With birds chirping at the window of the city, we see the island that we once lived on, Varmania. Now it’s nothing but a wasteland with a giant caving hole where the village and city used to be. With water leaking into the hole the Shrimstone then grew into the hole and unto the surface if the island and then from what I saw (or what almost all of us saw) it appeared an earthquake on the ground. All the birds flew from the island as we saw with our very eyes on the sight of our island sinking into the ocean. Water falling down the sides of the caves as the Shrimstone goes down with it. Inside the room all of us watching as they cry, weep, looking afraid of what will now happen to us.

When I went to walk around the room I see Tayler’s dad again who’s still crying, I walk up to him and sit down next to him, he doesn’t seem to notice me.

“Its ok sir, at least you know where he is.” I say to him as he slowly rises his head to reveal is five o’clock shadow. His face covered in tears.

“w-wh-what?” he asks me.

“I – I mean, at least they didn’t kill your son.”

Then he drops his hands from his face and then stares at me, with such anger in his eyes, I got to remember, this man is the biggest man in the village.

“Are some moron or are you wanting me to stranger you boy?” he says to me and I give this confusion look at him.

“Why do you want to want to strangle me? Im just saying that at least your son Tayler is safe in prison so that way you know where he is.” I told him with concern.

“You think I’m crying for that good for nothing brat? No, I’m crying because I lost my other boy Grolaf.”

“What do you mean?” I asked

“Just yesterday they caught both of my sons sneaking into the city to spy on them, then they opened fire and shot Grolaf, Tayler’s brother, my son. They caught Tayler with Grolaf’s bloody body in his arms, so they tossed him in their prison for the rest of his life.”

“I-I don’t know what to say…”

“Just leave me alone, and don’t ever mention Tayler’s name again in my face….he’s dead to me.”

I get up and walk back slowly to look at the man that is Tayler’s dad.

Tayler is now dead to him… what a horrible father. I understand that Grolaf is dead cause of Tayler but that doesn’t mean you have the right not to hate your son. I walk back up to my family and I turn to Terity, who has a worry look on her face, she then looks at me and smiles with relief. Then I look at odd who has a mouth full of bark.

“What?” he says with his mouth full. I began to stare at my mother who still holds Clira. I turn around to see Aunt Clira who looks very Ill, it looks like she may need medical attention. She opens her eyes and stares at me. She then lifts her hand and wigles her finger to signal me over to her. I walk up to her, she told me to sit down; she sounds very weak.

“A man once told me, fear will always be man’s weakness, it stops the man from overcoming his fear and need for adventure. Don’t let these people take that away from you.” She says as she coughs and rubs her eyes.

“My father said that didn’t him?” I asked her.

“No, your grandfather did, he gave your father those aviator goggles and told him the very same thing. Be who you want to be, don’t be questionable with this life, remember, its your life, use it for your own needs and fortune.”

“Aunt Calla . . . why are you telling me this?”

“The events that had occurred earlier say a lot of things, but the main thing is that I don’t have a lot of time left-”

“Don’t say that, you’re very young, you can be healthy again!”

“It doesn’t feel like it Kodath, please do this for me, and take care of your sister too.”

“What about mother?”

“Your mother and I can take care of ourselves.” Then the main doors of the room opened up as soldiers come in and line up to form a path for someone. Then a dark shadow figure came into the room and stopped in front of the soldiers standing. Then as light hit the person it was a woman, with broad shoulders, wearing a uniform, short hair tied in a bun on the back of her hair, and has a scar struck across her left eyebrow.

“Everyone listen up!” she says as everyone was already watching her. She then pulled out a black object that looked like a stick but more deadly, she then slammed it into one of her hands.

“My name is Chief Warrant Officer Amelia Hinds, and you will do as I say until notified.” She says as she was looking at everyone with a glare that can suck the soul out of you.

“Orders from Lord Et'dra, you are under control of the I.P.L., since the destruction of Varmania came about, we are ordered to take you to the royal city of North Hollow.” 

I listened to those words she was telling us, Lord Et’dra, city of North Hollow, all that gives me the shivers, what will happen to us?

“When we get to the city, you are to be escorted to the outskirts of the city known as Market Valley, there you will be doing the same as you were in your village. Making swords, clothes, anything the Lord orders to tell you, you are not to leave Market Valley or enter the city of North Hollow, if you do so, you will be either imprisoned or executed on the spot.”

As I was listening I heard footsteps come from the lady as she was talking, it was a tall recognizable figure.

“Now Amy, don’t get them too scared.” Then light bounced his to reveal it was non other than the general of the I.P.L., Nethal Tajjit.

“Just following orders sir.” She says

“Quite, your dismissed, get some men to send some food up here.”

