One of the Twelve

“King Altador, it’s been a long time now since that Dark Faerie was banished,” Jerdana suggested.

     King Altador pondered upon this deeply. “Yes, do you remember the exact time we’ve only been eleven in the Council?”

     Jerdana answered, “That is the point, Sir. It’s been so long now that we’ve had eleven members, and yet, we are known as the twelve heroes!”

     King Altador nodded. “You have a point there, Jerdana. To keep our title as the Twelve Heroes of Altador, we must find our twelfth.” King Altador chuckled, “Besides, I like the number – twelve.” King Altador straightened his face again, “Now, go find the other ten. We shall tell them of your brilliant plan.”

     Jerdana followed. “Yes, Sir.”

     King Altador told the other ten of their plan to find a twelfth for their council. But he told them that this must be done in secret, for he knew that people are judged not by what they do in public but in private.

     ~~~~~

     It was a wonderful morning, and Keito, a young, thirteen year-old Shoyru woke up extra early to do what he had planned for days – to fly over the City of Altador and discover the new places he still hadn’t seen. He had a few minutes to prepare, but he still found time to sit by his window and see the view of his neighborhood.

     He saw Siyana, the First to Rise, and Sasha, the Dancer, doing their daily routine of waking the city up with their little presentation. As Siyana would shine her bright light and fly around the city to wake up the folk, Sasha would stay just below her and play her joyful tune and dance to the beat of her colorful tambourine.

     After seeing this delightful sight, this red, little Shoyru stood up, stretched a little, and gave a long yawn. He quickly hurried off to clean himself up and eat his breakfast. And after all that was done, he put on his sandals and walked out the door.

     He looked up to the sky and shielded his eyes from the bright rays of the rising sun. “Well, off I go,” he said to himself. He ran for a couple of blocks, lifted his wings, and flew off. What an astounding view he saw! Never before had he seen a city so colorful as Altador.

     He flew above the Altador Park, seeing the happy children play with their Yooyus with a little game of ‘fetch,’ ‘hide-and-seek’ and even ‘catch’ using the yooyu as a ball. What a happy sight that was.

     He also saw the different fountains around the city. From time to time, he would land and refresh himself and see its intricate statues.

     He also saw the gigantic structure which was the Hall of Heroes. It was the largest building in Altador. He would fly in and around it, swoop and do some loops and exhibitions as he felt the wind blowing on his skin. A lot of Altador’s citizens also saw him from below. And each of them he greeted with a courteous face.

     His trip was exhausting but also exciting. He already explored every foot of the city wall, but he just had to see some more! He was carried away with Altador’s sights. He saw Follies farm where the wheat was grown, the Altadorian, he went high in the clouds where he saw Psellia the Air Faerie resting, and the Tomb where the Dark Faerie used to have her meditations.

     Keito had been flying for hours already. It was already two hours past lunch time, but his excitement kept him satisfied and full.

     As he continued flying, a majestic mountain came into view to him – Mt. Altador. It was the biggest among the mountains in the Altadorian mountain range. This caught his attention.

     Keito just had to visit that mountain. And when Keito had gotten closer to it, he realized that it was very far from the city. That mountain was so far from Altador that any small detail would be missed by the citizens.” As he got closer and closer to the mountain, he spotted something that caused him to lose focus during his flight. Lava was slowly pouring out of a little hole on the volcano. But this was not the ordinary red lava; it had a hue of gray and brown colors, making it invisible from afar to the naked eye. Keito knew that this would cause horrible trouble in the city if it was not taken care of immediately. So he flew as fast as he could to the city.

     Keito stopped at the first neighborhood he could see. He tried to warn the people, “Lava is flowing out of Mount Altador as we speak! We’ve got to do something quickly!” But no one took him seriously. They would either chuckle at him and say, “That mountain has been extinct for more than one hundred years now! That is impossible!” or they would stay silent, ignore him, and just mind their own business. But Keito never gave up and kept asking for help, “Please! Everybody’s life is in danger! You’ve got to help!” No one still listened.

     Agitated, he flew off to the next neighborhood and warned everybody, but he was still treated the same way. “I know!” he said to himself, “Finneus is one of the wisest Neopets in this city. I’ll just have to go to the Altadorian Archives and tell him.”

     So he hurried and flew off to the Archives as fast as he could. He barged into the archivist’s office. “Sir! Lava is flowing from Mount Altador as we speak. I think that it’s been doing this for days now, and no one has noticed.”

     But Finneus chuckled too and said, “That’s impossible. Now please go away and play your silly games or whatever. I’m a very busy Lenny.”

     Seeing a telescope on Finneus’ table, Keito grabbed it, took Finneus by the wing and brought him outside.

     Irritated, Finneus yelled at the little Shoyru, “What is the meaning of this! I demand to know!”

     Keito held the telescope in front of the Lenny’s eye and turned him to the direction where the mountain was.

     “My goodness! There is an eruption after all!” Finneus exclaimed.

     Keito crossed his arms and looked at Finneus as if to say, “told you so”.

     Finneus knew he had been unfair to the young Shoyru and apologized, “I’m very sorry for being unfair to you a while ago. Please accept my most sincere apology.” Finneus snapped back into his serious self. “We have to inform the King, immediately.”

