The Land the World Forgot

By Celine Habbal

Aurea, the Golden City, is home to sacred spirits of ancient realms and the birthplace of many of humanity’s myths and legends—even though most of humanity has never heard of it.

While the world may consider it long gone, time refuses to let it drift out of memory. Now the tales it spins are no longer those of ancient, noble heroes that come to us as bedtime stories—but of their descendants. So if you’re wondering if you might have some link to Aurea—if you believe you’re secretly descended from one of its spirits or if you’re curious about the story it might have to tell—then, by all means, proceed. But take heed: plunge too deep into this world and its history, and you might find yourself being tugged through a hurricane and eventually washing up someplace unknown. And then perhaps you’ll understand why most books are better believed to be fiction.

This fantasy novel for young adults introduces a mystical land of legend lost to time and rediscovered by a group of modern teenagers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
• Release date: Jun 17, 2016
• ISBN: 9781483449043

Book preview

HABBAL

Copyright © 2016 Celine Samer El Habbal.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of both publisher and author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

ISBN: 978-1-4834-4905-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4834-4904-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016904971

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 07/26/2016

CONTENTS

Prologue

Chapter 1 We Are a Hurricane, So Light ’Em Up

Chapter 2 The Reckless and the Brave

Chapter 3 Wearing Our Vintage Misery

Chapter 4 Anywhere But Here

Chapter 5 Makeshift Chemistry

Chapter 6 Introduced Species

Chapter 7 Word Wars and Symphonies

Chapter 8 Led Away By Imperfect Impostors

Chapter 9 I Don’t Want to Lose My Head

Chapter 10 I’ll Find My Way to Light, and You’ll Find Your Own Demise

Chapter 11 A Love Like War—My Songs Know What You Did In the Dark

Chapter 12 I’ll Check in Tomorrow, If I Don’t Wake up Dead

Chapter 13 I’m a Young, Lover’s Rage

Chapter 14 A Pretty Picture, but the Scenery Is All Wrong

Chapter 15 The Eternal Flame

Chapter 16 We Could Be Immortals, Just Not for Long

Chapter 17 We’re Not Alone—Never

Chapter 18 Such a Funny Way to Fall

Chapter 19 We’ve Been Here Forever and Here’s the Frozen Proof

Chapter 20 We Go Together or We don’t Go down at All, and I’ll Be by Your Side until the End

Afterword

Acknowledgments

About The Author

To my family—you never gave me any reason to doubt your support and ongoing enthusiasm, and I sincerely thank you for that. Love you all.

To Jinan, Modmod and Cyma—our childhood games inspired me to write these stories. I love you guys very much.

‘…everything has a past. Everything—a person, an object, a word, everything. If you don’t know the past, you can’t understand the present and plan properly for the future.’

Chaim Potok

PROLOGUE

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I Believe This May Call for a Proper Introduction

I suppose it all began with Aurum.

Who is Aurum, you may wonder? No, she is not a human. Well, not quite. She is a spirit—an essence, a force that can take human form but is merely vapour, a wisp of air.

Every spirit is dominant over something. A country, an island, a genre of music; perhaps a form of art, or maybe something unrelated, such as math, or possibly even something completely random, like fast food.

It could be anything at all, whether it is on this earth or otherwise.

I don’t really know exactly when this whole era/civilisation began. It was certainly after the time of the dinosaurs, but before the human race began. Let’s just settle for some time in between the two events.

Let’s start this how every other story starts, shall we?

Once upon a time …

There was a young spirit by the name of Aurum. She was the spirit of all things gold, and her island, Aurea, was the most beautiful of all things that inhabited the earth. Everything in it was pure, unadulterated gold —incandescent, iridescent, glittering gold. Everything, from the sunny, sandy beaches to the snowy mountains (topped with fresh caps of golden snow), to the lush, leafy forests and statues depicting the island’s history—everything.

Well, Aurea wasn’t quite exactly an island; it was a whole cluster of them, so close together that they were considered one massive island. They had names that were lost ages ago when the island of Atlantis sunk. It really is a long story, but in short, every island on its own was designated specifically for a type of magic … but we’ll get to that later.

