~ CHAPTER ONE ~

The Last Page

"IAN THE INVVINNNNNNCIBLE!"

Barley Lightfoot pumped his fist in the air, causing Guinevere the II to swerve dangerously.

"Barley, watch it!" Ian cried, his face slamming into the car door window.

"Sorry, sorry," Barley chuckled, steadying the old van.

"It's fine," Ian shook his head with a laugh. "And for the last time, that is not gonna be my wizard name!"

"We shall see," Barley said, waggling his eyebrows mysteriously, earning an eyeroll from his little brother. Turning into the lane in front of New Mushroomton High, Barley parked right in front of the schools' intimidating double doors and reached across Ian to throw the car door open. "School awaits, young mage! Learn all you can – and tonight, we venture out on another epic quest!"

"If by epic quest, you mean getting the groceries for Mom before magic practice, then yeah, I'll see you then," Ian chuckled. He climbed out of the car and gave a little wave to his brother, ignoring the stares of many passing students. "Bye Barley!"

"Until we meet again, brother!" Barley flourished, revving the engine and squealing away in a cloud of dust.

Ian coughed and laughed, waving his hand in front of his large blue nose. He turned and brushed off his red plaid shirt, and pushed aside the blue curls in his eyes, taking in the school with brownish eyes. New Mushroomton High was tall and old, although definitely not from times of yore. Its many floors and windows definitely looked more weathered than they had a year ago – given the fact that they had all been torn apart to form a magic stone dragon curse, and then put back together again with Ian's young magic skills. Not that Ian wasn't proficient in magic, but the school did still look pretty beat up – the dragon mascot motif definitely needed to be repainted. Ian loved coming here.

To think a year ago he hated this place.

But school was where Ian got to hang with his friends. It was where he learned science, and chemistry, and biology, and more science. It was where, in between class, he would study spells from the first-edition copy of Quests of Yore that Barley had bought him; and then occasionally test those spells. In class. Not so sneakily.

Ian winced a little at the thought of facing Mrs. Omar after yesterday's chemistry class explosion that had very little to do with chemistry.

"Hey Ian!" The young elf turned to see his gang headed his way, led by Sadalia. She waved, her near purple skin a soft contrast to his pale sky-blue. "Nervous to see Mrs. Omar today?"

"Now how would you know that?" Ian smirked.

His fawn friend Christie cut in, bouncing her red highlights. "Because you're easier to read than a zoology textbook. Also, Sadalia's a genius."

"She's won another essay contest!" cried the boy standing beside her.

"Regina! Sadalia was gonna tell him!" Max exclaimed, the giant purple troll glaring at his pink cyclops friend.

"Sorry," Regina apologized, winking at Ian.

"Congrats, Sadalia," grinned Ian. "What's that make, three this year? I guess you'll get a notice in the school paper."

"Yep! And guess who's writing it."

Ian hid his smile behind his hand. "You?"

"The way they slave me!" Sadalia threw her hands in the air. "SURELY there's another good writer in this school! At least one!"

"You can really prop yourself up though if you write it," Max poked fun.

"Or I could do it for you!" Christie offered.

"No please Christaline, stick to photography."

"Op, we're here!" Ian said. Their conversation had brought them to the main doors.

"Okay guys, we'll see y'all at History!" Sadalia said, heading towards the left hallway with Regina and waving to the others. They had Literature first period while the rest had Science.

"Bye!"

"Bye guys–" Ian began, turning to close the door behind them. He stopped and stared.

Across the courtyard, standing at the very edge of the road in front of the school, stood a blue elf girl. She was very small because of the distance, so all Ian could make out was her slumped shoulders and dark blue waves of hair.

Then she slowly lifted her head, and Ian could see she was terrified.

"Hey," he said slowly. "Christie, who's that?"

Christie popped her head out beside him, peering across the yard. The fun, flighty fawn knew every soul – and therefore every bit of gossip – in the school.

"I don't know," she frowned. "It must be the new girl then."

"New girl?"

