It was a small town, as all small towns go. But unlike most of the small towns in Mayalrin, this one was not loyal to any certain kingdom. Of course, this left it in danger of any nearby attacking kingdoms. But the town was well guarded and equipped nicely with arms that it traded with the nearby kingdoms, forming mutual but unbiased bonds with these kingdoms. One of these nearby kingdoms included Tifornia, a kingdom by the ocean that relied heavily on their tourist industry. It just so happened that one of those Tifornians was presently walking into the small town, having decided to never go back to Tifornia again.

The name of the town was Lislen. It lay a few miles north of Tifornia, the kingdom closest to it. The town had existed for many years, mostly because of its abundant kemstone supply. Kemstone was a clear, crystalline rock that was used all throughout Mayalrin to make windows, utensils, and many other items. No other area in Western Mayalrin had ever been discovered with as much kemstone as there was in Lislen. Therefore, Lislen could easily trade with other towns and kingdoms for weapons, food, and other supplies, and not fear any sort of attack. Some people said that Lislen would one day become a kingdom of its own, with its prosperity and success. Others doubted that theory because the people of Lislen were too modest and snug to become any sort of large kingdom. Hence the Tifornian, who had heard of this modesty and snugness, chose to walk into the particular town of Lislen one autumn day.
At first, she wandered into a nearby tavern, being quite hungry. After having some bread and pellis soup, she paid the waitress a generous tip, which was met with a strange look, but accepted anyway. She also asked the waitress where the nearest inn was, who told her there was one just next door. The girl headed to the inn, and rented a room. She resided there for about a week, and got to know the layout of the town. Anyone who saw her and didn’t recognize her didn’t question her; the people of Lislen respected one another’s privacy. Finally she realized that she couldn’t live off of the money she had forever. Some of it had to be saved. She no longer was living off of her parents’ income, and would now have to make her own. So she headed to the tavern she had come upon on her first day here.

The manager of the Iron Kettle eyed her up and down.
“Shan’t ye be married?” he questioned her. The girl laughed silently to herself. I would be... she thought. “No, sir,” she replied.
“How old ye be?”
“Seventeen, sir.”
“Ye be of marrying age, lass,” he noted. “An’ ye be quite comely enough to fetch any lad ye wanted.”
The girl simply nodded, no expression on her face.
“Do ye have a name?”
“Lyana.”
“Well, Lyana, we have no need fer any more waitresses ‘round here, but I feel ye need it, so I could hire ye as a maid to clean the floor and tables.”
Lyana nodded in appreciation, and thanked him.
“Ye can start today if ye likes. Ye see that waitress over there? Ask her if ye needs to know where anything is. Her name’s Serra, quiet one, like you, but she gets things done. Ye can call me Nastur.”
Lyana thanked him again, and set off to work.

Two weeks passed. The townspeople began to know her as the girl Nastur felt pity for and hired as a maid. No one knew where she came from, and no one dared to ask. Like Nastur had noted, she was quite a pretty girl. She had dark hair that shone brownish-red in the sunlight. She was very slender, and of average height. Her eyes were a clear gray. Occasionally, some boys and men would purposely go to the Iron Kettle to watch her as she cleaned tables. But none ever dared to go up and talk to her. It always seemed as if a coldness emanated from her that was meant to keep people away. The only person she seemed to speak with was Serra. But Serra was a quiet person also, so no one ever found out anything about Lyana. Even Nastur didn’t know her last name. One thing he knew, though, from observing her, was that she had never worked before in her entire life. Her hands were soft and clean, fingernails trim. On her first day, Serra had to show her how to wield the mop correctly. But that didn’t mean that she wasn’t a hard worker. Nastur noticed that she was very resolute at every task she carried out, and made sure the task was done. Nevertheless, he and the rest of the town still wondered about her past, and where she had come from.

Soon autumn turned to winter, and the town of Lislen became less busy than before. During the wintertime, fewer merchants came by looking to trade, so the kemstone miners didn’t work as often. Most of the time was spent with their families, at home. Nastur chose to close the Iron Kettle on some of those days, so Lyana had some free time to herself. She was still living at the inn, which had become used to her now and let her keep the same room. There was never anything to do there, though, so Lyana spent her free time out in the woods. She enjoyed the cold, especially here in Lislen. Tifornia was near the shore, and thus a bit warmer than it was up here. It hadn’t begun to snow yet, so the ground was still covered with dead grass and a few flowers here and there. Lyana meandered through the woods for a while, enjoying the scene around her. When she reached a small creek, she stopped, and crouched near the water. Thoughtfully she watched the water travel downstream somewhere, probably to Tifornia. Slowly, she reached out a forefinger to touch the water. As she calmly watched, the water around her finger froze into ice, and began to spread across the water like wildfire. Soon, about a foot of the creek was frozen into ice. Lyana then stood up, and began to walk back to town. That night, a blizzard came, covering all of Lislen in snow, as well as freezing the nearby creek.

