Dark Light: Children of Light

By Jordyn Potts

Dark Light: Children of Light, Book 1.

Have you ever believed in something so strongly that you would be willing to put everything on the line for it, even if you had no evidence to be sure that what you believe is true?

With very little evidence to back up her beliefs, Amelia believes that she and two others are spoken about in a dangerous prophecy that was written by a prophet who has never been wrong before. He speaks about a man of darkness who is coming back to consume the light that their society is made from, after escaping from a previously-believed eternal prison, to exact revenge for the wrongs done to him one thousand years before. The prophet claims that the Children of Light are the only ones that can stop this man from destroying everything. The only problem is, they all live on different planets. As the Akil, a close alien cousin to humans that has an aura of light surrounding them, each race lives on one of the three planets, and each of the planets has a different color light. Only bringing one of all three together can make white light possible, which is the most powerful light of them all. Can Amelia of Turan (who has blue light), Princess Epezel of Novac (who has green light), and Prince Iliam of Zepta (who has red light) stop the darkness from coming before it's too late?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jordyn Potts
• Release date: Jun 30, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386031093

Book preview

Prologue

I

N THE ROOM IT WAS HARD TO BREATHE. Upon entering, your lungs were sucked of all air, just for a moment. In the darkness, you couldn’t hear anything; none of your senses worked. Nothing could tell you where you were or anything about the place, just emptiness... everywhere. Except, in the middle of the darkness was a lone ceiling lamp, hanging from what seemed to be nothing. It gave off just enough light to illuminate an elliptical shaped table resting idly beneath it. Surrounding the table were nine chairs, each with an owner to claim it as their own.

These people were the highest of the highest, nothing short of kings and queens, rulers and emperors. They had control. They could make decisions to make or break the worlds they ruled. It all started here, where three people from each of the three worlds made a decision that, if wrong, had the possibility to spiral out of control and reek of universal consequences.

It has been written, a woman said, her face covered by an aqua blue drape, just a shade lighter than the rest of her long blue robe.

This could change everything, said a man in a low, raspy voice. Another man at the end of the table put his hands together and placed them on the table.

There is nothing we can do to stop it, the prophecy will come to pass and it will be up to the chosen children of light, the children of prophecy, the children of Ezmark.

Yes, but do we tell the people? asked a worried woman in a long black skirt and a purple silk top. Unable to keep still, her hands fidgeted under the table.

It won’t come to pass for another thousand years.

But still it is written, so it will come to pass. Ezmark himself wrote it.

"But we can’t be seriously debating putting the fate of our worlds, our homes, everything we have worked for into the hands of children?!" The woman crossed her arms.

Her highness is right. Who can tell how old the children will be? We shouldn’t tell the people. They needn’t worry, and when the time comes, we will deal with it. Everyone agreed with the man in a fedora and a brown suit.

So, are we agreed? The man at the end of the table asked. They all agreed. The man stood up and the other eight followed. Until we meet again. He turned off the ceiling lamp. Everyone disappeared into the darkness, leaving their lights to simply fade away, and everything turned once again black.

Chapter 1: In the Land of Novac

1,000 years later

E

PEZEL SITS UP IN HER FAVORITE TREE as the morning sun rises above the Nomisel Mountains. These majestic landmarks border the land of Novac, separating it from the Forbidden Lands. The rest of the Novacians step out of their homes to watch as the sun’s light floods the expanse as it rises above the peaks of the mountains, as they do every morning.

The young princess leans back against the tree trunk and watches the early morning ritual with a sense of joyful fascination that has never seemed to fade. Epezel finds her eyes instinctively closing as her face gravitates towards the source of light. Her entire body tingles with a fuzzy sensation like when your foot falls asleep. Her skin begins to glow as it consumes sunlight, absorbing it into her body, making the green light that already surrounds her glow brighter. Like getting a bucket of cold water thrown upon you, she feels a jolt run through her like electricity, making her feel practically giddy.

The morning sun is the best sunlight. A fresh day’s light gives everyone the energy to keep going for the day.

The Novacians are a section of people, just one third of a race called the Akil. The Akil are a special kind of humanoid that have auras of light around them, which makes them able to literally glow in the dark. They can harness it and make a ball of light in the palms of their hands. To be able to keep going, the Akil have to soak up light into their own aura to make them stronger. Such as humans need water to survive, if an Akil is in complete darkness for more than seventy-two hours, the darkness will swallow all of their light and they would die.

Epezel sighs at the scene before her, her hazel eyes looking down at the people below. She enjoys mornings like these more than anything else. The calm gives her a chance to think about things, a chance when the problems of day to day haven’t presented themselves yet. She stares up at the sky, lost in her own thoughts, trying to find shapes, animals, and things in the few fluffy clouds. The light of the sun behind them makes it seem like they are glowing. She smiles happily at one of the clouds, which then reminds her of what she was doing before she got distracted.