Ian felt Max come to peer over his shoulder, the troll hulking over the two of them even with his crutches.

"Yeah," Christie said. "Heard a new girl would be transferring here last week. Mid-semester too, rough. See the way she's clutching her books? Definitely her first time in front of this building. I don't blame her, this place is monstrous. We only have what, 300 students?"

"406," Max stated matter-of-factly.

"407, you mean," Ian murmured, still watching the girl. She hadn't moved a muscle.

"We should get going," Christie said, peeking at her phone. "We're gonna be tardy in less than two minutes."

"Since when do you care about being tardy?" Max teased.

"What about her?" Ian asked. "She hasn't moved an inch."

"And?"

"Maybe we should help her. I'm sure she doesn't wanna be tardy either."

Just then the bell rang – reminding Ian with a wince of the giant stone dragon – and the new girl slowly moved her feet, heading for the door.

"Look, she's coming, problem solved." Christie said. "Let's go!"

Ian's friends turned away, and he reluctantly followed them, leaving the other stragglers to hold the door for the new girl.

o o o

Ian sat nervously down in his chair at Science First Period, his favorite class, the new girl evaporating from his mind in favor of the glare Mrs. Omar was giving him across the room. Thanks to new sitting arrangements he sat in his old place in the middle of the classroom, but without any smelly troll feet nearby. He was close enough to the board, however, to feel the heat of any withering glare thrown his way.

I wonder if the heat of a glare has any magic in it.

"Good Morning," snapped Mrs. Omar, sounding like it was anything but good. "I will begin roll call. Anyone tardy will help clean the blue slop off the chemistry lab walls."

Ugh, why won't she just let it go.

"An immediate detention for that eyeroll, Mr. Lightfoot."

Dang it. Ian looked sulkily down at his desktop. Maybe my newfound confidence isn't ALL good.

"And how about you? Care to explain YOUR reasons for disrespectful tardiness?"

Ian looked up – and there was the new girl, standing in the classroom doorway and hugging her books as if they made up the last shield in a battle against a thousand dragons. And they might as well have been for the way Mrs. Omar was glaring at her.

"Uh…" she whispered so softly Ian wasn't quite sure if he'd imagined it or not.

"Speak up, girl!"

Now that she was a lot closer Ian took the second she stood there silent to take her in. She had sapphire blue skin, just a little darker than his own. Her ears were tiny for an elf's, the tips just poking out of her blue curls. These curls were almost midnight color, falling around her face and shoulders and hiding her pale purple eyes from clear view. She was short, and a little curvy, and wore a gray top with a charcoal skirt. There was a four-point white star printed on her shirt – or at least that's what Ian thought he saw when the girl hefted the books she held.

The girl took another deep breath and whispered the tiniest bit louder. "I'm, um, Miriel? Miriel Brandis? I'm, uh…"

"Oh, you're the new student," Mrs. Omar sniffed. She looked at some papers on the desk. "I suppose your tardiness can be forgiven this once, on that account."

"Thank you." Again that breath-like whisper.

"Now where shall we put you?" Mrs. Omar looked up and addressed the class. "Where is a free seat?"

"She can sit here!"

All eyes turned on Ian, who had jumped up and had his hand high in the air. His ears turned dark pink, but he remained standing.

"And where will you sit, Mr. Lightfoot?" Mrs. Omar just looked tired now.

"I can sit, uh, over there, Mrs. Omar!" Ian pointed to the only empty seat, which stood near the back against the wall – and directly in front of Gorgomon Greenick's desk.

"I thought you requested to move from that very desk because our friend Gorgomon was – and I quote – not the most hygienic neighbor."

"That's okay, Mrs. Omar, I can handle– I-I mean I'll be fine." Ian glanced at the girl. "I can see fine from there, but it would be better for, uh, Miriel to sit closer to the board, right? So she can get as caught up as she can? It's gotta be hard moving schools, and this will make it…easier…right?"

