James sat on the branch of the ancient apple tree. Bird song lilted through the air, and the old orchard felt peaceful. The red apple in his hand was the size of his head, a little treat to himself. No longer was the orchard forbidden; its magics had taken root inside a vessel, inside of him. Most of Oakwood still avoided the old orchard, and James couldn't blame them. Fear was hard to let go of. But he liked it here and could feel closer to her here. The Sister was far away now, somewhere to the east. She had been to the north shortly, then back west, and now she was traveling.

  "Ya gonna toss one down to me, right?" Max's shout scared off the singing birds, bringing James back to the moment. "I'm hungry, too."

  "You can't just let a moment be, can you?" James smiled, tossing the over-large apple down to his friend. "It's hard to believe that it has been four years to the day since we thought to sneak in here and steal some of these apples."

  "Its not been dat long, has it?" Max tilted his head to the side, his jeweled eye-catching the morning light. There was something there mischief twinkled, and a smile pulled at his face. "Don't fall out of the tree this time."

  "Try not to." James swung down, his feet hitting the ground with a thud, the grass crunching beneath his boots. A year working the forge and near-constant sparring with Max had broadened his shoulders and thickened his arms. He pushed strands of white hair from his eyes that had come loose from the knot at the top of his head. "We should get back. There is work to do."

  "Or...We could go deeper. Come on, let's actually explore da orchard. Poke around a bit. We ain't supposed to not be here no more, ya." Max said around a mouth full of apple. "You her chosen and all dat."

  "Come on, Max. I got orders to fill out and clean up the house before Miss Silvia gets back." Max was wiggling his eyebrows, the too-large apple forgotten. "Max."

  But Max was already running, disappearing down a row of trees towards the center of the orchard, and the ruins James knew waited there.

  James thought the ruins must have been massive long ago, but now, little stood as they once had. The third floor had collapsed onto the second, and much of the second and third now spilled out onto the orchard. Thick trees grew at odd angles, and moss and vines clawed up every rock James could see. Max was kicking at the rocks near the only standing doorway, hands on his hips.

  "Ya know, Id think dere be more to it," Max said, peering into the dark entrance. He scratched his head. "But it's just a pile of rocks."

  Slowly, James walked closer, running his hands over the stone, the carvings under his fingertips cool to his touch. It seemed every inch of stone had been carved; to James, it felt like a story a thousand years in the making, wrapped in walls that should have stood the test of time. But it had fallen forgotten and lost, just like the Sister. James felt a tug, not on him but on the power inside him, as if the Sister wanted him to go deeper into the ruins.

  Are you there? Sister, can you hear me?

  But there was no response. She was still far away. The tug came again. This time, James' body moved on its own, lurching forward, and he had to take a step to stay upright. Max grabbed at the wall as if his body had reacted to the pull. His eyes meet James.

  "Well, that's new," James said, a smile pulling at his lips. Max smiled back as he searched the ground for something. He picked up a large branch and ripped off a section of his tunic to wrap around the stick. James rolled his eyes and held out a hand. Cool white light jumped from his fingertips to form a glowing little sphere.

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  "Crap. Magic shit." Max unwound the cloth from the stick and stuffed the scrapes into his pocket. James only laughed.

  "Yea, magic shit." James sent the light out ahead of them as they entered the room.

  The room was cold, and goosebumps crawled up James' arms. Grass-covered dirt caked most of the floor, and piles of wood with more holes than solid were shoved against the walls. The air smelled of fresh soil but also decay. The pull came harder this time, driving James to hands and knees. Max fell next to him, his amethyst eye glowing faintly as his body hit the floor. It pulled them downward against the soil and the rocks.

  "Maybe we shouldn't have come to the forbidden temple?" James said, standing and wiping the dirt from his pants.

  "Nah its just more dat magic shit," Max said, tapping at his glowing eye. "If it was bad, I'd seen it, ya."

  "Max, your vision isn't clear; Miss Silvia keeps telling you to not trust it." James moved his light upward and illuminated a massive central mosaic painted across the ceiling.

