Redemption

Chapter Ten: The Protector

"That can't be right... I think you've got it all wrong. I'm not a witch," I said feebly.

Despite what everyone told me and the amount of evidence to prove it, I just couldn't except that I was supernatural. It was too far-fetched.

"You're just in denial. Use your common sense, Alexis. Why else would the Malin attack you at the lake house?"

"Call me Lexi," I corrected him. Only my mother called me by my full name. "And I have no idea who those people were, or what they want from me. They just keep showing up wherever I go."

"Those people looking for you were Malin soldiers," he explained. "They keep showing up because they can sense your magic, and they want it for themselves. You should have been safe with the Taylors, but we only recently learned that they are double agents working for the Malin," he said, his words laced with malice.

I felt a jolt of shock run through me. How long had Jerry and Kate been working for this other group? Was this something new, or had they been with them all along, only pretending to be Christopher and Abigail's friends?

"Who exactly are the 'Malin'?" I asked. "Jerry mentioned them too."

"The Malin," Micah began. "Are a group of people with magical abilities who use them for darkness. Their main goal is to eradicate the world of good witches.

"They do this by using a spell that transfers the good witch's magic to them. This allows them to have more power, and disables the witch enough so that they can kill them, or worse, take them to King Casimir."

"If these people are as bad as they sound, how do we know for a fact that Jerry and Kate are working with them?" I asked, still unconvinced.

"You heard the Malin soldier say they'd called them," Micah said.

He had me there. I had heard of their betrayal by my own ears, and Jerry and Kate didn't even try to dispute it.

"Besides, the Taylor house was protected by very powerful magic that was meant to keep you concealed in case you ever needed to stay there. The only two ways this magic would've been broken is if the owner of the house died, or if they manually removed the defenses," he said.

"The last I checked, the Taylor's were alive and kicking. So that leaves one option- they removed the enchantments. No doubt they'll be punished for letting you get away before the Malin arrived. Serves them right too," he snarled.

"You would have been fine, if not for their treachery. The Malin aren't as common in this world, so you're not likely to run across them on a normal day. Unless you use you use your magic, they can't sense you. The rest of the time, the Malin stay in Kapanathy."

"Kapanathy," Lexi muttered, my eyebrows furrowed. "I've never heard of it."

"I'm not surprised. Abigail and Christopher seem to have told you as little as possible. It isn't exactly something you would have learned about in your mortal geography courses," he said.

"Kapanathy is the name of our land, a country with various sectors where everyone has magical abilities in some form or fashion, and is able to use them without fear of retribution.

"Kapanathy used to be a place of freedom and opportunity. But then an evil witch took control. Now most of the country is ruled by a man who calls himself 'King Casimir'.

"He believes that witches were given their powers for personal advancement, and to dominate mankind as a superior race. As preposterous as this theory sounds, he has a way of convincing others that this is the way things were meant to be.