Starkeeper of the Fractured Crown

I grabbed the table and shoved myself away. “Well,” I sighed, standing, “a lot.” I walked over and started thumbing through my stack. “So, we all know that the Fall began with rumors of Colby Atmos who was out searching for the Book of Silence.” I pulled out a few journals and stood.

“Which hasn’t been seen since then,” he added.

I shook my head, setting the books on the table. “No.”I grabbed one of the books and flipped through the pages. “As we all know, wars begin with meetings. Here,” I said, sliding the book over.

Cole leaned over it. “’High King Jakob Gerodia met with Evanora Fairshield and then later her mother, Aurora, joined.’” He straightened. “Okay.”

“Colby’s name isn’t mentioned at all before the war, yet he was, as people believe, the main part of it. Well, my belief is that Colby was only a scapegoat to keep the Gerodia name out of any records, which failed horribly because you have to keep records of what happens within the castle, but do you remember how Malaki Irsch bound Aurora’s powers after Elrikant? I think that made her crazy. Which is what started all of this.”

“My magic has never been bound, but I assume you’re correct. Magic-users have to use their magic. If they don’t it’s like over-filling a balloon. Eventually, it’ll pop. Too bad it didn’t pass through the generations, huh?”

I shrugged. “Malaki was a good High King, but he didn’t think ahead too much, which isn’t necessarily his fault. Nobody thinks about the generations that come after them. Especially if you’re immortal.”

Elrikant was a war of power, as most wars were. Aurora had decided the warlocks had too much power, so she started dabbling in Forbidden Magic, which stole something from her soul, darkened it. It turned her heart to stone. The Keepers, the gods of the warlocks and witches, disowned the witches because of this.

Aurora had gotten angry and continued to prepare for war, ignoring Malaki’s pleas to stop. The war was brutal and bloody, lasting only three days, andit only ended when most of the witches had been executed. Aurora ended up surrendering, and Malaki made a deal with her. Bind her powers, set up a contract, and she could remain in Sarivos undisturbed.

No one had guessed that Malaki wouldn’t have bound the magic of the entire Fairshield line, so when Aurora had a daughter, Evanora, she kept the girl a secret, raised her in a cave learning Forbidden Magic, and here we ended up.

I leaned back, folding my arms across my chest. “Three years after that meeting, Aurora started looking into Black Magic. I can’t figure out the importance in that because as far as I can tell, Evanora only uses Forbidden Magic, but I keep all of the information I find just in case.”

“Wars take time,” he spoke almost to himself. “A lot of time.”

I nodded. “I don’t know if their initial plan was to kill off the dragons and Nephilim, but if it was, that takes an insane amount of work and planning. There’s not much in this world that can take down a dragon, let alone an entire species of them.” I slid another journal over, flipped to a specific page.

He skimmed the words. “The Staff of Elder?”

It was a theory, but it was my best one, so I put as much confidence in my voice as I could and said, “it’s the only thing in this world that can take down something that powerful, I’ve looked. I know it wasn’t created as a weapon but it is something of insane power. It created every species in this world, it would be poetically tragic for it to destroy those very same things. They used it tokill the dragons while Ryker took care of the Nephilim, of course they wouldn’t stand a chance.

“No one would have considered a human, witch, Nephilim, and something from beyond the Veil to be working together. This is what irritates me the most about all of this; people truly thought that Colby, even with the Book of Silence, would have the mental and physical capability to open up the Veil and summon something from another world to bind to him and use in a war like this? It’s hard to believe people are that easily swayed.”

Cole ran his hands through his hair as if this were something he had been thinking about for his entire life and I had finally given him some form of validation by simply speaking. “Okay,” he finally said, “we’re on the same path then. You believe the witches were behind both wars.”

I nodded, despite the fact that it wasn’t a question. “They’ve been controlling the humans for over 1,200 years. Now we have actual proof. That first meeting led to a deal of immortality and power. Aurora trained Evanora well enough to open the Veil. Somehow, they managed to get the Staff of Elder, all while the world focused on Colby and his search for the Book of Silence.”

“Why Colby?”

“Colby was a member of Jakob’s High Court. Jakob convinced him to take the fall to protect his court, and in return Colby would get immortality. They retrieved the Staff, Colby may or may not have actually gottenthe book, and the rest is history.”

Cole threaded his hands behind his head and looked up at the stars I had drawn. “So, five years from meeting to war. Aurora sent her daughter to Therian, Evanora convinced Jakob, Jakob convinced Colby, they recruited Killian, promising power, Aurora taught Evanora how to use Forbidden Magic while she was growing up, and she opened the Veil and summoned Ryker, binding him to her blood.”

It was a messy history, but it was so obvious. I couldn’t believe no one else knew about it.

“Who used the Staff during the Fall?”

I shrugged, wondering if he was actually asking me since his eyes were still trained above. “Had to have been Evanora. Colby wouldn’t have been able to use it, even if he got the Book of Silence.”

We slipped into silence then as we both thought over the wars.

I couldn’t believe how conniving the witches were. From going after Malaki because he had too much power, to destroying entire species’ because they didn’t have enough.

Now they were going after Cole’s High King, and here I was considering whether or not that was entirely bad.

Finally, I inhaled. “So, this is what I have on the witches.” I exhaled. “The other books are bloodlines and small battles, written from the beginning. I think this is what you’ll find most impressive.”

“Do I have your permission to read the others if I see fit?” he asked as I stood.

I glanced at the stack, going through the catalog inmy mind. There was nothing there that I thought would destroy the world if he got his hands on it. “Sure.” I walked over to a particular stack of journals against the wall of dragons and plucked one off the top.