Earland Khan's Arc

Chapter 1 of 7

Earland Khan stood on the shore and stared at the water he could not enter. A golden castle lay drowned beneath the waves, half buried in sand and reef. He wanted to raise it and rule it as its wizard. But its great door held fast, and no water spell could open it. His pet turtle, its shell crowned with coral, surfaced beside him and blinked, as if it too knew the truth. Earland could not do this alone. He leaned on his staff of coral and thought of his brothers. Three magic keys guarded the castle. Three brothers, born of a family of wizards. That was no accident. He gripped his blue cloak against the wind and made his choice. He would find them. He followed the swamp until he reached an old fishing hut on stilts. Its red tin roof had rusted to brown. Fishing poles leaned against every post. On the porch sat Jimmy Khan, his oldest brother, mending a net with hands that shook a little now. "You smell of salt," Jimmy said, not looking up. "You always did, even as a boy." He set the net down. "I left the family to fish in peace, Earland. What do you want?" "The sunken castle," Earland said. "I found it. But the door needs three keys, and one wizard cannot lift a city." He knelt so his brother could see his face. "I need your roots and your patience. I need you." Jimmy studied him a long moment. Then he reached for his wooden staff and pushed himself up. "You never ask for help unless you mean it," he said. "Fine. But we will need the hothead too." They found Brave Khan at the swamp's edge, boiling a shallow pool with his bare hands. Steam hissed around his black beard. He wore no staff and needed none. Fire lived in him. When he saw his brothers, he grinned and let the flames die. "Two old men come to fetch me," Brave said. "This must be trouble worth having." "A city of gold under the sea," Earland said. "Locked. It needs all three of us." Brave crossed his arms. "And if I say no?" "Then it stays drowned," Jimmy said. "And you spend your life boiling frogs." Brave laughed hard at that. He clapped a hot hand on Earland's shoulder. "I am in." The three brothers stood together for the first time in years. Water, root, and flame. Earland felt the weight of the castle grow lighter already. Then his turtle crawled from the reeds and dropped something at his feet. A scrap of old sailcloth, marked with three symbols and three far places. A map to the keys. Earland picked it up. The keys were not lost. They were scattered, each hidden somewhere on that torn cloth. Reuniting his brothers was only the beginning. Now the real quest began.