First Spell by Lucia Ashta

Author:Lucia Ashta [Ashta, Lucia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Awaken to Peace Press
Published: 2018-06-06T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

“So magic is actually real?”

As soon as I asked the question, I realized it sounded stupid. Obviously magic was real. I’d seen things that couldn’t be explained otherwise. But still... it was the one question that kept nagging at me. Could all of this be real?

Albacus actually chuckled. When he smiled, even dead, he seemed fifty years younger.

But Marcelo answered. “Magic is as real as it gets. I take it you hadn’t been exposed to it before Albacus and Mordecai came to get you?”

I shook my head. “Not only had I never been exposed to it, but my uncle, the man I was living with, taught me that it was the worst possible offense.”

“Oh, he’s one of those, is he?” Albacus said.

I nodded, suddenly tight lipped. I hadn’t wanted to talk about my uncle. No matter what had transpired since we left his house, I was still glad to be putting him behind me.

Marcelo continued to scan our surroundings as he asked, “So your uncle taught you that magic is forbidden and punishable by death?”

“That and that anyone who practices magic is in leagues with the Devil and so despicable as to be barely human, if human at all.” My words were soft with the shame of my uncle’s bigotry. No matter that I didn’t know anything about magic, his words had always felt too harsh, too hateful, his judgment too severe.

But neither Marcelo nor Albacus seemed particularly affected by my admission. “Why doesn’t that bother you, if you practice magic?”

Albacus laughed again, but it was a strident sound. “Because if we let ourselves be affected by the odious things ignorant people say, we’d be fools.” His words softened. “And because we’ve lived with other people’s condemnation of us our entire lives. It’s nothing new.”

Then maybe they wouldn’t hold my uncle’s actions against me. As magistrate of his village, he was the one responsible for condemning the witches and wizards he deemed deserving of death. They shouldn’t be allowed to exist, he’d say, just as he’d say about the “savages” my parents went to live with.

Before they could ask more questions about my uncle or what his beliefs were, I said, “Are there a lot of people who practice magic?”

“More than you might imagine,” Marcelo said.

“And yet still not enough,” Albacus added.

“Not enough for what?”

“Not enough good magicians to take on the bad.”

“These sorcerers you speak of.”

“Right.”

“And, uh, how long have they existed?”

Albacus stared right at me, drifting backward. “There’ve been magicians who’ve done evil things with their magic since the start. Magicians aren’t immune to human downfalls. People want power. Always have, always will. When people have magic, they’re that more dangerous when they reach for power. There will always be corrupt people, just as there will always be corrupt sorcerers.”

“That doesn’t sound encouraging.”

“It isn’t meant to. It’s just the truth.”

“So you’ve been fighting these sorcerers... always?”

“No.” Albacus features grew tight around his long beard and he turned back around.

I looked to Marcelo. He didn’t take his eyes from the road.

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