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“It’s not working!” Yellow complained frustratingly for the umpteenth time. It was just after breakfast when the lot decided to go on a clearing and do the summon rituals for their guardians.
And since it was not a natural occurrence and also an extraordinary experience for Emman and Lucy, they decided it wouldn’t hurt to put of a little show by starting off with the youngest, Yellow. That led them to this current dilemma because no matter how she tries to do it, she couldn’t summon her fire guardian.

“Maybe it’s because you’ve never done the actual ritual before? I mean, from the moment you were sent to the camp, Abe has always been by your side.” Jullian theorized. Yellow stared at her cousin dubiously. Jullian may be right—but what if she’s just simply failing at such a simple task? After all, she has always been a failure.
“She’s right. Would you like to try again later? Aquamarine could go first if you like?” Jade asked her sister softly to which the latter nodded in agreement.
After deciding it was Aquamarine’s turn, Aqua confidently sauntered in the middle of the clearing where they should do their rituals. After she stopped, she freed her mind from thoughts—but not before remembering the first time she had to summon her guardian, as if memorizing it. She took a few breaths before closing her eyes. She felt herself relaxing, and like her element, she felt herself breaking from her mind’s restraints and imagine the connection she should have with her guardian. It felt like forever—but she felt it at last. She took hold of it and seized it before uttering the ritual chants for the summons in her mind. “I am Aquamarine, daughter of the Water Element and I call upon your presence, my guardian, my protector, Aphra.” She uttered with conviction—then she felt it, like water rushing through her being, she felt her blood run alive. Then she opened her eyes, and there he was—her old friend, Aphra, a majestic sea serpent of the purest white scales and aquamarine hair. A meter-long—a couple of antennae stuck on each side of his snout. And he was floating on mid-air.

Overall, Emman couldn’t explain the emotion he’s currently feeling. He was elated but scared at the same time. It was like being awed but wanting to shit himself—a mixture of good and bad. Moments later, he witnessed Aqua hugged the creature. The creature too, snuggled at Aqua as he missed her as she misses him. It was a reunion worth witnessing.
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Since Yellow was still uneasy about the whole thing, Cyclone—who is just a few months older than Aqua went in next. Like Aqua, Cyclone closed his eyes to find his connection with his Dragon, Kitorah. And unlike his cousins, who were either an elemental or an offspring of death, he was a drakkon. A dragon-born—one who protects the dragon from birth and vice versa. Each drakkon has their own dragon, and his was Kitorah. Drakkons could live up as long as dragons could—and that would last up to almost a thousand years, without looking like a craggy old person. But alas, they may live long, but still, they are not immortal creatures. After a beat or so, a blue-colored, egg-shaped something materialized out from nowhere and a being considered as a legendary myth—came out, acting as glorified as she looked. It was a portal!!! Emman internally squealed upon seeing the one-sided slice in the air. And like a feeling of deja vu, Cyclone attacked the dragon with a hug. And a cute reunion between a master and its guardian ensued once again.
Next came Mint who swaggered confidently in the middle of the clearing—paused in for a moment, then she began to bring her fingers to her mouth and made a distinct whistle-like sound. After doing so, she returned to her place without a guardian in sight. This made Emman and Lucy frown in confusion. Like their cousins who went in first, there were guardians present a few moments after the summons. Hers seems to be… different. Mint noticed the weird stares her cousins seems to be giving her.
“What?” She asked almost sounding defensively.
“Your guardian. Where is he?” Aqua muttered on everyone’s behalf.
“Duh! Of course, he’s on his way here! What—do you think you could travel halfway around the world in an instant? I don’t have that fancy portal thingy like dragon boy here, okay.” Mint replied, somewhat annoyed at being treated as the center of attention.
“What? Kitorah likes to travel in style okay?” Cyclone retorted with a sheepish smile.
Cyclone threw a secretive knowing glance at Hurricane before winking at Mint. Suddenly a bright blinding light appeared in the middle of the clearing where Mint was standing a few minutes ago. The light was so bright, it seems like it came from the sun itself. Like an automatic reflex, all of them immediately covered their eyes. Moments later, the bright light disappeared and standing in its place was a disoriented giant Eagle. Unlike normal Earth eagles, Mint’s guardian Avalon is more superior in terms of size. Not that it pars with Godzilla or something, but the Guardian is bigger than Jethro who’s the tallest among all of the Blacksmiths. Its feathers were a healthy brown-gold color, the talons on each foot—deadly, and its eyes and beak were sharp like sharpened knives.
After seeing her guardian materialized from nothing, Mint squealed so loud and bounced up towards her still perplexed guardian.
“AVA! How did you do it? Who taught you how to do that? TELL ME!” Mint fired the questions with obvious urgency. The Eagle stared at his master like she’s grown two heads.
