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all
Martis possessed—worked in my favor. She lured me here with access
to the ancient tomes and couldn’t revoke her promise. Well, maybe
she could have, but she didn’t. It kept us apart until whatever was
going to happen would happen.
    Meanwhile, I flipped through dusty
pages of ancient books looking for information on Kreturus. He was
my enemy, my nemesis. It wasn’t Collin as I’d once thought. It
wasn’t the Valefar. It wasn’t even Julia. The one being that could
make or break me was Kreturus. He wanted me. He needed my powers
for himself. While I wasn’t certain what was happing, I knew Al was
right. My powers were changing. It was as if the magic took on a
life of its own. I had no idea how to conjure it or use the melded
magic, but I was sure that Kreturus did. I was the key to him
unleashing his evil plan on the world. Without me, it couldn’t
happen.
    The prophecy boggled my mind. What
could possibly happen that would entice me in the slightest to join
forces with a demon? It was unfathomable. There was nothing that
would cause me to do that. There was no way I’d sign onto that.
Irritation was building within me. I’d been flipping through book
after book, but there was nothing in these pages about Kreturus,
besides the original tale of how he was captured.
    The story was interesting. It was
during the last battle that raged thousands and thousands of years
ago. The demons were winning after creating the Valefar. The
massive number of Valefar, combined with the demons, overpowered
the angels. If the angels hadn’t made the Martis, they would have
lost; and life as I knew it wouldn’t exist.
    But, they did create an immortal army
of Martis. The angels bestowed all their powers on the Martis, but
they spread the powers through the people so that no one person was
more powerful than another. It created a cohesive force, with
massive powers when they worked together. In the beginning, the
Martis did work together. The Seyers were revered and worked
hand-in-hand with the Dyconisis. It was nothing like Al and Julia’s
relationship. Julia thought Seyers were a dead breed and
disregarded Al’s usefulness. There was nothing about Martis
Tribunals, banishments, and hearings.
    The Martis back then relied on each
other to overcome the demons. Not only did they lure Kreturus into
a pit and trap him there, but they also pushed into the Underworld
further separating humans from the evil creatures that reside
there. The chasm between our world and the Underworld was well
guarded, but eventually the Martis pulled out only leaving guards
behind.
    The books didn’t say why the Martis
left. There was no explanation of the current animosity between the
Martis either. I had no idea where it stemmed from. The original
Martis sounded great. They protected humanity from soul-sucking
demons. They moved unseen and un-thanked, and they preferred it
that way. They sounded like people that I would have
liked.
    The early Martis were responsible for
ensnaring Kreturus in that pit in the Underworld, but they didn’t
kill him. That seemed like a colossal blunder to me. Why would they
let him live? But as I read the reason became more obvious.
Trapping him in a secluded part of the Underworld was like locking
a king in his own thrown room. Around him were reminders of what he
was, the power he held, and what he lost. And that was exactly what
the Martis did. A few millennia passed and no one thought Kreturus
was a threat. The Martis around the Villa still didn’t believe that
he was a danger, despite the testimony of Eric and Al. The rise in
the number of Valefar and the attempt to open the Underworld portal
last fall didn’t make them change their minds either. This wasn’t a
case of blissful ignorance. It was a case of deep-seated fear that
was too terrible to admit. If Kreturus was able to break his bonds,
the Martis were totally screwed.
    And so was I.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

CHAPTER