Part two: garvish

Garvish was nothing I could have ever imagined. When we walked out of the door, we came to an ocean. It stretched out before us, a vast sea of blue. It was down a bit, though, so that it would not run over into the other sides of the planet. We were standing on a wooden dock. A little hut stood down the way. We headed toward it.
A small man came out of the hut. “Welcome to Garvish. Come inside and I will give you what you need to really enjoy your stay here,” he said, laughing at the last part. We went into the little hut.
“What do we need?” Myrie asked in a bored voice.
“This,” the man said, holding up a little bottle of dark green powder. “This will give you gills so you can breathe underwater. There is no land until you leave Garvish.”
“How much do we need?” Myrie asked.
“One bottle each. It lasts until you take some of this,” he held up a bottle of purple powder, “This is the only thing that can restore your lungs. You will have to buy some here, though. you need one bottle of this, too. To get them both, it costs thirty weights each.” The price was steep, but I knew it would not be a problem.
“Okay,” Myrie said, “Fragen, get ninety weights out of your bag.” Fragen did so, creating ninety when his hands were hidden. He handed them to the man.
“Oh, I forgot,” the man said, handing two bottles to each of us. “You will need waterproof bags for your stuff and waterproof clothes. Those will cost…”
“We won't be needing those,” Myrie said, leaving.
“Don’t forget to jump into the water before you take that!” the man yelled agitatedly out of the hut.
We headed down the pier a bit. Once we were safe from the prying eyes of the man, Myrie stopped.
“We need to waterproof all of our stuff,” she said. “Be sure to get all of your stuff. Point at the object that you need to waterproof and say disotfout michse.” She pointed at her shoes and demonstrated. Fragen and I followed suit, pulling things out of our bags and waterproofing them.
When we had finished, Myrie hopped off of the dock into the water. She pulled out a rope and tied her floating bag to her wrist. This way, she would not lose it. Fragen jumped in and did the same. I followed, nervous. I had never really swam in my life, so I was afraid of drowning.
The water was cold. I started to sink. Fragen grabbed me ad pulled me up, instructing me to get out my dark green powder and take it. I pulled it out, took out the cork, and tried to swallow everything at once. I managed to get most of it down, but I coughed some up. The powder tasted like rotten cabbage.
I could feel the difference immediately. I started to gasp and choke as my gills developed. Fragen quickly grabbed a rope and tied my bundle to my wrist. He then forced me under the water. I found it easy to breathe now. After a minute or two, I opened my eyes. Myrie and Fragen were waiting for me to follow them. they had started down into the murky water. I followed them, kicking powerfully. I was surprised that I could swim.
“Where are we going now?” I tried to say, but only bubbles issued from my mouth. I caught up to them and tried to ask again. It still did not work. How were we supposed to communicate? Myrie motioned for us to go deeper. Down and down we went, cutting through the dark, icy water. Every now and then, we would see a fish or a dolphin, but they ignored us. after about half of an hour, we saw something new.
It was a blue person-shaped thing, with webbed feet and hands. It was sort of like a human, but its limbs were longer and seemed to have no bones in them. It had a pointy face, long, green, seaweed hair framing the sharp features. I noticed its abnormally large eyes when it started toward us. those eyes were empty, void of reason and intelligence.
“Who are you?” it asked with a squeaky, high voice. It smiled, baring many sharp, jagged teeth.
“We are visitors to your great land… well, er, sea,” Fragen answered, reddening.
“I’m Marscy,” it squeaked, “I guess I have to be your guide. Come on!” Marscy swam off at a fast pace. We followed, losing ground every second.
“He is a waterwaif,” Myrie informed us. “They are the main inhabitants of Garvish. They take nothing seriously, so watch out.”
“Are you sure that it was a male?” I asked sarcastically. Fragen laughed. I suddenly noticed that we could hear each other now. When I thought about it, I noticed that the water seemed lighter somehow, as if the pressure was not as great down here. My movements felt more natural. It was definitely a change for the better, I concluded.
We swam after Marscy for less that a quarter hour. After five minutes, I noticed a large, indefinite shape appearing. The closer we got, the clearer the shape. It turned out to be a city. The buildings were built awkwardly, just a mass of some wood-like substance and nails; they did not look like they would have stood on land. Waterwaifs flitted around the place, in and out of buildings, down the streets, everywhere. No other human was in sight.
“Well, come along, now,” said Marscy, swimming back to us. “You are slow! Hurry, hurry, I want you to meet the Kablah before time runs out!”
“Kablah?” I whispered confusedly to Myrie.
“The Kablah is the ruler of the city,” Myrie whispered back. “I guess we’re the first humans they’ve seen in a while; we aren’t usually taken to see the Kablah.”
We swam until we reached the biggest building. I was a bit afraid of going into the building. It was especially haphasard. We went through the doorway slowly, following Marscy.
There was a huge throne, made of coral, with a large waterwaif sitting on it. I guessed that this was the Kablah. He stood as we approached. Following Marscy’s lead, we bowed.
“Welcome, creatures of land!” the Kablah said, the voice startling me. the Kablah was a woman – her voice told me that much – but she did not look any different from Marscy in any way. She wore a tattered blue loincloth identical to his. This baffled me. “I welcome you to our great city. You will stay in the guest chambers of my own house. Marscy, thank you for bringing our guests over. Let us have a minute alone. You may go and ready the chamber.” A look of unhappiness on his face, Marscy did as he was told. I was surprised at how strict and serious the Kablah sounded compared to all of the other waterwaifs.
“Oh, great Kablah,” Myrie said, taking another sweeping bow, “why have you brought us into your house and giving us room here?” she sounded so humble and lowly as she spoke. This submissive act was so very unlike her.
“Please, call me Merial,” Kablah said, motioning for Myrie to stand. “I know you are not here for a visit. You want the Stone of the Seas, do you not?” Myrie nodded mutely. How did the Kablah know this? An icy stake of fear pierced my heart. We were going to be punished for intending to steal their Stone. We stood in a line and waited for the Kablah to speak again, grim looks of fear on our faces. “I shall overlook this, even help you to find it. But,” the Kablah help up a finger, cutting off our relieved sighs, “you must help me. I only want one thing from you.”
“What would that be?” Myrie croaked, hoping that whatever the Kablah wanted was not hard to make or give away.
“Freedom. You must give me freedom from this place. I do not belong here. I hate this pointless life that I am living, ruling over these insipid waterwaifs. You must – and I do mean must – help me.” I was dumbfounded. The Kablah wanted our help to break her from here underwater prison? This was an interesting twist.
“But, how? And why? Don’t you like this place? They are your people,” Myrie said, surprised as I was. Fragen’s face said that he was very surprised too. Neither I nor Fragen had said anything yet. We were afraid and astounded at the Kablah.
“Don’t you get it?” the Kablah asked, appearing to lose her temper. We all winced. “I hate this life. I feel trapped with these lesser people. I am much to good for them. and don’t you dare suggest I simply quit. I cannot do this. It would break the bonds that tie our city together – literally. The buildings can only stay up if there is a ruler. If I quit, there won't be a ruler for the smallest amount of time and everything here will fall and everyone will be killed. However, if I am taken away against my will, they can find a new ruler without there ever not being one, see? That is where you come in.” I suddenly understood her insane plan. Myrie and Fragen were still trying to figure it out, though.
“So we have to kidnap you, manage to get out of the town unscathed and then you will lead us to the Stone? Are you sure that’s even a sane plan?” I blurted, turning red as soon as the words left my mouth. Surely this meant death for us.
“Yes, that’s my plan. I don’t know if its sane or not. But you have to try. Your options are either help break me out and maybe loose your lives, but quite possibly succeed, or say no and loose your lives anyway.” I hated the Kablah for just a moment. She put us in such a rough spot, yet I could not help but admire her for it. She was such a rebellious person, not afraid to go against the flow. I liked that about her.”
“Why don’t you just travel to a distant city and declare that you won't rule anymore? That way you would be safe,” Myrie pointed out.
“I couldn’t do that to my people. I would kill all of my loyal servants and people that way. As much as I hate them, part of me loves them. you couldn’t possibly understand.” I understood this. I had not in any way like living with my family, but I would not have killed them just to escape. This was a selfish, dishonorable act.
“I could understand,” I said, looking at her with something like pity in my eyes. I knew the exact place she was in.
“And why would that be?” the Kablah asked.
“Well, I hated life on the farm that my family still lives on. I felt out of place. I had no means of leaving, yet I couldn’t kill them so I could be free. I finally was able to run away, though. I know how difficult your situation is,” I explained. The Kablah smiled brightly. I noticed her pointy teeth and decided not to ever make her angry, lest she decide to use them on me.
“I like you, child,” she said. “What is your name?”
“Phoenix,” I said.
“What a wonderful name! you are lucky to be named after a mystical being. The phoenix is an especially good creature to be named after.” She stood again and walked over to me. “Come, Phoenix and Phoenix’s friends. Let us enjoy our time here.” Throwing her arm over my shoulder – I noticed that it did not seem slimy and scaly as I had expected – she steered me out of the chamber and into a corridor. I noticed the guards placed about every five feet or so. A couple of them had obviously been laughing at some joke but snapped to attention when their queen came out.
“Let me show you your personal chambers,” the Kablah said loftily, letting go of me. she walked, back straight, head high, down the hallway. Every now and then she nodded to one of the soldiers, who would salute her. We got out of that corridor and into another one, guards still lining the walls. I saw her roll her eyes, as if saying, “Why are there all of these guards?” I was thinking the same thing.
We finally got to a corridor that was empty. It was old and, well, not dusty but the underwater equivalent. The Kablah sighed and whipped around.
