Nick Lang

Two stories woven into one adventure that transcends time and culminates with one ending and one beginning. The first part…. As Zoe sits counting down the minutes until the final bell rings for end of term her attention is drawn back to the puddle she had run through earlier, the puddle she had managed to get ankle deep in whilst a dirt spray doused her but still somehow come out the other side clean and bone dry. She stared at it intently and watched the surface ripple forwards and then back in perfect synchronicity with her breathing…. Bailey walked through the park with his dog Jed, just like he did every day, however today as Jed takes a drink from the river he falls in and Bailey has to come to the rescue, before Bailey physically reacts the ground shakes and his dog is raised up on a dirt pedestal which weirdly enough (Bailey thinks) is the image that he had in his mind, moving quickly to retrieve his friend he drops him back in the water and panics as he struggles to pick him back up, that is until the river bed forms an earth wall across the nearby bridge and stops the water flowing completely… Abbey first felt a tickle on the back of her neck and then made leaves and twigs dance by blinking, before finishing with a mosaic mimicking the pattern in her mind formed by tree remnants on a canvas of air, it was the strangest walk home she had ever had. Upon returning home not only do they all receive a mysterious hand written and delivered letters but they all end up going on a carefully orchestrated trip to Athens where they meet the devious Arcadio who after explaining to them why they have these gifts also explains that he too has a gift but it is stored in an artifact called ‘the tablet of the ancients’ and is only obtainable by the other three uniting their powers. As the four go on an adventure to retrieve the tablet they each face tests of their powers, tests that not only require them to harness their gifts separately but and as a team and a newly formed family. The second Part… Legend writes that the goddess Gaia bestowed her children with the four base elements of life but quickly realized that only one pure of heart and inner strength could control the ferociousness of fire, so with this she removed it and placed it in the tablet of ancients, but ever conscious of the danger it possessed she decided the tablet would need to be hidden from any who would try to unleash its raw power. Being the Goddess Gaia’s most trusted friend and confidant made Aristaeus the perfect choice to anoint protector of the tablet and with this trust she sent him to the mortal realm to find the perfect hiding spot. It was a time of war between Gods and Mortals, Aristaeus scoured the land keeping himself to himself until he met Carotenes a small boy who after Aristaeus rescues him joins him on his journey and together they face harsh terrain, double crossing villagers, a pack of vicious Minotaur’s and make an enemy of the only mortal gods fear ‘Supreme commander Alessandro Daemonious’.