arms showing the bruises and cuts around the area of where the chains touched his skin.

"You can't force escape that chain."

"I know, its embedded by magic," Kuso responds.

 "There's more to it" the man says, "that magic is a weak seal, it detects the heart rate of its prisoner, if the person's heartbeat rises it becomes stronger, if it is slow enough the magic will cease."

Kuso's eyes brightened as the man continued.

"You can escape, but it requires you to suffer."

"What do you mean?" Kuso nags.

"In order for your heart rate to slow down dramatically you must surround yourself with something cold, are you hydra bonded?" the man asks.

"Yes, but I've never trained." Kuso responds

"That does not matter, if you want to escape you must form a coat of ice around yourself, force yourself to temporarily die."

"What?!" Kuso exclaimed in confusion, "how would that help?"

"Like I said, the seal around your arms only works when there is a heartbeat. You must force yourself to temporarily die, in that instant I will incinerate the chains,"

"But you're tied up yourself." Kuso examines.

"I am no ordinary man."

After a moment of silent thoughts kusl decides to take the leap of faith and prepares himself, He only ever controlled the elements once, during a raid by hurdues, even then it wasn't he who controlled it. "How do I use my bond?"

"There isn't much I can do to help with that, you must imagine it yourself."

Kuso took a deep breath, he imagined the room that surrounded him, the rough walls, the water that seeped through the cracks, the bars that held him inside. He imagined the energy that engulfed him, and water began surrounding his body, freezing when it touched his skin.

In the moment that he felt he had passed, he saw the image of the shining moon, brighter than the sun's rays, illuminating him while he stood above everything. That moment disappeared as quickly as it came, the man woke him up. 

Kuso was out of the cells, in a forest surrounded by darkness, the moon peeking through the gaps of the leaves above him. 

"Who are you?" Kuso asks the man. 

"This is as far as I will take you, you must do the rest yourself" the man responds, "I am a protector of the realm."