Knox:

I stand at the keel of a ship, staring out at the sea. The ocean waves seem to be painted, with the rhythmic flow and silky look they bear. I can't see anything below the azure surface, but I do feel something. This ocean feels powerful. How I know it's an ocean, I can't tell. It's a gut feeling, but I feel power surging through my veins.

This is inexplicable. I know for a fact I'm dreaming. But this feels so real, the smell of the ocean mingling with the air around me. I see everything in such vivid detail, it's almost impossible. I can even somewhat taste the salt in the air.

Where am I?

The question runs through my mind, but its soon banished from my thoughts by a single name.

Parker...

I almost break down, and even though I want to, my dream self doesn't allow it. I want to rage and cry, but something restricts me. However, it doesn't stop me from lamenting in my mind.

I still have trouble believing what happened. Actually, a better way to put it is that I don't even understand what happened. The things Parker and Bryan were doing... they weren't human. I'm sure there has to be some explanation, but something gnaws at the back of my mind. A memory so distant and so far off that I have to hunt to find it. I remain unsuccessful.

I can't seem to move. No matter how hard I try to look around, take in my surroundings, but body simply won't obey me.

Yet now I feel a cold sensation, much different than the peaceful breeze of the water in front of me. The coldness creeps up onto my body, making me go numb, until suddenly everything starts fading into the darkness of an endless abyss.

My eyes shot open with a gasp and I bolted upright.

I could hear crashing somewhere around me, but my mind was still blank from the dream. I couldn't even call it a dream. I didn't dream in all five senses, and never had I ever had a dream that vivid and horrifying. The way the darkness crept over me... I wasn't about to forget it very soon. I found myself clutching the covers of the bed I lay on.

Wait a minute...

...bed?

For a second I housed the blissful thought of the previous events having only been a dream and that I was waking up in my own bed again. But one look at the sheets, and I knew that wasn't the case. I didn't have white sheets, and my bed wasn't so nicely cleaned.

Now, under different circumstances, the thoughts running through my head would have been very different, but after what I had experienced, and the deranged dream, all I felt was a fresh round of terror.

"WHERE AM I!?" I yelled, looking around. I seemed to be in some sort of hospital. Well, not really, the word that would come to mind would be infirmary. I could see a table beside mine with water and a few medicines, and my bed was separated from the one beside mine by a green curtain. The only thing I hadn't been expecting was the girl.

A girl stood about few feet beside me, looking shocked and speechless. I'm usually fairly respectful towards females, but now I was messed up, afraid, and the fact that my sister wasn't anywhere near me wasn't lost on me either.

I jumped off the bed and grabbed her shoulders before she could react.

"WHERE AM I!?" I yelled again, getting in her face. "WHERE'S MY SISTER!?"

"Knox!" A voice from behind the curtain told me all I needed to know.

I pushed the girl aside and yanked the curtain to one side to reveal Dakota sitting on a bed similar to mine, looking as shaken up as I felt. I crashed into her with a hug, and dug my fingers into her hair as she buried her face in my shoulder.

"Oh my god..." Was all she could get out. I understood. We had woken up in a strange place, alone, without our parents anywhere in sight, and the past events had shaken us up to our bones.

Someone behind me cleared their throat, which broke our hug.

I turned to face the same girl, who was now flanked by two other people. I put an arm protectively around Dakota, and narrowed my eyes at the three people.

"Who are you people, and where are we? Where are our parents? What happ-"

"Whoa Whoa whoa," Another girl, not the one from before, held up her hands. She looked slightly younger than the other two, who seemed my age. "Dude, slow with them questions." She cringed at my outburst of questions. I gaped at her.

"Excuse me? I saw my best friend be killed by a new kid, and they did some unexplainable freaky crap before dying, hell, my friend sacrificed himself for us. Instead of waking up in my own house or a proper hospital with my parents and little brother beside me, I wake up to three teenagers in front of me, and you expect me to not ask questions!?" I spat out, incredulous.

"Knox, calm down please." The girl from before said softly, reaching out to touch my shoulder. Her hair was disheveled from our previous encounter, but I wasn't taking any of it. I yanked my hand away from her reach and scowled at her.

"How do you know my name?" I snapped. She smiled kindly. "Knox, please, just calm down, we'll be able to help you understand what's going on if you and Dakota are calm. You just have to listen." She said. Her voice had a thick accent. If I had to take a guess, it would be either Welsh or Scottish. Probably Scottish.

"Knox, maybe we should listen..." Dakota said in a small voice. I looked at her. She was torn between looking scared, looking at me, and looking at the teenagers. She settled for giving me a meaningful look. I knew she must've been deadly serious, because Dakota Eringarde was never serious.

I took a deep breath. As much as I hated to admit it, Dakota and the girl were right. Panicking wouldn't do me any good. These three teenagers were probably our only source of information. I looked at them.

