Jill Brooks and The Three Runes

Prologue

Underwood Primary School sat on the edge of a quiet village, with old brick walls and wide, creaky doors that had seen decades of students pass through. It wasn't the kind of place where much excitement ever happened. Most of the teachers were as ordinary as could be, and the lessons followed a well-worn routine. But for the students who attended, well, one in particular, there was something quietly magical about the place—something hidden beneath the surface of everyday life.

Jill Brooks had been walking the halls of Underwood Primary since she was six years old. Now in her final year, she knew every creaky floorboard, every dusty window ledge, and every shortcut to avoid being late to class. She wasn't the loudest student in the school or the brightest, but she was one of the most observant. Jill had a habit of noticing things others didn't—tiny details that made her feel like the world was full of small mysteries waiting to be solved.

Jill's best friend, Maria Torres, was her opposite in nearly every way. Where Jill was quiet and thoughtful, Maria was bold and curious, always leading the charge into whatever adventure lay ahead. Her energy was contagious, and she often pulled Jill into wild plans, from exploring the forgotten corners of the school to organizing elaborate pranks on the younger students.

They had been inseparable since Year 3, and together, they made an odd but perfect pair. Jill kept Maria grounded, and Maria pushed Jill out of her comfort zone. Their friendship was one of the constants in Jill's life, something she counted on even as the school year ahead loomed with the uncertainty of new classes, new teachers, and the unknown challenges of Year 6.

Then there was Max Rivers, a boy who seemed to thrive on chaos. If there was a prank to be pulled or trouble to be found, Max was at the center of it. With his quick wit and cheeky grin, Max had earned himself a reputation as the class troublemaker. Teachers had a love-hate relationship with him—he was quite clever, sure, but his endless antics made him impossible to control. For most, Max was just a nuisance, but Maria, much to Jill's chagrin, found his antics amusing. Jill, on the other hand, kept her distance from him, unsure if he was someone worth paying attention to.

There was also Emma Dixon, a shy girl with a sharp mind. Emma had a reputation for acing every test, and yet she seemed to prefer fading into the background rather than basking in the attention of her high grades. She was quiet, like Jill, but in a different way—while Jill was curious about the world around her, Emma seemed to live in her own head, wrapped up in books and facts, always a few steps ahead of everyone else when it came to figuring things out.

The school itself had a certain air of mystery about it. Though it looked ordinary at first glance, with its rows of classrooms and dusty chalkboards, there were rumors—whispers passed from student to student over the years. Some said there was a secret passage hidden behind the library shelves, while others claimed that the basement held strange and forgotten artifacts from when the school was first built. Of course, no one had ever found any proof of these tales, but that didn't stop the stories from circulating.

Jill often wondered how much of the school's oddness was real and how much was just the imagination of students looking for excitement in a place that otherwise seemed so ordinary. But as the new school year began, Jill had no idea how much of her life at Underwood Primary was about to change—and how quickly her quiet, predictable world would be turned upside down.