They were inside the forest, surrounded by trees in every direction. It was a closed forest. The trees formed a canopy above them, blocking most of the sunlight. There were several different tree species, giving barks varying colors, and the ground was patched with short green grass. The forest was filled with animal life. Crickets could be heard occasionally and, every now and then, beautiful butterflies settled on flowers for the teenage protectors to marvel at.

Carefully, they made their way through the vegetation, avoiding anything that could stumble them. After a while, they came to a halt somewhere in the middle of the forest. “So, where do we start?” Ethan looked around.

“The book tells us where each key is using a riddle,” Dayani opened up the book to a certain page. “The first riddle goes like this.” She began to read out loud the first riddle in the book: “The first dragon key lies in the middle of the two tallest V’s.”

“That doesn’t help much,” Snowy descended from his flight, landing on Ethan’s shoulder. Ethan smiled.

“Actually,” Vesper started, “maybe it does.” He reached out his hand and plucked a leaf from one of the near by trees. “These trees are called V-trees because their leaves always look like the letter V.” He pointed out the shape of the leaf, which was a perfect V. “Most of the trees here are V-trees, just different variants of the same species.” Vesper gently put the leaf on the ground.

“So, the two tallest V’s are just the two tallest trees!” Dayani joyously grinned at Vesper.

With his curiosity piqued, Snowy asked Vesper how he knew so much about the trees. “Our dad taught us a lot about the environment,” Vesper explained, looking at Stella.

“That’s great,” Dayani closed the book. “Now, how do we find the trees?”

“I can find them,” Ethan cast his compass spell, which would help them find the trees, but, instead of summoning his magic compass, the spell created an ice cube that settled on the palm of his right hand. “Huh? Something’s wrong with my magic,” he threw the cube to the ground with a focused gaze on his hand.

“It’s not you,” Vesper said. “It’s the forest. It’s just like I told you. Magic doesn’t work right here. Casting a spell is dangerous; you’ll never know what you’ll get.”

“Then how will we find the tallest trees?” Stella asked with raised eyebrows, rubbing her chin.

“I can do that!” Snowy exclaimed and flew off Ethan’s shoulder. Snowy’s suggestion was followed by a chorus of affirmation from the others. Without delay, Snowy flew up in the air. “I’ll be back in a moment.” In no time, the white owl was out of sight, high above the canopy that hid the sun.

Ethan was still staring at the canopy a moment after Snowy left. With a sigh, he brought his head down and turned back, glancing at his teammates. They were Okamis. He was a Kisune. How on earth would he talk to them?

Dayani glanced at the book in her hand once more. She opened it to another page. With a curious smile, Ethan got closer to her. Dayani noticed, but didn’t mind. As she read the content of the page, Ethan glanced at it, reading as well. His jaw fell to the ground when he read a specific sentence. “What?” Ethan got Dayani’s attention.

“What?” Dayani laughed. “Can’t believe what you’re reading?” The two managed to drag Stella and Vesper, who were bored, into the conversation too. The two Moonflower twins gazed at the book too.

“According to this…” Ethan put his hand on the page, moving it to the left and upward, looking for the sentence. He squinted his eyes at the handwritten words of the book. “Aha!” he exclaimed joyously when he found the sentence he was looking for. “According to this, this book was written about a hundred years ago?” Ethan paused, looking at the page with doubtful eyes. Vesper and Stella’s reaction was just the same. “How is it that old?”

Dayani closed the book and put it back in the black pouch that raj across her chest. Zipping the pouch, she faced Ethan and the Moonflower twins and explained, “I’ve been wondering the same thing for a while. I tried asking Herold the Librarian about it, but he says he also has no clue.” Dayani chewed on her lips. “The stranger thing is that the author isn’t even mentioned in the entire book. No one knows who wrote it…”

At that exact moment, Snowy the owl was back. Dayani gazed at the bird with an almost smile and asked if he found the trees.

