Halfway Between Worlds: Bloodline of the Pure
Page 10
“Hello, Brian, pleasure to meet you. What’s your last name?” asked Bella in a kind tone.
“Hemms. Brian Hemms.”
“Were you related to George Hemms?” she asked.
‘Yes, he was my uncle.”
“I knew him well, he was a great guy” said Bella.
Bella then turned and faced Alice.
“I’m just going to grab something quickly, I’ll be back in a minute” she said as she walked off and disappeared into one of the stores.
“You’re friends with Bella Turnox now?” asked Brian in a stunned voice.
“She’s my mentor.”
“What?” Brian gasped, “you have to be the one of the luckiest people in the world, you will probably catch up in less than a month with her teaching you” said Brian dramatically.
Alice laughed.
“How long does it normally take for people who cross to catch up on everything?” asked Alice curiously.
“About six months and they’re in pretty good shape according my dad, he crossed.”
“Nice, I had no idea. Are you going to the festival?” asked Alice.
“Yeah, you guys should meet, I’m sure you would have a lot to talk about, and of course I’m going, are you?”
“Yeah, it sounds great.”
“Well, if Bella is busy with the parade and ceremony, I’m going with a friend, so you’re welcome to join us if you like.”
“I didn’t think about that, yeah, she probably will be, that’d be great” replied Alice.
“Cool, well, do you want to meet at the café on Friday at 7pm?”
“Sounds good, I’ll see you there.”
“Alright, cool. Well, I’m off to my lecture, I’ll see you then.”
“Bye” said Alice as Brian walked off towards the T.P.
A couple of minutes later Bella walked back over with a small, wooden box in her hand.
“Already making friends, I see” said Bella, smiling.
“Yeah, he seems nice, his expressions are funny.”
“The way his uncle died was horrible, I’m sure his family went through a lot” said Bella as they made their way out of the Student Plaza.
“What happened?” asked Alice, slightly shocked.
“It’s not my place to talk about it, but it wasn’t good.”
Alice felt a little unsettled upon hearing that Brian’s uncle had met a bad death, she was slowly waking up to the realness of her new world more each day that passed.
Bella and Alice reached the apartment building and stopped outside.
“It’s probably better we start outside, so we don’t damage anything” said Bella, walking over behind the far tree next to the apartments.
“Perfect, this space will do, no one can see us” she said, placing the small, wooden box next to the tree.
“The box is a spell dummy for you to use offensive and defensive spells on, so you can practice gauging your power, just place it outside on your balcony where you want it and tap it with your wand.”
Bella then walked and stood about ten meters from Alice.
“How’s your magic coming along?” she asked.
“Good, I’m now holding pots up for over thirty seconds.”
“Thirty seconds?” repeated Bella in slight disbelief.
“Yep.”
“Show me. Raise the box.”
Alice pointed her wand at the small, wooden box next to the tree and it instantly raised into the air, and over thirty seconds later, it dropped to the ground.
“Thirty-four seconds” said Bella, looking at Alice in disbelief, she had a small pocket watch in her hand. “That’s very good, Alice, you’re going to be more powerful than me soon” she said in a joking manner, smiling at Alice.
Alice laughed.
“Okay, we’ll start down here with the disarmament spell, then we can move upstairs and go over the offensive stuff. Now, when you are using defensive and offensive spells, you must fully intend what you want to do and the extent of it. If you are in danger, never leave anything to chance, strike with power beyond that of which you need. Defending yourself in the higher world of magic is fast and deadly, any hesitation or wavering from the present will get you killed” said Bella in a serious voice.
A chill momentarily ran through Alice as Bella continued.
“I’ll explain more when we go upstairs. Now, for disarmament, the cue is simply ‘Axara’, after you pick it up, I recommend creating your own, short cue or leaving it to your intention. I am going to raise my wand as if to strike you and I want you to disarm me.”
“Ready?” she asked.
“Yeah” replied Alice nervously.
Bella then raised her wand as if she was about to strike Alice.
“Axara” repeated Alice as she raised and aimed her wand at Bella’s hand, but nothing happened.
“Don’t try and aim or do your spells in a certain way, simply intend and it will happen. That is the analytical mind overcomplicating and getting in the way of things, just know and believe that it will happen” said Bella.
Bella raised her wand again, and as Alice repeated the cue, Bella’s wand suddenly went flying into the grass.
Bella clapped.
“Now try and do it with a little less power” said Bella as she walked over and picked up her wand from the grass.
Bella and Alice stayed outside for almost an hour practicing the disarmament spell and then made their way upstairs into the apartment.
“Are you going to be in the parade?” asked Alice as they walked out onto the balcony.
“Yes, I will be tied up most of the night, I’m sure it wouldn’t be a problem for you to join if you want.”
“That’s okay, Brian is going with a friend and offered for me to go with them.”
“Perfect” said Bella, placing the wooden box down at the end of the balcony.
Bella then tapped the box with her wand and took a couple of steps back, and a moment later the box transformed into a sturdy looking, brown, human sized dummy that looked like a troll and had a rather ugly face.
