Matt was walking along the Olive River riverbank that he walked so much as a child in those halcyon days. Then all of a sudden, a fish jumped out of the rushing, crystal clear water. He walked to the edge of the water and looked into its depths. He smelled the hickory smoke of the villagers' hearths carried through the woods by the wind. The wind also brought with it the birds' dulcet songs, chirping through the leaves of the trees surrounding the rushing, twisting river. The song of nature, Matt thought. As he became lost in the harmony of nature, a face appeared in the crystal-clear water. He jumped back with a startle. The face in the water wasn't his. It was a young girl who looked a few years older than him. 

She said, "Mathew, the voices of nature have spoken, and you have been chosen to save the world from the darkness consuming it."

"Wh... who are you?" Matt asked the girl in the lake.

"I am the Water Spirit Amphitrite. My mother, the Mother of Life, sent me to help guide you on your journey," the girl in the water replied. 

"How can I save the world? I have never left the village of my birth. Why am I supposed to save the world? I must be hallucinating; I better go see mother." Matt rose as he spoke to the river and headed for the village. 

The familiar smell of hickory smoke became more robust. Matt looked to the sky. As his olive-green eyes looked higher, he saw enormous clouds of black smoke rising in the air. Matt started to run towards the smoke, which was in the direction of his village. He emerged from the brush and ran into the center of the village. Thatched roofs were ablaze. People ran to water troughs, using the water to throw on the roofs. The shops and stalls in the market area were in ruins from being trampled on to escape the fire and people putting out the fire.

King Blackwell II's soldiers rode on their white horses and stabbed men, women, and children as they rode past. They were throwing torches into the houses. Matt could hear the thud of their horses' hooves as they rode around. He saw blood flooding the streets, and he listened to the blood-curdling screams and cries from the people fleeing and bleeding on the ground. The smell of blood was thick in the air. 

Matt felt a hand around his arm. He looked up at a sturdy woman in a green dress, his mother, dragging him to the village's edge and shoving him into the Ivy patch growing on oak trees. A hiding spot.

"Run, my son, run," she whispered, thrusting a leather knife sheath into his hands, "don't stop running…." 

Matt watched as his mother's brown hair disappeared around the baker's thatched house from behind the brush. She was purposefully leading the soldiers away from his hiding spot. 

 Matt lay in the shrubs waiting for the two soldiers standing three feet away to leave so that he could make a break for it. The Kingdom has been falling apart ever since he could remember. It has gotten worse since Prince Blackwell became King after his father, King Blackwell I, passed away. I wasn't a good king, King Blackwell, but at least he didn't murder thousands of innocent people. Grandmother told me about a time when she was younger were the kings would treat their subjects like their family. They would do anything to protect them, but one day that all changed. The Kingdom has been becoming corrupt. Tax collectors take more than what is owed to the King from families. If the families fight back or rest, the collectors send soldiers to beat them up, selling the parents and children as laborers. Soldiers have become corrupt. Instead of protecting the people, they are drunks with power. They do whatever they want whenever they want with no consequences. No one can trust their neighbors because you don't know if they are spying for the King to make sure no one will rebel against him. This Kingdom, my home, is falling into chaos, and I don't know what to do. The soldiers started to load the prisoners in jail wagons. 

Matt turned around, tears in his eyes, and ran to Olive River across the rickety wooden bridge. He started North up the river toward the mountains, never looking back at his once beautiful, peaceful village, now on fire. 

******

Matt collapsed by the edge of the river. He was now by Aloe Mountain, where the majestic waterfall hits the rocks. He crawled over to the river and looked into the water. Amphitrite appeared again in the crystal-clear water.

"What is going on? Why would the King's guards go after my village?" Matt choked back his sobs. 

"The King is under the influence of General Blackwood, who one day wants to be King, but right now, he has to settle for controlling the King's decisions," Amphitrite replied. "He is consumed with the Shadow Spirit's Darkness, and he knows that you are the only one who can defeat him. He has sent soldiers to other villages looking for the one who will defeat him."

"So, the attack on my village and the others is my fault. That's just great! My mother sacrificed her life for mine when I am the target and most likely will die soon," Matt yelled.

