《By the law of the world》


 Chapter 1: Selene’s knowledge

    The sun was setting down and the forest was getting dark. Selene was still in the forest looking for dark wolf mushrooms she needed to finish the potion she was working on. They were hard to find because they grew high up the tree bark and the trees in this forest were ancient and high.


    Soon enough, only the moon and stars illuminated the forest, their light barely reaching the ground. Selene didn''t want to give up her search. However, the dark wolf mushrooms were hard enough to find during the day and it''s going to be impossible to find them during the night. Finishing the potion will have to wait until tomorrow.


    "It''s not safe for a human to be wandering at night in this magical forest alone." Selene heard a soft voice speaking slowly somewhere above her.


    "I''m not a regular human. I''m the witch Selene, powerful and magical as the forest itself. I assure you I am quite safe. Who are you?" Selene tried to sound confident. She knew that the magic of the forest was stronger than her magic but she won''t let that show in her voice.


    "I am Rowan the owl. How come you can hear my voice Selene the witch?" This was the first time a human talked back to him. Usually, humans just walked passed him not noticing him or his warnings.


    "I told you that I am a powerful witch, powerful as the forest itself." Selene answered.


    "This is my part of the forest, my hunting ground. What are you doing in the forest alone so late?" Turning his head towards her, Rowan said slowly, his eyes glowing in the dark.


    "It is a pleasure to meet you Rowan. I was looking for dark wolf mushrooms." Selene explained. She tried to be as polite as she could to Rowan. Who knows, maybe he could find the mushrooms for her? He could see in the dark better than other animals and definitely better than her. Maybe her potion wouldn''t have to wait until tomorrow. "I can see you are a wise and good-natured being Rowan. Would you help me with my search?"


    "I will help you in your search. The mushrooms grow high up the trees. Wait for me here." Rowan said and Selene heard flapping of wings and rustling of leaves. She sat on a moss-covered rock and waited, looking up at the moon and the stars, happy that she''ll be able to start making her potion tonight.


    Selene wasn''t a powerful witch so she was happy Rowan believed her and agreed to help her. The most powerful witches were those that were born with black magic. They had control over darkness, the souls of the living and control over the dead. These witches were evil and when they appeared they caused nothing but chaos, suffering and destruction. Because of that, they were hated and banished from society. Every black witch was born with the same magic and the same abilities. They had the ability to see in the eternal darkness, spread their darkness over the souls of the living humans and use them as their slaves, they couldn''t do this to other witches. They could take human souls out of living humans and put them in inanimate objects bringing to life rock golems and such as their slaves. They could also summon evil beings and the dead making armies of slaves for themselves.


    As far as anyone knew, there was only one black witch in history that didn¡¯t use her powers for evil. She used her powers to punish the really evil or wicked humans. She did it in an evil way, taking their souls out of their bodies, spreading her darkness over them and entrapping their souls in the walls of a cave in their own internal hell. Fortunately, witches born with this kind of magic were rare. The last witch with dark magic was born more than half a millennium ago. It took almost two hundred earth and spirit witches to stop her. Legends even say that there were unicorns, dragons, griffins and other magical beings helping the witches stop her. None of these magical beings was seen by anybody since that battle, so everyone started believing it was just a legend, to make the battle with the black witch more exaggerated, nothing more.


    The most common witches were born with either earth or spirit magic. Earth magic gave the witches power over the elements, supernatural strength and the ability to defy many laws of reality, like levitate. The strength of the magic of the witch determined how many elements she could control. The stronger the magic of the witch the more elements she had control over.


    The earth magic gave the witches power of healing, the gift to rejuvenate and invigorate others and the ability of augmentation, to enhance other''s abilities. It also gave them increased knowledge about the real truth, the truth behind the deception and lying, and the true sight, the ability to see human souls and see good and evil in them.


    The least powerful were white witches. They were as rare as the black witches were but their magic was benevolent. All that people knew about them was that they had a deep connection with nature and endless knowledge about potions.


    Selene once talked with a powerful spirit witch that had the most powerful real truth ability. As far as the spirit witch could see, Selene was a white witch. Selene thought as much. The only powers she had was the power to talk to animals and endless knowledge about potions. She knew about potions nobody else knew even existed or were even possible. She just knew them and what they were for, she couldn¡¯t explain where she got the knowledge. She also had the power of true sight, but unlike the spirit witches, she saw the souls of the witches, not humans.


