Heavy footsteps were heard on one side of the Darkness castle. The heavy steps seemed a little rushed.
"Brooks." A call slowed Brooks's heavy steps. Gallahan began to align himself with Brooks
"Is everything ready?" Gallahan asked.
"Of course." Brooks answered without stopping his steps.
"Good. I have also prepared troops for us. Finally the day has come. The first attack of the Darken. I don't like being called a coward anymore." Gallahan replied.
"Of course. Who wants to be called a coward? I hope Lestrel succeeds."
They stopped when they were in front of the castle. They joined the others. Mayes was at the very front. They were still silent and had not moved. Not long after, a Whoosh sound was heard, like the wind blowing and a man with a gloomy face and long hair appeared. He walked towards Mayes and stopped right in front of Mayes.
"Lestrel, good news I think?" Mayes asked.
"Not without difficulty of course. The plan is going well, very well indeed. We will be able to attack Disprea soon, it is certain." Lestrel assured Mayes. Mayes smiled.
"Good." Mayes looked at the black soldiers in front of him.
"Darkens, finally what we planned will be realized soon. Soon, we will attack Disprea. And I even allow all of you to try to attack them. Warn them, make them afraid."
"But Mayes that will make them wary." Said one of his followers.
"No need to worry. They will think we will not be able to penetrate Disprea. They will only strengthen Disprea's protection but they don't know that we have someone who will help us open Disprea's protection." Mayes' voice was greeted by everyone there.
***
Keyra walked along the road she had passed earlier when she was heading to school. It was not the road she usually took, because it was the road Sabrina showed her. That road was faster. Actually she was a little hesitant about the road. Not long after walking, Keyra saw something like a meteor heading towards this city and immediately disappeared. It was like there was a shield blocking the meteor. Keyra felt weird and scared at the same time.
Not long after, several Elders came out. Elders are divided into three stages. Young, middle and old Elders. The young ones are usually beginners and have just been appointed as Elders. Usually they are still young although some of them are old. Their clothes are also different. Old Elders like Darius, when on duty wear white shirts and robes, middle Elders will wear green clothes while young Elders wear blue. They are also given special bracelets. The bracelet that Darius once showed. It was an identification bracelet and the color of the bracelet was the same as the clothes he was wearing. The bracelet was their identification if they went outside Disprea.
What Keyra saw now was the young Elder because they were wearing blue clothes and Keyra was sure they were part of Knirer. Knirer has special characteristics, they carry swords and bows of light that are stored under their robes. They also wear white armor on their chests. They didn't just use magic because they were also prepared to fight with other supernatural beings besides witches. They spread out along the street and people who were initially relaxing in front of their houses and shopping immediately scattered and immediately went to their respective houses and locked the doors. Keyra watched the people around her who started to enter their houses. The streets were already quiet. There were only Knirers who were on every street corner and patrolling. A middle Elder who was big and wearing full clothes approached Keyra.
"What are you doing here?" asked the Elder.
"I just got home from school, sir." Keyra replied a little nervously.
"Is your house far from here? Do I need to drop you off?" asked the elder again.
"N-no need to thank you. Will be there soon." Keyra answered lying. She knew that Sabrina's house was still a bit far and she wasn't even sure about the way. Keyra was so bad when it came to remembering the way.
"Okay then. Hurry up. Don't stay out of the house too long." The Elder replied.
"Yes, sir." Keyra replied and immediately left the middle Elder.
Keyra continued her walks in a hurry. She passed the Elder who was still guarding the side of the road. Without realizing it, Keyra had arrived in front of Sabrina's house.
Suddenly there was a sound like thunder and there was light. Keyra screamed softly and immediately lowered her head because the light was right above her. Keyra looked up and saw that the light had dimmed. The light could not penetrate this city, as if there was a shield blocking it. Several Elders passed Keyra and rode their horses very fast as if they were chasing something. Realizing something had happened, Keyra ran in. She knocked on the door of the house. At first no one opened the door but then there was a voice.
"Who?" asked someone from inside the house. Keyra recognized the voice, Mrs. Nicolau.
