Spring Break
Book 1 Chapter 1
By Rachel76m
Edited by Don Kaufman

The sun settles beyond the horizon. The forest is quiet except for the sound of some insects doing their evening calls. There is no sound of birds in the air, just some butterflies fluttering among the trees. The forest air is still and dark. In a clearing there is a cottage with its light on. A butterfly decides to take a rest on the window sill. Another butterfly rests on a log near a corner of the cottage. Out in front of the cottage are several horses tied to a wood post railing.

Inside in the cottage are four voices speaking to one another; voices planning their next move.

"So Master, is everything ready for the revealing of who is the true power in the entire world?"

"It is ready. We made sure our servants are chosen to be part of the kitchen staff inside the castle.

"That's good. So, what are you going to do about your former Second? He was able to get our Outside Helper before we did."

"Don't worry; he's going to pay for his disrespect of me, including the wizards who helped him send the message. I'm sure his whelp of a knight is involved in this somehow. They will all pay who double cross me."

"Yes, it is fortunate you were able to bring as many as you could to see the true light. We even were able to persuade two of the Castle Lords to join us lately. The King and Queen will have no choice but to join us, or be voted out of the throne."

"Perhaps, but for some reason the foods that are sent to him have not changed him for the better."

"Yes, but when the day is done after the Ceremonies, we'll have made everyone change for the better afterwards. We'll bring order to this world of chaos. The Kings and Queens are in the past, it is time for the future."

"Have you selected the men in case it does not go according to plan?"

"Yes, everything is ready. The men have been practicing in secret; these Helpers won't know what will hit them. We're tired of having to pay our respects to these First Ones. We're going to be the New First Ones."

"These Outside Helpers are an abomination. Why should we listen to these people who are not from our world? It is not right."

"That's right, who are they to tell us what to do? We have the magic. We can do anything we want to."

Then the group hear some hoof beats approaching the cottage, they get quiet. It comes to halt. Soon there is a series of raps on the door.

"Come in my friend."

A butterfly lands on a post railing near the horses.

The door opens, a man comes in and removes his hat and holds onto it. "I just learned from our friends inside the Castle. I have this message for you. I couldn't risk sending a message via the crystal."

"I understand. Let me see that message."

The man hands him the message. The Master takes the message and opens it up and begins to read it.

"What? There's a call for an interim meeting after the Ceremonies by the Grand King. He gained unanimous approval from all of the Kingdoms. It states here to report the current status of the kingdoms."

"What are we going to do, Master? Delay our plans?"

"Let me think for a moment."

The Master gets up and walks around in his cottage. He looks at a picture hanging on the wall. Then he looks down at the floor as he paces the room. A smile comes to his face. He walks back to the table and sits down again in his chair. He looks around at the others, his closest friends.

"I have it. We know who are on our side. We have the Castle Lords and the military commanders."

A hand shoots up. The Master raises his, "I know. I know we have not reached the Legion Commander. He is a most stubborn foe. It would have been great to have him join us. But the Army and Navy Commanders are in our pocket. They will see to it that the orders will be taken care of and to get rid of him. We'll have our secret force to expand their targets. No one will stop us."

"What are we going to do about our First Ones here? Aren't they invited to the Grand Ceremony at the Castle?"

"Who needs them anyway? The last I heard, they're up in the mountains on an island avoiding us."

"I heard they left the islands and went elsewhere."

"But Master we used the First Ones that could fly to help us fight the other Ten during the First War. Can we use them again?"

"No, they can't be trusted again. Once they saw the cost, they abandoned us. We had no choice in the matter but to lay our weapons down. We decided to bide our time until the next opportunity came."

"The Ten even deposed our original Kings and Queens and put others in their place."

"Yes, I remember that, my friends. However, the coming of the Outside Helpers is the perfect distraction, Master, to bring the plan to life."

"Yes, it took me a long time to expand our numbers in key positions in the kingdom and among the populace. We did not have enough in place the first time. These people can be most stubborn. They refuse any food or drink that we offer. They say it is foul. Well it is not foul; it is the best tasting food that we ever had. Once the portion of meat is delivered to the stomach, the deed is done. It doesn't happen overnight, but eventually they see the light within a moon period."

"How many are on our side this time, Master?"

"I estimate at least twenty families. That gives us about forty for our new foundation. When their children are born we will expand rapidly. So, does everyone have their assignments?"

"We do, Master. Our plans are well laid in the foundation."

"Yes, to think thirty days from now; the world will be ready for a new era. We have the magic. Let the people fear us if they don't want to partake in the fruits of our labor."

"Yes, let's make a toast."

"Bring out the blood wine, I'm thirsty."

The Master goes to a shelf near the kitchen and brings out a bottle. Another man gets five small glasses and places it on the table. The Master pours some blood wine into each glass and places the bottle on the table and corks it. Each man raises their glass in front of them and smiles at each other.

"Yes, it is time to shed the past and look to the future."

"To the future!"

They all drink the glass in one gulp.

