There is a land where baby water nymphs explore the pond, guided by scolding mothers. Where creatures of unknown shapes and sizes walk  hand-in-hand with humans. Such is the land of Eketh.  Long ago, Eketh was a land full of evil and swine. People had many hardships during these times. To help ease their pain and trouble, the great warrior Elderest used his magic to trap all that evil. Because nobody had the rights or the power to make something simply disappear, he took the evil and created creatures called Gorons, trapping all the evil inside them. The Gorons were banished to the outskirts of town, and that is where they are to this day. There are still problems, yes. There are greedy lawyers and mayors that took bribes.  But it was a place where unimaginable beings existed, a place brimming with mystery and magic…

“Y-Your M-Majesty!”

Shane bowed, nervous, perspiration gleaming on his forehead.

“Your M-Majesty, our sp-spies have just informed us that the Gorons are p-planning an attack on us Your M-Majesty! The sp – spies tell us the attack is going to be so huge, it will t – take them thirteen to fourteen years to prepare for it! This is an attack b-bigger than any attack we’ve ever f-faced before!”

King Julian was worried. The Gorons had been creating havoc since they were first created. But this was the worst of all.

“The great Elderest’s  descendant,  Zachary, and his wife, Rosa, have just had twin children. They are our only chance. We’ll train them and make them warriors. Until then, they must stay hidden from the Gorons. We’ll send them to the place they call Earth, and bring them back when they turn thirteen. Tell Zachary our plan, Shane. Tell him to let his sons go for thirteen years, for the good of Eketh.”

“Yes, Your M-Majesty.”

Gabe and Angie Crotchman were not one of the best couples on earth. But they were close to it. They had never disagreed before. They both loved criticizing their neighbors garden. They loved telling each other how much they hated their home in San Jose, California. And they despised their two  adopted sons, Jake and Aaron.

Those two boys were always in trouble. They forgot to do the work. They didn’t do the gardening for Gabe. They ate too much food. They went to sleep before bedtime. In Angie’s opinion there was nobody worse than Jake and Aaron.

—————————————–

Jake sighed. He and Aaron had just weeded the garden, watered the plants, done the entire family’s laundry, massaged Gabe’s back, clipped Angie’s toes, vacuumed the entire house, and cooked dinner, all the while being criticized by Gabe and Angie.

They wearily brushed their teeth, changed into tattered pajamas, and climbed into bed. He looked up at his ceiling as he had every night for as long as he could remember. And sighed.

“Hey Jake?”

“Yeah?”

“Have you ever wondered how life without Gabe and Angie would be?”

“Only for about every single moment of my life.”

“No, really,” said Aaron. “what if we ran away?”

“Are you crazy? Have you for a moment thought that we would be nobodies without a home or address if it weren’t for our step- parents?”

“Well, how worse can it be? They treat us like dirt stuck to the bottoms of their shoes,” argued Aaron.

“No way. I’m not going. I hate this place as much as you, but no way!”

Aaron sighed. He knew that voice. There would be no arguing with Jake any longer. Or maybe, just maybe, he could convince Jake otherwise. But it would take a lot of work.

He waited until his twin fell asleep. Then he crept out.

The next morning, the boys were awakened by Gabe’s loud screams.

“My food! Where is everything? Boys!”

He was nearly bursting. Gabe only woke early for one thing: food.

“Boys! Which one of you did this? If you don’t tell, I will beat you so bad you’ll be black and blue and disown you!”

“Did what?” Jake asked in confusion. “What happened to your food? Did you run out?”

Gabe struck Jake on the face. “As if you don’t know! All my food is gone!”

Aaron’s blood was boiling. “Don’t touch my brother! All you thank of is food! And why is it that when something’s wrong, you always think we’re to blame?”

“Aaron, let it go! I’m fine! Gabe, we didn’t touch your food! Please stop blaming us!”

“Didn’t touch my food, eh? I’ll show you. We’ve given you food for your stomachs and a roof over your head but you are the most ungrateful children possible. It’s time I taught you boys a lesson.”

And saying so, he grabbed Aaron by the ear and pulled him out of the room. Then he threw him into an old closet and locked the door.

Aaron started coughing. It was musty and dark, and hard to breath. Maybe stealing the food from the fridge was a bad idea. But if he was to run away, he had to have food. It was necessary.  He only hoped that Jake was okay.

