Tales Of Earthem: P.O.T.S
Chapter 14

Verse 13: Symbol of the GoldenFour Winged Bird & the Fallen Jade Warrior

The 3kids strolled into the heart of the town, Jyro had never been on thisparticular side of town so he was quite intrigued by the various toweringbuildings and heights, “ don’t you think these buildings are really huge guys” Jyropondered “ if you think these buildings are high wait till you see the RoyalKingdom” said Tristine , “ yeah I heard the castles walls are made from refinedwhite stones and tower as high as the clouds” Johnny added, “speaking of theroyal kingdom, how far is it exactly from where we are” asked Jyro, “ that’s agood question actually its about 20 miles away from the town ,west from here”Tristine stated. They finally arrived atthe building and the first thing that caught Jyros eyes was a huge golden fourwinged eagle crest on the front of the building, the gold crest glimmered inthe spotlight and did so especially when the sun’s rays lit against it. Underthe crest lay words written in italics but in a language Jyro didn’t understand‘ReginaeRegali Bureau’ itsaid.

Theyproceeded inside into the building where they suddenly ended up inside atunnel, whilst Tristine led the way the two boys frantically looked around thempuzzled about where they had ended up. By the time they made it to the end ofthe tunnel two brass brown doors sat in front of them, there was no knob so itseemed that the door opened from the other side! Bang Bang Bang! The sounds ofTristines bashing on the doors were heard, after a brief pause of silence thesmall compartment at the top opened with a pair of eyes peering through. Thekids gasped back in shock and slowly greeted the eyes watching down on them, “hellothere errrr sir or madam but were here on special school research do you mindif we come in? Asked Tristine nervously whilst the other two cowered behindher, “……. Let me see it” a deep voice spoke “huh see what sorry” Tristinequestioned “the symbol….. The symbol of approval from the Queen show it to me”the 3 of them stared blankly at one another they didn’t have an ounce of ideaof what the seal was,” well I don’t think we have a seal but if you justopen up will explain to you that were…” Bang! The latch slammed shut. “Wellthat was rude” exclaimed the young girl “what did ‘it’ mean by the seal ofapproval “ Jyro questioned “ who knows and who cares Jyro honestly I told youguys this is like suicide how in the world to you expect us to get in there, ohoh wait because we attend the Canta academy right yeah cause that worked apeach didn’t it” Johnny angrily spoke, Just as Johnny finished his rant thesounds of the door unlocking was heard, the brass wooden doors creaked open andthe kids slowly walked inside, and looked upwards to the sight of a very tallwomen with dark short hair dressed in all black, she was so tall that thelength of her legs was taller than the kids. “ my word how tall is he” gaspedJohnny whilst they slowly approached the tall figure “ I heard you speak thename of Canta Academy and judging by your uniform you wasn’t lying, the tallwomen bent down and moved her face towards them the kids rose backwards infear” aha there it is.. The symbol of the queen” the lady said as she pointedtowards the small crest on the kids uniforms it was the same symbol that Jyrosaw on the face of the building, “now then you may enter children of Canta butI warn you this is a sacred place and any intolerance will not be forgiven” shesaid whilst the kids quickly nodded their heads in approval before steadilywalking past her.

