Prologue

All was quiet. Nothing stirred in the dark wood. Except for one man. He had a hunched back and the color of his clothes was undeterminable. He was so old it looked as if the tiniest breeze would turn him to dust. He stood in the center of a dark clearing, unmoving and watchful. He stood for a long time like that. He surveyed the nearby trees; barely moving at all. “I’m glad you came Thadeus. Even the fortress walls have ears these days,” hissed a voice.

“So it seems King Cephus,” Thadeus replied quietly as he bowed low. In front of him stood a man, taller than himself and younger looking. He wore a long black cloak with the hood up, shadowing most of his face. All Thadeus could see of his face was his blood red eyes which peered out from under the shadow of his hood.

“Have you heard of the new prophecy yet Thadeus?” King Cephus hissed.

“I have heard of it but I do not know what it says,” Thadeus replied.

“It speaks of a girl,” the king said, “It says she shall have great powers that will remain unknown until she discovers them when she turns thirteen. With her powers she will end my reign and a new golden age will begin. I cannot have a child questioning my rule!”

“Sire, what might the girl’s name be?” Thadeus asked.

“Her name is Amara.” He hissed. At these words there was a rustling sound in the bushes. King Cephus sent a bolt of lightening at the bushes. There was a bright flash of light and a yell. When the light died down a young man was sprawled on the ground. He had golden brown hair and bright blue-green eyes. He was fairly well muscled. His clothes were dirty and he seemed winded from the lightening bolt. He was holding his side, gasping for breath. “Foolish boy! No one spies on King Cephus.”

“I didn’t know you could do that…” the young man said painfully as he struggled to get up.

“Of course you didn’t. None of you filthy peasants have any idea what I can do. My power is only known in fairy tales,” he paused, “What is your name, boy?”

“Damian…” he said flinching from the pain.

“Damian…” the king murmured. There was another flash of lightening and a cry of pain. Damian was on the ground again. “Get him bound and gagged Thadeus. Bring him to the dungeons. Capture the girl and bring her to me,” the king commanded.

“Yes Sire.” Thadeus said bowing again. Damian struggled to free himself but he was too weak. Thadeus bound and gagged him. When he turned around King Cephus was gone.

Chapter 1

Amara stood out in a grassy field. Her blue-green eyes shone as she stared at her target, a bale of hay with a red circle she had painted on it. She tucked a loose strand of her golden brown hair behind her ear. She took out her bow and an arrow. “Aim…Come on…” Amara muttered to herself. She let go and her arrow went flying straight into the red circle on the bale of hay. “Yes!” Amara cried out happily, ”I wonder where Damian is? I haven’t seen him all morning. Maybe he’ll spar with me!” She ran to the bale of hay, grabbed her arrow and stuck it back in her quiver. Then she sprinted back up to the cottage. She burst in through the front door. “Mother? Have you seen Damian? I want to see if he’ll spar with me.” Amara said.

“Sorry honey. I haven’t seen him. He said something about going into the forest last night. He said he’d be back at noon today. You know your brother, non-stop running around. He’s always on the move.” Her mother answered. Amara put her bow and quiver on the kitchen table and sat down.

“How did Damian learn all this anyway? Father didn’t teach him that’s for sure,” Amara said.

“Damian taught himself. He was always into that kind of thing. He and his friends used to spar with each other when they were little. He practiced all the time. Battling trees and haystacks. Sometimes the boys would hold sparring competitions. Damian won every time. He learned how to make bows and arrows by trial and error. He learned everything he knows by experience. He’s just helping you out and teaching you so that you don’t have to struggle as much as he did. One time your brother was trying to figure out which of the wild berries could be eaten. He came home and vomited all over the kitchen floor because of one of the berries he’d eaten. He was sick for a week.”

“Gross!” Amara laughed, “I’m going to go see if he’s in the woods. I’ll be back in an hour.” She grabbed her bow and her quiver of arrows, and dashed out the door. She paused long enough to grab her dagger, which she had received from Damian. In minutes she was at the edge of the forest. She wandered through the trees, listening to the sounds of the birds and the breeze blowing through the trees.

“Damian? You there?” She called. No answer. Amara stepped into a small clearing. “Something’s wrong.” She said to herself. She ran across the clearing to a clump of bushes. The bushes and the ground near them were burned. “It wasn’t a forest fire. The burns are too small. Something must have happened.” Something snagged on the bushes caught her eye. Amara grabbed it. It was a scrap of coarse cloth. “It’s Damian’s. He must have been attacked.” She sat there for a while letting it all sink in. She was scared and worried about may have happened to her brother. She closed her eyes, forcing herself to stay calm and control her emotions. Amara, the worst thing to do is panic. Stay calm and figure out what you should do next. Damian’s words echoed in her mind. She took a deep breath.