    Selene never told anyone she could see the souls of the witches, no spirit witch ever had that power, she thought that if she told anybody it would just make her life more complicated. Seeing the souls of the witches gave her an advantage over other witches. Spirit witches could see only human souls so they knew that if they don¡¯t see the soul of a person that that person is a witch. The only thing they didn¡¯t know was what kind of a witch that person was. Selena knew.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Earth witches had blue souls that ranged from light blue to dark blue, depending on their power, the stronger the magic, the darker the color. Spirit witches had green souls that also ranged from light green to dark green, also depending on their power. Spirit witches told her that normal people had grey souls.


    Selena was curious about her own soul, but she couldn¡¯t see hers in a mirror, she had to look directly at herself without being in herself. She made a potion that took her consciousness out of her body for a short time and drank it. It felt strange to be outside your own body. She looked at her body, standing like a zombie in the middle of the room, with a white soul inside it. Selena was now sure she was a white witch. As soon as the potion stopped working, her consciousness was pulled back into her body. After that, she felt drunk for a week and decided never to use this potion again.


    Selene heard flapping of wings and the rustling of leaves again. A few mushrooms fell down in front of her.


    ¡°Will this be enough Selene the witch?¡± Rowan said slowly. Selene saw his glowing eyes in the treetop.


    ¡°Yes, this will be enough wise Rowan. Tell me, how can I repay your kindness?¡± Selene asked. It was hard to find animals who would even talk to her, let alone help her, so she wanted to repay his kindness somehow.


    ¡°Pass on my warning about wandering this magical forest at night to the other humans that can¡¯t hear my voice and I will consider the favor repaid. The forest is not a place for humans.¡± Rowan said slowly.


    ¡°Thank you wise Rowan. I will pass on your warning.¡± Selene picked up the mushrooms and walked back to her cottage at the edge of the forest.


    At the cottage, Selene saw that the fire in the fireplace was gone. She started a new fire under the cauldron. While she waited for the base of the potion to heat up, she sliced the mushrooms into smaller chunks and prepared the rest of the ingredients for the potion. She loved making potions.


    This one was a complicated one, but it was worth all the trouble. It took her weeks to get all the ingredients needed to make it but now that she had all of them, she was eager to start. It will take her a day to make it and two days to complete it. After cooking it at a low temperature for a day, it will need to sit still for two days in a dark and cold place. Fortunately, she had a basement where she kept most of her ingredients for potions so she already had a place to put the potion to rest for two days.


    Selene was so excited, the potion she was making was a potion to attract unicorns. It meant that, if she succeeded in making the potion, she would be the first person in a thousand years to see a unicorn and with her power maybe even talk to it. Unicorns were the most magical beings in the world. Legends say that even seeing one would bring you unworldly luck, she wondered what talking to one would bring her.


    The base of the potion in the cauldron started to boil so she moved most of the burning wood to the side of the fireplace, to lower the temperature, and started putting the ingredients into the base of the potion. For a day, she sat beside the cauldron, mixing the potion and keeping an eye on the temperature. After a day, the potion changed color, which meant that it was done, ready to rest for two days. Selene put it in a clay pot, closed it and put it on a shelf in the basement.


    Exhausted, after two sleepless days, Selene ate and went to sleep.


    Loud thunder woke Selene. This wasn¡¯t thunder from a normal thunderstorm because she could see that it was sunny outside. Selene walked over to a window, opened it and saw two earth witches using their power over elements to fight. One of them had a darker blue soul, which meant that she had power over more elements, but Selene knew that that didn''t mean an automatic victory for her. In battles the sheer power isn''t the only factor in winning, she witnessed witches with lesser power win using better tactics and being more cunning than their more powerful opponents.


    Selene knew why they fought here, but she didn''t know why. The magic of the forest amplified the magic of the witches. That was one of the reasons Selene built here cottage here. She never understood the earth witches, they were the only witches that fought amongst each other and that never made sense to her.


    Not interested in the fight, Selene closed the window and went to make something to eat. By the position of the sun, it was around midday so she made lunch. Selene grabbed a book, into which she began to write the recipes for the potionsa few years ago, grabbed a plate of food and sat down at the table. While eating she opened the book at the last written potion recipe.