"Your mother knew the prophecy, and she sacrificed herself so that you could save the world. That is one of the bravest and noblest things Mother of Life has ever seen," Amphitrite whispered.

"Why do I have to stop General Blackwood and the Shadow Spirit," Matt asked.

"There cannot be light without darkness, good without evil, life without death, for everything in this world has an opposite. Mother of Life children are the twin spirits; the girls are the light, while the boys are the dark side of nature or the life they represent. The Shadow Spirit is the opposite of the Light Spirit. All the world's wickedness and flourishing have weakened the Light Spirit, Helen. Her brother Erebus, the Shadow Spirit, has grown powerful, and if he consumes the world by the solstice, the world will fall into chaos. It would be best if you stopped him before he reached the height of his power on the solstice. This Vile of Water will help you along the way. A small sip of the water in it will show you the truth. Don't drink too much because it will kill you; even a little can be dangerous, so only use it if you reach the lowest point in your journey. Also, you will need the water to mind the bond between twin spirits to create balance in the world again. Trust the stars. They will show you the way." Amphitrite disappeared into the depths of the water.

******

Matt started walking down a dirt path, following the northern star to the castle in the town of Gladiolus. He followed the path through the dark wood full of old creaking oaks, maples, evergreens, dogwoods, and magnolias. It is said the woods are haunted by lost spirits and demons. The wind was blowing through the trees, and there were strange noises at his every turn. He heard the cry of a wolf when it howled at the moon. He also listened to the song in the trees. Matt suddenly stopped and listened very closely to the wind; he heard a baby's cry carried on it. He started to run toward the wailing, which led him off the path and through the twisted trees. Matt burst into a clearing. He saw the moon's glow landing on a willow tree in the middle of a clearing. As Matt moved closer, he saw a girl of his age. She has a child pressed to her chest, and she is leaning against the willow tree on a bed of white and blue irises that just bloomed. Their aroma was so strong; that the wind carried it to where Matt was standing. Some of them were bent and broken where the girl had walked and laid down. When Matt approached, the girl woke with a start and cradled the baby closer to her chest. He could see the fear in the girl's stormy blue eyes.

Matt spoke with gentleness, "I won't hurt you; my name is Mathew, well Matt for short, what's your name."

"My name is Poppy Moore, and this is my little brother Dill, named after my mother's favorite flower, the Daffodil." Poppy said in a shy voice. 

"Are you ok?" Matt saw Poppy wincing as she moved her leg when she sat up to talk to him. "I can help if you're not."

"I injured my leg when I ran away with my brother when the tax collector sent soldiers to beat up my father and take us away," Poppy said in a sad voice. "I don't know what became of them. My parents distracted the soldiers so that I could escape with Dill. One of the soldiers did fallow us. I injured my leg when I jumped over the Aloe Mountain waterfall."

"Show me your leg. I will see what I can do."

"I just need to get to a river or stream, and I will be ok."

Matt picked Poppy up in his arms, and she carried Dill in hers. He could smell the fragrance of the Irises on her caramel brown hair. He walked for a mile to a small creek trickling through the trees. Matt set Poppy down by the edge of the simmering water. Matt walked to a boulder covered in moss and sat down, taking Dill in his arms. He was looking at Dill when a flash of blue light exploded into the sky, quickly disappearing as it appeared. 

"What was that?" Matt said with a gasp.

"It was nothing," Poppy quickly replied.

She walked over to where Matt was sitting with Dill and sat down next to him. She took Dill into her arms, cradling him.

Matt spoke first, "I am heading to the town of Gladiolus. You can come with me and see if there is any word about your parents."

"Yes, thank you for your kindness."

With Poppy resting her head on his shoulder, Dill still cradled in her arms, Matt started to drift off.

*****

Matt and Poppy walked side by side. Dill was tied to Poppy's back as they passed under the town's entrance, a rough archway carved out of a stone wall. They walked over to a stall made out of wood surrounded by other booming businesses with wagons rushing by and bought some old biscuits with some sausages. They sat at an edge of a row of wooden houses with their backs against one of their walls. They watched as carriages and carts moved briskly past them, at soldiers antagonizing people at corners of the streets. The laughter came from across the street from drunken soldiers at the Pub. Horrible smells of rotten food, horse manure, and human waste fill their noses. After finishing their breakfast, Matt and Poppy stood up and walked into an ally. 