“Ah, I got the troll one, I was meant to get the human, oh well” said Bella.
Alice and Bella both laughed.
“It is, of course, made with magic and will repair itself each time you hit it with a spell, and it won’t move or get blasted away when you hit it, either.”
“Are there actually trolls in this world?” asked Alice, inspecting the dummy’s face.
“Yes, in the Wild Lands. You obviously haven’t read your creatures book yet” replied Bella, smiling.
“Not yet, I’m almost finished Introduction to Magic.”
“That’s good, it shouldn’t take you long to finish the program. Now, the strength of an offensive spell can be seen by the color that it produces. The spectrum of yellow is the weakest, then there is orange, and then there are the death spells, which are red. A spell that produces yellow might push someone backwards, knock them over or bruise them. A spell that is orange, depending on the darkness of the color, will likely knock them unconscious. Red will most likely kill, depending on the strength and how bright the red is. Defensive spells are mainly blue, but we’ll go over that later.”
“That’s what those red flashes were in the Wild Lands?” asked Alice, remembering the flashes she had seen during the raid.
“Yes. The cue for these offensive spells is ‘Mortara’, and its color will depend on your intention and how much power you put into the spell.”
“So, the cue is the same for each color?”
“Yes. There are, of course, other offensive spells, but this is the most common, effective and widely used one.”
“Okay.”
“You are going to start with yellow. I’m going to demonstrate a few times, so you can see.” Bella walked over to where Alice was standing and faced the dummy.
“Sorry, troll” she said as she raised her wand.
“Mortara.”
A bright flash of yellow shot
out of Bella’s wand at a great speed and hit the dummy in the chest, making a small thud upon impact.
“For yellow and orange, the more power you put into it and the more aggressive in nature it is, the darker the color will be. For red, there is no difference, the brighter it is, the stronger it is” said Bella as she raised her wand again.
Another bright yellow flash shot out from Bella’s wand, this time the yellow was darker and made a louder thud upon impact.
Bella repeated the spell one more time and then moved Alice into the position she had just been in.
“Let’s see it” she said, with her usual mischievous smile on her face.
Alice raised her wand.
“Mortara.”
As Alice repeated the cue, a bright, dark yellow flash shot out of her wand and into the chest of the dummy, making an even louder thud than Bella’s demonstrations.
“Calm down” said Bella in a joking voice, “most people that begin learning magic start to gauge their power by increasing and growing it, you, however, have so far been the opposite and have started to gauge your power by containing it” said Bella with a proud smile on her face. “Now, put a little less into it this time.”
Bella and Alice continued practicing on the dummy for over an hour and then moved back inside to the kitchen.
“I will be away tomorrow. Make sure you practice those spells any chance you get, you need to master the colors and the strength of your spells. I want to see some good progress on you gauging your power by our next session” said Bella.
“When will be our next session?” asked Alice.
“Friday is the Night of the Dead, so we will do our next session on Saturday” replied Bella.
“Sounds good.”
“Well, it’s been a big day, I’m going to head home, I’m sure I’ll see you on Friday” said Bella, walking over to the door, “stay safe.”
“Okay, I’ll see you soon.”
Bella smiled at Alice and then walked out and shut the door behind her.
Blue
Alice walked inside from the balcony and into the bedroom, sitting on her bed and going through her books, it was 12pm and she had had a productive morning between attacking the dummy and reading. She had now finished Introduction to Magic and had started on Every day Magic: Spells and Cue’s for Beginners and Geography of the Higher, Natural World of Magic.
Alice laid down and got comfortable on the bed, deciding to take a break and opening The Six Ancient Bloodlines.
Introduction
Throughout history there have been many influential people, groups, families and cultures that have all played a part in shaping the world that we live in today. However, there will not be one soul that journeys through the higher, natural world of magic that fails to come to an awareness of the vast influence and legacy left behind by the families of the six ancient bloodlines, for most of the shaping of our modern world is owed to them.
Throughout this book and in no particular order, we will journey through the story of each bloodline and will explore the timelines, heirs, influential family members, wars and legacy that these powerful families have left behind.
Although none of the six ancient bloodlines remain today, they will forever be engraved into the history of our world and their stories will surely remain with us until the end of time.
Alice finished reading the introduction and as she flipped the page, she heard some voices coming from outside. She got up and walked out to the corner of the balcony and looked down, there were two young women standing near the front door, chatting.
“HI” yelled one of the women as she looked up and saw Alice.
“HI” Alice yelled back.
“YOU’RE THE NEW NEIGHBOR?”
“I AM.”
“COME DOWN TO LEVEL TWO AND HAVE A TEA WITH US.”
“OKAY.”
The two young women then walked inside through the front door.
Alice quickly went into the bathroom to freshen up before making her way downstairs to the second floor.
Alice knocked on the large, wooden door and a few seconds later it swung open.
