Chapter 1

 I groan setting my pack down. Our trek was done and over with. I stretch my sore muscles and roll my shoulders. The last few days had been harsh on my back and shoulders.

"What were you thinking of?" Silviera asks looking over at me.

"Nothing really important. Why do you ask?" I backfire not really wanting to have this conversation.

"No, from what I can tell it was something important. I noticed the way you seemed so out of it. Like you were in your own world."

"I was thinking of the past. There are you happy?" I retort. The past was a touchy subject.

"Be wary my friend the past is a maze. Go down the wrong path and you're stuck there forever," I hear someone say.

I turn to find Abe sitting by a fire. Abe had been the man standing next to Silviera when I was rescued. It turned out that he was a mythic, a person/creature who was born with or had the ability to use magic. It would explain how he got a fire going so quickly especially with the damp undergrowth nearby. He was a silent man preferring to observe his surroundings and take a personal note.When he did say anything it was normally a metaphor or in the form of a riddle. He never spoke clearly and it drove me nuts at first because every time I'd say anything he wouldn't reply. I thought he hated me. Silviera finally explained to me that it was just how Abe was as a person. Abe wasn't his actual name it's short for Abraham. I've taken it to calling him Abe it was shorter and easier to say and seemed less formal. I'm not one for formality. I think people should just screw formality and just make things simple. I mean who cares anyway? I may have in the past, but I don't know.

"You both speak in endless riddles. It's like I walked into a library of endless books full of them. Now you've even got me doing it too," I growl sitting next to the fire.

Silviera laughs looking into the flames. "There was once a time where these temples belonged to a tribe of people,"

"They appear long dead now," I mumbled looking at the ancient temple. I've never seen architecture like this before. It was covered in vines and plants. Parts of it were crumbled but you could tell that it was once a magnificent place.

"They are and why is a mystery no one will ever know," Silviera says.

"Even to you?" I ask.

"Even to me. The keeper of knowledge. Things are always lost never to be found. It is a fact of this world and in many things,"

"I've never asked but what are you?" I mumble curiously.

Silviera had mentioned before that she had lived a long life. Way longer than most.

"I'm a phoenix, a bird that dies and then is reborn over and over again. Though I am much more than that,"

"There you go again not giving a straight answer or only a small part of one," I grumbled throwing a twig into the fire.

"It is how I am. It's how I was made to be," Silviera says seeming offended.

"Truth be told it's quite annoying when you want to have a normal conversation," I scoff reaching into my pack.

I search through my bag for my pocket knife and my wood. I had taken to wood carving as a small hobby of mine. I often did it on nights like these to distract me from all the questions I still had. To keep me from wandering into the dark thoughts and get trapped. Abe was right it was really like a maze. A more dangerous maze than I had first thought. I watch as the wood in my hand starts to take shape. I continue to work away at it and only stop when I smell food.

"Rabbit my favorite," Silviera mumble.

"I know it's the only thing you'll eat," I huff.

"Well someone seems to have woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning,"

"What?" I ask not getting what she was saying.

"It's an old saying for when someone seems cranky or just mad," Silviera explains as if it was common knowledge.

"Well excuse me for being who I am," I say standing and storming away from the fire.

My dinner and two riddlers left behind. I can't stress enough how annoying those two can be. You'd think me living with both of them for the past two years would make me immune to their endless prattle. Nope, it only seems to have gotten more annoying as time has passed. I wonder about the temple ruins. I wasn't going to go back there not until the two were sleeping. I gazed up at the stars. There seemed to be millions upon millions of them perhaps even billions and trillions. I look for the constellations that Silviera had shown me once. I was able to find Pegasus and the big and little dippers. I smiled relaxing for the first time in a while. My mind wandered to other things as I lay there. I wonder if I am truly ready for the challenges ahead. Silviera and Abe have both taught me how to fight the best they could but they're not me. They both can use magic and I can't. It's a thing that I wish to change about myself. I feel so vulnerable and so plain. I feel as though I've let down my village. I'm not someone special, I'm not the one who should have been saved. My brother would have been better suited for this than me. He was older, stronger, wiser and I fear what happened to him. I still don't know what exactly happened to my village. Like the people of these ruins that may always remain a mystery. I stand up from where I lay and go back over to the now smoldering fire. Both Silviera and Abe asleep. I notice that my food was being kept warm. I smile fondly at it and open the soup. I eat in the silence of the night. Finally when I'm done. I make my way over to my pack and take out my blanket. I curl up falling asleep and then all I know is darkness.