After a few months, the frost finally melted, flowers sprang up, and the town of Lislen came alive again. By now, everyone had begun to acknowledge Lyana as a permanent resident of Lislen. She still lived at that same inn, but the innkeeper didn’t mind, because she was quiet and never troublesome, and always a paying renter. Occasionally, she showed up at town meetings or festivals, but hardly ever spoke to anyone. During these gatherings, some boys would go up to her and try to make conversation, but in the end, always walked away dismayed and disappointed. Lyana was not the conversation type. A few of the women wondered about her, and why she was so cold around men. They made suggestions among each other about some man who broke her heart, and how she vowed never to love again. This made her seem romantic to them, and all the more mysterious. But the talk about Lyana ceased when the news came that Thieren, Rothus, and Giana would be returning for a visit soon. The entire town became excited, and planned a large celebration for them. Lyana first heard about their return in the Iron Kettle where three men were loudly discussing it as she scrubbed a table next to them.
“This’ll be the best celebration ever in Lislen history! Our young heroes are coming home!” one man proudly declared.
“But remember, Denrod, that their stay is only temporary. The letter said that they were to return to Estaglin at summer’s end to continue training.” the second man reminded the first.
“It’s a shame Deron couldn’t return with them,” the third man murmured. “His sister misses him greatly.”
“Yes, we know, Arturus,” the first man replied, patting him on the back. “That boy probably got too caught up in his training and his future to remember his little hometown of Lislen.”
Lyana heard the third man named Arturus sigh ruefully before she headed back to the kitchen.
“Who’re they talking about?” she asked Serra as she dumped out a bucket of dirty water and filled up a clean one. Just because she was quiet didn’t mean that she didn’t hear what went on around Lislen. She was actually quite observant of everything that occurred in Lislen, so she wondered whom these young heroes were that they were speaking about. She hadn’t heard them ever mentioned before this.
Serra eyed her. “You’d think with your sharp ears you would’ve heard.” She commented as she waited for an order. “They’re talking about Thieren, Rothus, Giana, and Deron. The Gifted Ones. Two years ago, the nearby town of Jurenen secretly ambushed Lislen in the middle of the night. It seemed they were trying to steal our supply of kemstone and take it for themselves. It was an absolutely unexpected attack, so we weren’t prepared. They would’ve taken all of Lislen if it hadn’t been for those four.”
She went to deliver an order and Lyana followed, curious to know what had happened.
“Anyway, those kids didn’t know it at the time, but they each had a power related to the elements. Fire, Wind, Water, and Lightning. The Jurenen had just began raiding homes, when suddenly, I guess all of their powers just sparked up. A fire broke out in one of the homes, a great gale went blasting through another, a rush of water exploded through another, and lightning struck another. It was frightening at first. We thought that the Jurenen had convinced the gods to their side or something. But each one of the homes that was affected had Jurenen raiders inside. This scared away the Jurenen completely, and they left us alone after that. We had no idea what had caused these miracles to happen. We simply believed that the gods were with us that day, until a few days later when a sorcerer came to Lislen after hearing about what happened. He assured us for a fact that it wasn’t the gods who had done the deed, it was people. Someone in the town. He had every one of the townspeople tested, and finally determined that it was those four. Later, they secretly admitted that something strange had happened to them that day. So, the sorcerer then took them to some place called Estaglin, where they have been training and mastering their powers ever since.”
Lyana’s heart skipped a beat during the story, but she kept her expression calm and collected. Two years ago... that’s exactly when— her mind interrupted her heart by snapping, It’s just a coincidence.
“Those three men over there are just talking about the celebration that we’re going to have in honor of their return. The one on the left, Denrod,” Serra continued, motioning to the first man who had spoken, “is the uncle of Thieren. The man on the right, Arturus, is the adopted father of Deron. Deron’s sister still lives with him, but I think without her brother she hasn’t been very happy.” Then Serra was gestured away by Nastur, and left Lyana to her own thoughts.

For the next two weeks, the entire town of Lislen prepared for the celebration. Lyana silently observed this all. She was curious about these “Gifted Ones,” but didn’t understand why the entire town was so excited about their return. It was probably a small-town thing.
On the day of their return, Nastur closed the Iron Kettle, as did many other taverns and stores. Everyone waited in the streets for the young heroes. Lyana waited with them, standing next to Serra. She was simply curious about their powers, and wanted to see how they worked. As the three heroes stepped into town, a cheer went up in the crowd.
Serra whispered to Lyana, “The first young man is Thieren. He has the Fire element. The girl, Giana, has the Wind element. The other young man is Rothus, who has the Lightning element. And the other, Deron, who didn’t come, has the Water element.” As Lyana watched them, she could feel their elements. The blond-haired boy had a sort of warmth and vigor about him. The only girl, Giana, seemed breezy and light-hearted. The copper-haired boy had an excited, thrilled energy. And Lyana could only guess that the other boy, Deron, was a calm and agreeable person. As the celebration began, Lyana did what she usually did at these things, and kept to herself while quietly observing others.