Year 569: King Farak passes away and is succeeded by his son, Leznar. King Leznar orchestrates the first attack on New Jhori targeting worlds heavily guarded by Elementi. The Jhori Elementi kings and queens demand swift retribution and are given special permission to oversee a counterattack by the emperor-elect. Thus, the Elementi Civil War was started.
Year 899: The final siege on Horshguise results in the deaths of the Lunanite king and queen, the Pyran king and queen, along with the Farakan king and queen. Darex Voltus returns to Farako Capitol to claim his kingship and puts a pause on the war to bolster his military.
Year 924(Modern Time): New Jhori stays ever vigilant in their protecting the borders. New technologies and more Jhori agencies help to keep our citizens safe. However, it is only a matter of time until the ever-growing nation of Farako returns to exact its misguided vengeance on the Elementi who remain loyal to New Jhori.
- Histories of New Jhori, Elementi Chapter
Elementa
Marilyn Voltus was shaking with anticipation. Prince Jraken’s performance in the courtyard was exactly why she had snuck into the Jhori academy in the first place. Only the best and brightest of the Jhori Elementi were invited to this school, and she was dying to see how strong they truly were. Especially Jraken.
When her people were forced to flee their home world, very few of the other Elementi came along. Since her father was having a secret meeting with the Jhori royals, she decided she would sneak off his warship and have a secret meeting of her own. Luckily, no one aboard her father’s warship had noticed her departure, or if they had they kept to themselves. As princess, anyone other than Darex would be out of line to question her actions.
“Well, that was nothing short of amazing,” said Ryllah, who was still in a daze from witnessing Jraken deflect Kaizo’s large fiery attack into the sky. Marilyn and she both wore tight purple and blue shirts that were cut above their abs. Their blue pants belled at the bottom which was a style that got them some strange looks from several students.
“I have to fight him,” said Marilyn. Sounding almost as though she were in a trance.
“Have mercy on my wicked soul!” yelled an older student with blue spiky hair. “Have we just not had any classes together? I’d remember someone as beautiful as you!” He was tall and thin, and walked with a cocky strut as he approached Marilyn.
“She dyed her hair,” Ryllah said thinking fast. “We both did. Not enough blondes in this school! You know?” Then she grabbed Marilyn’s arm and started walking away. They had both noticed earlier that blonde hair must only be common among Imperians because they found very few other blondes in the academy. Marilyn allowed her voluptuous long blonde hair to flow freely whereas Ryllah had all her dirty blonde hair pulled up into a messy bun on top of her head.
“Name’s Tyke Wave. I’m the Lunanite member of the Rexians.” He said this as if it was supposed to impress them. “And you are?”
Marilyn lost sight of Jraken thanks to Tyke and was getting frustrated with her newest admirer. “Listen, Tyke, I’m sure getting to know you would be absolutely exhilarating, but unfortunately we have prior engagements.” She said hoping he would take the hint.
“Aren’t you a last-year student? We should be done for the day.” Then he held up his hand and created a flower made of ice. “Let me walk you to lunch,” he said as he offered the ice rose to Marilyn.
“Aw! That’s kind of sweet,” said Ryllah.
Marilyn, however, was not quite as impressed. “What in the abyss am I supposed to do with that?” she asked with her arms folded and one eyebrow raised.
Tyke chucked the flower behind him where it shattered upon hitting the ground. Then he put his arm around her. “Can I at least get that name?”
Marilyn put two fingers to his side and sent several discreet volts of electricity into him. He seized up and passed out. Ryllah quickly opened a door to a room that had no one in it and Marilyn threw him in.
“Poor sap,” Ryllah said while closing the door behind her.
A couple students had witnessed what had happened. Marilyn just smiled and waved, hoping for the best. The students laughed, shook their heads, and went about their business.
“I think I’m starting to regret having not gone to school. This place is fun.” Marilyn told her friend.
“Yeah. Well, this venture is starting to lean over the ever so slim line that separates fun from danger. This place is not that large. Someone will eventually get suspicious of us.”
