Electric Bonds

Chapter 1 - Arriving in Volcansburg

"Loranya, hurry up!" Kretnya snapped, her lightweight armour catching the light of the lava river below.

"Coming..." Loranya called, gingerly testing the sturdiness of a large rock with the toe of her boot before stepping on to it.

Her sister muttered curses from the other side of the lava flow as she did the same again before hopping on to another rock. Loranya was thankful no one could hear Kretnya; her older sibling's language was foul.

When she eventually reached the safety of the path, Kretnya dragged her along by the collar of her mail shirt and told her she was absolutely useless.

They were out here, on the outskirts of the Fire realm in a magic and mystical land called Marrayon, trying to reach the great town of Volcansburg before noon.

Loranya couldn't believe that a few months ago, she'd been washing her clothes in the small river on the edge of her little village in the Earth realm, and now, she was crossing a river of lava, dressed for combat. She found it hard to believe that she was 'the saviour'

Marrayon contained four realms; The Earth realm was quiet and peaceful and made up of many small, agricultural villages. Lots of families lived off the food that thier own farms provided and the surplus would be sold to other realms. The soil was fertile and the population mainly consisted of farmers and carpenters.

The Fire realm was an arid and unforgiving wasteland littered with volcanoes and boiling hot geysers, but several towns had sprung up over two-hundred years ago. Since then, it had steadily grown to create a place full of fiery passion, amazing culture and skilled blacksmiths. It was also renowned for its warriors, who were brave and strong, favouring ruthless attack more than any other strategy.

By far the most magical place in Marrayon was the water realm. This was a realm dominated by different tribes who were very spiritual and strongly religious people. It was mostly sea and rivers, with houses raised on stilts above the water. Bridges that linked all of these huts to one another showed a close sense of community. The water realm was known for its mages and healers who were skilled in thier trade and, according to legend, could heal anything as long as the person wasn't already dead.

Last but not least was the air realm. Notorious for its ability to produce graceful, agile warriors, this race was highly intelligent, normally docile, but deadly adversaries and stealthy attackers. The only way to reach the air realm was to find the cloud paths to the south of the Earth realm, but few ever venture out of their homelands, for each was different and difficult to adjust to, so most chose to stick to what they knew best.

Bieng from the Earth realm, Loranya wasn't used to the searing heat and lack of greenery that plagued the Fire realm, but she had to be here. If she wanted to save Marrayon, she'd just have to live with it...

"Finally!" Kretnya breathed a sigh of relief.

Ahead was the city Volcansburg. Large and built in to one of the very few dormant volcanoes, this city was a cultural centre in the Fire realm and many people lived here, not all of them human.

Walking through cobbled streets, Loranya gazed around in awe. The people she saw wore more interesting clothing than in the Earth realm, some of the women wearing mail and a tunic accompanied by trousers and boots, like herself, whilst some wore short-sleeved shirts and shorts, which was probably more appropriate considering the heat.

Most of the men were muscular and carried numerous weapons from swords to clubs. Kretnya had wanted to train here as a warrior to learn about the more vicious side of offence, but Loranya thought she vicious enough already...

"In here" Kretnya ordered, pointing to a tavern called 'The Flaming Bull'.

When they entered, the smell of beer and smoke assailed Loranya's nostrils. Just seeing the scarred and bloody faces and bodies of some of the men made her back up in to a corner and stay there.