War for Uyrilia

“Mama!” A little girl cried out as the room, she and her twin brother shared, flashed as was power sent flying. She looked terrified as the older woman twisted and flicked her hand at the girl.

“No!” Her mother screamed as she quickly shielded the little girl, making her cry out in pain. When the light faded, she looked down at her five-year-old daughter. “Go get your father.”

“But… Jace wont wake up.” She said looking back at her brother still in his bed.

“He’ll be okay. Go now.” Her mother took a deep breath as she stood, turning to face the evil woman. “You’ve gone mad with power, Zinnia. What do you think you can accomplish?”

“I will take back what’s mine. I will have their power and let my son start anew. That is what I will accomplish, Saffron.”

“Jax would never allow that. How can you so easily attempt to kill your own grandchildren?”

“I will have their power!” Zinnia called as she and Saffron began their fight once again. “You cannot stop me!” She yelled, throwing her hand straight out. Saffron did not have time to block as a white sword shaped light extended from Zinnia’s palm, imbedding deep within Saffron’s abdomen. Saffron dropped to her knees as the shock of what happened hit her. “I told you I would have it.” Zinnia stepped over Saffron as she fell to the ground.

“No… Zinnia please… They’re just children… they haven’t tapped their true powers yet… please…” She pleaded as she pushed up, trying to force her body to get up.

Zinnia walked over with a smirk as she pushed her back down with her shoe. “I will have it all the same.”

She held her hand out, facing Saffron. “No!” Suddenly Zinnia flew across the room. “Saff…” A man with brown hair crowned with a golden circle ran to her side. Dropping to his knees, he looked at the blood spilling onto the floor. Tears began to gather in his dark brown eyes.

“Don’t Jax…” Saffron said weakly as tears gathered in her light brown eyes.

“I’ll save you. Just… just hang on.” He tried to stop the bleeding, failing miserably.

“Jax…” She gently removed his hands from her wounds. “It won’t work… she used Life Nova.”

“No…” He shook his head. She gently touched his cheek. “Jaxton, listen to me…” She was running out of time, “I need you to do something… I want you to take my body to hallows gate crypts… You need to use the conceneration barrio spell…”

“No… Saff, you’ll…”

“I’m not going to make it my love… please do this one last thing for me… Once it’s done, take the children away. The barrior… will protect them and keep them hidden… I will be able to protect our children…”

“Saffron…”

“Please…” Jaxton nodded. “Thank-you… I will always love you… I’ll always be with you…” Jaxton pulled her closer as she fought for breath. He just sat holding his wife as her life drained away. His father and brother moved to his sides, no one noticing as Zinnia slipped away.

“She’s gone.” The older man with salt and pepper hair and beard said.

Jaxton pulled away as he collected himself gently lifting her body. “Take care of Jace and Liliana.” He said sternly as he left.

“Arthur, go get Lily from Maximus. I’ll look after Jace.” His son nodded and left, trying to blink away the tears in his dark brown eyes.

“What happened?” Maximus asked, a man with black hair and grey eyes, he sat holding the sleeping girl. “Where’s Jax. Is Saffron alright?”

At that, Arthur could only shake his head before he found his voice. “She used life nova, no one could save her. Jax is taking her to Hollows gate Crypt. He’s going to use the concentration barrior. It’ll put up a barrior to cloak the children’s growing magic and protect them from most spells. Saffron’s way of continuing to watch over them.

“They’re going to be devastated.” Maximus said looking at the little girl.

“We’ll clear their minds.” Jaxton said as he walked in, his son in his arms and his father beside him. “Max, I want you to go to earth. We’ll stop memories of thought until they’re old enough to handle it. You will take them to earth and train them while pretending to be their uncle who took them in after their parents were killed in a car crash. My mother will hunt Uyrilia, she’ll never expect me to send them away and definitely not to earth.”

“Jaxton, are you sure? You’ll be losing the time watching them grow up.” His father said.

“Christoph is right-.” Maximus started.

“I know what I’m losing. Do you think I’ve made this diction lightly?”

“No, that’s not what we’re saying.” Maximus said standing carefully o as to not wake the girl in his arms. “If you want… you know we would all protect them.”

“I know.” He sighed in defeat. “They’ll be better protected farther away, and I know you’ll keep them safe and teach them what they need to know.” Maximus nodded. “Thank-you, old friend.”

