The dirt road was bumpy, and several times, Sio fell in and out of sleep. Fola, on the other hand, couldn’t find it in her to sleep. She was built up with too much anticipation. Throughout the trip, she would strike conversation with her friend about what he was expecting.

“Do you think they’ll like us?” She would ask.

“Who?” Replied a tired Sio.

“Our partners!” she said.

“I don’t know, but it seems like we’ll all have to grow to tolerate one another. We’re kind of saving lives,” he would respond, looking out the carriage.

After several of these nervous naps and forced conversations, they felt the path change from dirt to grass. Soon after, they noticed that they were no longer in the open, but in the woods. Eventually, the two chosen teens arrived at their destination. It was just a forest clearing, nothing special that would have stuck out to anyone. But to Sio and Fola, it was home.



They both hopped out of the carriage, grabbing their things. Fola instantly fled to Sötma and rubbed his snout as he snorted happily. Sio slung his bag over his back as Sparky sleepily stretched and trotted out of the carriage.



The two heroes and their animals turned to the farmer as he smiled at them and said, “You two take care. I’m extremely proud of the both of you. I’ve got one more thing to give you.” He reached in the bag slung across one of his horses and pulled a letter. “I know our province doesn’t have much,” he began, “being that Adioniet never had access to the best resources to begin with. But if you find yourself in the Lortel province, you show this letter to the blacksmith. His name is William. We grew up there together. He’ll be sure to give you the best weapons he has.” With that, he gave one last smile, hugged the duo, and got back on his horse. “Never forget where home is,” he said, swinging the horse whip, and with that, their ride left.



The two nervous elites watched the farmer disappear into the woods. “Now what?” Fola asked.

“We should set up and wait for the others to show up,” Sio answered confidently, the situation finally setting in. He turned to face the open woods. He loved it all, especially here in the fall. The autumn air, the dying leaves, the tall trees, and the noises of animals set him at peace inside. He smiled to himself.

Fola and Sio headed to the clearing in the woods and began setting up their tents, the materials given to them by some of the craftspeople of the province.



●●●●



Sio and Fola were setting up their tents and making more nervous talk when they finally heard horse hooves hitting dried leaves. Fola became so nervous that she dropped the support to her tent, and looked at Sio, who was struggling against the poles. One of them snapped and smacked him on the cheek, which sent the tent crashing down.



They heard an exchange of words from two voices who both sounded male. Fola assumed it was their partner and his ride. After some time, a whip cracked and the mystery horseman rode off. The two nervous adolescents looked at one another, and Sio nodded to reassure Fola that it would be ok. It was crazy, but just a simple nod of his head seemed to put her at ease.



They then noticed a figure come from the brush and into the clearing, next to him was a fox that Sio immediately recognized: a dark grey Manitoba wolf. Sparky’s ears perked up and Sötma raised his head to get his view. Fola immediately assessed the figure from head to toe. The first thing she noticed was how he dressed. He had a light, hooded cloth tunic on, with loose fitting pants, tucked into well-fitting, black boots. His gloves were black and tight against his hands and forearms. She noticed the chainmail that was underneath his tunic. What seemed odd was that his clothes were the exact color of his wolf, but as he drew nearer, they appeared to change color. She also noticed the two daggers strapped to each of his hips. It wasn’t until after his clothing assessment that Fola noticed his looks. He had dark skin and dark, short hair. He wasn’t short, but he wasn’t quite as tall as Sio. He still seemed fit, like he could protect himself and the others around him, which is all that mattered to Fola.

“Hi,” he introduced himself when he was a few feet from the two staring chosen ones. While smiling warmly, he continued, “I’m Lupus. Lupus Rapax. This is my wolf, Nobilis.” Nobilis sat next to Lupus and looked up at Sio, his tail thumping on the ground, and his tongue poking out over so slightly.

“Your parents were big on the Latin names, huh?” Sio joked, sticking his hand out.

“My dad died in battle and my mom died giving birth to me. My Uncle named me,” Lupus replied softly.

Sio’s hand slowly fell to his side. “Um, well…” he began.

