You’re probably wondering, why would there be woods in your backyard? That’s what Sabrina always asked herself. It seemed weird having woods in your backyard. Do you have woods in your backyard? Not me. I live in an apartment.
Anyway, where were we? Ah, yes.
Sabrina’s mom shifted the thick branches and stepped inside the woods. We followed behind her, cautious. The branches closed behind them, making a creaking noise that echoed around the forest like a megaphone. The woods were dark. Not one speck of light shone from the tall branches of the trees. The lovely sound of birds filled the air. Sabrina thought she caught a small glimpse of a deer, run through a patch of overgrown bushes. Off in the distance, Sabrina could hear the soft rushing of a river snaking through the woods. Sabrina’s mom brought out a flashlight from her backpack and flashed it in front of her.
As they walked, Sabrina began to relax and get used to the environment around her. So did Miles and Simon. They stopped every thirty minutes to have a small snack. After two hours, Sabrina’s mom stopped. She lifted her arm in the air, muttered a few words, and waved her hand. A colorful vortex appeared in front of them.
“Where are we going?” Sabrina asked one last time.
“Emperia!” her mom shouted over the whirring noise of the vortex. Then she thrust us in.
Sabrina blinked. Then she stood up. She couldn’t believe her eyes. The exact beryl fountain she had seen in the file was actually in front of her! She turned around. Was she the only one here? She exhaled when she saw Simon and Miles behind her. They were as shocked as she was.
“Is this real?” Miles said, pinching his arm. Then he pinched his arm even harder, “ow!” he said, “yep, this is real. One-hundred percent realistic.”
Her mom was a few feet away, smiling.
“This is real, alright,” he said.
She walked towards the fountain. The color changed from multicolor to a rosy pink.
“Why does it keep changing colors?” Sabrina asked.
“It depends on your mood,” she said, “It turned pink because I was stressed,” she said, rubbing her temples.
“Sabrina, Simon, and Miles walked towards the fountain. The fountain immediately turned into a dark, but pure, shade of purple.
“It means you’re excited,” her mom said, “Sabrina, dip your hands into the fountain’s base.”
Sabrina did as she was told. As soon as she put her hand in the water, the water’s color at the bottom of the basin was divided into three equal parts. White with red swirls, purple with white dots, and multi colores.
Her mom dipped Miles’s hands into the basin next. He had the colors of blue as one half and yellow as the other. Simon’s was green as one half and black as the other half.
“What does this mean?” Sabrina asked.
“I’ll explain later,” her mom said, “follow me.”
We walked for a while over the green hills on the field. After a while, Sabrina’s mom stopped. In front of her was a gleaming apricot-colored building with a wolf plastered on the front that was structured on clouds that rose fifty feet above them.
“This is the place where you’re going to take school; it’s called Wolfighter,” her mom said, pointing to the kingdom’s gleaming walls.
“We’re going to another school!?” Miles asked, “Awesome! I don’t have to deal with Selna and her annoying dad again!”
“Not the time!” Sabrina said, reprimanding Miles.
“Okay,” he said, “but how are we supposed to get up there?”
“I was waiting for you to ask that,” her mom said.
Then, she instructed them to hold her hands. They had them, wondering what was going to happen next.
Suddenly, Sabrina started to feel light. Almost as light as a feather!
Then she noticed that her feet were lifting off the ground!
“Wow!” she exclaimed.
“How do you do that?” Miles asked.
“Telekinesis,” her mom replied
Sabrina and her friends looked at each other. If they were right, telekinesis could make an object lift off the ground.
But Sabrina felt kind of offended that her mom had not told her earlier that she had magic.
At last, they reached the kingdom. A courtyard was spread among them.
Statues and beautiful flowers covered the ground. A rocky stone path winded through them. Sabrina’s mom started walking on the stone path, heading towards the building. Along the way, she explained some things.
“In this school, you will be learning how to become a Spellbinder,” she said.
“What’s a Spellbinder?” Sabrina asked, running up to catch up with her mom.
“A Spellbinder, according to the school dictionary, is when 3/4 of your body is full of magic. When they are, you can live on to become a protector of the school. But some don’t. They go on to become dark sorcerers and witches who fight against us. They are known as the Moonbeams.”
Sabrina, Miles, and Simon gasped.
“Have you heard that name before?” her mom said, a worried look on her face.
“Yes,” Simon said, “it was in Mrs. Cane’s folder at our other school. It came along with another folder that was named after this place. Emperia. We think it might have talked about us being protectors of this kingdom.”
“You guys know too much already.” her mom said, “I believe you’ve also received the information that they want to capture you and extract your powers into them?” her mom asked.
“What!” Miles said, “why would they want to do that?”
“So, I was wrong!” her mom said, “you haven’t received that information yet.”
“Do we actually have powers?” Miles asked, rubbing his hands together furiously.
“You’ll find out,” her mother said, “let’s get into the school.”
She started picking up her face, speed walking toward the school. After a while, they reached the school doors. It was carefully decorated with gold, and the head of a wolf was carved on to them. Sabrina’s mom pushed open the door.