"Whatever." Mrs. Omar starting stacking papers. "Mr. Lightfoot, go sit over there, Ms. Brandis, in the middle. Turn to chapter 17."

Ian grabbed his bag and books and the strange stick that leaned against his desk, before glancing at the door again.

Miriel was giving him the tiniest smile.

He smiled back, then turned and hurried to his new seat, ignoring the giggles and whispers that followed him. He stopped in front of Gorgomon, who just stared at him.

"Gorg," Ian did his best to cross his arms with his hands full.

"Yeah yeah I know," the troll muttered, taking his feet down from the chair in front of him.

"Thank you Gorg," Ian stated, sitting down and feeling more than a little smug.

Class began, and Ian glanced around the room at his friends and at the girl sitting timidly in his old seat. He opened his textbook, remembering Barley's promise to train with him later, and grinned.

Today was gonna be a great day.

o o o

The 3 o'clock bell was ringing loudly, and Ian skipped down the school steps, Max close behind. The honk honk hoooooonnk of a familiar horn was beckoning Ian to adventure.

"Whoa Ian, wait up!"

The elf stopped at the bottom of the stairs and looked back to see Max not as close behind as he'd thought. He waited a moment for his friend to catch up.

"Sorry man," Ian said, glancing a little guiltily at Max's crutches as his friend joined him.

"No prob dude."

"You ever gonna tell me what happened?"

"Nope." Max grinned.

"C'mooonnn," Ian protested. "Everyone keeps saying it's such a great story. Like, you jumped in a pool to save someone and hit the wall, or you fell off a ladder you were climbing to save someone ELSE, or–"

"Or I was battling a mystical stone dragon that was created by an evil curse I unleashed?" Max smirked.

Ian chuckled and shook his head. He was famous all over the school for that crazy day. After 24 hours of searching across the Realm for a Phoenix Gem with their dad's pants in tow, Ian and Barley had had to fight a giant dragon that created itself from the stone school building. In the last minutes their dad had left on earth to be with them, Ian had fought off the dragon and killed the curse, giving Barley the chance to say goodbye to their father. In the process he'd banged and sprained his leg, and had walked around for a few weeks with a crutch of his own.

"Yeah, right," Ian smirked himself. "That's crazy." The boys laughed.

HOOOOOOOOONNNKK

"I gotta go," Ian said, "Or Barley's gonna split his pants."

"Bye Ian," Max waved as his blue friend took off.

Just before Ian got to the van he spotted the new girl – Miriel – sitting on a bench across the road. It was the same green bench where he'd sat many times the year before, willing himself to be brave enough to drive, or talk to people, or take some crazy test. It was also the same bench where he wrote the list of things he wanted to do with his dad – the things he ended up realizing he'd already done with his awesome big brother. And she was sitting there much like he had all those days – hunched over, timid, with her stack of books in her lap now instead of clutched to her chest. The top one, a small black journal, was open, and her pen scritch-scritched across the paper when she looked down.

"IAAANNN!"

"I'm coming I'm coming," Ian griped, swinging open the van door and getting in.

"What was the hold-up?" Barley exclaimed. "We have a QUEST to fulfill!"

"Really Barley, what's the big rush? It's just groceries." Ian buckled in, and Barley started the van with some difficulty.

"Any quest for our dear Mother is of the utmost importance," Barley said solemnly, one finger in the air as he dangerously maneuvered into the street with his left hand.

"Sure it is," Ian chuckled.

"And when we get home, adventure awaits! Your mastery of magic as of late, my young mage, has been lacking."

"What?! We've been practicing every day for months!"

"I'm kidding," Barley laughed, slapping Ian on the shoulder. "But we must delve deeper. Deeper! I think you're ready for the spells PAST Arcane Lightening."

"Are you – wait really?!" Ian's face lit up. "But you've been saying for ages I'm not ready for those."

"Yes, my young apprentice, but that is behind us," Barley said proudly. "And now, at long last, you are ready."

Ian grinned.