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The morning air was crisp within my lungs as I lunge at an imaginary target. I had gotten up before the sun had risen and had begun to do my daily training. My weapons were a sharp short sword and a shield. I had been training with this weapon for a while now and I got to admit that it was becoming my favorite to wield. My body was soon covered in sweat and dirt but I don't mind. I find it quite refreshing after a little while. It's hard to explain but after a good workout, I feel better than before. I asked Silviera about and she said that it was natural to feel that way when you get used to exercising. I like the feeling and smile when I finish holding the last pose for a moment. I relax and sheath my sword into its scabbard. I walk over to one of the temple walls and lean my shield against it. I begin to stretch out my muscles making sure they don't cramp. A swish of wind signals that I am no longer alone.

"What do you want Silver?" I ask looking over at her.

"Silver?" She chirps.

"Yeah it's my new nickname for you," I tell her bluntly.

"I like it. It's simple." She says seeming to smile.

I walk over to her. She's perched upon one of the rock piles. It appears as if someone had tried to clean up the rubble only to abandon halfway through. Some of the piles are neat while others seem to be a mess as if the person or people cleaning had become more frantic.

"Silver what was the world like way before now? Before the shift." I ask sitting down cross-legged.

"You always confuse me Jayvin. One moment you're a friendly bumblebee the next you're an angry hornet." She musses.

"Silver you've known me for just over two years. There are things that neither of us wants to talk about. When I get in a foul mood I tend to stay that way. I'm not one to easily be calmed." I tell her.

"Yes I have seen this on numerous occasions and, I understand that the past in a touchy subject but we can't carry it all at sometimes."

"I know I just don't want to talk about it. For now, can you answer my first question?"

"Yes, yes. Get comfortable it might be a while."

"I'm already comfortable," I say still in the same position.

"Alright, alright. Would you like me to go all the way to the very beginning?" Silver asks cocking her head in question.

"What do you mean by the very beginning?"

I was now extremely curious. It's rare that Silver and I had any kind of conversation like this. Normally we are fighting or bickering. One time Abe even go involved and he hates fighting.

"There was a time even before the great cities." Silver says.

I ponder the thought for a moment. The world is older than I first thought possible. I was growing more curious and I didn't notice that we were no longer alone.

"Was that when these people lived?" I ask looking about the temple.

"Yes and no. The people who lived here lived just before the war against the darklings. The ones I believe that Silviera mentioned were even before then. They were known as the Mayans." Another voice explains.

I whirl around to spot a creature I've never thought was possible. Its upper body was that of a human and the lower was of a horse. I scoot away from it trying to get to my sword. I'm not sure what to exactly make of the creature. I've only seen two magically creatures. The darkling that attacked me and Silver. Magical creatures were scarce after the war. That was why they are revered and why I wish I was something magical. I want to be someone worthy of my destiny.

"What and who are you?" I demand finally able to grab my sword from where it lay.

"The name's Taryn guardian of the animals and the life here in the western forest. I didn't mean to startle you human. I would have thought Silviera told you I was coming," The creature says glaring slightly at Silver.

"I might have forgotten to mention it," Silver says sheepily.

"You forgot! For someone of your stature and mind I would have thought your memory would be better than this," Taryn exclaims practically enraged.

I lower my sword realizing that the creature, Taryn, isn't someone who will cause any harm. He appears to be an average human except for his lower half. His skin is slightly tanned and his long black hair is pulled up into a pony. His eyes are a stormy grey. He wears a chest plate with some sort of rune upon it. He has a quiver of arrows and a bow slung behind his back. A sword also dangles at his hip.

"I can forget things too you know. It's hard to keep track of things sometimes." Silver says defending herself.

"Silver you always forget things. You're ditzy and space out half the time," I tell her and she feigns being hurt.

A large hardy laugh echoes across the clearing.

"I like this lad." Taryn chuckles, "What might be your name?"

"My full name is Jayvin, but you may call me Jay if you'd like," I say sheathing my sword.

"You'll become annoyed with him sooner or later," Silver chirps turning her head away.

"Oh come on Silver give me a break it's not every day I can freely speak the truth," I scoff and Taryn laughs even more.

"I'm like you more by the minute Jay. Come we should rejoin with the others."

"Others?" I question curiously.

"You didn't think you and Abe were the only ones now did you?" Taryn asks, heading back the way we had come.