Theplace had a very grand feel to it, there was countless statue busts of famouspeople all around them, and the ceiling was made out of glass so you could seethe blue sky above and the sun that gleamed through. There was two floors withone huge stone stair case that connected the two, the kids hadn’t seen anythinglike it as they walked around and marvelled at the artefacts around them, eachobject was placed inside a glassed box it felt and looked like museum whereasthe floor above was filled with 100’s of books. “Ok guys I’m going to have alook upstairs and see if I can replace the manuscript up there, by the looks of itthis place is un-surprisingly lightly guarded so just act normal and pretendyou’re looking at the artefacts alright” Tristine then went away to the secondfloor to search for the script whilst Jyro and Johnny toured around the firstfloor. Jyro found himself gazing at the numerous paintings that hung on thewall, one in particular caught his eye, and it was of a man dressed in finegold armour with a long purple cape that draped along the floor, the man hadfinely cut cheekbones and with hazel eyes Jyro almost mistaken him for a womenat first, and when he looked closely at the bottom it read “King Mars” in fineitalics. Jyro stood and watched thepainting for a little while he noticed it bore resemblance to one of thestatues located on the entrance of the academy, “Jyro come here look at this,it’s the dagger of St Peter I heard it’s steel can never rust or be shattered,cor blimey who woulda thought it ay” said Johnny in excitement, Johnny took outa small camera and begun taking pictures, although when the tall Lady noticedthis she immediately let her ill feelings about it be known to him.

Thetwo boys continued wondering around the lower floor when Jyro began wonderinghow long it had been since he heard anything from Tristine,” oi Johnny wehaven’t heard anything from Trish you think she’s ok” he asked,” ah best toleave her to it mate she’s probably just found a rare book or something she’sinto shell call us when she’s found something” replied Johnny hastily in eagerto get back to his picture taking, but Jyro couldn’t let it go for some reasonso he grabbed Johnnys arm and dragged him up the stone steps to the second floor.The two boys entered the floor which was literally a maze of books that toweredaround them,”woahh , and I thought our library was big” blurted Jonny “ itsdefo got to take the cleaner weeks to clean these shelves” whilst Johnnyrambled on Jyro begun to grow a bit moreconcerned, “Tristine! You there, Trishh! Answer me” the boy shouted to thereply of nothing , Jyro hastily started jogging along the isles weaving in andout searching for his friend but every isle looked the same, “ Johnny don’t youreplace it weird? Where the only people in here” asked Jyro but the boy heard noreply, he then turned around and realised Johnny had disappeared as well. Jyrostheory had been confirmed and something strange was happening, he immediatelyturned around and sprinted through the isle trying to remember the path he camethrough. As soon as he turned the corner he was impeded by a force and fellbackwards, “ ah and what might you be doing running around MR Thomas” said thetall lady who towered over the boy, Jyro got up and immediately dashed awayfrom the lady. Jyros efforts to run were futile as she immediately swept theboy of his feet with her long scrawny legs sending him rolling onto the floor,“Now- Now we can’t have you getting away now” she said whilst Jyro slowlyshifted backwards he looked to the side and saw through the space between thebooks Johnny’s lifeless body being dragged away. A nerve suddenly twitched inJyros head, he then pointed his weapon towards the lady and screamed “ FuliminusPulsus”!zzzzappp BANG! , an electrical shockwave pulsed towards the ladysending her crashing into the towering book shelves , whilst the books beguntumbling down onto the lady Jyro quickly got up and raced towards the mendragging Johnny away. A small sized hole opened on the side of the floor andthe men and Johnny jumped inside, Jyro raced with all his might as the holebegun slowly closing in, !CRASH! the boy turned around to see the giant sizedlady on all fours chasing him with fury in her eyes “ I’m going to Rip yourlittle legs off” she squealed whilst Jyro quickly moved faster, just before shewas about to grab him he jumped into the closing gap on the floor and escapedher grasp.