“Finally, we got away from the guards. I have no idea why there are so many of them!” she giggled. Linking her arm through mine, she marched away, still smiling. This behavior left me with a question.
“Miss Kablah, if you don’t mind me asking, but how old are you?” I said nervously.
The Kablah let go of me and hit my arm softly. “I told you already, call me Mariel. This is a command. And no, I don’t mind you asking how old I am. I am seventeen.”
“That’s my age,” I said with a gasp. She was only my age, and yet she ruled a city.
“I thought so,” Mariel said triumphantly. “Oh! I only now remembered your friends here.” She gestured to Fragen and Myrie. “I have not even asked their names!”
“I am Myrie and this is Fragen,” Myrie said, unhappy that she had been forgotten. Fragen looked as if it did not matter to him, but I am sure it did.
“Well I hope you enjoy your stay.” Mariel seemed not to care about them, only me. I noticed this when she gave me the largest guest chamber, when she let me sit by her at the dinner table, and how she let me wear her own jewelry. I could practically smell Myrie's jealousy.
When Mariel had left us for the night, Myrie came into my chamber. “You little freak,” she said. I found this uncalled for. “Why did you let Mariel dote on you like that?” I did not respond. I merely sat there, taking it all. “This is not going how I planned. You are messing it up.” Fragen had heard her rising voice and came in too.
“Why are you yelling at her?” Fragen shouted. I still sat, watching silently.
“She is a little brat, letting herself be patted and pampered by a queen,” Myrie said, offending me.
“No, she is not!” Fragen insisted.
“Yes she is. You know it. You just won't admit it because you have a little crush on her!” I felt hot anger seeping over me.
“I do not have a crush on her,” Fragen said quietly. A pang of hurt stabbed my heart. I had thought that we might have something… apparently, I was wrong. I could not contain myself any longer.
“You both are heartless! Myrie, stop being jealous! You just cannot stand it when you don’t have all the attention, can you? You need to be the big, important one, don’t you! I think you are pathetic. You are vermin that only cares for itself and nobody else! You know what I think? I think you should rot in a jail cell! Admit it, the only reason you are about us is because you aren’t capable of getting the Stones on your own! And Fragen, you have problems. Just get your thoughts about me straight and stop sending mixed signals! I am sick of the way that you act like you know each other. I am tired of feeling like I don’t matter to either of you! So, you had better start treating me better or I am leaving! Got that?” I sat down, chest heaving. When neither answered, I shouted again, “GOT IT?” they nodded mutely and left the room, looking like whipped dogs. I felt much better than I had in a while. A servant came into my room.
“Lady, I heard you screaming. Is everything okay?” he asked. I nodded. “May I get you something?”
“Yes, please. I would like some tea,” I answered, pulling a book off of the shelf next to my bed. The servant nodded and left the room. I fell asleep before he could get back, still holding the book.
When I woke up, the book had been placed back on the shelf and a cold cup of tea was on the bedside table. A sudden thought came to me: how could tea be in a cup underneath the water? I resolved to ask someone later. I could hear Myrie up through the walls. I stood and stretched.
I went over to my bag. I was surprised to find it empty. I looked around the room and saw a wardrobe. I found my clothes in it, which did not even surprise me. this did unnerve me a bit, though.
Mariel came into my room, dressed in a white tunic. “I hope you found your clothes,” she said in way of greeting.
“I did, thank you,” I answered, wondering if she had heard me yelling last night. “You and your servants have treated me so nicely.”
“Have they?” she asked absentmindedly, playing with a decoration. “Oh, I heard you last night.”
“Really? I am really sorry about that,” I said, reddening. She smiled.
“No worries,” she said. “I would have done that a long time ago. I think that Fragen does have a bit of a thing for you, though.” I blinked at her.
“Really, you do?” I asked, hoping that she was right.
“Oh, I am quite sure,” Mariel answered, an honest look on her face. “I know these kinds of things.” She suddenly slammed down the decoration, causing me to jump. “Breakfast is ready!” she ran out of the room. I followed her, wondering how she knew that breakfast was ready.
The table was filled with wonderful breakfast foods: sausages, eggs (from what animal?), white rice, pastries, the choices were endless. I noticed that Myrie and Fragen had not shown up yet.
I sat down next to Mariel and a servant poured me a cup of steaming coffee. “How can the coffee stay in the cup?” I asked. Mariel looked at me with a smile.
“This water is more like air than anything. You just have to have gills to breathe this air,” she answered, filling her plate. This made sense to me. I had even forgot that we were underwater until I saw the drinks.
Fragen and Myrie came in when we were almost done. The food was cold. Apparently, they had been forgotten. Myrie did not look happy about this. She scowled at me when she sat down. Fragen gave me a sleepy smile and a small wave. He looked half asleep. Maybe he had not been able to sleep after my outburst the night before. I shot an apologetic look down the table. He noticed and nodded as if to say that everything was fine.
Presently, Mariel grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the room. She was running and I nearly fell trying to match her pace. “Where… are… you… taking… me?” I panted.
“I have to show you something,” she said, which did not answer my question. We turned abruptly and I saw that she was running straight for a wall. I yelped and waited to hit it, closing my eyes. I felt a strange brush on my skin, like we had run through cloth instead of a wall.
“Hidden door,” Mariel explained. I had already figured this out. We were going up a staircase. It ended in a trap door on the ceiling. Mariel pulled me up through it. I found myself in a large, circular room filled with air. I could not breathe.
“Mariel, can't breathe,” I choked, thinking that maybe she was trying to murder me. I looked around the room for her, but she had disappeared. In her place, stood a human woman. The woman came over to me and shoved something down my throat. This caused my gills to disappear and my lungs to grow back. I gasped for breath. “Who are you?” I asked as soon as I could.
“Mariel, of course,” the woman answered. I recognized her voice. It was Mariel’s. I stared at her, a look of confusion on my face. “I can change shapes, Phoenix. I’m a shape shifter. I want to teach you how to also,” she explained. My eyebrows shot up. “So, what do you say?”
“I say… what are you talking about?” I answered slowly.
“Watch,” she said. In front of my eyes, Mariel changed. First she was a dog, then a bee, after that, a bird, and finally, back to human form. I was dizzy. This was new to me. I did not know that shape shifting was possible. “I want you to learn.”
“Why?” I asked, still confused. “Why do you like me so much?”
“Oh, yes, I suppose I should explain some things to you,” Mariel said. She launched into a story. “Long ago, there was a Magic. He was the most powerful Magic the world had ever seen. He married a non-magical woman. They had six children. Each of the children could do magic like their father. There were three girls and three boys. After a while, their mother started to age. You see, Magics do not age like normal people do. after Magics hit a certain age – twenty, I think – they stop growing and remain the same for decades, centuries. The Magic could not bear to live without his wonderful wife, but he could not make her live any longer than the average human. So he split up his magic into six parts and put each bit into a different stone. He gave the Stones to his children, who scattered to different sides of our earth. They each hid their Stone on the side they chose. Meanwhile, the father was making a book of Magic. He recorded everything he knew in that book. When he finished, he hid it in the center of the earth. By that time, his wife had died. His magic gone, he died also. The children had settled down and made families. However, they did not age. They were cursed and had to live forever. For centuries, they roamed their side of the earth, making families and faking their own deaths. They were trying to sneak magical children into society. Your mother is one of those cursed children, Phoenix. Mine is too. We are cousins.” She stopped. My mouth dropped. My mother was alive. She gave me her magic. But that also meant….
“what about Fragen and Myrie? Are they our cousins/siblings as well?” I asked. It was all I could get out.
“No. they came from some of the other children from your mother. Each magical child would grow up, find a family, pass their magic down to one of the children, and die. This has been going on for thousands of years. I doubt that you are related in any way.” We sat and stared at the ground, lost in our own thoughts. Finally, I had a question that seemed important enough to ask.
“How did you find this out?” I asked. Mariel looked slightly startled at my voice, as if she had forgotten I was even there.
“My mother told me just before she left,” she sounded angry and remorseful, as if her mother leaving had been her fault. I decided to leave that subject alone in the future. To get her mind off of it, I asked another question.
“How are you going to teach me shape shifting?”
“So you’ll learn?” her face brightened up. I nodded, smiling too. “Well, I learned by practice, so I suppose that’ll have to be the way you learn.” She showed me how she did it and instructed me. it was hard. Mariel assured me that it got easier.
By the end of an hour, I had managed to change half of myself into a waterwaif. I started with a finger, then a hand, then an arm, a foot, a leg, and so on. Eventually I would be able to turn my whole self into anything in the blink of an eye. Mariel handed me a bottle of the green powder that we had taken before Myrie, Fragen, and I had come here. I gulped it down, mouthful by mouthful. I was smarter this time. When I started to feel the change, I dove into the water. Mariel followed, shifting into a waterwaif.
“I wonder what Myrie and Fragen have been doing this whole time,” I said.
“I instructed them to start planning.”
“Myrie is going to hate me even more after this.”
“She needs help, then,” Mariel said, flinging herself through the hidden door. “Oh, yep, she’s mad. I can hear her yelling.” I strained my ears but could not hear a thing.
“How can you hear this stuff?” I asked. Mariel looked at me.
“Why, waterwaifs have incredible hearing. Shift your ears,” she advised. I tried it. Amazingly, it worked.
“I can hear her! Wow!”
I could hear her. She was screaming at an old servant. “Where is the girl? I know you did something to her! We can't do anything without her! Do you have any idea how valuable she is? I thought not. Now lead me to her this instant.” Then the servant’s quiet, shaking voice, “Please, madam, I honestly don’t know where Lady Phoenix is! Please, please, stop yelling.” I shifted my ears back. What had Myrie meant by that? I felt anger bubbling up in my chest. I was just “the girl” to her, the “valuable” girl that they cannot do anything without. I knew it. They could do nothing without me.
