Children of the Sun and Moon (2 page)

CHAPTER ONE

It was a
beautiful morning in the Central Land of Melarandra. The dawn
arrived with a red brilliance, causing the new buds on the trees to
glisten from the dew. To the villagers in the south, where fishing
was a norm, this would be taken as a warning of bad water today,
but to the young woman standing in her window; it was going to be
taken as the beginning of an amazing day.

Gazing out her
window, Koral took a deep breath. There was a light and crisp south
breeze coming in, and she drew it in deeply. It caused her long red
hair to flow into her face. Brushing it away, she turned her bright
green eyes towards town. Some snow still littered the ground, but
it was melting away fast. Klayhern was one of the largest towns in
the Central Lands, and nothing pleased the young princess more than
watching her people mull about in the morning. There was almost
never any crime, and it always amazed her just how friendly
everyone was.

Koral started
to move away from her window when she heard the clanging of swords.
She had to lean out of her window to see where it was coming from,
but she knew exactly where to look. It was Korben and Payton,
practising their swordplay. This was another of Koral’s favourite
things to watch. Seeing how well the two sparred made her happy
they were in charge of her safety. It was her hope to someday
handle a sword as well as them. Koral knew she could not watch them
for too long today. There was far too much to do.

“Today is going
to be an interesting day,” she muttered to herself. Carefully, she
pulled herself back in the window, and looked about her room. It
was about time she got herself organized. Today was going to be an
eventful day.

She mulled
about her room, finding her tunic and leggings, but could not focus
on getting ready. Gillock had promised he would give them their
final test today, and Koral could not wait. Nothing could be more
exciting than knowing this would be the last test she would ever
have to take. No more lessons, no more mock sword fights and no
more having to miss out on beautiful days! Of course, she was
grateful Gillock had taken the time to be her teacher. If it had
not been for him, she would not know anything about the prophecy,
which was supposedly about her. He knew so much, Koral figured he
had to have been alive for hundreds of years. When she had finished
getting her tunic and forest pants on, Koral again glanced outside.
She was stunned to see the sun had moved considerably.

“Oh no,” she
shouted. “Eric is going to kill me if I am late.”

Grabbing her
sword and belt, the princess ran out of her room, and headed toward
the stable.

When she
arrived, she saw Eric was already there, finishing up with his
horse.

He turned to
look at her. “Nice of you to join me,” he remarked,
sarcastically.

Koral gave her
brother a look which caused him to smirk and go back to his horse.
He was only slightly taller than his sister was, with his father’s
black hair, cut short as per the style of the time. The only thing
similar between the twins was their eye colour. Neither had the
striking dark green their father possessed. Theirs appeared to be
more vibrant. Gillock had commented to Elizanne on more than one
occasion that it was the magic stored within them both making their
eyes so bright.

“Sorry, Eric, I
lost track of the time.”

Eric just
huffed at her and finished up with Blade. Koral rushed over to
where Swift was kept, and found Robyn working on him. “Tolly
figured since you were running behind, I should help out.”

Tolly was a
very old man. His natural expression made him look miserable, but
in reality, he was very sweet. Tolly had been in charge of the
stables at the castle for longer than Koral had been alive.
Although there were only six horses kept in the stable, Koral
always felt Tolly was far too old to maintain them himself, even
with Robyn as his groom. “Thank you, Robyn. I can take it from
here.”

Robyn nodded at
her and moved out of the stall.

Looking over
Swift, Koral found nothing wrong and finished up. With Robyn’s
help, she was finished at the same time as Eric.

Eric climbed up
onto Blade and turned toward his sister coming out of the stall.
“Well, we have a long day ahead so we best get going.” Quickly he
turned his horse and raced out of the stable. Koral leaped onto
Swift and chased after him. The twins headed outside of the castle
grounds and went north. They were to meet Gillock at the field
which had been their training ground for as long as they could
remember.

