"Come on," Victoria cried out, grabbing my wrist with bruising force and yanking me forwards. We ran through the forest, narrowly avoiding trees and roots jutting out of the ground.
We burst out into the streets to see blue lights flashing and drones flying through the air. Alarms were blaring as they circled houses and spun above the road. Following the crowd of panicked people, we started to head towards the council building, shoulders knocked painfully into mine.
Alarms and red lights had started to become a common occurrence, with the rebels growing stronger and planning more attacks. It meant stay indoors, and I would watch through my bedroom window as members of The Guard ran out in teams, armed to the max.
Blue lights though, signalled an emergency announcement, which was something that I'd never heard of happening before.
"What do you think this is about?" Victoria yelled above the sirens, eyes scanning the crowd wildly, taking in the chaos.
"Probably something to do with the rebel attacks, maybe they're issuing a warning?" I yelled back. Something about this though... it felt off.
We stopped walking and stood outside the council building as our leader Kryton, his wife, and Incantor Larson stood on the balcony above.
Incantators. Just a whisper of the name was enough for people to bow their heads in respect. They were people blessed with extraordinary magic, and were the reason that our universe still existed.
Thousands of years ago, our universe was dying.
Planets gave off energy waves that sustained the universe, but the universe was ever expanding and there simply weren't enough planets to keep it going. Tears formed in the universe that originally sucked in any debris nearby, but soon grew and ended up draining entire planets of their energy. We called them black holes.
We learned about them in school, young children sitting with straight backs and clasped hands resting on desks in front of them while looking at pictures of screaming disfigured people and watching videos of whole cities crumbling to the ground.
Drought, infection, starvation, insanity, and death.
The Incantators of the time all gathered together and created a special kind of magic, pooling together all ancient spells, potions, and powers at their disposal to create an enchantment, one that changed the course of history.
Imagine your favourite book; the characters, the world they live in, the events that happen, all of it. Imagine that those books became reality, real and whole words that existed somewhere out there in the vast expanse of space, of our universe. That's what the enchantment did, it all became real after that day.
Authors created stories, carving whole other worlds into existence filled with people, cities, creatures, and magic beyond imagine. They wrote incredible tales and the Incantors brought them to life, and so, the universe was sustained. Now the rebels were threatening to destroy it.
"Attention!" Leader Kryton bellowed, silencing us.
"Before we make the announcement, we request all authors and guards from groups A-1 to A-4 and G-1 to G-4 to make their way to the grand hall."
"That's us," Victoria said, eyebrows furrowing. She turned to look at me. "Why would they call authors and guards in training during an emergency announcement?"
"Better find out," I answered as we started to weave through the crowd, knocking shoulders and elbowing our way out.
After we had finished wading through the crowd, we walked into the great hall, and even though I'd seen it a handful of times, it never failed to take my breath away.
Dark velvet, shimmering diamonds, and glistening marble surrounded the room but the ceiling was by far the greatest part of the whole building.
Built like a dome and painted a beautiful gold, our universe's story was depicted along with walls. Bright reds, fresh greens, and midnight blues were hand painted to show planets revolving around the sun, monstrous black holes, and beautiful magic. The first Author was painted as well as the start of the Guard and the coming together of the council. I could spend hours staring it, and probably would have, if it wasn't for the situation at hand.
Looking around the room, guard and author training started when you were 15 and lasted 4 years, so most of the people in the room were in their teens or had only been officially adults for a year or two.
The entire room fell silent as Incantator Frederick began to speak from the top of the diamond incrusted staircase.
"As you are well aware, the rebel force believes that with enough energy from other planets, they can control the black holes."
Victoria clutched onto my arm, leaving crescent shaped marks in my skin.
"A few hours ago, the rebels had someone infiltrate the Archive."
No one screamed. No one yelled in panic. Only silence because, like me, they were in frozen in shock.
After books were created and the Incantors made them into planets, in which a lavish ceremony occurred followed by a party fit for royals, the book was locked up in the Archive with the others and protected by unbreakable spells.