Jyroswirled down a compact sized slide before eventually falling out onto the earth,whilst he lay on the ground he picked a piece of the dirt below him up andrealised it was soft ground, Jyro got up and looked at his surroundings, thewalls were damp and old with burning candles being the only light source. Theplace resembled a dungeon. Jyro slowly followed the tracks in the mud that wereleft behind by the shady figures that carried Johnny , whilst he walked on hemet various rusty gates that were left open, he walked past the fifth gate andthe candles stopped appearing. Whilst the boy walked through the dark path hissurroundings felt nostalgic to him, like when he first met Jack. Up ahead ofhim he saw a white light signalling the end of the tunnel, that’s probablywhere his friends were taken he thought so the young boy clenched his two fistsand stormed into the white light. The light was so bright that it dazed hissight for a few seconds and when the pitch finally faded Jyro found himself in anunknown place. The room was spacious and throughout the walls and ceilingsthere was countless holes and Jyro could vaguely make out animal noises comingfrom them, vines drooped down from the ceilings with partial areas of greeneryaround him, as Jyro continued walked forwards a long stream of water was oneach side of him, the room resembled a miniature rainforest. When Jyro snappedback into reality he looked ahead of him and saw a large tree that stood in themiddle of the room, perched on the front of the tree was a small throne, hesquinted his eyes and looked closely he was sure that a man was sleeping on thethrone. He began walking forward towards the tree as the floor beneath changedfrom soft ground into hard concrete in a matter of steps, “ JYRO, HELP ME IM UPHERE” a sudden voice screamed out to Jyro and as he looked up he found his twofriends bound with vines while being suspended in the air, “ J…J…Johnny how inheavens did you get up there” he asked , “MONKEYS JYRO THEIR FLIPPING MONKEYSYOU NEED TO GET US OUT OF HERE QUICK” Johnny bellowed , “is Tristine alrightshe’s not moving” Jyro exclaimed .In a sudden flash Jyros body became numb,sweat begun to form on his face and a terrible feeling formed inside him, helooked towards the big tree and felt eyes gazing upon him, eyes that gazed offdeath. He heard a loud yawn followed by mummers coming from the holes, hewalked closer towards the tree where he saw everything clearly, there indeedwas a man sleeping on the throne, he was dressed in Jade Green garments thatlooked too big for him, his hair was blonde with a long ponytail that lay onhis thigh with a ribbon attached to it, he had no shoes on but only banglesaround his ankles and wrists. The man slowly opened his eyes and looked atJyro, “ you took your time little one, I was almost about to kill your friendup there for making so much noise” spoke the man, Jyros heart suddenly skippeda beat as he tried his best to hold his ground “hahaha I’m onlyplaying…GAURDIANS! Where are you two” the man clapped his hands and out frombehind the tree two creature like things came scurrying to his call. One of thecreatures had the body and head of a rat it was dressed in small armour andwore a mask over its head and stood about 3 ft tall, the other creature was arabbit it was just as tall as the rat but was clothed in a kimono with woodensandals holding some scrolls, Jyro was suddenly reminded of Oviz the small goatthat followed Jack. “Sire, yes sire you called” they both said simultaneously ,then both turned and lookedtowards Jyro who was stunned and a bit scared at the sight of them, “thevisitor I see “said the rat “oh the visitor is here” responded the Rabbit. “Whoare you people and why did you take my friends away” Jyro asked, the man on thethrone suddenly begun to laugh hysterically “in some cultures it’s a custom totell your name to the person who’s about to kill you” the same said, the man’sface suddenly turned as he slowly made his way down from the throne. Jyro thenfelt the air go thin he could hear his heart beating and slowly backed away, itwas the same feeling he got when he first met Jack as the man opened up hisarms his robe opened slightly showing his chest, Jyro looked closely and saw amedallion hanging from the man’s neck the symbol was the same as the one on hisuniform, “shall we play a little game then little boy” the man said closing inon Jyro. One of the two creatures suddenly tugged at his Jade robe, the manstopped and scowled down at him “ erm sorry to touch you sire but judging bythis boys uniform and of those two up there I think they’re from the CityAcademy” the rabbit said , “ and you’re sure about this” ? He asked, the rabbitnodded his head in confirmation. The man glanced at Jyro then proceeded back tohis throne mumbling to himself, “ aaah and I was almost going to kill him mmmmwhat a drag now I’m bored again what’s this guy’s name again?.... ah yeah JyroThomas was it, seeing as you’re only school kids I’m willing to be kind and letyou go but seeing as you tried to steal something from me it’s only fair that Ipunish you for it” the man said , Jyro pondered for a few moments before hereplied, “I won’t let you hurt my friends” he declared “ no regards for yourown life huh well I’ll accept your passion and respond back”. The man got upand fished around his robe, he brought out a stone which was coloured with twocolours black on one side and white on the other” pick a colour black or whiteif you guess right I’ll let one of your friends go” the man then tossed thestone into the air, Jyro stared at the stone that flew loosely before fallinginto the man’s palms “Black” Jyro said, the man’s palms opened and the blackside was facing up. “Nice nice nice now choose who do you want, the pretty bluegirl or the squealing four eyes” the man asked, Jyro didn’t know who to chooseand thought about who would be more of a help right now “the loud one please”said the boy, the man then whistled and the vine that was constraining Johnnyslowly loosened and let him down.

