Chapter One – Andros

Andros ran through the Fire Cave heading for where Sian was last known to be. He carefully avoided the lava pits and ignored the heat. The cave was close to a semi active volcano and the heat and lava from it was quite often found there, sometimes it was unbearable.

He couldn’t believe he’d let Sian take his brother. All for something stupid which Sian had spoken about, the Powers of Yen. Sian has told him was one of the chosen, one who had a Magical Gem, one of 8 that made of the Yen Gem. Sian had demanded that Andros hand the Gem over to him, but Andros had no idea what Sian was talking about. Sian didn’t believe this and started to make threats. He said that unless the Gem was given to him he’d take Andros’s brother until he got it. Mike begged Andros to give Sian the Gem, not realising that Andros never had it. Now Mike was gone and Andros feared that Sian had taken him.

Andros got to the last section of the Fire Cave. It was split with a wall separating the two sections. On the right of the wall was an entrance to the back section, which Sian was stood in front of. Andros could see his brother behind Sian, trapped.

“Give me my brother back” Andros shouted at Sian. Sian just laughed and said that if Andros wanted his brother, he would give him the Gem. Once again Andros stated that he had no idea what Sian was talking about; he’d never seen the Gem that Sian wanted.

“Well then, maybe you’ll have to find it and give it to me before I give your brother back” Sian replied to Andros’s comment.

“Why are you after this Gem?” Andros asked. Sian explained that he’d never understand, that he had his own reasons and he wasn’t going to share them. Andros said if that’s how Sian was going to be then he wouldn’t help. Sian stated that he had no choice if he wanted his brother back.

Sian challenged Andros to fight, one that Andros had no choice in since it would happen, even if Andros refused to participate in. The fight only lasted a minute, two at most, Sian was much too strong for Andros. Sian smiled and shook his head.

“Without your powers you’re pathetic” He stated. “I wonder, can I awaken them in this world?”

This world, what does he mean? Andros thought to himself. Is he from somewhere else?

Sian began muttering something in a language Andros didn’t understand. The wind picked up, even though they were in the depths of the cave, with no access to the surface for a while. The wind whipped Andros’s golden orange hair into his eyes; he could feel his headband whipping against his back. The wind started to throw the loose stones about in the cave. Andros had to bring his arms up to his face in order to shield his eyes from them. He kept his eye on Sian, who had started to emit a black aura, which resembled flames rising.

Andros felt the magic hit him and felt a change within his body, he felt himself become stronger. Sian smiled; he knew he had succeeded in awakening the powers within Andros. He challenged Andros to a fight again, this time stating he’d go easy on him. Andros still didn’t have a choice.

The two began fighting again, this time it lasted much longer. Even though Andros was much stronger, Sian was still stronger than him physically, he still didn’t stand a chance against him, till he discovered something.

Without realising what he was doing Andros activated one of his powers that Sian had awoken. Even though it was only a basic skill he used it knocked Sian back onto the floor. The fight was over, Andros had won.

Sian smirked as he got to his feet.

“Not bad,” he commented. “But you’ll still never beat me in my true form.” With that Andros felt another magic attack hit him. This one left him sprawled out on the floor, unconscious. Sian shook his head and started talking to himself. “This’ll never do. Without that Gem I cannot complete my plans.” He looked down at Andros. “He has to find it.”

With that, a bright light filled the cave, emanating from Sian. When the light went, Andros, Sian and Mike were nowhere to be found.

Andros slowly awoke, and found himself lying face down in sand. He wiped the sand from his face and slowly looked around, squinting in the bright daylight. He brought his arm up to shade his eyes from the sun. In the distance to the right he could see a town of some sort. Elsewhere there was nothing but sand, and an odd tree scattered in what seemed random areas.

Slowly getting to his feet, Andros started in the direction of the town he saw. Although it only took him an hour to get there, to Andros it seemed like an eternity. Standing at the edge of town he surveyed the surrounding area. A few of the buildings were obvious, since they were labelled. He spotted an old woman sat near to one of the houses and cautiously approached her.

“Excuse me,” he said.

“What can I do for you?” the woman spoke, in a kind tone. Andros asked where he was, to which the woman replied that this was the mining town of Tavahla. Andros then asked if she had seen his brother but she said that she hadn’t. He then asked about Sian.

“Never speak that name in public,” she said angrily. “Sian is evil. Leave here at once.” The woman refused to speak to Andros after that, hurrying away whenever he came near.

Andros decided that he would try at the inn. Maybe he could get some information from the inn keeper, or at least get some rest. He was tired out from all the walking to get here. Upon entering the inn he walked over to the inn keeper. The man refused to speak to him about Sian, and refused to allow him to stay. Said he was trying to scam him with fake money; he only accepted Ruba, whatever that was.

Andros noticed someone watching him, a young girl. She wore the strangest clothes Andros had seen. She has a purple dress on which was held in place by a dark pink bow around her waist. On her head was a purple hat keeping her green hair in place. The hat also had a pink bow on it. Andros walked over to the girl; he hoped she could answer some of his questions. As he approached the girl looked up at him.

“Can I help you?” she asked him, sounding annoyed at being spoken to. Andros ignored the way she spoke to him.

“I hope so, I’m looking for my brother, have you seen him?” he asked, and then started to describe him. The girl shook her head and said no. Andros then asked about Sian.

“Were you not just told not to speak his name in public?” she asked, even though she knew the answer. Andros began to dislike this girl. He could tell she wasn’t quite telling the truth about something. “Come inside my house with me and we’ll talk.”

She led him to and old house sat on the outskirts of the town. The house looked like it hadn’t been used in a while. The windows were boarded up, the front door hang loose; the walls were starting to crumble. The girl didn’t seem to care though.

Andros followed her inside and noticed that the inside of the house wasn’t much better than the outside. There was inches of dust over everything, huge cobwebs hung off the walls.

“I take it you’re not home much?” Andros asked. She gave a quick laugh.

“This isn’t my home; it’s abandoned, as you can probably tell.” She had a quick look round, and then came back to Andros. “I stay here when I’m in town.” Andros nodded then started to have a look round.

The girl called out to him before he got too far.

“What’s your name?” she asked. Andros replied to her. The she said “My name is Firay. What is it you wanted to know about Sian?”

“Who is he? People in the town said that he’s evil. I know he’s after something called the Yen Gem and he seems to think I have a Gem that makes it up. I don’t have a clue what he’s on about.”

“Sian was once a wise wizard. He was advisor to the King at one point. But for some reason he became obsessed with finding the Yen Gem.”

“What is the Yen Gem?” Andros asked.

“No one knows for certain, it’s only a legend. Supposedly it can give the user incredible powers, greater than that which we already have. You’re not from around here are you? Everyone knows the story of the Yen Gem.” Andros shook his head at her question. “Well, I think you ought to be off. I’m going to be in town for at least another day, so if you need me you can find me here.” The Firay handed him something. “Don’t spend it all at once.” She had given him 100 Ruba.

Andros left the house and headed back to the inn. After paying he sat at the bed and pondered his next move. The girl, Firay hadn’t told him anything he really wanted to know, like where his brother or Sian was. He decided that his only option was to look for Sian on his own.