“By the Gods, Mint! What did I do?” Aphra asked in a surprised manner.
“You—you traveled using a portal! How did you do it?” Mint asked again. It seems like she couldn’t contain her excitement. She was as giggly as the wind.
“How did I do it? How did I—I’m still flummoxed by the idea of that monstrosity! I was happily flying the moment I heard your summons then Bam! I’m magically here! I thought I was bird-napped! Oh, how horrible it was!” The guardian freaked out exaggeratedly. After that, Mint was not given a chance to retort any more because her guardian kept firing rants at her.
Lucy snorted at the scene. The guardian and her master were like two peas in a pod—the pairing was so apt like they were made to be with each other.
Since Mint’s turn was done, this time it was Jullian and Jethro who volunteered next. After walking towards the middle of the clearing, like their cousins who went before them—the twins gave each other a mirroring smile laced with pure devilment before disappearing into nothing. A collective gasp emitted from their cousins. It seems like the twins don’t need portals to teleport to anywhere they want to go. A few seconds later, the twins materialized back in their old places again—but this time, each of them had a bird perched upon their shoulders. Jethro’s was a mischievous-looking crow, while Jullian’s bird was a stern-looking snow-white owl. The pair really was an enigma. It was like they both could switch to each other’s roles like it was nothing.

An hour, and five guardians later, it was Jade’s turn. Now that her memories are back, she knew that the voice that kept on helping her whenever she needs it was her very own guardian Alastair. After doing the summoning ritual, A big white wolf emerged from the edge forest a distance away from where they are. Like Mint’s guardian, Jade’s wolf guardian, Alastair, was no regular wolf for he was as tall as 15 feet.
“Alastair,” Jade called as the wolf guardian made his way toward her. Upon arriving at Jade’s side, Alastair turned to the lot and gave his greetings but not before fully bowing down at Hurricane’s presence like a curtsy of some sort. Hurricane nodded and smiled at the guardian.
“Was the summons necessary, daughter of the earth? You knew of my whereabouts, did you not?” Alastair sort of complained. Jade in return made face at the subtle scolding she got from her guardian.
“Come on, Alastair! sixteen years of being away from each other, and this is what I get? Of course, I’d take any opportunity to show off my summons ability to them.” She replied jokingly.
“Very well. I’d say you did well then.”
“Thank you,” Jade replied, almost blushing at her guardian’s compliment. “Now, who’s next?” She asked instead, to hide her embarrassment.
“It’s Hurri’s turn,” Emman answered while pointing at Hurricane. Hurricane smiled coyly in return.
“I’m done. I already summoned my guardians.” Hurricane answered.
“Ugh. No fair! Did you mean Jago? It was not you but the tribe leader who summoned him, remember?” Lucy sassily complained. It was truly a refreshing sight. Lucy, for once, was acting her age. Her statement caused the others to frown. Indeed, they knew Jago was her guardian—since she’s the true heir and all but… the said guardian is nowhere in sight.
“Wait did she say guardians with sssssss?” Yellow—upon temporarily forgetting her problems, asked.
They all turned their attention towards their beaming cousin now. Cyclone dropped his act and was mirroring his sister’s smile. It seemed like they were both holding back a chuckle.
“Conspirators!” Mint accused both of them.
“Guilty as charged.” The calamity siblings answered before doing their signature high-five.
“So, where’s your guardian then?” Jullian asked.
“Correction. Guardians. Jago was my father’s guardian before he was mine. And Jago’s out at the moment—guardian duties. What I meant were my two other two. Kane, Kallie—Unfold!” Hurricane ordered. Suddenly the two curly blonde kids with sky blue eyes materialized beside Hurricane. They were twins—the identical faces were a big tell. The only difference was the gender for one is a girl and the other one, a boy.

“Woah Kids!” Jethro pointed out in amazement.
“Aye, aye, Cap’n obvious!” The girl countered sarcastically with a salute gesture before giving her twin a hi-five like what Hurricane and Cyclone previously did. Instead of taking offense, Jethro smiled at the two kids in amusement.
“Burn!!!” Lucy taunted sneakily. Jethro replied only with a stink eye at that.
“Why are they in human form? Why aren’t they like the others?” Emman asked curiously.
“Well, they could change forms. Kane, Kallie—will you show them how it’s done?” Hurricane asked the two kids who stopped bouncing for a moment to nod in agreement.
Kane and Kallie turned to look at each other as if conversing telepathically before changing forms rapidly. The Blacksmiths were amazed at how fast the twins could change forms—from animals to creatures and even copy humans! Yellow, Jethro, Emman, and Aqua couldn’t help themselves from clapping their hands together in amazement.