"Ahh… That is very good wine Master. It is has a sweet taste. It is very satisfying."

"Yes, it is giving me the strength to carry out our purpose."

"It is time for a new beginning. Go my friends, back to your posts. If you can find more to join our cause then let them come in."

"Yes we can do that. Take care, everyone. May the Maker guide our steps to victory."

They all nod their heads too, and smile at each other. They pick up their belongings and walk out the front door of the cottage. When they get on their horses the butterflies are not seen. The riders go in four different directions to their homes to finally get some sleep.

The Master sits in his chair before the unlit fire. “This will be the third time for me to effect change here. The second time didn't happen thirty years ago for some reason. Those three fools asked me for help to overthrow their king. I will definitely have them pay for it once I know the truth. Heh, heh, hah, hah.... soon I will be ruler of the world! Hah, hah...!”

~~~000~~~

Well, I survived the first two years at NC State. Taking all those basic courses was just like back in high school. But, this time around, the math and science courses turned out to be more in depth and detail. My GPA turned out real good. I decided to expand my science knowledge besides taking physics and chemistry. I included biology and geology as well. It turns out that those courses were fun to learn as well.

Again my grades put me in the top five of my class. It was that pesky ‘B’ that I earned in my first semester here. The class was in Economics 101. That was my first introduction “how to balance a check book” for a lack of better phrase. But I soon got into the flow of the new terms and how they represent the data on the graphs with the equations.

Entering in my junior year, the Campus Housing Authority allowed me to move out of the regular dorms into one of the apartment style dorms that they have. We still get a roommate, but the room has a small kitchenette with its own bathroom. There is still plenty of space for our beds and desks. I really like it. It is a lot quieter and more private than what I had the first two years.

For my junior year I get to take the engineering core courses with some additional computer courses leading towards my major. I continue with the computer language courses that I have taken every semester. It turns out most are very similar, but the syntax is different to do certain functions.

The rest of the courses are typical, Modern Physics, Statics, Dynamics, Electronics 1 and 2, and so on. Most of it was easy to comprehend considering how well prepared I was with the Honor Courses back in High School. It was just building on the fundamentals and getting the details for more complex problems.

I had to concentrate really hard to get some of the grades. Some homework came very close to Cs, but I still earned an A and B for those two tough courses. I just had to make sure I make more A's than B's. My GPA dropped a bit. The GPA now leveled off to around 3.935, which is very nice. My department tells me that I am still one of the top ten students in the class. This is my main goal, to keep the GPA the high as possible.

When the Fall Semester ended I flew home to my family in Charlottesville, NC. It was nice to take a break. We take a week going up into the mountains to our family cabin in Mount Blanc, NC. It is a lot a fun having some snowball fights with the family. One December, we made two snow forts about thirty feet apart across on the driveway. Dad and I teamed up while Kenny and Mike were the other team. Needless to say it was a blast. We pelted each other with snow balls until someone yelled to give up. But we usually get interrupted by mom to come in for lunch. We held a cease fire until lunch was over. This then went for another hour or two. It was fun and a big work out. Another fun thing about it is if someone were to drive up to the cabin and park between the two forts... well...let's just say the car got pelted as well.... giggle...

There were some days I would take a walk near the cabin and just sit on some rocks near the stream. It is nice to see this kind of beauty. I’ve been here during the summer. It is always amazing seeing the tree foliage change colors through the year. Sometimes I see butterflies flying through the air playing with the leaves when I see a slight gust in the wind to stir them up. But then there would be times I felt I was being watched. Whatever the feeling was, I was sure it was for good and that we were protected somehow. But, if I told my family any of this I would get several different reactions.

Mom and dad would say, “You have a great imagination. It shows your mind is busy and active. You’re constantly thinking.”

If I told my brothers they would laugh at me, “What’s a matter Little Richard? Still looking for a girlfriend?” They would say some snide remark just to irk me. But all that did was remind me of Brianna.

I would just give a sigh and shake my head in disgust and just turn around when they say something stupid like that. Then I would ask them, "Then where are your girlfriends?" I smiled with my back turned to them.

Opening presents on Christmas morning is always a great family tradition. Dad would set up the camcorder on a tripod to get the best view of the layout in the room. We would exchange presents and eat some great home cooking.

We stayed through Christmas and then went home two days later before New Year’s Day.

I went back to school after New Year’s Day to get ready for the Spring Semester. The courses are more of the same. But as always the homework is piled higher and deeper. Taking four or five classes a semester is always a push to stay organized. Plus finding those quiet moments in the library to get some quality study time is a bonus.

The Spring Semester is moving along smoothly. I always look forward to Spring Break. It is great to get a full week off before the final push to the end of April.

I wake up Saturday morning fully rested after sleeping in an extra hour or two. My roommate is gone for the week. So I get the apartment all to myself this week, nice. I go to the bathroom and get myself cleaned up. I get dressed for the day by putting on a pair of shorts and a nice shirt. I put on my socks and my tennis shoes to get ready for a morning workout doing some floor exercises.

Today and tomorrow I’m going to just relax. Monday I will go to the campus and start getting a head start on some of those reports and projects for the labs that require some research in the libraries.

After brushing my teeth and combing my hair, I walk out of the bathroom and see a light flashing next to my PC. What’s this? Someone is sending me an email? Well I better check it out. It could be Brad who wants a rematch on Delta Con 2100.

