Shannon grinned before gesturing towards a group of two bags while saying, “They’re split up between those two bags.”
“Once we get to the SUV, can I get out one of the volumes?” Ellen asked eagerly.
“It’s ‘may I’,” Shannon corrected. Ellen grinned as Shannon continued with, “and if you are going to read them, you need to read them in chronological order and not pick one out at random.”
“Fine, point out volume one to me,” Ellen quickly said.
“Let’s wait until we get to the vehicle,” Shannon strongly suggested.
“Okay,” Ellen said before she strained to pick up one of the two bags that held the Legacy volumes. “Let’s go.”
Shannon and Avery stared surprisingly at Ellen for being able to pick up the heavy bag just as Harris warned, “Ellen, I like your enthusiasm, but you’re going to hurt yourself if you don’t slow down.”
“I’d carried heavier things than this before,” Ellen said.
“You being able to carry that heavy bag is only half at what I’m referring to,” Harris said.
“And what’s the other half?” Ellen quickly asked.
Harris grabbed his parents’ attention as he said loud enough for only his group to hear, “Learning witchcraft should be approached cautiously and with care, and I can tell that you’re ready to leap into it with both feet.”
“You want to learn witchcraft?” Shannon quickly demanded to know.
In a tone as if to take a stand, Ellen said, “I’m going to protect my niece from any threat that might come her way. I’ll give my life for hers if I have to.”
“Mmm, yes, well do me a favor, Ellen, before you open the books on incantations,” Shannon requested.
Ellen stared skeptically at Shannon before asking in a matching tone, “What?”
“There are twenty Legacy volumes in our family’s collection—there should actually be well over a hundred volumes, but the lost volumes are another matter entirely,” Shannon began. “Anyway, the first chronological three that we have aren’t complete—there are missing volumes between each of them, but they will give you the gist on what I want you to know and they were documented during the later half of the Wizard Wars. If you read the first chronological three volumes religiously, you can be done with them within three weeks… a month or longer if you’re a slow reader, and I want you to read those three volumes from beginning to end before you open the books on incantations.”
Ellen thought about Shannon’s request before nodding and saying, “Okay, and I think I’m a fast enough reader.”
“Yes, well, if you claim to be done with those three volumes within two weeks, I’ll insist that I quiz you on them before you can be allowed to start on the incantations,” Shannon assured her.
“Deal.” When Shannon nodded in agreement, Ellen continued with, “Now can we go to the SUV? This bag is getting heavier with each passing second.”
Harris held out his hand for the bag while saying, “Let me have that before you hurt yourself.”
“I’ve carried heavier things than this,” Ellen insisted.
“Have you carried anything that heavy the distance from the luggage carousel to the SUV?” Harris quickly asked.
“Well, no; not quite that far,” Ellen confessed.
“Hand over the bag,” Harris ordered.
Ellen slightly huffed before saying, “Fine.”
When Harris took the full weight of the heavy bag, he uttered, “Good Lord! This is even heavier than I thought! How much can you pick up?” When Ellen shrugged, he continued with, “Yeah, well, you’re a lot stronger than you look.”
“It’s probably from the gymnastic training that I used to do,” Ellen said.
“You used to do gymnastics?” Avery asked.
Ellen nodded before saying, “From the age of five to the age of twelve.”
“Why did you quit?” Allyson asked.
“The last vault I did, I landed wrong and I broke my left ankle,” Ellen said. “Once my ankle had healed and the doctor re-examined it to determine if I could return to gymnastics, he highly recommended against it. My ankle was okay enough though for Tanya to teach me karate.”
Avery pleasantly grinned before rhetorically asking, “Tanya was teaching you karate, was she?”
Ellen nodded before saying, “The first time I saw her practicing her karate moves in the backyard, I asked if she could teach me and she agreed.”
Avery held his grin as he said, “I’m the one who taught karate to Tanya and Harry.”
Ellen nodded with a grin before saying, “Tanya told me that you own a karate school in London.”
“Guys,” Harris uttered to grab everyone’s attention. “Ellen is right about this bag feeling heavier with each passing second.”
“Right,” Avery said as he went to pick up the bag with the other half of the Legacy volumes.
Ellen picked up a bag—which was light in comparison to the first bag that she picked up—as Allyson and Shannon picked up the remaining two bags. Once everything was gathered, the five headed for the exit.
Once the five bags were in the back of the SUV, Harris, Allyson and Avery climbed into the vehicle.
Shannon—with Ellen standing immediately to Shannon’s left—went into one of the bags that contained the Legacy volumes for the first chronological one that she had, and then handed it to Ellen.
The volume—front and back—was a thousand pages, and although it was a copy of a copy it appeared skillfully printed and was bound in a brown-leather-skin cover that was eight and a half inches by eleven inches.
When Ellen stared curiously at the volume, Shannon asked, “Is there something wrong?”
Ellen shook her head before saying, “I thought you were bringing Xerox copies.”
Shannon grinned, and as she went to close the hatch to the SUV she said, “When a copy is made, we try to make it look as much like the copy before it.”