    The last one Selene wrote down was a recipe to get rid of ants in your house, a potion you pour around your house and on your floor and your house will never have ants. She decided long ago that she would only write down recipes that help people or protect people from evil. Even though she knew potions that can make people do something against their will, like a love potion that can make a person fall in love with someone against their will, she vowed that she will never write down recipes for those kinds of potions.


    Selene struggled over the unicorn potion. She didn¡¯t know if she should write it down because she was afraid that others would use the potion for evil, to try to capture a unicorn or even try to kill it. She decided not to write it down.


    There was still a day and a half until the potion she made was completed. There were potions Selene promised to make, for the people from the village nearby, so she started making them while waiting. When she finished the potions, she packed them in her bag and left for the village. The village wasn''t far away, Selene actually enjoyed the walk after a whole day sitting beside the cauldron, it was a pleasant and sunny day, just a perfect day for a walk.


    In the village, she visited the houses of the people she promised the potions and after she gave the last one away the sun started to set down. The sunset was beautiful, the scarlet sky and almost astounded her, it looked magical. During her walk home, she couldn''t take her eyes away from all the beautiful colors of the sunset. ¡®This really was a wonderful day for a walk.¡¯She thought.


    At home, Selene made dinner, showered and wrote another recipe in her book, a recipe for a potion for protection from evil summoned beings. The potion creates a magical barrier around the one who drinks it and it prevents bodily contact by evil summoned beings. This causes the attacks of such summoned evil beings to fail. After she wrote down the necessary ingredients, the process of making the potion and its effects she put the book back on the shelf and went to bed. Selene wasn''t sure she¡¯ll be able to fall asleep at all, because the potion for the unicorn will be complete tomorrow, but at one point, she did.

 Chapter 2: Hesperos’ knowledge

    This morning Selene woke up early. She spent the day tending her garden, picking vegetables and going to the woods to pick mushrooms and plants so she has food for a few days. She didn''t eat meat, she couldn''t bring herself to kill and eat animals that she can talk to, and so she ate plants and mushrooms instead.


    The day went by fast. The sun set down, the moon and the stars appeared in the sky, it was almost time. In a few hours, the potion will be complete. Selene went down the basement and closed the entrance to the basement so no light could come in. She walked over to the clay pot with the potion and opened the lid. The potion was gloving but it was still the same color as before, which meant that it still wasn''t complete. Selene put the lid back on, sat on the floor, put the pot in front of her and waited.


    After a while, the pot shook slightly. Selene opened the lid and saw that the potion was now purple. Finally, the potion was completed. Covering the pot with the lid, so she wouldn''t spill any on her way up, she took the pot and climbed up out of the basement. She put the pot outside her front door, on a flat rock, and removed the lid. Not wanting to be seen or to scare off the unicorn, she decided it was best if she waited for him inside the house, so she sat next to the slightly ajar door waiting.


    For a long time, nothing was happening and Selene must have fallen asleep because she was awoken by the sound of hoofs walking on stone. Startled, Selene looked through the slightly ajar door and saw a unicorn in front of her door. It was a beautiful being, his fur and mane so shiny and white it hurt to look at them. The only thing that perplexed her was that she could see his soul it was purple.


    The unicorn was drinking the potion from the pot on the flat rock, Selene quietly opened the door and said. ¡°I am Selene, the witch who made that potion. I mean you no harm, I just wanted to talk to you.¡± She tried to sound confident, but in the presence of such beauty, it was a difficult task.


    The unicorn looked at her. ¡°I am Hesperos. I see who and what you are. Why did you make this potion? Why didn¡¯t you just summon me?¡± the unicorn replied.


    ¡°I...can¡­summon you?¡± Selene stood looking at Hesperos, trying to take in his words, bewildered.


    ¡°Yes, a white witch, you can just summon me? You know, use your power to summon me as you can summon other magical beings.¡± Hesperos answered. He never liked humans. Almost all of them were oblivious to the ways of how the world and the magic really works. He only met two humans that had the right idea but still were missing the true way.


    ¡°Forgive my ignorance Hesperos. I didn¡¯t know I had the power to summon magical beings.¡± Selene said apologetically.


    ¡°Isn''t the last white witch Althea with you? Didn¡¯t she explain your powers to you?¡± Hesperos asked confused. Althea should be here teaching Selene how to use her powers.


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t know anyone by that name. She is not here with me.¡± Al this time Selene didn¡¯t know that white witches even existed or that she had more powers. Maybe this Althea could tell her, what other spirit witches couldn¡¯t, about her powers and magic.


