Magnus Køhler was the son of an unfortunate farmer. I say "unfortunate," because despite the fact that he and his son were honest, hardworking individuals, they never had much money. Magnus's father had inherited the land from his own father, who had never had much success with farming either. Sure, the Køhlers always had enough food and money to survive, but never any more. It had been Magnus's dream to go travelling when he was old enough, but over the years it became clear that he would have to stay at home to help provide for his family. Therefore, Magnus had developed a new dream: to gain enough money to give his parents a comfortable life. So in addition to his work on the farm and in the market, he performed odd jobs for other villagers—cleaning stables, fixing roofs, even watching some of the village children. Most people liked him well enough; as I said, he was an honest, hardworking boy. But he could also be a little loud when he laughed, and he was extremely naïve about the world around him. "He's like an overgrown child," some said.
"He'll never find a good wife," said others. Of course, Magnus never heard any of this, and if he did, he never suspected that they were talking about him.
Anyway, I'm getting away from the story. The Køhler farm lay just outside a village too small to have a name in the kingdom of Stormhold. Though the kingdom had a bloody tradition when it came to selecting its king, the current rulers had settled things amicably and shared the throne. King Toris and King Feliks seemed nice enough, as far as Magnus was concerned, even if he understood nothing about the intrigue of royal affairs. They often visited the farms surrounding their castle to help work the fields and make sure their people were happy (the Køhlers' farm was too far and too small for the kings to ever visit or even know of).
What Magnus didn't know (and who could blame him?) was that there were many people who were dissatisfied with the current rulers. Very dissatisfied. In fact, one particular man was so unhappy that he thought he could do a better job, and he decided to become king no matter what it took. Which is why one night, using the dark spells of his ancestors, he pulled a star out of the sky. Unfortunately for him, but fortunately for our story, the star ended up landing on the other side of the kingdom from the man. Not too far, in fact, from a certain honest, hardworking farm boy.
Magnus had just finished tilling the land when he saw the falling star. He had heard a little about stars and their magic, but in that moment all he could remember was an old superstition about wishing on them. I want to go travelling, he thought and instantly regretted the selfish wish. But now it was too late, and he couldn't take it back. But then something amazing happened that no one had ever seen before; another star fell. This time, Magnus wished with all his heart for good fortune to come his family's way.
The ground shook underneath his feet; the stars had hit ground not far from the farm. Despite his naivety, Magnus did know that these stars could be his family's ticket to a better life. He took off in a sprint in the direction he had seen them fall.
A few miles away, the star opened his eyes slowly. He saw the night sky above him with his fellow stars twinkling down at him. He would have gasped, had the wind not been knocked out of him. He silently assessed the situation he was in: he was on Earth, no longer in his home in the sky. He also probably had broken his right arm, as he had landed on it, and it hurt quite a bit. He sat up slowly, finally taking a deep breath. He lay in the middle of a valley, no a crater, the crater he had created when he came crashing to Earth. And how had he fallen again? He remembered a grip around his ankle and a sudden yank, and he had fallen.
He gave a small sob, cradling his hurt arm. How could this have happened to me? I was just minding my own business, shining like I always do, and suddenly I'm pulled out of the sky. He was a minor star, too, so it didn't make sense to him that anyone would try to capture him.
"Eiríkur?" called a voice in the distance. The star could have easily placed it, but his head was still spinning from hitting the ground.
"He-hello?" he called back weakly. "Who's there?" A blond head appeared over the edge of the crater. It was another star, but now tears were blurring the young star's vision. The other star, he noticed, wasn't shining as they usually did. He looked down at himself and realized that he was no longer shining either. The other star scrambled over the edge and rolled down into the crater with an "oof." "Are you alright?" the first star asked weakly.
The second star stood quickly and wrapped his arms around the other. "Thank goodness I found you," he said. The first star, Eiríkur, flinched as pain shot through his right arm, and the other drew back. "I'm sorry, are you hurt?"
