The Earth's Secret - The Hidden Island - Book 1

Chapter 3 - The Wands

We went straight into the forest, walking on the clearest spots that could be found. When the beach was out of sight, I stopped everyone and whispered to them. Laura nodded, and Charlie muffled a laugh and streaked off out of sight. Sarah was already gone. I had suggested that we all, ah, use the restrooms, though there were none. Sarah had apparently needed to for a while because she was gone before I had finished my thought. When we had all done our business, however, Charlie kept going.

The forest was beautiful, with flowers and lush leaves. But as we ventured further in, the woods seemed to be... changing. The tees were less covered in vines and large, tropical flowers and now more like the forests, you would find in Massachusetts (where we had lived). After trudging along again for a while, the tropical-ness of the forest was long gone, replaced by woods like the ones at home. I looked behind us, expecting to see the tropical forest, but instead, there was a normal forest-n straight to the beach. No tropical forest at all. I exchanged confused glances with my friends and saw that they looked just as unsettled as I was.

After about a half hour, I saw a distant, sunlit green spot that seemed to be clear of trees. We changed direction to head there. As we walked a few chickadees- the forest had DEFINITELY changed- no more tree frogs and snakes. Birds chirped, and a deer bounded into the woods. Then the clearing came into view. Charlie went tumbling through the brush to get there, and the girls and I went slightly slower, trying to avoid tripping like him.

As we drew nearer, I realized that it was more like a huge meadow, stretching a few city blocks in each direction, and to the south was the biggest volcano I had ever seen, bigger than all the ones I'd seen online. In the west was a hill rising above the treetops. A few smaller ones surrounded it. To the north was a small stream that led to a small pond, just big enough to go swimming in. Near it was a grove of twisted trees around larger, taller trees on the brim of the forest. To the east, the way we had come from, there was the thickest part of the forest, I guess. I estimated that the island was about two miles in every direction and that the meadow was at the dead center. As I turned my attention back to the field, I thought that this might be a nice place to set up camp. Charlie was studying the volcano uneasily, and I suppose that he had a reason, because the top was steaming and lava was still flowing.

I looked toward the center of the meadow, thinking that it would be the safest place to be. However, something that was there sparked my interest. There was a mound of dirt in the middle of the meadow, and the mound had four sticks, each the length of a foot, sticking out of it. As I walked closer, I became more and more tempted to touch them. Then I saw them clearly, and I realized that they weren't normal.

They all were normal brown, like a toy Harry Potter wand. The one on the north side was puffing out rings of clouds that spiraled into the sky and gave off an aura of floatiness. When I looked at it, I felt as though I was rising off the ground, and I knew that I wasn't imagining the feeling. I turned my attention to the stick to the west.

This one was giving off the smell of fresh, sweet-smelling earth and flowers that made me feel happy. The earth around the stick was covered with flowers and little leaves. The wand to the south was black, and a thin stream of fire danced on the ground around it. Surrounding it was a circular pool of lava, and the stick was on a little island in the middle. This wand gave me an odd feeling- like the feeling in your stomach when you're on a roller coaster and you drop 20 feet in a second. Huh. The stick on the east side made my thoughts feel clear. I could smell the ocean. The stick glowed blue. Water dripped slowly from the tip. I felt the need to touch the stick and reached out.

Normally, I would be much more cautious. But my life went from normal to terrible in around 24 hours, so you can't blame me for not thinking clearly. Plus. I was tired, and the stick made me feel a lot better. I grasped the stick at the same moment that Charlie reached for the lava one, Laura the cloud one, and Sarah the earth one. We touched them at the same moment and steam filled the air.

I couldn't see anything but my stick. I tried to let go, but my hand refused. I tried to cry out, but as I opened my mouth, the mist dissolved. The four of us were standing in the same spot. I was hyperventilating, Laura's eyes were wide, Sarah was staring at her stick, and Charlie was studying his open palm, his stick in his other hand. We looked at each other, then in silent agreement, sat down and began to study our sticks.

Charlie gasped. "I have an idea." I looked at him. He stood up and held his stick in his open palm. He concentrated, and the wood began to change. Liquid metal gushed from the tip of the stick, and the stick was surrounded in silver. Red streaks trickled in the mush, which was hovering above Charlie's palm. The entire thing glowed softly, and I felt heat rippling off the thing. Then light burst from every particle of the mush, and I blinked rapidly. A sword sat in Charlie's palm, the wand gone. Rubies were embedded in the handle, and the sword itself was long and sharp. He looked calm and powerful carrying it, and I couldn't stop the twinge in my chest.

To distract myself, I tried to do the same thing. My stick quivered, and I focused my energy into it. A white-hot blast lifted my stick off my pal and vertical to the ground, I glanced at Charlie. He nodded and made a pushing gesture. I opened my palm and pushed my hand towards the stick. An awning blue glow was surrounding the entire stick, and I forced my last drops of energy towards it. When the mist cleared, the staff was in my hand. It was long and thin, rising about 6 feet off the ground. It was light and sturdy in my hand, and at the top was a sapphire, around, large, delicately beautiful sapphire, attached to the top. It was glowing and spinning slowly, bluish light and waves of energy spreading around it. I could feel them rippling across me. Charlie nodded.

"Sarah, can you try? If these are powerful, we can defend ourselves if anything happens." Sarah stood nervously, tapping her wand against her leg. I smiled at her, and she grinned nervously.

"Alright- here goes nothing." She closed her eyes and threw her stick like a boomerang. It circled around her, leaving a trail of green mist. Around and around it went until she was completely hidden by the green fog. There was a soft sigh of wind, and Sarah emerged, holding a bat. It was polished and smooth like a baseball bat, but it was topped... with iron- spikes? Diamonds and gold strands were planted all around the top, and the handle was leather.

Laura jumped up. "Do I get a tur-" Her stick exploded with a bang, and she spiraled higher and higher into the sky, screaming a mixture of swears and admirations of the view. Finally, she disappeared into a cloud. Sarah and I glanced at each other. "YEAH!" Laura came soaring out of the cloud, still tumbling around but clearly in more control than before. As she came closer, I saw a spear in her hands, topped with a golden spearhead. The sides were pure white, like clouds, and as she landed, I realized that the spearhead was releasing a breeze.

A wave of dizziness came over me. I held back a sob. This wasn't possible, it couldn't be. We were just as bad off as before, and this whole thing was just too much... I heard a thud as Sarah sat down and began to cry. Charlie looked nauseated, and Laura seemed half dead from shock. I tried to breathe... A breeze swept through the clearing, and I felt a moment of peace, of happiness. Then, like something was injected into me, my mind cleared. Things were simple. This island was meant to be found by us. I looked around and saw that my friends had come to the same conclusion. Things were fine. Our parents were going to be fine. They would know about this soon, and not worry about us until then. The breeze stopped.

"What was that?" Laura had voiced my concern.

This was our destiny, landing on this island, but what about... I took a deep breath. "I didn't know if you guys heard that stuff or not, but we have to stay here. I have a gut feeling..." They nodded, and I felt a small ball of worry inside me melt. Things were going to be okay.

Word Count: 1575

Total Word Count: 6073