Epezel grabs her pen and uses her light, and the light from the sun, to write her letter.

Dear Iliam,

It’s another morning here on Novac. I dreamt about meeting you again last night. The picture you sent rests on my nightstand. It is of my humble opinion that the picture won’t do you justice when we meet in person. I don’t know why we have to be so far apart, so far as on different planets, but I believe our paths will cross one day.

Father has been yelling at me again, saying I shouldn’t write to you so much. He says that I can’t be in love because I am too young and I haven’t even met you, but I don’t care. Just the way you write shows me how kind you are, how strong and sweet. My light longs to mix with yours.

With all my love,

Epezel

Epezel seals the envelope and, using a rope from a swing that was once there, swings down the tree. A gentle wind blows her long brown hair off her neck and makes her shiver. Winter is coming soon, and the morning air gets colder every day.

She walks through town with a smile upon her face. It’s a small community, only around a hundred people, and there aren’t many buildings. Everyone likes to be outside anyway. It’s too dark indoors. Most of the town’s folk like to spend their mornings tending to the crops in the fields. Most of the women plant the Akil’s national flower, the Alaphinei flower. It’s traditional for everyone to have at least one Alaphinei flower outside their doors. This flower is unusual, needing constant light. At night it rests under sunlamps, and the flower uses the light to create a special pollen that, when boiled into a liquid, can be used to heal wounds and cure illnesses.

Epezel walks into one of the main buildings in town and travels up the stairs, since the elevators are down, to level sixteen, the top floor. It’s one of the most common areas in town. The Novacian’s most clever scientists created a light portal that uses energy to transport things to the two other planets. Eventually, the other worlds created the same things and all three planets are now in communication. Unfortunately, the portals can only send inanimate objects. Due to everyone’s light, the whole room has a green hue.

Morning, says Epezel to Ivin, the man who controls the portal, and also her good friend.

Morning Epezel, and how is the chief’s daughter doing this fine morning? King Novac is Epezel’s father. He is one of three leaders who runs the planet. As the straight descendant of one of the original leaders of Novac, his title is the name of the planet, the highest honor, such as it was with his father and his father before that.

When he is out on a business trip, and not at the palace, her mother, brother, and herself sometimes go to this small town, which was her mother’s hometown, to spend time with her grandparent’s in her mother’s old house.

Great, thanks. One letter to Zepta, please.

Coming right up. Epezel hands him the letter. Using an ink stamp, he presses it into a pad of red, glowing ink and presses the circular stamp onto the corner of the letter. In front of him is a touch panel and he inserts the address into the computer. In the top left corner of the panel are three big switches side by side. The first is blue, the middle is green, and the last is red. Behind him is an octagonal metal frame about four feet tall and three inches wide. It is attached to a large electrical base platform.

Ivin flips the red switch. A ball of red light appears in the center of the portal. It starts spinning. The ball expands and swirls until it encompasses the entire inside of the metal frame. He throws the letter in. It hovers in the center for a few seconds before the red light starts to cover it like watching water slowly seep onto paper. Once the light covers it completely, there is a bright flash of light and the letter vanishes.

Ivin flips the switch and the portal turns off. The light that was there before is gone.

The three types of the Akil include the Novacians, on Novac, the Zeptians, on Zepta, and the Turanians, on Turan. These planets are not much bigger than a moon, all orbiting around one star, in what is known as Triplanets. Triplanets happen when three planets are in one ‘circle’ and orbit around the same star in the same orbit. Each type of Akil has their own color light. Novacians are green, Zeptians are red, and Turanians are blue.

Epezel leaves the building and meets up with her mother, Ereta, who is outside of their house in the garden, watching her littlest child play in the dirt and get his clothes all filthy. Where have you been young lady? You were supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago.

Sorry mom. I just stopped by portal exchange. Her mom looks at her with a gentle, knowing smile.

You know, sixteen-year-old girls are too young to be talking to boys, especially ones off planet, there are no flames in her words, only teasing. Epezel looks down at the ground, not wanting to look in her mother’s eyes, her cheeks blushing red. Her mother laughs.

I’m happy for you sweetie, now help me with― Ereta is interrupted by a large crack of thunder. Epezel shivers again. Everyone doesn’t like when it rains, because the dark clouds cover the sun. Epezel picks up her mother’s basket of diniles, a type of fruit like an apple, and looks up at the sky.

It looks like a storm is approaching.

Chapter 2: On the Planet Zepta

L

IGHTNING FLASHES ACROSS THE SKY and briefly lights up the darkened room that lies on the other side of the oncoming storm. It only takes a few seconds for the window to shake with the force of the rolling thunder that puts the storm right on top of them. The two boys inside find it impossible to concentrate with the pitter patter of the heavy rain constantly splashing against the windows.

