Treasured Secrets (The Coveted Saga #1) by C.M. Owens
Chapter 6
Two Sides to Every Story
It's much harder to hear the whole truth and not just the truth that is the easiest to accept.
"In the beginning of magic, Isis Bradbury was granted the first gifts of magic and true immortality. She was the mother of all magic. However, there was another woman who was chosen as well. Women were natural conductors for magic in the beginning, before it evolved. The second woman chosen was Allora Selan. Her light was just as pure as the light of Isis.
"Several centuries passed and magic evolved. Allora found her soul mate, Dramus Craymon. Allora never let Dramus or anyone else know of her true powers, which were the same as Isis's abilities. She could control every bit of magic she had come into contact with.
"She claimed to only be a blinder, so she could stay back in the shadows and live her life without the high expectations that people had for Isis. Allora was a little more reserved and timid than Isis. She also did not bear the confidence Isis had. She enjoyed getting to hide in the shadows while Isis shined like a bright star.
"Dramus was light at first, but then he started becoming different. A young witch who was close to transformation had tried luring Dramus away from Allora. Dramus was a powerful enforcer with a prestigious name, a pillar among magical community, so plotting girls had ulterior motives quite often.
"He originally had no intention of leaving Allora; however, he was happy about how badly the young witch wanted him. His vanity knew no bounds.
"Her essence was strong, so he pondered if she would make a better mate than Allora, his blinder. He knew soul mates were irreplaceable, and he could never truly love anyone else, but his most passionate desire was to be more powerful than Isis and Merlin.
"He was in second place, and that wasn't good enough. Sometimes power in the wrong hands can cause one to be greedy. Sometimes, with someone who has malicious intentions, greed even outweighs love.
"He kissed the mortal witch with the intentions of simply being promiscuous for a while, waiting to find out her true powers. He suddenly found himself inhaling her essence. He could feel himself getting stronger with each drawn breath.
"He could see that he was killing the young witch, but he couldn't have cared less for her wellbeing. His light turned dark as he slowly killed the witch, the first one to ever do so. Magic had been tarnished and a new era began.
"Soul mates were more connected than most people understood at the time. Allora, who had no intentions of ever stealing another's essence, suddenly found herself with the same dark light as her bonded mate. It was nothing she could control. She was weaker than Dramus because she had never laid full claim to her power.
"Magic had evolved in an unexpected way. At the time, all lights were white and pure, just as magic had intended for them to be. At the time magic chose her soul mate, Dramus was light, like her. Nowadays, you never have soul mates on opposing sides - magic adapts.
"Allora worked for decades trying to exercise the gifts she had left dormant. She practiced anytime Dramus was away. She just wanted to reserruct her light, her purity. She didn't want his tainted magic invading her. To break free and destroy him, she needed to be stronger.
"She knew if she let him know about her hidden powers, he would use her to rule with darkness. She was trying so hard to be stronger than him, desperate to free the world from the monster in her bed.
"Soul mates are linked, but Isis and Allora could control what Merlin and Dramus knew, because of their incredible gifts. It was a secret clause that magic had given them, just in case.
"Allora was able to keep her thoughts secret from Dramus and she projected his mind with the things she wanted him to believe. She had seen Merlin and Isis coming to kill her. She knew it was the only way destroy Dramus and end his reign of darkness when she failed to ever grow stronger than him on her own.
"He was becoming stronger everyday, and more and more started to follow him into the dark. He quickly found himself crowned king among his devil worshipers. Such praise only fed his ego and fueled his lust for more power.
"Allora and Dramus had three children that no one else in the magical world knew about, and the majority still don't.
"Graven was the eldest, Aylana was the middle, and... Allaysia was the youngest."
I gasped, not really meaning to. Tallis loosened his grip on me as his body got tense. Desmond's jaw clenched while his eyes glared into mine, daring me to say the wrong thing.
"You're safe, Aria, but if you decide you don't want to hear any more, I understand," Allaysia said softly, careful not to spook me.
I could feel the anguish in the room. They were tortured souls atoning for the sins of their family. I couldn't very well abandon them. I didn't want to. I didn't feel threatened, and I was safely tucked in Tallis's arms.
