Truth of Magic (Soul of Magic Book 5)

ONE

Sunlight filtered in through the stained glass window of the Wiccan tower, bathing the great hall in coloured rays as Kyra and the other four High wizards that comprised the council of magic sat down in a circle to discuss the pressing matters in the realm related to magic.

Kyra sat at the head of the circle, her set expression highly befitting one who held the title of the Head witch she’d been lauded with for five years now as she listened to one of the High wizards, an old man with a flowing white beard, standing in the centre of the circle to state the business of the day as was customary.

"For three years now, the realm’s been at peace," he said, gesturing passionately as he spoke. "All of us, both humans and wizards, have lived together in harmony and helped one another grow more prosperous. But as blissful as these years were, the power struggle in the Barren lands is starting to cast a big shadow of agitation over us and I fear that it won’t be long before the peace is completely swallowed up in chaos once again."

The issue of the Barren lands had been at the forefront of the council's discussion for a long time. In fact, it was the topic they discussed most often.

Thing is, Kyra herself had been right in the middle of the events that had gone on to result in the disarray that now plagued the Barren lands.

As it had happened, three years ago, a seer who was filled with rage over how the late king Nicolas, father to the present king of the great kingdom of Cyrian and the Soul of magic’s own close friend and ally, Richard, had destroyed all that she loved in his mad campaign to rid the world of wizards, set out to raze the realm to the grounds. To achieve this, she enlisted the aid of a powerful, bloodthirsty magical weapon known as the Conqueror's flames.

Unfortunately, at this time, Kyra was in the Barren lands where she had escaped to in a moment of utter depression to reinvent herself as the Knight; a swordsman with a mission to stop a tyrannical warlord.

Somehow, fate put her in the path of the seer whom she was able to eventually defeat with Richard and her other friends’ help; thus, ushering the age of peace the realm now enjoyed.

But before the seer's defeat, she amassed a very large army which comprised of all the soldiers of the warlords in the Barren lands. She had the warlords killed so as to ascertain herself as the Conqueror; that was the custom in the region.

Unfortunately, that gave room for a power void in the Barren lands after her death; and now, all the mighty men in the region were flat out fighting one another to fill it.

"Lord Kane, believe me when I say that I understand your agitation," Kyra replied, breaking herself out of her thoughts to concentrate back on the matter at hand, "but I’ll like you to remember that King Richard of Cyrian, after the Battle of the Flames, established a treaty between us and the Barren landers, barring none of them from attacking or causing trouble here.” She gave him a smile to buttress her reassurance. “Please, put your mind at rest, the age of peace has come to stay."

The High wizards were very pleased by the Soul of magic’s statement that they rose up to clap for her. They fully trusted in her word, and the strength she'd shown in response to a matter that was fast becoming a headache for them filled them with more reverence for she was and what she represented.

But truth be told, it wasn’t just the treaty that gave Kyra the assurance of the continuation of peace in the realm. Thing is, she’d been secretly devising a way to put an end to the power struggle in the Barren lands once and for all.

As Head witch of the realm, she wasn't allowed to directly interfere in a human political situation unless it threatened the stability of the entirety of the realm, which the power struggle hadn't so far. But she was allowed to see to the welfare of the wizards who might be caught in the midst of it; and that was how she planned to insert her help.

With Lucian's aid and also that of her allies in the region, Kyra had established an elite group which comprised humans, nulls and practising wizards. Their primary task was to protect the innocent people of the Barren lands until order was finally restored after the power struggle; however long that might be. But they also secretly, with the Soul of magic's guidance, helped the contenders whom she felt would be most beneficial to the realm’s peace after the struggle’s end.

It wasn’t all ideal, the Soul of magic knew, but it was what she had to be do if the age of peace was to be sustained.

Just as Kyra was still musing over the matter, she suddenly heard her name out of nowhere. It wasn't so much a call in the normal sense of the word as she didn’t actually hear a voice involved. It was more like her name had been imbibed in the wind and released into the room. She could practically feel it in every pore of her being.

"What in the name of the spirits!" Kyra looked around herself, confused as it seemed that she was the only one who felt it.

The High wizards seemed to notice the Soul of magic’s expression then. “My lady,” they said, “are you…?” And the room went to a complete stand still, almost as if time itself had grinded to halt. Nothing moved except for Kyra herself.

Time magic, it suddenly dawned on her and she was now even more confused.

Thing is, time magic was an aspect of magic that- as the name suggested- dealt with the manipulation of time itself. It was an ancient, powerful, highly volatile art that even the most gifted of wizards hadn't been been able to master; the Soul of magic herself inclusive. She had even believed that it was impossible to.

But if what Kyra was seeing was to be believed, someone somewhere had mastered time magic and they had come to the great hall with her on their mind. She wasn't sure if that spelled good things.

"Kyra," she heard her called again, this time with a voice that caused her to look up to see a woman suddenly appear in the middle of the hall- right in the middle of the circle, in fact- in a flurry of flowers.

The woman was young- she looked just about Kyra's age- and dressed in a body-fitting white gown. The gown seemed to have been embroidered with a silver material in every place and it glowed but not from the sunlight; it was shining with its own light. Her hair was also silvery but of a white shade like snowflakes when touched upon by the sun. Her overall demeanour was that of power; the power radiating the most in her clear grey eyes that sparkled like diamonds.

"Who are you?" Kyra asked, her curiosity at the strange woman overshadowing whatever danger she posed in that moment.

"I’m a message to you, Kyra," she replied, her mouth in a smile that suddenly filled the Soul of magic with a sense of foreboding. "A warning of what's to come."