    ¡°If she is not here with you that is not a good sign. Give me a moment to look for her.¡± Hesperos closed his eyes and concentrated. After a few moments, he turned his head toward Selene, a sad look in his eyes. ¡°She is not here because her soul is not in this world, but Morgaine the black witch is still here. I thought that you being here, after only a little more than half a millennium, was strange. Now I know why.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? I don¡¯t understand.¡° If her presence was strange even to Hesperos then that couldn¡¯t be good.


    ¡°You humans and witches. You think you know how the world and magic really works. You are just children stumbling in the dark. Since Althea is not in this world anymore I¡¯ll explain why your presence at this time is not a good sign.¡± Hesperos gracefully laid down on the floor. ¡°Make yourself comfortable Selene. I have much to teach you.¡±


    Selene sat in the floor leaning against the wall of her house eager to learn about the white and black witches, the world and the magic. Hesperos started explaining that every thousand years, give or take a few years, two special witches are born, a black and a white witch. They are always born with the same powers and the same magic strength as their predecessors.


    The black witches have the power to summon the darkness, they can envelop whole valleys into eternal darkness. However, the most terrifying power they have is the power over the souls of the living, they can corrupt the souls of the humans or, by spreading their evil over the souls, they can enslave humans. Black witches can also summon beings like evil demons and the dead to create their armies. They can go as far as taking the souls of the living out of their bodies, killing the living in the process, and using the souls to reanimate inanimate objects. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    The white witches have the power to banish the darkness, to bring light into the eternal darkness and stop it from ever happening again. They have the power to talk to the animals and, in time of need, call them to aid her in battle. The most powerful thing a white witch can do is summon the magical beings to aid her in the battle, beings like Hesperos, unicorns, dragons, chimera, griffin and the phoenix. The magical beings were powerful allies in battle. White witches also have endless knowledge about potions, especially potions that protect from evil. Hesperos explained how before the last battle, between Althea and Morgaine, Althea made potions to protest human and witches souls and bodies from evil, how that crippled Morgaine''s tactic during the fight and gave them an advantage big enough to win and stop Morgaine.


    Hesperos continued to explain that the destinies of the black and white witches were always intertwined. It has been like that since the beginning of the world, it was just how the world works. The witches were born at approximately the same time, they were destined to battle after they both reached their full power and, depending on the result of the battle, the next thousand years will be chaotic or peaceful. The black and white witches couldn''t be killed in battle, the witch that won the battle just took the magic of the one that lost, living her to live the next thousand years as a normal human, waiting for her successor.


    The magic the winner takes amplifies the power of the witch that took it. If a black witch wins, her amplified evil magic envelops the world and the world is thrown into chaos. The next thousand years her magic feeds the souls and minds of humans with darkness and the world is plagued by wars, disease, hate and misery. If a white witch wins, her amplified benevolent magic envelops the world in peace. The next thousand years her magic purifies and rejuvenates the world bringing joy, peace and prosperity to the world.


    When the next black and white witch are born, it is the job of the last black and white witches to transfer all their knowledge and teach the new witches about their powers until the new witches reach their full power. After that, the last witches die, leaving the worlds fate in the hands of the new witches.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I said that your presence after only half a millennium was strange. Althea won the last battle and took the black witches magic. That meant that the world needed Althea¡¯s magic to bring peace to the world for the next thousand years.¡± Hesperos turned his head towards the forest, a worried look in his eyes. ¡°But somehow, for the first time in history, a white witch who won a battle died before her time and the world has no witch whose magic it can use to keep the balance.¡±


    ¡°So what now? There is probably a new black witch, because I¡¯m here, and, as you said Morgaine the old black witch is still here, so the new black witch has a mentor. I don¡¯t. ¡± With panic in her voice, Selene stood up and started to walk in a circle. ¡°I don''t know anything about my powers. I have never been in battle. How do I even know where the black witch is and when she¡¯ll attack? How do I prepare if I don''t know anything?¡± Selene was mumbling to herself, panic now clearly apparent in her voice.


    Hesperos stood up and walked in front of her. ¡°Althea was my friend. She told me a lot about her powers. I will tell you all I know including the incantations to call the animals into battle and incantations to summon each magic beings to your aid.¡±


    Hearing those words Selene felt like a large weight fell off her shoulders. Legends were true, seeing a unicorn did bring you unworldly luck.