I put my watch on. Then I walk over to my PC and turn on the monitor and I see a pop-up message from my Email service. I log in and check to see who it is.

That’s odd, it has no message. The email came in via satellite with an attachment. If it came by satellite, it could be an international message. But I don’t know anyone overseas. I don't even recognize the address from this twainor.net. My email scanner did not block it and it does not contain any virus which tells me it is a good message. Well, let’s open it and see what it is. I can always delete it.

I open the attachment and all of a sudden I see a man wearing a hooded multicolored jacket with a medallion around his neck hanging down chest high and smiling. He looks like us, but a little different. That is good make up he has on. But that doesn't look like he's wearing a mask. Wait a second …that face looks for real! The hood is lying on his shoulder behind him.

“Greetings; my name is Renard. I’m a wizard from the planet called Twainor. Whom do I have the honor of talking to and which star system are you from?”

That's strange, his words are English but his lips are not matching it. There must be a time delay. “Uh...Hello, my name is Richard. This is the Sol System. I'm on the third planet called Earth. This Twainor, is this some sort of fantasy club?”

“No it is not. Twainor is a very real place; it’s in another part of our galaxy.”

“Oh… kay... How is this possible? If you're coming from another world; I guess that means there is life elsewhere in the Universe. Your signal is coming in very strong and clear. But somehow your mouth movement is not matching with what I am hearing.”

“Well truth be told, it's happening by magic. Plus my language is being translated to you through magic.”

"Magic? Magic is not real here. Usually they're stage acts done with distractions, sleight of hand and trickery."

"Well it does exist here. I wish I could explain it some more, but you have been invited to be part of a special gathering. But I have a couple of questions to ask you."

"Okay, fair enough. Ask me some questions."

"Do you have a tunable visual device?"

"We do. They're called television units. They can receive information with an antenna attached to it. It was invented about 150 years ago."

"Good, I was told by my King to give you this number and you would know what to do with it to tune your device. The number is 585.25."

"Interesting number, it appears to be a frequency for a channel. Hold on a second and let me figure it out." I take out my calculator and go to my spectrum chart to look up the ranges and start calculating the channel. Well it appears to be an unused channel, 33. Well let's turn to it and see what happens. I turn on the TV and punch in the number on the controller. Then all of a sudden I get a big surprise. The image on my PC cuts off and it returns to my Email In-box. On the TV screen I see a picture of Renard smiling widely at me.

"Excellent. Well done Richard."

"Wait a minute. How did you do that? You can also see and hear me?"

"Like I said, our world is magical."

"Well, you have me convinced so far. What is the next question?"

"The next question is: Who is the Maker?"

"The answer I'm giving is a general answer. We have many religions here with different view points on this subject. But I will give my best answer."

"That is all I ask for."

"The Maker is the Creator of the Universe. He has given the people on the planet the opportunity to take care of it. If that people don't, then the Maker will punish that planet or group of people until they get it right or else get removed as caretakers of the planet. If they get removed, then the animals living on the planet will rule it and not the people who will then be reduced in number.

Renard answers back, "I see the Maker has taught other worlds the truth on responsibility. That is the right answer Richard. What I want you to do is stand perfectly still. I am going to extend my mystical power through your visual device. You will soon be enveloped in a white glowing light. When it reaches its peak power, you will be transported here through your visual device that is tuned to my location. Are you ready, Richard?"

"As ready as I will ever be. Do it."

He raises his hands towards me and recites some strange words.

My body starts to glow white. Cool. Once the glow reaches its peak intensity, I am instantly gone in a flash of light. I realize I am conscious the entire trip. I am a little disoriented at first. But, soon I find myself zipping past nebulae and stars that I am familiar with on Earth. That first star had to be Sirius, that's one of our closest stars. Whoa, I remember reading Sirius is a double star system. I just saw both of them.... cool.

Now it looks like I'm heading towards to Orion. How fast am I going if these nearby stars are streaking? Isn't that the Crab and Horse Head Nebulae near the constellation Orion? This trip is too much.

Soon I am approaching a star system that is similar to ours, but it is different. I then approach a planet with two moons around it. I look around quickly and see other streaks of white light approaching the planet. I look down and see a beautiful landscape with oceans. I approach a continent with some mountains. As I get closer, I see a large castle in the distance. Then I see I'm approaching a small cabin near a small village. In another flash of light I appear in a room of a small cabin like my family's cabin in the mountains.

There standing in front of me is a man that looks like us, but he looks a little different. "Wow! That's incredible." Then I start to wobble a bit with a light head. "uhhh... my head..." and I put a hand to my head while I try to grab something.

The man then directs me to sit down in a chair. He comes over and quickly says some words and touches my forehead and his.

“I'm Renard, Wizard of the Mystic Order on Twainor, Master Wizard of Thryson Kingdom. If you can hear and understand my speech that means you can understand my language. Plus you can speak and understand what you are saying to me in my language."

I shake my head a bit as if to shake out the cobwebs. "This is incredible. I saw so much on the way here it was like a flying dream. That white glow around me was very intense; it felt as though it charged every part of my body."

"That charge you felt did two things. First it brought you here. The other is that it cleansed you of any possible sickness that you might have so you won't infect our world. That will happen every time when you come here or leave to go back home."

"Thank you."

"You’re welcome, Richard." He smiles, "Yes, I can imagine your flight here to be like flying. Here let me get you a drink of water."

