by Marley Krishnan
“In Sol, the land of a thousand burning suns, where the sky meets another land, you will find the Sunstone. It is the land where King Scythe rules an army like no other, the third of seven worlds. Four surviving, three destroyed. Each had a gem of great power, but only four remain. Erin, where the sun never sets. Maria, the forest of pure magic. Moon, where the curse lies still. Sol, where you will find the Sunstone.”
“Oh, shut up,” said Nyx. “That’s just an old prophecy. Only one of those things has ever happened. Three worlds destroyed, or something.”
“You never know. Maybe the Sunstone exists,” said Jesse, unfazed.
“You said that calmly. It’s unsettling,” said Alex. “You rarely ever speak!”
“There we go.”
“Stop arguing, all of you! I don’t think Sol is our only chance at healing Moon and destroying the Hex Bringers,” Nyx, obviously, was annoyed.
“We have to go to Sol. But how are we going to get there?” asked Errick, disagreeing.
“You’re forgetting I can make portals,” said Jesse.
“If you teleport us that far, you’ll die.”
“Yup, but I’m not sacrificing myself for you idiots. I’m getting us to Airship Harbour.”
*
Stealing the airship wasn’t that hard. Nyx had experience in these things, being a kleptomaniac, but nothing as big as an airship. They chose one named Cloudskipper and set sail.
Errick was slightly terrified, as he was appointed captain because he was the only one that could sail a normal boat, but he didn’t dare show it. He was taught to never show emotion, let alone fear. But by the time they were in the air, it wasn’t as hard as he thought. Not that different from sailing a waterborne boat.
Nyx was basically not allowed to touch anything, given the fact that she had explosion magic and a reputation for destroying anything she touched.
Alex was thinking. About what? No one knew. Not even himself. Maybe that’s why everyone pestered him to “Speak up” or “You should talk more”. Being about the most organised person in the four worlds, he was the polar opposite of Nyx. Yet they were each other’s only friend.
Errick, Nyx’s brother, was a control freak. Jesse was a psychopath. Yet there were four.
*
Bang! The sound of wood splintering (and Alex screaming) woke Nyx up. “Did we crash?” she cried.
Someone about their age, with red frizzy hair, clanky armour, and scars all over their face, greeted them with a scowl. “State your names and business in Sol.”
Well, at least they made it to Sol.
Errick spoke first: “I am Errick, and this is Jesse, Alex and Nyx. We are here for a meeting with King Scythe of the Church of the Sun.”
“Fine. Follow me. But I will warn you. He’s not fond of foreigners.”
Waiting in the Church of the Sun, the four saw every strange scene. A crazed-looking cuffed lady with shaggy purple hair was lugged in by another red-haired guard.
“Miss Lavecan of the Vertracian Plane, you are accused of using explosion magic in the open. How do you plead?” came a bold voice.
“Not guilty!” screeched Lavecan.
“The jury finds you guilty, you are outvoted. I sentence you to fifty years in the Prison Chamber,” proclaimed King Scythe.
“You can’t do this! I’m innocent!”
“I’m afraid I can. To the Chambers with her!”
She was dragged out screaming, and Nyx realised something. They hated explosion magic, and she had explosion magic. If she was caught, she’d get arrested on the spot. Fear sunk in, and she ran as fast as she could out of there. Out a large double door, she saw it. A large metal structure, holding up none other than the Sunstone. She had two choices: blow up the structure and take the gem for herself or tell everyone in the church about Moon and how they needed the gem.
“Everyone, listen!” she found herself screaming out to the entire Church of the Sun. “You know about the barren place, right? How Moon was attacked? You can help! All we need is the Sunstone, it has enough magic. We’ll even give it back! If the Hex Bringers attack, we’ll fight the war together, heal Moon, and bring back the other three worlds.”
Alex started a cheer, and soon enough everyone clapped in agreement. Wow, it worked! Wait, now they have to actually fight the Hex Bringers … Oh, well, at least they have an army.