“We’ve lost the little prince,” said Marilyn. Her mind was fixated on fighting with Jraken. She could not get her father or any of the Starvast to spar with her. Ryllah was a fine sparring partner, but she did not present any real challenge for her. Marilyn was desperate to put her abilities to the test.
“Perhaps we could ask a local,” said Ryllah. “Preferably a younger and less male one?”
“Perhaps that one?” Marilyn pointed at a younger girl who had a dark complexion. Her even darker hair curled out into an afro.
“Wow, she is lovely,” Ryllah said when she noticed who Marilyn had pointed out. “She must be royalty with looks like that.”
“Hey! You with the fro!” Marilyn yelled out to get her attention.
The girl turned around and raised an eyebrow at them.
“I think she knows we’re not from here,” Ryllah said under her breath to Marilyn as she made her way over to them.
“Hi! We were hoping you might know what class Prince Jraken Ferno is in?” Marilyn asked the girl.
“He’s in my class,” she said coolly. She squinted her eyes and rested her hands on her hips. “Are you two going to try and recruit him for a tournament team? Because if so, I got to tell you, I’ve got dibs.”
Ryllah and Marilyn thought for sure she was about to call them out for not being students and were relieved to find that was not the case.
“No, no, I just wanted to thank him for saving us!” said Marilyn. “We were certain that fireball was going to come down on us. Would it be alright if we walked with you to your class?”
The girl looked them up and down suspiciously. “Uh, sure.”
Marilyn and Ryllah gave each other sly smiles.
“What’s your name?” inquired Ryllah.
“Hardu,” then she coughed and said, “Jessa Hardu.”
“Jessa! What a pretty name for a pretty girl! I’m not too familiar with all the Elementi names. Is Hardu an elite family?” asked Marilyn.
“Not at all,” Jessa answered. “I’m only a second-generation student. My mother told me she was being looked at by a Jhori agency when she attended, but then she had me.”
Ryllah could sense the unwarranted guilt in Jessa’s voice. “I’m sure your mother wouldn’t take it back for a second! My mother certainly never thought I’d befriend a princess!”
Marilyn gave Ryllah a pinch and a stern look for mentioning the word princess. Luckily, Jessa just assumed Ryllah was talking about one of the two Lunanite princesses that actually attended the Jhori academy. She did not at all find befriending a princess to be outside the realm of possibilities.
“This is it,” Jessa said as they approached a door that read New Jhori Philosophy.
Marilyn stopped as soon as she read the door and made a sour face.
“Aren’t you coming in?” Jessa asked.
“You know what? On second thought, I’ll just wait and thank him after this one,” she replied.
Jessa shrugged and went inside to attend her class.
Marilyn and Ryllah found a nearby room that was empty and decided to stay there to wait for Jraken to finish.
There was a brief silence as they sat cross legged on the floor in the dimly lit empty room. The room was partially below ground. Four small windows let in sunlight through blue shrubbery. Which gave the room a soft blue hue.
Ryllah, never being a fan of silence, was the first to break it. “Your dad is going to be livid. He might take your starship this time.”
“How long are these ridiculous classes?” asked Marilyn. “He’d never find out if we could just get on with it!”
“And what’s your plan exactly? Challenge him out in the courtyard in front of everyone like that Pyran kid did?”
“Guess I’d better not,” Marylin replied. “I’m hoping to get him alone somehow.”
“Aren’t you bit old for him?”
Marilyn could not help but chuckle at the implication. “Shut it. You know what I mean.”
“That Prince Dravon is more your age though. Not too hard on the eyes either.” Ryllah admitted.
Marilyn knew that her friend did not share her independent nature. She often brought up the topic of boys. “You’ve always liked the strong silent type, haven’t you? You’d prefer they didn’t talk at all.”
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“All that need be said, can be said, with a well-shaped ass,” Ryllah said with a giggle.
Marilyn’s attempt at hiding her smile turned into a mischievous looking smirk as she rolled her bright blue eyes.
Eventually, a loud horn came over the intercom and the girls could hear students shuffling out of the classrooms.