Today was to be
their final test, which was fine by Eric. Between Gillock’s books
and Payton’s sword fighting, he was getting a little tired of it
all. Eric knew he was part of a prophecy and was glad to have
learned all he could to help with it, but he was a great sword
fighter and felt it was enough. He did not really care to learn
about the geography of Melarandra, or the history behind
everything. None of it would make him a hero.

Eric watched as
Koral caught up to him and passed by. “So what is this final test?”
he yelled to her.

Koral stopped
and waited for Eric to catch up. “I am not sure, but you can bet it
will be hard.”

“This is all
ridiculous anyway,” he muttered. “I already know everything I can
about fighting.”

Koral laughed.
“If this prophecy is true, than you do not know half of what you
should.”

Eric just
glared at his sister and took off in front of her.

Neither one had
noticed the figure in the bushes, shadowing them. Gillock had
stopped when the twins had. He heard the entire conversation and
agreed with Koral's surmise. Eric needed a lot more training, but
he had run out of time. Watching the two ride off, he felt a sense
of pride seeing Koral atop her steed. You could tell she was
royalty. She was so sure of herself, never making any quick
decisions, always thinking things through before acting. Everyone
loved her. Koral was indeed a born leader. The person straggling
behind was not. Eric had a bad temper and felt since he was a
prince; he should be treated with the utmost respect and
admiration. He did not realize that both of those things should be
earned, not handed out. Quick to anger and quick to act was the
best way to describe Eric. It was all about glory and power with
him. Gillock sighed, shaking his head. Too much time was lost due
to Jeremy’s decision to wait and then forbidding him to show them
any magic. He had shown them some things, but more was necessary.
The twins were not ready for what was about to happen, and Gillock
knew he did not have a choice.

Again, he
sighed and diverted his attention to another problem. The twins
were being followed, and the person following them unnerved
Gillock. It was a Maget soldier, and it was someone he did not
recognize. Lately a lot of the Magima and soldiers were people he
did not recognize, and yet they were all so young. “Lakin is
definitely up to something, I just wish I had the time to figure
out what,” he thought to himself. Moving off, he cast a simple
blocking spell around the twins. Hopefully, the soldier would not
be able to detect it and would travel in circles until he had
finished with the twins.

When Eric broke
through the tree line, he saw Gillock sitting in the middle of the
field. It was a sight which almost made Eric laugh. Gillock’s long
hair was always wild, but out here it looked even more so. Mostly
black with strange streaks of grey (almost as if he had put them
there), sticking out in very odd angles. His eyes were almost the
same colour as his hair, black pools that never gave anything away
and his stance always had a gangly look to it. Seeing him sitting
there with his hair flying around and his green robes swirled about
him was somewhat comical. On closer look, he appeared to be in deep
thought. With Koral close behind, he sped up to get there
first.

Koral shook her
head when she saw Eric hasten his step. Everything was a
competition with him. Noticing Gillock,

Koral pushed
the thought aside and headed toward him. When they arrived, the
twins dismounted and sat down beside the old wizard. They noticed
he was reading a book, but when he realized they were there, he
closed it.

Gillock shifted
his gaze back and forth between the twins. “I feel I should start
by apologizing to you both.”

They were
surprised by this statement, but kept quiet.

“Your lives
since you were born have been nothing but training. You’ve never
had much time for yourselves. Neither one of you even has a real
friend.”

Koral and Eric
looked at each other. Although this was true, it was something
which had never bothered them before. They always had each other,
and for some reason, it was enough.

Koral decided
to respond first. “Gillock, we both know we are not normal young
people. We are first and foremost royalty, and that alone can be a
lonely life.”

Gillock stared
at Koral. She really was wise beyond her years.

“I agree,” came
Eric. “Besides, we cannot discuss our training and having friends
would have just complicated our lives even more.”