  It was of a massive battle between figures draped in cold and silver beneath a massive apple tree. Its branches were filled with shimmering golden orbs, and its leaves were silver. The larger figures wore armor seemingly made of light, and the smaller figures were painted in blacks and greys. James thought the black and grey figures pushed back the larger, more regal ones. But then he saw her, painted near the middle, her armor of silver and white, a large sword in hand raised high above her head. The Sister stood proud, a shout painted on her lips as if rallying her brothers and sisters against the masses. And James understood. The history lessons Miss Silvia had been teaching were the things long forgotten. A world where mortals stood against the gods and drove them from Panthea, only to have new, more powerful gods take their place.

  "Sondia's blade." James cursed. "It a temple to the last days."

  "What?" Max sat on a rock, looking up at the painted roof, with an amused look on his face and the half-eaten apple in his hand. "Oh, wait, never mind."

  "Forget it." James threw a piece of wood from a nearby pile at Max, who batted it away with his free hand.

  "Already have." Max threw the apple core at James, "How we gettin' downstairs?"

  "Not a clue," James was slammed into the floor. The pull against his power was like someone had tied a boulder around his chest and let it off a cliff.

  "Sondia's blade dat hurt." Max pulled himself across the floor towards James-

  Crunch

  The floor under Max gave way, sending dirt and debris flying. James shielded his eyes and crawled to where his friend had disappeared. Sending the orb of light rushing down into the hole to find a bewildered Max staring up at him.

  "Guess you found a way down," James said. Rubbing his hand over his face.

  "Guess so, and I ain't need no magic to do it." Max rudely shoved a fist into the air. "Now get down 'ere."

  James jumped into the hole, a small passage barely big enough to fit him and Max side by side. Dirt and broken pieces of wood covered the floor. James thought it odd that the hole was barely taller than him. He grabbed the upper edge with a jump, confident he could pull himself out if needed, before letting himself fall back to the ground.

  "Alright, Max. Which way?" James gestured to either side as the passage stretched out in either direction. Max shrugged, pulling an apple from his pocket and taking a bite. James rolled his eyes. "Right."

  James found it odd how the dark stone seemed to drink in his light as they passed. The carved pictures would flare to life and fade as they moved away. They seemed to be in the middle of a story, and each massive stone was a scene linked to the one before. Each set of three depicting a tale of power. A girl finds a shell by the shore before running away to join a carnival and, finally, as a teen, healing a blind man. The next set showed a boy who found a fallen star and fled the town guard. The final stone in his story showed him, now a man, calling fire from the sky. But they all bore the same symbol, a chalice somewhere on their body. James had a growing suspicion that they were seeing something not meant for him, and the knot in his stomach grew.

  "Hold up, Max." James froze in front of a scene depicting a man flying through the air and driving a sword through a woman's back under a sky filled with lightning. The stale air grew cold, and a shiver ran down James' spine. "You don't think...Right?"

  "Nah, this place be a thousand-year-old or somethin'. Does look like ya, doesn't it." Max took a large bit of his apple. James clenched his jaw and let out a slow breath. "But it couldn't be, ya."

  James ran to the stone they had just passed, where a boy had fallen from a tree, clutching a glowing apple. Max just watched as James ran past him again. The final stone showed the figure from before, sword stretched out to the side, a town ablaze around him. He stood with his back to James, facing a cloaked-wrapped figure with a familiar-looking massive war maul. James' heart stopped, and he sank to the floor, hand lingering on the cold stone. Max rushed to James' side, but as he did, his eye flared, lighting the hallway and stones around them. The craved lines flashed purple and brought the picture to life. The flames of the Rusty Kettle danced, the bodies on the ground bled the blood soaking into the stone under James' knees, and then the figure roared a challenge.

  "James," Max screamed, grabbing at his eye as he collapsed, convulsing on the floor. James tore his eyes away from the carving, and it settled back into solid stone. "James, I can see it. Oakwood's gonna burn."

  Max went limp as James' light went out, plunging them into darkness.