Iliam and Azmil continue their indoor game of ping pong in the light of only their own glows and a single sun lantern, due to the fact that the storm knocked out the power to the palace. I hope the storm will stop soon. I didn’t get much morning sun. As if on cue, Azmil’s red light gets noticeably dimmer in the darkness.

Me too, Iliam agrees and bounces the ball back across the table, A storm hasn’t been this fierce and lasted this long in a long time. The sun has been covered almost all day and the whole town has stayed inside to save their energy to last out the storm.

Azmil nearly jumps two feet in the air and misses the ball when there is a knock on the door. Iliam smirks. You scared? he teases.

Azmil rolls his eyes. I was concentrating, he defends and goes to find the ball. The young prince laughs as he opens the door.

Sir Iliam, a letter has arrived for you, says the butler that is standing on the other side of the opened door. Iliam’s mother is the Queen of the continent, one of three rulers.

Thank you. Iliam grabs the letter and closes the door. It has a red glow- stamp on it and the I in Iliam has a swirl at the bottom. It was written by Epezel.

A goofy grin spreads across his face and he opens the letter.

Got another letter from your girlfriend? Azmil chuckles and picks up the ping pong ball. Iliam creates a ball of light in his left hand to illuminate the paper just enough to read. After he reads it, he hands it to Azmil. Do you really think you are ever going to meet her? he asks after reading the letter.

I don’t know, but I can’t wait to write back, Iliam grabs a pen and a piece of paper from his desk.

The second he sits down, both boys hear the distant sound of glass breaking. It was a one thousand to one chance that they were able to hear it at all. There just so happened to be no thunder to cover it up. What was that? Azmil asks.

It’s probably nothing, Iliam quietly answers. The boys hear the sound again. It sounds like it’s coming from one of the upper rooms. Iliam puts his pen down on the desk. Iliam’s mother allowed all of the staff to go home and wait out the storm before she left for a meeting. Everyone except the butler, who lives in the palace with them, is gone.

Come on, Iliam opens the door and finds that the butler has left. He leans out and looks both ways as if he is about to cross a street. He finds nothing but a darkened hallway and the sounds of the thunderstorm accompanying his almost desolate house. Making a decision, he grabs the lantern hanging on the wall and motions for Azmil to follow him into the hallway. Never one to stay behind, and normally the one to get into trouble, Azmil follows behind his friend with a smile on his face. Despite the circumstances, his excitement is practically radiating off of him. Finally, something exciting.

Only, he didn’t take into account how unnerving it would be walking through his friend’s giant, practically empty, house. Being eighteen years old, both boys shouldn’t be scared of a little old thunder storm. But, just because they shouldn’t be, doesn’t mean they aren’t. Not that they would tell anybody that out loud. Nope, not ever. Manly pride and all that.

Iliam keeps his thoughts to himself as they enter the main foyer. Half of him wants to go back to his room, no matter that this is his own house. He has never been one to voluntarily go looking for trouble, especially when he is practically alone, with only Azmil by his side, which honestly, isn’t that comforting. No offense to his best friend, of course.

He is the kind of guy that doesn’t like to make a scene, to stay in the back, and doesn’t like to speak up. Azmil, though, is a bit more of a dare devil; the kind of long term friend that tends to get goody-two-shoes like him into trouble.

This feels like a scene from a movie, Azmil whispers close to Iliam’s ear and the young prince nearly drops to the floor in fright. Azmil laughs as Iliam squints threateningly at him. Pay back for what happened back at the ping pong table most likely.

Iliam continues on but finds himself thinking that his friend is right. This seems like the cliché beginning to one of those haunted house movies where people are staring at the screen yelling ‘don’t open the door!’ and one of the dumb friends ends up getting killed. Or, the butler of a rich family does or says something to freak everybody out and there is a murder on a stormy night. The kind of night when you are trapped in a giant house with almost no one in it and the shadows come alive, taunting you that you won’t make it through the night alive.

A window opens and a cool gust of wind blows out a nearby candle. Iliam closes the shutters and uses his own red light from his hand to relight the candle.

Where’d that butler guy go? Azmil asks, just as an act of making conversation. He runs his hand through his short, dirty blonde hair, a nervous habit developed after years of guessing on multiple choice tests.

After all these years, you still don’t know his name? Iliam asks and shakes his head. For some reason, it’s comforting to focus on something so trivial at the moment.

Doesn’t matter anyway, states Azmil and he misses Iliam rolling his eyes.

Both boys stop when they hear footsteps coming from upstairs. Otis, is that you? Iliam calls and slowly walks toward the foot of the stairs.

The butler’s name is Otis? Azmil asks.

Be quiet, Iliam snaps. The footsteps stop.

Now look at what you’ve done, Azmil scorns and walks ahead, taking the stairs two at a time.