“Yes, they’re straight ahead. Just follow me,” Snowy flapped his wings, ready for another flight. The four Elite Protectors grinned at each other before following Snowy’s lead.

***

They had been walking for sometime. The forest was huge and the trees weren’t as close as they initially thought. Still, they made their way through the woods of the Forbidden Forest following Snowy, who was flying in front of them. As Ethan carefully made his way through the woods, looking at the ground and trying to avoid any misstep, he couldn’t help but notice the beautiful wildlife. To their left, a unicorn ate the grass on the ground. The unicorn had white fur and a long pointy pink horn. The trees between Ethan and the unicorn prohibited him from having a good view of the beautiful creature, but he still admired it. With a smile, Ethan looked at the animal. Suddenly, the unicorn fled the scene the moment Snowy stopped in his flight and exclaimed the good news, “We’re here!”

The unicorn fled faster than Ethan could imagine. With a sigh, Ethan turned his head to face what was in front of him. The sight he would see would be nearly as amazing as the unicorn.

Everyone marveled at the two tallest V-tees. They were magnificent and stood out from the rest, appearing to be giraffes in a group of rodents — they were that tall. The sight of the trees and the gentle breeze that came from behind it, accompanied with the soothing sound of a nearby waterfall, made the scene calming, yet marvelous.

“Okay, we’re here,” Vesper took his gaze off the tall trees after a few second’s worth of admiration. “What next?” Everyone else got their attention back to the mission at hand.

“The key should be here,” Dayani looked around, trying to spot something, but there was nothing out of the ordinary. “According to the riddle, it should be between the two trees.”

Alas, the only thing between the two trees was a stone pillar that stood about one and a half yard tall. The stone column was in the middle of the two trees. Its surface was rough and it was partially covered in moss, a testament to how long it must have been there.

“That doesn’t look like a key to me,” Snowy perched on Ethan’s shoulder. “Does the book mention anything about a stone pillar?”

“No, it doesn’t,” Dayani sighed at the sight. “But then, who would make a pillar and just leave it here?”

“The funny thing is that it doesn’t even support anything,” Stella looked at the pillar, rubbing her chin.

“Maybe there’s just something we’re missing,” Ethan got closer to the pillar hoping he could find anything that could help them in their pass-time activity which had almost become a quest to them. Each step closer to the pillar was taken with care. Around the pillar, there was slippery moss and he had to walk slowly.

A moment later, Ethan was only a step away from the pillar. He was so close he could even feel his breath bounce off the stony pillar like an echo. Ethan looked at the pillar from bottom to top. There really wasn’t much to see. It was wide at the base and thinner at the top. “There has to be something I’m missing…” he touched it slightly with the palm of his hand. Upon touching it, the unexpected happened. The pillar suddenly began to glow. A fiery hue spread from its base to its tip, replacing the grey surface. The sudden blinding light from the pillar caught Ethan off guard and he instinctively stepped back, stumbled and fell on his bottom, but he wasn’t hurt. Snowy flew off Ethan’s shoulder and stared at the pillar with the lower jaw of his beak flat on the ground.

“What did you do?” Stella asked Ethan with narrowed eyes.

“Nothing! I just touched it,” Ethan got up. At that moment, the stone suddenly stopped glowing. Ethan gazed at it. Something about it changed. A painting of a dragon head, which wasn’t on the pillar earlier, appeared on it. The dragon head was a vivid painting and was red in color, but that wasn’t the more striking change. An emerald green key hovered in the air right in front of the pillar, as if it was magically bound to it by a spell.

“Whoa!” Vesper exclaimed, staring at the key with surprise and pure confusion spelt out in his blue eyes. “The dragon keys are actually real!”

Dayani gazed at the key in its magnificence, with a wide grin that stretched from ear to ear drawn on her face. Trying her best to keep herself calm, she made her initial steps closer to the pillar and, more importantly, the key in front of it. It was her dream to find the dragon keys ever since she first set her eyes upon the pages of the book she had, which was only a few weeks ago.