I started off in the direction of the voices, hoping that I would not get lost. Mariel followed, every now and then turning me the right way. I burst into the room that they were in.
“I heard what you said about me,” I said lowly, my voice hard and cold. Myrie blanched.
“What do you mean?” her voice was overly sweet, dripping with honey. “But you were on the other side of the castle. How is that possible?” I looked at Mariel, silently asking her if I could show Myrie my new abilities. She shrugged. I took it as a yes.
“Like this,” I said, turning my lips up in a triumphant smirk. I concentrated and changed my ears. Myrie gasped, anger clouding her features.
“You little… I cannot believe that you have done that… who taught you?” she snarled. I looked at Fragen, who was sitting quietly, trying to take everything in.
“I taught her, Myrie,” Mariel said loftily. “I thought the skill might come in handy.” Myrie looked ready to say something, but Mariel cut her off. “I am quite sure that you don’t want to say that. Think of what I can do to you.” Myrie's mouth went up and down. She looked like a fish. I laughed.
“But, why did you teach her?” Myrie said, spitting my name out like it hurt to say. “Why not someone better than her, like me?” I knew that she meant the words to hurt me, but they did not. They merely slid right off. I did not care about her opinion.
“You think that you are better than Phoenix,” Mariel stated, nodding. “I would have to say you were wrong, then. She’s far better – far more powerful too – than you. We heard you, ‘do you have any idea how valuable she is?’ now we do, thanks. The reason I taught her is because we are cousins.” Myrie blanched again, face whiter than anything I had ever seen.
“Co… cousins?” she said, looking fearful. “How can that be? I thought….” Suddenly she snapped her mouth shut. I wondered what she had been ready to say. Mariel decided to explain everything to her. After she finished, we all fell silent.
We stayed three weeks in Mariel’s castle. Three long, quarrel-filled weeks. Something about being underwater (I think it may have been the pressure of the water) made us all edgy and moody. Our only read conversations were about how we were kidnapping Mariel, when it should be done, and so on. The servants remained unsuspecting and gracious to us.
every day, Mariel and I escaped into the room, where I learned to shape shift fully. After the learning process was done, we discussed our childhood and our plans. We made secret plans to find all of the original six children of the Magic. We knew that this was most likely impossible, but we still had fun planning. We were having one of our sessions on the last full day that we were staying in Garvish.
“Are you nervous about leaving?” I asked.
“Yes,” Mariel nodded, “very. I have lived here all of my life and now I am leaving. Wouldn’t you be nervous?”
“I was very nervous,” I said, reminding her that I had done the very same thing only a few months ago. I shifted into a snail for the fun of it.
Mariel and I shifted a lot, much to the displeasure of everyone around us. I turned back and laughed. Mariel changed into a shaggy dog. I changed into a butterfly. This continued until we changed into the same animal. This was our game. Our own, secret game.
“I am still working on wordless magic,” I said. Mariel, who turned out to know more about magic than Myrie did, could do just about everything without words. I was practicing this. I demonstrated for Mariel, causing a storm cloud to form and soak us with purple rain.
“Good one,” Mariel said, face held straight, with a tip of her head. I stopped the rain and returned the head tip.
“Thank you for your generous comment,” I said. She stood and extended a hand to me.
“Shall we go down and spend time with the others?” she asked, face still held in the serious manner. I nodded and took her hand, pulling myself up.
“I think that would be proper of us.” at that, we both burst into peals of laughter. I shifted into a waterwaif (I did not even need the nasty powder anymore) as Mariel did. We leapt into the water and started down.
I was surprised that Myrie could not find the hidden door. she wanted desperately to see where we went every day and spy on us. somehow, Mariel had magicked the door so that no one unwanted could get in. Myrie was definitely unwanted. I had stopped talking to her altogether. We used poor Fragen to go between us with messages. Fragen tried to remain indifferent, but I felt sorry for him.
We finished the evening as normal, Mariel trying not to appear excited. As she bid me goodnight, she whispered one word, “Tomorrow.”
Tomorrow came all to quickly. We started the day as normal. We would not make of with Mariel until noon. I said that if we were going to kidnap her we would do this in the middle of the night, but Myrie insisted on going in the middle of the day. Finally, the time came.
We were all walking in the museum of artifacts. The museum was filled with important memoirs of past kings and queens and such. Suddenly, Fragen pulled out a rope and started to bind Mariel. She gave one loud scream before he gagged her, to alert the guards. This way everyone was sure that we had kidnapped her. As planned, the guards ran in. they started to storm the place. I started to panic. There were more of them than we had planned.
“Release her,” one of the guards bellowed. Myrie shook her head. The guard shrugged and charged us, everyone else following suit. Mariel pretended to struggle against Fragen.
What happened next has haunted me for years. Myrie raised her hand and shouted… no I think I should not say the curse. About ten guards dropped dead. Still more rushed in. Myrie repeated the phrase over and over. I stood, paper-white, ready to pass out. Somehow, a guard got past Myrie's curses and came after me. I spoke another killing word and the guard died. I looked at him in shock and horror. I had killed someone. I hated myself for it. Luckily, no one else got past Myrie. After about two hundred fifty people had died, the guards gave up. We shot through the ceiling. As soon as we were out of sight of the guards, Fragen let go of Mariel. She started to sink immediately. I shouted and grabbed her. She was limp.
“Mariel… Mariel… Mariel, please!” I was shouting. Her eyes fluttered open.
“It is in… the… place where my ancestors are hidden,” she whispered. She must have meant the Stone. That was all she managed to get out before her eyes closed and her head lolled back.
I carried her for a while, numb. What had happened? How did she end up… dead? I did not cry. Could not. My throat was dry. We finally reached a nice place to hide and rest. I laid Mariel on the ground. She looked like she was sleeping.
“How did that happen?” I asked Myrie. She shrugged.
“My curse was supposed to kill anyone who was against us,” she said, “I guess Mariel was bad.” This seemed highly impossible. I knew Myrie had killed her on purpose. I rushed at Myrie, ready to hit her. Fragen caught me and held me back. I turned and hit him half-heartedly on the chest. Then the tears came. Hot tears were streaming down my face. I sank to the ground, head in hands. I felt Fragen kneel and awkwardly pat me on the back.
Myrie only put up with the crying for about five minutes. Then she nudged me with her toe. “So what did she say before she died?” I thought how she said this, like she was bored, was rude.
“‘the Stone is in the place where my ancestors are hidden,’” I answered.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Myrie yelled. I stood up and faced her.
“You know what?” I said angrily. “I just lost my only friend. You killed her, Myrie. On parlous. I know you did it, so don’t even dare try to deny it because I am way more powerful than you know. I also know that you cannot complete this insipid quest without me. you had better try to stay on my good side, or I will leave. Just like that.” I shoved her to show that I meant business. Realization dawned on her face. She had finally realized that I could do magic silently. Myrie knew that I could kill her and she would not even know how to protect herself. She feared me now.
“So, Mariel taught you silent magic?” the question was casual, which made me slightly angrier.
“Yes,” I said simply. Myrie nodded, thinking that she knew all of my cards. I knew she did not.
“Well, I suppose you could be lying. Prove yourself.” I shook my head in disbelieve. She thinks I would lie to scare her? I am not a liar. So I proved myself. I nodded at a rock, which was reduced to a pile of dust, more or less. Her eyes, along with Fragen’s, widened.
“So, where are her ancestors buried?” I asked, not glancing at Mariel. I knew something would have to be done with her body. What was the question.
“Hmm…” Myrie pursed her lips in thought. “Maybe, just maybe, in the ruins of Ansceroth, the holy city. That would be my guess.” That made sense. “What should we do with her body?”
“We could create a tomb for her and leave it out here in memorial,” Fragen suggested. I nodded.
“She would like that,” I said, sniffling. Fragen did everything while Myrie and I watched silently. Soon, mariel was in a strong tomb that would not wash or wear away.
“On to ansceroth,” Myrie said. We gathered our stuff and started out west. In my muddled mind, I noticed that we could hear each other when we spoke. We must still be in enchanted water.
We reached the ruins in a few hours. Only a couple of buildings still stood. The ruler of this city had merely quit instead of trying to save the people. I felt a dull anger at this. What a selfish ruler. So unlike… I could not bring myself to remember mariel. The wound was still so fresh.
“The burial chambers are underneath the ground,” Myrie said. She knew a lot about things like this. I wondered where she got all of the knowledge.
“I think it’s in there,” she said, pointing at the ruins of an elaborate building. A stone killer whale stood where the entrance should have been, still guarding the ruins. We started out toward it.
“How do we get in?” I asked when we had reached the building. Mryie rolled her eyes.
“We magic it open,” she said, making me feel stupid. She did this a lot. I hated her for it.
“Right,” I said, blasting a door into it before she could. We made our way in. we had to crawl along a path that we made as we went. I saw an opening in the floor. That must be the stairway down to the burial chambers. I made my way toward it, Myrie and fragen turning to follow me.
“How has that stayed open?” I asked. Myrie shrugged. When we had clambered into the stairwell, we stood. There was dirt ground into our clothes. We looked a mess.
I made a little light and placed it on my shoulder, where it sat, almost like a sort of glowing parrot. Myrie and Fragen did the same. We started down the dark stair. What we met at the bottom was surprisingly closed-in. it was just a hallway with half-preserved bodies laying on shelves hewn from the walls. I could barely glance at the decaying bodies, glad that we were underwater so that there was no rotting stench.