Matt whispered into Poppy's ear, "Wait here for me. I will see if I can get any information from the drunk soldiers about your parents."

Poppy nodded as Matt walked away. When Matt was out of sight, she looked around to see if anyone was looking. Poppy put Dill down, covering him with crates. Then, a shimmer of light and a cat stood in the spot where Poppy once stood. She runs out into the street, jumping on the apple cart passing her. Poppy rode the cart past three lanes, jumping off at the garbage entrance to the castle.

*****

"Excuse me," Matt asked a soldier sitting at a table, "can I sit here."

"Sure," the drunken soldier said, laughing off the bench.

"Just ignore the drunks. Not all soldiers are like them," a soldier spoke from behind Matt.

"Well, I guess I should be going," Matt stood up.

"No, stay. I know a man on a mission; how old are you," the soldier asked, putting his hand on Matt's shoulder.

"Seventeen, sir," Matt replied. 

The drunken soldier that fell got up from the ground and stumbled out of the Pub onto the street. 

"Well, who are you looking for," the soldier spoke, looking down his nose at Matt. "A Seventeen-year-old would not come here if he could help it. Drunken soldiers in here are always looking for a fight with a stranger. Then they can arrest them and laugh about it later."

Matt replied, "well, I was looking for information on the Moore family because they are friends of my family, and my father heard rumors about a tax collector doing something to them. That's why he sent me here to see if I can collect information." 

"If they were victims of a tax collector's punishment, they are probably badly injured and rotting in the damp, dark, rat-infested dungeon or were sold as labors to the mines," the soldier answered. 

"Thank you. Now I need to be on my way," Matt quickly stood up and walked out of the Pub.

*****

Still stumbling along the street, the drunken soldier rounded a corner, throwing up in a barrel. As he looked up, there was a bright flash of light. A girl appeared, bent over crates in the alleyway. The soldier grabbed the girl, knocking her against a house's wooden wall, pressing his gloved hand over her throat.

"Witch, what are you doing here," the soldier yelled, spit flying out of his mouth.

Poppy was in a daze. She was trying to focus her eyes on the man that attacked her, his breath stank of rotten meat and mead. She was struggling to breathe. Poppy sucked in shallow breaths of the air; the glove was cutting off oxygen, her vision going in and out. She was to go limp. Then the soldier holding her was gone, and Poppy fell to the muddy ground gasping for air. Her eyes began to focus again, and she saw Matt on top of the soldier fighting him. Shouts came from around the corner as soldiers rounded it. The soldiers yanked Matt off the soldier he was fighting, shoving him to the muddy ground, pulling his arms behind his back. He could taste the blood and mud in his mouth. Matt looked into Poppy's stormy blue eyes, mentally telling her it would be ok.

*****

Matt was tossed into a dank, musty, cold, rat-infested cell, the dungeon. He thought to himself that at least Poppy wasn't arrested. Matt began to pace the cell back and forth. He was mentally kicking himself. What made me think that I could save the Kingdom? I am nothing. I am a little boy with no home, family, or life. I should just give up. It will make no difference if I do. I couldn't protect Poppy, so what makes me think I can defend the Kingdom from General Blackwood. Matt reached up and yanked the vile of water off his neck.

He yelled, "and what does this even do?"

Matt opened the vile, cold to the touch, a clay vessel sipping a little of the water. He started to get dizzy, then he collapsed. Matt's eyes slowly opened, and his father was standing over him in a white mist. 

            Matt's father's spirit spoke with deep sorrow, "my son, I am so sorry I drove you to this. I became a spy for money from the very beginning. I was just trying to make money for us to live on when our crops failed. I was and will always be disgusted with myself."

"Father, what are you sorry for, and what did you spy on," Matt asked.

            "I am the reason all those people died and suffered. I spied for the soldier and told them about the prophecy, not knowing they would kill all those people. It's my fault the love of my life is dead, and you are in here. Please forgive me, my son. I don't even deserve to call you my son," Matt's father looked away in shame. 

Matt was shocked by what he heard. His father admitted that he spied on their village and was the reason for his mother's death. His father told the King every time someone spoke out against him or planned to rebel. That is why all those people started disappearing from the village. He overheard the prophecy telling the King. All those people died because of him. He killed himself in that raid, too, probably to cover up that they had a spy.