Sabrina’s eyes widened. She stood in an elegant room with staircases that criss crossed each other like DNA. A long red carpet stretched up to them, adding the finishing touch. Prodigies wearing black cloaks sat on comfy couches, reading books as big as dictionaries. A gold chandelier hung on the ceiling above them.
Students looked up as they passed. One girl pursed her lip and glared at us like she just smelled a skunks hind. She snapped her fingers in a tiny piece of parchment with writing on it appeared in her palm. She opened up her curled fist, and the parchment floated up to Sabrina and landed softly in her pocket.
Astonished, Sabrina pulled the note out of her pocket. In giant print, it read:
Loser
Loser? You’re the loser here, she thought and rolled her eyes at the girl. Though, she couldn’t blame her for the sloppy penmanship.
She focused on the path ahead of her, realizing Simon, Miles, and her mom were a very long distance away from her. She caught up with them, just in time as her mom said,
“I can’t take the stairs anymore; it looks like you’re going to have to hold my hands again!”
We held tightly onto our hands as she started to lift off the ground, mom. Sabrina wasn’t nervous anymore. For some reason, it felt like she had done this many times. For almost a lifetime! Sabrina didn’t know why, but it felt good to know what was happening.
Her mother started to go so fast, that Sabrina felt like her ears were about to pop. Finally, her mom slowed down. She landed on a gold mat that said
Which witch is which?
“Come in,” said a lady, even though we didn’t knock.
Sabrina’s mom turned the knob and entered the room.
Unlike the entrance to Wolfighter, the room was quite plain.
A desk made of gumwood bark was in the center of the room. Next to it was the most beautiful staff Sabrina had ever seen. Jade gems covered up all of pure light. Supporting the jade glass ball, was a staff of mosaic designs. The ball of lights swirled with every color you could imagine, from as red as cherry to as gray and black as night. A beautiful lady with golden hair and brown eyes sat on a crystal throne, a gloomy expression on her face. When she saw us, she gave us an enormous hug.
“It’s been such a long time since I’ve seen you,” she said, starting to smile.
Seen us? Sabrina thought.
“I’ll explain later,” her mom said.
“Can’t waste any time!” the lady said.
She pulled out a sleek, glowing wand, pointed it at us and recited,
“Make these kids look great in cloaks, and make their powers as strong as oak! For the protectors, they shall become, make them work together as one!”
A flurry of sparkles rocketed out of the wand and hit them before you could say, “nooo!”
When the sparkles cleared, Miles and Simon were covered in dark cloaks with a golden W on the front. Also, they were black jeans and a belt with the crest on it. They wore a black T-shirt to match the pants. Sabrina wore the same T-shirt with a white and black plaid skirt.
“Wow,” they said, admiring themselves. They did look good in cloaks. And they did feel more substantial somehow.
She waved her wand at them again and chanted, “Now they will need their wands, make them of the purest bonds!”
In a second, emerald wands appeared in each of their hands. Sabrina couldn’t believe her eyes. The lady said,
“Give it a try, but only if the spell makes sense. If it doesn’t, nothing will happen. Also, only use it for good, unless you’re protecting yourself, dueling, or someone else. But the thing more powerful than your wands is your inner powers. Your mom will explain everything later. Now think of one that makes sense!”
Sabrina thought for a moment and then chanted,
“Riches come, and riches go, turn this desk into gold!” she said, pointing her wand at the gumwood desk.
Gold sparkles flew out of her wand, and soon the desk was solid gold.
“Very good! I think I’ll keep my desk like that for a while,” the lady said. “Now, go to your dorms and wash up; a long day is waiting ahead of you.”
She handed them emerald keys with tags hanging from the bottom of them. They exited the room, and the mom took them down again.
Sabrina ignored the mean girl she had encountered. She didn’t want to waste her time with her. Sabrina’s mom let her into her room first. “I’ll explain everything tomorrow. Now go wash up and go to bed. I’ll see you in the morning,” she said, “goodnight!” she closed the door. Sabrina looked around the room. Her bed was light blue with matching pillows. Her blanket decorated with emerald wands lay upon the mattress. Linen curtains hung from the rods that were placed upon the bars at the top of the bed. A rug decorated with the school’s crest on it stretched all around the room. A door stood a few feet ahead of her. Sabrina guessed that that was the bathroom. She suddenly noticed that it was dark in the room. She couldn’t even see a light switch. Then, she got an idea. She waved her wand and chanted,
“Light shine above my head, quick, before I go to bed, and right before I go to sleep, turn off the light I seek.”
She figured that it might not work because it sounded silly to her, and didn’t make any sense. But she was wrong; a stream of pure light shot out of the wand and immediately illuminated the place in the light. She suddenly noticed things she hadn’t seen before. A chandelier, now illuminated in lights, hung on the ceiling. And there was a light switch, on the other side of the room. A blue sofa sat in a tiny corner. In front of it was a table with a significant book on top of it. Sabrina was too tired to look at the book. She headed straight to the shower and took a long hot shower. She didn’t have any PJ’s to put on, and she was too tired to do magic. So she climbed into her bed in her school uniform. As soon as she yawned, the lights turned off. She realized she hadn’t thought about home for almost the whole day. It’s almost like she wanted to be here. She could ignore her boring past and walk straight forward into this magical paradise. She pulled her blanket over her head and fell into a deep sleep.
