Realm Keepers 01 - Realm Keepers

rough surface of the stone. It felt comforting, warm somehow. Like…it sounded ridiculous, but like hugging a cousin that I hadn’t seen in years but had always been really good friends with. For some reason, the stone felt alive. And I didn’t want to break contact. To my right, I heard Calvin breathing deeply in and out, and chuckling every time he did.
    Then there was a POOF and an old, gruff voice said, “Well, now that that’s over with.”
    I leapt to my feet and whirled around. Just outside the circle of stone pillars, in the direction of the doors I’d been planning on making a run for, stood an old man. Not just old—this guy was ancient. His face had more wrinkles than a shirt I’d accidentally slept in overnight, and his bushy white eyebrows jutted out like the wings of a bird. His crazy white hair stuck out in all directions, immediately making me think of Albert Einstein. He was wearing an old, faded grey robe and clutching a gnarled wooden walking stick that was a little taller than he was.
    I jumped in front of Tess and Calvin, who were both climbing slowly to their feet. I felt Miles step in on my left and Blade on my right, the three of us forming a wall in front of the smaller kids. Raven stayed off to the side a bit, staring at the old man, unsure.
    “Who are you?” I asked.
    The old man scoffed. “Who am I ? Listen, little girl, I’m not the one who has anything to prove here. You’ve got some big shoes to fill, missy, mighty big shoes, and you look barely old enough to ride a horse, much less save the world.”
    “Ride a…save the what ?” I asked, utterly confused. I could understand what he was saying, even though a part of me was aware that he wasn’t speaking English. But even though I understood him, he didn’t make sense.
    The old man sighed heavily. “Always with the new ones,” he grumbled. “It’s always ‘ what are you talking about? ’ and ‘ who are you? ’ and ‘ why are these people trying to kill us? ’”
    “ What?!” I nearly shrieked.
    “Hey man, where are we?” Miles asked. “What is this? What’s with those rocks?”
    The old man sighed and peered at all of us instead of answering. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw Miles, then Blade, look at me. Like I was supposed to know what to do. It looked like the old man saw them, because his eyes narrowed and focused on me.
    “You,” he said. “What is your name?”
    I glared at him. “Why?”
    “Come now. You’ve asked me for my name, despite my being your elder, but you do not offer your own? Give me yours, and I will give you mine, and then I will hear from the rest of you.”
    My brow wrinkled as I thought about that. All of this was so bizarre, I didn’t know what to think. But there was something about the man. Something in his eyes. He sure seemed to be a crotchety old guy, but I didn’t feel like he actually meant us any harm.
    “I’m Sarah,” I told him finally. There was no way I was going to give him my last name. “Now, for the last time, who are you ?”
    He snorted. “‘For the last time.’ Such bravado. Still, I suppose that’s to be expected.” He thrust his staff out to his side and bowed low, holding his hand over his belly. “I am Greystone, the wizard, and I am, most unfortunately for all of us, at your service.”
    “A wizard. Right,” said Blade sarcastically beside me.
    “ Cool! ” cried Calvin. He pressed forward between me and Miles and stared at Greystone with a wide grin. “What can you do?”
    Greystone looked at him with disdain. “Oh, you’re one of those .”
    “What, you expect him to just believe you’re a wizard?” said Raven, stepping forward and unexpectedly coming to Calvin’s defense. “Come on, let’s see something. You say you’re a wizard? Prove it.”
    Greystone rolled his eyes as though this whole affair were so unimaginably far beneath him, he couldn’t have reached it with his feet if it were on the ground. Then he held up his hand and a tiny ball of orange flame erupted in midair. It burned brightly for a few seconds, turned blue, and then vanished as he closed his hand into a fist. Greystone held up his hands and wiggled his fingers like he was telling a ghost story.
    “Ta daaa,” he said. “Oogie boogie.”
    My jaw dropped, and my eyes felt like they were going to burst out of their sockets. I glanced at Miles, Blade and Raven and saw that they were all looking at the old man with the same expression of stark