"Keyra. It's Keyra." Keyra answered hurriedly because she didn't want to stay out too long.
"Is this... really Keyra?" Mrs. Nicolau asked again. Making sure.
"Yes. Please open the door for me. I... I'm scared." Keyra replied, her voice starting to tremble. Keyra felt scared, especially since the light was still appearing and sometimes making loud noises.
"Wait a minute." Mrs. Nicolau said, then there was silence for a while but the door still hadn't been opened. Keyra waited anxiously. Then suddenly the door to the house opened. Mrs. Nicolau appeared with a serious face unlike usual. Her body looked trembling. Behind her was Sabrina who also had a serious and tense face. They stared at Keyra. Seeing them both acting coldly, Keyra remained outside.
"If you are Keyra, come in." Mrs. Nicolau replied.
Keyra was still silent. She was unsure of what to do. Would she obey Mrs. Nicolau's words to come in, but what if something happened that could endanger her.
"Why are you silent? Come in. If you are Keyra, you can definitely come in."
Keyra sighed and slowly stepped into the house. Keyra entered the house without any obstacles. Sabrina immediately hugged Keyra, suddenly surprising Keyra and returning Sabrina's hug. Mrs. Nicolau sighed relieved and smiled at Keyra. The worry on her face disappeared.
"Are you okay, Keyra?" Sabrina a little bit worried.
"Yes, I'm fine." Keyra replied with forcing a smile. "What's the problem? It seems like the problem is serious, I see many Elders patrolling.
"Well... that's it. It looks like we're being attacked." Mrs. Nicolau replied, her face starting to look worried again.
"Attacked? By who?" Keyra looked surprised.
"Darken of course, who else. They're always looking for trouble. It looks like they're bored." Sabrina replied in an annoyed tone.
"Maybe this is new to you. But they haven't attacked Disprea for years. It's weird that they're attacking again. Usually they always attack the Aeshu outside Disprea because Disprea has a very strong barrier that is difficult for them to penetrate." Mrs. Nicolau was silent for a moment. "But it doesn't matter now." She continued. "What's important is that you're okay. You're safe in this house even though it's rioting outside. Now you should go to sleep. Let me guard here until your father comes home. Go upstairs."
Keyra and Sabrina nodded and left.
Meanwhile, elsewhere, there was an impromptu meeting from the Elders in Darius' office.
"They're moving Darius. They know there's a chosen one here." Dan replied.
"And that's right, Darius. We have to do something soon or there will be more bloodshed and of course we don't want that to happen." Barnabas replied, also looking restless.
All eyes were on Darius who was sitting in his office chair. His head was bowed. His eyes looked at his cold hands. He was trying to calm himself down. He wanted to be able to think clearly so he could make a decision without being rash. But it seemed that the people around him were impatient. They were afraid that if the magical protection that was made could be penetrated, it would mean that Disprea would no longer be safe.
"You have to make a decision soon Darius." Anna looked impatient.
"Should we just move the chosen one out of this city?" Barnabas replied.
"But where?" Darius finally replied. "Where will you move her while this is the safest place for her, especially since she has not yet fully controlled her powers." Darius finally spoke.
"But we can't just sit there while our defenses are about to be penetrated by black magic." Dan protested.
"That's true, but we should think clearly and not be reckless." Lilie said.
Everyone was silent again. Darius stood up from his chair and headed to the window nearby. He looked up. It looked calm now. But that didn't mean they wouldn't be attacked again. Darius knew he couldn't make a mistake. Darius turned his body and looked at everyone in the room.
"We should speed up the adjustment of the chosen one's powers. Clarise, I want you to teach her. She must fully understand her powers. After Clarise is done, only after Clarise is done I beg Sebastian, please teach her defense and combat and Sheila, I ask after Clarise and Sebastian are done, teach her with all the supernatural creatures that exist because she is the balance of the supernatural she must know everything and understand. Don't forget the potion, Lilie." Darius decided.
"Why one by one? Why not all at once?" Sebastian asked greeted by nods from several people in the room.
