Chapter 22

Lia~

I walk across the room and place my hand on the top drawer of the cabinet. Even though no one else knows about this place I still take precautions. The drawers can't be opened without a special key only I can conjure up and the spellbooks are all hidden by barriers only I can see. I say the words to conjure up the key that unlocks the drawer and I take out the golden string and time charm.

I take a deep breath and say the incantation to form the symbols with the golden string, placing the time charm in the middle. Transport mintea mea la vârsta de vechi, inversa maree și arată-mi ceea ce am mult timp pentru a vedea (Transport my mind to the age of old, reverse the tides and show me what I long to see) I say the spell and suddenly everything around me disappears, enveloping me in complete silence. Maybe the spell didn't work?

Suddenly I'm flung forward and the darkness disappears, making way for a blinding light. I shield my eyes until they adjust to it. I take my hand away and what I see leaves me in complete and total shock. It's my pack lands except there are no buildings, no castle, and no wolves. Instead, it looks like every myth and legend ever written and even spoken back home. Creatures who've long ago vanished into myth like unicorns, griffins, and the mighty phoenix are all around me, coexisting in complete harmony. Every sight and sound takes my breath away but I remind myself to focus. I mentally shake my head and start walking around, trying to find wherever the gods could be. I need to hurry this up because every second spent here increases the chances of my insanity once I get back.

A horn sounds in the distance and suddenly the sky is filled with chariots all flying in the same direction which could only mean one thing.

A meeting of the gods

I take off running in the direction of the horn. This is exactly what I need to learn the language the book was written in so there's no time to waste. I run through the dense forest and end up in front of a large colosseum, completely made up of white stone and golden detailing. It looks vaguely familiar but I don't dwell on it for too long. The great thing about projection is the fact that I can move through objects, it's like I'm a ghost seeing a memory. I move through the walls towards what looks like a great hall. Inside are some of the most important gods written about in our historical archives, Zeus, Hera, Apollo, Ares, Artemis, and Athena are all seated around the golden round table, each with a grim expression on their faces. Zeus leads the meeting but I have no idea what they're saying. I take the turquoise and lapis lazuli out of my satchel and hold them in each palm, înțelege (understand). The gemstones catch fire in my hands, turning to gold dust which gets absorbed into my vocal cords, eyes, and ears.

I tune back into the conversation between the gods, "We need to find out what this prophecy could mean. The fates refuse to speak a word so it is up to us." my ears perk up. The moon goddess told me about a prophecy involving my existence, she told me she couldn't interfere then but she never told me I shouldn't try and figure it out for myself. Athena waves her hand over the table and golden letters appear all over the surface

Time will pass, a thousand years then a thousand more before a daughter is born. She will be cursed with the gifts of all those surrounding her. A daughter of the casters, the shifters, and the demons of night. She will symbolize the unity she must bring to this world to pave the way for hér daughter. The daughter of unity destined to bring peace between the creatures of light and the kingdoms of eternal darkness

Every member around the table looks towards Athena, the goddess of wisdom. She seems to be deep in thought for a moment before she finally speaks up, "Well it's obvious this prophecy speaks of beings not yet in existence. The gods are the only ones walking this earth, we have no casters, shifters nor demons of night but it's clear that we soon will. Looking around this table now, I know that there is a reason only we were called and not the others. There will be a war between creatures we will create and in the midst of it all will be a daughter of all three species, a tribrid if you will, although I'm not yet sure how that could even be possible. "

A war between the species? It's not possible, there hasn't been a war in centuries. A mentally shake the doubt away and prepare myself for what I'm about to do. Athena said it would be creatures created by them so maybe I could find out which god or goddess created which creatures. There are myths and legends but none of them hold the entirety of the truth. I take a deep breath and lift up my hands, changing the scene around me. Clarrisa told me that advanced witches could travel through time while in an astral projection, well I'm not exactly an advanced witch yet but there's no time like the present to learn. I say the spell I remember reading in the book, Controlul timpului (time control)

A sphere appears in front of me and I gasp. I honestly didn't think it would actually work. I rotate the sphere a bit and quickly learn how to go forward and back in time. I spin the sphere and the scene around me evolves from open forests to temples. The gods have moved to Mount Olympus and humans now walk the earth. I have no idea at what point in time the events took place that formed the first of the species. I look at the sphere and concentrate on one moment in time, the birth of the first vampire

Everything around me changes until I see what looks like a temple. I recognize two of the beings in front of me and gasp when I realize that it's the god Apollo and the moon goddess Selene. There's another person there, at first I think it's a human until I see his eyes, a vampire, the vampire, Ambrogio. I reverse time by just a few minutes and that's when I see it, Apollo cursing Ambrogio, turning him into the very first vampire. Tears stain my eyes at the sight of Selene crying her eyes out because of what Apollo has done. I quickly take the sphere in my hands and go to the next point. The sphere stops just as the mighty king Zeus is cursing a man and his sons, turning them to wolves. I remember this story, the legend of Lycaon. My hands fly to my mouth at the sight of the once-proud men how turned to rabid animals and the king of gods merely watching

All of this is too much for me. How could the gods curse innocent men and women and turn them into monsters, how? I grip my hair at the seething pain throbbing in my skull. My knees give way under me and I fall to the ground, "Du-mă acasă!" (take me home) I scream out and when I hit the ground I'm back in my workshop, tears staining my eyes and blood dripping down my arms. I look down at the half-moon-shaped open wounds on my skin. I didn't even realize my grip was that tight. My head is spinning and my muscles feel numb but I get up regardless, taking the book in my hands and skimming through the pages and titles.

It's mostly stuff I already know and have learned over the years, like control, bloodlust, advanced abilities. Occasionally I see chapters that excite me like secret abilities and spells only I have the power to do. I flip through the pages scanning the titles on top when one, in particular, catches my eye, one I never even thought existed.

How to kill the tribrid..