Chapter 1
CHAPTER ONE
The memory of the recent trauma filled Clara Ann’s mind like black sludge. It had happened only a few days ago, when she faced the worst enemy of all heroes and heroines—the fear of death. Flashes of that night returned to her memories, stinging her like venomous wasps. She woke up at night, sweaty and with a scream on her tongue, but not a sound escaped her throat. She saw herself in the middle of a deep forest, confronting her arch-enemy, the enemy of all good people—the man in black, Zarathus Bonas. He caused the car crash, and poor Mr Robinson ended up in a coma in the hospital. Because of him, they staggered through the deep woods, searching for a way out—only to finally meet him, alive, in the flesh and bone. On Fear Hill, near the Wolf Gorge Lake, in the forests surrounding the town of Wordem.
Even now, Clara recalled those excerpts from her life because, at the time, her entire existence seemed to have shrunk to a single word: survive. To survive and save her friends who were travelling with her.
She stood on the balcony, on the second floor of an ancient house, amidst a sprawling garden and an orchard. She watched the setting sun cast exquisite colours across the sky. The red seemed to spill across the heavens like fresh blood. If she hadn’t been lucky a few days ago, that blood could have been hers and her friends’. It could have belonged to many heroines and heroes.
As the sky cloaked itself in the mantle of night and distant stars emerged, Clara Ann sighed and closed her eyes. She let the lukewarm wind tousle her blonde hair, caress her eyelashes and lips. In the last year, her life had changed 360 degrees. The timid girl from the orphanage had become a young woman brimming with life and strength, with faith in herself. She had met friends whom she believed would be her friends for life. She started attending a private school in London, though she had never even dreamed of it. She has good adoptive parents.
But what had most profoundly changed her life was the simple realisation that alongside our earthly world, there existed a world of charms and spells. A mysterious land, Merisilia, accessible only to the chosen few. Clara understood that she possessed the talent—the talent to cast spells and enchant—and also why her parents were dead. Merisilia was not a free country. It was ruled by Zarathus Bonas, an evil sorcerer who had subjugated it. Fortunately, there were also many good sorcerers, such as Eliza, who mastered many spells, or even their teacher, Elena Shorland, who initiated Ann into this mysterious, dangerous world. And so, at such a young, fragile age, Clara Ann grasped the power of true friendship, destiny, and the meaning of the inner journey.
Clara gazed at the cloudless, starry sky. She admired it, as only a young girl can romantically admire the starry expanse. Finally, she admitted that she could be grateful to have survived. For a thirteen-year-old, she was immensely aware.
She stepped inside. She walked across the dark, moonlit room and closed the door behind her. Inside, she sensed that the enemy was once again preparing to attack after his improbable defeat. She walked through the room into the dark hallway and turned into the door on the left. Bright light shone from beneath the gap. Clara Ann knocked, and after hearing her friend’s permission, she opened the door.
“Still unpacking?” she asked, stating the obvious. Somehow, after everything, she couldn’t engage in a normal conversation with her friend.
“Yeah. And where have you been for so long? Are you avoiding me?” Rebeca exclaimed, scrutinising Clara Ann with her narrow, grey eyes. Clara’s evasive behaviour hurt her. She would have preferred to talk constantly about what happened to them in the woods. And since she couldn’t tell anyone else except her or Thomas, because revealing the secret would lead to great harm, she turned precisely to Clara Ann.
“No,” Clara replied softly. “I was watching the sunset from the balcony. I was thinking.”
“My parents were frantic when they heard about our accident. They wanted me to come home immediately,” she reminded her, as if Clara didn’t already know.
“I know,” she agreed and sat down on the bed. She didn’t want to think about it, so she changed the subject. “Do you like it here?”
“Sure,” Rebeca nodded. “I’m glad I can be with you and Thomas, and it’s amazing here.” She replied convincingly, though worry sounded in her voice.
“Let’s go see Thomas,” Clara suggested when Rebeca was opening her mouth again.
“Okay,” she agreed, “I’ll just finish this.”
And she silently finished unpacking clothes from her suitcase.
Together, as if a silent consensus reigned between them, they went into the next room. Thomas was sitting on the bed, turning over a compass in his hands—the one his father had given him for his tenth birthday long ago.
“So you finally arrived,” he remarked.
“How are you?” Clara Ann wanted to know and sat down next to him on the bed. Rebeca stood nearby.
“When I think that three days ago at this time, we might have met Bonas…” he replied nervously to her question.
He tried to appear strong, but the truth was he had no magical abilities, neither innate like Clara Ann nor acquired like Rebeca. He could be an easy target.
Instead of fear, anger flashed in Clara Ann’s eyes.
“It was terrible, and you, Ann,” they looked at each other, and Rebeca finished: “you saved us.”
“If you hadn’t been there, then…” Thomas drew his finger across his neck to indicate death.
Clara felt uncomfortable. They were giving her credit for something that was more instinctive and accidental than a conscious victory. She didn’t want to think about it. She wanted to bury it all, forget about the whole of Merisilia, about having any mission. But she couldn’t. That’s not what heroines do.
“I didn’t save you,” she shrugged, “I just bolted the easiest way and took you with me,” she clarified.