She reached the boulder and stood beside Ethan. The two of marveled at the key for a while longer. It was beautiful. The key was made of green translucent emerald, but its upper half was red and its bow depicted a dragon head, similar to the dragon head painted on the pillar. Ethan asked her to take the key after a moment of admiring it. “You should have it,” he looked at her with an almost smile, “you’re the one who brought us here.”

She agreed and stared at it with pure curiosity for a while longer. The key hovered in front of the dragon painting and rotated perfectly about an axis. Its emerald green color and red key bow were perfect. She reached out her hand, but hesitated to grab it. “This seems a bit too easy,” she said to herself. Just as she was about to grab the key, she suddenly began to descend below the ground, getting the key out of her reach.

Shocked, Dayani looked down and noticed something weird. The ground had somehow turned into quicksand instantly! The sparkling quicksand was enchanted and pulled them underground faster than usual quicksand. Everyone was sinking in the sand, except for Snowy who could fly.

“What are you guys going to do?” Snowy panicked. The owl flew above them, examining their desperate situation. Dayani and Ethan were sinking right next to the pillar — so close to the key — while Vesper and Stella were further away.

“We can’t use our magic,” Ethan looked around and noticed the vines lying on the ground to his right, “but those vines could help!” He grinned at his companion owl.

With a sigh of relief, Snowy flew down and pulled one vine to each of four teenager. They pulled themselves out of the quicksand with all the strength they had. When they were out, they were so glad the vines could handle the tension.

“How did that happen?” Vesper asked once they were on solid ground and out of danger. Vesper shook his body, getting sand out of his Protector attire. Ethan looked at the region surrounding the pillar. Only the area up to a few yards around the pillar turned to quicksand, almost as if the pillar didn’t want them getting any closer.

“We should have expected something like that,” Dayani got her book from her pouch and opened it, turning to a specific page. “Each key is protected by some kind of trap.”

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“I can get the key for you,” Snowy flew toward the stone. The moment he was close enough to get the key, he grabbed it, using his claws. Victorious, the owl flew back to the others and threw the key at them. “Catch!”

Dayani jumped and grabbed the key, with her book in her left hand and the key in her right. Smiling, she looked at the lower green half of the key. Its hue complemented her red eyes. “What do those keys even open?” Stella asked Dayani.

“According to the book, when you have all four keys, they lead you to the Archive of the Golden Brothers.”

“And what’s in there?” Ethan asked with a hint of curiosity.

“No one knows, that’s the fun part!” Dayani responded with enthusiasm.

“What’s the next clue?” Vesper grinned at the key in Dayani’s hands, suddenly enthusiastic about everything.

Dayani flipped the book to yet another page. “I’m always running but never move. I have no mouth but a powerful roar,” she read the second riddle aloud.

Everyone spent a while thinking, trying to solve it. The gentle cool breeze and the sound of crickets, accompanied by the soothing sound of falling water, made the scene calming. Finally, after a moment or so, Ethan came up with an answer. “It’s a waterfall!” He exclaimed with bulging eyes. There was a chorus of “oh’s” from everyone. It was really that easy…

Snowy suggested he would find the waterfall, just as he did the two tallest V’s. Without delay, the owl flew high up in the sky and began his search once more.

After flying for a few moments, he finally spotted a big waterfall, which wasn’t so far from where the others were. “Time to head back,” the owl made a turn back where he came from.

“I found the waterfall!” Snowy dove back under the canopy, where the others were. “Follow me!” Without hesitation, everyone followed the owl, who flew slightly faster than before. Everyone was excited about finding all he dragon keys and seeing what they could do.

