Secrets of Magic (Soul of Magic Book 3)

TWO

Kyra had been in her fair share of bad situations before; and she had no doubt that the present one was going to be as bad as it got. But as bad as the situations were, none of them had ever gotten to the Soul of magic. Standing in the room, however, and facing the pale-blonde witch, it was very obvious that Kyra was angry at the unfolding event.

Thing is, none of it made any sense to the Soul of magic. Saffron was as harmless as they came. Sure, she was someone whose every thought was always kept up in wraps until she wanted to show it. But the pale-blonde witch wasn’t the scheming type. Without any doubt in her heart, Kyra knew that Saffron loved being a High witch, she loved serving the people; and even more than those, she had made it extremely clear times without number that she loved that Kyra was the Head witch.

Unfortunately, Saffron was also the one now making a move against her in that very moment and she had to react as was necessary.

Kyra began to walk quietly to the side, careful to keep the pale-blonde witch in her sights. The latter responded in kind and both women unconsciously fell into an encircling walk around the room. “What do you think you're doing, Saffron?” Kyra asked her as they walked. “Luring me here under false pretenses, pulling up a spell against me, your Head witch and the Soul of magic. How do you really think this is going to end for you?”

"My end isn’t what this is about, my lady, it’s yours," she replied, the red energy in her hand suddenly becoming brighter as if readying itself for a strike. "You see, Kyra, your existence in this realm was always meant to be short-lived. I’m doing what I should to bring into power the true Head witch of the realm that will be long term.” And the pale-blonde witch unleashed the energy.

Surprisingly, unlike what Kyra had expected, the spell wasn’t directed at her at all. Saffron had actually hit the red energy against the wall a few metres away from where the Soul of magic stood.

But it wasn’t the wall the pale-blonde witch was aiming for either. “The ward!” Kyra realized with a gasp and she bent down just in time before the wall exploded and very large set of shimmering rune symbols were revealed underneath it. Thing is, the particular set of runic symbols that Saffron just attacked were a part of the isle's defensive ward which the High witch herself was fuelling with her own magic, which meant that she could easily disarm it as she’d armed it; which was exactly what she’d done with the spell strike.

A boom resounded outside the tower as a very large section of the ward disappeared and the rest began to get unstable; crackling like lightning all over the place in its bid to right itself. Commotion ensued everywhere as all the wizards on the isle began to run in every direction to escape the destructive magic of the ward while wondering what in the spirits' names was causing it to malfunction.

“This is madness, Saffron!” Kyra shouted at the pale-blonde witch at the sight of all that was happening. "You're going to get people hurt! You're going get wizards hurt!"

“But don't you see, my lady? That's why I needed to do it,” Saffron replied, grinning at what she believed was her own ingenuity. “It’s the perfect distraction.”

Just then, the door to the room was blown to pieces and three wizards rushed in; they were the rest of the High wizards. “Thanks the spirits!” Kyra said when she saw them enter; they were exactly the help she was hoping for at that moment. “On my command, subdue the High witch Saffron. She’s a traitor and the perpetrator of the evil you’re witnessing outside.”

But the High wizards weren’t waiting on Kyra’s command; or securing Saffron for that matter. Instead, they rushed to the pale-blonde witch’s side and readied their magic against the Soul of magic.

“No!” Kyra gasped when she realized what was really going on. “Not you too.” Saffron wasn’t the only one who wanted her gone, the entire council of magic did. “Why are you doing this?” she asked again, shouting on the top of her lungs as her eyes turned all-white in rage and her power rushed up and down her hands in the form of a golden lightning; she was well and truly the Soul of magic then.

“Forgive me, my lady,” said Saffron to her, the pale-blonde witch surprisingly looking genuinely apologetic. “Your time has come to an end.”

As if cue, the High wizards made a large red ball of energy in their hands at the same time and made to unleash it on Kyra. But the Soul of magic reacted immediately and unleashed a wave of blue energy from all over her body instead; cancelling out the High wizards’ spells and blasting them into the wall at the same time. One of the High wizards screamed as he hit the wall shoulder-first, the unnatural angle in which his head bent on his fall to the ground ensuring that he wouldn’t be getting back anytime soon; or ever for that matter.

