Book Excerpt
Chapter One
Beyond the mountains, the tallest redwoods, and the endless ocean you will find a secret island. It has been hidden far away from the humans of earth. It serves as the great remains of a once-violent volcano. From above, the island looks like a piece of gold dropped into a sea. Its unique shape was carved from bravery and spirit. Here live many powerful people who control all of earth’s mysteries. The people who inhabit this land are as ancient as the story of earth itself. Their powers control day and night, and some even have the power to live for eternity.
Those who live forever are the Seven Sisters. They were born from their parents, Mother Earth and Father Time. These beautiful girls learned everything they could from their parents. As the girls grew up, they were each given a specific task. They were asked to care for one part of Mother Earth as she grew older with Father Time. Their parents then handed over all the secrets of the world. Once the world was in motion, the Seven Sisters began to raise new children to meet earth’s needs and demands; and so this is where the adventure begins.
At the southernmost part of the island, there was a children’s village. Enormous sandcastles lined the beach, and you could hear the sound of laughter from every corner. This was a village of only children and one of the Seven Sisters. Her name was Kshinte, but the children called her Kish. She was the Great Mother, and so her job was to care for the children of the island. She taught them patience, acceptance, and life skills.
No child ever ventured outside the jungle vine walls that bordered the children from the adult world. There was great danger outside the peaceful village, dangers that children should never have to see. The older Jacobeans would watch the babies and the young kids as they did village chores. Everyone knew their place and job. When a child grew too old, they had to join the adult world, which Kshinte did not like. She knew that they would be asked to help serve the other sisters and care for all of earth and her magic. However, the island was full of chaos, greed, and deception. No matter how much she prepared them, she knew that she could not teach them everything.
The children’s day in the village consisted mostly of rebuilding their sandcastle houses that would be washed away at high tide. The children would build a new place to sleep each night. Castles of all kinds lined the seashore just far enough that the waves did not damage or creep inside while you were sleeping. Once the building was finished, the little kids could go play games. They played turtle tag in the salt water all morning. They swam after the turtles, dodging back and forth to avoid being tagged by other players.
There was a group of young kids on the beach setting up a game. “Rosemary, come on! Get in the water,” yelled Marc from the water. “I’ll be there in a minute. Let me ask my brother if he wants to play.” Rosemary ran over to the sandcastle where her brother was still sleeping. She shouted to wake him up. “Akara, get up! We’re about to play turtle tag. Everyone is waiting for us.”
“No. Go away.”
“Come on, Akara. Come play with me.” Her whining voice echoed like a bad dream.
“No. I’m tired. Go play, and I’ll see you this afternoon.” He rolled over, gave her a quick glance, and closed his eyes.
“Why are you being so mean to me?”
“I wouldn’t be mean if you just left me alone. Go have fun this morning. I have things to do too.”
Rosemary ran back to the shoreline. Her friends were all swimming and playing. She jumped in the ocean and started to play tag. They would play all day, hoping that the wave would not erode the new walls of their sandcastle homes. It was never fun to come home to see the walls being eaten by the fourth waves in every set, destroying your work. The other three waves would miss by just centimeters. No one in the village ever got mad that they had to rebuild. It was just expected. Friends would help friends, and the irritable task would get done fast. You didn’t always have to make a crazy castle every time. Simple sand castings left you with time and the rest of the day to do other things. Older children didn’t even bother making a bed to sleep in; they wanted to be the first on the waves to surf. Everyone had his or her traditions for enjoying the sun-filled day. The kids played wildly, while just on the other side of the jungle barriers, trouble was brewing.
Finally, when the day wound down, the children were served a great feast. Kids served themselves from banquet tables with exotic foods and fruits. There was a sunset show of singing and dancing like a Polynesian hula. This party lasted until the darkness of night took form. The Man in the Moon cast a spell over the sky, causing them to dream. But one of the children couldn’t sleep. Every night, Akara would sneak out of the village and follow the shoreline to the water’s edge. His mind was bothered by his being the eldest among a sea of crybabies. He towered over the other kids, who stood only up to his knees and who played games like tag, when Akara dreamed of sword fights, even though he had never seen a sword. He didn’t know why his mind wandered so much. He didn’t know why he constantly said no to the children. It bothered him that Kish didn’t teach him to grow up because he felt ready.
The sand that night was golden under a slight crescent moon. The waves washed upon the shore with such rhythm that Akara began to close his eyes and just listen. He sat where the foam rested on the sand, cradled his arms around his knees, and watched the night sky. He could hear the sound of night on the island. The aqua birds squawked in the palm trees, fighting for space to sleep that night. The sand crabs dug holes and blew air bubbles when the waves would cover them. Akara’s mind drifted as thoughts mixed with the sounds.
He opened his eyes and looked up at the moon. He could see an outline of Turtle Rock. This was a formation of lava rocks that the Kelpies loved to lie on in the warm sun. They basked like the playful monk seal who loves a sun-struck day. Akara stared off into the endless dark seascape. There among the millions of stars, he watched one fall from the sky and splash into the sea just in front of him. He stood up and, in an instant, decided to get into the water to fetch the fallen star. He ran into the night-warmed ocean water until he was forced to swim. He sank under the crashing waves and could see the star still shining. It was no farther out than Turtle Rock as he continued to swim in the salty sea. Thankfully, the glow made it easy to find. He reached for the star and swam back to shore.
Once on the beach, he opened his glowing fist and stared at the star. He had never seen anything like it before. Soon it began to fade into a dim glow, and Akara could see strange writing on the stone. A writing that Akara had seen before and heard about when the Great Wizards would talk with Kshinte. Akara decided to wait until morning to investigate. He walked up the pathway toward his sandcastle. All the Jacobean children were asleep, each one having dreams of ocean games and feasts of food. Akara walked over to his castle without being noticed and lay down on the straw mat. He tucked the star under his pillow and went to sleep.
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