Aurum, like her island, was also beautiful and gold. She had a rich, golden tan, even in the biting cold. Her hair was like spun gold, with strands of sunlight woven into her long, sweet-smelling side-braid. She always wore dresses, from elegant, floor-sweeping gowns, to colourful, enviable numbers that popped against the russet of her skin.

Now remember, this was before humans came along and corrupted the fashion industry. Nobody had invented crop tops or hot shorts yet, although I reckon high-waisted things could’ve possibly existed back then.

Aurum’s beauty was bound to attract a man some day. On a fine, autumn morning, the spirit of creation, Genesis, fell in love with Aurum. He asked for her hand in marriage. He wasn’t too bad, I guess. He was very strict, but also very smart, as well as very creative and artistic. He had cropped blond hair and dusky orange eyes and was pale, with freckles scattered all over his face. He was also friendly and rather funny. After an appraising month, in which Aurum examined every move he made with surprising detail, she finally agreed to marry him.

I don’t think there was ever any courtship or ‘dating’ back then; you just married whoever you wanted, and if they refused you, you blasted them to pieces.

Anyways, they had two children, both of whom play a large role in this story: Kaos, a boy with dark hair, intimidating indigo eyes, and skin paler than his father, and Lyra, with reddish-brown ringlets and vibrant green eyes. Kaos was the spirit of … well, chaos and madness; and his greatest desire was none other than to torture others, but that was later on in his life. He was quite a gentle child in his early life, surprisingly.

Lyra, on the other hand, was the spirit of music. She was peaceful in comparison to her chaotic brother, although do not let that mislead you. When angered, she was a fearsome enemy.

Lyra and Kaos both loved each other, as siblings should, and when the time came for their parents to divorce, they stayed strong and managed to get through it, despite the fact that they never saw their father again after he left.

Not that divorce was actually a thing back then—I’m pretty sure it wasn’t. But Aurum and Genesis did split up, or do whatever the old equivalent for divorcing was. And they never saw each other again.

Many years later (approximately one hundred, although I’m not entirely sure), Aurum found a new spirit, Caeleum, and fell in love with him, he was certainly worth falling in love with. They started a legacy, and created a generation that would have a huge, lasting impact on the world—maybe not your world, but theirs. Ours .

Caeleum was the spirit of the sky—not to be confused with his brother, Caelus, who was the spirit of space (their parents sure were creative). To make it even better, they were twins.

Caeleum was very good-looking, by spirit standards. He had light brown hair, cocoa-coloured skin, and inky-black eyes. He was kind and fair, funny, and had that sort of air about him that made you want to impress and please him, and never make him angry. To this day, he and Aurum are still together, happily married. Which is proof that happy endings do exist and love can last forever. Even though Aurum is admittedly quite chaotic in her old age.

Caeleum and Aurum had twelve children. I know what you’re thinking: Twelve children?! But it was actually quite common in those days. At least, I think so.

So, dear reader, please bear with me as I describe these twelve spectacular spirit children. They do play an enormously significant role in this book. By all means, you are not obligated to memorize their names—even I have trouble with that—but it is best if you want to keep up with the storyline, as, believe me, the plot is much more complicated and confusing than their Latin names.

The eldest was Ventus. He was the spirit of winds and weather. He was, by far, the bossiest, and he was the leader of the twelve siblings. He somewhat resembled Genesis, with his close-cropped golden hair, but the similarities ended there. He had eyes of the bluest shade, all shades of cornflower, navy blue, sky-blue and azure, clouding over and spilling tears of rain when he was angry or sad. His skin was tanned, like his mother’s, and he had the same sense of fairness as his father.

Next came Tonitrus, the spirit of electricity. He had electric-blue hair, fluorescent silver eyes like mercury, and nearly translucent skin. He was silent and rarely ever spoke, and when he did it was to voice a snide insult or suggest a rather good and clever idea while giving off the air of being obvious.