Marilyn clapped her hands and started to greedily rub her palms together. “Showtime!”
“You are way too excited for this,” Ryllah said shaking her head.
As luck would have it, the girls were able to follow Jraken off campus. He walked into the nearby forest, and for whatever reason, he did so alone.
“How do things always work out for you?” Ryllah whispered as they followed Jraken deeper into the woods.
“Not sure. You won’t see me complaining though.” Marilyn said looking back at her with a big grin. Before she turned back around, she ran into something and was knocked down.
“Hey!” she yelled out. Looking up from the ground she quickly realized what it was that had blocked her path, and her adrenaline started to spike.
“Prince Dravon,” Ryllah blurted out. “We were just—"
“You two don’t go to this school,” Dravon said in a gruff voice. He too was following Jraken, and for a similar reason. Being upstaged in the courtyard in front of an audience did not sit well with him. On the other hand, seeing two strangely dressed girls sneaking up behind his brother did not sit well either. He eyed the girls up and down. “So, I’m going to need to know why you are following my little brother.”
Marilyn started popping her knuckles and taking small hops. “I wanted to challenge him, but it looks like you’ll have to do for now.”
Dravon stood unamused with his arms crossed. He had only been around this girl for a moment and already he felt a growing disdain for her. It was her smirk. A cocky smirk that seemed to say, ‘I am an enigma that you will never comprehend’.
Marilyn knew Dravon had no idea who she truly was, but she still found it offensive that he did not bother to get into a fighting stance when she challenged him. A mistake she would ensure he would never make again. She jumped into the air and after a well-timed spin, she threw a hard kick at the fire prince’s head.
Dravon was able to block but was still knocked into a tree a couple paces back from the force of the kick. He recognized instantly that he was dealing with an exceptional fighter. His forearm that had absorbed the blow was numb, and his hand felt like it had been dumped in ice cold water.
Marilyn wasted little time and dashed towards him sending several fast attacks. He parried every attack well, until an elbow finally found his mid-section. In the small amount of time that Dravon’s body was reacting to the pain, she was able to get in several more hits.
He gathered his bril into his hands and ignited a large flame between them, forcing Marilyn to hop back. Dravon jumped up onto a thick branch to catch his breath and gather his composure.
“Did I just scare off the big bad fire prince?” Marilyn taunted. “Now, leave me alone! I want to see if your brother will actually present a real challenge!”
“Yikes! How could something so beautiful say something so ugly?” asked Chren. He was on a higher branch than Dravon, just out of sight and earshot from Marilyn and Ryllah.
“Did you follow me all the way out here?” Dravon asked. “Don’t you have any life of your own? Or do you just have to come and commentate on mine?”
“I’ll always be here for you, buddy!” Chren replied.
“Then are you going to help me fight them?”
“Since when did Prince Dravon Ferno ever ask for help?” he said with a chuckle. “By the way, those girls are totally leaving.” He pointed his index finger out at their fading silhouettes.
Dravon let out a long and frustrated growl. His feet and hands became engulfed in flames as he started jumping from branch to branch.
“He’s coming in hot!” Ryllah yelled up to Marilyn. Both were in a dead sprint to catch up with Jraken. They were soon stopped when Dravon suddenly dropped down in front of them.
“You’re a quick one,” Marilyn said as she got back into a stance. She observed the fires that surrounded his hands and feet. “Doesn’t that hurt?”
“You get used to it,” he replied. With his increased speed he dashed toward his foe and forced Marilyn onto the defensive.
She had intended to avoid using her bril. With the lack of Imperians left among the Jhori, she was certain her electricity would bring too much unwanted attention. That was before Dravon had started using his flames. He was just about to land a punch when she unleashed a bolt of lightning. The bolt barley missed his face and instead blew a tree into smithereens behind him.
Dravon’s hair stood on end from the static that hung in the air. His left ear rang from the thunderous boom that followed the hot blue lightning.
“An Imperian?” he asked. He did not know of any Imperians that could fight like that. At least, none that were still in New Jhori. “There’s only one Imperian that made it into the academy, and you’re definitely not him.”