He hands me a cup and I take a sip from it. Yes it is water. But he had a different word for it. "That is very good. It is cold and refreshing. It reminds me that the source is very fresh from the mountains."

I look around quickly and see a well ordered cottage with several rooms attached. The main room has several chairs and a table near the kitchen area. By the hearth there is another group of upholstered chairs that look very comfortable. There is a woven rug in front of that group of chairs. Off to another corner of the room appears to be a large table with a beautiful carved chair behind it. But what really gets my attention are the shelves and walls. On the walls I see art work and a few music instruments hanging. On the shelves contain books, boxes, glass spheres or crystals on small pedestals with small pennants hanging from it and other objects. As I look around I notice that there are no candles burning to light up the room. The light is coming from several crystals that are glowing brightly.

"Excellent, your senses are very good. Well you're probably wondering why I brought you here."

"I do, but how do I get back?"

"You'll go back the same way. When you arrive back in your room it will be in front of your tunable device. You probably won't be gone from there for more than a mark on the sundial no matter how long you stay here."

"You said mark on the sundial. How many marks are in a day here?"

"We divided our day into about twelve marks for the day and the same amount at night. We then divide the day and night into four watches for our castle guards. Our day begins at First Mark when the sunlight reaches the sundial in the castle courtyard."

"Well that answers my first question. Your planet spins at about the same rate as mine."

"Good. We have a lot to discuss. Tomorrow morning we're leaving here to arrive at Thryson Castle and meet King Tierion who is my Lord here."

"So, I guess I need to be taught a few things by you as well as tell you some things about myself."

"That is right.” He smiles. Yes, he is quick with the mind. "The Maker has decided to have worlds and star systems to have Outside Helpers to aid in a time of crisis. That way the worlds will know that they are not alone in the Universe."

"I'm sorry Renard. But on my world some think we're the only civilization in the Universe. However some of our scientists and astronomers are looking through telescopes and other devices to look into the cosmos. But all they see are star systems with some planets. The detail is getting better each generation when a new device is invented."

"I am sorry to hear that, but at least your world is trying. You will have to tell me more about your world as we talk today. But first you need to get dressed appropriately for our world."

"I can see that by looking at your clothing and how you carry yourself."

"What you have on now will be appropriate to wear under the clothes. You can wear those shorts, but you will need to remove the shirt. It is a bit warm out there today. You will need to change your shoes as well.”

I take off my shirt and fold it and place it on the table near the kitchen.

"Richard, why don't you place your shoes and shirt in the bedroom over here? You will be sleeping here tonight."

"Sure, Renard." We walk into the second bedroom and I put my shirt on the bed and the shoes on the floor.

Renard opens a chest on the floor and takes out some clothing and put them on the bed. He also takes out a pair of boots and put them on the floor. He hands me a pair of pants that are very light and airy with a green mottled pattern with a darker green trim for the color scheme. This fabric reminds me of silk but appears to be stronger. I pull the draw string and tighten it around my waist. He then hands me a shirt that has a v-neck with no buttons down the front with sleeves to the elbow. I slip that over my head. It is of the same make and style as the pants. He hands me a braided rope belt to gather in the shirt. The length of the shirt is about twelve inches below the belt line.

"What is that you’re wearing on your wrist?"

I lift my arm up and show him my watch. "This is a watch or time piece, it allows me to judge the time of day and how long it takes to do a certain task. They can be mechanical or electronic." I look at it and I see the second hand has stopped and the digital display is blank. "That's strange it appears not to be working now. This watch is practically brand new."

"That’s interesting. I can see that your world resorts to inventions to create its own kind of magic. Your watch might return to normal when you get back."

"Probably, but yes, we use inventions. Well I guess it is time for some more lessons."

I take off my shoes and put on the boots that appear to be made of leather, they're calf length and very soft and comfortable. I tuck the pants leggings into the boot and tied the laces above my calf muscle. It has a harder sole, but still flexible. The next item is a long sleeve coat, again with the same type of material and design. Then I sit back down on the chair. I notice the jacket has several pockets, two outside and two inside.

"That’s right Richard. You're on the planet Twainor. We have two identical moons in size revolving around our world. Our magic comes from the planet itself. There is a realm that we cannot see; it is called the Ethereal Space. It radiates from our world to the orbits of the twin moons. More than likely you were detected by several beings on our world when you came within the orbit of our twin moons."

"I was detected? That must be some sensitivity."

"Yes, at the Setting of the Sun this evening you will be able catch a glimpse of this Ethereal Space."

"Okay, I believe you so far."

"Come with me. We'll take a walk. Let me show you my world."

Renard leads me out the front door and we stand on the porch of the cottage.

"Gasp... oh my ... your world is gorgeous. I have never seen such vivid colors on display. Look at those mountains in the distance, incredible."

"Thank you Richard. I'm sure your world has its beautiful places as well."

"We do, for the untouched areas. But there are other areas that are not so beautiful. I'll explain that later."

"Okay, I want you to put your hand onto my shoulder. Once I recite the spell, your hand will stay on my shoulder while we fly together. We're going to take a quick trip around my kingdom and be back here very quickly. So keep your eyes wide open."

"Okay."

I put my hand onto his shoulder. Then Renard raised his palms outward and recites an incantation. In a blink of an eye we disappear in front of his cottage. But my point of view changes to flying through the air.