***

They made their way through dense vegetation. The closer they got to the waterfall, the closer the trees got to each other. Fortunately, though, they left enough breathing space for them to make their way through. Vesper and Stella were ahead following Snowy. Ethan and Dayani were behind. Ethan walked carefully, trying not to trip over the numerous tree roots on the ground, while also attempting to maneuver over them quickly. Out of nowhere, Ethan made a false step. In the split second that followed, he found himself falling on the grassy ground headfirst. Luckily, Dayani caught him by his wrist just before he fell. Ethan sighed. With a half-smile on his face, he got up and thanked her.

“The princess is glad to help,” Dayani said with a bright grin and took light bow.

“Huh? What do you mean ‘the princess’?” Ethan squinted his eyes at her. The two continued their journey right behind Stella and Vesper.

“I’m the Princess of the Okamis,” Dayani said. “Didn’t you know that?” She turned to face him.

So that’s why the name ‘Seraphina’ sounded so familiar… “Oh, Dayani Seraphina, Princess of the Okamis. I remember,” Ethan smiled awkwardly. “Why are you hear then?” he asked. “Royals are supposed to be in palaces ruling everyone.”

Dayani looked at the boy, her eyes crinkled and head lowered. “That’s not completely true,” she explained. “Royals are also supposed to protect their subjects. That’s why I’m a Protector; an Elite Protector, by the way.”

Ethan replied with a questioning look on his face. Dayani’s response was a faint smile. She turned her head to face the journey ahead. Ethan looked at her and didn’t say a word. Once she wasn’t looking at him, an almost smile appeared on his face. Guess she’s right…

After a while, they reached the small yet beautiful waterfall. There were several animals such as turtles, and ducks near the area. They all glanced at the beautiful scenery for a moment, before getting back to business. “Now we have to find the second pillar,” Stella said.

They all darted their eyes around the area and searched for the pillar. Nothing. Dayani suggested they should split up to cover more ground and everyone agreed.

Ethan was alone with Snowy. Dayani had also gone alone. Vesper and Stella chose to partner up on their search. The four agreed they would keep in touch via their telecom bracelets.

Ethan and Snowy were right in front of the waterfall. They had been there for some time. “Where could it be?” Ethan sighed and stared at the waterfall for a moment. He observed the water fall down from the top to the bottom. The water seemed like a white curtain and that gave our Kisune Prince and idea.

“Of course, what if the pillar is behind the waterfall?” Ethan grinned at Snowy. Snowy, who flew right in front of him, nodded his head and thought the sentiment made sense.

“I’ll go check. That way, you avoid the traps,” Snowy flew his way around the waterfall without delay. To the left of the waterfall, there was a gap between the falling water and rock — a way to get behind the waterfall. The owl used this path and got behind the natural water wall. As expected, he found the pillar right there, covered in moss, in the center of a small cave. There were spider webs everywhere, even near the pillar — a testament to how long it stood behind the waterfall, untouched by human hands.

The owl perched on the pillar and tapped it with his beak. The pillar lowed the same shade of fiery red as the earlier one and the key magically appeared in front of the pillar along with the painting of the dragon head. He grabbed the key with his claws and hovered in front of the pillar, waiting, but nothing happened. Confused, Snowy stayed there for a few more seconds. Still, nothing happened. The owl flew out of the cave through the same opening and got back to Ethan quickly.

Ethan grinned at the owl as he flew back to him. “Catch!” Snowy threw the key. Ethan grabbed the key in the air and glanced at it. It was exactly the same as Dayani’s from top to bottom.

“Great job,” Ethan smiled once more at his owl.

“Nah, it was mothing,” Snowy perched on Ethan’s shoulder. “These things are powerful right?” Snowy asked. “We can keep the keys for ourselves and then take them back to the Kingdom of Kisune.”

Ethan thought about Snowy’s idea. He rubbed his chin and looked at the owl with a plain smile and slightly squinted eyes. “That would be good for the kingdom. We wouldn’t just have the Dragon Emerald; we’d also have the dragon keys and the Archive of the Golden Brothers.”

