VII - The Book Of Souls

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Juan observed on his cauldron what was to come after putting on it a drop of owl's blood, a handful of herbs and an eagle's feather. He stirred the water, mixing it to blend the elements. This produced an intense magic that resulted in the water looking like a mirror, ready to show him the revelations.

"Mit der energie des wassers gib mir die offenbarung!" He pronounced the magical words that ordered the energy of the water to bring him revelations.

As if touched by the energy, the animals started approaching and entering the cave. An eagle was overflying the region and, even with the wolf's presence at the entrance, gently landed inside the cave, resembling drops of rain sliding onto a glassy surface, reaching the mage's arm. The wolf just followed the eagle's movements with its eyes. After that, a big owl arrived, leveling its wings in order to perform a perfect landing near the other animals. It was one of the birds that had watched the conclave of magic. The truth was about to be unveiled.

Meanwhile, in the Dark Forest, something suddenly called the King of the Wizards' attention... He noticed that someone, not far away, was practicing ancient magic. Agathor paused for a minute and looked towards the mountains.

"Would it be possible that there's an ancient wizard that I don't know of living up in these mountains?"

The members of the conclave looked at each other, to understand what was going on and why the Chief of the Wizards had suddenly paused. Even though Agathor thought that there was something strange in the air, he decided to continue his speech from the point that he had stopped, as if nothing had happened.

While the witches were in conference, up in the cave Juan started a conversation with the animals.

"Hi there, Air Hunter and Queen of Wisdom. I can see that my friends are all gathered here tonight. Let us see what the water's reflection must show us, so we'll be able to find out the reason for so much turmoil. I can feel that the supernatural world is oscillating, and something huge is about to happen. What could it be? Let us see what the spirits have to tell us tonight."

He looked into the water and, when it stopped moving, he saw a child being breastfed by a gorgeous woman.

"That must be the child that was crying. But why did I hear him?"

The wizard kept on looking into the water, and he saw that there was a congregation of men and women a few miles from there, near to the tent where the child was. He could recognize Agathor, the King of the Wizards, due to his staff and clothing. He observed the armed sorcerers, and a man with a crow on his shoulder. Juan noticed an aura with a different color surrounding that man. It was dark grey, which indicated hypocrisy and false intentions. Given that a meeting with so many mages and wizards was taking place, it surely meant that something important was going on... Also, considering the uneasy mood of the animals around him, it was bad news.

The wolf approached him. It seemed that the animal wanted to know if it should gather its pack, which was already on alert. The eagle also positioned itself majestically, waiting for any order given by the mage. The owl hooted while turning its head.

The old man didn't quite understand what all of that meant, until a wind blew inside the cave, causing the wolf's fur and the eagle's and owl's feathers to bristle. Juan felt chills on his body. Suddenly, an object fell on the ground and he turned himself to see what it was.

"The Book of Souls!"

King Albert himself had given the book as a present to him, when the mage was a servant of the Germania monarch. It was a single volume that assembled the greatest secrets of magic. The King had inherited the book from an ancient wizard, from the Basnet clan, who used to be his ancestors' adviser. Albert kept it with him for a long time, even though he didn't know how to use it. For this reason, he decided to give it to his wizard as a present, thinking that maybe it could be of some use to him.

It had been ages since Juan opened the book for the last time. He had leafed through its pages so many times in the hollow days of his life that he already knew all the content by heart. The cold wind started to blow again, and it seemed to bring along cries and moans. The dusty manuscript was lying open on the floor, as if it wanted to show something. The pages turned by themselves up to the point that he needed to read.

Juan carefully picked the opened book up from the floor, dusting it off by beating it on his right thigh. After that, he took a good look at the pages and saw the words that demanded to be read. A drawing of a sword preceded the writings. There was also a figure of an eye full of fire on the page's bottom. He opened his eyes widely and read it attentively:

After ages of darkness, hunger, plagues and wars, a child shall be born. He will free the world from the shadows. A great master of magic shall be his tutor and will keep him far from evil forces, which will persecute him right on. For this reason, the boy will have to learn how to fight and dive into the magic world to learn the secrets contained in the Book of Souls. He will be known as "Phantom Man".

The wizard wondered...

What does this prophecy mean? What is the meaning of the eye of fire? What about the sword? A great mystery...

However, something told him that it was just the beginning. And once the mystery was solved, there would be no turning back.

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