“I’ll block the memory.” Christoph said reaching out to block the sounds Jace had heard before going to Liliana and suppressing the events she had seen.

“The sooner you go the better.” Jaxton told his friend. I’ll help you get to that house.”

Christoph took Liliana while Maximus went to gather his own son. “We’ll all get through this. She won’t get away with what she’s done.”

“She’s getting into the forbidden arts.” Arthur mused. “She’s going to so whatever she can to try win.”

“She’s not going to.” Jaxton said. “I’ll be damned if she gets her hands on my children. Saffron won’t have died for nothing.”

Maximus walked back in with his sleepy eyed son in his arms. “It’s a big jump; I’ll give you a hand.” Arthur said taking his niece from his father. “Let’s go.”

The three men stood in a circle holding the children as they began their spell to teleport them to earth.

“I wish to locate to another world. Lend me a bridge to walk through space. Locate the land to go and move.” They blinked and looked around at their changed surroundings. “Looks like we made it.” Arthur mused. “Good thing we did it together. That took a lot of power.”

“I think it pulled from the twins as well.” Jaxton commented as he left to lay his son down having the other two follow. “You should have everything you need. Saffron and I kept it stocked in case we ever had time to come with the twins. If you need anything you know how to contact me.” Maximus nodded and watched as Jaxton leaned down and kissed each twin on the forehead. “Take good care of my children.”

“As if they were my own.” Maximus and Jaxton hugged before Jaxton and Arthur took themselves back to Uyrilia.

“Jace!” Called a sixteen-year-old girl. She sighed shaking her head making her long light brown hair sway back and forth. She closed her golden eyes.

Jace snapped his eyes open, sitting up holding his head. “Okay! I’m up you can stop you mind spike!” he yelled before climbing from his bed to get ready for the day.

“You shouldn’t use your powers like that.” Liliana turned to find Arthur leaning against the doorframe.

“Uncle!” She smiled and hugged him. “What are you doing here?”

“He’s taking me to Uyrilia.” Maximus said joining them. “We have some business to take care of. It’s nothing to worry about.” Maximus waved her off.

Arthur gave a soft sigh and looked at his father who gave a small nod. “There’s been some trouble in the courts. We are going to go back and get it worked out, but in the mean time, you three need to stay here, safe and hidden. She’s on a rampage again.”

“How many rampages can that crazy woman go on?” Alexander asked.

“Zinnia has a massive amount of magic but wants the power we hold to take over, she’s going to do whatever it takes to find us.” Liliana said before looking at the three men. “What makes you think she doesn’t have someone looking on earth for us?”

“With our power, even though they haven’t fully unlocked, there’s no way a searcher will miss the smell of our power. We’re too powerful to be just some family from Uyrilia who relocated.” Jace added. “How are we supposed to pretend we’re normal humans from earth with crazy people chasing after us shooting off beams of light and shouting nonsense?”

“Be careful. Your magic is getting more and more powerful. We don’t know how long the barrior the two of you have will last. Keep your eyes open for anything. You guys know the rules.” She and Alexander nodded as Jace joined them. “Make sure you ALL go to school and work on your training.”

“We know, we know.” Liliana waved him off.

“We’ll be fine, dad.” Alexander rolled his sea green eyes. Maximus nodded and turned to Arthur who started the spell to take them back to Uyrilia.

“Okay, time for a party!” Liliana smiled as the boys looked at each other. “Come on, we’ll be late for school.” She giggled as she left the boys sighing in relief as they followed making their way to school.

The day was almost over; Liliana was still scheming to try to talk the boys into a little party with their friends. “Lily.” She heard looking over as her brother furrowed his brow. “You okay?”

“I’m fine.” She waved off his concern as the teacher entered the classroom followed by a few straggling students. Her eyes caught sight of the new kid who had just started earlier in the day. She had been wracking her brain to figure out why she felt like she knew him.

Her eyes unfocused and her mind drifted away as the teacher started class.

“Lily,” Her mother said with a bright smile as she bent down to talk to her as Jace came to her side dressed in a dark blue v-neck shirt and black dress pants tucked into black boots. “We’re going to meet the ruling family of Kothus. I need you to be on your best behavior, both of you. You think you can do that?” Jace nodded but Liliana twisted her lips as if thinking. “Do it for me?” Liliana nodded, giving in.

“The family will see you now.” A servant bowed.

