The Kingdom of Epotia

A single adult man with long, jet black hair tied together with a red ribbon was marching through snow nearly ankle deep in the kingdom of Epotia. The future kingdom of Epotia to be exact. The future kingdom of Epotia was nothing more than an island of ice and snow. Not even one plant could be seen, not even a pesky weed grew here. Ice and snow was the only thing seen for miles, even the town was no longer standing, completely buried beneath the icy terrain. The man in question happens to be an older version of Kaden. The prince wrapped his coat around himself tighter as he shivered from the cold. With each step he took, the closer he got to the frozen castle in the distance. The winter wind wasn't much help keeping him warm, nor was the snow beneath his feet.

The trek to the castle was slow, but the prince eventually made it to the gates, which happened to be frozen shut. Kaden tried to pry the gates open, but it seemed to be quite stuck. He rubbed the back of his head, trying to think of a way to get inside the palace. He looked around before he noticed a part of the gate was broken. If he tried, he'd probably be able to fit through the space. The prince walked over towards the opening and squeezed his way through to the other side.

Once he was through, he dusted the snow off his coat before making his way to the large double doors to the castle. The doors didn't seem to be as frozen as the front gates were, but they were still covered in a bunch of ice. Kaden pushed one of the doors opened with all his strength until it was opened enough for him to get through. Kaden walked through the front doors into the throne room. He glanced around with a frown as he noticed that all the windows were shattered. The glass was scattered all over the floor along with a bunch of ice and snow. Every painting in the main room had fallen to the floor. Some of them were broken while some of them were buried beneath the snow.

Kaden shook his head as he quickly made his way towards the library, trying to ignore all the damage that has been done to his home. He disliked the way his home was at the moment. He could only hope he'd be able to find the spell he was looking for so he could save his home. The only way he would be able to do so is if he hurried to the library and locate the book he needed with the right spell.

The prince walked quickly down a corridor towards one of the doors at the end of the hall, which led to the castle library. The library was a little more messy than the other rooms he passed through. Every single book was scattered throughout the room. The shelves had fallen over and some of them were broken. The windows were shattered like every other room and the glass were scattered beneath the windows with ice, snow, and books.

Kaden maneuvers his way around piles of books towards the back of the library where a glass case was still intact. Inside the glass was a thick book of spells, which happened to be what the prince was looking for. He quickly pried the glass off the case, setting it aside gently before he picked up the book and started flipping through the pages, scanning each page carefully with honey-colored eyes until he finally found the spell he was looking for.

Kaden flipped a couple more pages before he tore out one of the pages before going back to the time travel page and started chanting. As he chanted the spell, storm clouds started to form within the castle walls. Kaden looked up at them for a moment before he looked back at the spell:

Hear these words, hear the rhyme

Heed the hope within my mind.

Send me back to where I'll find

What I wish in place and time.

He barely finished chanting the spell before the storm inside grew strong enough to blow all the books all over the place. Kaden quickly protected his head as the books flew all over the place while a vortex formed overhead. The prince barely had time to react as the vortex above him pulled him through it and into a time gate. However, what he didn't know was as he went across time, his body started to shrink until he looked like a fifteen year old boy.

Kaden could barely keep his eyes open with all the flashing lights that passed by him incredibly fast and his heart was beating just as fast too. However, a sudden flash of bright white light attacked his eyes, he put his arms up to protect himself as he felt himself falling. The last thing he remembered was hitting the ground hard before he fell unconscious.

The kingdom of Epotia, a fertile island of greenery with an ocean view on all sides. The wind is always a bit cold thanks to the ocean breeze, but the sun above warms everything up. The weather is nice, which makes the people living in the kingdom comfortable and happy. The townsfolk, who happened to be living a few miles away from the palace, were doing about their day with joyful smiles on their faces. Many children were playing in the streets, not listening to a word the adults said as their laughter filled the streets.