"Now," Barley announced, "to the Grocery Store!"

o o o

Thirty minutes later the two brothers burst through their front door, laughing so hard the many, many grocery bags they carried were dangerously close to all crashing to the floor.

"I told you I could do that in one trip," Barley said proudly, puffing out his chest as the door slammed behind him.

"Boys," someone said.

"Yes, with two people. You never would have been able to do it without me!" Ian exclaimed.

"Boys!" the voice repeated.

"Yeah, well, I'm carrying more than you," Barley huffed.

"Oh my gosh," Ian groaned.

"BOYS!"

"Hey Mom," they said simultaneously, looking to the first time at Laurel Lightfoot where she sat at Barley's game table. A fawn with a blond braid sat beside her.

"Hi Barley, Ian," the fawness smirked.

"Saraly?!" Barley exclaimed.

Saraly stood up and walked to them as Ian tried to hide a smile at Barley's astonishment. The fawness was short and a bit on the chubby side, but she had a presence as strong as the sun. Her brown eyes shone with mischief as she moved to take some of the bags held slack in Barley's arms.

"You forgot about our date, didn't you?"

"Wha– I–" Barley stammered. Then he groaned and smacked his forehead. "Oh nooo, it's Friday, of course!"

"Yep, you forgot." Saraly smirked even harder, putting her hands on her hips. "Honestly, Barley, between your good looks, your hardcore gaming skills, and your obvious love for your little brother, I can't believe I'm surprised you can't fit anything else in your head."

"He's just been really busy, Saraly, don't be too hard on him," Ian defended Barley. He moved to put his bags on the counter, grinning at Barley. His confident, nerdy big brother had met his match in the fawness when they competed in a Quests of Yore tournament at their college and she won. Her boldness was tempered by a kind, gentle heart, and it hadn't taken long for them to fall for each other.

Barley sent Ian a mock glare, then gestured to the bags Saraly held.

"C'mon Sara, I can carry them!"

"You obviously can't, you're so shook by my mere presence," Saraly teased, making a beeline for the counter.

"Oh-ho, is that how it is?" Barley exclaimed, a mischievous glint in his eye. He charged after Saraly, grabbed her by the waist – and began to tickle her.

Grocery bags went flying.

Ian let out a yell, dodging a bunch of bananas. Laurel screamed, grabbing the milk cartoon just before it busted against the counter. Lazy their pet dragon scurried and squealed between falling strawberries, cereal, and chip bags.

"Take that, and that!" Barley bellowed, tickling Saraly as she squirmed and squealed in his grasp.

"No, no, stop! Please, Ian the Wizard, help me!" Saraly laughed.

"On it!" Ian yelled – and then ran out the door!

"Ian, you get back here! Barley, let go of Saraly this–" Laurel was cut off by a bag of chips to the face.

"Sorry Ma!" Barley yelled over Saraly's laughter.

"Oh it is so on," Laurel grinned darkly, rolled up her sleeves, took a step forward, and–

"Aloft Elevar!"

The air around Barley sparkled blue.

"Whoa whoa WHOA!" Barley yelled as he started to float up towards the kitchen ceiling. Saraly squirmed out of his arms, stared at him a foot above her head, and then doubled over laughing. Barley twisted just enough to see Ian standing in the doorway with his staff in his hands, grinning his head off.

"Hey! That's cheating!" Barley cried, flailing as he slowly rotated upside down.

"Or is it?" Ian thrust a finger in the air and pitched his voice down an octave. "The element of surprise is one of the highest and most successful tactics in any battle. My Master in Magic taught me that."

"Ha ha very funny," Barley crossed his arms in midair and smirked. "Now will you let me down?"

"Sure," Ian shrugged – and the sparkles suddenly vanished.

THUUDD

"Ow," Barley groaned, his nose smushed into the tile floor.

"Oh Barley, are you okay?" Laurel gasped through her laughter.

"Never been better," Barley mumbled. He twisted his face off the tile and grinned at his family. "My knighthood has served me well. You fare well under my tutelage, young mage!"