Lupus laughed loudly and said, “I’m kidding!” He stuck his hand out quickly and added, “My parents are very much alive and they love Latin names. I liked the idea so much that I named my wolf Nobilis.”

Sio chuckled nervously as he shook his partner’s hand. He could tell this would be interesting, having another person who shared his homor in the group. He was just thankful Lupus wasn’t a jerk. “I’m Sio,” he said with a smile, “Sionnach Scáth, if you want to be official. And this is my fox, Sparky.” Sparky sat upright at the mention of his name.

Fola stuck out her hand and Lupus turned to her, grabbing it. “I’m Jeder Fola. But I go by Fola,” she said proudly, then gestured to her elk, continuing, “and this is Sötma.”

“Sio, Fola, Sparky, and Sötma,” Lupus repeated. “Should be easy enough to remember. Where do you come from?”

“Adioniet Province,” Sio answered. “Yourself?”

“I come from Kyoghenn,” he said with pride.

That explains his clothes, Sio thought to himself. He couldn’t help but be jealous of the armor Lupus was wearing. Every person Sio met from Kyoghenn was wealthy, and if they weren’t, they sure looked the part. The province had access to all of the finest materials Sio could imagine. Adioniet would do a fair share of bartering with Kyoghenn, but all they had to offer was animals and some crops. He looked down at his gloves and new chainmail he acquired. There was no doubt some of the material in them came from Kyoghenn.

Fola noticed Sio was speechless so she cleared her throat and replied cooly, “I hear it’s pretty nice there.”

“You could say that,” Lupus said with a smile.

Regaining his composure, Sio said, “We were just setting up our tents. Might want to pick your spot before our final person shows up. First come, first serve,” he said with a smile.

Lupus crossed his arms and smiled in the direction behind where Fola was standing. “Something tells me she’s already here.” He said.

Sio and Fola turned to where Lupus was looking. “But I don’t-“ Fola was cut off as a shadowy cloud emerged from nowhere, then whisped away, revealing an average-sized, dark dressed and hooded female. She drew her hood back, revealing long, dark hair, and observed everyone, Lupus in particular.

“What gave it away?” the stranger asked, a slight concern in her voice.

“Nothing is wrong with your powers, if that’s what you’re getting at,” Lupus replied, unfolding his arms. “Nobilis and I just have a sense when things are close.” He pointed up a tree that was a few feet away and added, “I also noticed your crow on that tree up there. He seemed to be watching us pretty intently.”

The stranger looked a little disappointed, but she quickly changed the subject. “My name is Orenda Tumsa, and my crow is a girl named Sihir.” She looked sternly at Lupus when introducing her crow as a female. “As you may all guess, I come from Hodaws Province, the mage province. It appears we have our warrior, archer, assassin, and now mage. So we are a complete group.” She managed a smile.

Orenda walked to an open spot, the buckles on her boots click with every step. A small frown tugged at the corner of her lips as she observed. “This will do,” she said to herself, and began working quietly on her tent.



Lupus chuckled to himself and began spilling the tent materials from his bag. Sio gave a look to Fola and she mouthed, “This is going to be interesting.” Sio smiled and began working on his tent again, making just as much progress as before.



Within an hour, Fola, Lupus, and Orenda had a well enough established living space. Of course, it was Sio who took the longest. He stayed in the back, cursing to himself and struggling against the fabric and poles.



“The sun’s going down. We should make a fire,” Lupus suggested.

“I’ll get the wood,” offered Fola, as she went off into the woods.

Lupus cleared a small circle of grass and made a rock circle. When Fola returned with the wood, she stacked it carefully in the center, and Lupus began starting a fire.



By the time the fire was started, Sio joined the group with a smile and joked, “Well that didn’t take too long.” Fola instantly noticed the cut on his arm and the welt on his cheek. She fought the urge to giggle at him.



Lupus beat her to the joke as he smiled and said, “I hope you’re a much better warrior than you are a craftsman.”

Sio laughed and said, “I’d like to think so.” He laid back, looking into the fire, and added, “So. It’s finally here.”

The rest of the new group of Elite Protectors nodded in agreement, with slight smiles on their faces.

“Time to prove ourselves,” Lupus said