“Aaaaaaah…….oooofh”wailed Johnny as he hit the ground, he quickly ran towards Jyro and coweredbehind him “Jyro we need to get Tristine then get out of here these guys arecrazy….. And what in god’s name are those two things standing over there” hesaid referring to the talking rodents. “You may go now I’m bored and it’slooking like I might sleep again” the man said, “what about my other friend“asked Jyro keenly, “ ahh the game was for one of them she’ll stay her with usand pay for your crimes”, “I can’t allow that to happen” responded Jyro whoglared furiously at the man “ha ha ha no no you can’t look at me like that, Imight get excited and accidently kill you” he said, but Jyros heart didn’twaver he held his ground and stared fiercely at the man. “Jyro seriously weneed to think of a plan I can tell just by looking at him this guy isn’tnormal” whilst Johnny tried his best to stop Jyro from doing something rash theman got off his seat and approached the two, “how about this little boy let’shave a sparring match if you land one blow on me your friend lives and foryou….well you simply just have to stay alive he he” said the man whilstgrinning menacingly. Jyro took a deep breath then looked towards Johnny ,“JohnnyI’m going to need you to stand back for me” Johnny was lost for words at Jyrosagreement to fight the man but he then slowly realised it was the only way, “becareful Jyro” spoke Johnny. Jyro stood in front of the man and gripped onto hisZooz stick, the man grinned then raised his two hands and spoke “Legiones…Orior”, the stream of water on each side of Jyro began to react oddly, andsmall spurts of water shot up onto the land, the water spurts slowly rose intodozens of water soldiers that surrounded Jyro , he looked around himself inpanic surprised at what was going on, “ you’ve got to be kidding me… he has anelemental brand” Johnny nervously voiced. After a few moments of Jyro staring in panic he took hold of the Zoozstick and charged at the soldiers, “ Fulminis Pulsus” he declared again andagain blowing the watered soldiers into small droplets they once were, thesoldiers attacked the boy throwing slow punches and attempting to grab hold ofhim, but Jyro was too quick and evaded every attack that came his way, “ Go ONJy show them what your made of” Johnny hollered, but as time went on and thefight continued Jyro and Johnny came to a shocking realisation, that thesoldiers weren’t dying. Once they blew up into droplets they eventually formedback up into soldiers again, Jyros breathing was heavy and he panted fromtiredness, meanwhile the man was simply yawning and fidgeting with his clotheswhilst he watched the spectacle, Jyro realised he wasn’t making any progressand needed to end this very soon, he glanced down at his weapon and noticedsmelt burning with a feint rust forming in the sceptre. The soldiers closed inon him once again Jyro lifted his weapon above and spoke “Ignis flamma”, the lightningfrom his weapon started to form electrical links that simultaneously connectedto each solider, Jyro gripped his weapon tight then flared it towards the skywith a huge shout the dozens of soldiers all dispersed instantly and a lightshower of rain dropped down. “ Nice that’s pretty impressive you can uselightning I see… it’s a shame you” just before he could finish his sentenceJyro had already closed in on him and threw a punch towards his face, as boysfist slowly came towards him the man smiled to himself and Jyros fist hitnothing but water. Jyro looked around frantically for the man who dispersedinto liquid but there was no sign of him, “by the laws of the land you hold theadvantage over me little puppy, but where you lack is where I excel” spoke avoice, Jyro glanced down at his fists and noticed a bubble of water wasgathered around it, the water suddenly rushed towards