Magic Spawn Origins

Chapter 23

Kyran followed the necromancer through the mausoleum and the empty crypt, escorted by a skeleton. Kyran had never been through the door at the far side, but he had a feeling he knew where they would be.

Dread and excitement both battled inside him. Had he been created for this moment? What was his true purpose to be with the necromancer?

They passed through a dim hall blasted by a cold breeze. The breeze of nothingness. Somehow Kyran knew they were stepping between worlds. He could hardly contain his curiosity.

There, after a long stone hallway and a cross hallway, they entered a large round chamber about 25 feet in diameter, supported by eight stone pillars. In the center a fire burned in the fire-pit, very familiar. All four sides had an entrance that could be closed with an iron gate. They'd entered on the west side. All the gates but the south one were closed.

Two skeletons stood in here, guarding the room.

Despair threatened to overcome Kyran. He knew this room. He'd seen a vision of it when he touched the amulet around the wizard's neck while he slept in the crypt. Here, Molan had killed his father, Corey, ten years ago when he created Kyran.

There in the center of the room, encased in a sheen of blue light, stood his mother, Lauretta, immobilized. Kyran's heart felt as cold as ice. He couldn't cry. Emotions had always been hard for him. But he knew that things were now just as they'd been on that fateful night.

They stopped in front of the statuesque form of his mother, wearing her long, blue Halloween dress. She couldn't see him; she'd been frozen in time. He stared at her. Shouldn't he feel more? Shouldn't he cry? Surely her life was still in very grave danger.

"Ten years ago, I created you in this room—as my magic-spawn," the necromancer began. Kyran nodded. He knew this. "But the spell was interrupted before I could finish.

Kyran turned to Molan. The wizard studied his reaction, looking a little disappointed. "You want to save your mother, don't you?" asked Molan.

"Yes," said Kyran.

"Do you love her?" he asked. Kyran had rarely thought of this, until Rian had brought it up. He wasn't sure ... but she was his mother—Kyran knew that everyone loved their mother.

"Yes," said Kyran. It was the right answer.

At this, the wizard simply stared at him, as though Kyran was a puzzle.

"I won't let you hurt her," added Kyran stubbornly. His mother must be kept safe.

"You know that the ceremony must be completed," said Molan darkly.

Finish the spell and make Kyran into ... what?

"As long as you let her go," insisted Kyran.

Anger showed on the wizard's face. "You know that you are not a human child, don't you, Kyran? You aren't one of them—you are a magic-spawn!"

At this, Kyran also felt angry, that hot kind of anger that he often felt at school towards the other kids. The anger burned inside him.

This seemed to be the reaction the wizard was looking for. "So, you do have something in there." Kyran wasn't sure what he meant but his patience was running out.

Then the wizard lifted his hand in a slight gesture. Kyran felt the wizard's mind enter his own, startling him. He had no idea how to stop him. Strange images and feelings came to Kyran's mind, images of other worlds and things that Kyran couldn't know. Spells, herbs, blood, killing. Kyran's mind reeled.

"Stop fighting me!" commanded the wizard. Kyran wanted to obey him. He felt compelled to be still. But this was his mind, not the wizard's! The anger burned hot again. Pain hit Kyran and he found himself on the floor. He was sure that the wizard had just hit him.