“So, let’s take them! We’ll start with this one. Just don’t tell them you found it.”

Ethan looked at the key in his hand. His smile faded and was replaced with a frown. How would my teammates feel? They seem nice…

“On second thought,” Ethan sighed, “we need to gain their trust if we’re going to steal the Emerald, so let’s not take it.” Ethan whispered to Snowy.

Just at that moment, Ethan’s telecom bracelet activated. He pressed a button on it and heard Dayani ask, “I wasn’t so lucky. Couldn’t find a thing. You?”

“We found nothing, too,” Vesper said.

Ethan looked at the bracelet for a split second before responding, “Actually, I found the dragon key,” he said through the telecom.

“That’s great!” Dayani was delighted. “We’ll be back at the waterfall. We meet there with Ethan and Snowy everyone! Over and out.” The telecom went silent.

Ethan sighed. He didn’t know whether he should be happy with what he did or not, but he was sure he did the right thing and that’s what mattered to him. Snowy perched on the boy’s shoulder and grinned at him. “Don’t worry. You did the right thing. I’m sure your parents would be proud of you right now.” Ethan looked down.

Would they? The prince thought.

Moments later, Dayani, Stella, and Vesper were back. Ethan and Snowy welcomed them and Snowy explained exactly how he got the keys.

“And the traps?” Vesper asked the owl.

“That’s the odd part. There were no traps…” Snowy perched on Ethan’s shoulder.

Suddenly, they heard a strange sound. They all turned back to face the source of the sound. There was nothing behind them except a bunny and tortoise. “Wait,” Stella began. “Do you hear that?”

Everyone stayed quiet for a few moments. The sound was getting closer and louder. They could barely make out what it was, but they were sure it was a growl, probably from a wild animal. “We’re not alone,” Ethan was about to cast a spell when Vesper stopped him by grabbing his hand and shaking his head at the boy. The five of them came closer, with Snowy perched on Ethan’s shoulder.

The growls were getting even closer and they stayed there ready to fight whatever was coming at them. A moment later, five leopards came out of the bushes. The leopards were fully grown and didn’t look happy. The leopards slowly moved closer to them and spread out to encircle them in a corner. There was no where to go. Behind them was a small pool where the water from the falls gathered. Dayani and Vesper tried to dash at the leopards and attack the wild cats, but Ethan stopped them. He grabbed Stella’s hand and looked at the two twins.

“What are you doing?” Stella whispered to Ethan worriedly.

“Trust me,” Ethan whispered with a smile, “I know what I’m doing.”

Ethan looked at the leopards, his gaze sharp and piercing. He observed a faint mark on their foreheads that looked like a mirror. I’ve seen that mark before…

Ethan stepped forward and moved a stride closer to the leopards that growled even angrier when he got too close for comfort. With a grin, Ethan placed his hand on the forehead of one leopard right over the mark. Just as he expected, he didn’t feel anything. The leopard was just as imaginary as a fantasy story — an illusion. Ethan closed his eyes and focused. Suddenly, the leopard turned into a lion out of thin air. He opened his eyes and looked at his creation with a grin. “Be gone, all of you,” Ethan smiled. Suddenly the leopards vanished in thin air just like fog on a sunny day (except much faster and more sudden).

Ethan turned to face his fellow Protectors and companion owl. They all cheered for Ethan, even though they were completely confused and didn’t understand what just happened.

“Those leopards were nothing but illusions,” Ethan explained to everyone. “I could tell by the mark on their foreheads.”

“How did you stop the illusion without your magic?” Dayani asked with a curious look on her face.

“You don’t need magic to stop most illusions,” Ethan explained. “Most illusions stop themselves when people realize they aren’t real.”

There was a short pause among them. They looked around and suddenly realized it was getting late. The forest was darker than before and, though they were under a canopy, it was easy to tell the sun was about to set. “Should we go find the third key?” Stella asked.

