The Sapphire of Ismira

Aldrien, meet your destiny.

ALDRIEN

“I think its time.” said Aldrien’s father, Jahdan Arsandia.

That was the last thing I clearly registered in my mind before I felt myself slipping off my chair onto the floor and then everything went blank.

     My eyelids flickered as the room slowly came into focus. My mother was standing stooped over me with a worried look on her face. I turned my head to my other side and surely enough I found my father standing there with his hands resting  on my grandfather’s shoulders (my grandfather was in a wheelchair you see).

“Aldrien? Can you hear me son? How are you feeling dear?” said my mother.

“I’m sure he’ll be just fine dear.” my father said in a dazed tone.

“Wha…what happened?” I spluttered.

“It’s all right my boy. You’ve finally crossed over. You’ll now have to face your destiny.” my grandfather gravely said.

My grandpa rarely ever spoke and when he did it was mostly in the direst of situations.

“Crossing over? What do you mean grandpa? Can anyone please tell me what happened?”

Everyone looked over at my grandfather for an explanation.

“There’s no point of hiding anything from you anymore. Many years ago before you were born and your father was merely a couple of years ago a great war broke out and people had to go through great lengths to end it. The war had many consequences, eventually driving us away from our homeland to go into hiding. One thing you must understand Aldrien is that we come from a place that most people don’t know about.”

“Along time ago, the people on earth were divided into the normal kind that you see around you and people with magical blood who unfortunately resemble what you call monsters. The latter came to inhabit the Neither world and came to be known as the Nitherians. The mingling of the two worlds had to be prevented at all costs as the result would be disastrous. To prevent this, guardians were in our world chosen who were led by the council of elders. These people had magical blood tainted with human blood so they could exist in our land without raising suspicion. They formed a settlement around the portal that linked the Neither world from the humans. Eventually they were joined by small settlements of the Neitherians as well to strengthen the forces after a major battle called the Battle of Arrhona took place. A magical border was erected around the town so that humans would not know of their existence and to keep the Neitherians out of the human world.”

“Wait...so are the Neitherians good people or were we right in considering them monsters?” I asked grandpa.

“Every population has its own share of good and bad my boy. Besides I’d prefer if you didn’t call our people monsters.” said my grandpa, winking at me.

“Our people? What do you mean our people?” I asked confused about what he meant.

“Let me explain. You’ll have to be patient Aldrien. Less than a century ago, a war broke out between a certain King Arsandia’s kingdom and rebel groups. The rebel groups were led by a powerful sorcerer, one of Arsandia’s own mind you, who decided to backstab the king and take all the power for himself. It was a time when the guardians were not that potent and the sorcerer entered the human world. He put a spell over the humans, forced them in to the Neither world and used them to build his army along with the rebels. One among these humans who entered the Neither world was a young lady called Sarona, my mother.”

“Your mother?! But then I’m…? And my last name is Arsandia so…” I suppressed a scream when the truth finally dawned upon me.

“I told you to be patient. Now sit still and listen! The rebels themselves were not bad people. They were tricked and manipulated by the sorcerer into launching a war against their king. The King’s forces overtook the rebels on the plains of Arrhona giving the battle its name. Thousands of lives were lost but the thing that pricked the conscience of the Neitherian was the loss of hundreds of human lives which could’ve been easily prevented. The most frightening thing was that the spell cast on the humans was one of the simplest spells and any basic level magician could use it to rise against the empire. For years the Nitherians had kept their existence hidden and during the battle they had to go to great lengths to keep themselves hidden since so many humans were involved. The issue with humans was that they could exist in the Neither world only when under the spell. Once the spell is lifted, the things they saw around them would make them doubt their own sanity and drive them towards the edge. Most humans prefer to remain oblivious for deep within they fear that the truth can change even their most basic perceptions of the world.”

“Anyways my mother was different. She survived the battle and when the spell was lifted she wasn’t driven to insanity like her companions. She took it all in like she already knew the Neither world existed. She was bought before the King and she chose to remain in the Neither world. Before long the King took a fancy towards her and they were united against the word of his council. A girl was born to them and they named her Ismira. Thankfully she had taken over the magical side of the family and so would be next in line for the throne. Soon after I was born but unfortunately I had too much of my mother’s human blood in me. It made me tolerant to the Neither world but led to general disappointment. But that is when trouble began. The sorcerer Ropta, who had initiated the last battle, was still at large and soon after I reached manhood the King began receiving threats. He feared that Ropta would exact revenge by killing me and my mother because we were defenseless against magic. My father made arrangements and we were to leave the Neither world. My sister had instilled the oldest and most powerful magic in a sapphire and gave it to us to give to the guardians before we crossed the border into the human world. We were warned that once we left we will not be able to enter the Neither world again.”

“But what does this have to do with me? Why did I end up becoming a freak?” I asked.

“After I was born and it was discovered that I had no magical traits, a prophecy was made. It was said that a child will be born into my lineage who will be bestowed with powers like none other. He will rise to become the most powerful sorcerer who will one day lead the people of the Neither world and rid them of their biggest enemy. We had your father checked and he wasn’t it.”

“And you think it’s me?” I asked him. My voice was mixed with dread and confusion.

“AHA! I knew it! But I can’t believe you’d go into such elaborate details to pull the world’s biggest prank.” I said in a matter-of-fact tone. It was worth a try.

“Huh? What? Are you out of your mind boy? How would you explain blowing a hole in the dry wall then?!” my father screamed at me. Looked like the tension was getting to him too.

“Eh…sorry. But this is a bit too much for me to take in right now. Are you absolutely sure grandpa that it’s me?”

“There’s only one way to find out my boy. Jahdan pack your bags. We have to pay a visit to the guardians.” my grandfather  told dad.

“There’s no way you’re going without me. If you think I’m letting my son go without to meet some looney people without me you have to be seriously delusional!” bellowed my mom at the top of her voice.

“You can come along too, if you want dear.” my dad told my mom in a feeble voice, stressing on the last part.

“Oh I’m coming with you whether or not you’re letting me mister! Hmph! I’ll be in my room packing if you want me.” said my mother stomping out of my room.

      Great. Just great. If you thought your life was crappy wait till you felt how I felt then. Looks like I was in the biggest  joyride of my life. By the way, that was as sarcastic as I could get.