Jake was hungry. And cold. He shivered. It was cold in the basement. That was where Gabe had locked him up.  Poor Aaron. He knew he was locked in the closet. It was worse there than in the basement. He knew Aaron had stolen the food. He saw that shifty look on his brother’s face.

“So Aaron still wants to run away,” Jake thought. “Well, I’ll just watch. Maybe this is a good idea after all seeing how Gabe treats us.”

The boys were not let out until dinner time. Even then, they were given nothing to eat. The two silently went to their room.

“Jake?”

“Yeah?”

“I took the food I just wanted to prove he could run away. I’m sorry,” said Aaron.

“No, it’s okay. What you did showed me that we really should run away. I agree.”

“All right. I think we should go now.”

“Are you crazy? We need a plan!”

“No time for that.” said Aaron. “It’s now or never”

Aaron soon convinced Jake, and the two set out, long after bedtime. Jake never looked back, glad to be rid of the place he was forced to call home.

“Sir, sir! I m-mean Your Highness,” Shane was panicked.

“Yes, Shane?” King Julian frowned. Shane looked nervous. He could only be bringing bad news.

“‘It’s  Jake and Aaron, sir! We’ve lost them! We were m-monitoring them at those peasants’ house – ”

“Watch your language, Shane. That couple may be horrendous, but fate made them find the boys and agree to keep them.”

“But we put the boys on their doorstep! And begged them to keep them!”

“Be that as it may, they were the only ones whose house was easy to monitor.”

“Yes, Your M-Majesty. As I was saying, we were m-monitoring the boys with our m-monitoring spells when they left the boundaries of the house!”

“They probably went shopping or to a party.”

“But Your M-Majesty, they have been missing for over a day! And those horrible people never take them on vacation!” Shane was almost yelling now.

“Are you telling the truth, Shane?”

“Yes, Your Majesty” Shane said.

“Send our best trackers on the trail! We must catch those boys!”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

He hurried out.

King Julian frowned. This was bad. War time was getting closer. The boys needed to start training. Immediately. He could only hope the trackers would find them in time.

——————♦———————–

Jake felt good. Really good. After years and years of being abused by Gabe and Angie, he was finally free. It had been a day since they ran away and it was easy. Aaron had thought of stealing some money, and they had plenty of food. They bought some blankets and slept on park benches.

He laughed. Life was much better here than at “home”. Aaron was feeling the same, but a thought occurred to him.

“Hey Jake?”

“Yeah?”

“I was wondering. What are we going to do?”

Jake frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Well, we can’t really go on living on park benches, right? We need a home, and a place to stay. What are we going to do?”

Jake’s happy mood was ruined. What were they going to do? Then he got an idea.

“Aaron, I remember reading about an orphanage, down in Sacramento. We can try to travel there. It has to be better than home. There were a lot of good reports on it,” Jake said.

“But how do we get there?”

“By train. We have enough money.”

With a goal in front of him, Aaron didn’t feel lost any longer. He was a man on a mission.

There was a high chance that this trip would be a success. Maybe there really was a happy ending for them after all. Maybe -

“Aaron, move to the side. And get in that antique store. Now!” said Jake, pulling him out of his trail of thought.

Aaron moved in the store as Jake said.

“I think that man in black is following us. I don’t know why. We need to get out of here.”

Aaron was curious. “Let’s keep walking a few blocks. We’ll see if he is following us. I think you’re just imagining it. After all, who would follow us? It’s not like Gabe and Angie would actually send someone to look for us!”

“You’re right. We’ll walk one block and take some turns. If he is following us, we escape.”

So the boys agreed and walked off. They headed down the block and took a turn. Then they walked a few more blocks.

“You were right, Jake. He is following us.”

“I told you. Listen, we’ll sneak into a store and escape from the back. Then we run.”

Aaron agreed. They snuck into an old pet shop. In a muddle of noise and low light the pair escaped through the back door and ran out.

They saw the man still following them. They started running. The man started running after them. The boys picked up their pace, running down blocks, taking turns, and going through stores.

“I- think-we-lost-him” Aaron wheezed out.

“Who was he? Why does he want us?” Jake was confused.

“Let’s hope we never find out” Aaron said.

They set off into the night, trying to find a place to rest. They finally found and old playground  with some park benches on which they slept.

