The full moon had reached the apex of its climb into the cloudless night sky as a lone, dark figured slipped quickly and quietly along deserted streets of Avalor City, expertly keeping to the shadows with the stealth of a cat on the hunt. Pulling his face deeper into the shadows of his hooded cloak, Nicolàs de Alva could feel the eerie stillness of the city pressing against him on all sides like a death shroud. His heart clenched with grief as he considered–– not for the first time in the past thirty years–– that this silence promising destruction to anyone who dared disturb it had become law in his beautiful homeland.
He had been but a child, but Nicolàs could remember a time when laughter and light had filled the streets of the city–– even at night. Children played outside in the sunshine and there was music and dancing and magic. It was a time of peace and prosperity for Avalor. Now, however, grim oppression was the predominant feeling throughout the land. The kingdom prospered financially thanks to bustling trade, but the people were taxed to near poverty and joy had been all but eradicated from the hearts and minds of the people, thanks to the wicked sorceress who called herself their queen–– Queen Shuriki.
Nicolàs remembered what that freedom felt like–– what those peaceful days in Avalor had been like. He dreamed of the day when light would once again overcome the darkness and peace would be restored to the land. He believed in the whispered rumor that their lost princess was out there somewhere–– trapped–– and that she would return to free her people someday. His own father-in-law, the royal wizard of Avalor, had disappeared thirty years prior and it was believed that he was searching for a way to free the princess–– the rumor coming directly from his mother-in-law.
Nicolàs had been placing his hope in the older man for many years, but the time had come for he, himself, to do his part to make his dream come true. He dreamed of a time when his own son would be able to grow up in a land free from the fear and darkness–– where he would be free to nurture the magical talent that was his birthright and his heritage–– the magical talent running through his veins that he was completely oblivious to, and for good reason.
As he rounded a corner the sound of brisk footsteps upon the cobblestones froze him in his tracks. Only one thing would make that sound at this hour and that was the royal guard patrol. The sorceress had established a curfew many years before and Nicolàs was out past it by many hours. Eyes darting around frantically, he dove behind a nearby shrubbery and willed the air around him to mask his shadow as the guards marched past.
Thinking the coast was clear, Nicolàs stepped out from the shrub, breathing a sigh of relief. Cautiously, he peered up and down the street and just as he thought he was alone and was about to release the magic cloaking him from view, e gasped as icy fear coated his veins–– yet another group of footsteps approached, and this time it was a patrol of four guards.
Odd.
Usually the guards patrolled in pairs and only a few were out in the city at any given time–– well away from this neighborhood. He made it a point to know as much as possible about the queen's brute squad so that he could avoid them.
Nicolàs was a sorcerer, and that was a very dangerous thing to be in Avalor. The sorceress queen had outlawed all magic but her own over thirty years before. The trouble was that he couldn't help it, the magic was in his blood, and as a sorcerer he had to use the magic daily or risk it driving him mad. He was no coward, but neither was he a fool. Though he hated having to hide who he was, Nicolàs had kept his head down and had been practicing magic in secret since his power had manifested at the age of ten.
Once the patrol had passed, Nicolàs left the magical cloak around him and continued on, dashing to the end of the street and into a back alley. Once he was completely ensconced in the shadows, he let the magic fall away.
"Nicolàs? Is that you?" A voice whispered from the shadows.
Nicolàs whirled on the spot, raising his hands defensively, which had begun to glow as he instinctively prepared a spell.
"Who's there?" he whispered fiercely, eyes darting from shadow to shadow in an attempt to find the source of that voice.
A cloaked figure slid from a dark alcove to his left, hands raised in surrender as it approached the sorcerer. "It's ok, it's just me."
"Lord Ortega?"
"Shhh, yes. I thought I'd heard something, but think it was just your footsteps. However, we cannot be too cautious. Come on, we're going to be late."
As Nicolàs peered into the shadows and crept around the waste bins, he could see the darkened door in the distance that was their destination. The two men hurried forward, when, at last, they reached the end of the alleyway and stood before the darkened door. To the casual observer, there was nothing notable about this door. The building was an old abandoned warehouse. Not a hint of light showed through the boarded up windows and the flowerbeds surrounding the lot were bare.
Nicolàs reached out to rap the door with a knuckle. Knock-knock–– pause–– knock-knock–– knock.
They waited a moment before a muffled voice spoke up, "It's so dark out there. Has the dawn come?"
"No, but there is hope of a better day coming soon."
Upon those words, the door was unbarred and opened just enough to allow the cloaked figures entrance. Nicolàs and Lord Ortega strode silently down a dark hall and stopped before a rather solid looking wall.