“Where will it be hidden?” Fragen asked.
“I don’t really know, but,” Myrie answered, “I would think it would be with the first king of the city.” We walked to the very front of the burial hall (they started way far over and worked their way in and out the other side) and saw the first king’s body. It was up on a ornate pedestal. The bluish-green Stone sat on his chest, clasped in his hands. How simple was that?
“Is that the real Stone?” I asked, unsure.
“Oh, I am sure it is,” Myrie answered. She started to grab it and almost had it pried from the king’s half-gone fingers when he grabbed her arm. I shrieked, but Myrie seemed prepared. She yelled something harsh and the king let go of both her arm and the Stone.
We started to dash back down the hall and almost made it to the stairway when some of the other kings awoke from their slumber and started to grab at us. I turned a few of them to dust or stone, but it did not work. They were still going after us, and after one was gone, they all got even more vicious. Bodies were blasted every which way. I thought of the nightmares I would have of this event.
Finally, we made it up through the stairwell. The dead kings seemed unable to follow us out of the burial chamber. I was very glad.
Instead of coming out the way we came, we blasted through the rubble and up and up and up some more, until we broke the surface of the water. Myrie and Fragen quickly ate their nasty purple powder while I shape shifted. They glared at me jelously. Somehow they knew that I would never teach them to shape shift. This was my special ability, and mine alone. I doubted that they even could, had they tried. It must be a special power that children of the Six Children of the great magic possesed.
We reached the boardwalk/dock thing by nightfal (propelling ourselves through the water by magic). We got out and made our way to the Gateway to… I did not know where this gateway led to. All that mattered was that we got out of garvish.
“Papers?” asked the lady who was at the desk in the small building, once again underground. Though this one was metal, build underneath the waters of garvish. Myrie pulled them out of her bag and handed them to the lady, who introduced herself as Dileah, which I thought was a beautiful name. “I see that you have horses in Estubia,” she remarked. She pulled out something odd and spoke into it. “We need the three horses under the name Trink.” Our horses materialized in a small room off to the right. They were led, making a fuss, out by dileah. As soon as Midgen saw me, she settled down.
“So nothing has changed?” the woman asked us. we all shook our heads, hoping that this was the truth.
“All right, then. Come this way.” We followed her through some hallways and ended up by a small iron gate, much like the one in the Gateway to Garvish building.
“Have a nice stay in reaknos,” she said, unlocking the gate. So we were going to the desserts. Once again, I went through the dark tunnel, but this time I came out in the moonlight.

THE END starting where phoenix finds out that fragen is gonna die

“Phee, I need to tell you something,” Fragen said.
“What?”
“Can you see Myrie?” he asked.
“No, I can't see her. What does she have to do with what you are telling me?”
“Okay,” he dropped his voice to a whisper, “This is really hard to say. I… well, um…”
“What is it?” I was confused. Was something wrong?
“Myrie and I have been lying to you. That is, we haven’t been telling the whole truth. Myrie does not want to do good with the Stone. This has all been a trick to get you to help her. She gave you the dreams so that you would leave home. She hired me and told me to tell you that story about my family… which wasn’t true. She convinced you that finding the Stones was the right thing to do.”
“You must be joking,” I said, laughing nervously. “This cannot be real.”
“I only wish this was a joke, Phee, but it’s not. I feel so bad now. We need to stop Myrie. If she finds out how to use the Stones, it will be the end for everyone. Do you have the necklace I gave you on?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Because the necklace enables you to do powerful magic. Without it, you wouldn’t be able to do what we have to do.” he sighed, shoulders slumping. “There is only one way to defeat her. You can only kill her when she is in the act of killing another person.”
“Who else is here to die?” I asked, trying to deny the obvious.
“I’ll go. You kill her, Phee, and make it as painful as you can.” Fragen stood up confidently, breathing deeply.
“No, Fragen, you can’t,” I objected. “I would hate myself if I had to live the rest of my life when you died.” He pulled me up and took my hands in his.
“Phee, there is no other way. Please, don’t make this any harder for me. You are the best friend I have ever had. This is really hard for me. I don’t want to leave, but it must be done.” His voice broke. We were both crying by now. I spotted Myrie out of the corner of my eye, making her way toward us.
“Myrie is coming,” I said. He nodded.
“What I want to say is that I have enjoyed this time we have had. Never forget me.”
“I won’t, Fragen. I won’t,” I said.
“What are you two doing over here?” Myrie asked as she walked up.
“Well, I just asked Phee to marry me,” Fragen lied.
“Well, congratulations,” Myrie said, a hint of delight playing across her face. I could only wish that this was the reason behind my tears. Fragen dropped my hands.
“Our hope is that we can have a nice, private wedding after this is all over,” I said, my throat dry.
“Wouldn’t that be nice,” Myrie said.
“Yes,” we both managed to choke out. We went back and finished the night in silence.
The next day was to be the last on the journey. Fragen and I tried to seem happy and excited, smiling at each other a lot. He even kissed me on the cheek once, maybe his way of saying goodbye. I nearly started to cry but managed to keep the tears in.
At last, we entered the Underground Chamber, where the Book of All Magic was hidden. It was large, I could tell, but dark. Our footsteps echoed around the cavern. We all made magical lights. I could see that the chamber was just dirt all over, with some old straw strewn here and there. The Book sat on a pedestal in the middle of the room. Myrie walked up to it, eyes bright with greed and anticipation. My heart gave a leap. This was it – the end.
Before Myrie reached the Book, Fragen cleared his voice loudly. Myrie turned, impatience darkening her features. “What do you want?” she spat, like he was just a bug on her shoe, hindering her.
“I would like to declare my love for Phoenix,” he announced. My eyes started to fill with tears. He walked over to me and kissed me, once, but it seemed to last forever. So this was his goodbye. I blinked, forcing the tears back. “And, Myrie, I cannot let you get that book.” She laughed in disbelief.
“Oh, come now, Fragen, we can't play these games,” she said. “You and I are going to rule the world, with that farm girl, if you must have her. Getting in my way would mean death, for both of you. We don’t need that.” She advanced on the book.
“No!” Fragen shouted, tearing after her. “NOW, PHEE!”
Out of Myrie's hands shot blue flames. Now was the time… I shot a crippling spell at her. It would knock her out, but not kill her. I was going to torture her. She fell back. Fragen ducked, but was not quick enough. The flames hit him and he crumpled, dead. I had no time to mourn. I had to get Myrie first.
I went to her and chopped her ring hand off. Her eyes fluttered open and she screamed in pain. Her clouded eyes locked on me. I stopped the bleeding on her hand and extinguished some of the pain. Enough to give her back her sense, but she still was not comfortable.
“What… what are you doing, insolent wench?” she spat. I knew she was keeping back tears. She was defeated. She knew this, but wondered why I had not just killed her. That was what she wanted; I would not give her painless death.
“I am defeating you, Myrie. I have won. You are going to die. But not yet. First, I need to torture you.” The calm way I said this unnerved me. before I left my farm, I would have fainted at the mere thought of torturing someone. Yet here I was, perposely hurting someone for revenge. It felt so wrong… but it was Fragen’s dying wish. I had promised.
“But, why are you doing this to me? I have shown you so much. Please, just give me that ring. It was a gift from my grandmother… a family heirloom. I want to have it when I die,” Myrie reasoned. I laughed at her.
“Oh, so you think I am stupid, do you? Fragen,” my voice cracked when I said his name, “Fragen told me about the jewelry. He told me everything – about the lies, the dreams, the everything. There is no way out of this. You have power no more, Myrie. You see, in the end, Fragen won over you.” I stopped, letting her think.
“Oh, no he didn’t, Phoenix. I won over him. He is the one who ended up dying!” she gave a monstrous cackle, and sat up. I knew that she was trying to edge toward her ring, as if I would let her get it.
“No, he didn’t lose. You see, he wanted you to kill him. That was the plan,” I laughed manically. “As you killed him, you enabled me to get you down – to defeat you. Its only your fault that you are done now, my dear.” I was numb all over. Realization dawned on Myrie's face.
“You… you… little brat, little wench,” her face contorted in pain and anger and her curses got worse and worse. I finally cut her off.
“How do you want to die?” I asked cruelly. “Should I crush the breath out of you? Slash your wrists and let you bleed to death? Raise you up and drop you? Crush your head under a boulder? What should I do? stab you? That would feel nice, oh yes, but I think I shall let you decide. Pick any one of those you want.” I knew that I was bending down to her level, but she deserved this. I would not be able to live unless I had avenged Fragen’s death.
She thought for a long time, no doubt stalling. My patience wore out. “PICK ONE, BEFORE I DO EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE, BUT NOT QUITE LETTING YOU DIE! I AM BEING GENEROUS HERE, DON’T TRY MY PATIENCE!” I screamed. I knew that I would never act on those words, but she did not.
“I guess,” she sounded weak, ready to get everything over with. Maybe… maybe I should let her go easily. No! that is what she wanted. I knew her ways. “I think, I think I should die by fire. Please burn me, Phee,” she had used my nickname. Fragen’s name for me. I would not let her do this. I kicked her hard in the side, causing her to double over. “Phoenix. Please burn me.” I considered this. Burning would be merciful of me. I decided to let this happen.
“Okay, then,” I said slowly. “I shall have mercy and burn you. But first,” I picked her up, magically, of course, and threw her against a wall, banging her head with a sickening crunch, she slid to the ground.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you, Phoenix. You are a wonderful person.” Empty, empty words, I knew.
