4 Twins

The first time the shrill cry of a baby filled the Thark household was two months later. Even still, that cry did not belong to Savyrran, but instead, the new born baby. As Fani had wished for a long time, it was indeed a boy, and he was named Ovandarrak.

By the time both Savyrran and Ovandarrak were a year old, it was impossible to tell that the two were born two months apart from each other. In fact, even though both of them were very different from each other in their personalities, they both had a slight resemblance. It was all in their eyes; they both had strong intense eyes that seemed to be saying a thousand words at the same time. But while Savyrran's eyes were like shiny black stars and filled with cheerful glimmer, Ovandarrak's were like brown honey, cold and devoid of emotion.

When the twins were two years old, Fani and Wikka began to observe some odd behaviour in Savyrran. To be honest, they had seen other odd behaviour; like her inability to cry. She always wore a sweet innocent smile on her face, without a care in the world. No matter how hard she fell while playing, she would simply get back on her feet and wipe the dirt from her body, as if nothing had happened at all in the first place. As odd as this looked, Wikka and Fani were actually used to this. But the thing that had shocked them above a everything else was Savyrran's new interest.

The first time Wikka had witnessed this new behaviour was when she returned home from her tailoring shop one hot afternoon and saw Savyrran dangling from the huge tree in the middle of their house. Savyrran had managed to climb to a high branch, clutching on for her dear life - or so Wikka thought.

"Oh my goodness, Savy. How did you even get up there? Fani… Fani…" Wikka's eyes were wide with fear and she felt her blood shoot up to her head. Watching a two year old grabbing the thick branches with those tiny hands brought all kinds of disastrous scenarios into her head.

But while Wikka was panicking and calling out to her husband, Savyrran stared back at her mother with those beautiful eyes, an innocent smile gracing her face.

"Mother, look at me. This is so much fun. I wonder why Ovan doesn't want to join." Then with a single leap, Savyrran landed on a higher branch. "Whoa…" She squealed in delight. "Ovan, come and see."

By now, Wikka's heart could not take this anymore. Suddenly, streaks of red light flooded out of Wikka's body and the pupils of her eyes turned blood red. In a flash, she was atop the tree, holding Savyrran in her arms.

Meanwhile, Savyrran's curious little mind was so baffled by how her mother had caught her so quickly. "Wow, ma. How did you that? Can you do it again, please?" Her voice was so sweet and innocent that Wikka could not even bring herself to be mad at this adorable child.

"Wikka. What are you two doing up there?" Fani was standing below the tree, shirtless. His upper body was incredibly fit from his past physical training and his present occupation as a woodworker. He was working in his workshop when he heard Wikka call out to him in panic. Hence, he had rushed out immediately to see what the matter was. Instead, he was met with this strange sight.

Even stranger was the fact that Wikka was using her essence. The last time Fani had seen Wikka expose her essence was about twelve years ago. Wikka was born with red essence; the lowest and weakest of all the soul essence. Due to this, she had a weak soul armos too, hence, just like most reds, she never really focused on becoming stronger. That task was almost impossible for most people.

In the Second Dimension, every human being was born with a soul essence. However, the essence only manifested at the age of five years old. Red essence was the lowest, followed by orange, then yellow. These three were known as the common class. In Coast Town, almost everyone had red essence and relatively fewer people had orange essence. Moreover, even though yellow essence was one of the common class, it was still very rare in Coast Town; only two people had the yellow essence.

Even though reds were the weakest, they still had immense power compared to an ordinary person without an essence. But of course, compared to an orange, red users were still very weak.

Wikka smiled at her husband, then swiftly jumped from branch to branch until she was on the ground. "We have ourselves a climber." Wikka said casually as she cast her gaze on Savyrran. The latter simply giggled while calling out to Ovandarrak over and over.

Ovandarrak's tiny frame emerged from behind the tree then came to stand by his mother's side. Savyrran gestured to her mother to put her down so she could go back and play with her brother. Eventually, after relentlessly cajoling her mother, Wikka gave in. Savyrran and Ovandarrak ran off once Savyrran was put down.

"A climber? What are you saying?" Fani asked. Perhaps, he had heard it all wrong.

"I'm saying that little Savyrran climbed up to that tree all by herself."

Fani stared at his wife as though the words had not really sank in. "But that is impossible. She's only two. Two year olds don't climb trees. They climb tables and fail miserably. Besides, I thought those two were playing. "

Wikka chuckled. Then she became serious again. "When I came back Savyrran was up the tree. I have no idea how she got there. This makes no sense. The only explanation is that her essence has probably manifested."

"No, I don't think so. That is unthinkable. Soul essence manifestation at the age of two? There's never been a single person in history who manifested at such a young age. Early bloomers could manifest at four years old while late bloomers could manifest at six or seven years. But these were rare occurrences that may take place for every one person in a century. Besides, if Savyrran had truly manifested, I would have heard it. You know how loud it could get."

Wikka nodded in agreement. "I guess you're right. So, how do you explain that?"

"I don't know," Fani began, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "Maybe she got lucky."

Luck? Wikka thought. She knew exactly what she had seen and that was no luck. That was a child knew exactly what she was doing. The way Savyrran had leaped to a higher branch replayed in her mind. Come to think of it, even though this was by far the most extreme thing Savyrran had done, Wikka had actually observed her do other odd things which were more subtle.

The child was too strong for her age. At one time, when Fani was not home, Wikka saw Savyrran pushing Fani's large tool box around like a cart. That box was incredibly heavy, and even when Wikka had tried lifting it up one time while she was cleaning, she had had to use her essence before she could move it. The fact that Savyrran was able to push it around like it weighed nothing at all was alarming to Wikka. However, she did not really think much into it.

But today, after seeing Savyrran up in the tree, she truly believed that this child was not ordinary. Both Savyrran and Ovandarrak were the same age, yet the strength of these two were worlds apart. Ovandarrak was like a normal two year old, while Savyrran had the energy and strength of a young man with the red essence.

It turned out that Savyrran's tree stunt was not a one time event. As the days passed, it became a habit of hers to play dangerously in the house, climbing the gigantic tree. Moreover, it seemed she had taken interest in her father's woodwork, this was because she usually helped him out in the workshop. At first, Fani thought she was too young to do anything, however, he later learned that the child was very helpful in bringing him tools and wood. So, he let her be.

As for Ovandarrak, he had taken more interest in reading. By the time he was three, he had read every single book in the house. But of course, the books were not enough, so his parents had to bring him more. He did not discriminate; he read everything he found.

In Dream Kingdom, education was mandatory for every child. Schooling started at the age of two. So of course, Ovandarrak and Savyrran got enrolled in Coast Town Lower Academy; the only school in the town.