There was once a magical and majestic land named Andora, ruled by sorcerers and wizards alike who all lived in harmony. The land flourished of life and purity for many generations until one day, a great evil appeared. Shadows, able to transform into a person’s worst nightmare and unable to be vanquished by any regular man. They plagued Andora with darkness and terror. The sorcerers joined forces and fought bravely to push them back. After a great war, the shadows fled back to the black hole from whence they came and lay dormant… peacefully waiting to be, one day, awoken.
Many centuries past and high up on the grassy cliffs of Andora, east from the town of Oakvale, there lived two siblings who were young apprentices of arcane magic. They trained privately since birth in Draynor Tower from their wise teacher and mighty sorcerer, Randolph. He felt hero’s bravery inside of them both, knowing that one day they would grow into powerful wizards. Indeed he taught them well, showing them how to bend the elements of nature around them and shift the fabric of the earth. The eldest of the two siblings was Blaze, filled with spirit and courage, and more serious about his apprentice training. Being fourteen years of age, he was stronger, more intelligent and became a good role model for his younger sister Sapphire over the years. She on the other hand, being three years younger, was mischievous and more adventurous than her brother. She rarely paid full attention during her wizard classes so, due to carelessness with her training, she never learned how to protect herself. Sapphire was extremely jealous of Blaze as she dreamed of becoming a great sorcerer like her brother was building up to be. Also accompanying the children in the tower was Rosella, a spirit of nature called a nymph, who protected and cared for them both. Rosella was one of Randolph’s master creations as she was to defend the tower in case any evil one day tried to penetrate. The young apprentices trained with Rosella many days out in the gardens to become one with nature. She taught the siblings many necessary skills, how to use the forest as a weapon and use to their advantage. Randolph was pleased about how his two apprentices were growing and becoming moral, although deep down he knew the dark prophecy that was written and he was preparing his students for the great evil that was to come…
“Sapphire! Wake up! Randolph has travelled down to Oakvale village for some stinkweed so we have the whole day to ourselves! Shouted Blaze as he entered the room. Sapphire lunged out from under the covers with a scowl on her face.
“Then why can’t you just leave me to my sleep?” She replied.
“Oh don’t be so grumpy, we can practice our new comet spell if you want? I know you need some more practice…” Blaze said smirking. Deep down Sapphire knew he was right, but being the younger sibling, she always had to outsmart her brother.
“Oh really? Well if you think you’re so good, why don’t you try then? Sapphire said as she gradually raised out of bed. Blaze looked surprised.
“Fine then, watch and learn little sister” Said Blaze. He stood up from the sitting on the bed and walked outside with Sapphire following. As Blaze started to wave his wand back and forth, Rosella appeared from behind.
“And what do you think you’re doing?” Said Rosella “Randolph left me in charge today and I say that instead of all that wand flicking we hit the books, you won’t pass your apprentice qualifications if you don’t study!” Sapphire and Blaze gave out a loud, long sigh.
“Come on Rosella, you’re supposed to be our earth teacher but you haven’t taught us anything new in weeks!” Replied Sapphire. Rosella thought to herself for a brief moment.
“Alright then, come on”. Sapphire grinned at Blaze as they all walked to the training ground. “Today, I will teach you an advanced defence spell called ‘Rock Armour’. This spell will allow your skin to become hard like rocks, able to withstand many hits that would normally kill you said Rosella”. The children looked at each other eagerly. She showed them the basic wand techniques and asked them to practice. Blaze jumped right into his training, following Rosella’s instructions precisely and soon had rock hard skin. “Okay Sapphire, I want you to use some attack spells on Blaze” Rosella said. Sapphire thought of what to cast, knowing that she hadn’t mastered her comet spell yet. She raised her wand and with the blink of an eye, a small fireball faintly appeared. It hurdled towards Blaze, but did not damage him. The rock armour had not been penetrated by the attack. Blaze’s armour shortly disappeared and he fell to the ground laughing. “Haha! Seriously Sapphire, a rank one fireball spell? We were taught level 6 earth and water spells just last week! Why didn’t you cast any of those?” said Blaze. Sapphire frowned and stooped her head down. Rosella butted in. “Well okay, good try Sapphire! Keep working on your focus because the attack could have come out a little stronger”. Sapphire nodded. “I think that’s enough for today” Continued Rosella. “I will see you guys later in the library, class dismissed” and with that Rosella walked on her centaur like hooves up to the tower.
The siblings didn’t do much for the rest of the day. Blaze drove ahead on his wizard studies by reading in the tower library while Sapphire spent the day on the edge of the cliffs, watching the ships sail in and out of Oakvale harbour. She dreamed of having a normal life away from magic, going to school, making friends and being free to do whatever she wanted. Everyone re-joined again for dinner although Sapphire kept to herself. They feasted on toad and mud stool stew with ferret dumplings and snotberry pie, the children’s favourite. Being the only real woman in the tower, Rosella took over the role of a mother for the siblings since they never met their biological parents. She cooked, cleaned, protected and trained with them. She felt almost human when she was with them, like they were her family. The tower bell rang at 9’ o’clock, and Rosella told the children to head upstairs for bed. She followed them into the room and gave them a kiss before dimming the lights. “Okay, remember bright and early tomorrow for gryphon riding and then we can bake a peach slug pie for Randolph’s return! I know he will be pleased with you both” she said excitedly, and with that Rosella trotted out of the room closing the wooden door behind her. After a minute or two, Blaze got out from under his blankets and tiptoed over to Sapphire’s bed. “Hey Saff, are you awake?” he said whispering.
“Yeah I am” Sapphire said turning her head to face Blaze. He could faintly see tears appearing in her eyes.“I’m sorry for laughing at you today” He stopped, thinking what to say “I had no idea that….”
“… That I am a crap apprentice? Yeah I know. Do you have any idea what it’s like? Trying to live up to the standards that you give me? You do everything right, you’re the perfect apprentice and one day you will be even greater than Randolph!” Sapphire paused “And I will be the failed younger sibling who never achieved her title as sorcerer and was stripped off her magic by the coven”.
“What are you talking about? I have never heard the coven do such a thing” Blaze said, looking shocked.
“When we were younger, Randolph came to me alone one night realizing that I was not achieving at the same standard as you. He said, that if my training did not progress in the years to come, the coven would be noted and they would act. Randolph said it was rare but it can happen on occasions. He told me that if I don’t pass the apprentice qualifications in a month’s time, the elder wizards will come to the tower for me and take my powers away.” She said, looking down at herself in disbelief.
“That’s insane Sapphire! The coven would never do that, and even if they wanted to they can’t. No sorcerer can do magic that great, they would die!” Said Blaze.
“They are the elder wizards! They were the ones who defeated the shadows when they infiltrated Andora eleven centuries ago. I am certain Randolph didn’t make this up”. Then there was a long silence, with Blaze’s heavy breathing creating the only sound in the room. Sapphire blew her nose with a silk woven handkerchief and gave a few snivels before looking back up at her brother.
