“its not fair” said Lence as he pounded his fist against a large oak tree, badly bruising his hand in the process. “how can people treat me like this?” Lence continued “I am a member of the royal family, how is it that they continue to tease and mock me” with that Lence gave the large oak tree in front of him one more pound with his fist and than leaned against its trunk to relax for a minute. “I know why they treat me like this” Lence said as he exhaled a deep breath “they treat me like this because I am different, because I am not the same as every other person in this village, because they believe me something weaker than they are and that is just not acceptable to them” with that thought Lence took another deep breath and leaned off the tree. Lence is a seventeen year old boy with medium length blond hair, a nose much like his mothers which is delicate looking, eyes as blue as the sky and skin that people say looks to smooth. Lence is also about six feet tall, has little or no muscle and wears very green cloths. his tunic is dark green with light green fringing the sides, his trousers and shoes are the same. most of the people in this village wear the exact same thing as Lence, it is the style of the forest people which is what most other nations of people call them. during the element wars many years ago, when all other six nations went to war with each other, the people of the forest resisted the urge to fight and instead decided to stay in the protection of their forest fortress and only fight when their enemy decides to enter the forest. “where all a bunch of cowards if you ask me” Lence thought as he started walking back down the flower filled path from which he came “while the rest of the world fights with there swords and there shields, we can fight with our words, our words that control the plant life around. we could turn the tide of this war for the better but instead we choose to hide in the shade of the trees until the smoke clears”. as Lence walked through the garden path and continued his thoughts on his people’s bad decision to stay out of the surrounding war, he noticed something. to his right, by the first of the tree houses that we all live in, was a large group of the children. they where practicing there many calming exorcises taught to them by the leaf master Bortolmo, he was the one who teaches everyone how to use there power of the forest to talk to the plant life around, to tell them what they want them to do. that was the source of all of Lence’s problems, he was born without the ability to talk to plant life, he was the only powerless person in the whole village. Lence knew that is mother, the forest queen, was deeply ashamed that he had no forest gift, even if she did not say it. Lence and many others had pondered why he was born without the gift of the forest but no one could find the answer, it was if there was no reason for his constant suffering, just that it existed and that it ruled his life. while other people he knew started to join the thorn army and become great willow sorcerers, Lence was stuck wondering around the gardens and living as a lazy prince. “if only my father was still alive” Lence thought as he passed the practicing children “he would have let me join in the fight against the other element nations even without the gift of the forest, but sadly he is not alive” Lence’s father was killed when Lence was a little kid. Lence had never really known his father but he would typically try and think of what his father would do in certain situations from the things his mother told him about him. his mother had told him that his father was a very noble man who always took the path of action instead of calm negotiation, which he thought was the best way. she had also told Lence that he was a very skilled thorn warrior and had saved countless lives in the battle of burning roses, that was the battle she said that she first met him. back than his mother was simple known as Sava, a very devoted willow sorcerer and his father was a simple thorn warrior known as Griffin. after they met, in the time of the seed ceremony, they where chosen because of there powerful skills to be king and queen of Ishlandia, the never ending forest. the seed ceremony is a time in which when there is no leader for the forest people, all time will hold still for the rest of the world and all people of the forest will be forced to return to the Orkilubun tree so they can pick a new leader. the ceremony can take many hundreds of years and no one ages because time stops but once it is done, the world is allowed to move again and the forest people had two new leaders, his parents. for many years they protected this place against the other element nations but after a while of constant attack, they wore down our defences so much that they actually got inside the city. they got all the way to the royal palace, which is just a big tree in the middle of the village, and that is where Lence’s father fought off the attackers who where the blaze army of the burned nation. in that battle, Lence’s father killed hundreds of blaze solders by himself but by the end of the battle, he was killed by burned nation general Grindsonk. the people of the forest where so sad by the death of there king after the battle that everyone spent a year in silence to honor his bravery and death, Lence was only four at the time and understood little but he did understand that his father was never coming back. Lence’s mother never remarried after her his father died, even with most of the forest people telling her that running a nation is too much for a woman to handle without a man by her side. Lence’s mother had run the nation very beautifully without his father but with the constant attacks by the surrounding element nations, people where starting to lose hope and blame the only person they could think of, his mother. after a few more seconds of walking and thoughts about his mother, Lence found himself in the rose pedal ponds along with one other person, a beautiful girl named Rena. Lence was very happy to see Rena, she was practicing her willow stances by the rose pedal filled ponds. Lence had met Rena when he was six years old when he was getting beat up by some of the other kids around here, Rena had stepped in front of them and forced them to