997..

I must.

998..

I must protect.

999..

I must protect him.

1000..

Where there is light there must be darkness that occurs, that is life's true timeline. Although, on the smallest of occasions, the darkness may lead.

Day light spread around the prestigious city of Avalon Hillside-Main west region city housing the prestige west region royal family-Population: 100,000.

"COMMANDER BENKEI!! Another rift has been sited in the Natsu Dunes (South Region)." The soldier said panting, sweating, and shaking.

"How deep is this one?" Commander Ryu Benkei also known as Bullhorn Benkei asked whipping the sweat from his head and sluggishly turning away from the frightened solider. The commanders appearance was built with a massive body violent blue eyes gelled back black hair and a roaring beard.

"Incredibly deep, we can't even see inside of this hole. It could lead all the way to Hell as far as we know." The solider splurged out

"So.., your a soldier aren't you? They've got soldiers just the same let the South deal with it." The commander explained in an annoyed tone and the soldiers face turned white.

"But.. but that's the thing sir they have.. and they're all dead.. " The solider looked to the ground

"Shit..." The commander whispered to himself.

"Has Emperor Kenmei been informed?" Benkei hesitated to say

"No, not yet sir, no reports have been filled to him."

"Good, let's keep it that way we don't want to add to his stress. Get my horse and round up a fleet I want to see this for myself."

The land of the South was submerged in sand. In that region, it seemed to always be twice as hot on any day. They arrived at the foot of the Natsu Dunes where the rift was.

The smell hit him first; it was like a barbeque. The Commander loved barbeque but this made him sick.

What stood in front of them was an ominous sight, a hole pitched in darkness so deep the bottom was impossible to see. The Commander forced himself not to back away from it. The Rift gave a feeling that something in there could be otherworldly. He wondered was this how ants felt in the hands of humans; like they could be crushed in an instant. He also wondered was this how the burnt corpses rotting away in the sand felt before they died. This must be how an ant feels after discovering his anthill was crushed.

"Dear God, what could have done this?" A fleet solider whispered

The commander stood in shock, solid as a block of ice, others vomited on their boots.

"Solider, you said they were dead, not burnt corpses." The commander yelled

The soldier had his hands covering his face to take the image of this horrifying scene out of his head, but looked up slowly.

"Yes.. Si..r th..ey we.. re not burnt at all…" The solider confused at who could have done this

The Commander's first instinct was to yell at this coward, stuttering in the battlefield. However, he knew this wasn't the time. So he merely thought to himself; "Hmm this couldn't have been a small-scale fire mastery... no no this is.. this has to be on the elemental scale…

"Check the bodies for causes and then bring them on the cart for burial." He bellowed out to his troops. He decided to be brave for them.

"YES SIR!"

The winds picked up a cluster of sand, swirling it around in a violent motion. A sandstorm was coming.

"SIR a Sando (sandstorm) is heading our way!" One of his men yelled.

"We're not moving until all the bodies are in the cart."

"YES SIR!" The soldiers tried to yell back, it was obvious they were scared.

The sandstorm instantly hit the soldiers. Carts broke, soldiers flew, and some dropped to their knees. Only one stood in full composure... The commander.

"Get back up!" The commander yelled to his men. But in his mind he was scrambling for answers. "How could this happen and why did the south leave their troops like this?"

"COMMANDER! Something is coming up from the left side of the storm."

The commander searched in the distance, thinking it may be a Dere. (Sand dears were common in the South Region. )

It was nothing of the sort. A person on a horse was shadowed by the storm wearing southern commando armour. He rode parallel to them heading away from the soldiers.

The chaos of the storm continued trapping them. But it became clear why it happened. In the hand of person was a blade but not any ordinary type this blade seemed to be lit of fire. The Commander could tell in an instant when looking at the hilt of the blade there was a symbol that resembled the scared beast Suzaku. The only explanation that was running through the commanders head was that was a legendary blade that can control the element fire and has one of the 4 sacred beasts bound to it.

The commander stood speechless sweat trickled down his face as the Sando violently roared on.

The commander was careful not to speak yet but remained deep in thought. "Are we too late have the south already picked their region's warrior? But why would that person be here? No, maybe they were to blame for this, that sword could have done this. But why would that person kill all their comrades in battle. That's would definitely be a crime worthy of a execution and why would the Emperor of the South allow this?

The figure in the storm faded out. The sandstorm died out a little. The thought to follow occurred to the commander but he let it go the best thing was to report to the Emperor of the West

"Round up a filling team to take care of this hole. They should be able to fill it up to make sure nothing comes out." Commander Benkei stood still as the wind blew sand all around him

His last order was "We must quickly get back to the West and report this to The Emperor.."