his face and covered hiswhole head suffocating him. He tried to stretch and pull the water from hisface but it didn’t work , Jyro continued to gargle and choke and couldn’t thinkof a way out so he took a hold of his weapon and aimed it towards his face, “ Iwouldn’t attempt such a thing now little puppy water and lightning don’t getalong too well” the voice from the water spoke, Jyro was all out of options andas his conscious faded the boy glanced over towards his friend , who stoodthere looking helpless and terrified and as Jyro fell his head hit the groundwith a loud thump “What in the world” exclaimed Johnny, the water rose up andturned into the man in the Jade clothes, and he quickly rushed towards Jyro andstood above him, “mmm what are you” he questioned, but what he didn’t know wasthat Jyros was already unconscious.. The man paused for few moments as hestared at the boys lifeless body which lay there, he slowly approached him andstood over his body, as he slowly reached out his hand to touch the boy he felthard rocks hitting him across the back of his head, “ don’t you dare touch him”Johnny yelped as he shook in fear whilst holding a few stones, the man glancedtowards and slowly walked forwards, “ I was going to do you a favour and killthis boy, he’s obviously not human so why do you interfere” he questioned witha pale look on his face. Johnny was out of options as he slowly watched the manclose in on him, he took hold of his stones and continued throwing them at him,the man effortlessly swayed from left to right dodging them as he continuespressing forwards to the boy. The man stood in front of the frightened boy andgazed into his eyes with a look of blood lust, “Oi why don’t you try take usall at once… you bully” a voice called out, Johnny and the man turned around and saw Tristine standing on the branchof the withered tree with an arrow aimed towards them. The man slowly observedthe situation, “so you escaped then little miss… that’s quite surprising” saidthe man, “Johnny are you alright?” Tristine called out, “yeah I’m fine but Jyrohasn’t moved an inch” he answered, meanwhile whilst Jyro lay face down on theearth small red sparks begun to flicker around his hands. “What do you plan ondoing then little miss, do you think your arrows will hurt me” the manquestioned, but Tristine already knew this fact and held her ground hesitantlythinking up a plan. The man sighed tohimself then turned to Johnny gripped him from his neck and raised him up, theboy wheezed in panic as his feet left the ground, “ put him down now!... I’mwarning you I’ll shoot” Tristine yelped, but the man didn’t react at all infact he squeezed the boys neck harder, “please! Stop it” she tearfullyhollered. Jyros lifeless body slowly picked itself up, the man immediatelydropped Johnny and gazed in wonder at the rising youth, just before the mancould even utter a word Jyro pointed his Zooz towards him and a red bolt oflightning jolted the man into the air and sent him into the stream of water,Tristine and Johnny looked on in amazement “Jyro… thank gosh you’re ok mate, Ithought you was a goner” said Johnny nervously, but Jyro didn’t respond andmoments later he collapsed once more.

WhilstJyro slept peacefully he felt small pebbles hitting his head, “Oi Kid listenup” said Jack, who was sitting atop of a hill whilst reading a book, “do youremember the names of all the places I’ve taken you to this year?” he asked,“err hold on a sec…. yeah I remember them why?” questioned Jyro, “you’llunderstand one day but I will tell you this never forget anything… I mean italways remember everything you’ve seen”, Jyro looked awkwardly at Jack, “masterhave you been drinking again?” He questioned, Jack responded with erraticlaughter then got back to the book he was reading, Jyros vision faded and sodid the dream.

