Young Writers Society

Chapter Two


Race woke up to a deafening BANG! Startled, he bolted up from his bed and screamed. Jared continued to snore, and Zachary, in the bed below Jared didn’t move. Race’s heart pounded and he finally calmed down. His breathing was short and quick, because of the huge noise that sounded like a gunshot.

It’s probably only the wake up shot…Race thought. He sighed and whispered, “Jared…hey, Jared…c’mon you lazy kid, get up! We have to get to breakfast!”

Jared stirred for a second and then opened one eye. “Ow…turn off the lights.”

Race slowly climbed out of his bed and jumped onto the floor. He landed with a tremolo that shook the rafters. Race walked over to Zach, while Jared layed his head on his pillow, wanting more sleep.

Race shook Zach and he awoke with a start. “Where is it?” Zach asked, apparently out of breathe.

“What? Zach, never mind, it was just a dream…we have to go to breakfast, and then the Power Ceremony. Get dressed!” Race shook Zach until he yelled, “Stop! I’m up, I’m up!”

“Jared, get out of bed! NOW!” Race yelled to Jared. Jared stirred once more and slowly climbed out of his sheets. Race went to the toilet, which stood out in the open, with no doors or any privacy and used it. After he did, he felt empty and good…

The three boys quickly got dressed, after realizing that they only had four minutes to get down to breakfast, and ran out the cabin’s door. The air was chilly, as was most forests in the morning. Jared had forgotten to bring a sweater, but didn’t care, because when they got to the dining hall, the food took Jared’s mind off of the cold.

The meal was made up of pancakes, Zach’s favorite breakfast ever, and syrup, fruit and milk. It wasn’t the best breakfast Jared had ever eaten, but it filled them up.

“What’s after this?” Race asked Jared. His brother took out the agenda that he had copied down the last night and read, “Power of Light Ceremony.”

Race nodded and shivered. It was still cold.

Zach looked at the other campers. They all looked hearty and ready to start the day, but Zach wasn’t accustomed to be out of bed this early, and he desired to sleep.

“After the Ceremony, we have the tour of the camp…I hope it is lead by Shawn Snow, because I want to ask him some questions and –“

Jared was interrupted by a man who was trying to quiet everyone down so he could talk. Jared recognized this man as Evan O’ Riley. The three boys quieted down so Evan, the camp counselor, could address them.

“Alright, now, as all of you know, the Power of Light Ceremony is next, so I ask that you form a line behind me and I will lead you back the auditorium so we may proceed in starting. Come along!” Evan shouted. There was a big commotion as everyone, including the Petersons, struggled to get in line.

Evan led them through a row of cabins marked: S, and then they turned right and walked back the way that the three boys had come the previous night. After a short walk, they reached the auditorium, and just as Zach had mentioned the night before, it did look small on the outside, but as soon as they entered, the recognized it as the huge auditorium.

The Peterson’s settled in a seat about four rows in front of where they had sat the last night, and waited eagerly to see what was about to happen.

More and more people came in, flooding all of the seats, including the ones on the balcony. Race was surprised that almost every seat was full by the time that the Ceremony had started.

Everyone suddenly got quiet, like when Shawn had waved his wand the last night. Lights, that Jared couldn’t find the source of, dimmed, and the curtain whooshed to the sides. The stage was dark, and Zach couldn’t see anyone on it. It suddenly became very warm, which comforted Jared’s freezing hands. Jared had anxious butterflies in his stomach and couldn’t wait for it to begin. Race couldn’t wait for it to end. He really didn’t want to sit through a couple hours of a boring monotone.

“Thank you for coming here tonight,” the lights on the stage flashed on and Shawn Snow walked out onto the stage. He was greeted by applause by the audience, and he said, “OK, let’s begin the Ceremony of the Power of Light.”

The applause continued and the lights dimmed out on the stage. When everyone was quiet, a woman walked out on the stage, and a spotlight lit her up.

“Shawn Snow Sr. was a sorcerer. He practiced the Dark Arts of sorcery for many years until he had his one and only child, Shawn Snow Sr.” The woman turned out to be the camp counselor, McKenzie Sanders. She was dressed in a flowing robe, and a black, pointed hat. From Zach’s point of view, she looked like a witch.

“Shawn Snow Sr. loved his child more than anything in the world, and grew anxious for his son also to learn the magical properties of sorcery. On Shawn Snow Jr.’s twelfth birthday, his father grew very angry with him for not being able to produce the simplest of spells. Shawn Snow Sr. was desperate for his son to perform magic, that he used his powers to create another power. At first, no one knew of this power’s magical properties, but after a few years, Shawn Snow Sr. knew that he had created the most substantial piece of sorcery ever to be created! He had created the Power of Light!” After McKenzie had made and end of saying this in an ominous tone of voice, another curtain that was being used on the stage was lifted up very, very slowly. The audience tried to get a better view of what was hidden behind the curtain and when it was revealed completely, the audience sat there in shock.

The curtain had hidden an orb. The orb was crystal clear, except for the middle of the circular orb. Two strokes of color formed an X in the middle of it. One line was blue, the other, red. The orb gleamed as the spotlight shined upon it, and the audience stared in awe. There was something about it that just seemed…beautiful and magnificent.

“This, my fellow friends, is the Power of Light.” The camp counselor said, breaking the silence. “Look at its beauty…”

The audience stared in awe for the next minute, until another camp counselor came and stood upon the stage, taking McKenzie’s place. This counselor was Evan.

“For many years, this Power brought life and hope to Shawn Snow Sr.’s son. He had the ability to cast difficult spells, learn how to brew potions, and even learned some Dark Witchcraft. But, as most of us know, the Power was stolen.

“Evil forces were brewing in that land at that time, and, one night, King Huma, of a distant city, stole the Power, and brought it to his castle. The King had no idea what the Power did, but knew that it was very powerful. King Huma touched the clear orb with his bare hands, and let that power out. It is very difficult to explain, and the only thing that I can say is, when King Huma touched this Power, the Power was split into millions of tiny pieces, and the pieces zoomed around, looking for a master. One of the pieces found its way into King Huma’s soul, and many other pieces gained power in his comrades. For many years after that, King Huma was the most powerful sorcerer in the world.” Evan made a finish of speaking, and backed away for a new counselor to come in: Avery Kinsley.

“The Power also found it’s way into one of your ancestors, granting them the power to do something, and that same power that they have, you have. But, if you have more than one sibling, that power can only come to one of the children, and the other siblings will receive different powers, but all along the same lines.” Avery said.

"The Power was taken back by Shawn Snow Sr. once again, and when he passed away, he gave it to his son, and gave him the responsibility to manage this camp and make sure that every child that comes into this camp will have a better understanding at how they are to fight evil. None of you here are normal anymore, nor will you ever be. You have been chosen to fight the evil of the world, and bring it back to justice.”

Once again, the counselor moved out of the way so the last counselor could end the speech.

Alice Suzan spoke, “You have become Shawn’s Army. All of us must unite together and use our powers for good. Many of us will be tempted with the wrong things in life, but now you have the powers to stop it. Now, at the end of the ceremony, I introduce you to the sorcerer who we all belong to now: Shawn Snow Jr.”

There was tremendous applause from the audience and Shawn Snow appeared by magic in the front of the stage. There was more applause for his trick. When at last they had settled down Shawn said, “I bet that you are all anxious to see what your power is. Remember, your ancestor had the same one, so prize it and praise it.”

Shawn whipped out his wand and muttered something under his breath: Ansioneon Varraka Talon Mau.