The Power Within

Chapter Seven

We walk to the edge of the riverbank to sit on two logs. The sound of the river trickling down stream and the rush of the waterfall in the background make for a peaceful moment. I take a deep breath to smell the fresh spring water and all the flowers in the area. I smell lavender, daisies, roses, and sunflowers, but there is one smell I cannot tell what it is. It has a vanilla and coffee scent but the coffee is not as strong. I wonder what it could be.

"The smell is from the magnolia trees in the far west of the area," the Moon Goddess tells me.

"I thought magnolias smelled sweet and bitter, but this smell is vanilla and coffee," I tell her.

"I choose what all things smell in my home. It was a gift I received from the Gods for my time on Earth."

"Oh. OK." I opened my mouth to ask her about the story but she stopped me with a slight rise of her hand.

"The only way to start this story is to start at the beginning. During the Ancient Greek period, the ninth century BC, I had eight children. These children had powers along with the strength of a werewolf. My children were blessed with these gifts to protect our kind and humans from the witches that were wanting to gain ultimate control over all beings. The Gods did not like this and did not believe that one race should over power another. That is why they blessed my children with the gift of shield, wind, water, fire, and earth. Each child of mine had two powers each, but they all had the power of shield. This power is able to block any witches spells or powers on those around them. We had to train each of them everyday to craft these powers. It wasn't until the day that I had all of them together to practice each element that I found out Athena, or Cassandra as you know her, had all the elements. She was the only child to weld all the magic. This became a problem for all. She was the one the witches wanted to take because she was the strongest, but no one could get close enough to her. She did not let her powers rule her, though some will say otherwise. Athena was strong but had a kind heart. She loved everyone for who they were and did not want harm to anyone. She was the one to keep all my children together. When the witches came, my children made sure they surrounded the village. Of course the witches tried every spell they could to break through but nothing worked. You see, the shielding power is able to cover a large area and with each child spread along the outside of the village the witches could not pass the barrier that they had in place. This angered them but after many attempts they finally left, defeated. Over many years, the witches would try to overpower my children but failed every time. Their magic became darker over the years, but still they could not break the shield that was given to my children from the Gods. The elements my children were blessed with could also kill a witch. They did not do this too often because they did not want to harm anyone but at times of war lives due become lost. But what many do not know is that my children decided to make a place on Earth just for the witches. They planned to use all of the elements to make them an island that was far away from any human or creature. They surrounded as many witches as they could by a cliff and broke it off. With wind, water, and earth elements they were able to move this land to the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and shield it with their magic. With most of the witches gone now my children could rest. They lived for over a century, this was the Gods choice, they were sent to Earth to protect it and could not leave until their duty was completed. Once the Gods felt the treat of the witches was long past, they allowed my children to meet them one by one. Athena was the last to go. She was their strongest and wanted to keep her on Earth as a precaution. But the witches never left the island, and the ones that they could not capture did not have enough power to find them. All was right again in the world."

"But why is Cassandra back now?" I asked without thinking.

"She is back because the Gods needed her to come back. They came to me and asked to bring my children back to fight the war again. You see child, though we thought the witches would never escape or be found, they have. The Gods would check the island every decade or so, but when they last checked it 30 years ago, they were all gone. The barrier had been broken. My children have to find these witches again and put them back on that island. They are very dangerous and will over power all the witches present today. These are ancient witches, just like yourself, very powerful. You need to find your siblings and protect the people again."