“No,” Vesper looked up at the canopy of tree crowns. “It’s getting late. We can find the other keys another day.”

They agreed to the idea and the five of them began to journey out of the woods.

A few moments later, they were out of the forest, completely exhausted. The first thing they noticed was how late it was. The moon was already out and the sun was setting. Stella wore a surprised look on her face. She pressed a button on her telecom bracelet and read the time on it. “We were in there for seven hours?!” She exclaimed in surprise. The others were shocked as well at the statement.

“That means the rumors were right, time does work different in there,” Vesper concluded. Spell discs appeared on his hand and he cast a spell that created a portal to the Academy. They all crossed the portal.

At the Academy, Dayani was to give a report on the day’s work to Troi the Emerald Guard. They all stood at the academy. Its lights were turned on, illuminating the street. They stood outside alone. For a few moments, they discussed whether or not to tell Troi about the keys. In the end, they decided not to. Moments later, Dayani walked out of the Academy with her friends. The day was finally over for our Protectors. From the Academy, they called it a day and each of them made their way back to their respective homes.

***

Ethan closed the door behind him as he and Snowy entered their house. To their surprise, the lights were on and Ked was seated on the sofa. “I was waiting for you, Prince Ethan,” Ked said with a half-smile. Ked’s statement earned a curious and confused look from both the Prince and his owl. Ked got up from the couch. “I’m glad to inform you that I found blueprints of the Emerald Vault.”

“What’s that?” Ethan asked with a cocked head and quizzical smile. Snowy flew off Ethan’s shoulder and perched on the table in front of the couch.

“The Emerald Vault is where the Okamis keep the Emerald under tight security,” Ked explained, “With the blueprints, we can figure out a plan for the heist. The blueprints will be ready after tomorrow. We’ll talk then.”

Ethan said it was great Ked had found the blueprints. Ked picked up a glass of water on the table when he noticed the dragon key Ethan held in his hand and asked what it was.

“This is a dragon key,” Ethan explained.

Ked looked at the fascinating key for a moment and examined it carefully. To his surprise, it looked real. “This is good news,” he commented. “King Aleric would be happy to know about these keys.”

Ethan, Ked, and Snowy took their seats on the couch and Ethan continued to explain to Ked how he and his teammates found the dragon keys. Ked paid special attention to the explanation while drinking his water. At some point, Ethan mentioned Dayani was the Princess of the Okamis. The statement shocked Ked so much he chocked on his water. Ethan and Snowy helped him and after a short moment, he recovered and could speak again.

“I forgot to tell you that,” Ked put his glass of water on the table. “You need to be careful,” Ked began with a serious look on his face. Ethan and Snowy were confused and didn’t understand what he meant. “Whatever you do, never let her know you’re a Kisune.”

Ethan looked even more confused. “What do you mean?” Ethan asked.

Ked got up from his seat. “Sorry, Prince, it will take some time to explain and it’s getting late. We’ll talk about this some other time. For now, just follow my advice and make sure you earn her trust.”

Ethan agreed to follow Ked’s advice. A faint smile appeared on Ked’s face. Ked reached his hand out to the door handle and opened it. He left the house, leaving the Prince and his owl behind.

***

Elsewhere at the same time, a lady glanced into a magical glass orb in front of her. She was in a room that seemed to be a library of some sort, with countless bookshelves all over. The library was underground and the ceiling was rocky. The place was dark.

The lady looked into the purple orb, watching what happened in the Forbidden Forest. She watched as Ethan and his teammates, including Snowy, got the keys with their teamwork. “These kids. They got two dragon keys today,” the lady grinned.

“Let’s hope they don’t find their way here,” a black wildcat got to the scene.

The lady looked at the cat and grinned. “Don’t worry, they won’t, probably,” she reassured the bug cat. “They’ll need to get the last key first, and that will be anything but easy.” The lady grinned.