It wasn’t my fault. You were the one who was asking questions. Thunder shakes the house again, and with it comes more footsteps. Refusing to acknowledge his sweaty palms at the thought that there might be an intruder in the house, Azmil and he start to run in the direction of the noise. The boys are halted in their efforts, however, when they are assaulted with a downpour of heavy rain.

Iliam’s hand comes up to shield his face from the freezing droplets as he slowly advances towards the source of the water, which turns out to be a broken window. Virtually blind, Iliam bends down to find a grappling hook caught on the bottom of the window. It’s one of those retractable ones where the rope gets pulled into the gun-like handle like a measuring tape.

The prince turns around to talk to his friend but finds him missing. Quickly looking around, he briefly catches a glimpse of his friend turning the corner of the hallway opposite the window. Uncharacteristically not bothered by how much he and the staircase are getting soaked by the rain coming through the open window, Iliam stumbles away from the crime scene and runs after his friend.

Hurry up Iliam, she’s getting away!

Wait...she?

Iliam wipes away the water from his eyes and dashes down the hallway. He uses his arm to swing around the corner, and since this is his house, he has the advantage of knowing where he is going. He quickly decides that following behind his friend will do nothing, so he darts to the right, hoping to cut her off like two cops trying to corner a suspect. Going down a hallway that leads into a high-ceilinged corridor with painted portraits that are equally spaced on the walls, Iliam veers off into the two-story library and exits out a narrow door in-between two of the shelves that is suspiciously painted the same woody brown as everything else.

Hoping that the intruder is heading where he thinks she is, Iliam comes out into a small white room with a spiral, metal staircase, heading downwards. The prince takes the steps two at a time and reaches the same floor that they were on before they went up the stairs and found the broken window. By moving a secret door, that is actually a shelf that holds pots and pans on the other side, he ends up in the kitchen.

Taking off at top speed, he heads down another hallway, cuts through the dining room and ends up back in the foyer. He runs off towards the original staircase, having made a full circle, but continues past and enters a wide-open room that is used when his mother has guests, not to be confused with the ballroom that is used for fancy schmancy parties, which is in the other direction. Running through, Iliam ends up in another room that holds, once again, another staircase and a large door that leads into the garage.

Iliam bends down and places his lantern at the foot of the stairs. He cautiously walks up the steps, not sure if this is a good idea or not. Thinking twice, Iliam pulls out his phone to call security, there has to be at least one person around here somewhere. Distracted, he looks up and finds a person dressed in all black running towards him and down the stairs.

Startled by the sudden presence, he doesn’t react quickly enough when the intruder jumps the railing and lands feet first on the floor without missing a beat. As Azmil and he rush down the stairs in a vain attempt to stop her from getting outside, Iliam finally calls security.

This is Prince Iliam, I―

Iliam stops when the girl suddenly halts; her hand on the door handle to the small door beside the garage that leads outside. Azmil walks up beside him and they exchange a confused look. Not knowing what to do about the strange turn of events, the prince hangs up the phone.

Even though he only had his eyes on his phone for a few seconds, their mystery intruder used it to her advantage, and now the boys find themselves facing the end of a light ray.

Put it down, she orders, and Iliam’s phone clatters to the floor. After exchanging another look with Azmil, both their hands slowly come up in the universal sign of ‘we surrender!’ Even though she has a ski mask on, they can see the smirk on her face. The only other part of her body that is not covered with black clothing is her eyes. They are the most beautiful, aqua blue eyes the boys have ever seen.

It’s traditional in Akil society that, unless it is very cold, that your limbs should not be covered below your elbows and knees. To cover up your light otherwise would mean you are warning people to stay away from you, and those that do, are left alone.

Since their captor appears to be keeping quiet, seemingly in silent amusement, Iliam takes the opportunity to look at her and see what he can find out. He’s blatantly staring, but she doesn’t seem to mind. On the contrary, that troublesome smirk that has grazed her rosy lips almost turns into something resembling a smile. Her eyes appear to be laughing at him and her eyebrows raise in challenge. ‘See what you can see’ is what they seem to convey, and despite himself, Iliam is amused by this stranger’s antics. Strangely enough, he knows that she doesn’t want to hurt them, even though the weapon that is aimed at them doesn’t exactly convey that.

Iliam decides to just roll with it, an unusual decision on his part, but these are unusual circumstances. Just by looking into her eyes, he can tell that she is around the same age as them, maybe a year younger. She is obviously in great physical health, and her body type is one of a slim figure. He has a feeling that she would clean up quite nicely.

Despite all the niceties about her, he can also tell that she has felt a great many pains. Maybe not physically, but emotionally. She looks into his eyes, and he looks into hers, and he knows where he has seen that look before. He sees it every time he looks in the mirror. The loss of a parent never leaves you. A part of your heart shatters, and no matter the different kinds of love that you find through the years, nothing can put that piece back together, only add on to what was already there. He lost is biological mother, and then his father. His step mom is all he has left. Somehow, he knows that she knows he knows. And for some reason, he is OK with that.