"I'm fine. Sorry. Please continue," I murmured softly, smiling lightly when Tallis's grip tightened again.
She nodded and took a deep breath before readying herself for the rest of the story.
"No one knew of their existence because of what evil plans Dramus had in store. Graven chose the dark and began following in his father's footsteps. Aylana chose light, insulting her father with her insolence.
"Dramus was furious. He didn't even know they really had a choice. She had chosen her side and awaited her transformation. Dramus planned to force her light to change by locking her up until she drained an essence after her transformation.
"To keep her safe, Allora sent her away to be hidden from Dramus. However, Dolian, the leader of the changers, hunted her down. He and Dramus had been planning an attack of unimaginable proportions. Every human and every light eternal would be destroyed. Only evil would prevail. Only some of the stronger families would be kept imprisoned to produce future witches.
"He was mad with power, and Dolian was just as dark. Allora had betrayed him by sending away Aylana. He decided to punish her in a way that would devastate her the most. He planned to make her too terrified to ever cross him again. There was only one way to accomplish such a feat.
"When Dramus found Aylana, he drank her essence and left his daughter's body somewhere in Egypt, where Allora had sent her to be safe. Allora felt the pain of her daughter's death as if it were her own. It was worse than dying herself.
"Allora's hatred for Dramus grew immensely after that. She hated him for what he had done to her light. She hated him for what he had done to their daughter. She hated him for not even letting her bury her daughter properly. She had seen the future that he had planned to create, and how he had planned to use their children in his dark circle. Graven had chosen dark already, and Aylana had died for choosing light. There was only one child left.
"Dramus carried a bodyguard with him at all times. Their power is limited though. They can only hide you for a maximum of three weeks. He would swap out guards here and there. He kept himself cloaked at all times so he could hide his plans from Isis and Merlin. They only saw bits and pieces of his plan when he would change guards. Dramus was always prowling for new essences to steal and never remained behind the protective crests of his home that blocked the seers from their visions.
"He always pressed his guards to keep him cloaked. It was exhausting for the guards to use their magic continually, but Dramus did not care. He didn't know, however, that because Allora was his soul mate, the bodyguards could not cloak him from her. Soul mate bonds were stronger than any outside magic. Even still, he didn't know she could see the future at all, so he never thought to worry about such things. He only knew of her blinding power.
"Allora had a vision one night about her youngest daughter, Allaysia. She saw Allaysia choosing light, and she saw Dramus killing her just as he had Aylana. This time, he planned to make Allora watch her daughter die. Allora saw herself attacking him, but not being able to use her power against him.
"Allora refused to let him kill another one of her children. A
"She still knew a few people from the light circle that she could trust, and she knew they would take care of her daughter without anyone finding her before her transformation. At the time, Allaysia was still just seven-years-old. There was a changer who knew the details of Allora's predicament, and knew that she had never chosen the dark light for herself. His name was Damon Verdan. She sent Damon away with her daughter."
Verdan? That meant... but Tallis wasn't a changer. I saw him use powers. He didn't shift into some beast.
Allaysia paused as her husband came to sit down and put his arm around her. I watched as he offered her an encouraging smile and wiped the tear from her eye. No matter where they came from, they weren't evil. There was too much love flowing in the house for them to be tainted in any way.
Tallis slid down in the seat a little, wary of my reaction. He studied me, waiting for me to respond to what I'd just learned. Without thinking, I reached for his free hand and interlocked our fingers. I could almost feel sparks erupt, and he smirked as his eyes became solely focused on mine.
Allaysia cleared her throat from the emotions that had crept up on her before she continued, drawing my attention away from Tallis. My fingers slipped out of his just as she started again.
"Allora then did the only thing she could think of to stop Dramus. He was too powerful and indestructible with all the essences he had stolen. She was the only weakness he had. If she died, then he would be weakened enough for Isis to kill him.
"Her plan was to send Isis a vision of her alone and offer her the location where their castle was. She also showed her that Dramus far away. She knew they would come for her swiftly, because they were rarely able to get visions about Allora and Dramus.
"She disabled the crests so they could break in with little resistance. She dispersed most of the guards before Isis and Merlin arrived. She planned to fight briefly, only blinding them. If she gave in too easily, Dramus would have sensed the betrayal. She planned to use her link as his soul mate to let him see her fighting them. She never planned to hurt them, she only wanted them to kill her.