    Selene, excited that she could summon magical beings, asked Hesperos to tell her more about the magical beings she could summon. Hesperos first explained his powers, powers of the most magical beings in the world, unicorns. Unicorns horn had healing powers and the power to purify things, like lakes, rivers and springs. Unicorns had the power of true knowledge, the knowledge of how the world and magic worked. The ability to see in the eternal darkness, enhanced speed, unbelievable strength and they could not be tamed, like other animals. They were the only magical beings that could turn invisible so no other beings, human or magical could see them. They were also the longest living magical beings, they lived for many thousands of years.


    The second most magical beings in the world were dragons. They rarely left their nests, most of their time they spent sleeping for centuries at a time deep inside volcanoes, caves, deep underwater or on top of the highest mountains, depending on what kind of dragon they were. They left their nests and spent their time awake mostly to feed, to find a mate and to take care of their young. They were connected to nature and the elements so there were fire, earth, water and wind dragons. Depending on the kind of dragon, only meant what kind of element they had control over the rest of the powers were the same for all dragons. They had enhanced senses, speed, strength, they had nearly impenetrable scales and were highly intelligent. They were capable of living for up to more than a thousand years.


    The third most powerful magical beings were the chimera and the griffin. They both had enhanced strength and sight. The chimera could breathe fire, and its snake-headed tail has venomous fangs that could excrete venom. The griffin had enhanced speed and agility while flying.


    And there was the phoenix. He was a special magic being that was immortal, it never died like the other beings in the world. It could die, but when that happened, his body just turned into ashes and stayed like that for some time until he rose again from the ashes. The phoenix was the only being that went through a constant cycle of death and rebirth in the world. His power matched the power of the unicorn and the dragons, sometimes even surpassed it, but the phoenix couldn¡¯t always be summoned. His most powerful ability was to incinerate anyone or anything with a single touch. That ability was so strong, it could reduce a whole human to ashes in seconds. He had unbelievable strength, rapid regeneration, it could regenerate from any and all non-fatal injuries The phoenix was the only magic being that could teleport, disappear and reappear at will in bursts of flames and take whoever is holding them along. Having a phoenix as an ally in battle was a big advantage.


    Selene absorbed every word, Hesperos said, with so much eagerness. She couldn¡¯t believe how much about the world she didn¡¯t know.

 Chapter 3: Althea’s knowledge

    Since their first meeting, Hesperos visited Selene everyday teaching her things Althea told him about white witches. About incantations to call animals and every incantation for each magic being. He told her what potions Althea used to prepare for the battle with the black witch and how she knew when and where the battle would take place.


    There were signs that appear before the final battle. The first one appears two days before as a massive gathering of dark clouds over the area the battle will take place. The second one is endless darkness covering the battlefield. The battle starts when the white witch steps into the battlefield and banishes the darkness, so the black witch chooses the place, but the white witch chooses the moment the battle starts.


    Althea chose her moment and her tactics wisely. Althea knew that she couldn¡¯t win alone so she gathered as many witches as she could to help her battle the black witch. She prepared the potions for the humans near the battlefield to protect their souls and their minds from the black witches power, so she couldn''t use the humans or their souls as her slaves. After all the preparations were done she still didn''t start the battle. She waited for the old black witch to die so the new black witch had no one to help her in battle. This also meant that her mentor, a woman she respected and loved as her own mother, will die. They said their goodbyes and as her mentor died, she went to start the battle.


    Selene learned a lot from Hesperos and she was very grateful to him, she even made him another potion for unicorns, because he said that he loved them and almost never got the chance to drink them.


    One day Selene heard knocking on her door and every part of her body told her not to open the door. Selene could feel powerful dark energy coming from the other side of the door. As if her whole body was made from ice, she stood in the kitchen, frozen with fear. The knocking on the door repeated, this time louder. Still frozen with fear, she managed to turn her head toward the door, trying to see if she locked the door and trying not to make any noise, hoping that whoever was knocking would just go away. Shock appeared on her face as she saw that the door wasn¡¯t locked. She stopped locking the door during the day so Hesperos can come and visit her. The next knocking on the door was so strong that it opened the door ajar.


    The person, with the dark energy, pushed the door wide open. Selene saw a teenage girl, around fifteen or sixteen years old, with a soul so black it looked like in its place was a hole in the world. She was slender, with pale skin and long straight black hair that reached all the way down to her knees.


    ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Lamia. I heard you were good at making potions and, as it happens, I am in need of one.¡± Lamia said walking into the house, closing the door behind her.


    ¡°You heard wrong.¡± Selene said.


    ¡°No. One of the villagers said you were a master of potions.¡± Lamia said looking at the jars full of different items on the shelves in the room. ¡°Are these the ingredients for the potions?¡±


    ¡°No. Those are spices.¡± Selene said thinking about how to get rid of her. She felt that Lamias sheer presence poisoned the air with darkness.


    ¡°All I need is a simple love potion. You can make one of those for me, can¡¯t you?¡± Lamia said with a begging look on her face but all that Selene saw was evil in her eyes. Lamia wasn''t here for a potion, she was here on a scouting mission, to see how powerful her opponent, for the battle, is.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°I don''t make potions. Please leave my house.¡± Selene said firmly pointing at the door.


    Lamia, feeling that her true intentions were discovered, left Selene''s house. Hesperos pushed his head through the kitchen window startling Selene, whose mind was still preoccupied with what just happened, that she almost jumped out of her own skin. ¡°Hesperos...Are you insane? Don¡¯t you ever startle me like that, ever again!¡± Selene, still in shock, shouted at him. ¡°Where were you when that black witch was here? Why didn¡¯t you help me get rid of her?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t step in because I know that by now Morgaine, her mentor, told her Althea is dead and that you had no mentor. Therefore, they think you don¡¯t know anything about your powers. If I showed up they would know you know more than they think.¡± Hesperos said calmly. ¡°Let them think you have no mentor. Lamia is still young, it will take years before she reaches her true potential. Until then I will be your mentor without them knowing and that will give us an advantage in the battle.¡±


    Making advantage for yourself in battle was the key to winning, that much Selene understood. In an all out battle, she couldn¡¯t win alone against Lamia using just magic power. Althea took her time to prepare and create the advantage she needed to win the battle. Selene had a big disadvantage here. Morgaine was still alive and probably already told her successor Lamia how Althea beat her, what tactic she used. She wasn¡¯t skilled and fighting and in battle tactics, Selene wasn¡¯t friends with other witches, especially earth witches because they always fought, which she didn¡¯t like. Most of all, she didn¡¯t have the last sing to choose the moment to attack that Althea had, the death of her mentor. No, she couldn''t use the same tactic as Althea, she needed to make her own plan.


    If the black witch chooses the place of the battle that had to be a tactical move on her side, just like the white witch could choose the moment to begin the battle as a tactical move. Selene doubted that Morgaine and Lamia would choose the place for the battle at random, they were preparing their own tactics and their own plan for the battle.


    Selene asked Hesperos if he knew how a witch, who won the battle, took the magic from the witch who lost.


    ¡°There is an incantation for taking someone''s magic, but we still didn''t get to that part. You have a lot to learn. Why are you interested in that all of a sudden?¡± Hesperos looked at her confused.


    ¡°Ever since Lamia was here and saw that I don¡¯t have a mentor I¡¯m afraid that Morgaine will speed up teaching Lamia about her powers and that the battle will start sooner than we expect.¡± Selene said worriedly. ¡°I¡¯m worried that Morgaine still holds a grudge against white witches, for losing the battle, and that she¡¯ll do everything in her power to still be alive and see a white witch get defeated in battle.¡± Turning around Selene looked at Hesperos. There was panic and worry in her eyes.


    ¡°I get your point.¡± Hesperos said. ¡°I¡¯ll teach you the incantation. You need to make an amulet in which you will store the magic of the black witch. You can''t take the magic of a black witch inside you, it will corrupt your soul.¡± Hesperos explained.


    ¡°An amulet? How big? Does it have to be a special kind of amulet? Does it have to look like something?¡± Selene asked, she didn¡¯t want to do it wrong, this was the most important part.


    ¡°Just get a piece of wood, a knife and start carving what''s on your mind. Trust me, the amulet will come to you. Each white witch I knew had her own amulet that represented something that was hers or that was important to her.¡± Hesperos explained. ¡°Just start, it will come to you.¡±


    Selene picked up a piece of wood, a knife and started carving. After a few hours she finished carving, she carved a small figure of a unicorn.


