Transcendent

Chapter 1

Maunaloa was in the garden when she heard the news. There was a slight wind from the south that was blowing up the desert air. All Maunaloa could think about was her terrible thirst and sun-warmed skin. "It was horrible," she overheard two other villagers talking.

"Did they really...set it ablaze?" The second villager asked. The first one pushed his hat down farther on his head. Maunaloa stopped her working to stare at them. She could already feel the bitterness in her stomach beginning to settle in. It seemed that the Western Region of Eldia was at it again.

"Yeah. They burned an entire village close to the forest down. It seems like the capital said they would intervene, but yet again there's no one here," the two continued to gossip but Maunaloa had heard enough. She stood up from her place among her tomato plants and stormed into her little cottage.

"Loa, what's wrong?" Her mother had a concerned look on her face.

"Those stupid Westies mom! They burned an entire village down and no one is doing anything! I can't take it anymore!" The girl said in frustration. Her mother gave her a small smile.

"Oh honey, we've been feuding with Eldia for years now. You have to learn to just take it all in stride," Loa's mother said matter-of-factly. Loa felt her green eyes narrow on her mother. It seemed her feelings of anger weren't reciprocated.

"But mom, aren't you angry? Or upset? Don't you just....wanna scream?!" The seventeen year old stomped her foot on the ground in defiance. Her mother only looked at her with a puzzled expression.

"No. Oh Loa, you're just like your father. So hot blooded and hard of hearing. Go back out to the garden, hm?" Her mother urged. Loa stared at her mother incredulously. She could see her own face in her mother, yet their personalities seemed to be complete opposites.

Loa had her mother's bright green eyes. Like many inhabitants of the Southern Region of Nadira, she was also tall and slim with tan skin that had a yellow undertone. Her mother wore her long, thick, black hair in a bun while Loa wore hers in braided pigtails. Unlike her mother, on the other hand, she had a temper, and the will for justice. She couldn't just sit back while the Eldians tried to destroy Nadirans. At the same time, she was only 17. What could she possibly do to make her Kingdom stop fighting?

Alas, it wasn't only the regions of Nadira and Eldia that fought with each other. It seemed up North in Annea and to the East in Illyan there was mass chaos . The Kingdom of Sayson, where these feuding regions fought, was in danger of a civil war. Other kingdoms seemed to ignore Sayson, and it's own capital didn't seem to be concerned either.

Loa let out a small sigh of defeat, she wasn't in the mood to debate this with her mom. In fact, her mother was a bit too peaceful to do any debating ever. She turned away and went back to her garden sullenly. Loa had no power, no influence, nothing. All she had was the wind and that wasn't comforting to her at the moment.

The girl twisted the ring on her finger once outside. It was a small bronze band that held a wimpy looking jagged blue stone. The ring, like many other things in the Kingdom of Sayson, granted Loa with powers. Since her ring was low quality and cheap, her powers weren't very strong nor were they fully developed.

Everyone was born with powers, however it was next to impossible to use them without some sort of magical aid. The dwarves of the Enchanted Forest gladly volunteered to make rings since they were exceptionally gifted in blacksmith-manship. Loa's cheap ring allowed her to very loosely control wind, something that her whole family could do. She liked her power, she really did. The fact that she was poor made her power seem less than it actually was though.

She decided to head off to the Enchanted Forest to hide in her depression. She wanted to run away to the snow-capped mountains in Annea where dragons were mythed to reside. She wanted to throw herself into the cold snow and become a hermit. Since she lived in the Southern region, reaching the mountains in the Northern Region would be too difficult. As an alternative, she made her way to the forest.