“Right,” Thomas rolled his eyes.
“Who said the spell to get Bonas away from us?” Rebeca insisted.
Their fleeting conversation—the first serious one since it happened—was interrupted by Olivia Freas, Clara Ann’s adoptive mother.
“Children, come downstairs for hot chocolate and sandwiches!”
Clara Ann felt that the address “child” no longer suited her and that she was somewhat out of place.
“So, shall we go?” Rebeca suggested. Ann knew she must be hungry.
A few moments later, they were in the cozy kitchen, fragrant with hot chocolate and lit by the muted light of a lamp. They sat around the round table and took sandwiches. Everyone slowly sipped hot chocolate from their mugs.
They felt Olivia’s worried gaze on them. She took hard what had happened to her adopted daughter and the driver. She couldn’t understand it and was considering getting Clara Ann a psychologist. But it was too soon for that. It was better to let things settle; perhaps everything would eventually explain itself.
When Ann was in her bed, it was almost midnight. She turned off the lamp on the nightstand and lay down in the soft bed. She tossed and turned for a long time—afraid of the nightmares that had plagued her for the last three nights. She knew it was related to what she had experienced, but she tried not to dwell on it. Finally, she fell asleep.
The morning sun was sharp, too sharp for Clara Ann living in the English countryside. Clara woke up and sat up in fright. She felt two red, jackal-like eyes staring at her, and a dark figure lurking. But the room was empty, bathed in sunlight. She sighed and rubbed her eyes. It was all just a dream. To chase it from her mind, she got up and hurried to the bathroom. She met Rebeca there.
“Goo-d morn-ing,” she said through her teeth, as she was currently brushing them.
“You too,” Mary replied.
“How did you sleep? Did you have those nasty dreams too?” she continued and rinsed her mouth.
“No,” Clara Ann lied. Heroines are not weak.
“I did… I dream about him… over and over,” she shuddered, as if trying to shake the feeling off.
“It will pass. We are safe now,” Clara reassured her, though she knew herself it wasn’t true. The enemy was hibernating, but he would wake up eventually. And things would get bad.
Clara changed and combed her thick, golden hair. She made her bed and headed for the kitchen. Thomas and Rebeca were already sitting there. Mrs Freas was drinking coffee.
“Good morning!” Clara greeted everyone and sat down between Rebeca and Thomas. Mrs Freas served them a plate of pancakes and cocoa.
“Enjoy your meal,” she wished them and nervously sipped her coffee.
“Where is Arthur?” Clara Ann asked. That’s what she called her adoptive father.
“He went for a walk in the garden. He goes jogging every morning,” she explained.
As if on cue, the door opened, and Arthur Freas walked in.
“Good morning, everyone!” he wished with a cautious smile. He tried to act as if everything was fine.
“Morning,” Olivia replied and got up from the table. She placed a plate with sausage, eggs, and fresh toast in front of Arthur.
“Thank you, Olivia,” he said and heartily tucked into the food.
Olivia was putting the dishes into the dishwasher when someone knocked on the door. She went to open it. A postman stood on the threshold. Olivia accepted the letter, closed the door, sat down, and began to unwrap the envelope. She frowned as she read the letter. Clara Ann didn’t attach much importance to it. Then, however, Olivia looked at her and said:
“Arthur and I need to go to town. Alistar is off today, but you can certainly take care of yourselves. There’s food in the fridge from yesterday. Since we are going to Wordem to run some errands, we won’t be back until nine at night, maybe even later.” She said secretively.
Clara Ann, however, suspected. It must concern the accident. After all, their driver, Mr Robinson, was in the hospital in Wordem. But she said nothing.
Arthur and Olivia left around nine in the morning. Mary Ann knew she should take advantage of it. She should go back to Merisilia and find out the news from Eliza. On the one hand, she absolutely didn’t want to go there. She wanted peace from her double life. But she knew she had to. She had to be sure. That’s what heroes and heroines do.
Clara called her friends over and told them her plan. Then she closed her eyes and imagined a light portal. She stretched out her right hand and said, “Open up.”
A strange blue light appeared in the space, creating a kind of passage. Mary Ann opened her eyes and sighed as she looked at her friends. Why couldn’t she be normal? After what had happened a few days ago, she truly wished for it with all her heart.
She took a step forward into the portal and suddenly vanished from her room.
She found herself in a completely different world. She stood in a vast, endless dry plain. It looked almost like a desert, but it had no sand or dunes. There was no sign of life anywhere—no plants, no animals, just an endless, barren plain beneath a blue sky. Clara waited for her friends, and when they appeared beside her, she approached Thomas and offered him her hand. She waited until Rebeca also took hold, and together they soared into the air.
They flew over the plain, the world flashing beneath them, even though every piece of land resembled the next. A few moments later, they saw Eliza’s cottage below them, tucked under a dry, rocky hill. The small, wooden house nestled under a rocky overhang.
They climbed down, and Clara hurried to the door. She knocked.
Everyone heard footsteps, and the door opened after a few seconds. Eliza stood in the doorway.
