Access to dark magic

Saira

I could not hear a single sound from the city outside of the stone walls of the prison I was in. I had no window to look through and no way to tell how much time had passed. The only light I had was from the fire and sconces on the solid walls. I was brought meals and given good cloths; the Queen seemed to want me well taken care of while I looked for her spell. She had yet to visit me, for that I was thankful.

There were so much more books in here than we saw in the dream. I spent as many hours as I was awake pouring over the pages hoping to learn everything and anything that may be of use to us. I had a large pile starting to grow of the ones that were impossible to be able to read here, the language of the text was unknown to me and I needed translation texts that were back home. Every book that I picked up had dark magic within its pages.

The book that I was reading now was made up of smoke, of all things. The words were hard to read as they would come and go like the smoke of a fire. This spell turned the caster into a shadow demon that was said to be near impossible to kill! Only a crazy person would be willing to cast them! As I was looking through the last of the pages, I wondered at where Kairios was. After so much time here I was beginning to worry about them. Maybe he was out looking for Aurelia...

They both had to be safe, there was no hope without them. Aurelia broke free once, there was always hope that she would be able to do it again. I laid in the small bed that was tucked into the corner, it was hard and smelled funny! There was always a guard by the door, ever watchful of the movements I made. It was hard to fall asleep here and the lack of rest was starting to get to me.

After a while of tossing and turning, waking and falling back to sleep, I gave up and decided to go through some more of the books. At least I was learning from them. The book in my hands was for once a normal book, regular pages with a solid hard cover. The others were made up of strange elemental combinations that made them difficult to handle and read.

The book in my lap now had been well used over the years. As I turned each page the bindings groaned a little in complaint. The book was mostly about anti-aging spells. One was to remove wrinkles, another about dark spots of the flesh and another for grey hair. I flipped and flipped without care for those spells while hoping to find something of use. The next page I flipped to had the tip of the page turned in. Someone had it marked!

I paid closer attention to what the words had said. I could not believe what I was seeing! This spell was able to extend life for a short while of time! Similar, but not the eternal life that the Queen had wanted. This spell needed to be performed every year and there was a sacrifice required. There was a little note personally inked in at the bottom of the page, the writing was small and had started to fade.

“My son, this is the way past the curse placed upon us. One day there will be a way to break it. Until then we must persevere. We cannot allow our line to die. Forgive yourself of the sacrifices required, that number of deaths will be small to the amounts that the Warlocks will take.”

I could not believe what I was seeing! This was how they did it, how they lived so long after the curse was placed. Adara could not get her hands on this spell! I would draw to much attention to my findings if I tried to rip it out and burn it. I simply unfolded the page corner and closed the book. I made a big show about how this book was useless and threw it into the pile that was growing on the floor. I looked at the guard out of the corner of my eye and saw that he was looking at me the same way as before. He hated being here as much as I did.

Footsteps alerted me as they echoed through the thin tunnel, I assumed it was servants bringing more food, clothes or books. When the door swung open it was the Queen who walked through. She was with two of her personal guard and they had their eyes on me as the stayed close to her. They looked on me with suspicious glares, making my skin crawl.

“I have nothing new to tell you.” I cut across the silence.

“I am not here for that right now. I want something else from you.”

What else could she want?

“An inconsequential army has camped outside my city walls. I want to know who is behind it.”

“Why would I know that? I have been locked up in here thanks to you!” It was unwise to yell at her, I knew it. The look she cast at me for it was one of certain death! Her expression returned to a calm expression and she spoke again.

“You will find out.” She held her hand out with a large silver ball in her palm. “With this.”

I had puzzled at what happened to the crystal ball when I was cast into this room. The pedestal stood empty until now. When she placed the ball back in its original position, it made a little clink sound that was similar to glasses chiming together in a toast.

“I don't know how to use it.” I told her truthfully.

“What kind of Warlock are you? You have wasted your power on healing the rats of this city! I will return soon and I expect you to have it figured out!”

