Book of Magic Spells Read online

  Chapter 1 Portal of Ravacore

  ‘Faith is the power that remains when all hope is lost. It emerges as strength of conviction to make one victorious.’

  Tellania, Wise One of Ravacore, Second Age of Reason

  In my darkest moments an unspoken request was my salvation. Sometimes it was 'Help me'. Sometimes it was ‘Save me’. From what I have learnt, is that there exists an intimate connection with my Creator, and that He will never abandon me. What helped me to survive the worst of times was to believe in that connection and know that support was just a request away...

  Raiden travelled through the Knight Forest. He wished he had worn more than a cotton tunic, though was glad he had chosen his thick-soled boots for this uneven ground. He looked around, guardedly. The trees seemed to press close on all sides as if trying to block his search. He knew the gateway was here, somewhere...

  ‘Where are you?’ he whispered under his breath. The path was almost completely overgrown and the trees he normally used to navigate by were covered in thick moss. The late summer flowers were in full bloom, and the scents of jasmine and eucalyptus made his head spin.

  As he passed through a cluster of trees he saw the circular arch of the portal in the distance. It was late afternoon as he finally found the clearing. Panting from exertion and sweating from heat, he sank gratefully to his knees on the moss in front of it.

  He had wandered through these woods many times, but never before had he seen this place. He had scoffed at the mystic when he had told him he would find his future in a place like this. Even though he had set out that morning with the intention of finding this place, he had almost believed that it didn’t exist and that he was on a fool’s errand.

  Yes—here it was, just as the prophet had described it! He stood up before the gateway, mesmerised. He didn’t know from where the portal had come or who had built it, it was a thing of incredible beauty. The arch was made of many large pieces of stone, its simple lines and perfect curves filling him with awe. Segments had been carved each with a different coloured stone set into it. Raiden recognised green jade, golden amber and blue lapis stones. The others were strange and unfamiliar to him. He looked up at the top of the arch. Carved at the peak was the image of a sword pointing upwards towards the heavens. As his gaze fell on it, he felt his fingertips tingle.

  As he stood in front of the portal, his heart felt lighter. He felt as if he could accomplish anything! If that wasn’t the sign of a divine presence, he didn’t know what was.

  ‘I don’t know if anyone can hear me,’ he said, getting his breathing under control, ‘but I need help. I have nowhere to go. I have no future. I need purpose. I need passion—I feel like a stranger in this world and I want to be somewhere I can belong.’

  ‘Please, I just want a chance. Just one chance to prove myself. Please!’ The last word was barely a whisper, but Raiden knew that if there were any Gods in this place, they would hear his whisper as clearly as if he’d shouted.

  He had said his prayer, as the mystic had instructed him, and now it was time for the second part of the ritual the old man had described. Raiden faced the portal and placed his right hand on his heart and uttered the incantation three times.

  ‘Spirit of sun, Spirit of light, embrace my heart and make it bright.’

  ‘Spirit of sun, Spirit of light, embrace my heart and make it bright.’

  ‘Spirit of sun, Spirit of light, embrace my heart and make it bright.’

 

  He looked up, craning his head to look at the pale blue sky above him. He looked down at the ground where the late afternoon shadows were lengthening. He shuddered. There was something wrong. What was it? He realised, there was no sound. No breeze rustled the leaves on the trees. No animals ventured through the undergrowth. Not a single bird sung that he could hear.

  Suddenly the shadows on the ground seemed as if they were creeping towards him, ready to grasp his ankles and drag him into the forest. He started to back away but then something caught his eye.

  There had been a glimmer in the portal. He looked closer. There was a shimmering ball in the centre, filling up with light blue energy. As he watched, it grew larger and larger until the whole portal was filled with swirling light, obliterating his view of the forest on the other side.

  It’s beautiful, he thought. He felt drawn to it. Tentatively, he put out his hand. His fingers tingled as they disappeared into the shimmering light. Ripples of moonlight spread out from where his hand was touching it.

  Raiden’s heart was hammering. Is this it? He thought. Is this what the mystic meant? Is this the gateway that will change my life forever? The mystic had told him of his destiny, to become a true champion of the people. The old man had told him in the incense-filled tent, that an opportunity would present itself, at the right time, at the right place, that his path would lay clear before him. Raiden had waited and waited, and when no such opportunity had appeared he had determined to seek it out and his feet had led him here.

  ‘Are you the answer to the emptiness?’ he asked out loud. He didn’t know whether he was addressing the portal or whatever lay beyond it. No answer was forthcoming. He stepped forward, peering closer. The colours swirled faster, as if his very presence energised it. As if the portal was waiting for him, for this very moment.

  He turned around. His world was becoming lifeless as he watched. The rich earth was now a dirty brown; the trees had gone from living green to grey as if all the colour from his world was being sucked into the coiling colours of the portal. Raiden felt a gentle breeze on his face that quickly became a rushing wind, pulling him towards the portal.

  Raiden thought of his parents. He thought of his home. He thought of the war raging between the settlements and how he’d been denied a part of it. He thought of his expulsion from the army, expulsion from his city.

  The shame he’d felt had burned almost as brightly within him as the desire for glory and honour. And he thought of the mystic’s eyes, surrounded by wrinkles and warts as he told of Raiden’s destiny.

  Raiden thought of all this one last time before pushing it away forever. He straightened his back and stepped into the portal, leaving his own world behind. The light was blinding and he closed his eyes against it. The wind tore at his clothes and his hair as he felt a rushing gale. He felt sick and dizzy, and yet elated.

  Raiden felt himself being sucked into the energy of the portal. Whoosh! He put his hands out to break his fall. The wind died away as suddenly as it had begun and warily, he opened his eyes. He was kneeling on grass he had never seen before. There were shining white stones beneath his hands, warm against his skin after the icy chill of the portal. He was definitely beyond the realms of his own world.