Outside in the gardens of the palace, the young king Oliver, and his queen, Rosetta, were sitting beneath a gazebo, enjoying some tea. The weather was a bit cold thanks to the slight breeze from the ocean, but was easily warmed up by the rays of the sun. However, that all changed in a matter of moments. The cool breeze started to pick up quickly until the winds were strong, fast, and persistent. The blue sky and white clouds above changed just as quickly. The white clouds turned to dark gray, filling the sky with gloomy clouds that swirled around above the palace. It was almost like a hurricane was forming, which seemed to worry all the people of the Epotia kingdom. The townsfolk quickly disappeared from the streets into nearby shops and homes, bringing their children with them, frightened. Before long, all the streets were deserted like that of a ghost town.

The king quickly stood up as he looked up at the stormy sky with his sapphire blue eyes, his jet black hair flying all over the place because of the wind. The queen slowly stood up and approached her husband, trying to keep her long auburn hair out of her face.

'What is happening here?' The king asked himself as Rosetta clung to his arm with a fearful look in her honey colored eyes. The flashes in the sky continued, getting brighter with each flash that appeared above. The flashes continued for only a moment before an extremely bright flash blinded the king and queen, forcing them to cover their eyes. King Oliver cautiously opened his eyes as he protected his wife only to see a vortex start to form within the clouds. The next thing he knew something shot out of the clouds towards the ground. Whatever it was, crash landed in the center of the garden, causing a lot of damage to the pathways and nearby flowerbeds.

The wind died down as well to a normal breeze, while the sky turned blue again and the clouds white. Everything in the garden was in complete silence as the king and queen waited for the dust to finally settle as the guards rushed out of the palace with their weapons at the ready. The guards surrounded the object that fell, waiting with bated breath as the dust settled to reveal a young boy, laying on the ground unconscious. Queen Rosetta poked her head around the guards and her husband to gaze at the boy, a calming feeling suddenly washing over her. She slowly approached the boy in silence, the king trying to stop her unsuccessfully, as she knelt down next to the boy.

The boy's black hair was now a dark gray color because of the dust. He was completely covered in scrapes and some of them might be considered bruises later on. However, what really worried the queen the most was the nasty head wound he received from the fall. Rosetta looked up at her husband with a look of worry.

"We need to help him," She stated. The king wanted to protest, but one look in Rosetta's eyes made him reconsider.

"Take this boy to the infirmary quickly," Oliver ordered, turning to one of his guards before he whispered to that same guard, "Make sure to keep an eye on him." The guards nodded as they walked over towards the boy, picking him up carefully before taking him into the palace, towards the infirmary. The queen quickly followed after them, still a bit worried about the boy. The king could only sigh as he followed after his queen, knowing full well how kind she was to strangers.

Nearly an hour passed by as both the king and queen waited for the young boy from earlier was admitted into the infirmary. The medics had bandaged his head and every cut he had on him. King Oliver was leaning against the doorway to the room as queen Rosetta was sitting beside the boy, waiting for him to wake up.

It was only a moment or two later before the young boy finally opened his honey-colored eyes. At first, his eyes were a bit foggy as they adjusted quickly to the light in the room. The young boy groaned softly as he sat up, putting his hand to his head as he felt the bandage that was there.

"Thank goodness. You're finally awake," The queen said with a smile. King Oliver pushed himself off the wall and walked over to the disoriented boy.

"What happened?" The young boy asked, feeling a small headache beginning to form. The king stood behind Rosetta, his eyes narrowed slightly.

"You fell out of the sky. Do you not remember?" Oliver asked. The young boy shook his head slightly, getting a bit dizzy in the process.

"The only thing I remember is casting a time travel spell," He replied.

"Time travel spell? Does a spell like that really exist?" Rosetta asked, a bit curious.

"What's your name?" Oliver asked with a demanding voice before the boy had a chance to answer the queen.

"My name is Kaden. You can believe it or not, but a time travel spell does exist or it will sometime soon," The young boy answered. Neither the king nor queen knew what to say. What this boy was saying was a bit weird and they had no way of telling if he was lying or not.

"And how exactly do you know this?" Oliver asked, suspicion clearly seen in his eyes.

"Even if I answer that, you'd never believe a word of it," Kaden replied.

"Will you tell us anyway?" The queen asked with a polite tone of voice as she gave her husband a warning look. They needed some answers and his suspicion wasn't really helping at the moment. Kaden hesitated for a moment, seemingly thinking about how to phrase his answers.