Renard then gives me the tour speech while we're flying. "Our world has twelve kingdoms. Some are island kingdoms, some continents have several kingdoms. Life is divided into several groups. The High Orders are the First Ones, the dwarfs and the realm of men and women. We also have a Lower Order of animals. These are the regular wild life that you normally find on a world anywhere according to how they developed there. These are the birds, insects, land and sea animals, etc. Some of the land animals we have are able to be domesticated so that we can use their abilities for various tasks like wool from certain animals. If we eat meat, it is fish from the sea or certain birds that we raise on the farms."

"Can everyone fly like we're doing?"

"No, Richard. It depends on the ability of person. Everyone can employ magic and use it to help himself out. But not everyone can become wizards and sorceresses. It takes a great understanding and will of the mind to do this."

"So how do you move from kingdom to kingdom?"

"We have land and sea transportation. We have ships that sail the oceans and burden animals and carts for land. There is no electrical machinery on our world, the Ethereal Space prevents it. We discovered this when the Emissaries came to our world a few years ago. They tried to land on our surface, but they had a bad landing and couldn't go back. While among us, they saw us use our contact crystals. They asked for several so that they can study them. They were also happy once they discovered how we transport ourselves around here; they asked if we can transport them and their shuttle craft back to their main space craft. We were able to do so easily if they were near one of our moons. Once on board their space craft they studied our crystals and discovered the frequency in them. Now they can contact us without coming to the surface."

"So that is how you knew what number to give me?"

"Yes Richard. Since we can't invent or use electrical machinery here. It is very easy to use our magic to take the grain and crush it with the flat stones with no effort at all."

"I understand that all too well. We have remote places on our world where electrical machinery does not work well. In some places, using the power of water and paddle wheels or even the wind is better than using electrical machinery. We started out like you did thousands of years ago on my world. During that time we had some great thinkers who gave us the foundation to do certain tasks. But things started to change when more ideas and inventions became the norm about five hundred years ago. Then we created certain inventions that really changed our world the last two hundred years. Our knowledge increased exponentially. But we also try to stay connected to our past, because we realize our machine inventions is just an extension to make life a little easier. But we have learned how to live even without it when it doesn't work."

"Now, you are probably wondering who are our First Ones are?"

"Yes, obviously they were here first before the dwarfs and men showed up, right?"

"Yes they are. If you look towards that mountain we're flying to, you will see some of them."

"Why they look like, gulp... dragons. And they're flying! Can ...can... they see us?"

"No, but they can sense us in the Ethereal Space that there is a disturbance near them. We will stay high above them."

"I have never seen a live dragon. We only have pictures and drawings in our history books."

"That's interesting, well hold that thought. Let me show you some other First Ones." We fly a little further and soon we see a very bright white horse in a glade of a forest. It looks up as we near the glade. Soon there is a flurry of small winged creatures flying around the horse.

"Isn't that a unicorn? I saw a single horn on its head. What were those small creatures flying around the unicorn?"

"Those small flying creatures are fairies."

"Fairies, you're kidding me, you have those here? Now you will tell me that you have centaurs."

"We do Richard. Do you have such beings on your world?"

"For right now, I will say 'No we don't'. There are rumors on our world of large sea creatures in our deepest oceans as well. I know we don't have any unicorns, fairies or centaurs. I've read some of our dragon stories. It is written that some tried to survive, but they got killed over thousands of years ago. All we have are myths, legends and stories. That is if they existed at all. Plus we don't have any magic abilities at all. If it did exist, that was a long time ago as well. I will have to look into it and check our history books."

"How many people live on your world, Richard?"

"We had over 6 billion people about 80 years ago. Then we had a major outbreak of natural disasters, diseases and a war that reduced the population to about three billion people within 30 years. They’re divided among the one hundred and fifty nations or so that we have."

"Three billion people? That is a lot of people. We have about one million here on our world."

"Well, count yourself blessed at this moment. At least you don't have the problems we go through. I surely don't wish our problems to be here."

"I will keep that in mind. Well our journey is almost done. Over there you see Thryson Castle in between that mesa and ravine."

"That is a big castle. It is very beautiful. It is just like some of our castles on my world that have survived after a thousand years."

"Thank you. But there are other castles on our world that are more colorful and elaborate than ours. There is one castle that is the largest. It is the location of our world capital; it is three times as big as ours. It is across the ocean to the East."

"I'm just amazed how beautiful your world is."

"Thank you. Well I just gave you a tour of Thryson Kingdom."

We near Renard’s cottage and we appear in a blink of an eye.

"That is incredible Renard. Your world is fantastic."

"Thank you. Come let's sit on the chairs on the front porch and we will talk some more."

We walk to the front porch and turn the chairs to face each other and then we sit down. We rock in them to get ourselves comfortable.

"My world has seven major continents with many islands scattered around. But the land mass ratio is about thirty percent and the water ratio is seventy percent."

"I would estimate our land mass ratio to be about less than twenty percent, Richard."

"To give a history of our world will take some time. There are many stories from different countries with their own view point, some tell lies, some tell the truth. Many nations and groups of people were conquered by others. Some of those names disappeared and are never heard from again. Some tried to live in peace, but there is always a conflict somewhere on our world. Some nations even tried to conquer the entire world to put it under their rule. But that always has failed no matter how hard they try."

"Is there some sort of united assembly so that nations can agree on certain issues?"