Jyroeyes slowly awoke to the sounds of his name being called out repeatedly. Hefinally opened his eyes and saw Tristine and Johnny smiling frantically at him,“ thank gosh your finally awake” said Tristine in relief, the young girlquickly embraced the boy , “ Thank you” she whispered tearfully, “ahem sorry tointerrupt your reunion but I’m feeling rather tired so can please removeyourself from this place now ” said the man on the throne. Jyro tiredly liftedhis body from the ground and felt a slight pain coming from his head, “that wasquite a fall you took Jyro I suggest you put something cold on that” suggestedthe man, “sir...But how did you know my name if you don’t mind me asking” askedJyro, “huh? Oh yeah you was sleeping when I brought it out earlier have a look at this” the man clapped his handand immediately the talking rabbit waltzed towards Jyro and handed him a note,Jyro opened the note and it read….. ‘A set of kids will be visiting you today,they’ll be in a set of 3 and charge your way, of them one by the name of JyroThomas watch him especially, and he’ll be the one with the dark entity, they toseek to steal your treasure”. Jyro re-read the letter ‘Dark entity’ he said tohimself, someone must know about my curse he muttered under his breath, “whosent this and why”, he stressed, “no name arrived with it but I suggest you 3be careful it seems someone wants you all dead” the man chuckled the 3 kidslooked at one another worryingly, “ ah yes and for my condolences for almostkilling you I’ve given your friends the script you came to seek” the man saidwhilst the kids smiled to one another in jubilation.

“Arghto think someone in this world dared to taunt me …. Guardians go make haste atonce I shall replace this person and deal with them” said the man, “yes sire” theyresponded before scurrying away behind the withered tree, “ by the way youdidn’t tell us your name sir?” said Johnny , “Vincent Louche Veneto” he said, Johnny and Tristine immediately gaspedin shock, “ why you guys surprised who is he?” asked Jyro ,” t.tt…that’s VincentVeneto Also known as the Crazy Monkey, he’s just like you Jy he possesses oneof the five elemental brands” Johnny spoke in awe and Jyro slowly begun tounderstand why he felt such a similar presence when he first met him, and hisface suddenly bore the same expression as his friends , “what is someone likehim doing down here” Johnny whispered , “ I can hear you gossiping about mekiddies and to answer your question this is my domain I’m a collector , I’vefound a habit of searching and keeping rare artefacts” Vincent replied, “ so youdo this for the Queen? Asked Tristine” the queen? Haha certainly not I work formyself nowadays those fools can govern the world I will seek my own path andmake my own rules, that’s what I call freedom and that’s how I choose to live”said Vincent abruptly, “well, if that’s all you may leave this place now ”.Vincent whistled loudly and a sudden rush of black figures immerged from theholes in the wall and swung from the vines above and landed in front of him, “aah man those things…their …their “ muttered Johnny,” yes their called Shiamosannoying one and their monkeys with human understanding” Vincent stated “ showthese guys the way out” ,the human sized apes then walked towards the 3 kidsand arched their backs towards them, “ grab a hold to their backs” Vincent said,the kids looked at one another before following suit. Moments later when they eachhad grabbed onto the backs of one of the Shiamos ,the creatures jumped into the air and beganto climb the vines above them, the kids gripped tightly to the apes as theywere carried to the exit at the top “ And don’t you go telling people you sawme down here either” Vincent bellowed whilst he lay back on his oak made throne,“sire, is it ok to let them go after seeing you?” the rat asked ,” “aah yeahtheir no harm towards me , well not yet anyway ergh but that boy ,the Blondiewith the lightning he looks promising, almost reminds me of a certain someoneerg I just had an annoying memory” Vincent said. Vincent leant on his arm and watched the kidsdepart when he started to feel a soft burning sensation coming from his leg, helooked beneath his robe and saw drips of blood coming from his clothes, helooked under cloth and saw his leg bore a deep gash from the fight with Jyro, “ha ha ha why that puppy is more interesting than I thought” he said whilst hesmirked into the distance.