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box slightly
higher. “The purpose of this group, and the many identical to this,
is to help you become as powerful as you’re able to be. There is a
war, ladies and gents, and when the time comes, you might find
yourself on the battlefield. Until then, you will go on various
assignments to hone your skills, meet potential allies, and
discover new things about yourself. The box that I hold in my hands
contains Evrodes. Does anyone here know what those are?”
    A girl who was the color of dark
chocolate with thick cornrows in her hair and a small gap between
her two front teeth raised her hand. “They were invented by local
wizard Rod Jurgensen in 1872.”
    “ Very good,” Rowena said,
clearly impressed. “What do they do?”
    “ They’re like
necklaces...necklaces that contain pieces of stones found on planet
Nerodia. These stones are used for sensing a strong emotion or
being, such as evil, and are worn by wizards to help fend off those
beings.”
    “ Very good!” Rowena said
again, giving the girl a big smile.
    I looked at Rena and rolled my
eyes.
    Rena giggled as Rowena continued,
“Evrodes also make good pets.”
    The group chuckled, and Rowena opened
the box. We all leaned on the edges of our chairs to get a better
look, but nothing extraordinary happened. Inside the box were
necklaces placed neatly beside each other, and each had a small
gray stone hanging daintily at the center.
    “ Now,” Rowena began, “each
of you will line up in a single file line and come grab an Evrode.
After that we will begin going over your first
assignments.”
    We did as told, and after about an hour
each of us was holding a small stone between our fingertips. I
looked around and noticed everyone else was watching theirs with
slight disappointment when, suddenly, mine shivered. Jumping a bit,
I looked down and saw that mine was no longer a round, gray pebble,
but was now a flat, smooth stone. It was a beautiful amber color.
In the center, a small opening had formed, and within that opening
a smoky substance appeared, moving as if imitating clouds on a
windy day.
    “ Wow,” came a voice by my
side. Rena looked at hers, which had chosen the shape of an orange
rectangle and said, “Well, at least it isn’t shaped like a glob,
like that poor guy over there.”
    I nodded and stared back down at my
Evrode. It was so pretty. My attention was broken by Rowena, who
had been watching us silently from the front of the
room.
    “ Okay, people,” she smiled,
“let’s get moving to—”
    “ Ouch!” a voice cried from
across the room. We all jumped and turned to look at a boy with a
high top fade, who looked extremely puzzled. “WHY’D YOU SQUEEZE ME
LIKE THAT?”
    “ It can talk!” the girl with
the cornrows shouted.
    “ Well, of course we can
talk,” hers said, snorting. She had sort of a pretentious air about
her. “What do you think we do, just sit around and glow, waiting
for action? We have the need to communicate just like
you.”
    “ Although,” began Rena’s,
and Rena looked like she was about to bolt from her chair. “We have
never talked as much as young Awakeners do.”
    “ True,” my Evrode, who
sounded like a young woman from one of the ‘hoods’ in Harlem, New
York chipped in, “but I think it’s a teenage thing, not an Evrode
thing. My great grandfather used to be an assistant to a Senior
Creator, and he said that man only spoke when he had to eat, go to
the bathroom, or get out of harm’s way.” The rest of the Evrodes
murmured in agreement, and mine continued to talk. “Oh, look
everyone. It’s Rowena!”
    “ Hi, Rowena!” all of the
Evrodes shouted, pleased to have discovered her. Rowena, however,
didn’t look too surprised.
    “ Hey, guys,” she grinned.
Her eyes twinkled. “I’m really glad you decided to go ahead and
speak up. I was beginning to wonder if I had received the right
box.”
    “ You know you always get the
right box,” grumbled the voice that had shouted earlier.