CHAPTER THREE
WORK, WORK,
WORK!
“Sabrina!” “Sabrina, wake up!”
Sabrina jumped up. “Wha?” she said, sitting upright in her bed. Miles in Simon were there; their eyes gleaming with happiness. She looked at the clock. She smacked her head, and the memories came back. They were Emperia, and she had left her clock at home. So right now, she was stuck with no clock. She pulled out her wand, pointed it at her bed stand chanted,
“I wish I had a clock that goes tick-tock, tick-tock!” in a flurry of sparkles, a digital clock appeared on her bed stand. It was 7:30 am.
“Good one,” Simon said.
Sabrina jumped. She had almost forgotten Simon and Miles were there.
“Anyway,” Miles said, “the reason we came was that we got spell books!” he danced up, down, sideways, and over. Sabrina guessed it was his happy dance. Simon and Miles brought out the spellbooks. Simon’s spellbook was teal blue with studded stars outlining the cover. The word Wolfighter etched on it. Miles had the same, except he was light green with wolves outlining the cover.
“Where’s yours?”
Sabrina thought for a moment.
“I know!” she stumbled out of her bed and ran to the corner with the sofa and the table. The big book was still there. It had purple sun with studded moons outlining it. An emerald fox was engraved on the cover of the book.
“Is that it?” Miles asked.
“Positive,” she answered.
“Your mom said she’ll be here in a minute.” Simon said, “she didn’t tell us anything yet.”
As if on cue, the door opened, and her mom stepped in.
Her hair was in a bun. She had a dress with dandelions knitted on to it. The sun choker was still clasped around her neck, making her even more beautiful. She said good morning to Sabrina and sat down on the bed.
“So, I have a lot to explain,” her mom said, letting her hair down, “First things first. Powers. Each of you has unique powers. Simon and Miles, you each have two powers, Sabrina, you have three.
“Hey, how come she has three, and we have two?” asked Miles, crossing his arms and frowning.
“She’s more powerful,” her mom said, tucking a strand of hair behind Sabrina’s ear.
“Simon, you have the powers of water and Sun, Miles, you have the powers of Nature and darkness, and Sabrina, you have the powers of hypnotizing shape-shifting and telekinesis.”
Miles did his happy dance again while Simon, whooped and pumped his fist into the air. Sabrina almost jumped out of her PJs.
“Calm down, calm down, or I won’t show you how to control your powers,” her mom said.
Miles’s foot was halfway in the air before the mom said, “No happy dance, Miles.”
He put his foot down, but Sabrina could tell that he was struggling not to dance. “I’ll be your mentor so you can learn how to control your powers. I did say that I’ll teach you how to control your powers, and by that I mean when I start teaching you.”
“Awww!” Miles said, pouting.
Sabrina’s mom raised an eyebrow. Miles shut up immediately.
“I am part of a group called the Sunbursts; we are a secret group that helps fight the Moonbeams. The Moonbeams are our worst enemies. As you probably already know.”
“We’ve heard of the Moonbeams, but we haven’t heard of the Sunbursts. Are you also a secret group?
“Yes,” her mom said, sighing.
“Woah!” Simon said.
“We help to defeat the Moonbeams, which we do every time. They are a
dark force with almost every power except yours. That’s why they want to extract your abilities. To become more powerful. Sabrina shuddered.
“What are your powers, mom?” Sabrina asked.
“My powers are invisibility, time travel, and telekinesis. But one thing we all have is immortality and teleportation.”
“Oh my gosh!” Miles said, “I can seriously live forever?”
My mom snapped her fingers.
“Mmmm, mmm! Mmmm, Mmmmm!” he said.
“Invisible duct tape.” My mom leaned over and whispered in my ear.
Sabrina stifled a laugh. After a couple of minutes, Sabrina’s mom let Miles go.
“I could have been stuck, not speaking for the rest of my life! That duct tape was so sticky and strong that my lip almost peeled off!” Miles said.
“If you promise not to yell, then maybe I won’t do it again. Maybe.”
Sabrina’s mom laughed. Then Miles. Then Simon. Then we all broke down laughing.
When we stopped laughing, which took a pretty long time, Miles said,
“I don’t know why we laughed. That wasn’t even that funny.”
“For some reason people laugh, I start to laugh. Hard.” Sabrina said.
“I have one more thing to say,” said Sabrina’s mom, Kristine was the principal you saw yesterday. She said she hadn’t seen us for a long time because she was your nanny when you were little. She was the nicest person you could imagine. She loves you guys so much that she came over every day. The reason you don’t remember was that she came to you when you were three. When one of the Sunburst’s brought her to Emperia, she was so excited. She proved that she was loyal, noble, and a beautiful and welcoming principal. She became a principal one century ago.”
Protectors of Emperia Page 2