stop, they had refused but Rena would not take no for an answer. she had told the trees nearby to give the other kids a few whips with there branches, that sent them home crying to there mothers, Lence and Rena had been friends ever sense. one reason why Lence liked her so much was she was the only person that did not treat him different from the other people around here, which he was. Rena was the same age as he was which is seventeen years old and just as tall, she had very smooth skin and rosebud shaped lips. she wore a long light green dress studded with small leaves which only stayed healthy and did not rot because Rena was a such a good willow sorcerer, she could talk a baby oak tree into growing forty feet tall in just a day, which is no easy task sense most plant life is very stubborn about growing before there time, or so Lence had heard sense he had never actually talked to a plant or tree before. the only other thing of note about Rena was she did not wear shoes, most people of the forest wore shoes even if other people of other nations said we did not, so it was very odd that Rena did not. she said that “it helps me to understand the life around me better, a tree does not wear shoes so why should I”, to Lence and many other people, Rena was one of the most skilled willow sorcerers in her generation. right as Lence had seen here, he walked right up to her without pause. “Lence” Rena said in a very happy voice once she noticed him “how are you on this fine day?” Rena continued as she gave Lence a hug, Lence responded with almost as equal happiness as her. “I’m alright” Lence replied “what about you”, Rena replied with a shake of her hand signifying that she was “okay” today, not that happy but not angry or sad. “what happened to your hand” Rena said with concern in her voice once she noticed his bruised hand, Lence gave a shrug and related his story of being angered by other people mocking him today and how he let out his anger by punching a tree. Rena responded by telling Lence how stupid other people can be and that he should not care so much, and that punching a tree is not a very good way to let out anger, it hurts your hand and angers the tree. “what choice to i have” Lence replied “if I don’t stand my ground with other people when they mock me than they will never stop, i don’t want to become a runner Rena, that is the way of the coward”. “a coward” Rena responded sounding slightly irritated “is someone that runs away from what they truly are, is someone that tries to be something that there not. you are not of the forest people Lence, you can not speak to plant life and make it do what you want but that does not mean your are worthless. everyone has a purpose, you just have to find out what yours is” with that Lence nodded his head to Rena, not really believing her but thanking her for her words none the less. a few more seconds of talking and Lence noticed some people coming to join him and Rena, people he most did not want to deal with right now. it was two men and a woman who where all his age, one of the men was a muscular man with a beginnings of a beard on his face, his name was Crut. the other man was very short but also muscular man, his name was De’hed. the last member of the group, who was a woman, was a medium sized woman with a slim body and long hair, her name was Peda. all the approaching people wore green clothing, some where light and others dark but all green none the less. “look who it is” said De’hed “its little Lence, all ready for us to beat on him again” with a sigh Lence stood up to confront them again, these where the people who he had trouble with earlier today. “why don’t you three found something better to do with your day” Lence said as he stepped closer to the group, particular to De’hed. “we would not want you to feel lonely” De’hed said with a smile. with a slow motion, De’hed extended his hand and held it out for a second. after a quick moment, green light shined from the hand and surrounding plant life like rocks and other hard things around that could be grown, came and blended onto De’hed’s hand. in a split second, De’hed had a gauntlet on his arm of rock, vines and thorns. Lence knew that the gauntlet would also increase the mans strength, most thorn warriors did things like this but usually they made actual weapons from the life around. “stop it” Rena said stepping in front of Lence and De’hed “he his the forest prince, you would not want to hurt the heir to the throne” with that a smile appeared on De’heds face. “I would never want to hurt him” De’hed said in a sarcastic voice “but i would not mind ruffing him up a little so he learns his place, he will never be my king” with that anger bubbled up into Lence to the point of bursting, he would have attacked the man right there and now if a loud horn did not sound in the distance. for a second everyone just stared at the dark trees beyond the rose pedal ponds until some people started to walk from them. with loud cries many people started to come from the city and cheer the men who just came out of the trees, thorn solders. Lence had heard that they had been sent on a mission in the northern part of the forest but he did not expect them to be back so soon and with such few numbers, Lence counted that they must have lost ten men out of forty. with the return of the solders and the sudden group of people around, De’hed let the gauntlet of plant life fall apart off his hand. “this is not over” he said to Lence as he walked away with his two other friends. Lence exhaled a deep breath when they left “one day I will be king” Lence said “maybe than he will show me respect” with that he looked at Rena but she seemed doubtful. “lets not linger on De’hed” Rena said “with the return of the thorn warriors there will be a grand festival to night,Ii must leave right know to make it in time for my private lessons with master Griggl’thron but find me tonight at the festival, save me a dance” with that she gave Lence one more hug and left. after a few seconds of just standing there, he noticed a thorn solder who had not gone with the rest of the group on there mission come up to him. “queen Save would like to see you, Lence” the solder said as he stopped right in front of Lence, Lence gave a nod and followed the solder to where his mother would be.

