Wells of Change (Draka Series Book 1)

Chapter 9

Two more days passed in the blink of an eye, training was going great but now she had to demonstrate a working knowledge of magic to appease the council. Apparently knowing how to work it was different than actually working it, go figure. This was child's play to her, to the point where she was slightly insulted with the beginner spells they were throwing at her. But she still didn't want to show them to know the true extent of her power without good reason. So Angela gave them the show they wanted, steadily increasing the difficulty level until they felt she had mastered everything she needed to. She had become adept at keeping her glamour up while using her gift, which she hadn't been able to do before coming here. So while she could see their magic, and easily counter it, she could also see everything else about them.

Each member of the council was adept with the magic that was contained in their bloodline, which made complete sense. More than that, she had discovered that each bloodline had a distinctive color associated with their magic. Green was the color of dreams, red was for life, black was for death, yellow was for time, and purple was for magic. These colors hovered over each council member like a second skin, wafting off their bodies like little wisps of smoke. The stronger the magic, the deeper it's color. From the depth of their color they were very powerful; this was probably how they had survived this long.

After the test, which she had of course passed with flying colors, she had asked her father about each bloodline. He explained to her that magic from the dream bloodline and her own came without a price, regardless of the level of magic required to wield it. But the more advanced magic that was specific to life, death, and time came with equal or greater consequences. Only the dragon aspect of each of those bloodlines could perform all levels of magic without paying any consequences. The dragon aspect of magic was probably the most powerful, because they were the Guardians of ALL magic. So the aspect of magic could also wield the magic of the other dragon aspects, but they had to see that type of magic in use before they could wield it. Unfortunately, there hadn't been a dragon aspect born to any of the royal families for over a hundred years.

"May I ask you something father?"

"Anything," he replied sincere.

"How did we escape?"

He paused and looked at her, obviously weighing his words. "It was the winter after you had turned three, and the Knights had been getting bolder in their attacks. They had started to attack those in the lower caste, which lived on the outskirts of the villages. Someone would go out to get kindling for a fire, or water from the well, and not come back. We had no idea how they were doing it. One night it escalated as the granddaughter of dreams was killed walking home alone. She was a Queen, who had wielded considerable magic, and she had been cut down like a common beast."

Angela was unable to hide the horror from her face as her father continued his story.

"Kaylib was outside playing with you, he was six at that point and well into his training as your Guardian. While you two were out he saw an oddly dressed man standing at the edge of the trees watching the two of you. He convinced you to go inside for some milk and cookies and reported what he'd seen to Gregor. The man was gone by the time we went out prepared to defend our home. That night you and your mother's bags were packed and we were ready to send you off into hiding. The Knights were prepared, and had set a trap to try and kill you both," he stopped, visibly distressed over the memory of what happened that night.

"It's alright, you don't have to continue if it hurts you this much," she said putting a hand on his arm.

He looked at her hand on his arm and smiled, some of the pain seeming to drain away. "Gregor was able to get the two of you away unharmed, but we lost others that were close to us. Your grandfather, my sister, and her two sons had been killed ensuring your safe escape. We managed to kill all but one of the intruders that came that night. That man was who recognized Gregor and reported his findings to the other Knights. I've regretted not following him and finishing him off every day since your mother was taken from us," he finished with tears slowly falling from his cheeks.