Chapter 1

"It was said that man had made an attempt to exterminate itself from the world because of the pollution that began to rise and destroy the earth. Gaia the mother of nature turned his back on man and creatures of the sea began to make contact with us. Using us to their satisfaction and later throwing us into the sea as an offering to their brethren. 

I can not recall the number of times my grandma shuddered in fear while she narrated it with a solemn expression and teary eyes. The story of the downfall of man and how we lost our right to rule the Lands.

The creatures of the sea had come to us with new power. Power that sparkled in our eyes with delight and hunger. Power that made us thirst for more and power that could bring the downfall of a nation. They were of two natures. One was called magic and the other The art of witchcraft.

Magic was pure and of the earth. It was used by people to help each other and later returned back to the earth. Witchcraft on the other hand...was a wicked power. Power born to make us greedy for what is not ours. Power that blinds our eyes from the world which made us steal from Gaia. 

At the time of magic and witchcraft, man had one king. A king that ruled over the world instead of a small nation. This King was known as the world King and it was a position entitled to the world's strongest human, be it magic or witchcraft. 

The third World King was a witch. She had made too many contacts with the creatures of the sea and had too many loose ends. She was a debtor that refused to fix those loose ends and one night. On the 2nd moon after her ordination, an incident occurred. 

A creature of the sea of great power had come knocking at the iron gates of the castle in search of the World King for her payment. It waited 7 months with no food or water and on the 8th day of the 8th month, she died 

On hearing the news, the World King rejoiced for being able to fool who was known as the strongest being in the Sea. THALASSA but on that night. The moon turned red and sea tides began to raise as if preparing to swallow the earth. 

This persisted for a month with the tides increasing by half each year. By now, most of the land had been covered by the sea and so people headed to the mountain tops to seek refug"-"Wait ! Hold up !" 

A young girl about 18 years sighed as she stopped her story to turn to her left to face her very curious friend. 

"soo….how is this story related to the Stone King ?" A young boy, 20 years putting on round glasses asked. He had gray wavy coloured hair and white skin. His build was fairly good. 

"oh come on, Nathaniel, this is the 5th time you've stopped Ruby from narrating the story!" A young bulky man yelled as he picked up a stone from the ground and flung it at him while he dodged chuckling.

"It's not funny Nathaniel, you could have easily postponed the questions for when she was done with the story" a young girl, 19 years said as she sighed. She had silky black hair that ran down her waist and a part of it covered her left eye. 

"It's alright guys, he never really liked the story anyways" the girl, Ruby sighed. Her hair was red in color. "The stone king is a legend. He wasn't the world's king then but he was still able to fight off the sea people for a long time…something we can't even do now". She sighed. 

"Honestly, it would be nice if such power existed now…would make our jobs a lot easier" a man in his mid 20s said as he picked up a fish from a bucket and threw it behind him. A large wyvern gobbled it up almost immediately   

"It can't be helped….he's known as the stone king for a reason. Even he couldn't last so long and ended up turning into stone at the end…." Ruby looked up at the sky as she sighed once again. 

There were a total of five people and surrounding them were 5 mythical creatures known as wyverns. Three black, one brown and one white. 

They were  seated around a campfire in the middle of the night as the moon glowed down showing its glorious nature. They all seemed to be wearing a black jacket with a symbol of a griffin printed on the sides. 

"Yeah…..I wonder how it was….those days when we used to live on land…" Ruby looked closely at the flames as they burnt brightly. 

"It can't be helped. In fact maybe it's not even real". Nathaniel said, taking a final bite from his smoked fish.

"Don't listen to him Ruby, I'm sure he'll come save us one day" The man in his mid 20s said as he got up from the ground dusting himself. "Alright…I'll be going to my tent now…." He slowly turned towards the girl with black hair and smirked before walking away towards a tent. 

The girl with black hair blushed for a while before saying. "I-I-I'll be going too….so…don't..don't find me !" She stuttered then quickly went after the man. 

"Hah...love must be sweet huh…" the bulky boy with spiky black hair said as he stood up as well while the rest sighed. "Well…guess we'll end our conversation here. It's almost 12" 

"Shit ! Really ?" Nathaniel took a peak at the stop watch he took out from his pocket. 

"When did it get so late ?....Gregory…could you put out the fire". 

"Al"-"Wait ! Can't you leave it for a little while longer ?" Ruby yelled just as he was about to put it off. 

Nathaniel and Gregory stared at each other and then at her. 

"You realize why we have to put it off before 12 right ? They move around mostly from 12 to 6" Nathaniel said 

"And not just that ... .they're attracted to anything man-made" gregory muttered . 

"...I know…but we hardly have this kind of light up there….and besides we put up a defensive barrier" 

"That isn't enough, Ruby…you know how many wyvern riders have died from this kind of carelessness" 

"It's alright Gregory….." Nathaniel stared at Ruby. "Put it off before you sleep….understood…" 

"Nathaniel ?" Gregory muttered, staring at him, not so surprised with his decision. 

"Don't worry! I will" Ruby smiled brightly at them. 

Gregory sighed and turned around towards his tent. "Do what you want". 

".....do be careful…we don't know what happens at this part of the ocean ... .this is our first time being here…" 

"I know…I'm an adult now…you don't have to be worried about me". Ruby said, still smiling. 

Nathaniel sighed with a worried expression as he went into his tent as well.

"....they're way too worried…right Tika ?" She looked back as the white coloured wyvern walked up to her, seating besides her as it dropped its head on her lap. 

"Good girl" she muttered as she patted her head. 

She looked at the fire again. "Fire made without magic….it's really cool isn't it" she muttered. 

They were on a small island with no signs of life and surrounded by a vast amount of water much deeper and farther than ever seen before. The breeze was cool and soft and silence filled her ears. It didn't take long before her head dropped while calm snoring could be heard.

Meanwhile, at about 50 miles from the island, a blue head with fin-like ears popped out of the water, observing the island. The red flames caught its attention as its black bulging eyes closed and opened again. It smiled shining its sharp canine teeth as it slowly submerged back into the water.