“Twenty volumes were professionally reprinted!” Ellen uttered in a surprised manner that almost came out sounding like a question. “That must’ve cost a small fortune.”
“A printing company has never seen these, and it needs to stay that way,” Shannon told her.
“Then… then how were there copies made?” Ellen asked.
“Once you are finished reading all three volumes, you can find the answer to that question on page one-eighty-two of the first book on incantations.”
Ellen’s jaw slightly dropped before uttering in a shock tone, “These volumes were printed by using magic?!”
“Shshsh!” Shannon quickly demanded while looking around for anyone in hearing distance; however, no one else was in sight. “Strangers don’t need to hear about this.”
Ellen covered her mouth for a brief moment. Once she uncovered her mouth, she said, “Sorry.” She then whispered, “But magic was used to reprint these books?”
“Yes, Sweetie,” Shannon told her. “Sadie, Mary’s… my sister’s daughter was the one who created them.”
“Wow!” Ellen uttered delightfully. “That’s so cool!”
“Yes,” Shannon agreed with a grin. She then gestured towards the SUV door. “We need to go.”
Ellen nodded before walking towards the SUV door, opening it and climbing in. Once inside and comfortable with the SUV door shut, Ellen turned to the first page and read silently.
(Randolph’s handwriting)
I don’t know what day it is. I have lost track of the days since the Raven Coven had attacked and slaughtered my parents, my older brother Matthew and my older sister Gabrielle before my eyes. It was by the grace of God that I was able to sneak away with my younger sister Elizabeth without joining our family’s fate.
I’m still at a loss as to why they would attack us. We were no match against the Raven. Was the Raven going after the weak covens now? In any case, Elizabeth and I are safe for the moment. As long as I can maintain my influence over this wolf pack, we should be okay until we can reach the Clover
Coven in the north. I haven’t slept for days though, so my influence over the beasts is faltering a little each day. The current moon is the day before the full moon, so the power of the moon is helping me to maintain order within the pack. Anyway it’s getting too dark to write, so I’ll write more tomorrow.
Harris was just driving away from his parking space when Ellen looked up and asked, “Shannon, does the moon do something to wizards and sorceresses?”
Shannon grinned before explaining, “The moon phases will influence the wizard’s… and even the witch’s powers. Their powers will be at their weakest during a new moon and at their strongest during a full moon. In fact, there are certain incantations that will only work during the three days of the full moon phase. One will be mention soon if you haven’t reached that point yet.”
“I haven’t,” Ellen said as she tilted her head down to read some more.
I was wrong about it being safe last night. The Raven had sent two wolf-likens to kill Elizabeth and me. I thought that incantation was lost years ago…
Ellen again looked up from the volume before asking, “Okay, what’s a wolf-liken?”
“Keep reading, Sweetie,” Shannon told her. “The answer is there.”
Ellen took a breath before turning her attention back to the Legacy volume.
I was wrong about it being safe last night. The Raven had sent two wolf-likens to kill Elizabeth and me. I thought that incantation was lost years ago, but I was wrong.
Before I go into details of what had happened last night I should explain things as I go. After all, Legacy volumes are meant to educate as well as to inform the generations to come, and since I had to abandon the previous volumes when Elizabeth and I fled from the Raven Coven, I’m going to designate this volume as being the first volume.
Oh, I am Randolph, and I am currently sixteen. Elizabeth is ten and our line is the power over the beasts and unfortunately the weakest of the three wizard lines. The members of the Clover Coven also have powers over the beasts.
The strongest of the three wizard lines is the power over Fire and Water. The second strongest line is the power over Earth and Air, which is what the members of the Raven Coven have powers over. Any wizard or sorceress of the three lines can influence the other two, but cannot control them though.
Also the wizard’s or the sorceress’s powers will be at their weakest point during a new moon and at their strongest point during a full moon, and certain incantations will only work beneath the moonlight of three moons (The night before the full moon, the night of the full moon and the night after the full moon).
The liken incantation is one of the incantations that will only work beneath those three moons, and the liken incantation changes human into beast.
Ellen looked up while guessing, “Oh, so wolf-likens are werewolves.”
“No, Sweetie,” Shannon replied. “But werewolves are byproducts of wolf-likens.”
“Explain,” Ellen quickly requested.
“Keep reading, Sweetie. I swear that the answers are in those pages.”
“Okay,” Ellen said before turning her attention back to the Legacy volume.
The liken incantation is one of the incantations that will only work beneath those three moons, and the liken incantation changes human into beast.
Several magical ingredients are required to cast the incantation to change someone into a beast. I don’t know the incantation, so I don’t know what ingredients are required. I do know though that blood of the selected animal is required.
To change someone into a wolf-liken, wolf’s blood is required. The more wolf’s blood within the mixture means that the wolf-liken’s intelligence will be savage like, more violent, and the individual won’t remember once he or she returns to his or her human form. Being more wolf-like is the desired trait when the wolf-likens are sent to viciously attack the enemy.
On the other hand, less blood within the mixture means that the wolf-liken will be highly intelligent and the individual will retain memories of his or her experience of being a wolf. Being more intelligent is the desired trait when the wolf-likens are on a reconnaissance mission.