Oblivious to the silent conversation going on around him, Azmil stares at the intruder for slightly different reasons.

Hi, Iliam mumbles, not knowing what else to say. Without knowing it, a small smile appears on his face. Azmil looks at him in confusion, but quickly adverts his gaze back to the problem that is currently facing them.

Hi, she answers back. Her voice is smooth and completely laid back, as if she is conversing with close friends over a cup of afternoon tea. Thunder shakes the house again, but she isn’t startled.

What’s a doll like you doing breaking into a mansion in the middle of a thunder storm? asks Azmil.

She rolls her eyes, but her smile betrays her actual thoughts. Flattery will get you nowhere, she responds and batts her eyelashes. She can obviously give as good as she gets. Even so, she seems to contemplate giving a response to his question, whether it be the truth or not.

I’m looking for someone. It appears to be a truthful answer. But who could she possibly be looking for that she has to come to his house to find? This is not even beginning to touch on the fact that she broke in and her odd sense of fashion wear.

Who? Azmil asks, ever the one to ask the obvious questions.

And why should I tell you? That smirk is back.

Iliam just shrugs, trying to give the impression of nonchalance. He’s pretty sure it doesn’t work.

Thankfully, she laughs anyway. She nods her head towards the prince. It looks as if I’m looking for you, hotshot. You Mr. Mama’s Boy around here?

Well that was certainly not what he was expecting.

Realization dawns on his face. She must have heard him when he said his name when he called security. His sudden epiphany turns into confusion. Any person on the entire planet would know what he looks like. How far away did she come from?

My mother is Queen Alana, Iliam confirms. The question now becomes, who is she?

Her head tilts to the side a bit, and her blue eyes stare at him as he was staring at her earlier. You’re a bit taller than I thought you would be, and I thought your hair would be black.

Iliam self-consciously brushes his hand through his light brown hair. What’s wrong with his hair color?

Now, I think it’s about time you tell us your name, The young prince demands. Where did this burst of confidence come from? Azmil looks at him with a mockingly proud look. Iliam inwardly rolls his eyes.

Meanwhile, their new acquaintance hesitates for a moment. My name is Amelia.

It’s a pleasure to meet you, Amelia, says Azmil and offers his hand.

Boys. She rolls her eyes again. Her mouth opens and closes, but nothing comes out. She looks like she wants to say something but can’t. For once, since this entire encounter began, she doesn’t look confidant. He gulps at seeing this unknown girl so unsettled.

Iliam... her voice drifts way. You watch your back, OK? Don’t worry, I’ll be back.

Huh? I don’t understand. Who are you...exactly?

Listen to me, she commands.

‘What do you think I’ve been doing this entire time?’ Iliam thinks sarcastically but says nothing.

The prophecy is coming true and you have to be careful.

What prophecy? What’s coming true? I don’t understand.

I still have to find the third person, the princess of Novac. I will contact you again when all three of us can meet.

What?

Don’t trust anybody. She looks like she is about to bolt. The Prophecy of a Thousand Years, Iliam. It talks of us. Be careful and wait till I return. She grabs the handle of the door.

Wait! Iliam hurriedly grabs her hand, wanting to ask her more questions, but accidently takes off her glove instead. As the glove slides off, he can finally see her skin, which is glowing a vibrant blue.

All three gasp, two in shock, one in surprise. Everyone on Zepta has red light. Blue light means that she came from Turan, but it’s impossible to travel between them. Or, it was.

Before the gob-smacked boys can say anything, Amelia grabs her glove out of Iliam’s hand and runs through the door. She is out the door and in the middle of the storm in seconds and disappears as if she was never there.

With the mysterious girl gone with the wind, they reluctantly close the door, unable to really do anything else. They exchange silent glances once again, not quite knowing what to say since their evening has taken such a strange turn. With the adrenaline rush wearing off, Iliam suddenly feels like he could sleep for days. His eyes blink in succession a few times, like that would change the image he keeps seeing in his mind of the moment when the glove came off.

They don’t know what to do next, so they start slowly heading back toward Iliam’s room.

That’s impossible, Iliam mutters.

I don’t know. I thought she was kind of cute, Azmil says. Iliam looks at him and shakes his head. Oh right, yah, her light was blue, he states, like it was no big deal.

Once they are safely inside his room, Iliam closes the door. He finds his gaze lingering on Epezel’s letter on his desk as Azmil flops down on his bed. Well, that was...strange. What do we do now? I wonder what it all means. Azmil’s strong suite has never been keeping his thoughts to himself, but Iliam has to agree with him on this one. No matter how much of an understatement, their evening has certainly been strange.

I think it means we need to take a trip to the library, Iliam answers. Azmil sighs and mutters under his breath.

I hate reading.

