Hello there! Earlier today I decided to plan this story out, and so I now know that it will be around about 17 chapters long and will finish just before Christmas... hopefully. I'm really bad with deadlines though, so expect it to finish some time around the end of this year. Thank you for reading Orbs!
Orbs - Chapter 5
- 8:29 am, Emerald's Treehouse, Pandanda -
Three days later, Amethyst and I were sitting on beanbags in my treehouse, reading a book.
To be specific, it wasn't just any book. It was covered with dark leather, 'Orbs' sewn onto the front in gold thread. The pages were yellowed, and the words that I used to know so well held a new meaning for me.
This book was written by my great-grandfather, about sorcerers and orbs, and I now knew that every single page was full of truth.
"Wow - look here, Emerald. It says that the wizards were still alive back then, and still as troublesome!" said my best friend Am, pointing vividly at a paragraph.
I smiled, remembering the storyline. "Yeah. Great-grandpa was part of the sorcerers group that took the evil wizard leader down. It was a huge success, they knew, but the last page of the book always kept me asking questions."
Amethyst flipped to the last page and read what was on it. "The wizards will hide, like they do, and then come back twice as strong. Now it is up to the next generations of sorcerers to continue saving Pandanda from the wizards wrath. Maybe one day the wizards will go for good, or maybe they will eventually defeat the sorcerers. I don't know. All I know is that for today at least, the world is safe'."
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Amethyst and I looked up. It was probably just a lost bee unable to get back home, so I nodded to Am, asking her silently to push it out of the window.
She stood up from her pink beanbag, setting Orbs down on the coffee table. Amethyst walked over to the window, her eyes widening slightly with every step she took.
"That's not a bee," she whispered to me. "Look."
I followed her and saw what she meant. There was a hovering sphere of yellow light bobbing up and down next to the open window. I instinctively reached for my orb, wondering whether I could manage to cast a spell to get it to go away.
Suddenly, as I thought this, I felt a rush of power flow through my veins. The sparkles in my green orb started moving around, floating like snow in a snow globe. The ball of light started flickering. I quickly whispered to Am to get her to do the same, and two seconds later the strange intruder had vanished.
"Wow," I said. "That was cool."
Amethyst's face was lit up with delight and awe. "No, it was way better than cool. That was... amazingly phenomenally awesome."
I nodded in agreement. "You couldn't have said it better."
We stood there for a moment until a knock came at the door. I walked over and opened it, spotting Kite outside.
"Hey, Kite! What's up?" I said, noting the concern on her face.
"Oh, so you're okay?" she asked me. "I had a feeling that something bad might've happened."
For a second I thought about telling her about the strange light, but something held me back. "No, it's just another lazy day like usual. Don't worry about us too much - the wizards haven't paid us a visit yet."
I meant it in a lighthearted way, but her frown just deepened even more. "Be careful, you two. I think the wizards see you as the weakest sorcerers there are. You're bound to be their biggest target."
And with that, she turned around and walked back along the bridge to the Lobby. Am and I stood there and watched her leave, before giving each other a meaningful look and going back to my great-grandfather's book.
It was clear that there were secrets being held back. I just hoped that they wouldn't bring us much danger.
- 8:29 am, Wizard HQ, Outside Pandanda -
"One minute left," said Ormzusk, glancing at his orb. "One minute left until the spy sphere reaches the targets."
"What's our double-agent doing at the moment?" asked his second-in-command.
"Eating a chocolate chip cookie, like usual," said the leader of the wizards. "Nothing out of the ordinary there."
The second-in-command laughed. "I still can't believe the rest of the hopeless sorcerers haven't figured out she's working for us yet."
"We have ways, my friend. Anyway, the spy sphere should be nearly there by now."
The second-in-command nodded seriously, looking over to where a huddle of about twenty wizards were casting the spell to keep it working. Their eyes were closed and some of them were mumbling words under their breaths. It was a hard spell to conjure, and even harder to destroy. Not even the entire group of sorcerers could knock it out of the sky.
His eyes focused on a larger orb, peering in at the distorted image of trees. This orb was connected to the spy sphere, and would show whatever the sphere saw. The plan was to follow the new sorcerer recruits around and pick up information. It was just like their double-agent, except less visible. And it didn't eat cookies.
Before he knew it, the sphere had entered the tree house through an open window. It hovered in the air for a bit, attracting the attention of one of the girls.
He watched on as they walked over cautiously, their eyes wide in fright. This was not the plan. They weren't supposed to notice it.
"That's not a bee," she said, her voice distorted as if she were speaking underwater. "Look."
The other girl, the one with the green orb, stood up and followed her friend. She took out her orb and stared intently at the sphere. Suddenly, the image flickered, like an old video. Everyone gasped, and the huddle of spell-casters started murmuring faster and faster. Beads of sweat rolled down their faces as they battled to keep the sphere afloat.
The girl with the green orb talked to the girl with the pink orb, and suddenly the image disappeared completely.
"NO!" said Ormzusk. "NO, NO, NO! This cannot be happening."
He walked over to the now bewildered spell-casters and glared at each and every one of them.
"Are you so terrible that you can't even withstand the force of two inexperienced sorcerers?" he shouted.
They looked like frightened rabbits, casting anxious glances to their neighbors.
One of them spoke up. "Those two are unbelievably powerful. Not even all of the wizards combined, including you, could've stopped them."
Ormzusk shook his head, a plan already forming in his mind's eye. "Then we will get them for ourselves."
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