Jake sighed. Aaron was lucky. He had already gotten over the shock of being chased and had been chattering about a happy future and their plans for adulthood. Jake was the more mature kid. He worried more. And he was filled with worries now.

Who was that man? Why was he following them? Was he some kind of kidnapper, who would make them work for him? Maybe running away was a bad idea after all. Maybe they should go out.

How could he have let Aaron convince him like that? Now they were both in trouble. He would talk to Aaron tommorow. The two of them would figure something out, as a team.

With that comforting thought in mind, he fell asleep.

———————♦——————–

The next morning, Jake woke up early. He waited for Aaron to get up. Soon he did, with a yawn.

“Aaron, I want to go home.”

“Well good morning to you to, Jake.”

“No, seriously. We need to go home. Did you see that guy chasing us! It’s dangerous here, Aaron! I’m going home.” Jake was shouting.

“Listen, Jake.” Aaron said comfortingly. “We’ve gotten this far. And we escaped from that man. We can do this Jake. We can do anything. We just need to do this together.”

Jake felt soothed by Aaron’s words. Maybe they could do this.

“Alright, Aaron. We can do this. But if one man, one more man, comes after us, I’m leaving. For good.”

“Deal. One more man and we leave.”

So they set off, cautious but confident.

]]> http://www.eketh.com/chapter-2-welcome-to-eketh/feed/ 0 http://www.eketh.com/3-p-o-t-r-o-e/ http://www.eketh.com/3-p-o-t-r-o-e/#comments Fri, 29 Jun 2007 13:46:51 +0000 Shannon http://www.eketh.com/?p=9

Thunder boomed. Lightning flashed. It was pouring in San Francisco, California and that was where the boys now were.

Aaron sighed. Jake had been right. He was always right.  Aaron should have listened to him. There were thousands of people homeless and penniless here. Who would notice them? Who would help them? They were homeless on the streets in the middle of the night during a thunderstorm.

Sopping wet he plopped down on a park bench. Jake sat next to him. He seemed to notice Aaron’s discouraged mood.

“Hey Aaron?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t worry. We’re in this together. This isn’t your fault, or mine. We can do this.”

Aaron was about to reply when a man walked up.

“Excuse me” a the man said. He was short and stocky, with a kind smile on his face. “You boys look wet and cold. And I’ve never seen people so young out on their own. Why don’t you stay at my house for the night?”

Aaron jumped up “Thank you so much, sir, for your kindness. We would love to stay at your house.”

“Hold on a second Aaron.” said Jake. “We can’t go jumping to whomever we meet. Remember the man in black. We can’t trust every one.”

“Son, I don’t know which man you are talking about but I am an honest man. What could I take from you? I know you don’t know me, but you  don’t have much to loose. Just stay for a day.”

It really was pouring and everyone was cold. The man looked kind and he was standing in the rain trying to convince them to let him take care of them. And it was only for one night. So Jake agreed and the man led them to his house.

The man was the owner of a small used bookstore with a two story house above the building. The man showed the boys into a warm, cozy room with one small bed and a tiny gas fireplace. He turned it on and the boys sat down.

“We don’t know how to thank you,” said Jake.

“Helping people reward enough for me. I’ll bring some cloths up that might fit you. You can take your showers now.” He left the room.

“He is so good to us,” said Aaron happily.

“I know. I’d love to stay here but we need to go to school and I don’t think he can afford that. Besides, he didn’t even invite us to stay,” said Jake.

“Maybe he will. But nice as he is, we can’t trust everyone. We’ll have to leave tomorrow morning.”

“Well, as long as we’re here, I’ll use it. I’m going to go to take a shower,” Jake declared. He left the room.

Aaron sat on the floor. It was warm in here.

The door opened. The man came in. He had two pairs off clots with him.

“Thank you so much Mr… ?”

“Mr. G. And you two are ?”

“I’m Aaron. My brother’s name is Jake.”

“Okay Aaron. I found some clothes that might fit. You must be comfortable. After all, sure you’ll be staying for a very long time.”

Was it his imagination or was there a red glint in Mr.G’s eyes?. Mr.G left the room leaving Aaron to sit and think that may be Mr. G wasn’t so honest after all.

——————♦———————–

The next morning the boys woke early and got up. They brushed and washed up. Then they went down. A delicious aroma met them.