“Oh, it’s you.” She said, as if expecting someone else. “Come in then.” She looked strange, alert. That expression did not suit her otherwise beautiful face.
They entered the spacious kitchen, in the centre of which stood a table with seven chairs. A fire was smouldering in the hearth, and something was simmering in a cauldron. Herbs hung from the ceiling, and the place smelled of lavender and thyme.
“How are you coping?” she asked, looking nervous.
“Well, quite well,” Clara Ann replied, lying again. “And you?”
“Me too,” she shrugged, but Clara suspected she was hiding something. She watched her put the kettle on the stove to brew tea from the herbs hanging above the table. “Why did you come here, anyway? When I came to see you a few days ago, I told you not to come.” She remarked sternly.
Rebeca and Thomas looked at Clara Ann.
“To ask what’s new in Merisilia,” she finally replied after a short pause.
“New?” Eliza exclaimed, averted her gaze, and returned to brewing the tea. “They say Bonas has plans…” she rubbed her eyes tiredly.
“What plans, Eliza?” Ann impatiently asked, though she would have preferred to bury her head in the sand like an ostrich. But that’s not what heroes and heroines do.
“Our spy at the Council of the Wise said that Bonas was instructing his cronies on what to do.” She continued, but she told them nothing new. She was avoiding something.
“And what are those plans?” Clara Ann persisted.
Eliza sighed and then said quietly:
“You are still children, but you have the right to know, as it concerns you. Especially you, Clara Ann. Bonas wants to unleash a war. A war for Merisilia.” She pronounced.
Silence fell. Clara Ann felt her heart flip in her chest. She saw Rebeca cover her mouth with her hand and Thomas turn pale.
“You can’t be serious… a war? What… what does that mean?” Rebeca spoke haltingly.
“It looks like it, and it seems he is truly serious. He ordered Lord Nyx to go to the north of the country and recruit the Turifuts,” she said with disgust.
“And what are they?” Thomas asked, confused.
“People would call them giants,” Eliza said quickly, “they are monsters ten to fifteen metres tall. Fire spews from their mouths, and they feed on people. They were banished to the edge of the country precisely because of their inhuman nature. He now wants to summon them to his side,” she explained.
Rebeca just stood silently, and Thomas felt fear grip him. Neither of them could imagine what such a war was like. What suffering meant. Ann, however, knew all about suffering and internal war.
“I expected it. I knew it would be something like this,” she said quietly. Then a fighting spirit crept into her. “But then something needs to be done about it, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, we have already sent people from our side after them, too,” Eliza replied. “But I doubt they will switch sides; animals are not enough for them, they demand human sacrifices, and we… we cannot provide that. We want to avoid unnecessary bloodshed—even of enemies.” She said.
“It’s terrible,” Rebeca whispered. Eliza nodded.
“Don’t you dare get involved in this. This is an adult matter,” she emphasised. That angered Ann, but she said nothing in response. “You know what? You should go now. Your presence here… well, just go.” She commanded them.
They didn’t even taste the tea she had made for them. Stunned, they left Eliza’s cottage, and Clara Ann opened a passage back to Earth. They stepped into it and arrived back inside.
They found themselves in Ann’s room. Meanwhile, Eliza’s words kept drumming in Clara Ann’s head. Is it really true? Maybe not… But what if it is? She couldn’t even bear to think about it. Until now, she had protection, but what would happen if Bonas won the war for Merisilia? If even the last free person falls, will they be killed? That cannot happen… She cannot just stand by and watch. She is only thirteen, just a girl, but she also possesses great power. And perhaps she was destined for all of this.
“Let’s go to the library,” Mary suggested before her friends could ask anything. She led them through the house to the magnificent library full of shelves packed with books. They sat around the coffee table in red armchairs.
“Bonas is preparing for war,” Clara Ann repeated to herself.
“But we don’t know for sure,” Rebeca uncertainly remarked. She was shaking all over.
“That’s true, but what if he really is planning it? Do you know what that means?” Clara Ann said, but Rebeca interrupted her.
“It means that for now, we have zero chance. Bonas might have an army of ten thousand, and us?” she stammered.
“And us?” Ann asked angrily. “Do you think every resident of that cursed country is with him? Of course not! But you’re right, against Bonas’s army of monsters and that snake-man of his, we have a one-in-a-million chance. But maybe we can win the Turifuts over to our side.” She contemplated aloud.
“Eliza said we should leave it to the adults,” Thomas reminded her strictly.
“But I can’t leave it to the adults! I’m almost an adult, too! And it concerns me just as much as anyone else among them. Me even more, because he always wanted to kill me.” She flared up.
“And what do you want to do?” Thomas became agitated. Rebeca just fearfully shifted from foot to foot.
“Everything in the present begins in the past,” Mary Ann declared and held her chin in thought.
“What do you mean by that?” he raised an eyebrow.
“I mean that the key to his weaknesses and how to defeat him lies in his past. And that is connected to me, to my family. We need to find out more about him. In Merisilia, they only know one side of him. But there is another part of him that relates to human life. To the life of my ancestors. We have to go to my great-grandparents’ house and to their factory. It’s lying there gathering dust, I know… but in the dust, you can see footprints. And those will lead us…”