"One by one Sebastian, one by one. She must understand what is being taught so that there are no mistakes. Mistakes will only waste our time." Darius explained. Everyone nodded in agreement. The agreement had been made and only Keyra was the key to all of this.
"Do we have to move this city?" Clarise asked.
"Of course. That's better. But there are some spells that we have to do and they have to be together." Darius replied. Everyone was silent. It was very quiet now.
***
Keyra had been practicing her magic for days. It was getting harder and harder. Sometimes she fainted, sometimes she was just so tired. She rarely met and talked to Sabrina anymore and Sabrina was also very busy.
Keyra practiced magic with Mrs. Ambrose first. Darius wanted Keyra to understand the ancient power that Keyra had. Darius also wanted Keyra to be able to control the ancient power. Mrs. Ambrose made Keyra sit and meditate. For three days all Keyra did was meditate. Mrs. Ambrose said it was to understand the power and feel the ancient power. Because if we can understand the power, then the power will be easier to control. The fourth day and so on, Mrs. Ambrose made Keyra meditate more difficultly. Sometimes when Keyra meditated, Mrs. Ambrose made Keyra's surroundings burn. A great fire. Sometimes causing strong winds and lightning to strike. But Keyra was not allowed to move at all. She had to be able to stay calm and concentrate. That was very difficult for Keyra. Ordinary meditation was also very difficult for Keyra, especially if it had to be accompanied by flames or strong winds. All Keyra did was scream when Mrs. Ambrose made lightning strike around the room and when the strong wind almost blew her away. Even Keyra ran out of the room when the fire grew bigger. Even though Mrs. Ambrose had told Keyra that all of that would not hurt her, Keyra still screamed and ran.
Keyra was supposed to train with Mr. Vattin after finishing with Mrs. Ambrose, but the Darken launched an attack on Disprea again. This was the third time the attack had happened. The second time, the Darken attacked while Keyra was still training with Mrs. Ambrose. The third attack happened not long after the second attack. The distance between the second and third attacks was not long. Unlike the first and second attacks. That made Darius change his decision to make Keyra train with Mr. Vattin faster.
Training with Mr. Vattin was more challenging than Mrs. Ambrose because Mr. Vattin trained defense and offense. Mr. Vattin gave a book containing spells and asked Keyra to memorize the simple spells as quickly as possible before practicing them. Again, something strange happened. Her magic always worked first even before she read any spells.
"Keyra, come on, attack me." said Mr. Vattin. Keyra practiced throwing people away. Keyra took a deep breath to calm herself and make her concentrate. Keyra prepared to swing her hand.
"Diper-" before Keyra finished reading the spell, Mr. Vattin was thrown far away. Keyra was shocked and covered her mouth with her hand. "Sorry." she replied.
Mr. Vattin tried to get up and waved his hand to indicate that he was okay. Keyra scratched her head which was not itchy. Keyra was confused because she kept making that mistake. This was the umpteenth time Mr. Vattin had been thrown far away. Mr. Vattin even fainted because Keyra practiced the stunning spell.
Keyra lay her body on the bed after a pretty hard training for her. Keyra closed her eyes. She didn't know when she would be able to control her power and make it follow hee wishes instead of the other way around. She wanted to be able to master it quickly.
"Tired?"
Keyra turned and found Sabrina standing at Keyra's bedroom door.
"Not tired but VERY tired. I can't do it anymore." Keyra complained. She took a deep breath. Sabrina laughed then sat on the edge of the bed.
"What did you train?"
"Meditation with Mrs. Ambrose and defense and offense with Mr. Vattin."
"Wait, what? Meditation? Why did you learn that?"
"They said it would help me feel the power in my body." Keyra said in a dramatic tone. Sabrina laughed.
"I just found out that there is something called meditation training. In school, they usually teach potions, defense and offense, spells, knowledge. I just found out there is meditation training."
"What's even stranger." Keyra sat on the bed. "When I was learning defense and offense, I kept throwing Mr. Vattin. He even fainted!"
Sabrina laughed amusedly, even to the point of tears.