Chapter 3: The Prophecy of Ezmark

T

HE NEXT MORNING, after successfully deflecting all of his mother’s inquiries about the happenings of last night and the cause of the broken window, Iliam rides his bike over to Azmil’s house. Along the way, he thinks about the strange occurrence the night before. He doesn’t really know what to make of it and isn’t even sure what he would tell his mother, even if he wanted to! Not sure that she would even believe him, whether because of the color of her light or the strange connection he felt to her, he wasn’t going to take that chance. Instead, he evaded her questions until he had the chance to leave the palace. He could never consciously lie to his step mother, and he isn’t going to start now.

Iliam pulls up at the end of the street that Azmil lives on, and finds a lone bike sitting on the corner. He finds its owner sleeping on a park bench with his jacket under his head as a pillow. With a knowing smirk, the prince takes a whistle out of his pocket. Unable to contain a chuckle, Iliam blows on the whistle and watches with amusement as it has its desired effect. Azmil jerks awake and finds himself up close and personal with a plethora of beautiful green grass.

So not funny, Azmil admonishes as he lifts himself off the ground and grabs his jacket from the bench.

I thought it was. Besides, you shouldn’t have fallen asleep anyway, Iliam argues and tosses his friend the extra helmet he brought with him, knowing that his friend thinks he is too old to follow such ‘childish’ safety measures.

Says you, Azmil complains, It’s too early to be doing this. He looks down at the helmet, then looks back up at his friend with the expression that a whiny five-year-old would have. Before he can open his mouth, Iliam speaks first.

Put it on, you idiot, and let’s go, Iliam chides good-naturedly, and soon, they are both on their way to the library. Ever the gentleman, Iliam finds himself able to joke with his good friend, due to Azmil not letting his ‘prince’ status get in the way of what they can and can’t say, or what they can and can’t do. They have always just been like any other dynamic duo of good, long-term friends; able to tease each other because they know the other doesn’t really mean it.

The two friends have a pleasant ride through town. Almost everybody that they meet stops to say hello to the prince, so it takes them a bit longer to get to the library than it should have. Iliam could say that he is used to it, but that would be a lie. It wasn’t always like this. Unfortunately, those that don’t like him, hate him. There seems to be no in-between. Even though his step mother has long since fully adopted him, long before his father died, some people hate him because he is not his new mother’s son by birth, but by marriage. They don’t feel he should be an eligible heir to the throne.

His mother once told him to have a body guard with him at all times. Safety protocols and all that. He has never actually followed that rule...although...the incident from last night comes to mind. This all brings him back to the reason that they are here at the library in the first place.

As an unending river of knowledge, the library allows anyone and everyone to learn anything about anything to their hearts content. It houses over one million novels, comic books, audio books, CDs, and prophecies.

Prophecies are a normal part of an Akil’s everyday life. No one finds it weird or strange. One in a million are born with the gift of prophecy. It takes years of training to be able to use their ability effectively, and to remember what they actually see. They can use their light to see into people’s souls; into their minds, and into the future. One of the most famous prophets was a man named Ezmark. He lived over a thousand years ago. All of his prophecies came true, not one failed, which is strange because the act of ‘future seeing’ isn’t exactly an exact science. His writing became known throughout Akil kind, but no one knew what color light he was. He always wrote in private. He was one for a life of solitude. Of course, there are other prophets, but none as well known or respected as him.

Normally, the elegant bookcases that go nearly two stories up are crowded with people trying to get the perfect book. Normally, the spacious halls and numerous reading nooks are packed with silent readers, engrossed in their latest story. But today, nobody resides in the empty halls. Iliam supposes, since last night was so strange, today probably isn’t going to be normal either.

Of course, there is a simple explanation. Most people are probably outside enjoying the sun since the thunderstorm last night was so bad.

Iliam and Azmil find themselves constantly looking over their shoulders as they meander through the library until they finally reach the area with the prophecies. It’s entirely ridiculous because there is no one here...or is there? Why is he suddenly so paranoid?

Ignoring the feeling that they are doing something wrong, Iliam and Azmil get to work. As per the rules, every prophecy written, whether by an eight-year-old, or a sixty-year-old, is recorded, copied, and distributed to every library so that every person can have access to them. Most prophecies are never specific, probably because prophets seem to get a perverse pleasure in writing something that no one can understand, so nobody is ever one hundred percent sure that one has been fulfilled. Some don’t even come true which just makes things that more complicated.

If a person thinks that a prophecy has come to pass, they contact the Council of Futuristic Possibilities and Prophecy Accuracy, or the CFPPA for short. The CFPPA then uses a point system to get the best probability of accuracy by comparing the situation in question and the prophecy. If the prophecy gets eighty-two points or higher out of a hundred, then the prophet gets a tally mark in his or her file and the prophecy gets placed in a secret vault. After twenty years of the prophecy accuracy not being questioned by anybody, the prophecy is then burned, and considered fulfilled.