"There is, it is called the United Nations. But even that group has its problems. With so many different voices, there is always someone who will disagree with you and cause trouble for everyone else."

Renard laughs a bit and smiles. "That's funny, Richard. Even we have that problem here. It was not too long ago that we had a world war. There were two kingdoms here who tried to unite and come against the rest of us. We fought for about ten years. It was not pretty."

"What happened for the battle to start and end?"

"The two kingdoms were under a blockade. They used their dragons on their land to bring destruction to the other kingdoms. The other ten joined together and started using their own dragons."

"So basically, it was fire against fire."

"That's right. But what got our attention is when the dragons realized that they became very few in number. They almost killed themselves from existence. Once they realized that, they refused to take part in any more wars that the other kingdoms wanted."

"Did that get your world's attention?"

"It did, our great grandparents finally agreed as well because they almost caused the extinction of one of the First Ones. So they mutually sent out a cease fire edict to everyone and sent representatives to have peace talks. It took five years before any agreement was accepted. Our two rogue nations wanted to make sure they were not slighted in the Grand Hall when voting takes place for the welfare of the world."

"So they wanted concessions that they won't be attacked and appear to be humiliated. They wanted to keep their honor intact regardless. They want to appear to be right and everybody else is wrong."

"I see you've heard that before on your world Richard."

"Yes, Renard. But those leaders did not realize that they were sacrificing their own people for this honor. If they're not careful, there will be no people left in their nation to make it a nation. That is why there are coups within these countries. That is when the people will rise up and say, "Enough is enough."

"Yes that is what happened when the dragons withdrew from the battlefield. Those kings and queens were removed from their own thrones and new ones were sworn in for those two rogue nations."

"And I guess, Renard, that there are some who would come a generation later and do those evil deeds all over again. To try and regain their supposed honor by telling lies to their own people and sacrifice them again."

"That very well could happen again. So tell me about yourself so that I can see why you were selected."

"You mean to tell me you had no idea who the Maker was sending your message to?"

"That is right. The Maker sent my message and directed it to you. He also translated my words into your words for understanding."

"So, the Maker is the one who really chose me. ... Wow...oh my... this is too much to take in. I guess the Maker has His reasons for doing that." Then I got really quiet and then I let my eyes look at a flower in his garden … Sigh ... why me Maker? Then I hear a voice in my head.

You'll soon find out, my chosen one.

"You seemed to be upset by being chosen. Is there something wrong?"

I look back up and turn my face to Renard. "Huh? Well it is not being upset; I just got humbled a bit. We have a lot of different religions on my world and very few religions agree with each other on who the Maker is. There have been many wars done in the name of the Maker that they really tarnished His name."

"You mean they would use the Maker's name for their own purpose when He had nothing to do with it in the first place?"

"That's right."

"That is so wrong, Richard. No wonder your world is not ready to join a Local Group such as ours. Well I think we talked enough about politics. Tell me something about yourself."

"Well, my age is twenty years. Right now I'm a student at a major learning center in the state where I live. My studies will focus on Security Systems and Programming of Computer Systems. I already have a good understanding of the sciences and mathematics."

"Do you have any other interests that you like to do in your spare time?"

"I like to play a stringed instrument, it is called a guitar. It looks like that one hanging on your wall inside your cottage, but it is shaped differently with six strings."

"Ah, so that tells me your world understands music and song."

"Yes, in fact for a very long time. Perhaps for five thousand years. But it will probably be wise to hear your music first. I don't want to interfere with your progress. We have many different instruments, rhythms and melodies. Even I don't know them all. If I hear yours first, I can probably adapt and play something similar to your style."

"Is there anything else about you that we should know?"

"My family is still alive. I have a mother and father with two older brothers. Our family likes to go to the mountains near our home once in awhile for vacation. We all learned how to love the outdoors and how to remain calm when in the woods by ourselves and survive. We got involved in some youth organizations to help that out more."

"That's a good skill to have. But as I sit here, I sense you have a troubled soul. Do not worry about it. I will not pry. I just need to make sure you are of sound mind."

"Sound mind? I guess not everybody is perfect."

"Probably not, but we all have our silent loads that we carry within ourselves. I just want you to be of clear mind and not to be frustrated with what you are going through or problems in the future."

"I guess you lend an ear when someone needs help." I look a little downcast and then take a look out towards the trees and sighed.

"That is very true. The wizards and sorceresses have many duties to make sure our kingdom runs smoothly. But I do sense that you have some loss and hurt. Do you wish to talk about it?"

"Sigh... I guess I better. There are several things that go through my mind. I try not to think about them too much, because then it will distract me from my goals."

"That's what I mean by having a clear mind. Those distractions come and disturb your inner peace and give your soul some turmoil."

"I guess it has to do with growing up when I was younger. I am the youngest in my family. My two older brothers are about six and eight years older. Those two always teased me and never gave me any peace or respect. I had to take things into my own hands to get their attention to stop it."

"What did they do?"

"Well. they were coming into my room and taking some things from my room without me knowing it."

"But you knew they were."

"Yes, they would hide my things and force me to get mad. So one day I decided to get that proof for mom and dad. I took two devices with my dad's permission and hid them in my room so that it would get a good view. I then set up trigger with a timer. It would activate anytime someone would enter the room and leave. One would take still photographs the other device would record their movements."