"Gosh that's ridiculous." Sabrina wiped her tears. "Mr. Vattin used to be known as the best knirer. But he couldn't be aware of you."
"That's my fault I guess. My magic worked before my spell." Keyra lowered her head.
"That's weird. How come?"
"I don't know."
"Maybe because you were the chosen one."
Keyra looked at Sabrina with a surprised look. Sabrina smiled seeing Keyra's reaction
"Yes, I know. Unintentionally of course. I heard Darius talking to my parents the night you fainted. It all makes sense why you didn't know about magic. That's because you were an ordinary human before."
"Sorry." Keyra lowered her head. Somehow she felt guilty.
"No need to apologize and there's nothing to forgive. I know and understand, you must be angry, sad, and having a hard time. Don't give up, hm?"
"I won't. For my family."
Sabrina smiled widely. "Good. Now tell me, where do you live in the ordinary human world?"
"New York."
"Then do you have a boyfriend there?" Sabrina looked enthusiastic. Keyra chuckled.
"No, I'm too busy to date."
"Oh come on, don't lie to me."
Keyra laughed. They talked until midnight. Out of all the days, that was the first day they could laugh and share stories with each other.
***
Darr!!
This is the umpteenth time the sound of an explosion has been heard. Even some items are still scattered on the floor. Darken attacked? Of course not but Keyra is studying potions. Yes, today Keyra started her potions lesson. She still couldn't distinguish some ingredients or accidentally mixed them up.
Keyra snorted in annoyance. For some reason she couldn't concentrate. Kerya rubbed her face roughly.
"Okay Miss Callania. No need to force it. We can study again and don't forget to memorize all the ingredients." Mrs. Correy smiled while fixing her slipping glasses. Keyra could only take a deep breath with her face bent. "Now you can rest. Please."
Keyra nodded and thanked Mrs. Correy then went out of the classroom. She walked through the hallway. The classes were quiet. They were taking a break. Maybe in the cafeteria. But she turned towards the exit of the school and sat on one of the benches under a tree. A cool breeze greeted her. Even though it was summer, today it didn't feel hot or rainy.
She saw some people playing. They seemed to be playing magic ball throwing. Maintaining the magic ball so that it doesn't hit any of them and doesn't go out. Keyra smiled slightly looking at them. Missing her old school? No. She was thinking about her family. Almost two weeks but she still couldn't control her powers. This was harder than she imagined.
Not long after, a scream was heard. Keyra turned her head and was shocked. A ball of light almost hit her. The ball was held without being touched by a man who was now standing in front of her. The man removed the ball of light then turned his head.
"Are you okay?" asked the man.
Keyra was stunned for a moment then quickly regained her senses. "A-ahh y-yes.."
The tall man, dark brown hair and green eyes smiled at her then went back to playing with the others.
"Are you okay?" asked Sabrina who was already next to her. But Keyra just mumbled while still staring at the man. "He's Rafael. Anna Magnofold's nephew."
"Really?" Keyra looked at Sabrina. Sabrina laughed.
"Right. He.... I don't like him."
"Why?"
"He's arrogant and annoying. He's always cold to everyone."
"But he's... Handsome."
"Oh calm down girl." Sabrina laughed. "Yes, he's handsome. The whole school knows it too. He's handsome and smart. The girls like him. But I still don't like him."
Keyra narrowed her eyes. "Are you sure?"
"Of course. I'm tired of Disprea men. I have to get out of here I guess to get a man who is... Handsome, sexy ughh.. full of charm and seductive."
Keyra laughed. "Then there's out there?"
"Well at least out there is much wider and more diverse."
Keyra laughed again.
"Hey stop laughing or all your teeth will fall out."
"Okay, okay..."Keyra stopped her laughter. "I really don't think about men right now. (standing up from her seat) I have to go back to training. I've blown up a few potion pots today. I have to train so I can at least see them. See ya later."
Keyra got up to leave.
"I support you!!!" Sabrina shouted while raising her hands up. Keyra turned her head and smiled without stopping her steps.