Silence was deeper than it is in a cemetery after the fight with the evil wizards.
Vlad's army of wizards suffered heavy losses. But also a win, which may worth the effort and all sacrifices, because now they had a parent of magic on their side ... that elf Lord, a force that the powerful army of black magic hasn't had until now.
Elizabeth watched sadly and tearfully Miss Harmony's fiancé crying, holding her breathless body in his arms.
"I'm so sorry ...," said the girl. At any moment, she expected a miracle to wake up from that nightmare. You know the feeling when you breathe in relief after a bad dream when you're awake, sweating and terrified.
Still, nothing happened because the girl wasn't in a dream. Everything was as real as possible ... including the words spoken by Miss Harmony's fiancé:
"YOU HAVE A REASON TO FEEL SORRY! YOU KILLED HER! You didn't leave to her any chance to defend herself."
Elizabeth cried for Miss Harmony, as she'd probably cry for her mother. But Jack didn't care.
"Jack, it's not true," Mr. Knudlac said.
"It's true Eaden, it's TRUE!"
He stood up, while two other wizards took Miss Harmony's lifeless body and picked it away.
"If she hadn't stopped all the spells, her Praesidium may have saved her ..."
"That's not true. We all saw the power of the Lord. She had no chance."
"Leave me alone! ALL! No one did anything to save her," Jack pulled out when he saw that Eaden Knudlac tried to calm him down. You only care about those sceptics. And because of this she died ... my life ... my love."
And Jack left with the other wizards, crying and sighing for the one who used to be his life, accompanying Miss Harmony's lifeless body. When he went past Elizabeth he gave her a hateful look.
"She always wanted a daughter like you. And because of you she won't have that chance anymore."
He left with the other two.
"I didn't want it," Elizabeth tried to apologize, with tears in her eyes and seeking understanding from Knudlac.
"You have no fault, dear. It's Vlad's fault and those guys'..."
Knudlac hugged the girl trying to comfort her.
At one point, the little girl stopped crying and called to the two people who appeared there:
"MOTHER! FATHER!"
She ran to her parents.
"My dear," the two said in one voice, as they hugged their daughter.
Knudlac and the others were amazed at what they saw. The two, Eliot and Rigantona, were dead for so long. Everyone knew that the Edwards' were dead and yet ... they were there with them.
With tears in her eyes the girl went to her parents and hugged them.
"You don't know how glad I am to have you with me right now. Miss Harmony was killed ..."
Still, when you experience deep pain, life doesn't care and gives you other challenges. That happened then in little Elizabeth's life.
"We came to say goodbye, dear," said her father.
"No, you can't leave. I can't lose so many loved ones in one day. Please ...," she started to cry even louder.
"Our purpose was fulfilled. You're ready to take care of yourself, to protect those who need it. You've become a better daughter than any parent could ever wish for. You're ready to become a great wizard."
"But I couldn't save Miss Harmony."
"There will be more sad moments and people we love and lose. But, you're ready, for what you were destined. As we said at our first date, there comes a time when we have to separate from our loved ones. And that moment arrived," her father said. "Our purpose was fulfilled and we can no longer stay with you. We must end our journey ..."
"We gave you many tips and you took them into account. Hence, your success, dear. From now on you are strong and wise and you'll be able to face any obstacles. You succeeded where we failed. You fought with Vlad and survived him. You escaped the great wizard Vlad ...," completed her mother.
"I don't know what I'll do without you," Elizabeth couldn't stop crying.
"You'll have us all the time near you. Read the diary and you can see and hear us whenever you want. You'll relive the moments spent with us. You will no longer be able to hug us and we can't talk to you, as before ... but you can remember the magic moments spent together. Moments we wanted to live in reality, all our life ... a long life."
"Mom, Dad, I love you. Please don't leave ..."
"My dear, we love you more than anything in this world. Even if you won't see us again, you know we don't leave. We'll stay here forever ..."
The mother touched the girl's chest.
"We'll be here ... And we'll stay here forever and we can talk in your mind. As for death ... death is just a road we all have to go through. To go on the true adventure of our soul ... that eternal journey, when anyone here will meet again at some point."
The Edwards' became ashes in the wind, under everyone's eyes, scattered throughout the area by the wind blowing heavily, while Elizabeth was crying and sighing sorrowfully.
"Mother! Father! I can't lose you again ... please come back!"
But the only one who could still hug the girl was Professor Knudlac. Elizabeth has forever lost the dearest people in her life.
Knudlac tried to calm her down, but it was in vain. In that sober silence the sad voice of a girl sighing could be heard. The saddest voice that could ever be heard, a girl's cry for her real parents, who died ... and for the one she loved so much as a second mother, Miss Harmony. Still they'll be back to her all three…
…
"I think you have no idea what you're dealing with."
"I'm not scared by story about a little girl."
"A story? That's what you think it is. Are you blind? Haven't you seen what happened?"
"I did, but it was something ... fleeting."
"Because she's only a child. But when she grows ..."
"Yes, yes ... If she grows up, she'll be our saviour. An old legend ... as I said, a story."
"In no way a story. A legend as you call it, yes. But you know every legend has some truth in it. And this girl, as young as she is, made us for a few moments powerless. To be just skeptics. And as she grows, those moments that lasted for a short time, can become definitive. Moreover ... I feel like ... I hope it's just my imagination, but I feel like she took something from my powers."
"She won't grow to be a teenager. I'll take care of that."
The last one who spoke with such indifference was Vlad Dragoesti. Still, his lips kept trembling when he said that. It was visible. Before that, his face expressed slight fear, especially when the other one told him he lost something when the antimagic hit him.
The other one who was scared like a baby, childishly complaining, was the great Prince of Dark Magic, the Almighty Lord Tyblisium who no longer seemed so big, or so powerful, considering what happened.
"Now we have on our side an elf ... or rather a dark elf," said the wizard Vladimir Dragoesti grinning.
The fact that Vlad tried hard to be brave and hide the terror and horror inside him, didn't fool Lord Tyblisium as it fooled the other leaders of black magic there.
Vlad didn't care about this but approached a young man sitting with the others at that round table.
"Jack, I'm glad you finally chose to join us," said Prince Dragoesti, shaking hand with the former Miss Harmony's fiancé.
"I'll keep my word ... as long as you do the same," Jack said looking with desire for revenge at the guy who killed his girlfriend.
"All in good time, my dear. That time will come too ... Patience, because it's the greatest virtue," smiled Vlad Dragoesti. "First let's get rid once and forever of the greatest pest in our world of magic. Let's save the world from Eadan Knudlac and his followers. Because of them a great wizard died, the love of your life, Harmony."
Jack noticed somehow that Vlad seemed to avoid looking at him when he said those words. But he felt it was just an impression that didn't have to be taken into account. Revenge for his sweetheart's death now became the goal of his life.
So he sat at that round table with the other evil leaders, probably to complete their plans to lead the world, using their means ... dark magic. All their plans had to be the best, the best organized, because now a simple, orphaned girl, insignificant at first for most of the wizards, became one of the most well-known and famous wizards in the world. A wizard who would surely boost the fear of the black magic wizards gathered there, through her future actions, in an attempt to save the world of the wizards and the world of the sceptics from the new threat on the world.
A girl, who'd never been considered an important enemy to anyone, has now become their greatest fear. She became ... the possessor of a spell capable of nullifying any magic. Yes, we all know now that Elizabeth Catherine Edwards is the possessor of the most powerful magic in the wizards' world ... A spell that can nullify any spells and can turn the wizards' world into a world of sceptics. A magic simply called: Antimagic.