"I come from a devastating future. A future where there is no kingdom of Epotia. This island will become a wasteland where nothing grows, not even weeds. I searched for the time travel spell I cast here in Epotia in my time period. I had to come back and save my home," Kaden explained, whispering the last part to himself. However, the other two seemed to barely hear what he said.

"If what you say is true, why do you make it your responsibility to save this kingdom? And how did our kingdom become such a wasteland?" Oliver asked.

"No one knows how it happened. The only thing everyone remembers is a huge snowstorm blowing through the area for the first time. It killed every crop the people grew and destroyed every plant on the island. No matter what anyone tried, nothing would grow and the snow just wouldn't melt. Eventually, everyone had to leave or risk starving themselves. And it's my responsibility to restore the kingdom because I'm the prince of Epotia," Kaden continued to explain. Rosetta and Oliver seemed to be a bit shocked and surprised at the new information.

"How exactly do you expect us to believe any of what you just said?" The king asked, still unconvinced. However, Rosetta remained silent as she thought of everything that occurred that day.

"I figured you'd never believe me. However, I didn't travel to the past just to get you to believe me. I came to stop the future from happening," The young boy replied as he stood up from the infirmary bed.

"Where are you planning on going?" Rosetta asked with concern in her voice. She knew that his wounds weren't healed and wondered if he should even be moving around at this moment.

"I need to get to the docks, find a boat, and make my way to the object that destroyed this place," The young boy answered as he tried to make his way to the door, but Oliver stood in his way.

"I'm afraid I cannot let you leave just yet," Oliver stated with a firm voice. Kaden crossed his arms over his chest with an annoyed look in his eyes.

"And why not?" He asked.

"Because you're still injured," Rosetta commented before Oliver had a chance to say anything.

"I also still have a few questions for you to answer. Until then, you'll have a guard at all times," The king stated as the young prince sighed, turning away from the king.

"He's never changed…" Kaden muttered to himself.

"What was that?" Rosetta asked as the young boy shook his head.

"Nothing." He replied as a guard walked into the room once the king waved to him from the hallway.

"You'll be shown to your temporary room and will be allowed to explore the palace with an escort at all times," King Oliver stated before he walked out of the room, not bothering to look back at the boy. However, the queen glanced back once before she hurried after her husband. Kaden sighed internally as he followed after the guard to his room. He could only hope he wouldn't be forced to stay here for too long. He had a mission to accomplish after all.

Kaden felt like an eternity had passed before he was finally done being questioned by his father or the king. By the time he was allowed to explore around, night had fallen. Honestly, he didn't need to explore the palace. He knew every inch of the place like the back of his hand. The only place he wanted to go at this point was the cliffside, which overlooked the town below and had a good view of the ocean. The young prince sighed softly with annoyance as the guard kept his distance, but also kept a watchful eye on the boy.

The young boy walked over to the edge of the cliff, stopping to look up at a tall apple tree. He looked at one of the red apples that grew on the tree, remembering all the times he ate an apple every time he came to the cliff. The apples were hard to the touch, but was soft when he bit into one. He recalled how sweet and juicy the apple was when he ate them as a kid. He recalled all the times he went down to the cove below the cliff for a swim after he ate. The water was cold and every time he tried to catch a fish, it was too slippery and always got away.

Kaden sighed softly as he recalled all the times he returned home completely soaked from the ocean water. He would be shivering because he was cold. He remembered his mother would always be there to put something warm around him and help dry him off. He missed her smile and his father's scolding every time he came home like that.

The young prince sat down at the edge of the cliff as he stared down at the bright lights of the town below, watching some of the lights turn off one after the other. He stared down at the disappearing light with distant blue eyes as he recalled all the times he got in trouble with some of the shop owners. They would yell at him for something he did to disrupt their business, but he would never listen to them. He turned his honey-colored eyes upwards towards the blanket of stars as a slightly cold breeze blew through the area, ruffling his black hair a bit along with the leaves of the tree behind him. In the background, the guard that was watching him only shivered. Since the sun was no longer there to warm things up, the night was quite cold because of the winds blowing throughout the kingdom.

Kaden closed his eyes, listening to the sound of the ocean waves hitting the side of the cliffs. He recalled that every time something went wrong, he'd always be here at the edge of the cliff and almost every time, his mother or father would be there to try and comfort him. He really did miss all those times.