“Breakfast is ready!” called Mr. G.

And what a breakfast! Pancakes and sausages. Scrambled eggs and hash browns. The boys filled themselves up. When they got up, Mr. G. said “I’ve got a full day planned ahead. We’ll have so much fun!”

“I’m sorry Mr.G., but we have to go now,” said Aaron.

“Come on boys, I’ms sure you can stay one more day!”

“I’m sorry but we’re going,” Jake said firmly. He and Aaron pushed past Mr.G. and went twoards the door.

Mr. G. barred their way “I’m sorry boys, but I think you can stay one more day,” he said icily. His voice sent shivers up Jake’s spine.

They both involuntarily took a step back. And then Mr.G. began to change. His skin peeled away like layers of an onion. Underneath was unhumanly smooth green skin. His eyes had no whites and were blood-red. His teeth were dull and oddly spaced like a doll’s. His hands and feet ended at razor sharp claws. His raven black hair stuck up like spikes.

He growled and took a step forward. The boys started backing up. “You will stay or I will kill you. Pick one.” He took another step forward. Jake and Aaron had backed up to the wall.

Suddenly a voice spoke “Back off, you filthy Goron,”  Jake whirled around. A group of men stood behind them. They were dressed completely in black. But strangest of all was their leader who had bright orange hair and was holding a bright glowing object. He pointed it at “Mr.G.” and said “To the dungeons.”

There was bright flash of light and Mr.G. disappeared. Aaron didn’t know whether to feel happy or sad. He couldn’t trust these men any more than Mr.G. His mind was blank. Too much had happened in the past few days and now he thought he saw monsters and men in black. He felt like lying down and never getting up.

The leaders of the group saw the look on his face and said “Don’t worry A lot may have happened just now, probably more than your Earth-grown brain to comprehend but we’re here to fix that. I am Drake, captain of the P.O.T.R.O.E.”

“P.O.T.R.O.E?” was all that Jake could stammer out.

“Protectors of the Realm of Eketh.”

Jake looked like how Aaron felt. This was the limit. He didn’t care what happened next. He would follow what seemed to be his retarded kidnapper to his must likely doom. He gave up.

He took a ball out. It seemed to be made of clear glass. “Now I am about to use magic. As first timers, you might be knocked out, so be prepared.”

He spoke into the ball “Eketh, castle grounds in the city Elderest.” There was a loud crack. The boys huddled together. Then everything went black.

]]> http://www.eketh.com/3-p-o-t-r-o-e/feed/ 0 http://www.eketh.com/4-welcome-to-eketh/ http://www.eketh.com/4-welcome-to-eketh/#comments Thu, 29 Jun 2006 14:15:03 +0000 Shannon http://www.eketh.com/?p=10

“Are you okay?”

Aaron blinked. He slowly opened his eyes. And closed them again. What he saw wasn’t possible. It just wasn’t. Because when he opened his eyes, he saw a man with purple skin and eyes all over his forehead.

He opened one eye. The man was still there.

“You’ve been out for over two hours. First time with magic?”

“Wha..?”

Aaron sat up, confused. Where was he? Then it all came back to him. Running away, the men in black, Mr.G. He doubled over with the weight.

“Aaron? Are you okay?” He looked up at the sound of Jake’s voice. “I woke up right before you.”

“Where are we? What is that thing? This isn’t possible!”

“The thing can talk.” Purple Skin grumbled. “And you are in the land of Eketh. Come, it’s time you meet King Julian.”

Jake looked like Aaron felt. “We’re not going anywhere. What the heck is this place? Take us home,” he demanded.

“You are home. King Julian will explain. Follow me.”

He walked out. The boys followed. They passed through dungeons and hallways fit for a king, rooms bigger than Gabe’s whole house.

Left, right, left, right, left, right…

Aaron lost track of direction. He blindly followed Purple Skin.

“I am Xavier, the palace doctor.” Purple Skin spoke. “I was checking you up after you got here. Ah! Here we are.” He pointed to an ornately carved gold and silver plated door.

Xavier opened the door. “Your Majesty, the Eldrest twins are here.”

“Bring them in,” a deep voice boomed.