Jaxton and Saffron walked in with the children in front of them. “May I present King Jaxton, Queen Saffron and their children, Princess Liliana and Prince Jace.” A second servant introduced. The family bowed to those sitting on the thrones.

“It has been too long.” The woman smiled. “It’s good to meet those twins everyone has been talking about.” She stood with her husband beside her. “My husband, Deimos.”

“It is good to travel to your lands again.” Jaxton gave a small smile.

“May I introduce my children, Robert, Marc and Ryan.”

“It has been a while; they are growing up into fine young princes.”

“We have a banquet in your honor set to begin tonight. If you’d like to freshen up after your travels I’ll have a servant show you to your rooms.”

“Most gracious.” Jaxton bowed and turned escorting his family to their chambers.

Liliana fidgeted in her light pink dress as the Banquet started, her brother sat beside their mother, off to the side before he got up and began a game with the other children.

“Hey, don’t you want to play with them?” Asked a little boy with sandy colored hair and crystal blue eyes, “I’m Robert. You’re Liliana, right?”

“You can call me Lily.”

“So, Lily, why aren’t you playing?”

“’Cause it’s stupid.”

Robert smirked. “Want to go outside and play?” Liliana thought a moment before nodding and following him out to the courtyard. The two ran around giggling and laughing, playing in the bushes and climbing trees.

Liliana sat up straighter as her eyes refocused on the classroom. She looked over at the teenager who sat drawing in his notebook. She realized why his appearance had nagged at her; it was the boy she had played with that night.

“Miss Grather.” Liliana turned to look at the teacher in the front of the class as the other students looked at her. “If you would like to stay awake for class I would like you to solve the next problem.” The teacher looked at her with a small smirk as he realized it was a far more complicated problem than they had ever worked on before.

Liliana looked at it on the board and sighed. “Three thousand twenty-seven.” The teacher looked back at the board before looking back at her telling her it was correct. Liliana shot a quick glare at Alexander beside her who was trying to hide his laughter.

“Yes, well I think that’s enough. Work on page 375.” He announced and walked towards his desk as Alexander snorted. “Is there something funny, Mr. Saur?” He glared at the teen.

“Me?” Alexander asked, looking up at the teacher.

“That’s your name isn’t it?” He asked sarcastically.

Alexander shrugged. “Well-.” Jace coughed making him stop. “Yeah, it’s funny how you always pick on Lily to do the hard ones thinking she can’t do it.” Suddenly the bell rang and the class nearly ran from the room before the teacher could respond.

You’re going to get us in trouble with your dad, or worse you’ll have to explain to my dad how a world removed from magic discovered it and our world.” Liliana shook her head. “I’ll catch up with you guys; I forgot something in my locker.” She told Alexander and Jace. She went to her locker and stood as her mind drifted to the new student. What did it mean? Was he here to get information for Zinnia?

A hand clasped over her mouth as she was turned to lean against the lockers. “Don’t be frightened. I’m not going to hurt you.”

“What do you want?” She demanded as he removed his hand from her mouth.

“I just want to talk.”

“Yeah right. I know who you are.” She narrowed her eyes.

“So you remember…” He looked at her. “Then you know about who you are.”

“Of course I know who I am. If you’re not here to hurt me then move out of my way.”

“We need to talk.”

“Fine. Then as your superior, the princess of Shiofale and an heir to the rule of Atren get out of my way.” The two stood, glaring at each other.

“You always were stubborn.” He smirked and took a step back. “Things have changed since you and your brother were hidden away. The once bright and beautiful Stregamna Castle is a little more than a rundown pub for Zinnia and her minions. Shiofale is no longer a happy place to live. The darkness is growing and soon it will over shadow all of Atren. Eventually all of Uyrilia will be stolen.”

Liliana stood, looking at him a moment before shaking her head. “That’s a lie. If things had gotten that bad my father would have said something.”

“Would he? He sent you away to keep you from Zinnia, you really think he would tell you and bring you back?”

“Why are you telling me?”

“Because, as you stated, you are princess of Shiofale and an heir to the rule of Atren. There are innocent lives being ruined. All because of you and your brother. It’s been over ten years but the princess I knew didn’t want anyone hurt because of her.” Liliana just looked at him as he backed away and left.

She quickly went to catch up with her brother and friend. “You okay?” Alexander asked.

“I just… do you think something happened back home? I mean we haven’t heard from your dad or ours. Dad hasn’t visited in a while.”