So, obviously, the prophecy that they are looking for has to be here somewhere. The problem is, even though they ‘supposedly’ know the name of it, it doesn’t help them much. Prophecies don’t have titles. Those that are referred to by a name are usually well known and are deemed the title by the readers because they think they know what the prophecy is about. The ‘Prophecy of a Thousand Years’ could literally be anything.

The boys search through words that are meaningless to them for hours. They only stop when the sound of Azmil’s grumbling stomach is louder than the rampant, frustrating thoughts running through their heads.

I’m done! Azmil declares and dramatically drops to the floor with his arms and legs spread out like he is about to make a snow angel in the carpet. Iliam rolls his eyes, but reluctantly sits down on a chair that he had brought over from one of the tables. His elbows rest on his knees while he runs his hands through his hair.

They are silent for a few moments, letting their failure to find anything fill the silence. Iliam’s eyes wander around the room and he can’t help but feel kind of crazy. What in the world are they even doing here?

It seems kind of hopeless, doesn’t it? Iliam wonders out loud, quite sure that Azmil is thinking along the same lines. He’s the one that fell down on the floor after all.

Azmil instantly sits up from the floor, looking alarmed. You’re not thinking about giving up, are you?

Iliam stands up and starts pacing, suddenly upset about the entire situation. Well, why not?! he asks incredulously. What are we even doing here, Azmil? A crazy girl, that maybe had blue light...

There was no ‘maybe’ about it, Azmil interrupts, but Iliam continues like he didn’t even here him. Apparently, the prince has found his limit on how calm and collective he can be today.

...breaks into my house and points a weapon at us! She claims to be looking for me because some prophecy speaks about both of us and some princess of Novac...

You better be glad that there is no librarian here, because you are being awfully loud, Azmil states calmly, and again, Iliam continues to vent.

...Instead of reporting the entire incident to my mother, I almost lie to her, and sneak out of the house to find a prophecy that may not even be real to see if the burglar was right. How crazy is that?!

Pretty crazy. How crazy am I to have actually come with you? Azmil talks to himself. If Iliam can do it, he can too.

...And I did all this, because...what? I felt some strange connection to her? What’s wrong with me?

Plenty of things, Azmil answers. I have to say my friend, I think you’ve gone off the deep end. How about some food? I’m hungry. Azmil gets off the floor and starts walking away. He turns back around and finds Iliam staring at him in surprise. Maybe he forgot that there was someone there.

Well, come on Mr. Crazy. I’m hungry.

Iliam glances back at all the prophecies one more time before following his friend out of the section and toward the exit. Azmil places his arm around Iliam’s shoulders.

What you need, my friend, is some good, old-fashioned grub in you. I know a great place right down the street. They serve the juiciest― Azmil cuts himself off when he finds them not moving anymore. Iliam is not beside him anymore. Instead, he is picking something off the floor near the librarian’s desk.

It’s a set of keys.

Iliam looks to the keys, then to his friend, and then back to the keys. It’s a well-known fact that a librarian never parts with their keys. Ever. Must have fallen out of her pocket, Azmil proclaims unnecessarily as Iliam is already off running back into the heart of the library.

He finds the prince using the keys to unlock a large storage door in the back of the library.

Uh, Iliam...? Seriously, what has happened to his goodie-two-shoes of a best friend?

I know, I know, I’m probably crazy, but―

Intruder. Connection. Prophecy. I get it. I do. And I would gladly get into trouble with you, in fact it is one of my favorite past times, but you do realize you are breaking into public property, don’t you?

As Iliam opens the door, he looks to Azmil and appears kind of panicked. Well, public property is owned by the government. My mom is the head of the government, so technically, this place belongs to me.

Azmil stares at his friend for a long time before shrugging. Fine with me.

Iliam turns the lights on and the boys find themselves in a dusty storage room about forty feet wide to the left of the door and ten feet long. The door is about two feet from the right wall, wide enough for a shelf to be placed there. To avoid walking into the end of another shelf, Iliam walks forwards and turns to the left to find a walkway. While the center is clear, both walls are covered with warehouse like shelves that hold storage boxes that are most likely filled with extra books.

Iliam doesn’t look in any of the boxes, and heads straight for the back of the room.  At the bottom of a stack of boxes lies a wooden chest. Azmil and he remove the boxes and slide out the chest. Using the librarian’s keys, Iliam undoes the lock on the hatch.

Unsurprisingly, they find more books in the chest.

Reaching into the dust filled wasteland, the prince pulls out the bottom book that is the largest of those inside. He has to wipe off the dust to read the title.

"The History of the Akil."

Oooooo, spooky, Azmil jokes. The book looks old, very old. The pages have that aged, crinkly, yellow-ish look to them. Thankfully, it doesn’t look like the ink has faded away any. And, how exactly, he coughs, is this supposed to help us any?