"Scared yet, wizards?" Kyra said to them, a wicked smile forming on her face to put fear into the hearts of her assailants even more. "You should be."

But the High wizards didn’t appear scared at all, even as it was becoming obvious that their magic would never be able to defeat the Soul of magic. With courage in their eyes, they surrounded Kyra, their magic at the ready once again.

“For the Blessed Isle!” one of the High wizards suddenly shouted and charged.

But just as he reached Kyra who patiently waited for him to come this time, she conjured up a whirlwind that appeared underneath him out of nowhere. He struggled for a while as the wind swirled him round the room, giving him no chance as he himself soon realized when he began to scream and got tossed unceremoniously out the window.

The other High wizards attacked the Soul of magic from behind, thinking that the whirlwind was enough to keep her occupied. But he realized he was wrong when Kyra turned on him and put him to a stop with the raise of her hands. “This is going to be your last mistake,” she said to him and immediately, he began to choke as the floor rose to cover him, returning back just as nothing was left of the wizard but air.

However, despite the victory in battle that Kyra earned over her adversaries, it wasn't until it was too late that she realized that she had just unwittingly lost the war against Saffron.

Thing is, the Soul of magic hadn’t been able to attack the pale-blonde witch in all her rampage. And unfortunately, Kyra tapping into her power so strongly and extensively as she’d just done some minutes ago always left her drained and vulnerable; which the entire magic community now knew after she raised the Blessed Isle back up and almost died for it.

Kyra looked up and saw Saffron sporting a wide grin where she stood; she had played directly into the pale-blonde witch’s hands and they both knew it.

“Help!” the Soul of magic shouted to anyone who was around as she turned to run. But her help or escape never came as Saffron disappeared to appear out of a blue wave of energy right in front of her and grabbed her by the throat.

“I told you, my lady. Your time has come to an end,” she said to Kyra as she removed a Bloodstone dagger and the latter gasped; wizards were never supposed to be handle Bloodstone weapons. Bloodstone was pure anti-magic which hurt any wizard that came into contact with them.

But Saffron was handling a Bloodstone dagger and she stabbed Kyra in the chest with it.

Immediately the dagger made contact, Kyra felt as if her whole body had been lit on fire. She screamed in pain as the fire seemed to bore right into her soul and her power rushed to her palms in a wave of multicolored otherworldly light. But unlike the last time, two years ago, when she was stabbed with a Bloodstone dagger and the power had come to her aid, it only roved through her body this time without any effect; causing her even more pain.

Saffron pulled out the dagger and Kyra fell backwards to the floor, drained and on the edge of consciousness. Her power still wasn’t returning back to normal and the pain paralyzed her on the floor. “Please,” she begged the pale-blonde witch who only laughed in return.

"Your end is here, Kyra," Saffron said as she raised the dagger, no doubt for the fatal blow that would kill the Soul of magic. "Accept it."

Just then, the roof suddenly came crashing in as a griffin flew in with a great roar, Lucian on its back. Stunned by the unexpected intrusion, Saffron looked up at the incoming creature; unable to react in time before the griffin swung its wing and flung her into the wall.

“Kyra!” Lucian shouted as the griffin landed and he dismounted to grab the Soul of magic's fallen body. She was unconscious, bleeding, and barely hanging on to life.

The pale-blonde warrior looked around and saw the other High wizard lying dead next to where Saffron had fallen. Nothing about what he was seeing made any sense but Kyra was his topmost priority and so, he carried her as he got back on the griffin which immediately flew out of the room through the hole it had made in the roof.

Saffron regained her consciousness just in time to see the griffin disappear through the roof, her displeasure very obvious on her face at the occurrence. Still in pain, the pale-blonde witch groaned and swayed back onto her feet, going to the window to see the griffin fly away with Lucian and Kyra on its back.