Marilyn could see the gears turning in his mind. At any second now, he would arrive at a startling conclusion. She watched his eyes grow wide as the realization swept over him.
“You’re from Farako,” Dravon quickly got back into his fighting stance. This was serious. “A descendant of the banished ones.”
“We are of the Free Elementi. Unshackled by Jhori rule. My ancestors were the ones brave enough to stand up to an evil empire.” Marilyn gathered a wobbly ball of electricity in her hands. She felt rage. Not because of his ignorance. It was not his fault he was falsely indoctrinated. It was just him. It was the stupid scowl. She wanted nothing more than to blast it off his stupid face.
Dravon had fought against an Imperian before. This was nothing like that. He could tell this warrior was much more gifted than the Imperians he had sparred with. He had no idea what to expect from what he now assumed was a Farako assassin. He encased himself in a hollow sphere of flame. It was the best defense he could come up with for whatever attack this renegade Elementi was about to unleash.
Marilyn’s smirk grew more mischievous as she watched Dravon conceal himself in his ball of flame. She had never thrown electricity into bril enriched flames, but she was more than confident his flames would not hold up. She threw the electricity she had gathered at him. It flashed through the air with another loud boom that shook the forest as lightning met fire.
His flame shield had cushioned the initial force of the blast, but the continuous flow of electricity was making it weaker. It took all his focus to send the flames that he was holding around him up into the electricity that was trying to push through. If the flames were to diminish there would be nothing between him and an enormous bolt of blue lightning. Just as with Kaizo earlier, he pondered the possibility of death being right around the corner.
His every muscle shook from exhaustion. With all his might he tried to push the lightning away using his flames. However, the force behind the electricity was too great. He could make neither flame nor lightning budge. He gritted his teeth as his arms slowly started to give under the great force.
Suddenly, he felt the immense weight and unstableness of the lightning disappear. He fell to his hands and knees gasping for air. His whole body ached and spasmed. He looked up only to see that Jraken had swooped in and swept his troubles away like it was nothing. The brat had now protected him twice over in the same day.
“What’s going on here?” Jraken asked. “That was some pretty intense bril! Do students always spar this hard at the academy?”
The mixture of lightning and fire had exploded behind Dravon. It was a much larger and louder explosion than the one Jraken had deflected from Kaizo earlier that day.
Marilyn and Ryllah were stunned all over again. Jraken made these incredible counter attacks look like child’s play.
“Did he just kick lightning?” Ryllah asked with her mouth left agape.
What is the depth of his power? Marilyn wondered. She trembled with excitement. “Prince Jraken Ferno, I am Princess Marilyn Voltus. Just like you, I have no one to truly test my abilities against. Let us battle so that one or both of us can know what it feels like to be challenged!”
Jraken did not know what to make of this overly excited woman. “Princess Voltus?” It was a name that he knew all too well. The Ferno and Voltus families had been mortal enemies for ages.
Overcome with anticipation, Marilyn made the first move. She started low and tried to sweep his legs out from under him. He hopped over her attack and into a back flip. Landing gracefully with a smile on his face.
“Nice one,” he said.
Marilyn was about to make another charge at him when she noticed a flame heading in her direction out of the corner of her eye. She was forced to jump back to avoid being struck.
“Our fight isn’t over!” Dravon shouted. He was still breathing heavily and drenched with sweat from trying to block Marilyn’s attack. The forest behind him was billowing black smoke where Jraken had kicked the mixture of flame and lightning.
“Come on, now! It’s not like I’ve got a lot of time here!” Marilyn yelled. There was no way the explosion had not drawn attention from the academy. Even if it hadn’t, someone would soon spot the smoke. Frustration consumed her. Her heavily anticipated fight with Jraken had now been tainted by Dravon. “By all rights you would be properly defeated had your brother not come to your rescue!”
Dravon gave her a loud and angry battle cry. As soon as he finished, his arms and legs ignited into large and wild flames.