Iliam is careful as he opens the front cover. Well that’s the thing about books, Azmil, you read them. They don’t play for you like a movie. Let’s read it and find out.

Azmil rolls his eyes but laughs along with his friend. Their laughing turns into coughing from all of the dust coming off the pages.

Man, how long has that thing been in there? Azmil wipes the pages as they go, making sure he gets most of it on Iliam’s shirt as payback for the prince’s earlier barb.

Wait, look at this, Iliam stops Azmil as he is about to turn the page. It says something about a war.

A war? Between who? asks Azmil incredulously. He leans over Iliam’s shoulder and starts reading out loud.

"Listen to this,

Before the war, the planets were one, and there was peace. The Novacians, The Zeptians, and The Turanians lived happily together on their planet, Eloniona. With all their lights combined, they could make white light. It powered Eloniona, making live as simple and care free as it could possibly be.

Then, there lived a young boy in a crooked home; and what a dangerous house it was. As what always happens, the peace did not last. The darkness came. It formed from a discarded and broken heart. The three races went to war against it. The war raged on for half a year before the nine leaders knew how to stop it all. They had no choice, but it all came at a terrible price. They tricked the dark one. Using his light on the planet, it refracted and turned the planet into three separate ones, breaking up the original. Unaware of the consequence, the dark one got pulled into the void in the center, an eternal prison for him to live out all his days.

Not only was the price large for the dark one, but for the Akil as well. The three kind of Akil were separated by light color. White light could no longer reign. Due to gravity the three tiny planets got caught in the same orbit, and they now orbit the same star.

Centuries passed, and no one questioned what had happened. It was forbidden for the new generations to know what had happened. The races lost touch with one another.

All was not lost though, for it was told in The Prophecy of Ezmark that the darkness would return one thousand years later. The worlds would once again face the terrible threat that threatened their existence before.

Uhhh...how cheery. Are you sure that this is supposed to be a history book? It sounds more like a fairytale to me.

I’m not so sure. It says that the darkness would return one thousand years later. The Prophecy of a Thousand Years? This has to be it.

Azmil laughs, but it isn’t the funny, ha-ha kind. You actually believe this? It goes against practically everything we have ever been told. Black light? The three worlds were one? What are planets, cosmic puzzle pieces? It’s insane.

Doesn’t Azmil realize that he knows how insane this all is? Doesn’t he understand that while his head is telling him that this book is filled with complete crap, and nothing in it could possibly be true, his heart is telling him to listen to the girl from last night? I know. I know it all sounds crazy, but it’s no coincidence that the girl from last night―

Amelia, Azmil corrects.

"Right. It’s no coincidence that Amelia had blue light and she led us to this book. What if there is just a slight chance that any of this is true? We need to find this prophecy. There has to be something here; something to why she was looking for me." This prophecy speaks of a darkness coming. Amelia warned them to be careful. She spoke of finding someone else. She said she would come back. All of this can’t lead to anything good.

If that’s the case, I want to get out of here before the librarian comes back. With one last longing look at the book, Iliam closes the chest and locks it. They lock the door to the storage room and leave the librarian’s keys on her desk.

"Maybe we don’t have to find it. If, and I say if it is true, we already know that it foretells some kind of worldwide threat. Why do we need to know the details? Besides, Amelia already knows what it supposedly says, and she said that she would come back." He says the last sentence with a grin on his face.

Iliam isn’t convinced. I don’t know. I’d feel safer if we knew what this is all about. Whatever it is, it’s big.

Azmil looks at him doubtfully.

Well, we searched the entire prophecy section, and we found nothing. Although, come to think of it, now that we think the government may have hidden the fact that the races maybe once lived together, hiding one prophecy from us doesn’t seem like that big of a deal.

Iliam’s face goes white.

What?

The government, Azmil. My mom...

Azmil places his hand on top of his friend’s mouth before he can say anything else.

No!

But― he tries to say, but it doesn’t come out that way with Azmil’s hand still covering his mouth. His friend understands what he says anyway.

No buts. It looks like the hierarchy people are the ones that approved and locked this thing away. Your mom will know about it, and when we ask about it, it will cause suspicion.

Iliam moves Azmil’s hand away from his mouth and glares at him. If that is true, then why did they leave the book where anyone could find it? No way. There is no way he’s not going to talk to his mom about this now; last night and all.

But they didn’t. If that thing is true, it’s been, what, one thousand years? Who is going to go stealing a set of librarian’s keys to unlock a storage room, to go digging for a book that they don’t even know is there? If we tell your mom, I guarantee that this place will be swarming with royal guards by tomorrow morning. The book will be taken, probably destroyed or something else equally nefarious, and then it will be impossible for us to find whatever we’re looking for.

Even though Azmil probably exaggerated quite a bit, Iliam thinks it