Matt's eyes filled with tears. He sobbed out, "how could you do this? How could you do this to your wife? Just go away. I am ashamed to be related to you," he blacked out again.

A woman's voice said, "Matt, my son, wake up." 

Matt's eyes fluttered open "mother, what are you doing here."

"Matt," his mother's voice said softly, "You have every right to be angry at your father, but anger and revenge will only lead you down a dark path. Your father did something horrible, and he knows it. But you cannot let his mistake define who you are. Do you know why Mother of Life chose you?"

Matt shook his head, "no."

"Because you are a wise and kind man. The Mother of Life gave you to me so that you can return to her as a champion for the world one day. The Water Spirit Amphitrite has a prophecy that only Mother of Life and I knew about, but Erebus found out about it through your father. It said that one day the Shadow Spirit, Erebus, will consume the world in darkness, and only a baby born to the people with a parent for a traitor can save them. Only if he learns to forgive, he will have the help of a girl touched by the spirits." Matt's mother said as her voice began to fade.

"Poppy," Matt shouted as he blacked out again.

*****

A hand covered Matt's mouth: he woke with a start. Matt saw Poppy's stormy blue eyes looking down at him.

"What are you doing here," Matt asked.

"Shush, I am getting you out of here," Poppy whispered.

"Where is Dill?" Matt asked as he was looking around.

"I left him with our parents. When you went to the Pub, I snooped around and found out they had already escaped and were hiding out with some outlaws. After the soldiers took you, I set out to find them. When I found them, I left Dill with them and came back to help you escape," Poppy said, then she turned into a black panther.

Matt jumped back with a start. Still, he followed her out of the cell and into the dungeon's dimly lighted, musty, damp hallways. Her paws made no sound as she led the way through the maze of hallways in the dungeon. Voices were coming from around the corner. Poppy instinctively shoved Matt into a side passage and covered him with her fur as a torch passed. They soon continued down the hallway and reached a dead end. Poppy transformed back into her human form, she pressed a stone, and the wall swung aside.

"Come on. We need to get out of here before the general's wedding to the princess," Poppy whispered.

Matt grabbed Poppy's arm. "No, we have to stop the wedding. The general can not become the next King or be ready for the world to be engulfed in the darkness caused by Erebus. Can you take me to where the wedding is being held?" He fiercely whispered.

"Ok, follow me. What are you going to do?" Poppy asked.

"I don't know, but I sure am not going to let him get away with all those murders ordered by him," Matt replied.

*****

As Matt and Poppy climbed through the window onto the wooden beams at the church's top, they could see the bride walking down the aisle lined with white Camellia.

Matt said, "Stay up here. You will be safe."

Poppy replied, "No, if you are going, so am I."

When the bride reaches the altar, Matt, and Poppy jump down into the aisle. Matt pulled his iron knife out of its leather sheath on his belt, the last thing his mother ever gave him.

"General Blackwood, I have come to make you pay for your crimes against the kingdom," Matt shouted.

"Make me pay for what. I have done nothing to this Kingdom except protect its people," General Blackwood laughed.

"What would you call burning villages to the ground ordering the murder of every man, woman, and child your soldiers stabbed?" Matt furiously replied, "or is it helping Erebus with his plans for all of us."

General Blackwood's hand shot up into the air and made a fist. Then Poppy pushed Matt to the ground. Matt looked up and saw blood down the front of Poppy's green dress. He lifted his eyes higher, and the end of an arrow was sticking out of her chest. She looked at him, then collapsed. Matt ran over and caught Poppy before she hit the stone ground. 

Poppy looked into Matt's olive-green eyes and said with a shutter, "forgiveness is the only way to win. Do not fight Blackwood with hatred in your heart. Fight him with forgiveness and compassion instead. I forgive Blackwood and the soldier who shot me, the tax collectors, and their men who attack my family. Everything happens for a reason. Don't let hatred and revenge be your reason. Let your kindness and forgiving nature be your reason," with a shallow breath. Poppy closed her stormy blue eyes. 

