• The Country of Pragey

    Prologue
    “Think they’ll be okay?” a woman’s voice came, hollow and depressed. A warm hand suddenly rested on her shoulder, just near her neck.
    “With everything we’ve taught them, of course.” A man’s voice came from her left. “ZeIenka is crafty and sly; she’ll do the hunting. Ziva is a creature at heart; this will help them on their journey. With Avianna’s knowledge and powers with nature—who knows what they could do?” he sighed deeply. “Are we doing the right thing?”
    The woman rested her head in her husband’s neck. He felt a cold tear stream off of her face and down his arm. She wiped her face with her sleeve and sniffled. “I hope so. We are going to have to keep a close eye on them, help them find Pragey.”
    “Are you kidding me? I still have no idea how we’ve kept them away from it as long as we have.” He chuckled softly.
    A sudden wind swept up, knocking everything in its path. “Elizabeth, we need to leave! Come on!”
    “Micheal, I can’t!” The sky suddenly grew dark; birds swooping overhead plummeted from the sky, falling stiff and cold to the ground. Strange shapes and shadows leaked out from behind the trees, behind shapes that didn’t appear to be there before. Dozens of strange warriors in metal armor sitting on horses swept out, placing old, worn down sacks over Elizabeth and Micheal’s bodies. As compliant as rag dolls, their bodies were pulled away. As they were being dragged away, they said one last command, “Walk the ways we came, and find the land of Pragey.”
    A deep voice echoed, seeming to come from the heavens. It chuckled monstrously.
    “It was nice to know you!” the voice boomed in a sarcastic manner. It chuckled again, and the whole place was silent. It seemed as if the world had come to an end.

    * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

    ZeIenka Miller screamed. She awoke in a cold sweat, her head pounding; blood rushing between her ears. She tore off her blankets, and jumped out of her bed. Fear and panic in her eyes, she ran into her sisters’ room. It seemed as if they all awoke at the same time.
    Tears streaming down her face, Avianna Miller shook her head. Ziva Miller shuffled in her desk drawer, pulling out a small gun. She tossed it to ZeIenka, who then ran across the hall, into her parents’ room.
    She slammed open the door. Finding it empty, her hopes seemed to fade. She dropped to her knees, weeping softly in her hands. The ghostly figures of their parents appeared before them. The soothing voice of her mother said quietly, “Walk the lands we came, and find the land of Pragey,” ZeIenka had heard this only once before, in her dream. The ghostly image of their late parents disappeared again, leaving the room in ultimate silence.



    Chapter 1
    In the Woods

    “My rock is going to go farther than yours!” ZeIenka gloated happily.
    “Well, my rock is going to sink faster than yours.” Ziva returned, giggling.

    Of course they were just playing, because ZeIenka was fantastic at skipping stones, but Ziva was not the greatest. Avianna was climbing a tree somewhere to their right.

    “I’m already bored.” ZeIenka sighed. Her eyes suddenly brightened up. “Why don’t we play hide and seek? This forest would be perfect for hiding. Yes, I mean all of us, Avianna.” ZeIenka giggled as she watched her sister glare at her.

    Avianna jumped off the tree branch and said,”1, 2, 3! Not it!”

    Ziva said the same, which left ZeIenka to seek. She turned and leaned against the nearest tree trunk, counting to fifty. She heard her sisters run quickly behind her, and when she turned, they where no longer there. She darted out as fast as she could. Moist branches above her head and the wind whipping her brown curls made her feel like she was flying. She knew Avianna’s favorite hiding place in the woods: the tallest tree that they inscribed different things in. Avianna would climb to the half waypoint of the tree and sit on the longest and sturdiest branch, out looking the entire forest. That’s where young ZeZe planned to go.

    She finally stopped running to catch her breath. She looked up, thinking that she heard something. Because there was nothing there, she walked on.

    ZeIenka was very tempted to lie down in the cool grass, longing to curl up with a good book, as she hasn’t done in so long. She just hadn’t the time. If she wasn’t hunting in the woods, she would be playing with her sisters, or perhaps she would be sucked up into one of their crazy adventures. That was always their excuse. The truth was that they were all still worried about what could have happened to their parents.

    They should all be in school, but since the passing of their parents, they had no relation in the world. So now Avianna helps to teach them certain things they would have to know for school. She didn’t do this often, because there wasn’t much that these intelligent girls didn’t already know. All three of them were fantastic in their studies. And besides, when you live in the forest, there’s not much you need to know.

