COF 1: The Fairy Legacy

8 | Train (II)

2412, Tull 25, Jyda

Xanthy scampered as Vikara's spell missed her head a few hairsbreadth away. A patch of bushes with blue flowers exploded into dust. What the...?

"Focus or else you'll be killed!" Vikara's muffled voice called out from the transparent barrier around her. "Dodging will not be enough in a magical combat."

Xanthy ducked as two more attack spells slammed where her head had just been. They left a scarred wall and a chopped topiary branch.

Her brain ran on autopilot, channeling all her years of evading drunk old men in the Disfavoreds. The muscles on her limbs froze but somehow, she was still running. Xanthy yelped as a bush on her way exploded in a shower of dust and lights.

She fell to her rear and scrambled backwards as more lances of magic seemed to be spearing for her legs. Bile had never tasted so bitter at the back of Xanthy's throat. Oh, she's going to die here. Oh, gods.

Cast one spell. Any spell. Xanthy racked her mind for something that might block incoming attacks. She came up with nothing. Gods, gods, gods.

"What's wrong?" Vikara put an arm forward and the sky rumbled. What now?

Forks of lightning crackled for Xanthy. Queen's britches, humans could do this, too?

Electricity crashed. Xanthy threw her arms up and winced. There's no pain. What...?

"Congratulations," Vikara's voice crept past a barrier around Xanthy. "You just achieved casting a spell without speaking a word."

Xanthy's chest heaved as she called off her magic. With frayed nerves, she couldn't stop glancing behind her in case there's another surprise attack coming. She took one step and patted her thigh. Oh, no.

Her skirt was torn, speared through by one of Vikara's spells. Not only did her skirt failed to cover her undergarments now, the spell had also torn through her hidden pocket and therefore, through the tome she had hidden there.

Heartbeat leaped to her throat as she cast her eyes around. Where did she drop it...?

"Interesting book you found here," Vikara noted as she peered down on the grass. "Reading into taboo spells already?"

Xanthy gathered her skirt so that it won't show off her garments, or worse, her ass. She stalked to where Vikara was standing.

"Oh, I just found it interesting," Xanthy said as she bent down to pick it up. Her heart pounded against her chest as she realized what page it opened on.

Legacy extraction. Read the title of the page. She must have opened it too much the other night that it created a crease in the bind. Whatever. Vikara wouldn't care about it.

"We're not even into advanced spells yet and here you are reading about Legacy Extraction," Vikara turned to her with squinted eyes. "Something else is going on."

A nervous laugh choked out of Xanthy. "N-no," she twisted a lock of hair around her fingers. The grass looked so interesting when they're burned to a crisp! "I'm just...researching. About um."

"You do know that the Legacy is a part of your soul, right?" Vikara leaned over and Xanthy noted the wrinkles marring the corners of the woman's eyes and at the moles dotting her cheeks. "Your Legacy is your identity, your future, and ultimately, your magic. Do not let anyone have it other than you. Do not give permission for others to take it, too."

"Are you worried because I am the Virtakios?" Xanthy asked. She still has to see proof that she could indeed destroy worlds. Until then, she would keep denying. "Don't worry. I know what I'm doing. Taboo spells just intrigued me."

"You better not be getting any funny ideas," Vikara warned. "People die during this spell, Xanthy. It's not something you get to play with."

Xanthy blew a breath. Well, there went her plan. "Fine," she said. "I'll stop reading, if you want. I was just into this part where the tome tells us that we can't kill our blood-kin. Is that true?"

Vikara nodded. "Yes," she said. "Magic makes sure that we won't go off killing our families."

Xanthy knitted her eyebrows. "But everyone's related to each other at some branch in their records! I mean, we all probably came from a single being or something."

"Exactly," Vikara chuckled. "That's the point."

Oh.

Xanthy shifted her weight to her left foot. "Can I ask what a drawback is?" she said. "The book doesn't quite explain it well."

"It's the consequence of killing your kin," Vikara ran a hand down her scalp to smooth a few locks that escaped her braids. "It's a slow death. Painful. So don't go bringing that upon yourself. Nothing can save you."

Xanthy nodded. "I don't have kins anyway," she smiled. "I should be safe."

Vikara laid a hand on Xanthy's shoulder. "They're out there," she whispered softly. "It's free to hope."

Before Xanthy could think of a proper retort, the woman gave her a light pat on the shoulder and began walking back to her mansion. Xanthy gripped her skirt tighter. WIth her plan ruined, she didn't know where else she would turn to. June, perhaps? He might know a version of this spell that wasn't a taboo. Maybe...

Xanthy groaned and shook her head. No. It won't matter. Legacy extraction was dangerous. She, herself, didn't understand how it fully works. All the tome told her were the conditions and the verses that would call forth a person's soul as well as the incantations to separate the legacy from the other parts.

It wouldn't be simply just performing the act. It was going to be a different kind of spell, altogether. Now knowing that she could die from it, the spell didn't sound like a good idea.

Xanthy clenched her jaw before knocking her upper teeth against her lower in a series of clicks. "Alright," she breathed into the humid night. "New plan."