“Hi there, come on in” said the young woman who opened the door, she had long, brown hair that was braided at the back and looked as though she were in here mid-twenties.
“I’m Katie and this is Claire” said the woman as Alice walked inside, the other young woman was sitting on a stool next to the kitchen bench and had rather short, blonde hair.
“Hi, nice to meet you” said Claire cheerfully.
“Hi, nice to meet you guys, I’m Alice.
“Come, sit down” said Claire.
Alice walked over and sat down on one the stools.
“When did you move in?” asked Katie as she walked into the kitchen and placed three silver cups on the bench.
“I just got here a couple of days ago. This is nice” said Alice as she looked around the apartment, it was very well decorated and had a few book shelves, some nice, long couches, candles and paintings throughout.
“Thanks” said Katie, smiling, “I saw Bella Turnox leaving the building last night on my way back from the city, was she here with you?” asked Katie curiously.
“Yeah, she came over last night” replied Alice casually.
There was a moment of silence as Katie and Claire stared at Alice.
“You know Bella Turnox?” asked Claire, seemingly confused.
Alice smiled, everyone seemed to know who Bella was.
“Yes, she’s my mentor.”
Both Katie and Claire’s eyes lit up.
“Seriously?” asked Katie.
“Yeah.”
“That’s awesome, did you know her beforehand, or?”
“Um, well, it’s kind of a long story.”
“That’s okay, we have time, if you don’t mind telling us of course” said Katie, they were both clearly anxious to know.
“Well” Alice started, she knew that there was going to be a wave of questions after she told the story.
“I crossed about a week ago – “
“You crossed?” interrupted Claire, looking slightly confused and shocked.
“Yeah.”
“I thought the crossing channels were closed?” said Katie, also looking confused.
“They were, that’s part of the story.”
“Sorry, sorry, please, go on” said Katie as she poured the tea that she had prepared into the three cups.
“Long story short, I was the first crossing when the channels re-opened and the channel was bewitched, I landed in the Wild Lands during the raid. Bella found me and led me out, and then she became my mentor.”
Katie and Claire both looked shocked and worried as they stared back at Alice.
“You’re not joking?” asked Claire.
“No, the crossing channels were closed again until they investigate more.”
Katie and Claire looked at each other in disbelief.
“I’m so sorry to hear, did you see the raid happen?” asked Katie kindly.
“It’s okay, everything is fine now. No, I just heard the screams and the flashes from the spells, we got out of there pretty quick” said Alice.
“I can’t believe it, that is so scary to hear, but at least you get Bella Turnox as a mentor, that must be awesome” said Claire.
Alice laughed.
“Yes, Bella is awesome, I like her a lot.”
“You know she’s really famous, right?” asked Katie.
“I’m starting to understand that, yeah.”
“We won the war thanks to her” said Katie appreciatively.
“What do you mean?”
There was another short moment of silence.
“You don’t know?” asked Katie in a surprised tone.
“I know that she’s in the People’s Forces.”
Katie and Claire looked at each other again.
“What?” asked Alice anxiously, there was clearly something that she didn’t know.
&nbs
p; “Maybe we shouldn’t have said anything” Claire said to Katie.
“You can’t not tell me now, what is it?” asked Alice, pressing for an explanation.
Another short moment of silence went by.
“Bella Turnox killed Lars Medelle, she ended their bloodline, they were the last of the ancient bloodlines” said Katie nervously.
A strange emotion ran through Alice upon hearing what Katie had said, she was now in complete shock.
“Don’t tell her we told you” said Claire cautiously.
“No, no, I wouldn’t do that” replied Alice, struggling to process what she had heard.
“Lars Medelle was an evil, horrible man. He was responsible for not only the worst terror attacks this world has seen for a long time, but he had many people tortured and murdered. What Bella did was a great gift to us all, she not only got rightful justice for herself, but for the entire world, so don’t worry, you should be very proud of her” said Katie reassuringly.
Alice’s shock slowly started to settle after Katie’s statement.
“What do you mean, rightful justice for herself?”
“Lars Medelle killed her father. Bella’s father was the commander of the People’s Forces for over ten years, apparently he trained Bella from when she could barely walk, she’s one of the most powerful people alive” answered Claire.
Alice now understood why Bella was so respected by everyone that she had so far met.
“I had no idea” said Alice quietly.
Katie and Claire both smiled sympathetically at Alice.
“The Medelles were one of the six ancient bloodlines? I just started reading that book, I literally just finished the introduction right before I heard you guys downstairs.”
“Yeah, not all the history of the ancient bloodlines is pleasant” answered Claire.
“A lot of it is though, the Valerias were awesome, Kyra Valeria is my idol” said Katie.
Claire laughed.
“Katie is studying divination. Kyra Valeria was possibly the most powerful diviner in history, she talks about her a lot.”
“Possibly? She was, without a doubt” said Katie in a funny tone.
Alice liked Katie and Claire, they seemed very open, welcoming and kind.
“She’s the one that wrote The Natural Laws of Karma?” asked Alice as she finished her tea.