She left the room then without another world or look in my direction. As always, one guard remained at the exit. There was no point in waiting so I walked up to the crystal ball and hovered my hand above it. Part of me felt wrong to touch it so I stood there staring. Nothing changed. None of the familiar faces flashed across it. There was no choice, I would have to touch it.

My hand went down slow at first. Then like a magnet my hand was forced the rest of the way. The energy that surged through me was unbelievable! I had never felt power like this before. My eyes glazed over and I fell into a trance. The world was washed away in a bright iridescent light that stung at my eyes. It was like I was in the crystal ball itself!

I stood and marveled at the way the shades of light moved around the room. There was soft pinks and blues, then every once in a while, a shift of purple tied it all together. As my eyes scanned the room, they landed on a person who was staring at me in silence.

“Mother?”

How was this possible?

“Saira, my daughter. You have grown so beautiful.”

“How are you here? Where is here?” I asked her like an innocent child.

“Here isn’t real. When you were young, I placed a spell on you and this crystal, so that I my talk to you once again. This crystal was my heavenly gift, now it's yours.”

“How did it get here?”

“I grew suspicious of your father and his intentions. He always wanted the power it contained. So, I sent to my friend whom I could trust with its safety.”

She had a crystal to channel her power as well? How had I never known this? Was it a family trait?

“Use its power to help the princess. She is going to need your help more now than ever before.”

“I don’t even know where she is. She was taken.”

“She will come back to you. The bond you two share will call to her.”

“Because of the spell you cast on us?”

“Yes. We knew that to save both Kingdoms we would have to tie you two together. Only the two of you together can save this torn world.”

“Why does she need me more now than before? What is going to happen to her?”

“She will destroy Amar-Eglir.”

It was unbelievable! “She won't do that...”

“She will out of necessity, you will have to help her see another path.”

How was I supposed to do that? If she wanted to do something, there was no one who could stop her. There had to be more. “What else do you know?”

“Ah, my daughter, so intelligent. I will tell you the one thing that may change her mind.”

What she told me was as shocking as her telling me that Aurelia would burn down my homeland. I would tell her, at the right time. It was too early for her to know now. The scene dissolved as my mother placed her hand to rest on my cheek. “I love you.” was the last I heard her say.

I was back in the round room, in the dark filled with sadness. There was so much to do in such a little amount of time. I stood before the fire thinking over all that I had learned today. The door opened behind me and Massell stepped through the door and told the guard to leave for a while under the prince’s order. So, he was here to try and kill me once more. With no one else here to see what he would do; I was in big trouble. The guard left and we were alone once more.

“Come to finish me off?” I asked him without a trace of the fear that I felt. “Will you have enough time?”

“I am here for another reason.” He said as he started to remove some of his armor. “The prince has sent me to get something from you. You would be wise to tell me quickly. If I have too, I will beat the information out of you.”

“I won't say a word!” I shouted at him with all the hate I felt.

“I don’t want to have to spend a second longer here then I have to, just tell me. The prince wants a spell to turn him into something stronger. A beast that cannot be defeated.”

“I won’t.”

He moved so quickly that I was late to react the hand that what whipped out and slashed across my face! The blow was so hard that I fell to the ground hard. Stars danced before my eyes. I tried to get up but he was standing over me. Another slap across the face. “Give me a spell, now.” This time the blow came down on my stomach and caused me to go into a fit of coughing.

I refused to give him the spell that was fresh in my mind. I read the spell and knew it could never be cast. The beast he would turn into would be near impossible to defeat. Only light could destroy the darkness that it would create. He continued to beat me and I continued to hold out as long as I could. I was growing weak fast and just wanted this to stop. Blood flowed freely from the split on my lip and my eyes was getting so swollen it was hard to see out of.

I could not take it anymore. Forgive me! “The book of shadow spells. It’s the one that is made of smoke.”