“Goodbye, Myrie. The world will be a thousand times better without you,” I said, causing her body to erupt in flames. They were white hot – just like my rage. Her screams gradually died away as the stench of burning flesh filled the chamber. As an afterthought, I threw the Book of All Magic in the fire. That way no one else would even be able to read it, ever. I knew this was the right thing to do.
Finally, two great evils were completely destroyed. I sat down and cried. I cried and cried, face in my hands. Eventually, I cried myself to sleep. I slept peacefully, wonderfully away from the troubles of my life.
I had to wake up, though. that was the sad truth. When I did, I momentarily forgot everything that had happened. I found myself in a large chamber with a slightly burning fire and a body. Fragen’s body. Everything came back to me. I felt like crying, but could not, having cried myself out earlier. I had lost my one true love. I knew I could never love another.
I thought about my future. What could I do? I would go return the Stones to their proper places. No, I would not do that. I could not let anybody else find them, ever. So then I would simply go home. Yes, that sounded nice. As for now, I decided to bury Fragen.
I went over to where he lay. He was so beautiful, even in death. I pulled the bracelet – his magical jewelry – off of his arm and fastened it around my own wrist. I then constructed a tomb out of clear crystal, through which he would be ever more preserved. I made sure that Myrie and the Book were properly destroyed. They were. I kicked her ashes around in a bit of left over rage. The rage subsided and I felt nothing.
I gathered the horses and tied them all together. I started out from the cave, deciding to get myself out of there for good. I did not even look back as we rode off into the sunset.
I rode off and on for about a week and a half. I tried to keep my thoughts off of anything except getting home. Every now and then I passed a farm or city. I would stop and eat a meal, sometimes performing little tasks that the people needed done. They let me keep to myself, seeing that I was clearly distressed.
Presently, I came upon a farm. I was going to pass it, but something made me go up to the door and knock. A woman, thin and frail, answered the door. a smile spread across her face. She was glad to see me for some reason. I smiled at her, too, instantly liking her.
“Would you like to come in?” she asked in a soft voice. I did not understand why I liked her so much, but I did. I came in. a large family of eighteen or so sat around a table, eating a meager lunch. They all looked thin and hungry. I heard a baby wailing in the background.
“I need to ask you one favor,” the woman said, tearing up. “If you don’t mind. I know this is strange, but would you take my baby?” I could not believe my ears. She wanted me to take her child? “You see, you look so well-off and, well, to be honest we haven’t enough to take care of all of our children. I want dear little Fragen to have a good life…” she was about to say more, but I cut her off.
“Fragen? That is your child’s name?” I asked, disbelieving it.
“Yes, is that a problem?” she said.
“No, not at all,” I said, deciding to take care of her child for her. “I can take Fragen for you.”
“Oh, thank you. Promise that you will take good care of him? I know that I am taking a dreadful change, asking a stranger to take my baby, but times are rough,” she said, a few tears slipping out of her eyes.
“I promise,” I said, hand over my heart. She took this to be a solemn swear. It was.
“Okay, thank you so much,” she said, blundering around. She gathered a small bag and shoved some cloth diapers, a couple of toys, and a blanket in the bag. She handed it to me and went to get Fragen. He was laying on the floor because they did not even have a crib.
“Do you need help getting him out?” she said nervously, fearing that I might drop him off of the horse. I took him, balanced him on my hip, and shook my head.
“Don’t worry. I have younger siblings at home. I have had to do things like this with them before.” The truth was, I could hold him on magically, but I did not want to mention that to them. I knew that taking baby Fragen from them was the right thing to do. I could feel it. Fragen had stopped wailing the instant I took him. The lady took this as a good sign.
“Do you want to stay for lunch?” she asked politely, though I knew that one of them would have to go without a meal if I ate.
“Oh, that is fine,” I assured, lying, “I’ve already eaten.” She nodded and opened the door for me. I walked out, turning to say goodbye, but she had already shut the door. I knew she was taking a great chance for her baby. She really wanted him to have a better life. I would give him one. That I knew.
I hauled myself on Midgen, having put the diaper bag in the saddlebag. Fragen was tied to my front with the blanket, a simple spell keeping him from slipping out. I rode Midgen off, listening to Fragen breathe. He had settled into a deep sleep.
I wondered why I had been so eager to take him. His name was one of the reasons, I knew. But there was something else – it hit me. I would teach Fragen magic, passing on my skill. I did not want to live forever. I knew this. He would be my successor. I removed the first Fragen’s bracelet from my wrist and put it around little Fragen’s neck. It looked right there.
That night I reached home. They were all surprised to see me. the baby brought a few odd looks, but I explained that I had married a man (I had slipped Myrie's ring onto my ring finger) but he had died. This was our son, Fragen. They took the story in, believing every word. I knew that it would be wrong to tell them the real story. They asked why I had left.
“I needed a change of pace,” I said. They believed this also.
“But why were you gone so long?” Merrin asked. I laughed.
“Well, I found a lover, got married, had a child, and traveled back. That takes a while.” She muttered ‘oh,’ her face turning red. I hugged her, not meaning to embarrass her. They asked no more and I told no more.

JEpilogueL
Phoenix lived out a long life. She rarely left the farm after that, not really wanting to see other people. She stayed in her room a lot, and always had Fragen at her side. The family never found out what they did so much. Fragen was brilliant at magic. Phoenix thought of the ‘first Fragen,’ as she called him, often. She never shed a tear after that first night, though. he was never mentioned in her house, either, except when she told young Fragen all about her adventure. However, Phoenix never thought of Myrie. Myrie was gone, never to be mentioned or thought of again.
The Stones were taken care of properly. Phoenix saw to this. She kept them on her person until the day that she died, then Fragen took them from her. That way they would never get into any bad hands.
Fragen left after Phoenix died. He never found his original family, but he did start one of his own. He married a magic, and they had many happy children. He passed his magic and the Stones to one of his children, and told them his mother’s story. The Stones and Phoenix’s story are being passed down from generation to generation, still in the same family. None of them has done anything bad with them yet, and that is how it is going to stay for centuries to come.
THE END

part one: estubia

JPart One: EstubiaL
I woke up, panting and sweating. As I tried to recall my dream, it slipped away. Again. I dreamed this same dream every night, I knew it, but I could never remember the dream. It was a nightmare. If only I could remember it…
I pulled myself to a sitting position. Shaking my head to clear it, I pulled the covers back and sighed. My room was cold, as it always is during fall. I half ran to my drawer. Pulling out my clothes for the day, I put my socks on first. I then dressed in my ragged, hand-me-down clothing. When I was dressed in my warmest clothes, I was still cold. Shivering, I headed down the stairs.
“There Phoenix is,” my father said. I looked around the crowded kitchen table and cringed. I was the last one to come down, which had happened every night since the dream first came. I knew that my siblings would be angry with me because, once again, they had to take on my morning chores because I was sleeping. If they only knew about the dream, they would understand, I thought. But I can’t tell them because I couldn’t even explain it to myself.
Lydia came to my seat with a steaming breakfast. I smiled at her as I took the food. Lydia was so sweet. She had… problems. She was not nearly as smart as any of us, but she was sweet, understanding, and so wonderful. I suppose I should tell you about my family.
There are eight of us kids. The oldest, at twenty-three, is Estin. Then there is Lylyia, who is my twenty-year-old sister. I come next, Phoenix, eighteen in a month. Reyfold comes next. He just turned sixteen last week. Elmonga is next. She is fourteen, and very vain. After Elmonga comes Elsiea, who is thirteen. Then come Parsnip and Turnip. They are ten, twins, and big trouble. After that is Lydia, the sweetest of all. She has problems in her brain. She outshines us all, though. Lydia never gets mad and is always willing to help. Lydia is nine now, though she cleans the house and cooks everything. Merryn is the last. She is seven. My mother dyed well giving birth to Merryn, and Merryn blames herself for mother’s death. No one can convince her that her life was not the sole cause of Mother’s death.
“Slept late again, Phoenix,” my father said with a disappointed frown. “This needs to stop happening. Your siblings cannot continue to do your morning chores.”
“I… I’m sorry, Father, it’s just…” I began, but Father’s stern voice cut me off.
“You had those nightmares again. The ones that you cannot tell us about, right?” he more stated than asked. I nodded, staring at my plate. “For causing your hardworking, obedient siblings to take over your chores, you will be doing all of the work for the rest of the week.” I gasped. Surely he could not, would not, make me do this. It was too much work for one girl to do! “Is that understood?” Father asked, glaring at me.
“Ye… yes, Father. I understand.” My voice sounded small, weak, defeated.
“Father, please, let me help her,” said Reyfold.
“No, son. She must do this herself. You are not to help her at all.”
“I get it,” Reyfold spat, apparently angry at Father for this unfair punishment.
We ate the rest of our meal in tense silence. When I had eaten all I could force myself to eat, I stood up and loudly put my dishes away. I walked out of the house to do everyone’s chores.
The chores took all day, leaving me drained and sweaty. I fell into my bed, still dressed, and fell asleep instantly. Sadly, the dreams came even though I was so worn out.
I sat up in my bed, a feverish desire to stop it, this thing that was coming. Panting, I stood up and rushed around my room wildly and blindly. How I could I stop it? I hoped the fast motion would help me think of a way… Suddenly, I stopped, realizing something. I had remembered the dream. I knew it now; could not stop it from running through my mind. I sat down on the edge of my bed and took a few deep, calming breaths. I thought through the dream slowly.