'I have to protect my kingdom from becoming a wasteland…' The young prince thought to himself as his smile turned into a frown. He silently wished he could forget the day when the ice and snow destroyed his home. Everything changed when the ice and snow destroyed his homeland.

It had been a day like any other with him and his friends playing in the cove. It had happened so quickly that he almost couldn't believe it actually happened. The kingdom of Epotia was once a fertile island with greenery everywhere, but was suddenly turned into a wasteland by ice and snow. It had killed every crop the farmers had, all the trees that covered the island, not even a single weed survived. The weather got incredibly cold and the sun was blocked by gray clouds at every moment of the day. The people tried to stay positive and grow more food, but no matter what they tried nothing would grow. Eventually, food started to become scarce and the people grew miserable with each passing day. One day, the people just had enough and left the island, scattering across the land.

'No matter what, I will save my home.' Kaden swore to himself as he shook the thoughts of the past from his mind. He rather not think about it anymore and think about the way the kingdom should be. Kaden sighed softly as he stood up from his spot, turning towards the guard, who looked like he was freezing. The young prince shook his head slightly before he walked back to the palace, the guard seemingly happy to go inside the warm castle. The guard escorted Kaden back to the room he was given temporarily, shutting the door behind the boy.

'Thank god he didn't lock the door. Then, I'd really feel like a prisoner,' Kaden thought to himself as he sat on the bed, laying back and staring up at the ceiling. At the moment, the young prince could only hope he wasn't stuck here for too long. He needed to accomplish the goal he came here to do. He sighed softly, turning his head to look at a mirror on one of the walls. He quickly sat up when he caught sight of his reflection. The time travel spell seems to have had quite the effect on his appearance. Not that it was much of a surprise, he figured something would happen before he even cast the spell. Kaden sighed once more as he ran his hand through his hair, knowing full well how much he had to do before he could return home.

The young prince sighed once more as he stood up, changing into some borrowed night clothes before he crawled back into bed. He reached over and turned out the light before he stared back up at the ceiling in the darkness.

The sun was beginning to rise over the horizon the next morning. Kaden was fast asleep, his hair sprawled out over the pillow as he faced the balcony window, which might have been a mistake. Once the sun was high enough in the sky, sunlight hit him in the face with bright light, waking him from his slumber. The young prince put his arm over his to block out the sun and intended to go back to sleep, but a loud knock on his door startled him a bit. The guard walked into the room as the young boy sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes.

"The king has requested an audience with you." The guard stated before he left the room, closing the door behind him. Kaden huffed softly as he climbed out of bed, so he could get dressed. He looked over at his folded clothes at the end of the bed. Someone seemed to have washed them last night while he was sleeping, which is a bit disturbing since he didn't even wake up when it happened.

'If it was an assassin, I'd be dead. How careless can someone be?' Kaden thought to himself as he quickly dressed into his own clothes before tying his hair together with a red ribbon. It was shorter than normal, but was still long enough for the ribbon to tie his hair together. The young boy wasted no more time getting ready as he walked towards the door. The guard was waiting outside for him. He didn't bother saying a word before he started walking down the hall, only glancing back once to see if Kaden was actually following him or not. Neither of them said a word as they walked towards the king's private office. The guard knocked a couple times on the door before they heard Oliver's voice on the other side.

"Come in!" His muffled shout called to them. The guard was about to open the door, but Kaden beat him to it before closing the door behind him.

"You requested an audience with me?" Kaden asked with a frown on his face.

"Yes. There's one more question I need to ask you. Late last night, my guards were cleaning up the mess in the garden. A mess that you made, might I add?" Oliver commented with a frown on his face as well.

"Sorry about that, but I had no control over where I landed." Kaden defended as looked around the room, avoiding eye contact with the king.

"That being said, one of my guards found this in one of the flower beds." Oliver said as he placed a sword on his desk. It was a two-handed double-edged sword with a sapphire jewel on the top of the handle. The blade itself was covered in scratches and simply looked beat up.