"Fine. I... I'm sorry. I'm slightly rattled by my experience of..." I stopped. "How long was I out?" I asked them. The three exchanged uneasy glances and I knew the answer wouldn't be flattering. The girl from before put a hand on my shoulder, and seemed to relax at the fact that I didn't move away.

"Knox, you and Dakota were out for two days..."

I almost choked.

"WHAT!?"

She nodded apologetically. Dakota's jaw hung open as I stared at them incredulously, hoping to everything holy that one of them would laugh and tell me how well they'd fooled me. No such luck. They simply looked back at me. Well, two of them did. The other girl seemed preoccupied with fiddling with something in her hand.

"Look, Knox, I know what that sounds like, but that's the truth, dude." The third of the band told me. This happened to be a boy, obviously around my age. Dakota took a sharp intake of breath, and I glared at her.

I tried to steady my breathing. This wasn't going to work out this way. I closed my eyes and counted to three. Slowly, I opened them again.

"Okay, so you three claim to know what the hell is going on?" I asked. They nodded in response. I sighed again. "Fine. How about we start at the beginning. I don't even know your names, but you seem to know ours. So start with the introductions, and explain to me how my best friend managed to perform all that freaky stuff, who the hell this new kid was, why he wanted to kill us, and all the works." I ordered.

The three grabbed some chairs and sat down, the first girl sitting nearest to me. I didn't really mind. Something about her made me feel relaxed. She had an aura like that I guess. She spoke first.

"You're right, Knox. We do know what's going on, and it was silly of us to bombard you like that. This all must be very confusing, but I swear I can explain. Now, as for our names," She smiled and held out a hand. "I'm Winter. Winter Falkov." I smiled a little one in return and shook her hand. She seemed nice enough, and wanting to make us feel somewhat less confused.

"I'm Grant LeVache." The boy said, holding out his hand, and I nodded and shook it as well. "Dakota Eringarde!" Dakota jumped up and shook his hand as he was about to retract it. He seemed slightly startled, but smiled anyway. I rolled my eyes.

"And this is AJ Blackford." He said, motioning towards their third companion. AJ's head shot up. "Hey, how come I don't get to do my own intro?" She glared at Grant, who shrugged. AJ turned to us. "Ignore him, please. I'm AJ Blackford." She said, giving the two of us a two-fingered salute. I cracked a smile. Something about AJ made me want to crack up.

"Knox, we know your name because..." Winter's voice faltered and broke slightly. Grant stepped in.

"We were friends with Parker." He said.

I would've been surprised, but I was already at the limit. I simply nodded.

"How come he never mentioned you?" Dakota put in. Grant smiled at her. "He couldn't, really. When you know more, you'll know why."

"Knox, what do you think happened out there, in the classroom?" Winter asked, now having recovered. I gulped. How could I explain anything without these people telling me I was bonkers? But I had the support of Dakota, and some gut feeling told me telling these people wouldn't be a mistake.

"I can't explain it. I really can't. The new guy, Bryan, he could move table with his hands. Parker could do the same. They were fighting, and I got injured, but Parker just put his hand on my forehead and... healed me. He gave me a knife, and Bryan knocked Dakota out. I don't know what happened, but what they did, with fire shooting out of their hands and things flying everywhere at their commands, it wasn't... human." I finished awkwardly.

"Knox is right, I saw it too. I know you don't believe us, and I'm not sure we believe us but that's what-"

"We believe you." Grant said, cutting off my sister. I looked at him, expecting another joke, but once again my hopes were dashed.

"Knox, did you or Dakota do something...inexplicable?" Winter asked. I flashed back to when Bryan had sent that shockwave of energy, and it had dissipated when it touched my outstretched hand. I nodded meekly. Winter's expression darkened.

"Well, Bryan, he shot this sort of... shockwave, from his body, and I didn't even know what I was doing. I just held out my hand and... the wave dissipated. I swear, I have no clue what happened." I said, before they sent me to some asylum.

"We can explain all those things." Winter said slowly. I raised my eyebrows. "You can?" I asked, surprised. I'd honestly thought they would tell me I needed help, but they seemed to understand what I was saying. This couldn't possibly get weirder.

"But... how can you believe us? What happened was impossible!" Dakota burst out. Grant looked at her. "It happened, didn't it? That means it's possible. And we know what happened in there, and we have the answers you're looking for. You just need to quiet down and listen." He said firmly. AJ snorted. "Trust me, you haven't seen nothin' yet." She declared, still tinkering with what seemed like a locket.

"Guys, look at me." Winter said, moving in a way so that both Dakota and I could see her. "What I'm going to say next will sound crazy, deranged and weirder than anything you can possibly imagine. But you have to believe me, because we're telling the truth." She said in an ominous voice. I could feel a lump in my throat. We both nodded.