"She never told Isis who she was or showed her anything that would have cleared her name from defamation. She knew Isis would never kill her if she had. It was yet another sacrifice she had to make. Ideally, Dramus would chase them down to try and kill them, not realizing he had become vulnerable due to Allora's death. Then Isis and Merlin could destroy him and Allora's daughter could live on in peace.
"The first part of her plan worked. They chased Allora down and destroyed her, but they quit chasing Dramus instead of pressing on. When Isis drained Allora, it had taken so much strength for Allora to hide her noble intentions and only reveal the evil plans that Dramus had for their future.
"Unfortunately, she had to leave out the part he had planned for her children. They never saw Graven, because of Allora's will to mask Allaysia. Another oversight in her plan occurred as well. Dramus never sought revenge for her death, as almost any soul mate would have done. The reason he was able to resist was the same reason she was able to offer herself as a sacrifice to aid in his death.
"It was the light division between them. They were together before there was any such thing and since then, it has never happened. Although her light appeared dark and tainted, it truly was not. It was just as pure as ever. Soul mates should never be divided in their lights, and now it's impossible.
"They didn't realize he would be able to regain his strength, although it did leave him weak enough for Isis to kill him eventually. Had Allora lived, Dramus would have survived that decimating blast with his unnatural invincibility.
"It was a silent sacrifice with so many high prices to pay for her descendents that stayed light. Allora cast one last spell as Isis had in her final moments. She created a whole new form of magic. They were called light guardians.
"They were magical beings who could hide a witch's essence until they transformed. Unlike the bodyguards, their time was not limited, at least not intentionally. Allora had left her magic dormant for so long that the spell didn't have enough power to do as she wished. Instead of staying hidden until they were transformed, they were hidden until they were somewhere around sixteen or seventeen.
"That was all the power she had. The guardians would feel when the time was drawing near and the mortal witch would have to leave in order to keep them hidden for the next witch in need of their assistance.
"Using her dreaming power, she projected the image into her daughter's head with all the strength she had to show her everything. She didn't care if everyone else in the world hated her, she had to show her daughter the truth. She also gave her daughter the information on the guardians she had created.
"Her daughter anonymously let witches know about their existence and many witches were saved because of this. It was one of the most tremendous contributions in the world of magic, and no one even knew who had created it. Since the guardians were created from a mothers love, there was a good side effect. The parents of the witch would also be masked by the guardians until the age limit. A gift that was more remarkable than anything.
"Parents didn't just have to send their kids off to hide without them. They were able to raise them and ensure their safety, without jeopardizing them because of their own essence. Usually, after the young witch left, the parents would stay behind for a while, protected by guards, to ensure the safety of the guardian tribe."
I swallowed hard, trying to digest it all. I still didn't understand everything, but I was sure it was hard to pile centuries worth of drama into one sitting.
"So you're Damon Verdan?" I ask, looking at Tallis's father.
He smirked and shook his head. "Edmond, Damon's son. Yes, though, I am a changer. Does that make you uncomfortable?"
Did that make me uncomfortable? No. The creepy guy with eyes that turned black while he was killing me made me uncomfortable.
"No."
He smiled, offering a glance to Tallis. He seemed to be having a silent conversation with his son.
Allaysia dried her tears with a tissue, and then she continued on with a more personal touch.
"Until us, no one knew soul mates could be beyond the realm of your magic. Then, we had children, despite the danger. Ayla, named after Aylana, was the first. Then Desmond, named after Edmond, was next. Finally, there was Tallis, named after Talisman.
"They're special in the sense no one can smell their essence, and seers can't see them. The witch's essence and the changer's essence cancel each other out in an unexpected but pleasant way. Their powers are strong from their bloodline, due to Allora and their Craymon grandfather's indiscretions. They've lived covertly and hidden from the light and dark followers because we don't belong to either. We've been forever ostracized as pariahs in the world of magic."
That was heartbreaking. I hated knowing Tallis had suffered. I felt... so protective, so angry that he had been punished for something that had nothing to do with him. I'd make this right. I had to. It felt like it was my responsibility.