Fire Rubies and Ice Diamonds

Chapter 1: The Wishing Tree

Maggie POV:

I sat beneath a tall, old willow with gnarled roots. Sunlight came through a small opening of the leaves. I stared into the deep forest at my left, wondering. A sharp movement in the meadow to my right caught my attention. I quickly turned around. It had been nothing more than my best friend Zafira. Zafira slowed down and promptly plopped down next to me.

"What goes on, Maggie?" she asked.

"Nothing but the wind", I replied.

"We should leave soon, it is not long before sundown, and you know what happens after sundown here." Zafira said.

I groaned, I knew exactly what happened after sundown in the woods here. Animals were said to come out and darkness was said to control their hearts. An old Legend of the woods here, but, yet, we still feared it. Yet, I didn't want to leave. The sun made me drowsy, and the soft rustle of the wind brought peace to my heart, I felt like I could sit here forever.

"Let's get going." Zafira said to me.

"Fine." I said as I got to my feet.

I slowly, and grumpily followed Zafira through the woods, and out onto a clearing not far from my house. From there we went our separate ways and promised to meet up tomorrow at the Wishing Tree. This tree was unlike many others, it was taller, and seemed, well, magical. Again, as an old Legend of those woods, it is said that a young girl went to this tree and asked to become smarter. The tree gave her this wish. She came back and asked for fame, and got that to. When the old girl was elderly, she came back to the tree and thanked it for all it had done for her, and named it the Wishing Tree. That night, I thought of what we were to ask that amazing tree. I fell asleep thinking.

The next day, my alarm clock went off. I groaned and got up to turn it off. I quickly got dressed, and headed off to school. As I got to my locker, I saw Henry and Jasper, my two other friends, come up to me. They were arguing about where soap came from.

"It doesn't matter where soap comes from, just that you use it!" Jasper exclaimed.

"What if …." Henry said, but was cut off by Jasper.

"I don't care!" Jasper exclaimed again.

"Aren't you two a happy little parade." I said with a giggle.

"Hi Maggie." Henry told me, and walked off to some distant place, leaving jasper standing next to me.

"If he could just understand common society!" Jasper said angrily.

"Hey, go easy on him, he is you cousin." I said.

"Whatever" He growled.

Just then, I saw a terrified Zafira come up to me. She was trembling from fright. Her hair stood on end, like she had seen a ghost.

"I need to speak to you, privately." She said eyeing Jasper.

Jasper gave me a 'Tell me what happened latter' look and walked off.

"What is it?' asked the scared Zafira.

"You know that prized stone you and Zamifa have hidden under the Wishing Tree. The red one." She asked.

"You mean the Fire Rubies?" I asked.

"Those same exact ones." She said trembling.

"What about them?" I asked.

"Zamifa went to go get hers this morning, and it was gone, and so was yours." She said in a high pitched voice.

"That can't be!" I exclaimed, now understanding Zafira's worry.

"You know what happens when the full moon shines on whoever is wearing it!" I said, rambling off.

"Power, enough power to rule over us all!" Zafira said.

"Tell your sister, Zamifa, to hold on. Tell her to go with us to the Wishing Tree today, we will figure out what to do then." I said.

"Okay." She said and started walking down the hall. She was half way down when a thought struck me.

"Zafira!" I called, and she raced back.

"What?" she asked.

"Did they take the Ice Diamonds too?" I asked in a shaky voice.

She slowly nodded her head, fear in her eyes.

"All I needed to know." I said, and she raced down the hall again.

'What am I going to do now? If anyone else finds out, I'll be in big trouble, big. Why did they have to take that specifically!' I thought to myself as l walked down the hall. I turned a corner and squeaked in surprise. Behind that corner, were both Henry and Jasper, looking at me questioningly.

Henry spoke up first.

"What are Fire Rubies and Ice Diamonds?" he asked accusingly.

"What is the Wishing Tree?" Jasper said from behind him.

'Oh no, this is not good.' I thought to myself. 'Not good at all.'