"So now you had the proof."

"That's right. I did not say anything to them until I recorded everything for a month. I put the images all together into a nice presentation and showed it to mom and dad."

"So mom and dad were not happy with your brothers."

"Yes, they were grounded for an entire month with no privileges and no allowance. Their allowance was given to me."

"Grounded, what does that mean Richard?"

"It means once they come home from school. They have no privileges to leave the house. Their home chores are doubled as well."

"I bet that really upset them."

"Yes, but they conceded and apologized at the end of the month. They learned their lesson finally."

"Well at least some good came of it. I see that incident pointed you in the direction of your interest into security issues."

"Yes it did. It taught me how to take a problem and find a solution for it."

"Here is another question. Did you learn how to defend yourself?"

"I never did like to fight. Fighting does not seem to work sometimes. Because the defeated will want to come back and get revenge and hurt the other person putting himself on the same level as his opponent."

"Surely there is a need to fight when no other option is available. Don't you agree?"

"Perhaps, I guess it depends on the situation. But it really does not help when the opposition is bigger than you and you're out numbered. I wasn't prepared for what was about to happen one day. My dad sent me to a class to learn how to defend myself after wards. I did some school wrestling as well."

"I take it that's what happened to you?"

"Yes, I was walking home one day from school with a girl who lived next door to us then. As we neared the block where we lived, four older boys from the elementary school where we attended jumped out and made threats against us."

"They threatened the girl first, her name is Brianna. I got between them and Brianna and tried to protect her. Now their attention was focused on me. That is when the four of them beat mmm..me.. up...sniff... I mean why? The only answer I got was that we were smarter than them and they wanted to be first in the entire school. They d...d...did this so that they can g..gg..go to a better school when they graduate."

Renard reaches for a small cloth in his pocket and takes it out and hands it to me.

"Thanks." I wiped my eyes to clear the tears. Sigh... I pause and try to regain my composure.

"Were the boys found and punished?"

"Yes, they were reported and expelled from school and arrested."

"I take it there is more?"

"Well yes, you mention of a possible loss. It is Brianna."

"Your next door friend, did she get hurt?"

"No, about two years later our fathers were each given new orders to move their families to a different state. This was to help their company's new branch office location to get a good start."

"I'm sorry to hear that. But I guess when you're a child it is hard to understand that."

"Yes, the parents see the reason why easily. But try and explain that to a child to leave a friend. What made the hurt worse was that we received no new address where they moved to. I would have liked to keep writing to her with letters, but that never happened."

"But you did eventually get over it?"

"I did, but it did harden the heart a bit. But the times we had were great. I will keep those memories."

"Good, that is the spirit to have."

"I have a question Renard. What if somebody gets sick and needs medicine?"

"We can do that as well. But generally we have healers in many villages, towns and ports that use the herbs of the field and are not full fledged wizards and sorceresses themselves. They can heal most minor injuries and sickness. When it is beyond their training, they will call us."

"But they need to be trained so as not to make a mistake and hurt the person they are trying to help."

"Yes, that is right. So, do you know some herb lore already from your love of the outdoors?"

"Yes I do. They're the basics; especially distinguishing poisonous plants and animals from the safe ones. Then you need to know what to do if you get infected or sick; because if not treated quickly one can die or be very sick for days."

"Yes, we have the same problem here. But don't worry I will help you steer clear of our poisonous ones."

"Thanks."

"Well by judging the shadows on the trees out there it is time for the noon day meal. Come inside and I will fix up your first meal on Twainor."

"Thanks. I'm curious what your foods are like and how they taste."

"Well I'm sure it will be a new experience for you. I hope you will be honest and tell me what you think of them. But for your first meal I will keep it plain so that you can taste the food."

"That's good. My tongue does not like extreme hot and spicy. To me it distracts from tasting the food itself. But I do like some spices and herbs that help make the food taste better for its style of the region."

"Ah.... Thank you for telling me that. We have other regions on our world where that varies with their own unique flavors and spiciness."

"Well I guess the Maker likes the variety of life, Renard," I smile at Renard.

"Yes, go to my table over there and sit down. I will get a crystal out or a book and you can read and see some more information about my world."

"I have another question Renard. If you have books, does that require machinery to make the pages, put the print on it and bind it with a hard cover? I was just wondering."

"Ah good observation, you're going have to discover that for yourself. I have a crystal here that explains the various actions of daily life."

"Ah the master is instructing the student. I get it now, just like being in school." I give a few chuckles.

"Now you're beginning to see the picture." He smiles, "By reading and discovering it yourself, you will remember the information better and impresses it on the mind for decades to come."

We walk over to his table. I sit down in his carved chair and look at a crystal sphere that he set in front of me and sets it on a short pedestal. He recites a short spell while his right palm faces the sphere; soon there appears above it a misty sphere shape about two feet in diameter. It has images of his world with words and voice describing a scene of daily life. He touches the crystal again and it would go to the next scene.

"That is great Renard. Those pictures are beautiful.”

"Thank you. There is also sound with some of the images. All you have to do is touch the left or right side of the crystal sphere to turn the page. Touch the top or bottom to enlarge it or reduce the size of the image."

"I understand. Thanks for the instructions."

"I'll call you when I'm ready to serve the meal."

"Okay. Take your time. I'm going to enjoy this very much."