"I wondered where that went." The young prince said as he went to reach for the weapon, but Oliver pulled it out of his reach before he put another sword on his desk that was exactly the same. However, the new sword wasn't beat up like the other one. It looked like it was taken care of on a daily basis. Kaden sighed, seemingly knowing what the king wanted to ask him.

"Who are you exactly? I know for a fact this sword is one of a kind." King Oliver said as he put his own sword at his side.

"I've already told you. I'm the prince of Epotia." He stated as Oliver sighed softly.

"Which would make you my son, wouldn't it?" Oliver said as he finally put the pieces together.

"Yes. I would love nothing more than to stay and chat, but I came to the past to get something done. I can't waste anymore time here." Kaden said as he took back his own weapon and started to leave the room. Oliver stood up from his chair, intending to stop the boy, but Kaden had already left the room in a hurry. The guard wanted to follow after him, but Kaden knew a few shortcuts around the castle and managed to lose his escort. He made his way out of the palace as he headed towards the docks.

Arriving at the docks, the young prince looked around at all the boats. He only needed a small boat for himself and the supplies he needed for the trip. The island he was heading to was about a two day journey from where he was now. Kaden suddenly stopped in his tracks as a thought crossed his mind.

'How am I supposed to pay for the boat and supplies?' The young prince asked himself with a sigh as he rubbed his face with his hands. He was so lost in thought, he never noticed both the king and queen approaching him from behind.

"Kaden." The queen simply said as she placed her hand on his shoulder, startling him. He quickly spun around to face them. He never thought they'd actually follow him. Then again, he did just suddenly leave without a good-bye.

"What are you doing here?" Kaden asked, a bit surprised they came after him.

"Believe it or not, I have a few questions of my own." Rosetta replied with a smile. Kaden was about to protest, but the king beat him to it.

"And we're going with you." He added as he walked over to one of his guards, ordering him to prepare one of the smaller boats. The guard quickly ran off to do as he was told. Kaden was confused to be sure. He had no clue why they wanted to come with him. They barely knew who he was. The young boy had no idea what to say in this situation as they showed him the way to their boat.

"Why would you want to come with me?" The young boy asked, following them up onto the deck of the cog ship.

"At first, we didn't believe a word of what you said about being from the future and all. However, when my men found that sword of yours, I couldn't really deny the truth even if I tried." The king explained as some of the guards stocked the ship with essentials.

"We wanted to help you stop the destruction of this kingdom. This is our kingdom too." Rosetta added with a smile. The young prince looked between the two of them, surprise written on his face. He couldn't even figure out what to say at that moment as he gave a small laugh and smile.

"For once, I'm at a loss of what to say…" The young boy commented before they all separated and started helping the guards, so they could leave the port quicker.

Kaden leaned against the wooden railing of the ship he and his parents were currently on, staring at the distant island they were approaching. They had traveled two day just to get to this place. The island in front of them was covered with a thick, dense jungle, but he could barely see a building somewhat hidden within the trees. It was a temple that had been abandoned for many centuries and yet it held a great power that lured people to this place. Kaden remembered the stories his father would tell him about this place and the treasure that lies beneath when he was still just a kid.

A young Kaden was sitting beneath the apple tree overlooking the cliff and the town below. He and his father were gazing up at the stars as the king told a story of an artifact with the power of ice.

"Long ago, this world was covered in ice and snow. It was always cold and miserable. The ancients found it to be nearly impossible to live in this world. No matter what they tried, nothing would grow and they were forced to move around constantly in order to survive. One day, an ancient king appeared before the people and proposed a plan to rid the world of all the ice and snow." King Oliver said, gazing upward at the stars.

"Where did the king come from?" Young Kaden asked, looking up at his father with eyes full of wonder.

"No one knows where he came from, but the people back then were grateful he showed up when he did." The king answered.

"Why?" Young Kaden asked once more.

"The ancient king had brought with him, advanced technology that has never been seen ever again. No one knows how he did, but the ancients thought it was a miracle when all the ice and snow melted away and was replaced with fertile land all over the world. The ancient king warned the people before he disappeared that the ice and snow would return one day. Over the years, that warning disappeared from the minds of the people. Only a few records of the story of the ancient king and his warning remains." King Oliver finished.

"Will the ice and snow really return?" Young Kaden asked with a look of worry. The king smiled down at his son with a soft sigh.