"Hours and hours of your crazy elevation exercises? Worth it," Ian grinned, bouncing his staff proudly in his hands.

"C'mon my shining knight," Saraly smiled, helping Barley to his feet. "Let's go. You've been promising to bring me to buy a copy of Quests of Yore Volume 3 for two weeks now."

Barley spun Saraly around and squeezed her with a hug from behind. "And a knight never breaks his promises!" he teased.

"What about training?"

Barley looked up to see Ian's smile vanish.

"Oh, right." Barley winced, looking from Saraly to Ian and back. "Uhhh…"

"Were y'all gonna train tonight?" Saraly looked up at Barley from their hug.

"Yeah, we were," Ian said.

"Ohhh, that's why you forgot." Saraly jostled Barley until she got a smile out of him, then turned to his brother. "I'm sorry Ian. But we have been planning this date for a while." Saraly smiled hopefully. "Y'all train almost every night, right? You wouldn't mind if I take him just this once?"

"I…suppose…" Ian hesitated.

"Yeah…about that…"

Everyone looked at Barley.

"It wasn't gonna be just any training night." Barley met Saraly's gaze. "I promised Ian we would look at the last few pages of Quests of Yore tonight. The spells PAST Arcane Lightening."

"…oh." Saraly murmured.

Ian looked at the ground.

"Well, then," Saraly said, straightening out of Barley's hug, "Here's what we'll do." She bent and picked up a bunch of grapes off the ground. "I will help you guys clean up this crazy mess we made, and maybe we can visit for, what, twenty minutes? Then I'll head home and y'all do your training. We can just reschedule later."

"No, no, no," Ian interrupted, "you guys go ahead!"

"You're sure Ian?" Barley asked with some surprise.

"Yeah!" Ian smiled a bit forcefully. He set his staff against the wall, then bent to pick up some celery and an ice cream container off the ground. "I got this mess. You guys go on your date."

"You're sure Ian?" Saraly repeated.

"Yeah, it's fine." The couple looked at Ian. He hesitated, then looked embarrassedly down at the ice cream he still held. "We've been training a lot lately, and could both use a break. When was the last time y'all went on a date?"

"Uuh, two weeks ago?" Barley guessed.

"Three." Saraly glared at her boyfriend.

"There, you see? You two go have fun." Ian straightened and laughed at the way Saraly glared at his brother. "Now say yes to my offer before your girlfriend puts you in the grave early."

Barley winced.

Ian stiffened, realizing what he'd said, and stared at the counter.

"Your dad would've loved this, huh?" came a soft voice. Saraly gently took Barley's hand.

"Yeah." Ian mumbled.

All was quiet a moment. Then Barley spoke hoarsely.

"He would've loved you."

Saraly wrapped her other arm around him, and they hugged tightly for a moment. "Thanks Barley," she whispered.

"We're heading to Trinkets and Tasks." Ian looked up, and she smiled at him sadly. "Want us to get you a new Quests of Yore gamepiece? The wizard one you usually use broke, right?"

Ian nodded.

"Then we're on it." Saraly nodded at Barley, who nodded back.

"I'll see you later, bro?"

"Sure," Ian said, smiling a little.

Barley returned the smile, then grabbed his keys; and they were gone.

"Hand me that ice cream before it melts, will you?"

Ian jumped, then gasped with relief when he saw his mother watching him across the counter.

"Forgot I was here, didn't you?" Laurel smirked at her youngest son.

"Yeah," He laughed, nodding, and handed her the container.

o o o

Ian walked up the stairs to his bedroom, closing the door behind him and looking around his messy room. The house was oddly quiet without Barley there. Of course, Barely had been gone a lot more lately. His gap year had ended, and he'd returned to New Mushroomton Legendary College, just around the corner from Ian's highschool. Ian was used by now to him being gone occasionally to study or to visit friends, or to be with Saraly. But he wasn't sure he liked it tonight.