“Why the sudden worry?” Jace asked watching Liliana just shook her head, “Come on, let’s get home. I’m sure everything’s fine.”

“I guess.” She sighed as she walked with them towards their house only a few blocks away. “Do you really think dad’s okay?”

“I’m sure everything’s fine.” Alexander assured her.

Jace nodded. “He just got lost in his piles of papers. He’ll visit soon.” He reached out and nudged her arm making her look up with her golden brown eyes with a small smile. For being twins, the two barely looked anything alike. They were mostly taken as boyfriend and girlfriend, which made Alexander hysterically laugh.

Liliana sighed, deciding to leave it for now at least. “We have to do something fun.” Lily tried talking the two boys into having a party with a few friends but the two stood firm. “You two are seriously no fun.” She pouted as they continued walking towards the park where they were going to meet up with a few friends.

“You know if we’re caught what my dad would do to us.” Alexander told her, shaking his head as she crossed her arms and pretended not to pay attention to them. “Lil.” Alexander said quickly as he stopped. He grabbed Jace’s arm to stop him but Lily ignored the two and continued walking. “Lily.” He tried again.

“I’m not listening to you.” She said still pretending to ignore him.

“Liliana!” He said harshly making her stop in her tracks. It was a name no one used, a name long forgotten. Even when she would get into trouble as a child Alexander would just call her Lily. She turned to look at Alexander to find out why he would call her by that name. Alexander slowly reached his hand out towards her. “Come over here very slowly.” Lily slowly followed his line of sight and came face to face with a tall figure dressed in all black. His brown eyes looked dark with shaggy brown hair falling over his haunting features. He eyed the three and began to grin. “Lil…” Alexander trailed off as she slowly started walking backwards towards the two boys.

“Well, well, well. Look who we have.” They heard making them stop and look at the alley. “You’ve grown up a lot but I’ll never forget the faces of my little niece and nephew.”

“Do we know you?” Liliana was the first to recover.

“You don’t remember your uncle? I’m hurt.”

“You must be confused old man.” Lily told him and watched as anger came to his dark eyes.

“Old?! I am not an old man!” He called out.

“You look like an old man.” Lily shrugged.

The anger blazed and turned the man’s face red but instead of yelling, he just grinned evilly at the teens. “You want to see an old man you should see your father.”

“My father?” Lily whispered before looking at him angrily. She knew her father but knew she and her brother were supposed to be in hiding. The longer she played stupid the longer they might have a chance to get out. “I thought my father only had one brother. He took us in after our parents died in a car crash.” Liliana looked shocked. The man glared at her as if trying to figure out if she was telling the truth or not.

He laughed and Lily made fists at her sides. “Your mother was destroyed but your father is still very much alive. Although, I don’t know why mother allows him to breathe.” He mused. Lily took a stop forward but Alexander grabbed her arm and pulled her back behind him.

“You’ll never win.” Liliana smirked looking at him. “It took you how long to track us down and you really think you have us?” She laughed at his face.

“You’re not getting away this time. It was only because of those sneaky pests Jaxton and Christoph that you were able to sneak away in the first place.” He turned his eyes on Jace and Lily. “It’s like taking candy from a baby.” He grinned again and stared towards the three.

“You won’t win.” Alexander said as he stepped forward. “My dad will be-.”

“Your dad is rotting Along with the ‘King’.” He laughed at the shocked face of Alexander as Liliana and Jace gasped. Alexander took a breath before he slowly stepped back a hand on each of the teens, bringing them with him. “I don’t think so. You think I’ll waist the chance to bring my mother such a brilliant present?” He laughed as he leveled his dark gaze on Lily and Jace. He grinned before throwing his hand out, shooting a yellow beam at the three. Liliana waved her hand making the beam disappear. The man grinned evilly.

“Well… would you look at that.” He eyed them. “I think I’ll bring you home and we can have a nice family reunion.”

“Like hell I’m going anywhere with you!” Liliana hollered at the man.

“Oh so you do know me.”

“I know you’re the evil lap dog to Zinnia, Uncle Kalman.” He grinned as Liliana shifted.

“Lily we need to get out of here, we can’t fight him.” Alexander warned.

“He’s not that bad. I’ll take him down.” She narrowed her eyes.

“Now that’s the spirit!” Kalman laughed, “Come at me, little girl!”

