Chapter One

The holding cell was anything but dreary. Nashua's own prisons in Arolsen were horrid with not even clean straw for his prisoners to lie upon. This cell, in comparison, was like a lady's chamber. Nashua snickered at the floral curtains at the barred windows and the soft feather bed in the corner. Even a matching overstuffed chair was provided for which he could sit and watch the children at play outside of his prison.

A rattle at the door alerted Nashua to the fact that his breakfast was being brought to him. Two guards stood at the door as a lovely young woman carried a tray of food for his enjoyment.

"Just place the tray on the table, lovely lady," Nashua said as sweetly as he could as his eyes betrayed his words. The evil glint made the woman uncomfortable, and she was glad that the two guards stood watching to make sure she was safe. Even without his magic wand, the evil magician was menacing to her.

Scampering from the room as quickly as possible, the woman was unnerved by the laughter coming from inside the prison cell as the door closed and was locked again. It was disturbing that the over-thrown king of Arolsen seemed undaunted by his confinement.

In the main meeting hall, the elders were meeting to discuss the long-term confinement of the evil magician, Nashua. Two of the youngest new elders were in attendance. Rowanda and Nalivia more than earned their place at the Table of Elders. Without them, Arolsen would, to this day, be ruled by the evil king, and Neslora would be withering away. The two young sorceresses, at great risk to themselves, put things right in both worlds.

"Have you foreseen anything, Salitha?" Emeraza asked the elder whose talent involved seeing the future through her dreams.

"I fear that containment is not the answer. I can't tell you what might happen. My dream was dark—totally dark. There was no light, no happiness, just the void. What it means is yet to be discovered," the old sorceress said wearily.

Alfinia sat up straight in her chair. Even though she was one of the aging elders, she was the youngest of the old. Often, she was the one who was sent to travel to the countryside to keep in contact with the farmers and workers. "Our magic is stronger than Nashua's while he is on Neslora, and he does not have his wand. I say that we find a way to destroy his wand so he will never have power again. We will no longer need to fear him if he is powerless."

"That is most certainly true," Emeraza, the wisest elder, agreed. "How do we go about destroying the wand. Any suggestions?"

"Our powers are waning," Scherra said. "Might I suggest that we bring all our newest sorceresses into a ring of power. With their combined talents, I believe the wand can be destroyed."

"It is worth a try. Tonight, at the full moon, we shall gather all our new young elders in the meadow under the old oak tree. Each will bring all their talismans. With full power, the circle should be able to focus enough energy on the wand to destroy it. Gather the girls and see that they are ready," commanded Emeraza.

Nalivia and Rowanda left the meeting hall to find each of their fellow sorceresses. On such a lovely spring day, that task was easy. All the young girls were down at the pond, cooling their feet and giggling about boys. Magdelan, Estelle, Breanna, Opaline, Thaliana looked up as Rowanda and Nalivia entered the clearing.

The newest sorceresses were quite young. The oldest was only fourteen. Due to necessity, training started earlier than usual with these young girls. Rowanda and Nalivia seemed much older than the rest due to their time in Arolsen and the responsibility that each carried in that world. The five young girls seated looked up to Rowanda and Nalivia as the natural new leaders.

"Sisters, we have a task," Nalivia said cheerfully, not wanting to make the young girls afraid. "We have been tasked to destroy the evil magician's wand this night."

The five young girls immediately started to chatter amongst themselves. Excited to be called upon for something so important, they sprang to their feet and danced around in the grass.

"Girls!" Rowanda said loudly to settle them down. "We will meet tonight at the full moon under the old oak tree. You will bring all your charms. We will form a circle of power with the wand in the center. Concentrating all our powers, we hope to destroy the evil wand. You must return to your homes and gather all your talisman. It might be advisable for each of you to rest this afternoon. We will need to be in top form for this to work."

Without another word, all five girls scampered off to the village, leaving Rowanda and Nalivia standing alone.

"Well, that went well," Nalivia said as she watched the departing girls.

"Do you think they understand the gravity of the situation?" Rowanda asked.

"Not really. As long as they concentrate all their powers tonight, I guess it does not matter if they do or not," Nalivia said, sounding more mature than she had only a short season ago.

Rowanda remembered how angry she felt towards her best friend when they first returned to Arolsen. Nalivia was acting boy crazy and flirting with Anarigar shamelessly. Rowanda smiled at her own peevishness in thinking that Anarigar was her special someone. Now the handsome young man was the assistant to Boultori, the new king of Arolsen, and was no longer thinking of either young girl. His thoughts were on honing his new skills as a magician along with Boultori. Wondering, Rowanda hoped she would see him again.

Nalivia broke into her thoughts. "We made a good team back on Arolsen."

Rowanda almost felt Nalivia possessed the gift of reading minds when she made that statement. "Yes, we did. If it weren't for you, distracting King Nashua by flying around him and annoying him, I would not have been able to open the confluence that trapped him in our world. You were very brave. In a flash, he could have killed you and was almost ready to do so."

"Thank goodness, you came through," Nalivia said. "I was relieved to sail through the confluence; however, I sure wish I would have left that wand behind. Now we need to deal with it."

"Don't worry. We will destroy it tonight!" Rowanda said as she took Nalivia's hand to guide her back to the village.