Ian sat in his swivel chair at his desk and pulled out the Quests of Yore book. His VHS tape with his dad's voice recorded on it still sat in his videoplayer, untouched since his birthday over a year ago. He glanced over his cork board, covered over with pictures of his dad and his whole family. Then the video player rattled and the pictures on his board fluttered as he thudded his book down on the desk and flipped through the pages.

Ian stopped at Arcane Lightening and stared at the page for a moment. The yellow bolts coming from the wizard's staff seem to leap off the paper, ready to shock Ian in a second. The boy hesitated, his fingers worrying the corner of the page. Barley had forbidden him for months to turn that page, determined he should learn everything before he got to the really REALLY hard stuff. Even Saraly, a veteran gamer, seemed hesitant to tell him anything when he asked.

"Beyond this page is the heavy stuff," Barley had told him. "Everything you've learned up to this point is in order to do good. Light a fire, lift a couch, heal a wound. But if you really want to be a wizard – if you REALLY want to master magic – then you can't just know how to do good. You also have to know how to defeat evil.

"Facing darkness," he'd said, "whether in the game or in actual history, is always fraught with peril – and uncertainty. You have to know what you're up against, and be truly ready to sacrifice for it. The few who lived these tales knew that it was possible they'd never return from such adventures. Facing them took a lot of guts, and a lot of heart. And you're not ready for the weight of that yet."

Ian's shoulders slumped. He had been so excited to turn that page, to finally see what Barley was talking about. What could possibly be so dangerous about a few pages in an old game book? Sure, he'd set fire to the house a couple times with the spells in there, but he'd improved so much. He was ready now, ready to face whatever darkness mumbo jumbo Barley had warned him of.

Truth was, he was feeling kind of alone. He'd been training and training and training, and he believed there was more magic out there. He often wondered if there was someone else – another mage, or a knight, or maybe even a wizard, hidden away in some dark catacomb on some crazy mountain – who studied magic as intently as he and his brother had done for the past year. Ever since those crazy two days he'd kept his eyes and ears open for signs of any other magic, anywhere. But there'd been nothing.

Not that he was looking for another teacher. Even if he HAD other options, he would never, EVER choose anyone as a mentor over Barley. His big brother had been in love with history and the lore of magic since he was a child. He had Quests of Yore memorized inside and out, and what with the way he grinded his little brother Ian soon would too. His goofball personality mixed with how seriously he took everything they learned was the perfect teacher.

But Barley couldn't wield magic.

Ian shook his head. He was tired of sitting here thinking. It was taking every fiber in his being not to flip over that page. It just felt wrong without Barley there. But finally, here was his chance to find out more. His chance to get just a little closer to mastery. His chance to maybe find someone out there like him. It was time.

But Barley was on a date.

And it was just him in that room.

Barley did say I was ready, Ian thought. So he did technically give me permission to read it. And he didn't say we had to do it together. Well, he did say WE – but he forgotten about his date – so I'm sure he wouldn't mind. Right?

Right.

Ian winced –

Tightened his grip on the paper –

Hesitated –

And turned the page.

Ian gawked at the fresh new page. Bright colors spilled off into well-worn edges, some of the lettering smudged by his brother's jelly fingerprints. Images of giant scorpions and wingless dragons and black-armored knights filled his vision. One page showed a room full of evil green smoke being blasted away by a cyclops playing an ancient lyre-flute. Another page showed an army of gelatinous cubes facing off with a single wizard in tattered rags. A third showed a whole group of wizards, some young and nervous, others weathered and gray. They stood in a circle back to back, all holding up their staffs against an almost impenetrable darkness filling the edges of the picture. Each staff had a different color crystal atop it, and the crystals glowed with light too strong for the dark.

Ian marveled at the pictures, and gobbled up the spells, and did his best to memorize every name he read. Finally, he turned gingerly, almost reluctantly, the very last page, and was faced with a picture of an inky blue darkness swirling around an elf girl in a black cloak, holding a white diamond against her chest.

He froze.

And he stared.

The girl looked just like Miriel.

o o o