After Tonitrus came the twins, Terra and Aquatus, the spirits of earth and water. Terra was born three short seconds before Aquatus, and they both despised each other. Terra had hair of the darkest brown, skin the colour of cocoa and eyes of the most vivid, richest emerald green—the colour of the rustling leaves and springy grass of the island. She was kind and sweet and nature-loving (being the spirit of the earth, she was bound to be), and was the polar opposite of her twin brother.

As a young child, Aquatus was arrogant, power-obsessed, rather selfish spirit; however, as he grew older, he sobered and felt remorse for his behaviour, and became a spirited (excuse the pun), selfless young fighter. He rather resembled his older brother Ventus, with his russet skin (inherited from his mother, no doubt), hair the colour of golden corn (only shades darker than Ventus) and eyes that reflected only the deepest sea, various hues of sea-green, light blue, dark blue—never one colour.

Then there was Annitus, the spirit of technology. Not that there was much technology back then, if any, but Annitus helped develop it. You’d find a part of him, however small, in any one interested in that aspect of learning. He was generally an aggravatingly funny child, a prankster, forever irritating his older and younger siblings, as well as countless other spirits. But he was clever and resulted in being a huge part of the battle—the battle that changed everything. However, we’ll get to that part later.

Lux, the spirit of light, and in some cases, time, was (in my opinion) the prettiest, although some may find that view strange (but don’t listen to me, I’m only the narrator). She was pure and calm, radiating a sense of poise and rationality, able to change minds with her valuable insights and clever ideas. But like Amoret (her sister who will be introduced to you shortly), she was often taken for granted and undervalued. When angered, she could influence people, turn them blind, or possibly kill with a single thought. She could travel at the speed of light and remain unaffected, or stop time altogether. You have no idea just how powerful she could be. She was an albino, with straight, silky silver locks reaching her shoulders, and eyes so pale blue they were almost invisible. Her skin was luminous, as if it was composed purely of moonlight, and she was tall and slender. She wore gowns of dazzling, twinkling sterling silver that made her radiate a pale aura, a glow as if the stars were taken out of the sky and placed in her soul, of course, she wasn’t the only one emitting animbus—they all did.But due toher powers her light was the strongest ceasing to fade ever in the darkest of times. Unsurprisingly, she favoured white and a soft gold hue—all colours of incandescence and pure brilliance.

Amoret was the middle child. She was the romantic, dreamy one of her clan—head always up in the clouds, forever fantasizing. Her enemies often misinterpreted her as being unintelligent or weak-willed, unable to hurt a fly—but this was not true. If angered, Amoret could be very ruthless. She was the spirit of love, which may seem silly and far-fetched, but do not underestimate her. Love can be an eternal heaven, or utter chaos and a never-ending hell of flames and heartbreak. She had the power to control love itself, as well as countless other love-related things. She had long, soft golden hair in sweet, Rapunzel-like ringlets, a heart-shaped face with pale pink cheeks and matching lips, paired with green-blue eyes that twinkled with joy and love and all things good. She was always dressed in medieval-style dresses in various shades of pink, red, blue, green, and lilac. Amoret was favoured by many of her siblings because of her sweet, caring nature, her gentle disposition, and her undying love and belief that family was family no matter what. It was because of this, perhaps, that prompted her siblings to be so protective of her, to guard her, as if they thought she was unable to protect herself. But however this couldn’t be further from the truth.

Amica was the eighth child. She was the spirit of animals and could control, communicate with, and take the form of animals. She was fierce and yet gentle at the same time. Her long, wavy auburn hair was always in her signature fishtail braid, winding down her back, with her fringe framing her pointed, freckled face. Her freckly skin was peachy in colour. Her eyes were large, upturned at the outside corners, and hazel with flecks of dark brown and pure gold, framed with thick, light brown lashes. She was a lovable, humorous young child who grew to be a loving, selfless woman. You’d find a little of her in every passionate animal rights activist.

