Prologue
Prince Halor stared out the castle window and pretended not to listen. The history of Magic Arts was very interesting, but to Halor it was like shoving the fact that he couldn’t actually do magic in his face. “Prince Halor can’t you even pretend to be interested in your studies?After all, this is one of your chosen classes.”Groker said looking up from the enormous textbook on his lap.
Halor pried his eyes away from the window and stared at the wizard. His beard was pure white and was chopped off at his lower neck line. His icy purple eyes, his over sized lips, his long face,his bald head,and his tall demeanor. Halor hated every bit about the dark wizard and didn’t trust him.”I’m sorry Gro. But I can’t.”He smirked.
Groker stiffened and relaxed slowly.”All right then, I think it’s time.” Halor jumped down from his perch on the window sill and stood as the wizard grabbed his staff.”Time for what?” Halor asked,his English accent raking with suspicion. “Just time,”He turned away from the prince and summoned his apprentice.
She arrived slowly with her eyes closed. The sound of pages being turned in the wind and a beating heart filled the air as she fully appeared. She opened her eyes quickly and bowed, her left hand on her chest. “Lila please escort the prince to the castle garden and then wait for me.” Groker said firmly. Lila nodded and strode across the room. When she reached the door she opened it, bowed, and gestured for Halor to follow.
Halor hesitated, waiting till the door fully opened before walking past the cloaked figure in the doorway. Lila silently closed the door behind them and caught up to him in a few quick strides. Halor look at her and wondered if all she did was stride. Lila suddenly stopped and turned to face him. Halor stopped as well. “Prince,”She said.”If you have something to say you may say it now.” Halor realized he had been staring at her ever since they had left the study. His face went red and he started to hyperventilate.He searched for some explanation, anything. “Prince,your asthma is starting. I suggest you give a quick explanation.”Lila said cooly. Halor tried to focus on matching his breathing to his heartbeat.
He took a deep breath and looked at Lila firmly. “I-I-I”He stammered. “I wanted to know why you strode so much.”Lila smiled darkly and started walking again. “It’s just a faster way of getting around.”She said. Halor caught up with her quickly.”No it’s not,”Halor was looking at Lila again. “You could run or skip much faster.”They turned around a corner and Lila had to pull him out of the way of a pillar to stop him from running into it. “Prince, I suggest that you continue to look ahead of you.”She said.
Halor closed his eyes,and thought that this would be much easier if a different servant was escorting him.He felt Lila tug him again and he opened his eyes.He had narrowly missed another pillar. “Prince!”Lila gritted through her teeth. Prince Halor looked down at the ground and watched as a house spider scuttled between them and up Lila’s black robe. He scowled at it and looked back up. “Sorry.”He said. Lila rolled her eyes and continued down the hall. They crossed through large metal double doors and into a round glass compartment.
The compartment had stain glass windows shaped to be serpent like dragons. Halor held out his hand and watched different metallic colors shift slowly over it. They reached a wooden door that had a celtic symbol painted over it. “What does it mean?”Halor asked without thinking.Lila stared at the symbol and brushed it with her fingertips. “Beauty.”She exclaimed,and pushed open the door.
Behind it there was a fountain with tiny lily’s in it and an egg shaped rock that was pouring water into the fountain by the cracks at it’s top. The flowers at the base of the flowers changed from white to yellow. “Wow, what just happened.”Halor said, startled.Lila looked like she had been waiting for him to ask that. “Wait, you don’t know?”She snickered. “The flowers change colors of your mood when you look at them,the darker the color the more vibrant the mood. Yellow means delight, Blue means sadness or calmness, pink is excitement, red is hatred and anger, green means you’re scared or embarrassed, violet means-”Lila took a moment to catch her breath. “Love,” She said, testing it on her tongue. She looked at the fountain for a brief second and Halor watched the strange flowers turn the slightest shade of green. “And orange means-”she was cut of by a rumbling sound followed by  a foul smell.
Groker appeared in a wave of dust and his staff appeared beside him. Halor looked at the flowers and saw them turn a deep red. “Now,” Groker said. “down to business.”  He turned toward Halor and held out his staff. “Soroto!”he said in a deep voice. Halor fell to his knees and felt a pulse of energy. He gasped for air and watched the ground fall out from under him.a darkness surrounded him and he continued to fight for air.
Lila felt a shudder go through her spine when she felt several waves of energy hit the shield that she was surrounding herself with.Her successfulness made her wonder what the prince was feeling. As her thoughts wavered she heard the sound of shattering glass and felt an impact so strong that she fell to her knees and couldn’t get up. A severe headache started to pound into her ears,she knew that her master was too busy to rescue her. Lila felt the ground grow cold against her palms and the rushing wind became stale and hot.
She silently started to cry when she saw the rift open. It was a swirling brightness that had several colors shifting around it. Lila watched the prince be dragged by two hands with no owners.She watched as he thrashed and kicked in vain. That will be me soon, she thought. And at that thought a separate pair of hands, darker than the princes, dragged her toward the opening. “No!” she screamed. “ I cannot die this way!” As she felt herself beginning into the drift she completely gave up. she saw the princes head slowely suck into the brighteness. a stinging sensation started to burn through her body as if she was being pulled apart, piece by piece.
Suddenly, she felt herself being tugged away from the portal. She looked up to find Groker, his face was contorted  and frustrated. “Master”she squeaked. Groker didn’t answer, he just gave out an angry cry and the rift turned black just as Halors head disappeared completely.
At that moment everything fell, it was so silent that Lila couldn’t wait for Groker to yell at her. Instead he let out a cat like yowl and dragged Lila to her feet. They stumbled around the fountain and across the brick pavement.Groker let out a growl that vibrated throughout Lila’s body. “Why!” He screeched as Lila fell to the ground. Tears stained her cheeks as she tried to get up. “I’m sorry master, I’m so-” Lila looked up and let out a shuddering breath. “Sorry.” Groker turned away from her and started pacing, electrical bolts of red shot from his hand with each step. “I was that close!”He screamed. “I can’t believe I failed the spell”, he grabbed his bald head and ripped whatever hair still on his head out. “And it all your fault!” He stomped around the fountain once and then disappeared to the sound of thunder.
Lila laid down on the hard pavement and groped for air as she sobbed. It had all happened so fast, and she didn’t know why it was her fault. Didn’t Groker realize that coming so close to being incinerated with nothing to even leave behind was bad enough? She turned her head and scowled at the flowers surrounding the fountain. Didn’t he realize that I am traumatized? She let out another sob and sat up, her face felt cool as she did. Smiled as she saw the flowers turn a deeper color than the Prince could have ever mustered from his own feelings. Red.