They walked in. Aaron’s jaw dropped. Jake just looked disbelieving. The carpet was soft and red. The walls were the color of gold. The room was three times the size of Gabe’s house. The furniture was soft and comforting. A large fireplace occupied one corner. Warmth washed over the boys. The ceiling was so high, if five houses were stacked on top of each other, they wouldn’t reach the roof.

There were two large thrones on the other end of the room. They were gold and brightly patterned with red cushions. A man in a rich looking outfit with comfortable furs sat on it. On his head was a gold crown with red rubies on it. He had black hair, brown eyes, and pale skin.

Xavier bowed, “Here they are, Your Majesty”

Jake and Aaron nervously walked to the throne.

“Welcome to Eketh, boys. I am Julian, king of this region.”

“Thank you, Your Highness” said Jake. He bowed.

“Send us home!” Aaron looked almost panicked. “I’ll get the police. You’ll go to jail!”

“I don’t think you understand, boy.” King Julian said gently. “You are not on Earth now. You are on the realm of Eketh. Most of your Earthly things don’t exist here. I am ruler of this place. Normally if someone talks to me like that, I’d put him in jail. But since it’s my fault you don’t know you are home in the first place, I’ll let you go”

“Your fault? What do you mean?” Jake asked calmly.

“Twelve years ago our enemies, the Gorons, started planning an attack against us. Your ancestor, great warrior Elderest, conquered the Gorons. You are his descendant, your magic will probably be as powerful as his. With two of you as a team, you will have double his powers. You are the only ones who can save us.”

“This is crazy. I am hallucinating,” said Aaron dazedly.

“What is a Goron? That is what the man in black called Mr.G.”

“Gorons are creatures of pure evil. Your ancestor placed all the evil and hate in them locking it away from the rest of the world.”

Even Jake couldn’t believe this. “Aaron is right. This place isn’t possible. We’re going.”

“Young men!” said King Julian sternly. “You must accept who you are. You must accept your surroundings. This world exists and so do you. Now it is time you began your training. Your tutors will be professor Jacob for magic and Zane for battle skills. Now you are excused.”

The boys and Xavier walked out, lost in thought.

Xavier broke the silence. “Let me take you to the training grounds. You will begin your battle training with Zane.”

They were led outside into a large field. People were sword fighting, spear throwing, doing club practice, or bow and arrow. Xavier took them to a tall, sandy, well built man who was holding a sword.

“Zane, you have two new students. The Elderest twins will be under your care for battle training. Jake, Aaron, meet your new teacher, Zane.”

“So you’re the Elderest twins.” He inspected them. “Tall, muscular, light. You’ll probably make good sword fighters. Let me fit you up with some swords.” He walked off.

A half an hour later, Jake and Aaron were hard at work battling each other. Zane gave comments through out the fight. “That’s right, Jake, nice hit! Oh, good block there Aaron! Keep it up boys!”

After twenty minutes, neither side was winning and they were due for magic. Zane decided to call it a draw.

“You boys are dead even by the looks of it. Well, hurry off now, old Jacob doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”

They walked off, unsure of where to go. One of the servants met them. “King Julian has instructed me to show you to Sir Jacob’s room.”

They followed him through a maze of corridors, until they reached a large wooden door. The servant knocked thrice.

An old, wizened man stood on the other side of the door, with twinkling merry eyes.

“Ah, the Elderest twins have arrived. Thank you, Thomas.” he said to the servant. “You may leave now. Boys, come in.”

They nervously stepped inside. The room had shelves upon shelves of magical items. There were books, wands, and jars filled with strange things like eyeballs, bugs, and other things that couldn’t be identified as Earthly.

“Sit down, boys,” he gestured to some cozy chairs.

“My name is Professor Jacob, as you already know. I’m here to teach you to harness your magical abilities. Now the first step is finding a wand. A wand can store energy for battle and control your power. Each wand is unique, a combination of a stone, different for each wand, the type of wood used in the wand, and magical symbols carved on it. Now get ready, and I’ll fly you to a wand shop.”

He took out a white wand with a brown stone on it. It had carvings of stars all over it. There was a flash of white light.

——————–♦—————-

Aaron staggered and shook his head. Suddenly he was on a busy street. Creatures and humans walked hand-in-hand. He saw people flying in the air and he even saw someone burrow underground. They were standing in front of a rickety old shop saying Richardsons, since 1821. Right next to it was a brand new store with a sign saying Super Wand! New wand out! Automatic self-defense spells!