~~~000~~~

Renard walks back to the kitchen and begins to prepare the noon repast. Before he starts he brings out a contact crystal from his pocket and recites the incantation. Then the image of a man with a circlet of hammered silver on his head appears. He sets the crystal sphere on a small pedestal near the sink.

Renard washes his hands first. Then he starts washing and cutting the vegetables while he talks.

"Greetings my Lord."

"Greetings Renard; has our Outside Helper arrived?"

"He arrived two marks ago. His name is Richard Moore. He comes from the Sol System and the planet called Earth. He has a most interesting background and his world as well."

"I look forward to meeting him. What can you tell me about him so far?"

"He's twenty years old. But he is very informed of his knowledge, I sense with great detail. His specialty is with Computers and Security which we have heard of on other worlds within our Local Group."

"Yes, I remember hearing about that from some of the Emissaries that came to Lord Dryden's Castle several years ago. Their machines and inventions are their type of magic. Anything else I should know?"

"He says he has a good understanding of the Math and Sciences. He also knows how to take care of himself when alone in the woods. He also plays a musical instrument similar to our stringed ones."

"Excellent. Then he has a very active and curious mind and the ability to solve problems. He knows how things work. How's his state of mind?"

"He had some trouble growing up, but he handled it the best way that he could. I detected a few scars that still need some healing. I'm hoping this afternoon with Trianna's help to provide him the mental tools that he needs to deal with it effectively. I don't think he could do that for himself too well."

Renard puts the cut vegetables into a bowl and covers it with a plate. He raises his hands towards the plate and recites a heating spell. He takes a towel and lifts the plate off the bowl and sees that the vegetables are nicely steamed and hot. He sets the bowl aside to cool a bit.

"That is very good Renard. I need all my citizens whether born or honorary to be of clear mind. So that when presented with a difficult problem they will not get frustrated and angry to solve it."

"Yes my Lord. I will let you know how the sessions go this evening."

"Good. Did our magical world take him by surprise?"

"It did at first, but he soon accepted it. There is something that he told me that needs some investigation on our end."

"How so Renard?"

"There could be a connection between his world and ours."

"You're kidding me, a connection?"

"Yes, it appears they had the same type of First Ones as we do now."

"You said had?"

"Yes, my Lord. But they were there a long time ago, perhaps thousands of years ago on his world. But they're just rumors, myths, stories and legends now. Plus, he also said it is possible they had magic at one time, but it is now gone."

"Yes that is very interesting. Remind me to check our historical records at the Library here when we get some time. If it is not here, we’ll go to the Grand Library."

"Yes, my Lord."

"You've told me enough for now. I look forward to your contact this evening. Take care until then Renard."

"See you this evening, take care my King."

Well, now that the meal is prepared. We're ready to eat.