“I told you I don’t have time for this!” Marilyn shouted as she sent another large bolt of lightning at Dravon. This time he deflected the hit with his left arm. The flames absorbed the lightning, and his fiery arm was filled with bright blue bolts of electricity. When he extended his arm out, the mixture of flame and lighting shot out deep into the forest, where it made yet another large explosion. The force of the blast shook the hair and clothing of the young warriors violently as their eyes stayed locked on to one another.
Dravon certainly had her attention now. Small bits of electricity could be seen moving all around her. Every now and then a bolt would jump off her and hit one of the branches above her. Flames started to grow all around them as the forest took in more heat from the ongoing battle.
This time it was Dravon who made the first move. With an even louder battle cry he reignited his left arm to match the rest of his appendages and dashed at her. As soon as he reached her, he started an aggressive ensemble of physical attacks.
Marilyn was again forced into being on the defensive. She jumped from tree to tree as she continued to evade his fiery onslaught. Each one of his attacks got closer and closer to landing. Several trees that Dravon had hit with his flames were falling over and catching more trees on fire.
Marilyn gathered her bril to her arms and created a shield of electricity. She soon realized that even with her electric bril shielding her body, blocking was almost pointless. The heat he was creating was excruciating. Her arms could not take much more. She could feel her advantage slowly slipping away. Fearing what might happen if more Jhori Elementi showed up, she decided she was left with only one alternative. Ever so slightly, Marilyn let one of Dravon’s punches get through unblocked. Allowing him to barely graze her left breast. She howled in agony, “My tit!!”
Dravon’s flames disappeared instantly as he was paralyzed from shame. He could hear Chren laughing and cheering high above him. He took a gulp as he waited to see what the consequences of his actions would be. “I didn’t mean t—"
Before he could finish, Marilyn sent a roundhouse kick that connected to the side of his head. Knocking him out cold.
“Hey! Double standard!” Jraken yelled out.
“Relax, little prince,” Marilyn responded. “I did what I did because I had a feeling that he wasn’t going to let us leave.”
“Probably not,” Jraken agreed. He considered that it might be his duty to prevent them from leaving as well, but he didn’t know the first thing about apprehending someone. Let alone girls as beautiful as these two.
The forest fire started to grow exponentially. Trees were crashing into the forest floor where Dravon had sent his explosive attack.
“Well, we’re going to dip out now,” said Ryllah through a bright smile. “It was nice meeting you! You should get your brother some place safe.”
“What exactly are you two doing here anyway?” he asked as he hoisted Dravon over his shoulder.
“Just came to see you,” said Marilyn with a wink. She noticed the young fire prince blush. “And let’s keep this little visit between us. We wouldn’t want to go starting any wars now, would we?”
“Not particularly,” replied Jraken.
Marilyn chuckled. “Noncommittal. I love it. I hope are stars align again soon, Prince Jraken.”
Marilyn and Ryllah ran back to their ship as fast as they could. They had parked a good distance from the academy for fear of being spotted. Even with stealth tech, they wanted to make extra certain their ship remained unseen. Their presence alone could be enough to cause a war. Upon leaving the forest they could see several students and faculty running in to put out the flames.
“You think they’ll tell anyone?” asked Ryllah.
“Between Jraken’s meekness and Dravon’s pride I don’t think we have too much to worry about,” said Marilyn as they boarded their ship. “I’m more concerned with how much grief ol’ Kembro is going to send our way.”
“Lots of grief!” Kembro yelled from the other side of the loading bay.
Ryllah ran up and hugged him as she always did when returning to the ship.
“But I’m very glad you made it back safe,” he said while wagging his tail.
“Best head back to father’s warship, Kembro,” Marilyn said as she took a seat on the couch in the lounging quarters.
“I’ll get us back as fast as I can,” Kembro replied loyally. Then he looked out a nearby window. “I can see the flames in that forest from here. If Godking Darex finds out that you girls started another Elementi civil war he’s going to come unhinged.”
“I seriously doubt that,” said Marilyn. She knew better. Regardless of what she had told Jraken about trying to prevent a war, war was coming. And the only man who could prevent it was her father, the Godking Darex Voltus.