FOR THE UNKNOWN KINGDOM | BOOK 1

CHAPTER 3

Magic was banned. My eyes weren't blue. Having an old piece of paper with the word magic written on it was a burden I didn't want to carry on my shoulders for longer than an hour.

I slithered off the bed. The night seemed endless, and I was restless.

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The city lights illuminated the clear, dark blue waters of the ocean. The streets were empty, the road alongside the beach as well. The moon was my companion tonight and I walked slowly, not daring to disrupt the silence and the calmness of the midnight hours. Every step on the gravel path was too loud and I silently thanked whatever power was in the skies for the absence of houses near the beach except for my family's one.

I gazed at the darkness that ruled at the end of the path, savouring the sensation of mystery that prevailed. My hands were in my pockets, my fingers caressing the drawing, ensuring it was still in there. Back in my bedroom I'd been examining it for hours and every time my eyes had been imprisoned in that dark green oasis of cypresses, it'd felt like they represented a funeral; the final goodbye; the final prayer to the forest to keep whoever had drawn it safe and sound.

Cloaked in a dark purple sweatshirt, the wind wasn't as cruel as before and as I staggered to the bench I'd found that man and the painting earlier tonight, I felt the need to stay here forever, hostage to the ocean. There had always been a deeper connection, an invisible bond with that place, urging me to visit it every other day—or even better, every other night. I'd come here with Josh as well, but he'd been so busy admiring the setting sun and the way it colored the ocean in hues of golden and orange that all we had done was sit in silence, worshiping the view.

But there was something in the air telling me that this place wasn't meant to be silent. Bathed in glory and beauty, this place was meant to make everyone's heart fill with delicate memories of laughter, happiness and joy. Silence would always be needed, but when it lasted forever it could easily turn to blackness. And this place with the deep blue ocean, the cloudless sky and the towering castle next to it was only meant to be crowded with colors.

Scanning the beach, I found only the waves hitting the shore with an abnormal softness. I headed to the bench. As I collapsed on it, I clung to what needed to be done as a way to ease the thundering of my heart. Planning was always better than taking reckless decisions. That was the truth I lived my life by; what had helped me survive and not get caught.

The drawing must be destroyed at all costs. Even if I hid it somewhere, I would just pass the burden to whoever might find it next and if they ended up dead because of me, that would be catastrophic. Decades could pass without that drawing being discovered if being kept in the right place all that time. And maybe when it would see the sunlight again, the political system would be better. But if the rules about magic were even stricter than they were now, I didn't want to be the one to spread panic upon innocents. No one deserved to live in shadows, hiding and keeping secrets for eternity and beyond.

I lifted my eyes to the sky, searching for an answer. But the stars were silent today, and I shrugged in desperation.

I couldn't just destroy such an astonishingly simple but beautiful drawing. I couldn't keep it or pass it to anyone else either.

I dragged it out of my pocket, my dark green-painted nails in contrast with the dark color of the trees that seemed almost silver in the moonlit atmosphere. A mysterious haze curled around me as I unfolded it, my hands ready to cut it into million pieces, and then let the ocean shower them with countless waves until they were nothing but drops of water that had once held the world's most dangerous word.

I was ready to do it and then sleep in harmony until the sun decided to adorn the sky again, when the ocean went still, unmoving.

My mouth tightened, my heart as well. And then a roaring voice echoed from somewhere into the ocean, ripping me apart and then putting me back together. My legs felt useless as I stood there speechless, having no idea how someone could emerge from the ocean bleeding, his face a red canvas of blood.