     The two flew off to the Hall of Heroes, seeing King Altador just out in the balcony. As they flew towards him, Keito shouted, “Sir, Altador is in danger!”

     Finneus was surprised that Keito didn’t approach the king with respect. “What do you think you’re doing?” Finneus scolded Keito, “How dare you approach the king with such incompetence.”

     Keito bowed his head in embarrassment.

     Finneus turned to the king and bowed, “Please accept my apology for this lad’s disrespectful behavior.”

      King Altador looked at the young Shoyru, “That is no big deal. Now, tell me, what is the matter?”

     Keito raised his head and looked at King Altador. “Sir, though no one may see this, Mt. Altador is erupting right now!”

     King Altador looked at Finneus. “Is this true? Please, show me.”

     Finneus pulled out the telescope from his bag. “Here sir, take a look.”

     King Altador knew of the great danger, but he still kept his calm state. King Altador commanded Finneus, “Finneus, gather the others. We shall tell them of the on-going calamity.”

     King Altador gave each of those in the Council duties. Jerdana, Marak, Sasha, and Torakor were assigned to come with him along with Keito. The others had to stay to keep watch over the city. And since only Keito had the ability of flight, Jerdana used her spell casting skills to give the rest a temporary ability of flight.

     They arrived at the mountain; the sun was already setting. And for some reason the hole in which the magma was seeping through became much larger. King Altador put his hand on Keito’s shoulder. “It’s good that you have told us immediately, son.”

     Jerdana approached the king. “Sir, what are your first orders?”

     King Altador responded, “Jerdana and Sasha, you must gather waters to cool down the magma.” He turned to Marak and Torakor. “Marak, Keito and Torakor, we shall gather as much big rocks as we can. This will be used to help seal the cavity.”

     Sasha, with her knowledge of dances, performed the rain dance to send rain falling, and Jerdana called upon the forces of the waters and gathered them to be poured on the magma to cool them down. Meanwhile, King Altador, Torakor, Marak, and Keito gathered up the rocks and thrust them into the cavity to block it.

     They have been working for hours. The rain splashed on their cold, tired bodies, the sun was already out, and the moon glistened faintly. They were able to seal the opening. King Altador gave a whisper of victory. “It is finished.”

     The King approached Keito. “What is your name, young one?”

     “My name is Keito.” Keito stated his name with humility but with honor.

     The King knelt and looked at Keito, straight in the eyes, “Son, you been very promising since the first time I saw you.” Keito looked at King Altador with a sort of blank and confused stare, and the King noticed this. “You see, Keito, we, the City Council, have been looking for the twelfth member in our assembly, and you showed yourself as the perfect candidate.”

     Keito gulped, “Me? Why me?”

     The King answered gently, “You showed great wisdom in your actions. Though no one listened to you, you still strove to warn everyone. You did not let anyone look down upon you, but you still set a great leadership for many. That has given you a great qualification. What do you say? Would you like to join our team?” The others gathered around the King and Keito.

     Tears started to form in Keito’s eyes and finally rolled down his face. “Yes! Yes, I would! Thank you, thank you!”

     King Altador stood up and held the Shoyru’s hand. “Come, we must see the others and tell them the good news!”

     ~~~~~

     A ceremony was prepared in celebration of the new member of the council in none other than the Altadorian Colosseum. Trumpets were blown and flower petals were thrust into the air as the new member of the Council walked into the hallway.

     The Altadorian King stood on the royal balcony of the Colosseum, in front of all of the citizens of Altador, as he announced, “Today, we commemorate the delegation of our new council member, Keito.”

     Keito’s heart started to beat faster as these words rang in his ears. He placed his hand on his chest and said to himself, “This is it.”

     The King continued, “He started off as a young, ordinary Shoyru. But his performance of great courage during the lava flow of Mount Altador has earned him this new position. He will not be known anymore as this ordinary Shoyru, but now as the Twelfth member of the City Council. He will now be recognized as Keito, the Sentry.”

     The citizens gave a load roar cheering for the new delegate as he presented himself on the balcony. The other ten members gave an enthusiastic hurrah while Sasha with her tambourine danced and reveled to the ceremony of Keito’s acceptance of duty.

     Jerdana was called up to stand as the King announced, “As corresponding to being one of the twelve members of the Council, Keito the Sentry shall also receive a constellation of his very own.” Jerdana waved her hands as she would with a wand, and the stars of the sky moved from their original place to form a new constellation – a spyglass. Everyone looked up at the sky seeing the wonder of the stars glowing in their new positions. To end the ceremony, the newly carved statue of Keito the Sentry was presented in front of the congregation before it would be brought into the Hall of Heroes and positioned among the circle of statues. And the story of Keito the Sentry was magically recorded in a new chapter of the Book of Ages.

     ~~~~~

     During the night of the ceremony of Keito’s new position, the stars twinkled so much brighter to Keito. He lay down on the cozy, grass-covered ground, and the stars sparkled in his eyes, seeing the new constellation that he was so nobly given – the constellation of the Spyglass. Keito treasured all these things in his heart. He couldn’t believe it – he was now – One of the Twelve.

The End