☾☼ Prologue ☼☽ Voices echoed down the hallway to the keen ears of Terrel Sarkozi, Enabler of the Eclipse Council. He tensed, readying for a rush of information. "It is too late!" an old voice cried. "I can feel it calling, whispering to leave. There is no one. Not for my years of searching can I find one! Not one! You must carry on. All of you are young, and you can continue looking for them. Please, I implore you!" Terrel smiled at the old man's desperation. He tensed again as a younger voice spoke. "We will try, my lord. I can promise nothing. If neither has been found, then they will not be until your death follows. My lord, there is no way for us to train them even if, by some miracle, we do find the younglings. We have no knowledge of the ways but those listed in the books." "You must." The old man's voice was weaker, and a shriek confirmed Terrel's suspicions. He was gone. The young Council members fled from the room, crying their news. "The SunStriker is dead! The SunStriker is dead!" Terrel grinned, but stopped short when the young and extremely capable Na'im Mata stood before him. "You will not return to the Eclipse." Terrel nodded thoughtfully. "No, I won't." With that, he sprinted for the battlements, and leapt. ☽☼ Chapter 1 ☼☾ The wind blew the little flecks of ink across her hand as it flew across the gnarled parchment. Graceful streaks made up most of the map that was laid across the low, wooden table. The moon was rising high in the black sky, illuminating the sharp contrast between ink and paper. Adeya yawned, glancing at her candle. It wavered and almost put itself out with the gentle breeze. She thought of how much it was like her: working day and night to stay focused, but was always tackled with new tasks like the blowing wind and storms. The light of the tiny fire illuminated the dormitory. Rows of sleeping initiates lined the walls. Adeya’s bed was the only one with folded blankets, sheets undisturbed. She looked at her candle once more and took it in her hands. Slowly, she made her way to the narrow cot that was all she had in this place, so far from her home of Proynia. The girl slid beneath her sheets, heart pounding, and blew out her light. Darkness fell like a curtain over the hall. Adeya’s head spun. Tomorrow she would find out if she had made it or not. Tomorrow she would know if all her work had paid off, for the results of the final tests would be posted on the big double doors at the end of the dormitory, and Adeya would either have her wishes granted or bitter disappointment. What would she do if she wasn't on the list of those chosen to guard the Moon Temple? There was nothing back in Proynia for her. She had run away in search of a life far from the raging sea and old abandoned towns scattered like stones. She needed something more. ☽☼ Chapter 2 ☼☾ The caravan moved through the throngs of people at a snail’s pace. Paki was sweating in the heat of the midday sun as his father tried, in vain, to clear a path for the camels. His mother stroked his hair in what she believed to be a calming gesture. “You’ll be all right Paki. You’ll be chosen for sure. It’s all going to be okay.” Paki wasn’t so sure. He knew it was extremely unlikely that he would be chosen as the next SunStriker out of all the people in the world. Even if, by some miracle, he was chosen, he doubted that he would really be able to do all that… stuff. Paki’s father had once seen the old MoonDancer. He said that she could do… things that weren’t natural. He described waves of light rolling off her tan body as she spun, twin blades flashing at the Eclipse Enabler. That man’s last vision had likely been of her silver visage. Paki shuddered. He didn’t know anyone who had met the SunStriker, but he assumed that he was equally powerful, if not more so. There was no way he would be able to do anything close to that. A shout brought the boy back to reality. The man Paki’s father had been trying to move had cried out suddenly. This man was strange and pale, so unlike the dark skin of everyone else in the market place. “It’s him!” the man was crying, jumping up and down. “It’s him! He’s the SunStriker!” A gasp rippled through the square. All eyes turned to the caravan. Paki stared at his brother. Olumide gazed right back at him. The man strode over to the two boys and offered a hand. “Come with me, my lord.” The brothers looked at him. After a few tense moments, Olumide reached for it. The strange man ripped it away and said, “Not you, him.” Paki was astonished. Everyone was looking at him as he took the man’s hand and stepped away from the caravan he had always called home. For the first time in his life, Paki Afolayan was truly scared.
Your turn Mooney! Could you do something with Saranché?