    ZeIenka would do the hunting, because she was swift and sly, and worked wonders with a sword lately. This was especially weird considering that she had only practiced a few times with her father. It was bizarre, because as she was walking around one day, she came across a beautiful black turquoise bladed sword, with a purple leather handle. It had black leather case, and looked brand new. And it seemed like Avianna has had weird things happening to her, too. For example, all she had to do was ask for an edible mushroom patch, and one appeared before her. Then came Ziva’s encounters. They were probably the strangest, considering she found herself talking to animals. All she had to do was whistle, and then suddenly there were many animals surrounding them.

    ZeIenka began to slow to a stop. She suddenly had a strange thought. About the sword fighting, Avianna’s knack with plants, and Ziva’s connection with animals. She remembered her father taking her out into the woods and teaching her how to use a sword, bow and arrows. She especially loved using arrows. And their mother used to take Avianna out and teach her about plant life: edible, poisonous, and so forth. And Ziva, she would always tag along and play with the forest animals. In fact, that’s how she got her nickname, Koi.


    She shook her head, trying to focus on anything else. As ZeIenka continued walking, she realized that the woods were no longer safe. This was even weirder considering that they all said it at the same time. And ironically, they all happened to be quite near each other. Avianna was in her tree about twenty paces to ZeIenka’s right, and Ziva was actually jumping behind trees just ten paces away.

    “We need to get out of here!!” Avianna said, jumping off of the tree and landing perfectly upright.

    The three girls had some sort of immediate connection, and they all knew exactly where to go. They ran straight forward for some time, until they suddenly stopped. ZeIenka had a weird feeling that someone was following them, and the others knew so.

    “These trees need to part now!!!” Avianna said, frustrated. Suddenly the trees parted into a perfect hallway, as if on her command.

    “There’s no time for questions! Just run!!” Ziva said, pushing them forward.

    The trees closed behind them as suddenly as they opened. Before they knew it, they were running down what seemed an empty, misty, even desolate, corridor. There were dark, jagged doors around them, but the girls didn’t care. They just kept running hoping to find safety. Suddenly, all three of them tripped over something they didn’t see. It seemed like a small animal, but as they got up and turned around, there was nothing except a boring, red brick wall.

    As the girls brushed their clothes off, they noticed some very bizarre things.

    “I wasn’t wearing this when I came in… not that I don’t like it, because it is cute. But still.” Ziva said, half grumbling, half happily. She was wearing black capris pants with maroon lacing, a maroon three quarter sleeve shirt, and a stylish black vest with copious amounts of pockets. To top it off, a thick zebra patterned belt was tied around her waist. She had maroon sneakers with black shoelaces.

    “Me too. Wait a second, it’s snowing. I love the snow, but it never snows. How very peculiar.” ZeIenka said, in her most matter-of-fact tone. She used this tone when she discovered something important before her sisters. ZeIenka was wearing her normal black cargo pants with pockets that lined the sides of her legs, and a simple purple tank top with a black lace under shirt that slung slightly off her shoulder. She was also wearing her favorite black high top sneakers. She then hugged herself as if she was cold, and her black sweatshirt reappeared on her.

    Avianna was just looking everything up and down, from her sisters to where they were. Then she too looked at her outfit. She wore an adorable green, baby doll sleeve less shirt that looked like the sleeves were made of vines. She wore brown capris pants and simple green tennis shoes.

    “Hey guys? Um, where exactly are we??” Avianna said touching a tree trunk to her right.

    “Avi, I think we’re in Pragey. Whatever that is.” Ziva commented.

    “What makes you say that, sis??” blurted Avianna.

    “How ‘bout that carving that says ‘COUNTRY OF PRAGEY” I mean, it’s just a thought.” ZeIenka replied sarcastically. She suddenly had a crazy flashback, as she did so often. She saw their parents the night of their death and suddenly remembered what they said. “Oh, my gosh! You guys!! We’re in Pragey!!” she yelled out excitedly, startling the others.

    “So?? What’s your point?” the other two girls said in synch, as if they planned it.

    “Don’t you remember?? ‘Walk the ways we came and find the land of Pragey.’ Mom and Dad. The misty thing on a horse?” ZeIenka said, growing impatient at her sisters’ poor memory.

    Ziva and Avianna swapped glances. “We’re in Pragey.”