We woke up early in the morning. My sisters packed everything in our knapsacks and wore our sword charms on our wrists. The book about magic was stashed in the most accessible place in my bag.
Soon we were boarding our horses and saying our goodbyes to Jenkins.
My sisters and I were wearing the same, dull, traveling clothes as when we started and Aaron was wearing a clean tunic.
“Bye, Sir Jenkins!” Safire called out. “Thank you and we’ll tell our father to reward you when we return home.”
When I was closest to Jenkins, I hugged the old man who seemed much like my grandfather now. “Thank you for the book and the sword.”
“Anytime,” Jenkins replied, beaming. “Princess Ericka, promise me to do your best to protect the lands of Donstania?”
I hopped on top of Clouds, carrying my knapsack. “Of course, I’m the princess, after all.”
The horses started the journey east to Funnel Village and Clouds leapt up into the air. I waved at the small being of Jenkins down below. The future looked uncertain but at least I knew that we had one great man backing us up. I instructed my horse to fly closer to the pack, too happy to be afraid of what the future held in store.
I instructed Clouds to swoop down and fly a few meters above the rest of the gang. Soon I was smiling at my sisters and Aaron. “Good night sleep?”
Aaron groaned, leaning against his horse, which I took as a no. “Too worried to sleep. I mean, we’re going to Funnel Village, like really inside of it. That’s scary.”
I took a deep breath, slowly. I guessed that Funnel Village was not exactly rainbows and ponies.
My sisters seemed to of not liked the news of stepping into a dangerous village.
“Are you really sure? Like, do we have to go to Funnel Village?” Galena asked, cowardly.
Aaron nodded, staring straight ahead. “At first, I was kind of hesitant. Well, Funnel’s a pretty dark village, by dark I mean evil. Now that we got into this whole mystery, I absolutely certain that this village will be an essential part of your quest.”
“Our quest,” I reminded him. “You’re part of this thing, too.”
Galena smiled at me which reminded me of our conversation last night.
Aqua noticed our exchanged glances and raised an eyebrow. “What happened in the bathroom yesterday?”
Safire nodded along, stroking Ignite, her horse’s, mane of fire. “What do you girls know that we don’t?”
I straightened my back and led Clouds higher into the sky. “I’ll tell you later. It’s not important.”
Aqua shrugged and dropped the subject. There couldn’t have been a time where I had loved her more.
Aaron looked up, suspiciously at me then he grinned warmly. “That’s fine.”
Maybe he did like me but right now it didn’t matter. Funnel Village was on the way and this quest would already be life or death. There was too much to think about; my father, the kingdom, King Ward, Prince Joshua, Funnel Village, and Aaron. I sighed and leaned against my horse. It would be a long journey until the village.
Leaning on Cloud’s back, I pulled The History of Magic out of my knapsack and flipped to the first page. It read;
Magic, one of the most fascinating things in the world, has a unique history involving wars, romance, and adventure. Now a days, few humans even know that magic exists, thinking that it is just a myth or fairy tale. They are half right. Magic is a myth, a fairytale, and it is real.
The beginning is rather less exciting. It all started with a mere child. Some historians call her stupid and dumb, others call her heroic and brave. Her name was Ericka Young of Corinth, a Greek city. She was born as poor as dirt. Her parents were even poor amongst paupers.
Ericka was said to have been a special child. Her family thought of her as a disgrace because she was not as smart as all the other children and did not interact with them. Well, except one child, a boy named Troy, a prince.
Ericka and Troy slipped away from their houses for some unknown reason at the time. However, when they returned, a princess was rescued, a hidden kingdom was discovered, and a criminal was caught. Later the people of Corinth learned the real story; that a criminal, Sir Knox, had taken a princess, Troy’s sister, captive in a hidden city, which would later be the kingdom of Donstania.
The people from Corinth praised Ericka and Troy. Ericka let slip that she had a gift of making the impossible happen, especially with the sky. They called it magic. Ericka Young of Corinth was the first witch. Troy married Ericka years later and they bore three children, Alexander, Helen, and Jason. All three children were magical.
I shut the book and thought about what I had just read. The hero was named Ericka. Could this be a reason my mother had named me it? Had she known? I rarely thought of my mother but when I did, it was usually true.
I looked below, watching for horses with riders gallop along fields that seemed to grow more and more dark and evil.
I flew closer towards them, calling out, “Hey, Sisters! Aaron!”
They looked up in my direction. Aaron smiled warmly. I was about to smile back but then remembered what Galena had said about him. I scowled instead.
“I was reading The History of Magic and you won’t believe what happened.” I explained the journey of Ericka and Troy and how it connected to our journey. “In the family line here,” I pointed to the page. “Sir Knox, the criminal, was King Ward’s great-great-great-times like a thousand grandfather!”
Galena gasped when she realized how important the matter was.
“So magic is real?” Aqua asked.
I gave her an obvious look. “Don’t you see? Our powers are magic! Ericka is just like me. Aside from having the same name, we are both of the sky!”
Safire’s mouth widened. “How strange.”
“There’s more,” I said, grimly. “Her children had powers as well. Alexander became Alexander the Great, king of overland traveling. He is of the earth, Galena! Helen became Helen of Troy, water-user, Aqua! And Jason became the Jason. Like Jason and the Argonauts. He was immune to fire, like you Safire.”
My sisters all looked shocked.
Aaron was the first to speak up. “Now that’s pretty crazy. Was there an Aaron in there?”
I shook my head. “Not yet.”
Everyone was quiet for a few minutes. Then Aqua spoke. “Does that mean we are magical? Like witches?”
Galena nodded. “But not witches. More like princesses.”