As long as too much blood wasn’t used during the incantation, the liken spell is completely broken once the moon of the night after the full moon had set.
If too much blood was used though, the liken becomes venomous and a venomous liken will forever change into the selected animal beneath the moonlight of the three moons. (The night before the full moon, the night of the full moon and the night after the full moon.)
“Oh, so a venomous wolf-liken is a werewolf,” Ellen uttered as she looked towards Shannon.
Shannon grinned before saying, “Since that question isn’t directly answered in the volumes, I’ll answer it. Yes, venomous wolf-likens are werewolves, and before you ask, a person surviving a werewolf attack will also become a werewolf.”
“Will silver harm werewolves as it shows in the movies?” Ellen asked. “Or is that explained in the book?”
“It is explained, but not in that volume,” Shannon said.
“So silver will harm werewolves?”
Shannon thought of her answer before saying, “Okay, first of all, you need to know that there is an incantation known as the ‘Impervious incantation’. Impervious incantation will make wounds heal in a fraction of the time, and wounds that would normally be fatal—like gunshot wounds to the head—will no longer be fatal.”
“Okay,” Ellen said.
“Now if the impervious incantation was cast prior to the liken incantation then silver will be the only thing that can kill an impervious werewolf. Oh and anyone surviving an impervious werewolf attack will also become an impervious werewolf. However, if only the liken incantation was cast then the werewolf is not an impervious werewolf and anything that can kill a wolf can kill that type of a werewolf.”
“So silver affects the impervious incantation,” Ellen guessed.
Shannon grinned and shook her head before saying, “Tanya had warned me about your inquiring mind.”
Ellen amusingly grinned before saying, “Inquiring mind wants to know.”
“Mmm,” Shannon uttered with a nod. “And you’re right. And the reason why you’re right is that a precise amount of silver powder is one of the key ingredients to the impervious incantation. In fact, impervious incantation is one of the hardest spells to cast correctly. Not enough silver powder in the mix will cause the spell to fail completely, but too much silver powder will kill the person who the spell is being cast on.”
“So shooting an impervious werewolf with a silver bullet increases the silver amount, thus killing the impervious werewolf,” Ellen guessed.
“Exactly,” Shannon said.
“Okay, since wizards, witches and werewolves are real, what about vampires?”
“The answer to that is in the second chronological volume, and somehow, I don’t believe that your inquiring mind can wait that long for the answer.”
“It can’t,” Ellen said while vigorously shaking her head. “Inquiring mind wants to know now.”
“Yes, well, vampires are mentioned in the second chronological volume, but only as rumors to their existence.”
“Well that was insightful information,” Ellen said disappointingly.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t give you a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer, but you need to understand that there are wizards and witches out there who care very little for human life, and they will perform vampiric acts during certain incantations. However, during the 1300’s a large number of vampiric killings were reported in one of the Italian cities and according to the Legacy volumes there were no witches or wizards in that city during the time of those deaths.”
“Interesting,” Ellen said before thinking of another question that she wanted to know about. “So in which volume does it speak about the shadowing-truth spell that was cast that turned truth into rumors?”
Shannon grinned before saying, “In the third chronological volume. And sinc
e your inquiring mind will explode before you reach that volume, I’ll explain it now.” Ellen just grinned. “Merlin was the one who had shown King Arthur and the people that wizardry or witchcraft shouldn’t be feared. Throughout the generations after Merlin, the kings of England had even appointed a wizard or sorceress as a royal advisor.
“But as the Wizard Wars progressed into their later years, the Wizard Wars’ effects were spilling over into the non-magical population, and as a result the non-magical population was fleeing the land. King Henry the Fifth couldn’t have that so he ordered the three wizard lines to end the hostilities towards each other, or he will end those wars his way. And his way would’ve been creating a decree that would exterminate the entire magical community. King Henry the Fifth even had his soldiers patrolling to make sure that his warning didn’t go ignored.
“Anyway, on April 5, 1421 open hostilities ended between the wizard lines immediately; however, the wars actually continued in secret for eight more years. And in spite of King Henry the Fifth’s assurance to the non-magical population that the wars were over, the non-magical population continued to vacate the land.
“In the response to the leaving population, King Henry the Fifth called before him a representative of each of the three lines, and once the three were in front of him, he ordered them to correct the damages that they had caused, and he didn’t care how. He even had the three locked in the dungeon and heavily guarded until a solution was found.
“After quarrelling constantly for almost three days the representative of the Fire and Water line had suggested to combine the obscuring incantation with the shadowing incantation, which later became known as the shadowing-truth incantation…”
“So the shadowing-truth incantation is actually two spells?” Ellen interrupted with.
“It’s a tailored spell from two spells,” Shannon explained. “And tailored spells are also very difficult to create.”
“So what do the two spells do?” Ellen asked.
“The obscuring incantation is an incantation that causes selected memories within a person to be remembered as vague dreams that becomes vaguer over the passing days until the memories are forgotten completely,” Shannon began. “Normally the obscuring incantation is cast on an individual, so obviously it had to be tailored to affect a group or a population.
Legacy Page 6