Lepos was the cunning, sly child, who would do anything by any means to achieve her ambitions. At times, you wouldn’t understand what side she was on until things were at their worst. That said, she wasn’t all bad, despite the fact that she always expected something in return for her services, and she was often mistaken for being on the dark side, a spy. (Her son, Narcissus, who plays a rather important role in this story, was the spirit of vanity, and he was more of a traitor than she was ever to be rumoured). She had raven-black tresses, always swept away from her face in a tight bun or topknot revealing high, sharp cheekbones and an enviable jawline. Her skin was bronze; she had indigo eyes, alight with malice and sorcery, a purplish fire that would never go out. She favoured the colour purple, but also liked navy blue and black, and was distinguishable especially by her signature leopard-skin cape. She was the spirit of charm, bewitchment, enchantment and sorcery, so be well aware of what you say or do in her presence, as she takes offense easily. She could charm you into doing things you’d never imagine, enchant and entice you to do her bidding—a power that was much valued in those days.

But I won’t be a walking spoiler alert.

Moving on.

Esca was the spirit of food. Laugh all you want, but Esca definitely had his uses. He was quite the jokester, forever cracking jokes and laughing. He could produce a feast in the middle of a barren, deserted island at any given time. You may think that he was not much in a fight, but that was not the case. He could make it rain food. He could control the enemy—make them die of starvation and lack of thirst, or twist their intestines so that they were unable to digest food properly. He could make enemies throw up on the spot or drive them to insanity, making them think they were a fruit. So you see, food as a superpower really is no joke. However, Esca was a rather kind-hearted and merciful spirit, and tried to avoid these gruesome things if he could. He much resembled his spiritual descendent, with his jet-black dreadlocks and dark chocolate skin. His eyes were a distinct, warm hazel-brown that filled you with comfort that was reminiscent of warm fires and content nights, satisfaction delicious meals and happy, carefree days. In short, his eyes were reminiscent of childhood and innocence.

Scitus was the know-it-all. He wasn’t very modest, but he was extremely intelligent and wise. He favoured the colour blue, more specifically amethyst, royal blue, which to him signified wit, cleverness and superiority to those beneath him. Pompous as he may sound, he really was not stuck up; it was simply the way he thought. You may find that even the most brilliant of minds have flaws, and this was one of his. While Scitus may not have had physical power, his mental power went unrivalled. He could solve the most difficult of problems in a mere second, concoct plans at the speed of light (metaphorically), and recite theorems and formulas off the top of his head at any given moment. He wasn’t much in the looks department (at least, not as a child) with wiry, bright white hair that stuck straight up. His skin was pasty, as he was the ancestral-spirit equivalent of a ‘geek’ or ‘nerd’ and spent as much time outside of the sunlight as he possibly could. His eyes were chocolate-brown, the colour of his hair before a certain incident turned it white. You’ll find out about that soon enough.

You’d find pieces of Scitus in those who truly deserve the credit for working hard and being as intelligent as they could be, yet not receiving the rewards and reputation that they deserve. He was a patron spirit to all those with brilliant minds, those who lived and passed, who live on still, or who are yet to live. Scitus had an odd tendency to spout facts and dictionary definitions when he was nervous, scared or possibly disbelieving.

Ignis was the youngest, and yet the bravest. He was the spirit of all things valued in a soldier—valiant bravery, nobility, loyalty until the end, undying passion along with a rebellious streak and a certain disregard for anything ‘weak’. Even though he was the baby of the family, he had the courage and burning fire of a soldier, a warrior. He had enough strength to be the leader, to lead his troop of siblings into battle, which he did, with utmost bravery, as they fought until the end.

But, again we’ll get to that part later.

Ignis had long chocolate-brown hair to his shoulders and rather tanned skin. It was agreed that he was one of the most handsome of the six brothers, but perhaps his most unusually beautiful feature was not his muscles or his ‘cool’ (for lack of a better word) hair. It was his eyes. They were intimidating and yet striking; repelled and attracted you; intriguing, fascinating, wondrous and scary. His left eye was ordinary; it was a warm, comforting chocolate brown, a soft, innocent colour holding flecks of gold, green and iridescent silver.

His right eye, however, was both wonderful and petrifying. It was beautiful, thrillingly daunting, unnerving, and had a way of drawing in you in when