The Luke brothers are three best friends who all have a great passion for the game of football. To them, it’s simple game that brings everyone together and makes everyone happy. However, they soon discover that their love for football was passed down from their great grandparents who lived in the magical land of Alderia- a land of games. In order to preserve their family name and pride, the boys must return to Alderia .........

Finding The Gem Of Alderia Book One

Rowecomics101

Once there was a bubbly family that lived down the suburban street of Never Little. The Lukes were the only ones that lived in an old cottage even when the rest of the community had moved on by building bigger houses. But the Lukes was a traditional family, and wanted to carry out the wishes of Grandmother Angie, the oldest member of the family who’d lived in the cottage for almost sixty three years.

“Wait a little children…grandchildren. This cottage means so much to me. One day, I’d be gone and you’d be free to live wherever you like.” Grandmother Angie had always said. Though her daughter, Kimby and her husband loved the idea, the kids always wished they could move to a bigger place.

The Luke boys were well respected and adored by the other children in their street and school; they had a special gift, a talent of wielding the ball in the field. The boys were very skilled in playing football, and they all wished to become super players one day. So they spent most of their time practicing and playing in their yard…

Once they’d finish for the day, they’d have story time around the fire hearth where grandmother would give them with sweet cookies she baked each day, and tell them stories about their family. The boys never believed it, but they never argued with grandmother, because telling the story seemed to make her happy and hopeful about life.

“You come from a bloodline of greatness. You see…our family was once at the top before we lost the box of Centura…a box containing ten sparkling gemstones that can lead anyone to greatness!”

The boys would murmur amongst themselves.

Tyrese who was the oldest would giggle, “Sounds like a good Sci-fi.”

Dominic who came second never paid attention to the weird stories, but enjoyed every bit of the delicious cookies, and sometimes muffins.

It was Shemar, the youngest Luke boy who paid full attention to grandmother and her

stories. His eyes would brighten from staring into the hearth’s fire while listening to grandma’s stories about the box of Centura and the missing gemstones.

“So grandma, when will we find this box and the stones again?” Shemar always asked.

Grandma would shrug and stare sadly at the faces of the boys.

“It’s been many years since we lost the gems. But my father was told by a great wizard that the gemstones find those that deserve it and not the other way round. So we’ll keep waiting…”

Tyrese scoffed, “Supposing we find them…what next?”

Grandma smiled and ruffled his wild black curls, “I know you have dreams my darling…but nothing beats finding the stones and travelling to Alderia…a world of many games.” She bit her lip and pulled away from Tyrese. She was saying too much, and that could confuse the kids.

She quickly stood up and made for her room before telling them what they thought was greatly strange.

“You see boys? There’s a world outside ours, beyond what we see. Your football game didn’t start in this world, but it began long time ago in a land of destiny. A few humans that could travel there saw the game, and thought it wise to bring it back to the earth…”

Before they could ask her more questions, she’d strolled far away from their reach.

The boys ate the cookies in silence, each pondering on grandmother’s words. But their fear was dispelled when mother showed up with steaming bowls of stew and cornbread, quickly calling them to the table for dinner. The dinner took longer because it would be Saturday the next day.

They were still talking about their football dreams, and how they’d play for the whole world to see when mother noticed how silent Shemar was.

“Are you alright Shemar?” She raised a brow. Shemar was bubbly, friendly and chatty. If Shemar was quiet, then something was bothering him.

Shemar pulled in a deep breath and quickly gulped down some water.

“Mommy? Daddy? Have you ever been to Alderia?”

The question left everyone in wonder, and they returned to the previous silence that hung in the air as no one had answers to Shemar’s question.

The morning was bright with golden rays from a smiling sun. It was the loud zapping of a tree feller chopping down some trees in the forest that woke everyone up. One after the other, the boys woke up and rushed towards the yard for an early morning game…

“Come on now…won’t you even help me with a little gardening?” Grandmother winced as they ignored her garden and rushed to play.

“We’ll join you in fifteen!” Tyrese rushed out with a grayish tough ball.

“Hours I guess!” Grandmother snorted.

“Minutes…and good morning to you!” Tyrese moved to her and planted a kiss on the white patches on her head.

“Yoo-hoo! It’s going to be a great day!” Dominic threw his hands into the air.

Shemar wore a frown, grumpily greeting everyone because he felt nobody could explain Alderia to him. In fact, he’d decided not to join his brothers in playing. So Shemar found a quiet spot and sat down, watching the exchange between his older brothers, Dominic and Tyrese.

Soon, a gentle wind started, then gradually grew stronger. Suddenly, the wind tossed the ball further from the yard, and stuck it in a hedge of tall grasses not too far from the cottage.

“I’ll get it!” Shemar offered, feeling better after watching his brothers play. Perhaps it was time to join them. He scurried towards the hedge of wild green plants. Without

thinking, Shemar burrowed through the uncomfortable stalks and weird smells. But there was a little problem…

There was no ball…but a rusty looking chest. Worse, his feet were stuck in mud, so he couldn’t move.

“Oops…” Shemar winced as he struggled to pull his legs out of the wet soil. But the more he tried, the deeper it seemed he was sinking into the mud. Without waste of time, Shemar gave a loud scream calling for his brothers to save him.

Though the Luke brothers all loved football more than any other thing, but when it came to caring for one another, they could abandon football for that. Immediately Tyrese and Dominic heard Shemar’s cry for help, they left their game and hurried towards the muddy soil to help him.

“One…two…three PULL!!!” Tyrese led the way, and with Dominic’s help, they both pulled Shemar out by holding his waist.

It was Dominic that first noticed the rusty chest that Shemar was pulling out of the mud.

“Where are you taking that? It stinks!” Dominic wrinkled his nose.