Slowly, she stood and turned around when something slammed into her, knocking her over. She cried out as she hit the rough ground.

When she opened her eyes the first thing she saw was a dagger, with it’s point very close to her face. “Don’t move!” said a voice. As her vision cleared she could see who was holding the sleek blade. He was about her age, with dirty blond hair and pale blue eyes. “Who are you and why are you here?” He said.

“My name is Amara. I was looking for my older brother. He disappeared.” She said softly. She was still shaken from being attacked.

Slowly, the boy lowered the dagger and held his hand out to Amara. She took it and he pulled her to her feet. “Your Damian’s sister. He’s told us about you. I’m Jason. Sorry about attacking you. I wasn’t sure if you were working for Him or not.”

“Who’s He? What are you doing here? Nobody else lives within miles of this place.” Amara’s mind was bubbling with questions.

“King Cephus. Haven’t you heard the stories of his power? How he came out of nowhere and took over our country? Surely Damian told you about it? I guess not.” Jason said.

“But what are you doing out here? How do you know Damian?” Amara asked. She was anxious about her brother.

“I live here in the woods. Damian said he was gonna come see us last night but he never made it. I’m on patrol to find out what happened.” He told her.

“Are you out here on your own though?”

“No. The patrol group decided to split up. Looks like Damian was here not long ago,” he said, ”May I see that piece of cloth?” Amara passed it to him. He examined it for a minute then passed it back to her. “I’ll call the patrol so they can search the area. Then I’ll show you the Fairy Ring.” He said. He grabbed a little wooden whistle hanging around his neck and blew.

“It sounds like the call of a morning dove.” Amara murmured.

“Morning doves don’t live here so it makes it a good sound for the whistle. Nobody from outside knows we live here.” Jason told her.

“Did you find something Jason?” said a voice.

Jason and Amara turned round. There stood an elf. He was slightly taller than Amara with red-brown hair and dark eyes. His ears were pointy just like the elves in fairytales.

“Any sign of Damian?” said another voice. Two fairies flew into the clearing. The one who had spoken was a boy with bright wings coming out of his back. With him was a girl also with florescent wings. They landed next to the elf.

“Who are you?” the girl asked.

“This is Amara, Lark,” Jason said, “She’s Damian’s sister.”

“Maybe she can help us,” said the boy fairy, “Any ideas of what might have happened?”

“I found a scrap of what was most likely part of his clothes and this burn mark in the bushes.” She said indicating the spot.

“Can I see the cloth?” the elf asked. Amara passed it to him. “Was this in the bush?” She nodded. He walked over to the bush and began searching the shrubs. The boy fairy joined him.

“Jason? Who are they?” Amara asked in a whisper.

“Oh sorry. This is the rest of the patrol. The elf is Finlay. The fairies are Lark and Terell.” He said. Then he turned to Lark. “I’m going to take Amara to the Fairy Ring. He’s going to come looking for her any time now.”

“Okay. We’ll see you there. Tell Raia what we found so far. See you soon Amara.” She said smiling.

“Okay. See you. Come with me.” He told Amara.

Amara smiled. “Bye!” She called as she followed Jason out of the clearing.

They walked in silence. Usually, when Amara came to the woods, she would listen to the sounds of the animals, the birdcalls and the sound of the wind. Today she was busy trying to piece things together. Some of the things her brother did now made more sense. The mystery of what her brother did when he disappeared into the woods for the night, why he trained so hard, how he really learned to make bows and arrows. The answers to many of these mysteries were now clear. There was still one question burning in her mind. Why hadn’t Damian told her about this secret civilization? Didn’t he trust her to keep a secret? Maybe he thought she was too young. But she was already thirteen. Was there something dangerous he was trying to protect her from? Could He be involved? Jason had told her He was dangerous and had taken over the country with his power. Just then Jason broke the silence, bringing Amara out of her thoughts.

“Here we are. This is the Fairy Ring.” They were standing at the edge of a circle of trees. Each tree seemed to shine. The leaves were beautiful shades of green. A soft breeze made the branches sway gently. “Come on.” Jason stepped forward towards the rock in the center of the clearing. Amara followed him. Jason climbed up onto the rock. Amara climbed up beside him. The breeze grew stronger. A tunnel of wind surrounded her and Jason. All of a sudden they were sucked up and away with the wind. Amara grabbed onto Jason’s arm and closed her eyes.