When the gods of the universe were created by Udonia, the first god and the ruler of all gods, they were divided to rule in one of two parallel worlds. One was named Madrona, and the other Adeo. There was no difficulty in crossing over between worlds, as the gods from one world visited the other, but Udonia knew that without life, the planets were of no significance, and soon enough, humans and animals were created, and civilization erupted from both worlds.

The Gods of Madrona were forbidden to visit the Gods of Adeo, simply to prevent chaos among their worlds. This created sadness for the gods. They had missed their brothers and sisters very much; not being able to converse with them about their happiness, their sorrow. Troubled by what her rule has done, Udonia created a gateway to each of these worlds. The only way to get through was to use the Havia Ret and the Reshem Ret, or the Gate Keys. Although these keys were to prevent chaos, ironically, they created more of it. The gods would sneak in to the other world and create havoc onto their land. This was considered a prank to all the gods, but when it was over, it would take too long for the humans to repair the damage done.

To fix this problem, Udonia allowed only reliable gods to cross over between worlds. None of the gods were happy about this because none of the gods were reliable. Thinking that the Havia Ret and the Reshem Ret were a bad idea, Udonia tried to get rid of them, but they were so powerful, that they could not be destroyed. Instead, she buried them in her sacred temple, which is located in both Madrona and Adeo. She also imposed on a powerful protection to the key, so only one with a fair and noble heart may attain of it.

The gods were angry to hear that they could not visit their brothers and sisters in the other world. They created a lot of noise; so much that it was heard in both worlds. The humans of Madrona and Adeo were startled to hear noises that seemed to be coming from the shadows of everything around them. To conceal the truth of the parallel worlds, the gods created two books; one for Adeo and one for Madrona. These books were of fairy tales that explained the noises the humans heard, though it was not the real truth. Every fairy tale that Madrona received, actually described the land and people of Adeo. All fairy tales of Adeo were the truth of Madrona. So humans evolved, growing up with tales of their unknown parallel world.

Chapter 1

It was a bright and sunny day. Not everyday was so blessed as to have such of good weather. In a little cottage located just outside the city of Shannara, a boy, not so young of age lives. As Loqui sat on a dusty, tattered kitchen chair, he took out a jar of ink and his favorite writing feather. He slowly opened a shabby-looking bound book, and began to write:

15 Tunde, 864
Today is the nicest day I’ve seen so far. My mood is well, and I cannot be more joyful. Luck is with me because I have found a job. It is not the best job, but for someone my age, I should thank the gods for my luck. I wish that mother and father were here. I miss them so much already. I never wanted them to leave me on this world, but I cannot turn back the hands of time, even though I would really much like so. Enough of sorrowful writing; I should not use all my day on writing in a book, but as my dream to become a writer, I must. I can see it. I WILL become a writer someday, even if the people of Shannara do not like my words. My dream will become reality. Someday.

Loqui

Loqui read through the addition to his book he just made, slowly closed the book, and placed it under his bed. After completing his daily morning routine, he put on his boots and walked outside. He closed the door behind him as he headed out for his first day at work, with a big grin on his face.

Chapter 2

Ksenya peered through the curtains. She jumped back as of seeing the number of people there were, who were all waiting for a worthy performance. As a stage cleaner passed by, she asked him, trying to lower her voice as best as she could,”Are they all here for us?”

“Why, yes, of course. Did you think that they’d freeze their poor little asses off to stare at a stage?” the old man said, before making a crude noise which shortly sounded like a laughter. “It’s sunny, yes, but it’s still morning.” Without saying another word, the old man passed by Ksenya, continuing to work. Ksenya always wanted to be an actor, but every actor must have acted through their first performance without the grace that they are given with further down their careers. After getting a glance at the enormous crowd that was forming around the stage, the truth was that she did not want to become an actor as much as she did five minutes ago.

In the city of Shannara, a girl was not allowed to act in public assemblies such as this one. Being a girl, Ksenya was afraid that her identity would be revealed and that she’d be thrown into jail. The only person who knew about her secret is her trusted and loyal friend from childhood, Dimitri. As a baby, Ksenya was abandoned by her parents who loved to set out for adventures. They felt that a baby would draw them back from travelling as much as they did before Ksenya was born, so they left her in the care of their close friends, who had a child named Dimitri. Growing up, Ksenya and Dimitri did everything together. They’d stick up for each other when bullied by other kids, and they’d get into a lot of trouble as well.

When Ksenya decided to become an actor, Dimitri was very supportive and promised her that he would never mention her secret to a single soul. He also promised that he’d attend to every play she starred in. As Ksenya scanned through the crowd once more, she still could not find Dimitri. As she was about to turn around, a dark figure grabbed her by the shoulders. Before the figure had any time to say anything, Ksenya swung around and launched a fierce punch right in the man’s stomach. Naturally, the man slowly made his way to the floor. When his face came into the light, she saw that she had mistakenly punched her friend for whom she had been so frantically searching.

Trying to regain as much posture as he could, Dimitri said,”Well hello to you too. I don’t know why you’re so mad at me...I wasn’t THAT late.” Ksenya helped her friend get up to his feet, and apologizing as much as she could.

“Sorry, I didn’t know it was you. I thought someone found out that I was a girl and that you were a guard trying to put me in jail. Anyway, I AM mad at you; you know as well as I do that this is my first performance! I expect you to be here well over ten minutes before now!” she yelled. Before Dimitri had time to react, the loud sound of applause came, and Ksenya walked out onto the stage.

To be continued...