“Wow!” Mint cheered. That’s when Kane and Kallie decided to copy Aqua and Jethro’s appearances.
“Oi! That’s me!” Aquamarine pointed excitedly at her doppelganger. Aqua felt so elated that the little cute guardian decided to copy her—but that was before Kallie (who’s now wearing Aqua’s face) started to pick her nose, that Aquamarine’s smile turn to that of mortification. Meanwhile, Kane who’s wearing Jethro’s face-started to flex in front of the cousins, while wiggling his eyebrows conceitedly.
“Hey! I don’t do that!” Aqua and Jethro shrieked at the same time. This made their cousins laugh hard at their expense. Jethro’s eyebrows bunched together. He was getting increasingly irritated towards the twin guardians as every minute passes. At first glance, he thought the kids were kind of cute—guess that was a wrong judgment on his part because the little creatures turned out to be spawns of hell. He threw Kane and Kallie a withering glare while wishing they disintegrate on the spot. His act made his cousins taunt him further for being a sensitive squirt towards the matter.
“Wait! Why did you say you already summoned them earlier? Why didn’t they show up then?” Mint asked curiously. Hurricane threw her a sheepish smile before answering, “For surprise effect?”
Her cousins grunted in frustration at her reply. Upon witnessing this, she couldn’t help but chuckle at her amusing cousins. “Those two are two sides of the portal. They were the ones who transported Kitorah and Avalon here.”
“What? So… Avalon can’t—didn’t make the portal on his own?” Mint mumbled sadly. Hurricane nodded in affirmation.
“Don’t be daft! Of course, I didn’t! I don’t even know how to make that portal thing—let alone teleport!” Avalon indignantly said with an exaggerated huff.
“It’s just so sad. I thought you had talent at last!” Mint wailed in effect. Avalon angrily glared at her—obviously taking offense at her jab. To appease her angry guardian, Mint smiled and flashed him a peace sign—which was a vain attempt because Avalon didn’t recognize it.
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“Come on Yellow, it’s your turn now!” Aqua urged her sister who kept on fidgeting on the sides. Yellow almost begged them not to let her do this, but she knew she couldn’t. She knew they wouldn’t let her-lest she explain why she refused to do so. And that’s something she couldn’t face yet.
She stood in the middle of the clearing like her cousins. Then she closed her eyes and felt the blood pulsing through her veins—her heart drumming painfully against her ears. Yellow tried to imagine her element—feel it coursing till she could fill her fingertips warming up. Unbeknownst to her cousins, she knew how to summon her guardian—in fact, Abe had her practice this a thousand times long ago. Maybe her earlier failed attempts were caused by her anxiety to use her ability in the summoning process… She knew she could do this, it’s just her frustration kept on hindering her ability to do so.
“Hear my call. I am an Ignis-daughter of the fire element, and I call upon you Abe, my protector, and my guardian.” She chanted. Without her knowledge, her cousins all silently watched her in awe. She was blazing! Fire engulfed Yellow’s being.
“Oh my God! She’s on fire!” Emman shouted.
“Dude it’s obvious.” Aquamarine panned out in reply. Emman stared at Aqua horrifyingly.
“You have water element abilities, right?”
“Uh, yes?” Aqua replied in confusion. Her cousin is acting really strange now.
“Extinguish the fire then!” Emman exclaimed. Aqua wanted to hit her cousin but refrained from doing so. It seems like he thought Yellow was being burned alive in front of them.
“She’s a fire elemental. Fire won’t hurt her.” Aquamarine grumbled. Upon hearing this, Emman released a long breath that he’s been keeping in.
A moment later, Yellow opened her eyes and stared at Hurricane as if wanting to say something but still contemplating whether she should.
“Well, what?” Hurricane said impatiently after a minute or so of waiting.
“I uh… will you have Abe transported here too? I know Affira’s just a continent away but— “
“Okay. Kane? Kallie? You know the drill.” Hurricane answered before nodding at her guardians. Not long after, a flame-colored phoenix appeared with the twins. “Well, that was fast,” Hurricane commented.
“He was nearby.” The twins answered while staring at Yellow and Abe’s heart-melting reunion.
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“For today’s exercise, we are going to test your strength. Those containers in front of you shall be filled to the brim with water by that lake over there. Use of abilities is prohibited, hence the wooden pails. Each roundtrip travel would be equivalent to two pails.” Jago said in a strict tone. It has been three days when training started. From the moment Jago came back from the ‘guardian duty’ mission Hurricane sent him to, he’s been acting like a legit military training officer towards all of them—a military officer from hell. It has only been three days, but they felt like they’ve been training for years with the pains and wounds they acquired from muscle training alone. Now they’re starting to doubt Hurricane’s decision about letting Jago handle their training. They all stared at the barrel they were supposed to fill with water. It was almost four feet and a half tall!