“so I hear that you are shirking your lessons with Master Vien” Lence heard his mother say to him in a very disappointed voice, Lence moved a little uncomfortable side to side. “master Vien is so boring, mother” Lence replied “all he knows is politics and military strategies, how will that help me in a battle” “it will help you more than you think” his mother replied. “strategy is good for a leader to learn and politics is even better” his mother continued “a sword may win a few battles but an entire war can be avoided with just a few words, Lence” with that Lence’s mother gave a sigh of irritation and leaned back in her wooden chair. Lence’s mother was very tall, taller than most men and she had very long hair which she braided. she wore a long green dress studded with many roses and her skin was very tan for a some around here where light is blocked by the trees a lot of the time. she wore gold earring on her ears and roses braided in to her hair, her nose was just like Lence’s. “you know that i am not going to be around for ever, Lence” Lence heard his mother say to him in a very serious voice “a person can only live for so long and i am afraid that my time will be coming to a end soon” with that Lence looked away from his mother uncomfortable, he knew that she was most likely right. the forest people was the only people that stopped aging at a certain point in there lives, they can stay in there prime for the rest of there lives and it was the main reason why his mother looked like she was only thirty years old when she was actually for hundred and seven, the forest people also live much longer than other people. Lence knew that a person’s four hundred years where there last years, the oldest person in all of there history only lived to four hundred and eighty two and that was a miracle at that, the fact that his mother was possible going to die soon frightened Lence to no end. “Lence” Lence heard his mother say “look at me Lence” with that Lence turned his head towards his mother, “you must not feel sad when I die, it is a natural part of life and one that I have come to except in my recent years, the only thing that I will miss is you Lence” with that his mother stood from where she sat. “I know that you are too young to take the throne” Lence’s mother said “and that you have no experience combined with the fact that no one around here respects you but you may not have a choice. when i die you will be raised as king of the forest people, even if other dislike it they will have to except it. when that happens you have to be strong, i have never been ashamed of having a son that can not speak to plants, nor was your father. the lack of the forest power makes you special Lence, in time you will find out just how special” with that Lence’s mother embraced him in a hug and than walked back to her wooden chair. “i don’t want you to skip your lessons any more, am i clear” his mother told Lence, “yes, mother” Lence replied in a respectful tone. with that his mother gave him a smile and waved him away so she could get back to the papers that enveloped her desk. Lence gave his mother a bow and than turned around to exit through the wooden door of his mothers study room. when Lence left the room, he found the two guards by his mothers door who where in the exact same stance as when he had entered the room. Lence stepped past the guards and than started to walk down the spiral stair case that wrapped around the huge tree that was called the royal palace, at the top was his mother throne room and in many different sections down the tree there where many other rooms such as his bed room and the many rooms his mother uses for special purposes. “a great king i will make” Lence thought sarcastically as he reached the bottom of the stair case and another set of guards “i can’t even get a bunch of idiots to stop bugging me every day let alone managing a whole nation. everyone keeps saying that I am special but I have yet seen any proof of such a thing” with that Lence gave a sigh and went to find something he could do until the festival tonight.