prologue - The Shining Stones
Thousands of years ago
The road to the fountain was longer than Marie expected.
She and Kayden left their house when the sun went down.
It was dark now and they had not reached the fountain yet.
"Kayden. How far is this fountain? We have been walking for the past two hours and my legs are hurt," Marie complained.
"It is close, stop complaining! And besides, it's about time you help me carry these water jugs to our family. I am tired of carrying them all by myself every week," he scolded her.
Marie lowered her head and kept her mouth shut for the rest of the road.
They were surrounded by the high trees and shrubs of the forest.
The ground was heavy and interwoven with stones, which did not ease the long hard walk.
The wind blew and caused a slight shift in the treetops.
Above them, the dark night sky was adorned by tiny glowing stars.
Marie looked sideways as a slight fear troubled her head. She was afraid to enter this forest in the morning, so she was definitely even more afraid of it when it was dark.
A rustle sounded behind the shrubs and Marie clung to her brother.
"Calm down, it's just a raccoon. It will not harm us as long as we do not attack it," Kayden reassured her.
Marie composed herself and chose to ignore any noise she would hear later on. They kept walking for a few more minutes.
"We arrived," he pointed toward the fountain.
Marie looked up to the fountain which was larger than a regular fountain.
On the other side of it, stood a tree with a thick stem and its roots were under the fountain's water.
They approached the water and bent down to fill the jugs.
The bottom of the fountain was full of various tiny stones.
"You put a stone in the jug," Kayden said and took it out.
The moment he threw the stone back to the water, the fountain started glowing and they both recoiled with their jaws dropped.
A strong, reddish and green light came from the spring.
"Look!" Kaden called and pointed at something inside the water.
Marie looked at the place where he pointed at, and noticed a sword with an emerald stone on it.
Next to the sword, there was a bracelet with crimson stone on it.
She reached into the water to lift the bracelet and cut her hand out of a sharp stone.
A drop of blood came out of the scratch and she wiped it and reached for the water again taking care not to be cut again.
She pulled out the glowing bracelet while Kaden took the glowing sword.
The bracelet's stone was crimson and the sword's stone was emerald, both were shiny and beautiful.
Suddenly the scratch in Marie's hand glowed with the color of the crimson stone, the crimson stone flickered and stopped a moment later.
"What is happening?" Kayden asked with wonder.
Marie glanced at her hand - the scratch was gone.
"Kayden," she widened her eyes with amazement. "I think the stone… healed the scratch".
Kayden frowned in confusion and studied the sword in his hand.
"These stones look like gems, but they feel magical," he thought.
"I want to keep them!" Marie smiled enthusiastically.
"Fine. You are keeping the bracelet and I am taking the sword," Kayden said. "Now let's go back to the village before mom and dad worry about us".