Mint raised a hand in question.
“Yes? what is it, child?”
“No use of abilities?” she clarified. “No abilities,” Jago affirmed. This caused Mint to cheer and stuck her tongue out at Aquamarine.
“Hear that squirt? No use of abilities.” Mint jeered. Instead of making a comeback, Aqua ignored her sister and threw the dratted pail a distasteful look.
“Ugh! Remind me to devise a revenge plan to get back at Jago later…” Jullian muttered tiredly while picking up her pair of pails before proceeding towards the said lake. Collective agreements were heard among the bunch. It seems like her hatred towards the guardian was shared by the others.
Since Grub’s still MIA as of the moment, and Emman and Lucy are still too young for ruthless physical training—it was decided that they’re exempted from training. Emman begrudgingly agreed after being given the ‘most serious task’ of finding their golem friend which included a lot of sugar-coated threats and bribery.
Aquamarine waited when Jago would take flight before enacting her underhanded plans. Her arms were already sore from all the lifting and running and all those other stretching and strengthening exercises they did in their three days of training. When the guardian left the vicinity, at last, Aqua lifted her hand and willed the water to rise. In a spiral motion, a portion of the water-almost as big as her arm-ascended from its place in the lake—then by her will, it snaked its way towards her awaiting pail. Nearby Naiads and water sprites shook their head slowly in disappointment. The water was about to splash its way to the pail when the tips started to harden. She could see her reflection on the crystallized water as the affected part almost ran to the lake. She threw Mint a withering glare—she was causing the water to turn to ice!
Mint smirked and made a spiral motion with her right hand. Soon after, a whirlwind as tall as their cousin Emman, landed on the ground—razing it as it made its way towards Aqua. This couldn’t be! Aqua turned to the lake to see it entirely crystallized. She groaned her frustration—she couldn’t possibly launch a counterattack with the rate that this was going. With all her might, she dodged the whirlwind her sister sent after her.
“Mint! This is not funny anymore—stop this!” She croaked in between jumps. Mint who was currently perched on one sturdy branch chuckled at her sister.
“This is why you need to follow rules Aqua!” Mint bellowed from up on the tree.
Hurricane and the others gave both of them a displeasing look. Mint and Aqua stared at the empty pails on their hands and groaned. It seems like their cousins got caught up in their mini fight—with the water all iced up, they couldn’t possibly return to their task at hand.
“Both of you. Come here.” Hurricane ordered sternly. Mint jumped and landed on the ground gracefully before sauntering over towards her angry cousins simultaneously with Aqua.
“Fix this.” Jade bit out.
Both of them stared at the lake helplessly before looking at each other. They don’t seem to have any idea how to undo what they did.
“Guys, bad news—the whirlwind’s getting bigger by the minute and it’s destroying the forest!” Jethro shouted in panic. They all threw Mint a look that says ‘fix this’—Mint gulped visibly at that. She’s not really good with pressures—in fact, she was known to crack under pressure…
The whirlwind’s speed was keeping up—its size gradually getting bigger and bigger. Mint’s smirk was long gone now; the dratted wind seems to be destroying everything on its way! With the ground razed and trees either uprooted from the ground or bent in an unnatural angle, one could say it was not looking good at all.
Jumping into action, Jethro grabbed Yellow at the same time Cyclone shielded Mint from getting hit by a stray twig that flew their way. The gust of wind was getting stronger by the minute, that it frazzled their hairs and bellowed their clothes.
Jade tried to use her ability by willing the roots to raise from the ground and build them a strong barricade to shield them from the wind. Then she tried it again—but this time with the intent to trap the whirlwind inside her version of a contraption. With the sturdy roots, Jade built a cylindrical-like structure and ensnared the whirlwind inside it the moment the animated wind passed her target area. Her cousins all stared at her in awe. She just single-handedly outed such a debacle!
Though contained, Mint’s creation still persists to exist. The contraption made from the roots—though still rooted to the ground, kept on shaking from the uncontrollable motions made by the chaotic whirlwind.
“Now!” Hurricane shouted at Mint.
“What?” Hurricane asks—still in confusion.
“Do it now!”
“Do what?”
“Destroy it! You nitwit!” Hurricane spat in reply. It was downright offending name-calling—but Mint knew she was not in the place to complain. After all, she’s the one who created this problem. Instead of retorting, she tried compassing her hands while willing the whirlwind to eviscerate but it seems to be as headstrong as its creator. A big chunk of something that suspiciously looks like a branch of a tree flew their way at a horrifyingly fast speed.
“Duck!” she shouted before taking the situation at hand. Literally.