2 Prologue 0-2

"Ashen! Can you please move a little to your right for me, please?" Aunt Lily asked me.

Right when I moved, the bucket flew by my head and hit Uncle Fenrir right in the face. Then, Auntie picked me up and we went inside as he started to wake up. We heard him fall to the ground as the door closed, and then he yelled out some things that my mommy would never let me say at my age.

Even though they are the same age, my mother always acted older than Aunt Lily did. It was always funny how they don't look like twins because of their hair and eyes. Aunt Lily has straight dark blond hair and blue eyes while my mother has curly golden blond hair with light violet eyes.

"Ashen, why don't you go upstairs and play with Bruce and Lewis?"

"Okay, Auntie!" I said as she set me back down.

"Oh! I almost forgot to tell you. One of Fenrir's old buddies is coming over and he is bringing his son, who is close to the same age as you. I'll send him up when he gets here."

I just nodded my head as I ran up the stairs. I always love coming to Auntie Lily's house because it is always so much fun. Both Bruce and Uncle Fenrir can both do magic; sadly, they could die of anyone from the village found out. I was told that I am lucky I could hide my magic better because all I do is take and give energy.

Due to showing our were-bear parts, my brother Alexander, and I are not allowed to go to the village school with all the other children, unlike my sister, Florence. So, my only school teachers were my two human cousins, Bruce and Lewis. Both are smart even though they are only three years older than I am. Bruce knows a lot about the world, and Lewis is very book smart with his knowledge spreading across many subjects.

"Password?" Someone said behind the door after I knocked.

"Books are food for the brain but fish is tastier for me!"

I saw that Bruce asked the question. He let me into the room and I took off the scarf. We made a set of passwords just in case bad people try to sneak into the group.

"You alone?" He asked me as we sat down.

"Yep! Alex is at a friend's house and Flo is at summer school. She got in trouble again."

"Okay, let's get started then! What did we leave off last time?"

"You were in the middle of teaching him two-digit addition," Lewis said and I had to look up to find him.

He was sitting on the top of the bookcase with a book in his hand. He is always in strange places to read, it is weird, but I got used to it. He used to tell me that he does that so that he will not be bothered by anyone while reading. He fixed his glasses as he flipped the page in the book. I moved my head and saw that there was a ladder on the side of the bookcase. It is funny how the only thing that Lewis and I share, besides blood, is that we both wear glasses due to our eyesight.

"Thanks, bro!" then he looked at me, "Ash, what is ten plus twenty?"

It took me a while to remember the answer.

"Is it thirty?"

"Yes! Good job, what about seventeen plus thirteen?"

Before I had a chance to answer, someone knocked on the door.

"Password?" This time Lewis asked the question.

"Um, I think they said that it had something to do with food and fishes?" The person said.

"Close enough!" Bruce yelled out as he got up, "Ash, cover your ears just in case," he whispered to me.

He opened the door right when I realized the answer to the math question.

"Hey! That is not fair! It is the same number as last time! You cheated!"

While Bruce was laughing, I finally saw the new kid; he had straight black hair and dark green eyes. I noticed that the shadows on the ground looked as if they were drawn to him.

"Welcome to our little group, new kid! I'm Bruce Wayland, the anti-social one up high is my twin Lewis, and the one with the scarf is my cousin, Ash Snowpelt."

"Hi, I'm Bram Harker. Nice to meet you."

Even though they were the same height, Bram was looking at his feet. I guess he was shy from being around so many new people.

"Before you sit down we have some important questions to ask you. What do you think about mages and werebeasts?"

"I think that werebeasts are all cool in their own way and I am a mage myself."

Bruce pointed to a chair as I took the scarf off my head. They started twitching from feeling the air again. One problem with having the scarf on is that it muffles my hearing a small bit. Bram started to laugh as Bruce flicked one of my ears and I smacked his hand.

"How old are you?" Lewis asked.

"Next month, I turn six years old." The new kid is younger than I am and I was happy because I was no longer the youngest in the room. "What were you all doing before I got here?"

"They were teaching me math."

"Cool! Does someone have a book I could read?"

Lewis tossed him a book as Bruce continued the lesson. After three more math questions, Bruce pulled out a map of the world to change the subject.

"Can you point to which country we are in right now?"

I pointed to the smallest country on the map, Draconia. It was easy to spot because it was the only island country in existence. It is made up of four islands while the other three are connected by one large section of land. Our country was also the least noticed of the Four Kingdoms, or at least that is what my mother says. I knew the Polar Kingdom in the north, Whitefall because my dad is from there. Then there is the Industrial Kingdom in the center, Silvermine, also known as the Rich Kingdom. The last kingdom is the Shadow Kingdom to the south, Duskwell, rumored to be in complete darkness all year round.

I think it was about an hour later when Bram sneezed, and then a dark cloud came out of the book and covered him. Lewis jumped down from his bookcase and ran out to get our parents.