Liliana lunged but was pulled away. Looking behind her, she found Robert holding her around the waist. “Do you want to die?” He scolded. “You go attacking and you’ll be killed.”

“I don’t care! He was in on the attack that killed my mother!” She struggled to get loose as Jace clenched his fists.

“You die and Uyrilia would really be lost, do you condemn millions of innocent people?” Robert said in her ear softly. “I swear I will help you get your revenge. But not today. Please.” Liliana looked over her shoulder and crystal met gold. They looked at each other a moment longer before Liliana felt her anger calming. There was something in his gaze that made her relaxing. She gave a slight nod and his arm around her waist relaxed, letting go.

“Let’s go.” Alexander said before they quickly ran.

“My brothers are waiting to help.” Robert said as he made his way with the three. “We need to split up. We’ll meet up on the other side. One go right, one go left, we’ll go down the center.” The two teens nodded before quickly scattering. Robert pulled her to the side into a dark alley.

“Why are you helping us?” She asked.

Robert gave a small smirk. “Because… there’s something about you. You’ve made an impression on me.” He grabbed her hand. “Come on.” The two ran through the streets before running into the others.

“Everyone ready?” Alexander asked. “We better do this quick, before he finds us.” The six started the spell to send the back to Uyrilia.

“I won’t let you go that easily!” A white light surrounded them before they landed hard on the ground.

“Everyone alright?” Alexander asked as he got to his feet.

“What happened?” Jace asked holding his head. “Where are we?”

“Who are you?” Liliana asked quickly getting to her feet and backed up.

“What are you talking about?” Alexander furrowed his brow. “Lil, this is no time for games.”

“What games? I have no idea who you are.” Liliana stepped back again.

“What happened?” Alexander mused.

“The light.” Robert offered. “It could be a forget spell.”

“Why didn’t it affect us?” Alexander asked

“They were blocking us.” Robert offered as his brothers watched. “Can you remove it?”

Alexander shook his head. “I don’t have the power. If we had one of them… I’ll take them to their uncle. My dad said he has some secret cabin. We can hide there while get Arthur.”

“Well it looks like we’re in the Gloomford Ruins. I hope that cabin’s close. With them not remembering and Kalman on the loose…” The youngest of the brothers said.

“Ryan, you and Marc go back and report to mother. I’ll help them get to the cabin.” Robert said.

“No, you have your own things to handle.” Alexander looked at the two. “I can handle it.”

“Are you sure?” Robert asked and watched him nod. “Alright I guess we’ll meet again another time.” Alexander nodded as the three brothers left.

“Okay. I’m your friend, Alexander. We’ve been friends since we were kids. You’re brother and sister. Twins actually, Liliana and Jace. I know about where the cabin is. I’ll get you there and break this ridiculous spell.”

“How exactly do we get there when we don’t even know our own names?” Jace asked.

“I’ll handle it.” Alexander said looking towards the building in the distance. “Let’s get started, shall we?”

When they got to the city Alexander had them wait while he got clothing for them then led the way to an inn. “So what are we going to do now?” Lily asked in a hushed tone

“First we get a room then we’ll work it out.” He told her as they walked up to the counter.

“Why don’t we remember any of this?” Liliana asked frustrated at the fact that she could not remember anything about herself.

Alexander gave a small smirk as he looked between them. “You remember everything, it’s all there. The spell he used just is blocking it. I’ll get you to your uncle and everything will be back the way it was.”

“That makes no sense at all.” Liliana shook her head. “I don’t remember anything.”

“So when I was talking here you didn’t have any feeling like you knew the language or anything?” He watched as they just shrugged at him. “That’s what I thought. It’s all there, it’s just hidden. Now come here, I got this map from the inn keeper.” He unrolled a piece of parchment. “Okay, we’re here, Esok. My father told me about hidden cabins for your family. Your uncle has one here on the other side of the harbor. If things are as bad as they say, he’ll be there. I’ll get a ferry in the morning and we can get this all worked out.”

“I guess we better sleep then.” Jace said as he looked at the blankets off to the side. The three went to the beds and got what sleep they could.

The next morning they were gathering their things when they heard screaming. “Oh no.” Liliana said looking from the window.

Alexander came to her side. “Damn. We have to move. Now.” The three quickly ran from the inn, blending in with the villagers as they ran from the man who was exploding buildings, forgetting about trying to get a ferry they decided to make their way around the harbor instead.