Preface
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Aztec was the most evil sorcerer in the world. Not our world, but a world where despair and coldness and war fills even the deepest
depths of the peoples thoughts. Where witches roam and cast evil curses across the small, white star, while demons set the world to more destruction. The fear that ran through the land was at its greatest height ever remembered.
But then Aztec disappeared, lost forever. The witches retreated, the demons fled, and no one ever saw them again. Some think he died. Others don’t know what to think. Still others think it was fear, fear for his life. For there is a prophecy.
The prophecy tells of a young girl, born on the twenty-eighth of March, who will destroy him. She will destroy his powers and put an end to the hatred he crossed through her once-beautiful land. No amount of witch armies or demon hatred will ever stop her. She will make peace.
…Galaxies away, a young girl is born…
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1
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Today I listened with more enthusiasm than ever. My heart raced his words to the end of his thrilling tale. He was always outgoing on the stories he told me, but this one caught me more than the rest. It entranced me, how did he do it? He kept me clinging so close to his words, every one brought out with his deep voice. The perfect voice for story telling, I thought.
“And then he was just gone, disappeared forever,” he finished, his aged blue eyes sparkling. “and nobody ever saw him again.” Even before he finished the story I felt the question burn on my lips, just ready to get out there.
“Never?” I challenged. It was hard to keep my jaw from dropping.
“Never,” completed Papi, contented by the awe that was more than likely etched across my face. I gave him a look as if to ask if the story was over, and he nodded as if to answer. Sometimes, I thought we could probably talk telepathically if we tried hard enough.
Cuckoo-Cuckoo!
The clock behind us chimed five. The sudden burst of noise over the silence made me jump. “You better get goin’, Airainia,” spoke Papi calmly.
“Yeah, I s’pose so,” I sighed. Really, I just wanted to hear more of the story. I leaned over and scooped up my backpack that was lying on the floor in a heap. Swinging it over my back I gave Papi a good-bye peck on the cheek and patted his chocolate lab on the head.
I slowly walked down the long driveway and made a right down the cobble-stoned road. As I walked I thought of the story Papi had told me. His words buzzed around my head, a swarm of bees just floating around my internal thought. The story had been of an evil sorcerer, one that ruled a land where hope wasn’t a part of one’s vocabulary. It was galaxies away, people lived on a dead star. How sad, this world was a star with no light. Dead star, dead souls. All this controlled by the evil Aztec. I pitied the young girl that had to stop him, well, if it were all real.
But, was it? Papi had made the story sound astonishingly real. It was my birthday, but the story took place in a fantasy kind of land. I shook my head, now was not the time to be getting carried away in my vast imagination, as much as I wanted to.
“Oh, you’re in trouble now!”
“Leave me alone!”
“Make me!”
Somehow, my older brother, Ben, had found me. “Fine, I give. What am I in trouble for?” I questioned. Whatever it took to get him away from me.
“Well--” he egged.
“Just spit it out!” I wasn’t going to let him get under my skin, not today.
“You missed church,” he mocked. Dang it! I gasped, breaking into a sprint.
It wasn’t very far, just a two more blocks, then I rounded a left, into the short street, it now was only five-no-six houses down. I gave my last burst of energy to cross the yard. Really, I didn’t see the point of running- I had already missed church, and there was no changing that. All I was really doing was getting to my punishment faster. Maybe I just wanted to get it over with. But who knows? Maybe I simply liked running.
Lucinda Spodnick was a fair, lanky woman with light brown eyes and a long mane of dark brown hair that was pulled into a ponytail, gliding sweetly and gently down her back. She stood inside the small kitchen chopping carrots with the side door wide open, and letting her chest bake in the warmth of the sun through the window. This was what she liked about Michigan weather so much- it was unpredictable. It could be freezing cold one day, and, much like today, be a sunny warm the next. This, this though, was her favorite season. Spring- the bittersweet time of year. I knew because it was also was mine.
Then, I saw her turn to the open door. A gust of wind blew my hair into my face. I sprinted the rest of the way to the door in a last bit of energy.
“I-I’m… s-sorry…I’m l-late!” I managed to gasp through my heavy breaths. I wondered once again why exactly I ran all the way here. I clutched the doorframe for support, the stitch in my side was terrible. “I…forgot.”