Jake looked eagerly to it. Professor Jacob saw the look. “Oh, we won’t be going there boys. They might be having all kinds of new technical wands, but the magic at Richardsons is much more ancient and powerful”

They walked towards it. Inside they gaped. The outside of the shop may be small but the inside was large, with ancient inscriptions along the walls.

A tall man walked forward. He looked old but was extremely fit. “Well hello, Jacob! I see you brought me some customers.” he boomed. “Hold out your wand arms, boys, yes, that’s it. Oh my!” he had just seen the boys birthmarks.

“Well, I see you boys have magic marks!”

Professor Jacob gasped. “Are you sure, Ember?”

“Of course! See that golden color with red-ish stripe? That’s definitely a magic mark!”

“But what are magic marks?” asked Jake, confused.

“You see son, some Ekethians are born with special marks. These marks match with the stone on their wand. And only those wands will be perfect for the Ekethians with the marks. Best of all, people with magic marks can control their powers easier and their magic is stronger. Of course, it is expected since you are the descendants of Elderest.”

“But how will you find the wands that are perfect for us?” asked Aaron.

“All wands are formed by a powerful magic. Yours, because of the amount of power you need are probably made by Elderest. Every wand is made with a series of symbols. Since you have magic marks, your wand will have symbols describing you. You will know when you find your wand. Walk around with your eyes closed. You can feel your wand better that way.”

Jake and Aaron walked around as told. Aaron felt confused. How would they feel their wands? For about ten minutes, they walked around waiting. Jake suddenly gasped. He felt a strange tingle on the back of his neck. As he kept walking he felt a pull towards a direction. He opened his eyes and kept walking. He reached a tall shelf stacked with thin boxes. He was drawn to one of the boxes. He reached out and touched it. The pull felt extremely strong now.

He cautiously opened it. Inside was a dark black wand. Exactly like his birthmark there was a white stone shaped like a crescent moon. On the wand, there was a carving of a solar eclipse and flowing cool magic. As he held it, a cool tingling went through his arms.

Aaron had felt the same pull towards another box. He opened it. Inside was a long brown wand. It had a bright orange stone, remarkably like the one on his hand. The symbols carved on it were a solar eclipse and a bright flame of magic.

Aaron grabbed his wand. A warm flow went down his arm. He went and walked to Ember. He saw Jake walking back with his wand.

Ember took Jake’s wand first.

“Amazing. The stones match your magic marks better than anything I’ve seen before! Hmm. This is strange indeed! This solar eclipse is formed by the sun and moon combining. Your magic marks are the sun and moon. It looks like the first twin set of wands have been made in history. Your powers look cool. You obviously have powers of the moon.”

Next he took Aaron’s wand. “Your magic mark matches your wand as well as your brother’s matches his. And you have a solar eclipse too! My thoughts are confirmed, you have twin wands. And the flame! You have powers of the sun.” He spoke to them both. “Your powers are unique. I’ve never seen powers of sun or moon. Be careful, because your powers are stronger than you can ever imagine.”

“Thank you for your advice.” said Professor Jacob. “How much do we pay you?”

“Twelve drachyons , six per wand,” said Ember.

Jacob handed him twelve golden coins. The he waved his wand and they flashed away. Jake was now used to the sudden flashes and didn’t even flinch when they landed.

“I think that was enough for one day. You may leave the class”. As they started to leave he said “Wait! Remember to bring your wands to every class. And you have magic first tomorrow.”

“Okay,” the twins chorused and left the room.

Aaron was staying up late, staring at his wand. A warm, fiery feeling rushed through his body. He felt that it was strangely familiar. Whenever he rubbed the stone a faint glow came out of the end and when he pushed on it, the glow became stronger and turned into a clear, blue light.

He peeked out of his blanket. A cool glow was coming out of Jake’s blanket. He went towards it with his wand alight. Jake was there holding his wand with his hand on his stone. The cool glow was coming out of the tip. When he saw Aaron, he spoke.

“Hey Aaron, check this out, my wand ligh-”

He stopped mid sentence staring. Aaron looked down. When his wand light touched Jake’s, a bright white light appeared. Their wands started shaking. Both twins jerked their fingers away from the wand. The light disappeared. The wands were still.

Aaron shattered the silence. “Wow! Did you see that! We have to tell Professor Jacob!”