"Niklas," Eiríkur sighed in relief even as his arm throbbed. "What's going on?"
"You suddenly fell out of the sky, so I followed you down here." The second star, Niklas, gently wiped the tears from Eiríkur's eyes. "Don't worry, I'll get us back home."
"How? Do you have a Babylon candle?" Eiríkur winced as the other star carefully examined his hurt arm.
"No, but we'll find one."
"Niklas, I didn't just fall."
"What do you mean?"
"Someone pulled me down."
"What?" Niklas's sharp eyes looked at him. "Are you sure you didn't just fall? Or were you knocked down?"
"No, of course not!" Eiríkur glared at him. "I'm not that clumsy! I definitely felt something pulling me by my ankle."
"Hmm, let me see it." Niklas knelt down and lifted Eiríkur's silvery pant leg to inspect the ankle that he indicated. The younger star looked down when the other gasped quietly. There was an angry red mark wrapping around the pale skin, as if from a bad rope burn. "This is the work of dark magic," Niklas whispered. "We'll have to be very cautious down here. Clearly someone wants to use you for something terrible."
"But why me? I'm just a minor star; I don't even shine very brightly."
"Eiríkur…" Niklas looked at him oddly, but before he could say anything more, another voice called out to them.
"Oh, hullo!" Both stars looked in the direction of the voice and saw yet another blond head poking up over the side of the crater. The newcomer slid down in a much more graceful fashion than Niklas had, but neither star took much note of that. Niklas pulled Eiríkur behind him and glared at the stranger who grinned up at them. "Have either of you seen a star around here? There should be two, but one would be good enough for me."
"What do you want with a star?" Niklas snarled at the man.
"Well," he began, scratching his head. "I could use a bit o' good fortune in my life, so I made a wish on the stars. I, um, I'm not sure what to do to collect on the wishes."
"Niklas," Eiríkur whispered. "It can't have been this idiot who pulled me down."
"I think you're right, he doesn't even realize that we're stars."
"Wait, you two are the stars that fell?!"
"At least he has exceptional hearing to make up for his lack of intellect." Niklas sighed and helped the man to his feet. "I am Niklas, and you must be the one who wished for a better life for his family."
"Woah, you heard me?" The man gave an even bigger grin. "Name's Magnus Køhler, nice to meetcha!"
"I thought you wished to go travelling?" Eiríkur asked quietly.
"Oh, yeah, just forget about that wish, okay?" Magnus looked sheepishly between the two confused stars. "I'd rather wish for my folks to have some more money."
"That's, ah, noble of you," Niklas said. "If you help us, we will do what we can to make your wish come true."
"Of course! How can I help ya?"
"We need a Babylon candle to get back home, and my friend needs a doctor." As if to prove Niklas's point, Eiríkur gave a tiny whine and held his arm to himself.
"A Babylon candle? I've only heard of those in legends, so I'm afraid I can't help ya there. But the village doctor does owe me a favor."
"Is it a long walk?" Eiríkur asked.
"It's a few miles from here." Magnus took note of the star's condition and nodded solemnly. "I can carry you, if ya want me to."
Eiríkur said "no" at the same time that Niklas said "yes." The former glared at the latter weakly. "I will not be carried like a child," he said.
"Yes, you will, or else it will take all night to get there. If there's a sorcerer out there trying to capture you, we do not want to be outside that long."
"Fine," conceded the star. Magnus knelt in front of him, and he carefully climbed onto his back and wrapped his left arm around the man. The farm boy's back muscles tensed as he stood up slowly, and Eiríkur couldn't help but notice just how toned those muscles were. Niklas eyed the human warily, making sure he didn't do anything to hurt the younger star. And so the three of them set off towards the village so small that it had no name.
Meanwhile on the other side of Stormhold, the man who hoped to become king cursed his luck at having lost the star he worked so hard to pull down, and he began preparing a tracking spell. He would find that star and use it to become king, if it was the last thing he did!