“Yes sir.” She says as she heads out the door as two soldiers follow behind her. Then Nethal looked at us as he signals the soldiers who were still standing tall to be at ease, they then went to the wall and stood by the steel as they grabs tobacco sticks and lit them until they burned with embers. Then all the villagers dispersed around as the general walked around us, observing us as he walks up to my aunt and grabs her hand and puts a hand on her forehead. He nods and gets back up and gets ready to leave but he then turns around to stare back at me. His eyes opened wide as he opens his mouth to say something.

“My, well if it is the little boy from the other day.”

He then stares at what I was holding, my aviator box.

“What is that you’re holding.” I thought I was going to say something but I had no air in me to talk, so I just handed him the box. He then opens it and his smile half faded away. He then pulls out the figure that looks like my father that Clira made. He stares at it and then puts it back in the box, he takes a deep breathe and gives me back the box.

“I'll sends up some people to give your aunt some herbs and liquid medicine for her fever.” He then walks straight to the door but before he leaves he looks back at me and says.

“Your father was a good man.” He then leaves as two men in aprons come in with two bags and sets them on the ground.

“Here are your ravishes for the night, eat up, we’ll be at the city within three days.” Says the man on the right as they leave with the entrance door shutting behind them. Then the villagers went to the bag and pulled out bread and cheese. I went to get some for Aunt Calla but she refused it. Then Clira woke up freaking out as mother told her what had happened. The villagers were being so nice to each other, its what we were best at, not like the I.P.L., forcing us to do whatever they want. It sickens me, but what the general said just before then, my father was a great man, did he and my father knew each other?

It was dusk as everyone was getting tired as some soldiers brought us some blankets, but not enough since there are like, well, you know, over 300 of us.

I was sitting at the window with my mother and sister at my side snoozing. I stared outside the window blankly until Terity moved next to me and stared outside along with me.

“It’s a beautiful world.”

“I guess, but I don’t know what’s really out there.”

“Hey me neither, but its great that were going out to the royal city, I only heard about it from some adults while stealing some food.”

“I just hate leaving my home, but it doesn’t matter now, with it being destroyed.”

“I’m sorry for that, I really am, but at least your family is safe, right?” says Terity as I look at my sides and nod in approval. Then there was a flash outside, at first I thought it was a sun but then it was moving, me and Terity both got up to see what it was. It looked like a shooting star moving next to the window but then it got closer and closer til I saw what it was, a bird, but no ordinary bird. It was yellow with a tail that looked to be 3 feet long, then its tail wagged and it shot out a bright light and zoomed way down for it to disappear.

“Wow, I can’t believe it!” says Terity.

“What was that?”

“That’s a solar bird.”

“A what?”

“Its something we learned in a book once, it’s a bird that collects the suns energy with its tail during the day at the beginning of night it uses it energy to collect food while burning the suns energy with its tail, such a wonderful creature.”

“A sun bird, what other kinds of creatures are their?”

“Oh billions more and probably millions left undiscovered.”

“I’m just astonished…” Then a light came on the window as the bird passed by the window nearly scaring me. It flew in front of the window as another bird came by with it, but this bird didn’t have a yellow light, it had a bluish light coming from its tail.

“Wow, that must be another sun bird too, but its tail isn’t yellow like the sun….what could it be?” says Terity as Odd comes next to her and sits down next to us.

“It’s a lunar bird.” Says Odd as he chews on some cheese. “It’s a bird that collects moonlight during the night, unlike the sun bird, this one can’t come out at day time, so that’s why it and the sun bird like to be together cause nighttime is their time to be together.”

As Odd explains the birds spin in the air as the lights in their tails spin and make a gleam of light making it beautiful in the night.

“Wow, there is still so much I have left to learn.” Terity says as she watches the birds.

“Yeah right, I have a lot more to learn than you.” I say as we stare outside as the moon glows in the night with the birds flying in front of it. Then Odd takes a bite of whatever was left of the cheese in his hand and then grabs his bag from his back.

“I want to show you something.” Says Odd as he pulls out that shrimstone rock. At first I thought it was too dangerous to pull it out cause of the destruction of our village, but it wasn’t glowing like it was the last time I saw it.

“Ever since we left the island, the energy inside it disappeared. I think whenever shrimstone is close to other shrimstone as well; otherwise it’s just a rock.”

“That’s really interesting.” Says Terity as she yawns and lies down. “Still, what information is the military hiding from us against this evil stone that nearly killed us all?”

“I don’t know, either way, I’m more worried on what were going to do once we reach North Hollow. Wonder what kind of guy the Lord is.” Says Odd as he stretches and lies down and starts snoring. I then wonder to myself. Who is this Lord Et’dra, and what does he have in mind for us, why the military enslaved us and took over our village, and what in the world is this shrimstone. Why is it trying to kill us, when I said I wanted adventure this is not what came to mind. I crept along side my mother and snuggled into a ball as I try to drift off into sleep, I turn my head to see Clira at my mother’s feet holding them like a teddy bear. I sigh with a relief because of my families safety, if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be here, I would be in the giant hole in Varmania filling up with water, drowning in depression.