The Adventures of the Junior Phoenixes, Part 4: The Pendant of Light

Chapter 1: Land's End

Chapter 1

There are two worlds that exist simultaneously, one within the other. One is the world of science and technology. It is the world at large; the world that appears in common history books, on television shows, the world depicted in movies and in internet viral videos. It is the world of human achievement mixed with contemptuous violence, mingled with the concepts of both manifest destiny by any means and the spread of brotherhood and grace upon mankind. It is the world that has struggled and overcome, the world that has made peace and war at the edges of swords and with the blasts of bombs. It has turned those swords into plowshares and then melted them again to make jets and tanks. It is also the world that has discovered the wonders of harvesting electricity and power from the remains of creatures long extinct. It is the world that turned gold into computer circuits. It is the world that found cures for polio, smallpox, and vaccines for different and various diseases and illnesses by way of trial and error without the aid of magic or miraculous intervention (at least, as far as it is concerned). The world at large is full of wonders and monoliths, both natural and constructed, that any person, great or small, would marvel at. Standing beside the massive and towering goliaths that are the Giant Sequoias in California, or trying to see the top of the Sears Tower in Chicago, looking over the Great Wall of China, standing on the top of Kilimanjaro and overlooking the Kalahari and the African savannahs, taking in the massiveness of the Hoover Dam or how old and magnificent the halls of Buckingham Palace; these are just a few examples of the amazing things that exist in the world, things created by the hands of men and those natural phenomena that exist on their own. It is a world that moves by forces speculated yet unexplained. It is the world that exists outside the windows of the typical man, the world that looks unassuming in appearance, the world that many take for granted and moves day by day in its usual way.

The second world, though, is different than the other. It exists underneath the larger, unassuming world. It does not rely on the technological advancements of the modern man. It does not digest the everyday happenings of the news anchorman and the internet meme. It does not incorporate the musings of viral videos and the newspaper headlines (unless it was from the Daily Prophet or the Witch City Crucible) and it does not concern itself with electronic devices that constantly need upgrades and are rendered obsolete only months later. It is the world that exists unchanged from generation to generation content in its quasi-medieval ways. It is the world that functions without the need for airplanes, cellular phones, compact discs, or x-ray machines. It is the world that gravitates towards the achievements of the brave and the daring and not always the rich and the powerful (though that has happened before). It is the world that hides itself, often in plain sight, from the first world. It is the world that dabbles in the fantastic, making even the most mundane of events and occurrences something to behold and to be in awe of. Things as simple as knitting, washing dishes, and returning library books can be done with the flick of a magic wand. It is the Magical world; the world where brooms and carpets are enchanted with flight. It is the world where maladies are cured with dangerous yet often effective potions. It is the world where dragons, unicorns, trolls, elves, fairies, and sea serpents exist, albeit hidden, and thrive in their environments under the noses of the first world (which is oft referred to as the Muggle world). It is a world that deals in the trade of gold galleons (or Eagles in America), dragon scales, Boomslang skin, fluxweed, unicorn hair, and flobberworm mucus everyday without the batting of eyes. It is a magical place where the impossible is commonplace, the absurd is the norm, and the strange and bizarre are nothing more than trifles and trivial things that most consider standard and typical.

The Magical world, though full of wonder, is not immune to the injuries and imperfections of the human condition. Magical people are just as capable of committing atrocities in horrific fashion as Muggles. Over the millennia Dark Wizards and Witches have inflicted horrible injuries upon mankind, even their own kindred and fellow Magical folk, some with devastating consequences. But just as there have been those who would cause harm to others, there have also been those who have stood up and fought against the forces of darkness for the benefit of others. There have been many who have risen from the ranks of the inflicted and stood against the corrupt and the disdainful and resisted, some even retaliated against the oppressive. Some have sacrificed their lives in order to restore peace and order to the world, for the benefit of all mankind, Muggle and Magical. Whenever evil rises and oppresses, from the ashes of pain and shadow will rise the fighting spirit of hope and perseverance to face against the evil. As history has accounted, some of those battles have resulted in casualties on both sides, but the battle doesn't cease until a singular force stands alone triumphant. History has shown that, more often than not, good has overcome evil. Malevolent forces often fall to the benevolent might of righteousness and hope, though at great cost. Wizarding Wars have always come at great cost to the Magical world, yet after every war the peace bought with blood and sacrifice is not easily broken.