Tyrese giggled, “You were supposed to find the ball and not some ugly chest!” Tyrese said. He continued to look at the rusty square box.

Shemar ignored his brothers and held tightly to the box. He was curious about it. His older brothers ignored him and went further into the hedge of tall plants to find their ball.

Little Shemar knelt beside the rusty chest and adjusted his glasses. He ran his hands over the box and wondered what could be inside. Also, what was the box doing in such a hidden place anyway?

“What a fine box you are!” Shemar noticed some beautiful and flowery designs on its cover. Maybe his brothers were right. Maybe there was nothing special about this box.

Shemar was about to throw it back into the mud when a bright golden light appeared around the box.

“Huh?” Shemar raised a brow, wondering if his glasses were playing tricks on him.

So he took off his glasses and closed his eyes. Before opening them, Shemar carefully took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. But the golden light still surrounded the box!

“Tyrese! Dominic! Over here!” He called loudly for his brothers.

Just in time, the older Luke boys arrived and were equally shocked about the bright light that surrounded the rusty chest. Dominic was afraid, but Tyrese and Shemar were curious.

“What if…?” Dominic couldn’t bring himself to speak the words.

“What if it’s the box of Centura? The box that grandma told us about?” Tyrese asked.

The box of Centura contained ten gemstones that could lead the boys to another world, a realm of many games which they hoped to play. Soon, they began to think about grandma’s stories. What if they were all true?

“Does that mean that we’re travelling to Alderia?” Shemar loved to travel. He was excited about travelling to another world maybe in a spaceship so he could make friends with aliens.

“Let’s check the box out!” Tyrese said.

He shifted closer to the box and began to wipe the dirty and dried dust atop of it.

“I…I don’t think this is a great idea. We should show it to mom and dad and grandma!” Dominic suggested.

Suddenly, Tyrese stopped touching the box as the golden light had disappeared. The box began to shake on its own. It hopped upwards, then it put itself down. The boys

watched with awe as the box continued to shake itself.

“Maybe there’s an animal trapped inside…”Shemar said.

“How can any animal survive in a chest without a source of air?” Tyrese shrugged.

“You know what? I think we should return the chest to where you found it!” Dominic said.

But Shemar didn’t agree. He wanted to see and know what was inside the rusty chest. So he got on his feet and trapped the chest that’d been hopping from place to place.

“I wish you could show me what is inside!” Shemar whispered sadly, not wanting to give up the chest as his brother’s suggested.

In a swift moment, the lid of the chest opened, hitting Shemar’s forehead slightly.

“Ouch!” Shemar quickly threw the chest down while his brothers had a good laugh. But something made them curious. Why did the chest open after Shemar had made a wish to see what was inside?

They stopped laughing when they noticed a hand coming out of the chest. The boys came together and watched in wonder…

Slowly, a little girl came into full view. She was far smaller than the boys. Her name was Minstrel and she was as small as Shemar’s foot. Their mouths fell open as they stared at Minstrel in wonder.

She had on her head a purple hat which covered her silky yellow hair. She wore a dark brown trouser with pointy yellow boots and a green shirt with the letter 

“Shoo! Go away!” The tiny Minstrel fought with some bugs that had clung to her clothes while in the box for so many years.

“WHAAAAT are you?” The brothers blurted out.

Minstrel flashed a smile, “My name is Minstrel and that’s all that you must know now. We have to run as quickly as possible!” She announced to the boys.

“Well you’re the last descendants of the best players that once lived in Alderia. Not everyone likes that. To win the Emperor’s football match, you’ll need to come with me to Alderia, but not everyone would love for you to come there because we know you’re very good at playing football!”

“What are you talking about?” Tyrese asked. At first it had felt like a dream, but standing close to this tiny person made him believe that his grandmother’s stories about the land of Alderia were true.

“The Crocashores! They’re coming for you, for all of us! Hurry!”

Minstrel led the way in running, and the boys wondered how she knew the way back to the house. As they all raced back, they had no idea of a pair of dark and evil green eyes staring at them from the skies.

The eldest Crocashore whispered to his warriors who’d flown to the earth on unicorns.

“Stay back! I’ll take them down myself and find the map that will lead me to the gemstones!”

“So who or what exactly are the Crocashores?” Tyrese managed to catch his breath as they hid behind a huge tree just a few minutes to the house. Minstrel had asked them to hide because those chasing after them were travelling through the clouds and could see everything on ground.

Minstrel took a deep breath and sat on a patch of wet grass.

In Alderia, the King was a kind and loving man, Emperor Jelhi while the Crocashore

family worked as his servants. But they wanted to take over the throne of Alderia, and had tried to steal the crown of the emperor. But they couldn’t take over the throne, so the King punished them by pushing them out of the beautiful Kingdom.

“So where do they stay now?” Shemar asked.

“The Crocashores roam around in empty clouds with unicorns, they have no place to stay…but if they are able to get into the football match which the king would organize…” Minstrel bit her lip, hoping the Crocashores wouldn’t get near Alderia again.

“Does that mean that if they win against other players that they get to return to the Kingdom?” Dominic asked.

Minstrel nodded, “Not just returning to the Kingdom. They get to rule over the earth and settle here…that wouldn’t be so nice because the Crocashores are mean.”

Little Shemar could see the sadness in Minstrel’s shiny blue eyes as she spoke of the Crocashores.

“Did they do something to you?” Shemar wondered.

Minstrel said, “They locked me inside that rusty chest because I used my last powers to save the king. I worked in the King’s palace as a palace pixie. But I didn’t join in their plan to fight the King because he is a good man.”

While she was talking, a loud thunder struck from the sky. Quickly, a fire started on the leaves of the tree that the boys had been leaning on.

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