Matt looked up at General Blackwood with tears streaming down his face, Blackwood was smiling, but the people around him were staring at his smile. Then their faces formed angry expressions. Their eyes stared down at General Blackwood. His smile began to fade with worry taking its place. Matt slowly stood up. His glare was frightening enough to scare the spots off a leopard. He raised his knife and slowly walked to General Blackwood. Everyone in the church held their breath. They didn't dare make a noise. It was so quiet you could hear soldiers reloading their crossbows, waiting for the command to fire at this courageous boy. Matt was now standing in the face of General Blackwood. At that moment, Matt had an epiphany.

            He threw the knife to the ground and said, "General Blackwood, I forgive you for all the pain and horrible things you have done to my friends and me. I forgive you to the soldier who fired the arrow that pierced my best friend's chest, who could not hurt a fly. To you, great Shadow Spirit Erebus, I forgive you for all the pain you have caused me and my friends and family. I plead with you," Matt kenneled in front of General Blackwood. "Let go of this thrust for power because you will never control the world. Someone once told me that there could be no light without darkness. Your sister Helen still loves and cares for you. She will always need you, just like you will always need her."

Matt turned around and was walking back to Poppy's still body when the shadow of General Blackwood separated from him, and a young boy in black smoke appeared. He picked up the knife and came towards Matt when a bright light came crashing through a stained-glass window. A young girl draped in the light walked over to the boy and hugged him.  

The girl said, "brother, why are you doing this? There is room for both of us in this world. I can't do this without you; I need you."

Erebus replied, "I am sorry, Helen, for all the pain I caused you. I didn't want any harm to come to you, but if you are the good spirit, I am the bad one, so I have to act the part."

Helen looked into her brother's coal-black eyes and said, "there is no good or evil spirit. We can choose to be good or evil, but you chose evil because you felt you couldn't be good. There is still a chance for you to do good in this world and be a good Spirit."

Poppy coughed. A puddle of blood had already formed around her. It was getting bigger every second. her hands covering her wound were covered in blood.  

Matt ran over to her and shouted at the spirits, "Help her; you have the power to heal her, so help Poppy. It is your fault she is dying." He placed his hands over Poppy's hands over her wound.

Helen replied, "we cannot interfere with the course of life. We saved her once so that she could save you. It is her time to go. Let her rest in peace. Now you must fix my brother and my bond with Amphitrite vile of water before the sun is covered."

Matt ripped the arrow out of Poppy's chest and stabbed himself.

He said, "I will never finish the prophecy and let the world fall into darkness because it is not Poppy's destiny to be saved by the spirit only to be used to save me so I could save the spirit. If you want me to finish the prophecy, then save her."

Helen and Erebus looked at each other, then they both kneeled beside Poppy, placed their hand over her wound, and started chanting. All the powers of the spirits flowed through Poppy. She began to glow. Her eyes fluttered open, and her cheeks and lips regained their color. Her beautiful stormy blue eyes met with Matts, and she saw the wound in his chest. Matt then nodded at Helen and Erebus and took the vile from around his neck. Pouring it over their holding hands, there was a flash of light, and they both disappeared. Matt was clutching his chest as he fell to the stone floor. Poppy ran to his side. 

"What did you do?" Asked Poppy, tears running down her face.

Matt whispered, "your life is worth more than mine. Thank you for showing me what forgiveness is. You are the true hero. I can now forgive my father and be reunited with my family." Matt shut his eyes. He could feel his spirit leaving his body. 

Poppy placed her hand over Matt's wound and chanted like the spirits. Her hands began to glow. The light poured into Matt's wound; then, he was healed. Matt looked up into Poppy's tear-filled blue eyes. Then they hugged each other. A man approached them and kneeled beside them. 

            "We are each other's family," Poppy whispered.

"I am King Blackwell II. You have sacrificed yourselves to save my Kingdom. Is there anything you would like in return? A title, land, or a manner," asked the King.

"No," Matt replied, then he added, "we don't need any reward, but there are villages that your soldiers attacked, and they could use help getting back on their feet." 

King Blackwell II laughed "you remind me a lot of a friend I used to have, so be it. I will help those villages."

Matt and Poppy got up, holding each other's hand, and they turned their backs to the Lords and Ladies in the church and walked out into the colorful dusk.