Well, I guess not unbreakable.
"We have reports from our sources that says that the rebels believe they can acquire the power they need from destroying planets, gathering it up from the remains."
"Like a new star from a supernova," I whispered under my breath in horror. Flashes of the things I learnt in school went through my mind; the black holes, the pain, the destruction. By saving our planet they were going to kill all the others, and that's if it even worked.
"Now we also had protective spells on each book which stopped them from simply destroying the planets, it did not however, stop them from adding themselves into the stories."
Why? It would take an army with hundreds of thousands of solider to destroy a planet, which was something the uprising definitely didn't have.
"When we create planets, residual magic is left over. This magic bands together to create an unstable core. If provoked, this could prove catastrophic." Incantator Fredrick said. His was hard, voice echoing throughout the hall.
"Emlyn" Victoria whispered, letting go of my arm and looking into my eyes. "All the people on those planets, they're all going to die."
For a moment, I couldn't breathe.
"We don't entirely understand how, but theyreversed the spells, blocking us from adding anything to the story itself. While the story can no longer be changed-"Incantator Frederick continued, holding his hand up to silence the nervous voices sweeping throughout the hall. "That does not mean that the planet can't be."
At that moment everything clicked.
The reason why we were all gathered together, the reason why we were getting briefed separately from everyone else. They couldn't add anyone to the stories, but they could add people to the planets. They could add us.
"Your generation will be the generation that saves us. You will be tasked with a mission that will change the course of the future; we are calling on you now."
His words sounded muffled, like he was underwater, his words glossing over me as I struggled to comprehend exactly what was happening.
"We are picking you for this because we know that you will be able to handle the challenges ahead of you"
He was lying, eyes focused on the wall in front of him, giving the illusion that he was looking out to the sea of the trainees. We were picked because we were expendable. Not important enough to keep because we weren't fully trained but just enough so to get the job done.
"We're sending you down to the planets, to stop the villains. We're sending you down to save us."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I can't believe this is happening," Victoria said softly as we hid behind the council building, away from all the chaos.
I nodded in agreement. "They're sending us on a suicide mission"
"They're sending us to save our planet."
I stared at her.
"Victoria, you can't be serious," I spluttered, looking at her incredulously. Couldn't she see what was going on?
"Well, I am," she stated, lips thinning as she stared at me, meeting my disbelieving stare
"They're sending us to die," I cried, willing her to understand. "Why didn't they choose full-fledged authors or guards, huh? If we fail there will be other options to try and fix what the rebels did, they'll be okay, but if we fail we die."
"Well, what if we don't fail Emlyn, did you ever think about that? That we actually might be able to pull this thing off?" Victoria spoke furiously, her voice rising.
"Yeah, okay." I scoffed. "Let's say we," gesturing to Victoria and I, "are actually able to fix the planet we're assigned too, what about the first years? Do you think they know what they're doing, because I know I didn't when I was their age. They're still kids, throwing them out into what is basically a battlefield, you think that's a good idea?"
All the trainees who had just started, they were being thrust into new worlds they knew nothing about. They thought they were going to save us, and they might, but at the cost of their own lives. The worst part was that they didn't even realize it.
"Of course I don't! But we don't have any other options, and maybe you're right and we're being sent down because we're replaceable," her voice was laden with determination and a hint of despair. "But do you think that's going to change anything? We're still going to be sent down and there's nothing we can do but fight. You know what your problem is Emlyn? You always prepare for the worst, and that's good because it means you can handle anything thrown your way, but it's at the cost of an arm and a leg and one day it's going to leave you with nothing."
"Vic-"
"Don't, I'm going to go talk to my family." Avoiding my eyes, she turned around quickly and headed in the opposite direction.
Victoria always wanted to be the hero. I could see it in the stories she spun about what she could be, in the guard, fighting for what was right. I didn't think there were any heroes in this world, and if there were, I certainly wasn't one.