Magic Spawn Origins

Magic Spawn: Chapter 10

by Meredith Skye

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The night grew darker. Still the moon lit the way through the graveyard for Kyran. Branches and low tombstones tripped him up almost as though trying to stop him. He got up again, frustrated.

Emotions roiled inside Kye--anger towards his older brother; fear of the skeleton; fascination with the mystical powers of the crypt; and frustration at the meaninglessness of his life. But no matter how mad he got at Rian, he couldn't let the skeleton kill him!

Slowed Kyran approached the mausoleum door, his heart pounding. It was still ajar. He entered easily and made his way through the dark. Through the door at the rear Kyran entered the crypt. Everything was exactly as he left it, except for the absence of one of the skeletons.

Candles still burned on the wall. Then Kye spotted the sword that he had wanted. Surely this would be what Rian needed to defeat the skeleton. He struggled to reach the shelf where the silver-blue sword lay in the clutches of two metal hands.

He hesitated to take it. But then he reached out and touched it. The metal hands released it to him. Somehow, he knew they would. He picked up the sword. He felt a shock of energy, and dropped it on the ground. But the shock startled him, without really damaging him. Again, he picked up the sword, icy cold to the touch.

Urgently, his mind objected to this sword ... some kind of aversion. A mistrust. Something was wrong about it. Still, he could feel the power in it, almost like a living thing. The sword was from another world, Kye felt sure.

Kyran knew he should hurry back to the campground before the skeleton did any damage. Perhaps he'd even save the day. His brother might be happy with him. Still something felt wrong. He felt conflicted.

He passed the stone sarcophagus in the center of the room. As he looked at the solemn and forbidding figure of a man laying on top of it, he noticed something around its neck. Curious, Kye moved closer, still holding the sword. As he neared the stone figure, a high pitched ringing caused the sword to vibrate. Kye stopped. Cautiously, he backed up a few steps. The ringing abated.

Setting the sword on the floor, Kyran carefully moved forward until he could touch the statue laying on top of the sarcophagus lid.

He sensed danger. His heart beat wildly, but he wanted to see the statue's amulet close up. He'd seen it the first time he'd entered the crypt ... the rune of Destruction, just like the one on Kye's hand.

Fascinated, Kye leaned closer. The man lay with his eyes closed as though sleeping. His face had an alien look to it. The ears were lower on the head and somewhat pointed. The forehead was high. The figure was so lifelike that Kye felt he could wake up at any moment.

Gently, Kye touched the amulet that lay around the figure's neck. Suddenly he felt a surge of energy and his consciousness connected to every part of the crypt at once--from the empty resting place of the skeleton, to the walls and floor. Kyran felt some kind of recognition.

His mind rushed back in time to another room--a round chamber built for magical ceremonies. In the center burned a fire. There stood the man, alive, with two alien guards. Kye recognized the one that was now a skeleton. He saw a beautiful woman with silver-white hair holding a sword, similar to the one he had just taken. He saw a baby crying on the floor. He saw a human man dead on the floor next to it. And he saw his mother.

Kye stumbled back from the sarcophagus and the connection was broken. Sweating, Kye ran towards to the doorway to escape the crypt that seemed to have come alive. He reached the door and realized that the sword still lay on the floor. Almost he had left it. But the skeleton was still out there. This is what he'd come for.

Quickly he turned back and ran over to the sword and picked it up. His eyes were drawn to the figure on the sarcophagus once again. Had the figure's eyes been open before? He hadn't thought so, yet they were now. Kye ran to the door and slammed it after him, with the white and blue sword in tow.

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