Truth of Magic (Soul of Magic Book 5)

TWO

A warning. That was what the strange woman had referred herself as to Kyra; a warning of what was to come. But no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t make any sense of it.

For starters, there was just the fact that the Soul of magic had no way to categorise the strange woman in front of her in her head. She couldn't decide whether to regard her as a friend or foe, witch or otherwise. She wasn't even sure if she was flesh and blood to begin with because the more she looked at her, the more it seemed that her body was glowing with the same strange light as the embroidery on her gown.

But in spite of all the unfathomability in front of her, something that Kyra somehow had no doubt about was that the strange woman's appearance and words weren’t a coincidence. She was up to something. But what it was exactly, she had no idea.

"My words confound you," the strange woman said, looking directly into Kyra's eyes while making the statement in such a matter-of-fact way that the latter had no choice but to nod affirmative.

"In my defense though, you didn't seem to be making that much of an effort to make sense either," she returned. "I mean, you appeared in the Wiccan tower out of nowhere in the middle of a council meeting and start sputtering words about how you're supposedly a warning to me. Tell me, how in the realm am I not supposed to find that confounding?"

Now, in a normal conversation, that was the moment the other person would offer an apology. But as Kyra herself was soon to learn, the woman in front of her wasn’t like other people.

All she did in response to the Soul of magic's statement was turn and look up to a stained glass window in the hall like she suddenly found something interesting on it although her expression held no particular notion of interest. "Let me explain myself to you then," she finally said later, her look still unwavering from the window. "As you’ll soon be learning in the days to come, a great battle is coming to the realm and you’ll find that which concerns you the most right in the middle of it. But as much as you may be inclined to, I'll advice you not to interfere in it. It's very important for what's to come."

"What in the name of the spirits are you talking about?" Kyra returned, the seemly craziness of the statement so hard for her to hear that she forgot about being polite and she walked up and pulled the strange woman roughly back to face her. "I'm the Soul of magic. Of course, I’ll interfere in a battle that concerns me. It's my job to fight for the realm, for the spirits’ sakes."

"This time, it isn't," she returned and her face took on a dark look that sent a chill down the Soul of magic’s spine and she shuddered.

The strange woman turned away in a movement that caused flower petals to begin to float in the air and Kyra realized that she was about to leave. “Wait!” she called. "Who are you, really?"

The strange woman stopped, turning back to face the Soul of magic with eyes that had become engulfed in a bright green light. "I’m the one that comes when it’s time to build," she said, "and when it's time to pull it all to the ground." She disappeared in a flurry of flowers and an invisible force flung Kyra back into her chair; time resuming in a twinkle of an eye as if the encounter had never even taken place.

“Are you okay?” The High wizards asked as they were doing before the strange woman appeared.

“I’m fine,” she replied, but her demeanour looked anything but.

“My lady, you look a bit distressed,” Lord Kane said, very concerned. “Are you suddenly feeling unwell?”

But what had happened to Kyra was anything but sudden; of that, she had no doubt. The strange woman had chosen that precise moment to visit the Soul of magic, to showcase her mastery of time magic and warn her off a battle she was supposed to engage in for a reason.

For what was to come, she remembered. The strange woman had said it was all for what was to come.

Kyra looked down at her hands and realised they were trembling violently. The marble floor reflected back her extremely pale face and her eyes had even turned all-white with her power coursing restlessly through her veins. It was as if her mind was charging her up for a fight against an enemy she couldn't see.

But the Soul of magic closed her eyes and took in a huge breath, letting it slowly through her mouth as she tried to calm her mind. "It's nothing, Lord Kane,” she replied him, shaking her head as if trying to convince herself of it, "just my stress manifesting itself." She stood up and the council stood with her. "Please, if you would be so kind as to excuse me, I must go and rest." She took her leave and they let her.

As Kyra walked out of the great hall into the hallway, her mind went back once more to her encounter with the strange woman who had claimed to be both a builder and destroyer of everything, especially to her message that stated she stayed off the battle that supposedly would involve something that concerned her a lot.

But Kyra was never someone who could stand by and let someone put the peace of the realm in jeopardy, especially not after she and countless others had fought so hard to realise it; and Soul of magic or not, it was still her obligation to defend the realm in whatever way she could; as an individual, and as a leader.

In that moment, Kyra’s heart reached a resolve and she hurried to her room with a mission. She changed out of her gown to a more durable attire of coat and trousers; grabbing her sword off its stand as she ran out to meet the one person on the Blessed Isle she knew without a doubt would want to help her: Lucian.

As expected, the blonde-haired warrior was in the middle of a training session with the new recruits of the Defenders: a group of Nulls handpicked by Lucian himself to defend the Blessed Isle in case of an attack. The Defenders had actually played an important in defending the realm during the Battle of the flames.

"Commander, I hope you're in the mood to travel," Kyra said as she walked onto the training ground towards him.

Lucian looked to give the Soul of magic some funny response but the moment he actually turned to see the intense look she wore, whatever he wanted to say died in his throat. "Kyra, what's wrong?" he asked, concerned.

"Trouble’s on the horizon, Lucian," she replied, "and I fear it may already be here."