Even though she had not yet told Lucas anything of her trip to Mongalith, Selena could not bring herself to go see the boy.
She spent all of her free time in bed, reading about events she could not believe but not quite dismiss either. She even gasped aloud at one particular passage:
“Henceforth, the most fanatical wizards and wizardesses were called Children of the Moon by their peers.”
Selena reread the sentence to make sure she had not imagined the phrase. She could hear her grandmother’s voice, deep yet feminine, setting the scene of one of Selena’s favorite stories by saying, “You are a child of the moon, Selena.”
Then again, she should not have been so surprised, since she had just read a historical account that sounded awfully familiar in its own right.
The newly born Goddesses of Magic lived in the Heavens with the rest of the pantheon, but they did not stay there long. Their ultimate habitation was the moon. It was all because of Lyrend of Rend, who if not the main subject of the book, was an important part of the history therein.
Lydia Spade had spoken truly. Lyrend was a demigod, the son of Lystra the Lascivious. The author did not know who the lucky father was, but that was of little importance.
Lyrend had been created for one purpose and one purpose only.
In ages past, the gods had battled one another for dominance, fighting for their individual paradigms. Their wars had plagued the Heavens above and Altaerra below, bringing ruin and misery to the mortals who fought in their name. At last, Krisesten had brought order to the pantheon by proposing a truce. The gods divided equally into three factions—seven for Good, seven for Evil, and seven for Balance. The gods were forbidden to act openly in Altaerra, though they could grant their powers to their followers to do whatever they willed.
The War in the Heavens ended, as each god and goddess endeavored to direct their priests in accordance with his or her divine plan. Wars in Altaerra were unavoidable, but they were far less costly than the wars of antiquity that preceded them.
The birth of Lyrend, however, tipped the balance of power.
If the half-god had attempted to make his home in the Heavens, the gods’ war might have begun anew. Instead, he lived in Altaerra among the mortals, influencing governors and generals with his preternatural charm while personally leading armies into battle. Before long, Lyrend controlled some of the most powerful monarchies in the world.
Political gain was only half of the equation. The son of Lystra also targeted religious orders, including the followers of the Goddesses of Magic.
Yet the gods themselves could not nip this gigantic weed in the bud, at least not personally, because of their agreement to never directly influence the lives of mortals. Short of parenting demigods of their own, the gods were helpless while Lyrend remained in Altaerra. They were forced to depend on their loyal clerics to make their will known.
Which was precisely why Lyrend targeted monasteries and churches as often as palaces and fortresses.
Even with a mutual foe in Lyrend, the various sects of priests could not look past centuries of prejudice. Since they would not join forces, Lyrend was able to wipe them out almost completely, one after another. Only the wizards, who were as much devoted to the craft of magic as to their individual goddesses, were able to come together and face the Overlord.
People can be so stupid, Selena thought, surrendering to a powerful yawn.
After the sun was usurped by a half moon and a smattering of stars, Selena continued to read by candlelight. As she learned about the magical combat between the united wizard forces and Lyrend’s brainwashed supporters, she was enthralled as much by what details she was able to pick out regarding spell casting and wizardkind as she was by the historical narrative.
Her eyes were weary, but she could not bring herself to put the book down.
Lyrend’s War—which was actually the sum of numerous civil wars, international conflict, and carnage-hungry campaigns encompassing the whole of Altaerra—raged on for nearly two hundred years.
Neither sword nor spear could hope to stop the Overlord, whose divine birthright guarded him against the injuries wrought by conventional weapons and the ravages of time. Even the combined efforts of the world’s wizards were not enough to fell the demigod.
One of the final offensives waged by the magi resulted in utter disaster. After that horrific thrashing by Lyrend’s forces, there were but five wizards left in Altaerra.
Selena quickly turned the page, suddenly fearful she was about to discover the extinction of magic.
The five surviving magi went into hiding. Battle tactics had gotten them nowhere. A new strategy was needed. A dwarf named Eritek Asterix crafted a golden orb and a spell that would trap the Overlord within. The dwarf perished during their ambush, but his compatriots—Felst Meaden and Gianna Atarkon, both red-robes; Braiseph Harrow, a black-robe; and Keelah, a white-robe—persevered, ensnaring Lyrend of Rend.
The four survivors came to be called the Champions, though there was little time to celebrate their victory. For while Lyrend was defeated, magic would fade from Altaerra as completely as sorcery before it if a new generation of wizards was not cultivated. They all needed to take on apprentices at once—including surly Braiseph Harrow.
The goddess Krisesten took pity on her daughters. As reward for the wizards’ part in ridding Altaerra of Lyrend’s insidious intentions, Krisesten created a great gem to amplify the effect of magical spells. The talisman also ensured the Champions would live long past their natural lifespans, affording them the opportunity to teach many students in the years to come.
But rather than share the treasure their mother had given them, the Goddesses of Magic fought among themselves for possession of the gem.
Stupid, stupid, stupid, Selena thought.
Eventually, Krisesten secreted the gem in the center of the moon, but the Goddesses found it there. On the surface of the moon, they fought each other until their mother appeared before them. The Goddess of Balance destroyed the gem, shattering it into eight shards, which rained down on Altaerra. The Magic Sisters might have dove down to the planet itself, except that none of them could leave.
As punishment for their bickering, Krisesten bound Syphrenia, Quess, and Vhestaz to the moon forever.
Selena, who had been holding the book so tightly her fingers ached, set the book on her lap and stared straight ahead at the coalescing darkness beyond the meager light of her candle.
How many times had her grandmother told her legend of the Three Sisters? In Celeste’s version, Lady White, Lady Red, and Lady Black had been banished to the moon because they could not get along. There had been something about a bauble given by their mother to the three of them to share…
Another yawn overwhelmed her. She was now two-thirds through the tome. She could not guess the hour, but surely it was so late it could be called early. Yet how could she stop now?
In for a copper, in for a sun, she thought with a sigh.
Sadly, the rest of the book was not nearly as interesting as the middle had been. After Lyrend’s defeat and the exile of the Goddesses of Magic, the story followed the character of Felst Meaden. The elf, like the rest of the Champions, did not immediately pursue the role of magic instructor. The quartet split up not long after their final clash with the Overlord, each of them searching for the fragments of what came to be called the Enhancer Gem.
Some of the shards were found. Others were never claimed. Over time, the Champions found apprentices to teach the ways of magic. The events of Felst Meaden’s life paled in comparison to the account of Lyrend’s War, but Selena kept reading, if not for the story, then for clues about magic.
One detail that kept jumping to the fore of Selena’s mind was the fact that not everyone had the ability to learn spells. And of those who could wield magic, many were limited in how much they could utilize.
The final section of the book recounted the days of Felst Meaden’s human apprentice—the author of the book—and ended abruptly with an oblique reference to the elf’s disappearance while once more searching for an Enhancer shard.
Selena set the book down on the tabletop beside her bed. Normally, she would add a completed book to the castle library, but she had no intentions of taking this book of Magic Goddesses, Lyrend of Rend, and the Champions out of her room. Ever since the Wars of Sundering splintered the Three Kingdoms into many smaller nations, anything that could be mistaken for magic was deemed dangerous, if not blasphemous.
But Selena was starting to see magic like any other tool—something that could be used for good, for evil, and everything in between.
The sun was already on the rise, but Selena was no longer tired. She glanced back at the ancient book, lamenting that she had finished it so soon. Later, she might reread some of the more interesting passages, particularly those that mentioned specific spells, but already she craved new information.
For the briefest of moments, she considered taking out the book tucked between the mattresses of her bed. Certainly one little look could not hurt anything!