My mom’s eyes shimmered as she gave me a light smile. “You heard from Ben, didn’t you?” Of course, everyone knew that, for some reason unknown to man, Ben and I just adored breaking news to each other. Preferably, bad, you’re-about-to-get-in-trouble news.
“Who else?” I breathed back. I was waiting for a punishment. My mom seemed to notice as I walked a foot inside the house cautiously. In my eyes, it was a danger zone until mom was through with the yelling.
“No, Airainia, you’re not in trouble this time.” I breathed a huge sigh of relief, and finally stopped panting. My mom began to set the table, I was still hovering near the door. The bomb hadn’t exploded, yet my brain was still set on danger mode. “You’re fine, Airainia, honestly.” This time, I thought she meant it, so I headed for the stairs.
I hurried upstairs, counting the steps without realizing it until I got to the top and told myself thirteen. Then, turned the corner and rounded off to my bedroom.
Quickly, I changed from my disastrous school uniform. I hated the thing. Looking down at the dark green skirt I loathed so much, I threw down my I.D. tag next to it. That thing just made me feel like a dog wearing a nameplate. I tossed it on my white beanbag in the corner. Not even bothering to look, I threw on the first pair of jeans I could find, then a t-shirt, and sprinted back down the stairs.
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Dinner was a very quiet event. I hated the quiet, there always had to be some sort of back round noise to make me feel comfortable- this was not comfortable. I needed something other than the scraping of the knives on the plates or a fork against teeth. I looked to Ben, his curly hair hid his face. He didn’t show signs of opening his mouth, other than to shove food into it. I couldn’t bear it, so I broke the quiet stillness that covered my ears.
“I heard an interesting story today,” I declared after stabbing into my meat.
“Really, and what was it about?” asked Samuel Spodnick. My dad had arrived home from work just an hour back. Just like every person in the Spodnick family tree, he had brown eyes and curly caramel brown hair. I must have gotten my blue eyes from Papi.
“It was about a dark sorcerer-from another land, and…a prophecy of a girl. I found it…quite intriguing,” I explained between mouthfuls. Suddenly his expression went from half-interest to scared. He tried to compose his face to a bad extent, making it look twisted into a fake, uncomfortable smile.
“Yeah, and, and who did you hear that one from?” he asked, looking toward his plate.
Who else do I hear stories from every day? “Papi,” I replied, trying to see the look on his face.
My father looked anxiously at my mother with a side glance, she nodded. “Excuse us,” mom said, not looking at Ben or I, as they both left the table hastily.
“We’ll be right back guys,” dad added harshly, and he too darted for the stairs. I glanced towards Ben, and he nodded back. We waited until we heard the bedroom door slam upstairs, then got up also.
Going up the stairs without making noise wasn’t hard, all you had to do was skip every fourth step and you could be up there soundlessly. Ben and I were at the door to our parents bedroom in no time. They hadn’t heard us, apparently, because they were already deep in conversation.
“Cindy, we knew something would happen soon,”
“But-but not this soon, Sam,” mom sobbed.
“I know, but now we have to let fate-”
“No we don’t! She isn’t ready-”
“Airainia is as ready as she could possibly get-”
“No she isn’t!”
“She is! It’s her destiny!”
“but I’m not dragging my family into this! It’s not right putting my family in danger for nothing but a myth-”
“It is not a myth, it is as real as you and I, you of all people should know this, Cindy!”
“Yes, but how do you know she is ready?”
“Airainia is ready, and so am I,” dad finished in a lower whisper.
My mom’s quiet sobs broke, and I heard footsteps on the other side of the door, but I just couldn’t move, I was frozen in my spot. I felt Ben grab my shoulders and hull me down the hallway. We weren’t going to make it all the way back down, so I turned and walked half way back up as the doorknob turned. Dad was out first, followed by mom. “Are you guys okay? You’ve been up here awhile,” spoke Ben convincingly.
“Yeah,” began our mom, wiping tears from her eyes. “Yeah, we’re fine.”
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I stayed up half that night, thinking about mom’s frantic voice and red, puffy eyes when she returned to the dining room earlier that evening. “But she’s not ready!” My mother’s voice rung in my head, etching the memory perfectly in my thought. Ready for what?
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