Winter took a deep breath and glanced over at Grant, who nodded grimly at her. She looked at us again. 

"Have you heard of sorcery?"

I scoffed. "Obviously, who hasn't? I don't live under a rock you know... " my voice trailed off. Call me slow, but it wasn't until that moment that I realized what she was saying. Although, given what she was saying, I wasn't all that surprised. 

"Oh."

Dakota stared at them with wide eyes. I couldn't believe my ears. I narrowed my eyes at them. I was torn between disbelief and rage.

"Is this all a joke to you!?"I burst out, incredulous. How could they even imagine trying to mock us when we were clearly so scared and confused? This was more than just a cruel joke.

"Knox, no, you don't understand, we're not lying to you! This isn't a joke, we're telling the truth!" Winter pleaded. I wasn't about to fall for it though.

"Yeah, sure. Look, I may be still terrified from what I saw, but there isn't any way I'll believe you. I can't believe you can joke about someone's death, but-"

"Knox, for the love of God, we aren't JOKING!" Winter burst out. The sheer desperation in her voice stopped me from lashing out at her. She seemed to be begging me to believe her.

"You saw what happened in the classroom yourself Knox. What other possible explanation could you have for it?" Grant asked. I looked over at Dakota, to see her with her mouth still open. However, she looked shocked,  not in disbelief.

"Dakota?" I asked. She slowly turned to look at me. She took in a shaky breath. "Knox... what happened in the class the other day... I can't explain it. You saw it for yourself. It wasn't human, or normal, and the way they were... doing things, supernatural is the only explanation which makes sense." She finished. I stared at her. She believed them!?

"Dakota, I'm sure there's some absolutely logical explanation behind what they did! Sorcery... I can't even imagine you believing this stuff!" I exclaimed.

"Oh yeah? Well what logical explanation would you have for this?" AJ seemed to almost challenge me as she spoke for the first time in a while. She held out her hand.

Beside me, a glass from the table beside me lifted itself up into the air, and poured it's contents into the small plant beside it. All on its own. Just hovering in the air, following the movements of AJ's outstretched hand.

I found myself speechless. I tried to say something, but All that came out was a pathetic little squeak. I looked at the three in front of me in horror. Winter seemed to sense my doubts, because her expression softened reassuringly.

"We're not going to hurt you. I swear, we're only trying to help you." She told me. I looked at each of them. They seemed completely serious, except for AJ who had once again lost all interest in the conversation and had gone back to tinkering. The girl seemed to have the attention span of a hyperactive chipmunk on coffee.

But I could tell from Winter and Grant's expressions that they weren't joking. This wasn't some cruel prank. Hell we didn't even know these guys. What would they do, pranking us? And what AJ had done right now was... the only word for it was magic. And the more I thought about it, magic seemed to be te only explanation to what had happened in the class too.

I bit my lip and looked at my twin again. "You believe them, don't you?" I asked her. She nodded.

These people obviously didn't want to hurt us. From what I could tell, they'd been the ones to help us. We had been half dead, they wouldn't help us then try to kill us. I looked back at them.

"I... believe you..." I managed.

Winter's face broke into a huge grin, while Grant just exhaled. AJ looked up for millisecond, grinned at us, then went back.

"Knox, I know this must be hard, but I can't thank you enough for believing it. Really. Trust me, we only want to help." Winter assured me. Grant nodded.

"You and Dakota are sorcerers Knox." He declared.

Now, I've been told some weird things in my life. This topped it all. But I couldn't even deny it. The memory that tugged at the back of my mind, the way Parker and Bryan had talked about us, the way I had stopped that wave of energy. This was literally the only explanation.

I nodded. "There's more, isn't there?" I asked. Grant nodded. "Yeah. There is."

"Both Parker and Bryan said a word... they called us," Dakota motioned to the two of us, "Audaynes. What does that mean?"

Winter sighed again.

"It's a long story, really, but one you need to know." She said. AJ started paying a little attention to what was going on, though I suspected that was only because Winter's accent sounded extremely cool. And made whatever she said sound extremely cool.

"See, Knox, obviously, now you know that sorcery exists. Sorcerers, as we are, have been..." she searched for the right word, "divided, into two sections."

I nodded, telling her I was on the same page. Dakota looked a bit overwhelmed, but still followed.

"The division started ever since sorcery began, which traces itself back to literally the beginning of time. In the ancient days, when sorcery was actually discovered and the talents explored, there were two types of sorcerers. Some sorcerers used their magic to rise to power. Which wasn't  necessarily a bad thing, they were all the kings, and nobles and such. These were called the Ischaryae." She stopped, letting me take it in. I pondered the information and the name.

"The others, were the ones who used their power to protect the civilians. They used to be the soldiers and the guardians. They are called the Audaynes."