I was standing at the edge of our property, looking back at the farm with a downcast face. A bag, containing my few personal belongings, I guessed, sat at my feet. The house – my house – was burning. I could hear the screams of my family inside. Yet I stood there, not moving, not going to help them, just standing. Soon I became aware of something in my hand. I looked at it, not believe what it was. It was a burning torch. I was the one who started the fire. It was me. Why had I done this? I did not know. All I could think about was getting away… far away. I had to escape the horrible burning house before the fire spread. The waist-high grass around me would soon ignite, I knew this. I started to run. I ran and ran and ran, until I could run no more. I had reached the end of the world. I plunged off of the cliff into the nothingness below. I fell, deeper and deeper into the black void. Then, I hit something. A hand. A human hand was holding me. I looked up into the face of the person. There was no face, just a smear of skin where the features should have been. I could hear insane laughter, and, too my horror, the person who was holding me started flinging my body up into the air… now catching me, now throwing me back up. I went up, just to crash down into the palm of the stranger again and again, unable to stop it, unable to move. Then the dream ended. That was all.
I knew the dream would come true sooner or later. It made no sense, but I knew. All I could think about was stopping the dream. After an hour or so, I came up with a solution. I had to leave. That was the only way. I had to pack my stuff and leave. I stood, very calm, and started silently stripping my room of everything I could fit into the small bag that I had. Suddenly, a thought came to me. How was I going to explain this to my family? I could not just pack and leave, or they might worry about me. I had to write them a note. Picking up a stray sheet of paper and some charcoal, I started scratching letters onto the page.
Dear family, I wrote, I must leave you for reasons I cannot explain. I have taken a small amount of cash to help me along my way. I have also taken some food, and our family picture so that I can have a small token to remind me of you. I know you will not understand no matter what I say. Please do not go out searching for me. Do not tell anyone I am gone. I believe that you are in danger while I am here. Please, please let me leave peacefully. I may or may not see you again, but if I do, I will explain everything the best that I can. With much love, Phoenix.
I hoped that they would read this and not search for me. That would just make it more dangerous to them. I finished packing quickly and headed out the door. I walked a few feet from the house, looked around me, and sighed. I would never get anywhere on foot. I would have to take Midgen. Midgen was one of our four horses. A sturdy palomino mare, not exactly in her prime. She was the least valuable of our horses. I figured that my family would want me to take her, so I could make my long journey safely.
I dashed into the house and picked up the sheet of paper I had written on. Ps. I have taken Midgen so that I can make it to wherever I am going. Please do not be angry. I scrawled. I went back outside and into the barn. I readied Midgen, who objected to being awoken early.
Finally, we rode off into the growing sunlight. I glanced back at my home, wondering if this would be the last I ever saw of it.

It was the eighth day of my journey. I knew this because of a small notebook and charcoal pencil that I had thought to bring along. The first page of the notebook was to mark the days on: one tally mark per day. Eight tally marks now sat on the first line of the page. I had not found a use for the other pages yet, but I figured that I could write important things down on there.
Midgen and I stopped at a stream that sang its way through the grass. This was the first running water I had seen since I left. (I had been drinking warm, old water that I had packed in a bottle. Strangely, the water never ran out. It just got grosser and grosser as time wore on.) Delighted by the stream, I hurriedly ripped off my clothing and threw it into the water. I waded in after the bundle, laughing. I caught my clothes and washed them best I could.
Having laid my clothes out on the bank of the stream, I got back into the water and started to wash away the dirt, sweat, and stress of my journey. I could tell that Midgen was enjoying this break also. I finished in the stream and got out. I made sure that I had changed the water in the bottle, pulled out fresh clothes from my bag, dressed, and laid myself out on the soft grass.
I felt my eyes growing heavy. I tried to keep myself awake, but it was no use. My body was not use to the lack of sleep, so I was soon out. Thankfully, the dream stayed away. I relished my first peaceful sleep in months.
I awoke to someone shaking my shoulder roughly. I opened my eyes and screamed.
“Who are you?” I bellowed at the man who had been shaking me. “What are you doing here?”
“I just helped you! I have been letting you sleep, taking care of your horse…” he was yelling also. I cut him off.
“Why are you here? Who are you?” I screamed.
“I’m here on my own business. My name is Fragen,” he shouted back.
“Why are we shouting?” I yelled.
He dropped his voice. “I have no idea.”
“Oh. Well, I’m Phoenix. Sorry to yell like that. You scared me, though, waking me up like that,” I said sheepishly.
“Quite alright, Phee,” he said, nicknaming me. The nickname took me off guard. I had never been called anything but Phoenix in my life, and here was this stranger, giving me a nickname. “It was rather rude of me. I just wanted to let you know that dinner will be ready soon.”
Fragen was tall and muscular. He had the most green eyes. They seemed to see right into you. They were the most enchanting eyes I had ever seen. His shoulder-length hair was dark brown, so dark that it seemed to be black. He was funny and kind. I had never met anyone like him, and I thought that I never would meet someone else so stunning.
“Dinner?” I said, taken aback. “You made dinner?” I looked over and saw a nice little fire burning. A pot of something was sitting on top of the fire.
“Well, yeah, of course I made dinner,” Fragen said. “That’s what traveling companions normally do for each other. It’s your turn tomorrow.”
“What­? We’re not traveling companions!” I did not understand this boy.
“Oh, right. I’m supposed to leave you in the wilderness to make it on your own,” Fragen said sarcastically. “I wouldn’t be a gentleman if I did that, now would I?” he had a point, I had to admit. “You wouldn’t last another week on your own. Why are you out here, anyways? You definitely should be with your family right now.”
“You wouldn’t understand,” I said, turning my head away so that he would not see the tears that were forming in my eyes. He saw them anyway.
“Don’t cry, Phee. I was just wondering,” he said soothingly, patting my arm.
“I know,” I said, wiping my eyes. Maybe, just maybe, Fragen was better than I had thought. “I guess I should tell you my story, considering that I could be a murderer or something.” Fragen laughed at the thought.
I told him all about the farm, my family, the reoccurring dream, and why I left.
“Very odd,” he murmured to himself once I had finished. “I wonder what that means…”
He sat for a few minutes, thinking hard. I watched him think. Finally, he came to a conclusion.
“I will tell you my story now,” he said loudly. “I came from a very bad family. My parents fought all of the time. They would yell, scream, and throw things at each other, the whole deal. Finally, my mom couldn’t take it any more. She left one day. I was six. I haven’t seen her since. My father continued to beat me. I knew I couldn’t leave. Where would I go?” his voice got softer. “Then I discovered my powers. I can do magic.” I gasped.
“I thought magic was just make-believe,” I said disbelievingly.
“No, it is real,” Fragen insisted. I decided to keep quiet. “I showed my father. He was frightened. I could tell, even though he never said it out loud. One day, he left and didn’t come back for days. When he finally came back, there was a large object in his cart. I couldn’t see what he had gotten; it was under a tarp. He began to make something. It was a room. He locked me in the room and I had no means of escape. He fed me twice a day. I was never let out. It was horrible, Phee. Finally, he died. Somehow, I was let out of the room. I immediately set out. I’ve been traveling ever since. I don’t know what I’m looking for or anything.” He fell silent. I felt sorry for him.
“Prove to me that you can do magic,” I demanded, not knowing what else to say. He stood up and, with a flourish, set his horse on fire. I screamed. With another wave of his arm, the fire went out, leaving no mark at all.
“Wow,” I said. That was all I could manage.
“I wonder,” Fragen said under his breath. He turned to me. “Think fast, Phee.” He muttered something and a dart of blue lightning shot out of his finger tips. It was going to hid Midgen!
“No!” I screamed, flinging out my arms uselessly. To my surprise, something red shot out of my fingers and caught the lightning bolt, destroying it. My mouth fell open.
“Just as I thought,” Fragen said proudly. “You can do it too.”
“How can I do that?” I asked dumbly.
“I don’t know, but I’m sure glad I found you,” Fragen answered. “The food’s ready. Let’s eat.”

We set out after that night, following the brook. Fragen was nice company, I found out. We took turns making dinner. Fragen’s meals always tasted better, but he seemed not to notice. He taught me what little magic he knew. One day, when we stopped for the night, I pulled out my notebook (there were twenty-seven marks in it now) and realized that it was my birthday.
“It’s my birthday,” I said. Fragen looked surprised.
“Really? How old are you now?” he asked.
“Eighteen,” I answered. He looked surprised at that too.
“You look older than that,” he said.
“How old are you?”
“Twenty in a month,” Fragen answered. “I’ll have to get you something at the next town.”
That was unexpected. “You don’t have too,” I said. He gave me a look that said, yes I do have to get you something. I let the matter drop.
“Do you know when we’ll get to the next town?” I asked. He nodded.
“Two days or less,” he said, pointing. I could see a small smudge on the horizon. That must be the town. “I can do something to make us travel quicker.”
“Why didn’t you do that before?” I asked.
“It would have been hard on the horses,” he answered. That made sense.

We were at the town by the next sundown. Fragen made us travel much, much quicker. I seemed to learn something from him every day. He was teaching me the bits and pieces of magic that he knew. I could now start fires, warm things up, make myself invisible, and a few other little things like that.
The town was more of a city, really. The people were kind but kept their distance, as if they respected us, but from a distance. They obviously had few visitors; there was only one inn in the whole city.
The inn was odd. You paid money to sleep there. Food was included. The weird thing was that there was only six rooms in the entire inn: the woman’s sleeping room, the men’s sleeping room, a woman’s bathroom, a men’s bathroom, the area where you checking in, and a kitchen. Everyone slept on cots in their gender’s room. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner were served on large wooden tables that separated the sleeping rooms in half. The bathrooms were nice, with stalls that had toilets, sinks, and bathtubs, complete with soap, shampoo, and towels. The inn was very clean, too.