"We aren’t done yet, Kyra," she said to the Soul of magic who was nothing more than a speck on the flying creature. "Not by a long shot."

***

Lucian had never felt as terrified in his lifetime as he was in the moment when he burst in through the roof to see the pale-blonde witch standing over Kyra with a Bloodstone dagger in her hand and the latter bleeding on the floor. However, more than terrfied, he felt confused; he still did. Nothing about what he’d just witnessed made any sense to him.

Truth is, Lucian wasn’t very familiar with the witch, Saffron, but he knew that she was one of the High wizards. He also knew that she was someone Kyra had told him she trusted with her life. Unfortunately, that very life was what she’d been trying to take when he had intruded on her and that sit well at all with the pale-blonde warrior.

However, another thing which also confused Lucian very much was the fact that the High witch was holding a Bloodstone dagger. It was common knowledge that wizards couldn't wield anything made out of Bloodstone; not unless they were Nulls like him, of course. Wizards had magic active in their soul, Nulls didn’t. The anti-magic energy in a Bloodstone would have attacked the magic energy in a wizard and caused them pain deep in their being. No wizard could withstand that kind of pain enough to wield a Bloodstone weapon.

But Saffron had and she had used it against Kyra, which led to the last thing that confused Lucian the most of all; why anyone would want to kill Kyra.

Soul of magic or Head witch of the realm, Kyra was loved by everyone, both humans and wizards. She was the one who had saved the realm more than once, who had brought about peace in the realm, who could do a lot more in ensuring that the realm was completely protected with her continued existence. Why anyone would hate that was just downright insensible and he wanted to know.

Unfortunately, the only person who could give at least a semblance of answer to his questions was bleeding in his arms and he needed to help her. "Kyra!" he whispered, looking down at the deathly pale face of the Soul of magic. "What has been going on in my absence?"

Just then, the griffin gave a pained whimper and Lucian realized that it was time to dismount. Griffins were strong and resilient creatures but even they required their rest; and his had been in the air for quite a while.

The griffins had actually been discovered as part of the Blessed Isle. Apparently, the isle was their natural home which they had to leave and escape to the unknown reaches of the realm when Nicolas destroyed it. But after Kyra returned the Blessed Isle back to its normal state, they returned.

The griffins were fiercely loyal to the wizards and easy to tame; which was why every commander of a Protector group had one. It allowed them to travel long distances across the realm and respond to issues without wasting any time. Lucian had actually returned when he did to boast to Kyra how fast his griffin could fly; he was at a very far place from the isle that would have required him to travel at least two weeks on a horse but the griffin had made it under a day. And it was a lucky occurrence too, only the spirits knew what would have happened to the Soul of magic had he not arrived when he did.

Spotting a thick forest, Lucian set the griffin down within the shades of the trees. He couldn’t be too sure about someone monitoring their movements; they did just try to murder the Head witch after all. He got Kyra from the saddle and let the griffin run free. The creature would return at a moment’s notice whenever the blonde-haired warrior whistled for it; apparently, griffins had some sort of mystical connection to their riders that allowed to hear their calls no matter where they were.

Just as Lucian left the griffin and turned to begin walking, some thick vines suddenly sprung alive around him, sweeping him off his feet and grabbing Kyra out of his hands before he could even realise what was happening to react. "Let go!" he shouted at the vines, reaching immediately for his sword. But the blonde-haired warrior never reached as more vines shot out of nowhere and wrapped themselves around his hand. At the same time, they unsheathed his sword and rested it against his neck, able to strike with just a flick.

Just then, an old woman in her sixties with long flowing white hair stepped out from among the trees, vines in her hand combined so thickly that they resembled a jade cane.

She stopped right in front of Lucian, the vines around the latter setting him upright so that he could face her eyes full of nothing but malice for him. "You shouldn't have come here, Lucian," she said.

"I know," he replied, sighing. "But I need your help-” he forced himself closer for a whisper “-Auntie.”