Dakota breathed in. "So we're... Audaynes? And I'm guessing you guys are too?" She asked. Winter nodded.

"The kid you mentioned, Bryan, he was an Ischaryae, sent to kill you." She told us.

"But why?" I asked. "We've never even used our talents, and we had no idea!"

Winter shook her head. "Rey wanted to kill you simply because you were an Audayne." She answered. "You see, after a certain period of time, the Ischaryae wanted more than just territory. They wanted to make the civilians their slaves, because according to them they were more powerful and worthy because of their skill. The Audaynes stood in their way. The feud between the two has continued ever since. For a reason we haven't been able to identify yet, the Ischaryae are attacking more Audaynes, and from what a figured, you two are powerful. That's why Bryan, an Ischaryae wanted you dead."

"But he didn't, exactly. He wanted me dead, because I was 'useless'. He wanted to take Knox with him. Stupid, I know, leave the better twin behind and take the idiot, but why" Dakota put in. I shot her another look, while AJ seemed impressed with her insults.

Winter, on the other hand, looked slightly worried. "We don't know yet." She said.

I nodded. "Wait... you didn't tell us where we are..." I asked.

Winter smiled. "You're at what we call te Katafaeg." She answered. "It's derived from the Greek word meaning Shelter. This is a sort of... base or institution of sorts for Audaynes. A place where we can't be harmed by the Ischaryae." She said. "You're in the infirmary. Before Parker went in to find you, he sent us a message. We found you there later on, both of you, unconscious. And we borough you here and had you heal." She explained.

I opened my mouth to speak again, but Grant cut me off. "Dude, rest. Both of you. I in there are many questions, but rest assured we've taken care of things. You don't have to worry, and we'll explain all this further during the tour of Katafaeg. For now, just rest." He said. He held out a hand and my bed from behind the curtain wheeled itself to right beside Dakota's, almost connecting the two. I had stopped getting freaked out. Honestly, now if one of them transformed into an hippo and did the Macarena, I wouldn't be surprised. I slowly got into my bed as Winter started working on some medicines, while Grant and AJ sat back in their chairs.

I decided Grant was right. I needed rest. But I also realized I hadn't exactly gotten to examine these three. In all the info-bomb dropping, I hadn't taken a close look at them. Usually when I met someone I would examine them to see if I could get something about them. And knowing these people was definitely in my benefit. This was my time.

I went for Winter first, since she worked right beside me. She seemed my age, with tan skin and chestnut brown hair and matching brown eyes. Her hair was cut longer in front and barely reached her shoulders. She seemed to have a permanent smile, which was undoubtedly warm. She seemed the kindest of the three, and also the most emotional. I could tell from the way her voice had broken over Parker that she'd cared a lot about him. She was pretty, no doubt, in a sweet and warm way. I guessed from the flawless way she handled the medicines that she had experience in healing.

I looked at the only other member of the male gender in the room, Grant. Now, I didn't pay much attention to what boys looked like, but even I couldn't miss the fact that Grant was super good looking. And from the way Dakota was ogling at him, I could tell she agreed. The guy could've easily been a model with his spiked brown hair streaked with blonde, ice gray eyes and sharp features. He was tall, maybe an inch or so more than me, with a lithe frame. I could tell this guy specialized in some sort of combat. He also seemed to be the leader of the three, he simply had that thing about him which screamed leader.

I turned my gaze towards the last member of the three, AJ. I was curious as to what her real name was, for surely no one would name their daughter AJ. It matched her personality though. She seemed to be a full on Tomboy with short, messy and choppy blonde hair. Her eyes, like Grant's were grey, but they weren't startling like the latter's. They held a mischievous spark to them, as though she was thinking of a million ways to prank someone. I could tell immediately that this girl was a trouble maker. She probably loved pranks. Unlike Grant and Winter, she seemed about a year or so younger than us. I decided that I liked her. She reminded me of a slightly elder version of Jamie.

I looked over at Dakota, who was still staring intently at Grant. I rolled my eyes again and snapped my finger in front of her face. She jumped slightly and looked at me.

"This has got to be the weirdest thing that's happened to us." I said, only for her ears. She nodded. "But is it a good weird or a bad weird?" She asked. I hesitated for a moment before answering.

"We'll find out as time goes on, won't we?"
~. ~. ~. ~.
A/N: WELL!? WHADDYA THINK!?

Ahem. Sorry. Hehe.

So! The stuff was finally revealed! What did you guys think of the whole thing? I spent a while on it, and I'd love to know your thoughts!
More will be revealed about the whole Ischaryae Audayne thing in the next chapter, which'll be the tour. Also, what did you think of our new characters, Winter Grant and AJ?

Do read, vote and comment, it means a lot to me, it really does. Thank you for all your support! Hope you liked the chapter!

Oh and up there is Winter Falkov. :)

Until next time then,
Wizard.