Clearing his throat, he said quietly, "A better day is coming." There was a quiet crackle of magic and the wall before them shimmered. The two men strode straight through the wall which instantly solidified behind them.
"I've always thought that was an impressive bit of magic," Lord Ortega murmured.
Nicolàs brushed a lock of hair out of his eyes and flashed a crooked grin as he said, "Thank you, my lord, but it's just a simple combination of protective enchantments melded together with an illusion spelled to respond to a spoken key phrase."
Smirking, Lord Ortega rolled his eyes. "Right. Simple."
The pair climbed down several flights of stairs and found themselves standing before two men in leather armor, armed with an array of daggers and swords as they stood guard outside a door.
"Has the dawn come?"
"No, but there is hope of a better day coming soon."
Nodding, they stepped aside to let the men pass through the door, which was but another illusion blocking the light and noise coming the room beyond. They stepped into the well lit room crowded with men and women from all over the region. There were lords, merchants from the city, docks workers and villagers all gathered together in that secret room.
They had just stepped into the heart of the Avaloran uprising. They had been meeting for months and growing in number by the day. Their ultimate goal was to find and free the lost princess and take back her throne from the usurping witch.
Though they were nowhere near their ultimate goal, they were finally in a position where they could begin causing some serious trouble for their so-called queen and lend a helping hand to the people of Avalor.
"Oh, you two are finally here. Let's get started," a no-nonsense female voice said from their left.
"Sorry, Rosalina," Lord Ortega said, "There are more patrols in the area than usual this evening. It was tricky trying to get past them. Which, by the way, seems really suspicious. Double the guard around the perimeter and send out a few shadows to trail the nearest patrols. Something strange is going on and we don't want to be caught off guard."
Nodding, Rosalina hurried to do as he asked. Nicolàs took his usual place in the back corner of the room and waited anxiously for the meeting to begin. Quiet and reserved, Nicolàs' personality was much more suited to the life of a cloistered scholar than as a rebel, however, he possessed a deep desire to do what was right and felt a driving need to do whatever it took to bring the light back to his home. If that meant lending his unique skill set to the rebellion, then so be it.
"Order! Order!" a voice at the front of the room barked out, "Come to order, please!" The dull roar around the room dimmed to a murmur and finally to silence as each person turned their attention to the speaker. "We have a lot to cover and not much time. Thank you all for coming. As you all know, it's been many long years since whispers of resistance first began, but the other leaders and I believe that we are finally in a position to start making a stand against the usurper. And tonight we hope to finally begin putting our plans into motion. We finally have eyes and ears at high levels of leadership within the palace which has give us the invaluable information we've been seeking all of these years. We now have a better idea of Shuriki's long term goals and can position ourselves to subtly oppose her in preparation of the day when our lost princess returns and we stand with her to take back our kingdom. We will need–"
A leather armor clad guard burst into the room–– out of breath and eyes wide with panic. "They're coming!" he gasped.
Silence fell upon the room as each individual stared on shock at the guard.
The guard was nearest Nicolàs, who took a step toward him and did said more calmly than his racing heart betrayed, "Who is coming? Why?"
"Her guards–– A legion of them! Here! Ordered to capture everyone. Davis–– captured–– tortured for information. The enchantments on the building–– she knows and is coming to break them!"
Silence.
Nicolàs' worst fears were becoming reality. He had to get out of there. Shuriki knew about him. He had to get home, to Rafa. To little Mateo. They had to run for it. Tonight. Maybe if they could get some distance away from Avalor, they could find clues about the princess. Find a way to bring her home. He turned to the room at large and shouted. "Well, what are you waiting for? Run! Warn your families before it's too late!"
The room erupted in chaos as people ran for the door. Nicolàs darted out the door first, preparing the strongest force spell he had in hopes that he could somehow buy his fellow resistance members some time to escape. Darting up the stairs and through the illusionary wall, he muttered the counterspell to release the magic and the wall vanished. Cloaking himself in magic, he burst out the front door just as the legion of guards was approaching, Shuriki at their head. He sent the force spell rushing toward them, knocking Shuriki and most of her guards to the ground. Nicolàs continued running with all of his might, focusing his magic on maintaining the invisibility around him. He could hear the shouts and Shuriki screaming orders behind him as the guards regrouped and converged on the rebel headquarters.
He darted through the city and out towards the moon cliffs where his home was. All was quiet around in the streets but he didn't dare slow down or release the magic cloaking him for fear that there would soon be a contingent of guards in pursuit. His only thought was to get his wife and son to safety–– whatever the cost.