Gillock smiled.
“Again, you both show me just how much you’ve grown these past few
years.” His smile then faded. “Now, for why we are here. I’ve
decided to move your test from today until tomorrow,” he
stated.

“What! Why?”
asked Eric, obviously upset by the news.

Expecting his
response, Gillock slowly turned his black orbs to look at him.
“Because it's what I have decided and that's all you need to
know.”

“What is going
to happen today?” questioned Koral.

“Well, I want
you two to take this book and study it. Your test tomorrow will
have a lot to do with what is contained within. I feel today, we
will discuss magic.”

This news
induced a sense of anxiousness in Eric, and dread in Koral. Both
knew they possessed magic. Gillock had shown them basic spells, on
top of the little tricks they had figured out for themselves.

“What are we
going to discuss?” asked Eric excitedly.

Shifting his
position, Gillock thought out his response carefully. “Well, all
which is important. We need to start at the beginning. You both
need to understand the importance of this subject.”

Koral was
confused. “You have shown us basic spells. That fact alone would
have you executed. Even to discuss it is forbidden and subject to
arrest.”

“I know,
child,” he responded. “This is of great importance otherwise I
would not dare disobey a law as important as this one.”

“As Koral has
said, you have shown us basic spells. What do you know about real
magic?” inquired Eric.

Gillock just
looked at him and smiled. “I know much. Why do you think that
is?”

“Because you
are a wizard,” Koral responded.

“Yes and your
brother knows very well I am.”

Eric looked
embarrassed by Gillock’s accusation, something that puzzled Koral
but she decided she would ask her brother about it later.

“Now, let's
begin your final lesson. I know you both understand why the law is
in place. The wizards of the past started a war with each other,
and it nearly destroyed Melarandra. What you don’t know is I was
one of those wizards.”

This revelation
surprised Koral, one of the wizards from the war! She had always
suspected he was older than he appeared, but did not realize he was
that old. The war happened almost five hundred years ago. Koral
glanced at her brother and was stunned to see the news didn’t
appear to surprise Eric. She wondered how much of this he already
knew.

“Something
which is just as important is the Maget. Why the Maget Order was
created, and what the Magima are exactly, may surprise you. You
see, the Magima are all magic users.”

“But how can
that be?” interrupted Koral. “How can those who enforce the law be
able to practice it?”

Gillock
understood her confusion, but continued his story. “It was decided
by a king from the era, something needed to be done to ensure a war
like that never happened again. One of his advisers figured out the
only way to stop people from practising magic was to make a law
forbidding it. This adviser possessed minimal magical abilities,
and he came to the realization that those who possess magic can
detect it in others. When he informed the king he could do this,
the king immediately ordered him to find others like him. The Maget
soldiers were brought in to help him with his task. The soldiers
were originally from the king’s personal guard. The adviser,
realizing the soldiers were not going to be enough to enforce the
law, came up with the idea to have others who possess magic join
him. This was how the Magima came to be. It was to be an
unfortunate time for those people. They were told they would join
the Maget Order or die, and most, picked death. They didn’t believe
the law should exist or wish to put others through the same
torment. Once he had enough Magima, the adviser convinced the king
to go after all creatures that possess magic.” He paused for a
moment, wanting to see how this information was affecting the
twins. Koral looked appalled, Eric bored. Shaking his head, he
continued. “The first to go were the fairies. They were very
trusting beings who were easily captured. With them out of the way,
they went after the

Elves. It was
an incredible battle, which lasted almost a year. The Elves did not
stand a chance against such a formidable force and were destroyed.
The hardest to get rid of was the dwarves. Although they did not
appear to possess obvious magical abilities the king’s adviser
thought if they did not remove them, war might develop. The king
agreed but found it difficult to enforce the decision. Living deep
within the mountains, the Magima had trouble finding them all. They
thrive to this day, in their mines. Lastly, it was the dragons.
There were not many left after the war, but it was decided if they
lived then magic would flourish, and they would never be able to
rid the world of it.”