"I believe that it will. When it does return, I also believe that the people will be saved again." The king answered.

"How did the ancient king stop the ice and snow?" Young Kaden asked.

"Well...:" King Oliver started to say.

"This is the place, correct?" Oliver's voice suddenly sounded from beside him, bringing the boy out of his memories. Kaden looked over at him with a nod.

"Yeah. All the stories I was told as a kid always had one place mentioned. Plus, I did some research before I came to this time." The young prince explained as one of the guards approached the king.

"Your majesty, I'm afraid we can't get the ship any closer to the shoreline. We're going to have to use one of the lifeboats if you intend to go to the island." The guard reported with a respectful bow.

"That's fine. Prepare the lifeboats. We're going ashore." Oliver commanded before the guard ran off to do as he was told. Kaden watched him run off for a moment before he turned to the king.

"Maybe you all should remain on the ship.." He suggested.

"Why do you say that?" Rosetta asked as she started approaching the two of them.

"If something bad happens to either of you, I'll cease to exist." Kaden explained. Rosetta and Oliver looked at each other as they both thought about the outcome if something bad did happen to them. Neither of them wanted to ruin their chances of saving the future of their kingdom.

"Alright. We'll stay behind on the ship. However, you have to make sure to stay safe yourself." Oliver commented as Kaden nodded in response before he walked over to the side of the boat, climbing down the later into the lifeboat. The young boy looked up at the queen and king one last time before he pushed off and started rowing towards the shoreline.

Kaden pulled the lifeboat onto the sand of the beach, making sure it wouldn't be pulled away by the ocean waves. Once that was done, he turned towards the jungle and started walking in the direction of the temple barely hidden by the trees. He continued walking until he finally got to the temple, standing in front of the entrance. He knew he had to tread carefully in temples like this one. It most likely had a bunch of traps set throughout the place.

The young prince huffed softly before he started walking through the building, watching every step he took. He also admired the old carvings in the old stone that built the temple. He didn't really understand the meaning behind the carvings. Even so, he had always admired different cultures and their history. Kaden quickly corrected his thoughts as he focused on his task. He couldn't get distracted at the moment or he'll get lost in this temple and it would take forever to get back out.

It seemed like hours of wandering around the temple before the young boy finally found the main chamber with a pedestal in the middle of the room. On top of the pedestal was an icy blue vase with snowflake designs on it.

"That not obvious at all…." Kaden commented as he walked towards him. Unfortunately he wasn't as careful as he was with the rest of the temple. He only took a few steps into the room when his foot set off a floor trap. The walls on the side of the room opened up before arrows flew through the air towards the young prince, who quickly backed up towards the entrance to the room. He waited for a few moments until the arrows finally stopped before he tried walking through the room again, making sure to watch his step. He eventually made it to the vase and he reached out to grab it, but decided against a moment after. He dug through his pocket, pulling out a page he tore from the spell book before coming to the past. He quickly unfolded and started reading the words in his head for a moment, trying to memorize them. He looked back at the vase before he started chanting:

Adiuro te locum tuum.

Non tanget amet

Quod intus latet.

Et magicae in May

Evanescet de hoc mundo.

As the young boy chanted his spell, chains suddenly appeared out of thin air, wrapping around the vase like a python around its prey. Kaden stopped his chanted and watched with satisfaction as the chains locked themselves around the vase. He smiled as he turned and made his way back outside, sealing off every room on his way out. He needed to make sure no one was able to get to the vase or this place ever again. He didn't know if the person that destroyed his home had any spell that could undo the ones he cast. The young prince would make sure no one could find this place ever again. No matter what it took.

Kaden knew that before he could return to his time, he needed to destroy every record in the world of this place so no one could ever find it. It was the only way he could keep his home and family safe for good. And that's exactly what he did. After he left the temple, he made the whole temple disappear. He wanted to make the island vanish, but that was a bit too much even for him. After making things disappear, he sent his parents back to the kingdom before setting out to destroy ever record of the island and the vase the world had to offer. He couldn't take a risk of leaving any trace behind, even if he did miss his own time period. The thought of returning to a home he once remembered was the only thing still keeping himself going.