“Hold on a second. Everyone’s sleeping now. And this might be something that happens all the time to people. Let’s wait till tomorrow to tell him.”

“This isn’t something that happens commonly to people. In fact, I’ve never heard of something like this ever happening before.” The boys had entered magic class and had told Jacob everything that had happened the night before. ”I think your wands, being twins, react when you do magic together.”

“That was magic?” asked Jake.

“Basics. Just letting out energy into your wand. Now I need to teach you the magic so that I can see you combat and work side-by-side.”

“Well how do we do magic?” asked Aaron.

“Try to find the emotion you felt when you set your wand alight. Discover that feeling. Caress it. When you do concentrate on that feeling, say out loud exactly what you want to do with your wand.”

Jake thought back to the last night. He had felt excitement at having a new wand. Comfortable in his bed. But most of all, happy to find a place where he fit in, a place he might be able to call home. He focused on his happiness. He caressed it. Then, he turned towards an old cup on Jacob’s desk and said “Freeze!”

Nothing happened.

“Try a little harder. Focus on your happiness. Delve into it. Now you try, Aaron.”

Aaron walked up. He tried to delve into his happiness, like the Professor had said. He was engulfed in it. A warm feeling shot up his arm. He pointed it at the cup.

“Burn!” he commanded in a confident tone. The cup burst into fire.

“Bravo!” Jacob clapped.

“Jake, try again. Remember to delve in.”

Aaron focussed. He jumped into happiness. His arms felt cool. Slowly, he raised his hand to the burning cup.

“Burn!” his command ringed out.

The cup froze, flame and all.Slowly, it started rattling. The same bright light came out of it as the last night. Suddenly, it burst into a fine powder.

Aaron stood, dumbfounded.

Jake’s jaw dropped. ”Aaron, did that?” he asked.

“You both did. Because you have twin wands, your magic reacted with each other and destroyed the thing you opposed. Your wands are more powerful than any others in history.”

“I don’t want this wand” Aaron said, the truth crashing on to him. “I can’t handle all this. You picked the wrong people. Send us home!”

“You are not on Earth now. You are in the realm of Eketh.” Jacob said just like King Julian. “Accept who you are, where you are. You may not feel like it now, but you are a hero whether you believe it or not.”

Everyone in Eketh said Aaron was powerful, and his ancestor was famous, but he didn’t feel special. They took the wrong person, and he dreaded the day they found. What would happen to them then? Would they be sent back to Gabe and Angie? He hoped not.

“Let me teach you all about spells. Spells aren’t the basic talking out loud thing. In every Ekethian’s brain, there is a part of magic. That part is based solely on magic. You must learn to find that magic. You must concentrate hard, and with that part of your brain, you must think magically what you want to happen. Your wands are connected to the magical stream in your brain. The more magic you do, the easier it gets.”

“Sounds difficult.” said Aaron.

“It is. Most wizards take a few days to do real magic.”

“Well, how do we start?” Jake asked.

“For the rest of today’s class, you must sit and focus on magic. Try to connect with that part of your mind. Then you say what you want to happen. Be careful though. If you use too much energy, you may die. Now sit down and focus.”

He waved his wand, and two comfortable chairs appeared. Jake and Aaron plopped down.

Jake focused hard. He tried to feel the magic. But he couldn’t. He relaxed and kept thinking. It was like hitting a wall. In the end, he gave up and sat.

The two of them sat like that until the end of class.

“Alright boys, that’s enough, go get up and leave. I know you didn’t feel anything now, but keep this practice up for a few days and you will do magic!”

They walked out quietly.

“Did you feel anything, Aaron?”

“Nah. You?”

“Nothing.”

When they reached their room, they dropped like sacks of potatoes. Jake looked at the time. In Eketh, time went much slower than Earth. It was five o’clock. Bed time. He showered and changed into pajamas. Aaron did the same.

He put his head down on his bed to rest, and closed his eyes. Now he felt truly calm, and even a little confident. This was his world. And he knew it well. He tried practicing ‘finding the magic’, but he couldn’t. He fell into a deep sleep.

They were woken up the next morning by Thomas the servant. “Jake and Aaron Eldrest, sirs, you are called to the dining hall to eat.”

