CHAPTER ONE

Every city has a story and the story of Dern was Orben. Orben was a very small town in Dern city, it had all the magical creatures you could ever think of and was the best place you could ever be but suddenly it disappeared into thin air. The story was told all over Dern for a long time, many didn't believe with time but few still did and Aurora Robert was one of the few. Aurora Robert was the only heir to the Robert Empire. She couldn’t breathe without her body guards so she busied herself with  the only one thing that could take her away from her suffocating world; reading. She had read all the books about Orben but none answered Aurora's questions;  'Why did the town disappear?' and 'Where was the town now?'  She had promised herself to never leave Dern until she found Orben but as they say, life is what happens when you are busy making other plans.

‘AURORA!!!’ 

‘Coming nana’ she answered closing her novel. Putting it in her bookshelf, she looked around her room and sighed.

 Aurora had been told since she could read the ABC’s that she was to attend Quinex College in Chervils city. She never had a problem with it since bodyguards couldn't come with her to college but with her search of Orben still on,  she didn't want to leave anymore. Pulling her bags with her, she left the room closing the door behind her. She walked down the hallways and into the dining room where her luggage was carried to the car by the driver.

‘Good morning nana’ she greeted taking a seat. Aurora had never seen her mother, her nanny Stacy who was her dad’s childhood friend was the only mother figure in her life.

‘Good morning baby’ her nana replied.

‘I am not a baby anymore. Nana I am sixteen almost seventeen’ she said. She hated been called a baby.

‘You will always be my baby, now eat up before your dad comes to pull you away'

‘Good morning dad’ she greeted with a mouthful.

‘Good morning princess’ he replied and took a seat.

                                                      **********

‘Princess I am so sorry I can’t see you off’ her dad apologized for the hundredth time.

‘It’s okay dad. I wouldn't want you to put off your meeting because of me’ she reassured him.

'Princess please let the bodyguards come with you' her dad pleaded.

Aurora looked at the cars behind them and shook her head. She could at least enjoy some freedom before going off to college.

'Are you sure it's not because you're angry at me?' Her dad asked quite unsure.

'Not at all dad. I will be by myself eventually, I just want to be prepared' She said hoping she convinced him. She really wanted to head to the train station like a normal teenage girl not like a billionaire's daughter.

‘Okay princess, anything for you. Don’t forget to call, I love you. Drive’ he said and the driver drove off.

  Staring at the cars driving off in the distance, it registered in her head; she was all alone for the very first time. With a smile on her face she pulled her luggage into Dern’s train station. She looked around and the world seemed more wider and beautiful. She saw children playing a game of tag and their parents admiring them at a distance. An old man walked right past her and headed to the group of children. He grabbed a little boy of probably age ten and smacked him across the face. Aurora felt so angry she wondered what the little boy did to deserve such a hard smack. She was grateful her dad never hit her though her nanny had beaten her countless times but it was never that hard. She then concluded that men hands are painful. Tears streamed down the boy's face as the man dragged him out of the station. She had wanted to give the man a piece of her mind but various people his age were just watching, who was she to scold him. She could end up with a smack if she wasn't careful.

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     Turning a blind eye,she proceeded to the counter. Showing her ticket, she was told the directions to her train, train 89305. She was about to head to it when she saw a bookshop. Excited she pulled her luggage and entered since she still had thirty minutes to spare.

‘Good morning ma’am. I would like to see your fantasy novels’ she said to the woman who was the only one in the bookshop. 

   The bookshop looked like it had existed for thousands of years. It looked like those kind of places you would find strange animals or people. The woman wore a long hat and her robe was black in color. Her shoe was so funny, it took everything in Aurora not to laugh. It looked like all those shoes you've heard of but never seen. It looked like a boot but its tip was curved like the edge of a canoe.

‘Follow me’ the woman said and she followed her. 

  From behind her, Aurora could tell that the shoe was not her size because it looked like the boot wanted to fly off everytime she took a step. She was shown a section for fantasy novels. After thanking the woman she started looking for the novel that will keep her company during the train ride. She was still looking for the novel in question when something caught her eye, she saw a train standing in mid-air. 

   Surprised, she went out to clarify if she was seeing things but the train was still there floating in mid-air right in front of the bookshop. No one seemed to notice the floating train as they went about their businesses. The train was green in colour and on it were the initials O.C. It looked like a very long fish with a tail and the tail had spikes. Suddenly she heard a loud cry. She looked behind her and she saw a girl around her age crying while clutching unto her mother’s leg. She saw a boy beside her, her brother since they looked quite alike.

‘MUMMY! I don’t want to be an angel like Steven’ the girl said gesturing to her brother.

‘You don’t get to choose Pina, the Dern goddess chooses’ the girl’s mother told her patting her head.

 The mention of the Dern goddess caught Aurora’s attention. The Dern goddess was the first queen of Orben.

‘Why must she come with me mom? She can just stay back with you’ the girl’s brother,Steven whined.

‘Stop it Steven, she is your sister’ their mother scolded.

  The boy then approached the floating train right past her like there was an invisible staircase. As he walked closer, he got higher and was walking on air and soon he entered the floating train.

‘PINA!’ their mother yelled. Pina was running away from the floating train like it was poison right back into the bookshop. Aurora wondered where they came from because the last time she checked she was the only one in the bookshop apart from the weird woman.

‘You won’t fall.’ She told Pina.

‘If you fall I will catch you’ she quickly added when she saw that Pina still wouldn’t agree.

‘Promise?’ Pina asked cleaning her tear stained cheek.

‘Promise’ her mother told her.

    Pulling her luggage behind her,she also approached the train. Aurora could tell she was frightened with the way her leg trembled with each step. She finally made it to the entrance and Aurora could tell her mother gave a sigh of relief. Subconsciously, Aurora approached the floating train,her train forgotten with an old book in her hand. Out of surprise of seeing a train float she forgot to put back the book she was checking out. She walked closer and got higher and finally reached the entrance. She had put just a foot in when she was pushed into the train by a boy as huge as her father with no intention of apologizing. Then she realized that she shouldn't have gotten on the train in the first place. Not taking offence, she dusted herself off, picked up her luggage and approached the door but it was shut. She stared at the door, her heart in her mouth.