The Downfall of the Kingdom

Chapter 3

"Cum ignis cremo!" A solid burst of fire erupted from the strong hands of an eighteen year old boy with blue eyes and long, glowing blonde hair. He possessed bold features and a mouth that slowly turned into a grin at his new accomplishment. He looked down at his hands which were slightly darkened by the fire spell that he had just cast but glowing red upon his hand was the mark of a magician. A circle with two lines through the centre stared back at him and the glow slowly faded to nothing more than a light shimmer. "Well done Stefan. You are exceeding my expectations!" These words were spoken by the last pure of heart witch: the witch of ice and past memories. The witch seemed to be wrapped completely in ice and she wore a medallion showing that she belonged to the Ice Clan. Her hair was long and silver, flowing down her shoulders. Her eyes sparkled white in the snow. They now stood upon a high mountain practicing the spells that she had been teaching the boy for many years now. This was the first time that Stefan was on this high mountain with snow falling down upon him... Or so he thought for eighteen years ago Stefan had been on this mountain, in his mother's arms slowly falling from this very mountain. The witch of ice had become known as Salvatora to Stefan and she had become a mother to him and had looked after him ever since she had saved him from his fall of death using magic. The witch had saved the boy for she had always cared about humans since her birth centuries ago and this particular human possessed the mark showing that he had an immense amount of strength inside of him and a powerful control over magic and she was determined to keep Stefan on the right path, which was fairly easy as he had a good heart and although a bit adventurous, an outstanding pupil. "Ah that was far too easy for a great magician like me!" he laughed. "Yes, yes, yes: I said well done but that doesn't mean that you're the king of the world now" "No, that would be Veldon. When will we leave this frozen land and travel to all of the kingdoms to meet these people you speak so much of?" "There are things you still do not know of Stefan," she said darkly, "Things that will turn your world upside down. I think that soon you must learn more of your past but for now, I want you to do several more spells before we end today's lessons" "Of course," replied Stefan. "So Salvatora, what spells do you will me to cast?" "It is getting dark," she said, "Cast a spell of light that will illuminate this mountainous region so that I can see if you're doing these spells right!" With a smile, Stefan proudly chanted the phrase, " Sequor cum luxae!" A bright light which appeared to come from each flake of snow shone around the mountain and the witch nodded approvingly. "Anything else? " Stefan queried enthusiastically. The witch hummed in thought. She ordered Stefan to cast a spell of water and to direct it into a ball which must be thrown at her. He took a deep breath and said, "Aquae artus ascensus!" Instead of immediately releasing it into a jet of water as he did with the fire, he held it and shaped it into a ball of water and eventually flung it at the witch. It hit her flat on the face harmlessly and he asked what good a spell that weak would do against an enemy. The witch smiled and said, "No harm would be done I just wanted to cool down! But, if you add the potion of poison that I taught you, it can be very lethal," she ended more seriously. With that, Stefan and Salvatora traversed across the snow and headed towards the place that Stefan had for eighteen years called his true home.

Eventually, they arrived at a small cottage set inside a rocky overhang. It was a very welcoming sight with a warm fire glowing around the room. It was a very small living space with two rooms: one for Salvatora and one for Stefan, a kitchen and a dining room. The only other room that was present was at the back of the room, a place where potions were brewed and lessons took place. The cottage was filled with a vast amount of books each containing centuries of knowledge, spells and myths which Stefan was made to read over countless times. He mainly took much joy in the reading of the myths and legends of the past. A warm meal was made for Stefan by Salvatora and he could never understand how she never ate unless it was a very special occasion. Stefan finished off his food and gave a huge sigh of joy, thanked the witch and set about cleaning up after himself. That done, Salvatora called him into her room to speak to him. "Sit down my student. It is time that I reveal my past as well as your past to you. You now understand the power of witches, the power of magic and most importantly, the power of the creature of darkness or the dark creature as some call it. You have studied all of this with me but I'm sure that you have found it very strange that I have never told you of your history, your past. Now I will do so. Do not speak or ask questions until my story is over. This will be a vast amount to absorb but I have waited this long to tell you for now you are older and wiser so I hope that you will be able to handle all of this new information. So now listen and listen very closely..." Stefan nodded slowly and so began the witch's speech which seemed to be almost rehearsed. She began her tale. "I was born more than three centuries ago and was then the leader of the Ice Clan. I ruled next to the three other clans which are still known as the Fire, Air and Water clans. All of the witches were pure of heart and loyal to the human race. But, eighteen years ago, the creature of darkness was imprisoned in a dark forest by King Veldon. Whilst there he managed to change the witch clans into evil, including my followers. Now I am the last remaining witch of pure heart. During the dark creature's first year of imprisonment, he was able to recruit many creatures and people to do his bidding. Luckily that ended very soon and then he or rather it was powerless. But the creature still had the loyalty of its many servants. This now brings us to you, Stefan. Because he was still very powerful when he was captured he was taking the most fearsome creatures in order for them to do his bidding. You have the mark Stefan meaning that you are a very potent magician. So, you belonged to a tribe that feared that creature and when they saw your mark, this risk was too great that you could be turned to evil and so they forced your mother to kill you." She paused for breath, looking at the socked expression on his face and then continued, "She went up to the mountain where we trained today and threw you off of it to fall to your own peril. I saved you, but know this, your mother loved you but she was only thinking of the world's sake when she tried to kill you. Soon after, she killed herself... The pain of losing you was far too great. That is why I am teaching you. The power of evil is growing again and you must be ready to fight and protect yourself. I must also tell you one other thing: I have lived for well over three hundred years and these past eighteen of them have been the greatest joy of them all, teaching you. Now, I must show you yet another one of my powers. Besides being called the Ice Witch, many know me as the witch of past memories. Now I will transfer the memory of that dark night where death was almost awaiting you."

She placed her slightly cold arms onto Stefan's head and suddenly, the boy was gazing out at a scene with a mother holding a child dangling over a mountain. He was intrigued and soon realized that this is what had happened eighteen years ago. He also witnessed how the witch had cast a spell of air so that he gently landed into her arms. The witch's eyes gazed into his and he was back in the present. With that she patted the shocked boy and left him to his thoughts...

It was several hours before Stefan emerged fromthe confines of the room looking very tired. He had told the witch that he nowunderstood everything a lot better and thanked her for the news with a smile.Nothing more was said and that was the end of a long day in which Stefan awokefrom his bed a slightly ignorant magician and went back to bed a magician witha purpose.