Hard uneven wood rustled against my back as I slowly fought to get myself out of bed. I sat on top of my bed, still trying to shake off the sleepy feeling. As I picked off the little crusts in the corner of my eyes, I remembered what day it was. I felt excitement rush over me as a realized what was in store for me today.

Today was the day of realization.

Every three weeks, the five moons of Arkanthia, each named after a moon wisp, would align in a perfect straight line. This particular event allowed my family and many others to see through the portal of Aragon.

This portal was not your typical portal. It was unique. Its purpose was not for transportation, but to look into it. To gather its wisdom.

Gazing inside the portal would tell us things of the future that were yet to come. Whether it was good or bad, it helped us tremendously.

If what we saw was a good realization, we would wait impatiently for the gift that was coming to us. If what we saw was a bad realization, we would better prepare ourselves for the future fate that was arriving. A long time ago, only my second time getting to look into the portal, it told us of a famine just a few weeks away, allowing us stock up on food and supplies in order to out last it.

My family always looked forward to this event, my mother in particular was always fascinated by its precise accuracy of future endeavors. My dad was always the skeptic in the room. He knew that whatever the portal showed us was true, but always would find some way of telling us how unlikely it is of happening. My Brother, Calvin, used to enjoy it very much, until a very bad event happened.

Calvin had just turned eighteen, and in doing so, he was allowed to leave the house hold at will. One day, Calvin left the house in order to grab food from the Arkanon food store just a few miles away. He said it might be a day or two trip because he planned on visiting his girlfriend, who happened to be an elf, on the way back. So when Calvin didn't come back on the second day out, we didn't worry. It was when he didn't arrive on the third or forth day that we began to worry.

He had never been gone for that long before, so we had the right to worry about him. My family searched everywhere for any sign of Calvin or the very pretty elf that he was supposedly visiting. After a week of searching we had found the scarf Calvin would always wear hanging around the limb of a tree. It had a cut on it that looked like it had been inflicted by a knife or dagger.

It has been almost three years since that incident. My mother and father gave up hope a long time ago.

But not me.

Since that tragedy had bestowed upon our family, every day we have tried to see any sign of Calvin in the Portal of Aragon. About one and a half years ago we did see him inside the Portal, giving us the hope that he was still alive and we might see him soon. At the time, we thought we might see him in the next couple of months, but it has already been over a year.

I wake up every day missing him; wondering if he ever thinks about me when he's scared or when he's happy. I've always wanted to reunite with him before I turned eighteen. I am sixteen now and three months away from turning seventeen. The time for me to see his return was growing thin. I missed him so much.

I began walking down the oak spiral staircase into the kitchen where my mom was using magic to cook me breakfast.

"Capringo Alrias!" She yelled while waving her hand in a certain motion. It was like she was air drawing the letter S. All of the sudden, the cabinet doors opened up, revealing all of the cooking supplies. Then, without hesitation, the supplies shot out of the cabinets. With the wave of her hand, everything was made.

I've started to learn some basic spells. As a human, spells were much harder for me to learn than it was for a magical creature like an elf or a dragonoid. My parents started teaching me and my brother ever since we were young. I knew a spell that helped me when I got lost; "Directo Mappinga" was the spells incantation. This spell would send a magical wisp leading me to my house or any other place I needed to go. Besides that spell and some other general magic spells, I hadn't gotten to learn the real spells; the true Arkanthian spells. The spells that get people out of danger, or help people fight in battles.

My Dad always warned me against using Arkanthian magic. He said it was dangerous if not used correctly. I believed him, but never really listened to him. It didn't stop the fact that I still desperately wanted to learn them. I'd beg my mother every day to teach me. She would always have some excuse, like she was too tired or that she was busy that evening. It was all lies to protect me.

After practically 2 straight years of asking her, she finally agreed to teach me Arkanthian Magic.

I glanced on the family calendar to make sure that she was teaching me today. In fact, she was. My mother, being an elf/human hybrid, was always out of the house doing things that I could not understand. Today was the one day we weren't busy until the afternoon, which was when we would go to the portal of Aragon.

After eating breakfast, my mother took me to the backyard and taught me some spells. The first one she taught me was the one she had used in the kitchen. "Capringo Alrias".

"First you need to close your eyes" She said.

I did exactly that, closed my eyes.

"Now I want you to imagine in your mind that you can still see everything around you. The grass. The trees. Our tree house. The fence. You see it?"

"I do" I said with amazement. I really could see everything around me. The trees swaying in the wind, along with our house in the trees. Everything was just as it should have been.

"Now I want you to look beyond the big things around you. Notice.." she paused. "..Notice the rocks on the ground. Notice each and every little nook and cranny about them. Notice each crack and each imperfection."

I did as she said. I saw the little minute details in the rocks around us. I saw the specific wood carvings in the tree where me and my brother would write our names on it. I saw things I hadn't even noticed with my eyes open.

" Now tell me" she continued "what do you want to do to these rocks?"

"Pick them up." I answered. I wanted to do more than pick them up, but I wanted to start slow.

"That's a great idea. Now, hold out your hand."

I did as she said, hold my hand out as far as it could reach.

"Now as you say the spell's incantation, move your hand as if you are drawing out the letter 'S'. If you have forgotten, the incantation is 'Capringo Alrias' ".

I concentrated on everything I was doing. I still saw the rocks and their imperfections. I still held my arm as far as possible. Now all that I had to do was act upon it.

While waving my hand in the form of the letter "S", I said "Capringo Alrias".

I felt power run from the bottom of my feet all the way to the end of my finger tips. It was surreal.

"Open your eyes" My mother commanded.

I opened my eyes, amazed at the sight before me. The rocks were floating around me; just as I had commanded them to.

Just out of the corner of my eye, I saw my dad looking at me. I snapped out of my spell, causing the rocks I was once holding up to fall down dramatically.

My human father, seeing this from the window, gave me a look of disappointment. But at the same time, a look that gave me chills.

He was afraid. Genuinely afraid.