“We need to invoke The Guardian.” Nella said.
“No one is disputing that fact,” Theo replied , “but how are we going to do that since Upir is in charge of our magic?”
“Too bad he doesn’t have a phone number or something.” Kenneth said seriously.
“There has to be a way around it.” Nella said flipping through spell books, she stopped flipping suddenly.
“What is it?” Theo asked.
Nella turned slowly to face Kenneth who was leaning against a wall.
“He doesn’t have magic,” she said slowly, “he’s not a wizard.”
“And you just found that out today?”Kenneth asked sarcastically.
“Of course not,” Nella said sharply, “I’m saying that since he’s not a wizard, Upir is not in control of whatever spell he casts.”
“But he doesn’t have magic,” Theo said.
“But magic can be learnt.” Nella replied.
“Not by someone who isn’t born with it, or at least naturally inclined!” Theo said, raising his voice a little.
“What does he mean by ‘naturally inclined’?” Kenneth asked.
“It means that a person is naturally blessed with the ability to learn magic.” Nella responded impatiently, “Theo, Kenneth’s naturally inclined.”
“He is?” Theo said.
“I am?!” Kenneth yelled.
Nella nodded.
“You remember that time, before all this Upir drama, when you lost your ring?” Nella asked.
“My daylight ring?” Kenneth asked.
Nella nodded again.
“Remember I gave you another ring and then I asked you to say some words over it?” Nella asked Kenneth.
“Yes I remember,” Kenneth replied, “you told me to say those word over it when I went out in the sun.”
“Kenneth, the ring I have you then was not a magical ring, even the spell was wrong.” Nella confessed.
“What?!” Kenneth shouted.
“Calm down Ken,” Nella entreated, “it was all a big mistake. I was doing another major spell then so I sort of mixed it up.”
“I still don’t understand how I didn’t get fried?” Kenneth wanted to know.
“The words I told you to say were actually a spell, an incantation to be precise. It was for making the ring magical, not activating the magic.” Nella said.
“And I cast the spell?” Kenneth asked, still surprised.
Nella nodded again.
“I found out soon after,” Nella continued, “but I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d be furious.”
“Well naturally.” Theo shrugged.
“So I cast that spell?” Kenneth asked again, seeking confirmation.
“Yes,” Nella replied, “you’re naturally inclined.”
Upir sat, flipping through the pages of the books she had collected from Tira. She was getting steadily irritated by the contents of the books.
How could they do this to her? Everything they write about her was wrong, how could they paint her so?
Lehi walked in, looking almost as upset as Upir.
Well almost, but not quite.
“How’s the history lesson going?” He asked casually.
“Terrible.” She replied, looking up.
“You look terrible yourself,” Lehi commented, her face was a mixture of anger and sadness.
“As do you Ah’Lehi.” Upir replied.
Lehi only shrugged.
“So much power… still so much sadness.” Upir whispered, looking down.
“I don’t think anyone can escape it, suffering is universal.” Lehi replied.
“But why do people have to inflict it on others?” Upir asked.
“You’re making it sound as if you’ve never hurt anyone.” Lehi said.
“Of course I’m not a saint,” Upir said hurriedly, “but I’m only doing what I have been taught to.”
“And who did the teaching?” Lehi asked.
“Suffering,” Upir replied, smirking.
Lehi smiled back, he understood what she meant. She had been taught to be ruthless by the situations she found herself in. But were they no other ways out? Did they really have an excuse to be what they had become – beasts?
He looked at Upir again, he was discovering that she still had her humanity. Somewhere inside the revengeful abyssal vampire in front of him, somewhere inside her lay Upir, the young Slavic lady that had lived more than two thousand years ago.
Nella sat opposite Kenneth with Theo standing behind her.
Kenneth sat holding a heavy spell book.
“Now just calm down and open your mind.” Nella said calmly.
“Shouldn’t we be sitting on the floor or in some other witchy arrangement?” Kenneth asked.
“We don’t know exactly how Upir is sensing our magic, she might be able to sense it if we use a …’witchy’ setting.” Theo replied.
“So it’s best if we just keep everything as casual as possible.” Nella chipped in.
A dagger was placed on the table.
“Close your eyes Ken.” Nella said.
Kenneth closed his eyes and sighed deeply.
I’m a witch now Lucy, he thought to himself.
“Now open your mind.” Nella said again.
“How do I do that?” Kenneth asked, opening one of his eyes.
“Release whatever thoughts you’re holding,” Theo said, “devote your entire mind to the spell you’re casting. Think of nothing but the spell.”
Kenneth closed his eyes, he tried to stop thinking about Evan, how Upir wanted to destroy them all, he tried to stop thinking of Lucy and even Agnes.
The thoughts would not go away, so he did what he normally did when thoughts like that crowded into his head.
“I need a drink.” He said finally.
“You’re kidding!” Nella snapped.
“It’s the only way to clear my head!” Kenneth explained.
“But you can’t do magic if you’re drunk!” Theo said.
“Vampires don’t get drunk easily, it’s almost impossible.” Kenneth replied.
“It’s not impossible!” Nella shouted.
“I’m not going to take too much, just one shot of my whiskey and I’m done.”
Theo looked helplessly at Nella. Was there no other vampire friend of hers she could teach instead?
“He’s our only option for now Theo.” Nella replied as if reading his mind.
Theo groaned.
“I’ll get the whiskey.”he said and walked away.
He came back soon after with the whiskey.
“Thanks.” Kenneth replied and poured himself a shot.
After taking it,(after taking more than one shot actually), he closed his eyes again.
“You said I should close my mind right?” He asked.
“Open!” Nella yelled, “I told you to open your mind!”
Kenneth was unperturbed.
He was feeling the thoughts leaving him.
“Devote your mind to nothing but the magic.* Theo said calmly.
Kenneth began to fill his mind with thoughts of magic. He wondered how it would feel like to have magic.
Slowly, he began to feel a presence in him, it felt like it had been a part of him which he never really knew what to do with.
Now that part of him was waking up, coming back to life in a way.
“How do you feel?” Nella asked.
“I can’t explain it.” He replied.
Nella smiled, that was what she wanted to hear.
She could now tell Kenneth to cast the spell.
“Now open your eyes slowly and read the spell.” Nella said.
“Don’t just read the spell, cast it.” Theo chipped in.
Kenneth opened his eyes, he looked at the spell book and read the strange words slowly, almost biting his tongue in the process.
“Ari emi o selah.” He said slowly.
“Now chant it,” Nella said, “say it over and over again until you can feel it, until it is all that you know.”
Kenneth said the spell again, and again, and again until he began to sing it like a song.
He was feeling the power of the spell, a certain pressure on his hands, it felt like something was about to happen, but something was missing.
“The dagger Kenneth.” Nella said.
Although Nella and Theo did not need their blood when they invoked The Guardian, Kenneth was not as experienced as they were so his spells were not very powerful. He needed his blood to strengthen the spell.
Kenneth grabbed the dagger and stabbed his palm. Blood flowed freely but Kenneth continued notwithstanding, wincing in pain.
The dagger began to levitate, Kenneth continued shouting the spell as of his life depended on it, well didn’t it?
As Kenneth shouted the spell one last time, The Guardian began to appear
Kenneth having seen The Guardian invoked, fainted of exhaustion.