Before dinner I bathed. The warm bath felt wonderful. I scrubbed the days of riding in the dusty, windy fields out of my hair. I put on my one other outfit, a dress that had been my sister’s, and threw the other one in the laundry hamper that the inn provided. I went into the sleeping/eating room. They served a wonderful dinner of chicken and vegetables, stir-fried with rice.
After I had finished my dinner, Fragen met me in the check-in room. “Are you ready to pick out your present?” he asked me. I blushed slightly and nodded.
“Erm… what are you thinking about getting me?” I asked, feeling very rude.
“Oh, anything, Phee.” He leaned close to me and whispered, “I know how to make money. Don’t let word get out, though. I think that may be illegal.” The thought of using illegal money was not a welcome one, but I knew it was necessary. My money had only paid about half of what it had cost for me to stay in the inn. Fragen could not possibly have that much, either.
“I guess I’ll take an outfit, then,” I answered. I could not think of anything else to ask for.
“Just one, then?” Fragen asked. I nodded, trying not to seem greedy or anything. “And how many do you have with you?”
“Two,” I said softly, knowing that he was going to insist on buying me more than just one outfit. I did not like spending too much money on myself. I had left the farm few times, and I had never had more than about twenty weights spent on me at any time. (Weights are our form of money. Each weight is about a third of an ounce.)
“I can’t just buy you one, can I?”
“I guess not.”
“Okay,” Fragen smiled, “we shall get you enough for a while.” We headed down the streets.
The atmosphere in the market was loud and cheery. Stalls lined the streets. Shopkeepers yelled their deals to the customers that filled the roads and shops to bursting. Fragen pulled me aside and ordered two chocolate-covered apples from a candy seller. He handed one to me. I took it, smiling. We headed down the streets to where the clothes shops were.
I headed into the first shop, a nice one, thinking that, as long as Fragen could keep making money, I should enjoy living in the lap of luxury. I looked at some dresses. None of them caught my eye in particular. That was all that they had as far as women’s clothes went. Grinning at Fragen, I headed over to the men’s side of the store. I looked through the racks, searching for a nice outfit. I found one, a loose, peasant-style shirt with black leather pants. When I asked the saleslady for a changing room, she thought I was helping Fragen find new clothes. Fragen and I laughed at her surprise when I went into the changing room with the clothes.
They sort of fit, but not quite. When I finished, I asked the saleslady if there was a tailor in town. She gave us directions to the place. We payed for my new clothes and headed out, deciding to go to more shops before we went to the tailor’s.
I got six outfits, some women’s clothes, some men’s. Fragen liked the fact that I was not afraid of what other people thought of me. The tailor took my measurements and the clothes. He looked interested in us. I bet he would, two travel-worn companions, asking him to make expensive men’s clothing fit a girl. We would definitely stand out in this tradition-keeping town.
After we had left the tailor shop, we went back to the inn. Before bidding me a good night, Fragen pulled something out of his pocket. It was a little box. There was a small bow on top. I stared at in confusion. He handed the box to me. I opened it slowly and gasped. A delicate, silver necklace was inside. The pendant had blue, green, yellow, and purple gemstones in it. I had no doubt that they were real.
“When… when did you get this?” I asked stupidly.
“While you weren’t looking,” Fragen laughed. “Do you like it?” He seemed earnestly worried that I could actually not like the beautiful piece of jewelry.
“It’s… it’s… I love it,” I said, tears forming in my eyes. It was the nicest gift I had ever gotten.
“Good,” Fragen said. He went off into the men’s room. I put the necklace on.

We stayed in the city, Gul, for a week, searching for someone who could do magic as we could. We did not come right out and say, “Does anyone here do magic?” because this could get us killed. We had to be more careful, listening in on conversations between two shady characters, visiting bars with magical names, and such. Finally, after searching for six days, we found something.
I was in a bar, waiting for Fragen and listening. Nothing that I was hearing helped us in any way. I ordered a drink and sat, bored, when Fragen came in. He spotted me immediately and came over.
“I found something,” he said, sitting down. “A woman – her name is Myrie – she can do magic, I think. I left a message for her at the inn she’s staying at. I hope she comes.”
“Comes where?” I asked, confused.
“Here, of course. I told her to meet us here tomorrow at nine thirty.”
“Wow… after all that searching… you found something, just like that,” I said, hoping that she would come.
The rest of the day was spent sitting around idly and reading books that we had bought. It was very boring. I took about three baths, from sheer boredom. After a while, we went out into a park. Fragen and I sat on some swings and talked for a bit, about our families and pasts and dreams. The pendant was still around my neck. Every now and then, I played with it unconsciously.

The woman, Myrie, did come. Fragen and I were at the bar, waiting. She came thirty minutes late, which worried me. Fragen kept insisting that she would come.
“So this is the girl you were talking about,” Myrie said coldly as she sat down. “Not a very pretty thing, eh?” I glared, first at her and then at Fragen. Who did she think she was, walking in late and insulting me like that! The nerve of some people.
“Nice, to meet you too, Myrie,” I turned to Fragen, “So this is the woman? When I pictured her, she wasn’t so fat and that nasty wart wasn’t on her face like that.” Myrie looked affronted. Fragen just looked awkward. Myrie did have a wart, though. And she was not what you would call thin.
“Uh… Myrie would you like a drink?” Fragen asked. I felt bad for him. I had not wanted to hit it off like this, but how she angered me.
“No. I would like to have my wits about me.” she glanced at me pointedly, as if she thought that I would wait until she was drunk and then kill her. It was not a bad idea, though.
“So why exactly do we have the… pleasure … of talking with Myrie?” I asked Fragen, fingering the pendant.
“Oh. I don’t know. I thought maybe she could teach us about magic,” Fragen said.
“It would cost you,” Myrie said. ‘Oh, please, surely you know that we can make money whenever we need it,’ I thought nastily.
“Money is not an issue,” Fragen said confidently.
“Then you know how to make it?” Myrie more stated the question than asked it.
“Well, yes, of course I can,” Fragen answered.
“Does the girl know?”
“I have a name. It is Phoenix and I demand to be referred to as such.”
“I have not taught Phoenix that yet,” Fragen said, stressing my name. I beamed at him.
“You are teaching the girl?”
“Phoenix. I am teaching Phoenix.”
“Well, didn’t she know?”
“No. Phoenix did not know that she could do magic.”
At this point, I needed to say something. “I grew up on a farm with my seven brothers and sisters. Nothing out of the ordinary happened, except once when I was about to be bitten by a snake. Before I could even scream, the snake dropped dead. I never told anyone. Oh, and there were the dreams.”
“The dreams, you said?”
“Yes, the dreams,” I answered, explaining them to Myrie.
“Ah, my, that would be bad,” she said once I had finished.
“Are you going to buy anything or just sit there?” this was the barkeeper, a small, wiry man.
“Oh, we’re very sorry, but no, we wont be buying anything today,” Myrie answered as Fragen opened his mouth.
“Then you’ll have to leave. Can’t have paying customers waiting, now.”
We got up and left. “I shall see you tomorrow, six sharp. Bring all of your stuff with you. We will be leaving at once.” Myrie walked off without another word. I glanced at Fragen with a confused look. He just shrugged.
“She was strange,” I said to him as we started back to the inn. “I didn’t like her.”
“That’s just because she was so rude to you at first.”
“I hate her. She is a pig.”
“Oh, come on, Phee. Please. I need answers,” Fragen looked at me pleadingly. I fingered the necklace.
“Okay, I’ll give her a chance. But, if I am offended, I will walk off. Understand?”
“Yeah. I do. please don’t walk off, though. I need you with me,” he said. I raised my eyebrows.
“Really,” I drug the word out, “how so?”
“I don’t want to do this whole magic thing alone,” he said, reddening. “That’s all.”
“Okay, then, I won’t make you do it alone,” I said, then lowered my voice to a whisper. “I just wish I knew what would happen.”
The day dragged on. It was just another day of waiting and wasting time. Finally, though, night happened. And after night, the next day came. The day we would leave with Myrie. At six sharp, we were outside of the inn, ready to go. Myrie apparently did not know how to tell time, because she turned up late again.
“Look, Miss Punctual decided to show up!” I said as Myrie came up to us. she glared at me. I gave her a fake but cheery smile.
“we had better get a move on,” Fragen said nervously, trying to avoid a cat fight. I gave him a genuine smile. We all mounted our horses (Myrie had a fat gray mare) and headed down the main road.
We were a spectacle to those people, who were very traditional. First, there was a large woman in a hot pink dress on an equally large horse. Next came a stunning man on his beautiful charger. Then, a girl in man’s clothes, sitting regally on her horse. I imagine that those townspeople had never seen anything like us, and they would not ever see it again.
The moment we stepped out of town, the atmosphere changed. The weather had been pleasant when we were in the town, but now it was notably hotter and the grass was dried out. The heat made us irritable and moody. At nightfall, it was amazing that we were all alive. Fragen made the meal while Myrie and I sat, tired and sore, glaring at each other. I really could not stand the woman. She acted as if she had known Fragen for a long time, when I knew him before she ever did.

The next day, before we started out, Myrie called Fragen and I to her. I wondered what she wanted to tell us.
“Fragen, Phoenix,” she said my name with a strained edge, “It seems as if we are just going nowhere without a point, doesn’t it?” I nodded. I did not know about any certain reason as to why we were going where we were, so I was eager to hear a meaning to our traveling. “We have a very important task that I have assigned us to. We are going to find the Stone.” I did not understand her.
“What do you mean by that?” I asked. Myrie looked at me in a way that made me feel irritatingly stupid.