They followed Thomas through a maze of corridors. When the door was open, they stared wide-eyed. Inside was a large room. It was even bigger than the throne room. A huge table, or five, took up most of the room. On the table was food that human. There were pancakes, sausages, hash browns, bacon, eggs, toast, jam, waffles, french toast, cereal, porridge, milk, juice, coffee, tea. There were also things that weren’t human, such as a purple noodle in blue liquid, a green drink, orange bread, and yellow sausages. At the head of the table sat the king himself. The rest of the table was packed. Many creatures, as well as humans, sat. Jake and Aaron even spotted Zane and Jacob next to the king. The chatter was deafening.

“Ah, our last guests. Come, Elderest twins.”

Everyone grew silent and stared.

Whispers broke out.

‘The Elderests? Descendants of Warrior Elderest?”

“They look so young!”

Aaron quietly walked towards one of the seats at which the king had pointed. Jake sat next to him.

“Ah. Well, now that everyone is here, it is time we began to eat.”

Guests started serving themselves. Aaron ate with gusto, whereas Jake ate carefully. Soon everyone was done.

“Now that you are all finished, you may leave.”

Jake and Aaron got up.

“Not you, Elderest twins.”

They paused. Aaron’s heart was pounding. Had they done something wrong?

“Today you will be spending the day at battle practice, since you spent most of yesterday with Professor Jacob.”

“Yes, Your Majesty, ” said Aaron.

“Good. Now you may leave.”

They walked out. Thomas led them outside, and took them to the field.

“Hello, Elderest twins!” Zane called out.

They met him.

“Listen, I think we need to outfit you with some swords, real swords. Your own swords. Today I’ll take you to the armory.”

He pushed his fingers around in his pockets until he found what he was looking for. He pulled out a long, blue, wand.

They flashed off.

They landed in front of an old creaky store called Armory. Next door was a brand-new store with a poster saying, “Snap Attack! Cool new wand and sword combo!”

“Let me guess. We’re going to the ‘Armory’ store because it’s weapons are stronger or something, right?” said Jake gloomily.

“No, of course not! Snap Attack has much more advanced weaponry!”

“But Professor Jake made us go to an old store to buy wands!” said Aaron.

“That was for wands. Not weapons.”

They walked in. The room was big and shiny, with tons of weaponry. People were walking all around in a busy horde.

Zane finally found someone to talk to.

“Listen, I want to buy two combo swords.”

“What power?”

“One sun and one moon.”

“Any magic marks?”

“Uh…,” said Zane.

“Yes” answered Aaron. “I have a moon and Jake has the sun.”

“Your names?”

“Jake and Aaron Eldrest.”

“The Eldrests?” if he was surprised, he didn’t show it.

“Yes,” Jake replied curtly. He didn’t like how people gawked at his name.

“May I examine your wands, please?”

They handed him their wands. When their wands got near to each other, they began to vibrate.

“Hmmm…”

The man finally showed interest, or for that matter any emotions at all.

“These wands seem to have a strange connection towards each other. Almost like twins.”

“They are twins,” said Aaron.

“Because of these strange circumstances, making your combos will be difficult. We must coordinate the symbols and the powers with the combo.”

His gaze lingered on the solar eclipses.

He continued. “Therefore, an order that would usually take a few days may take a week or so.”

“That will be fine. How much do I owe you?”

“Ten silvereens.”

Zane handed him several shiny coins, similar to the drachyons Professor Jacob had paid Ember.

“How do you tell money apart in Eketh?”

“Well, you didn’t know? The bronze ones are called Brazenhordes. Ten brazenhordes and you have one silvereen. Those are the silver ones. Ten silvereens and you have the gold drachyon.”

“But we don’t have any money.” Aaron was worried.

“But your parents do! Anything you need, they pay for!”

“We have parents?!” Jake exclaimed.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t know!” Zane looked shocked. “Didn’t King Julian tell you? Your  parents gave you up when you were young to protect you from the Gorons. They are alive now!”

Jake felt light headed. Parents? After thirteen years thinking he was an orphan, he suddenly had parents! How would he deal with them? Would it be awkward meeting them? Would they ever meet them? As usual he was filled with worries.

Aaron was ecstatic. “When do we get to meet them? Is Dad cool? How does Mom look?”

“I’ll leave that for you to find out.” Zane said frowning. “I’m surprised you haven’t met them already.”