It was years before they returned. In the meantime, I took their advice and began to tell stories of my own and retell the stories I’d overheard over the years I’d been sneaking into the dock for the other children. I wasn’t a good storyteller, then, and most scoffed and turned away.

One did not.

He was as enraptured by stories as I was. Quick-witted and charismatic, he learned quickly from the stories, able to find a lesson in each one I told. In truth, I’d started sharing the stories as a way to pass the time and discovered I enjoyed watching and listening to my audience as they react–

The kids cheered.

–like so. When I started, I never intended to teach any lessons at all. But my ever-diligent friend would find the lesson in them anyway, and that reflected in my storytelling.

By the time they’d returned, my storytelling abilities had increased at the same rate as my magic, which expanded, following my wishes and allowing me to see events and futures and adventures that otherwise would have remained unknown.

An odd pressure heralded their arrival, and I dressed in one of our expensive technological suits before approaching the oddity, planning to gather all the data I could for another tale.

Though it had been years for me, they appeared not to have aged at all.

[Jacob Doyle]

[ Avalynn Auclair]

Their names read.

The title: [Worldwalker] hovered above their heads. To me, it was a confirmation of the story they’d told me long ago of a world of hidden secrets.

They didn’t seem to recognize me at first.

“Jacob! Avalynn! Do you have any more stories for me?” I called, hoping they would open up like they had when I was a young child.

“It’s you!” Jacob had exclaimed. “The boy who spied on us!”

“Jacob!”

“What?!”

Ava sighed and shared a rueful smile. “We might have a few stories for you. But how about we move somewhere more comfortable this time?” She asked, gesturing to the bustling port they’d appeared in.

I lead them to this very park. The Storyteller pointed toward me. “Ava sat right where you are, now.”

A few children side-eyed me, jealous, and I nearly rolled my eyes. There was nothing to be jealous of, considering her atrocious actions later in life. I’d half a mind to move to somewhere less…heavy. Lazily, I stayed where I was.

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“Jacob sat next to her.” He pointed at an empty space beside me, where the children and I left a deliberate gap between us.

“And I took the same space I am now.”

“But where’s the adventure?” The child who’d mentioned it earlier asked again, bored.

The storyteller began weaving his tale once more.

They told me of incredible places. A world with two moons, ruled by commanders of great magical creatures.

That world sounded suspiciously like Heirs, and I wondered for the first time if Jacob and Ava had ever ended up in any of the other worlds we’d traveled. Suddenly, I recalled the old man in the shop, who’d said that his time on ‘this earth’ was ending. Sera and Helia, meanwhile, hadn’t known what ‘earth’ was.

A world split into two, separating the creatures of darkness from the creatures of light. A place where music was found in everything and a palace where there was never any music at all.

“None at all?” someone gasped.

Finally, they detailed a vast space-faring civilization much like our own, ruled by a mad king.

The children broke out into a series of hushed whispers. ‘Sharazad,’ ‘the king,’ and ‘like us’ were frequent uttered phrases.

They told me each world had its own rules, but they all seemed to be connected somehow.

“We haven’t figured it out yet,” Ava told me. “But we will, someday.”

“This world might be the largest hint of all,” Jacob whispered to me as if we were conspiring. “Last time, we hadn’t the time to notice how magic acts so differently. This time, however, we’re able to see this world in the same light that you can with the suit. It’s almost as though…”

“Though what?” I questioned.

He didn’t answer.

In exchange, I told them my story since I’d left, of the friends I’d made, and of the tales I enjoyed telling. I also told them the story of our mad king–no, not the current king, but the one before. Once I was finished, Ava turned to Jacob, horrified.

“We have to help them!”

Her words sent a chill down my spine.

“And we will,” he answered.

They made ready to leave, to head to the largest of the Black Isles and confront our mad king.

“Wait!” I called. “You’ll need someone who knows this world!”

They protested, at first, unwilling to let a young man come with them into a dangerous situation. I protested and nagged until they broke, however, and sprinted to pack, lest they change their minds.

My friend stopped me in my haste.

“Why are you running?” He asked as he huffed alongside me.

I explained everything, and he veered off without a word, his long strides outpacing mine. He was waiting on my doorstep once I finished packing, wearing his system suit. “I’m going with you.”

Convincing the two worldwalkers to allow a second companion to come with was no easy task, but my friend had always been good at getting others to do things his way. Finally, Jacob said to Ava “they aren’t children anymore, Ava. It’s their world, let them do as they wish.”

They relented, and we set sail the next morning at dawn.