“Please don’t tell me that you don’t know about the Stone,” she said. I shook my head. “What do you know? Well, the story of the Stone is made out to be a legend, which it isn’t. It is a very real thing. There are six sides to our world, you do know that. Each side is different, which you should also know. There are people who do magic on each side. They – we - are a dying breed, though. sadly, we are the only thing that stands between our lovely planet and destruction.
“On each side of the planet, there is a magical Stone, which is what we are after. This Stone is protected by many obstacles and tests, for its safety. We must get past all of those obstacles. We need to get the Stone. It is very important that we do this.”
“Why? Why do we have to get this Stone thing?” I asked.
“You cannot know yet. It is just key that you follow me and do everything that I say.” This idea was repulsive.
“And why should I do that?” I asked testily.
“Because you have no where else to go,” was Myrie's simple answer.
“Fine. I’ll think about it.” I got up and stalked up. Fragen followed me. Myrie politely stayed behind.
“I think we should go with her, Phee,” Fragen said.
“Why should we go with that…” I started, but Fragen cut me off.
“I don’t know. For some reason, I feel as if this is the right thing to do.”
“I don’t want to get too involved. This whole idea of stealing this important magical Stone thing seems wrong to me. we could get into big trouble if we go messing with that, I think.”
“We will just have to be extra careful, won’t we?” Fragen smiled. I could not say no to him.
“Okay, Myrie. We’ll go with you,” I said, packing up. I really did not want to go. Truth be told, I was scared.
“Good. I’m going to tell you something now that you have agreed to come on this mission,” Myrie said, sitting down on the dry grass.
“Wait, I have a question,” I said. “What would you have done if we hadn’t said we’d come with you?”
“Why, I’m not stupid. I would have killed you,” Myrie answered. Even though I was pretty sure that this was a bluff, I was still a bit uneasy about Myrie. She continued with, “I already have one of the Stones.” She pulled what was obviously the Stone out of a concealed pocket in her jacket.
The Stone was amazing. It was yellow-golden in color, but, unlike a usual rock that you would pick up, the color pulsed and changed. Instinctively, I reached out to touch it. Myrie pulled it back.
“I don’t think you should touch it,” Myrie said. I gave her a confused look.
“Why not?” I asked.
“I just don’t know if it would be wise,” she said. I had this feeling that this was not the true reason, but I decided to let it go. For now, anyways. Instead, I finished packing my stuff and mounted my horse. Myrie and Fragen followed suit.
“Where to?” Fragen asked.
“We are going north to Garvish,” Myrie answered. I knew about this place; I had read about it on one of those boring afternoons that Fragen and I spent in Gul. This was the side of the world that was covered in water. I could not wait to see this.
It only took us four days to reach the Gateway to Garvish. The trip was trying and exhausting. We traveled from dawn to dusk. There was no magical assistance in our travel, either. Myrie said that her horse was incapable of magic interference or something like that. I learned a lot in that time, though.
“This is the Gateway?” I asked, crinkling my nose. We were standing in front of a doorway that lead straight down into the ground.
“Yes, it is,” Myrie answered. I could tell that she had been here before.
“So, what do we do now?”
“We go in,” Myrie said, like I was stupid. How was I supposed to know where we went now?
Fragen held the door open for Myrie and I. I smiled and thanked him as I walked through. Inside, the underground chamber was stuffy and cramped. A few potted plants sat around, wilting. There was a desk in a corner. An old woman sat at the desk, reading a book. We approached her.
“Hello and welcome to the Gateway to Garvish,” the woman said in a nasally voice. “I’m Matilda and I am going to help you through to Garvish.” She motioned to a scale that was hiding next to the desk. “Please take your shoes off and step on the scale.” I was surprised that she did not ask our names first.
“Why do you need our weight?” I asked.
“It all goes on record,” Matilda said, motioning for me to step onto the scale. It all goes on record… why did they need a record? “Get off, honey,” Matilda commanded. I stepped off of the scale and watched as she wrote something down on papers that she had gotten from her desk. Fragen went next. Matilda got out a different paper for him. After she had weighed all of us, she spoke. “What are your names?”
“Phoenix Cage,” I answered.
“Fragen, no surname,” Fragen answered.
“Gracie Trink,” Myrie answered untruthfully. When Matilda leaned over to write our names down, Myrie motioned for me to keep quiet about her name. This confused me.
“Age?” Matilda asked. We answered. “date of birth?... Height?” – she measured our height out – “Let’s see… eye color? Hair color? Why are you traveling to Garvish?”
“We are visiting my sister, who is doing research in Garvish,” Myrie answered. I wondered why she had lied again. Matilda nodded and wrote it down. She put all of our papers into a folder and handed it to Myrie.
“Take this,” Matilda commanded, “Keep it safe. You cannot get back into Estubia without those papers. Now, please follow me.” She lead us out of the room and through a few halls and doors. We finally arrived at an iron gate.
“Is that the Gateway to Garvish?” I asked, a bit let down. I thought that the gateway would be something bigger, better, not just a little rusty door underground. This showed in my voice, because Matilda sounded flippant when she answered.
“Yes, of course this is the gateway. What did you expect, a big, pretty door up on ground? That wouldn’t have worked because of the square shape of our planet. This tunnel gradually curves so that you come out on Garvish. Don’t ask how it works, cause I don’t know.” She unlocked the door and held it open for us. “Have a nice visit to Garvish,” were her parting words.
The tunnel was dark. I had to take care not to bump into Myrie, who was in front of me. the ground was uneven. I wondered, correctly, if they had made the tunnel uneven so that you would not realize that you the ground was sloping so much. We walked for about thirty minutes. Finally, we saw the chopped up light that meant we had reached another iron door.
When we got closer, I noticed that a man was standing there, waiting for us to come. I briefly wondered how they could communicate from side to side. The man was old and stooped, his smile lacking most teeth. What little hair he had stood out all over. When we reached the door, he already had opened it. “Welcome to Garvish,” he wheezed. “Have a nice stay.” He then lead us out into a room much like the one we had our papers filled out in.
“Come over here, now,” he told us, “I need to stamp your papers.” Myrie took out the folder and handed it to him. He took a rubber stamp out of the drawer and quickly stamped our papers. “The door is right there,” he said, pointing to a stairway.
We went up the stairs. I walked slowly, heart racing. I had not been outside of my farm before this adventure started, and here I was, going to a whole different side of our planet. At the top, Myrie opened the door. I walked out into the sunshine.

preface

JPrefaceL
The cube-shaped planet lives in peace. Each of its six sides worked in harmony with each other. The only thing keeping the sides together was the Stone. The Stone is a magical object that had been split into six pieces, one for each side of the planet. Each of the shards of the Stone was hidden on a different side of the planet, making it nearly impossible to find. If anyone found all of the Stone, they would control the planet. That is why the Stone was hidden and protected by many dangerous obstacles.
Each of the sides is different. The beings that inhabit the sides are different also, with special traits to help them live in their habitat well.
The first side is the oceans, called Garvish by the inhabitants, is the side on the top. Waterwaifs live here. Waterwaifs are creatures that are about four feet tall, with webbed feet and hands. They are light blue in color, with eyes of a deeper blue. Waterwaifs think of life as a joke. You will hardly ever have a straight conversation with one, making them hard to talk to.
The second side is called Mavlalen, meaning Snow Lands or the Snowy Place. Snow covers the land, with blizzards happening almost every day. The people who live here are made of ice. These people are called Ice-elves, for their great resemblance to elves. They can move like elves do, but if they leave the Mavlalen, they melt. They are a smoky ice color. Their eyes are a startling red. They are very kind people, who will welcome almost anyone into their homes. They hunt the bison-like animals that roam the snow lands, using every part for a good use. They save the skins for guests that visit them.
Estubia is the third side. Estubia means fields, or plains. This level land is full of tall, beige colored grass. Small towns and villages dot the landscape. Most of the population consists of farmers, though, so none of the towns are big enough to call a city. Elves are the native of this land. Calm and fair, elves are warm-hearted people who like to have large families.
The next side is filled with large, abundant forests. This tree-covered land is called Shalin. Two different kinds of people live here. First, there are the Tiger People. These half-human, half-tiger individuals are mildly aggressive, but, if you prove your worthiness, they will trust and welcome you into their community. They have the ears and whiskers of a tiger, but otherwise their head is human. They have the body of a human and a tiger tail. Their hands and feet are shaped like a tiger’s paws and covered in yellow-orange hair, but their fingers are long like a human’s. The other inhabitant of the forests is goblins. Goblins are kind and well mannered. They live in tree houses scattered across the thick forests. Goblins and Tiger People get along well, though they do not prefer to interact.
The deserts, otherwise known as Reaknos, lie on the bottom of the cube. This dry land is filled with large dunes and sand hills. The only people who find this land worthy of living are the Sandbuilders. The Sandbuilders are cheerful, fun-loving people. They have lots of holidays; the more parties the better, as they say. They love to have outsiders join in their festivities. Sandbuilders are nomadic. They travel in a pattern that visits the holy places that they go for holidays and festivals.
Valenque is the hot, volcano-covered side. Fires erupt through fissures that run along the black ground. There are seventy-three active volcanoes, and each of them erupts almost every day. The land is a hard place to live, so the only inhabitants of this land are the Firepeople. These fire-resistant elf-like beings are very aggressive. If they catch you anywhere near their land, you are as good as dead.
As long as the people of each side stay on their own land, no body gets hurt. It is an understood rule that one side does not invade another’s territory. If this happens, and war breaks out, the five sides will ban together and totally wipe out the offending side. This is stated in the Book of All Magic, which is hidden somewhere in the planet’s center.