    ¡°I am honored.¡± Hesperos said. ¡°I didn¡¯t know I meant that much to you.¡±


    ¡°You taught me everything I know about my powers, about how the world and magic work, you are my mentor. You changed my life, you mean everything to me.¡± Selene said with a warm smile on her face.


    ¡°Put the amulet on a string around your neck and don¡¯t take it off. Come on I¡¯ll teach you the incantation and then will get back to our studies.¡±

 Chapter 4: The battle

    So it was. Selene learned the incantation to banish the darkness from the battlefield, she made the amulet and learned the incantation to take the magic from the black witch. All she needed now was a plan for the battle.


    Two years passed since Selene first met Lamia and one morning she saw dark clouds gather over one place, not far away from her. She summoned a griffon and instructed him to fly over the place covered with dark clouds and report what he saw. The griffon reported that the clouds gathered over a valley near a castle guarded by only summoned demons, as far as he could tell. She thanked him and released him from her summoning incantation.


    Morgaine and Lamia decided to start the fight. They chose the place right in front of their castle. Selene didn¡¯t know what that meant, she knew that it was a tactical move on their part, she just didn¡¯t know what kind. In two days, the valley will be enveloped in eternal darkness and they will wait for me to make the next move.


    ¡®I¡¯m sure they still think I don¡¯t have a mentor and that I won¡¯t know what to do, I think that Hesperos and their ignorance is my only advantage at this point. ¡® Selene started thinking, trying to see what she could use as an advantage in the battle to come, to form a plan of attack either Morgaine or Lamia would expect. ¡®Summoning magical animals into battle would just attract too much attention and give away the fact that I know about my powers. I¡¯m not friends with other witches and I don''t want humans and animals to get hurt.¡¯ As different scenarios went through Selene''s head, a plan started to form. She just hoped it would work.


    For two days, Selene looked at the dark clouds, made three special potions and waited for the eternal darkness to appear. As soon as the darkness appeared and enveloped the whole valley near the castle, Selene summoned Hesperos. Hesperos came to her house. ¡°I see it¡¯s time for the battle. What¡¯s your plan?¡± He asked Selene.


    ¡°Do you remember two years ago when Morgaine sent Lamia on a scouting mission to my house?¡± Selene asked Hesperos.


    ¡°Yes I remember. Why?¡± Hesperos answered.


    ¡°Well we are going to do the same now. I made two potions for myself, a potion to make me invisible to all beings and a potion that lets me see in the eternal darkness. You have the same powers, you can turn invisible and you can see in the eternal darkness.¡± Selene said, not mentioning the third potion. ¡°If you would let me, I would like you to take me to the valley enveloped in darkness, so we can go on a scouting mission and see what is waiting for us there. If we know what is there we can better prepare for the battle.¡± Selene explained.


    Hesperos looked at her with a brief look of doubt but said ¡°Ok. I will take you there. Climb onto my back.¡± He bent his front legs so Selene could climb onto his back.


    Sitting on Hesperos back Selene drank the two potions, Hesperos used his powers and whit speed they rode towards the valley. With the power to see in the eternal darkness, they saw an army of evil beings and the dead summoned by Lamia. There were thousands of them around the castle, occupying most of the valley, just standing and waiting for the battle to start.


    Hesperos and Selene continued into the castle top look for Morgaine and Lamia. They found them sitting in the throne room, dressed like evil queens from fairy tales, talking about Selene.


    Lamia seemed worried, she said that starting the battle so soon wasn¡¯t a good idea, that she still didn¡¯t reach her full potential and that she didn¡¯t want to be defeated. Morgaine kept telling her that the white witch Selene, her opponent in battle, would never reach her full potential because she doesn¡¯t have a mentor. Althea, the last white witch was dead and she was the only one that could transfer her knowledge about the powers to the new white witch, so she had nothing to worry about. There was no way that she could lose the battle this time, fate was in her favor this time.


    Selene was right, Morgaine still held a grudge against the white witches for defeating her and taking her magic. She even went so far that she convinced her successor to start the battle before she reached her full potential, just so she could see the defeat of a white witch. Lamia was probably worried that without her full potential there was a chance she could lose and end up an empty, angry, bitter husk, like her mentor after a thousand years without power, without magic. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Selene jumped down from Hesperos back as quietly as she could as the two black witches were arguing. She walked slowly towards Lamia trying not to make any sounds. As soon as she was half an arm''s length away from Lamias back, she took the third potion bottle in her hand and silently chanted the incantation to banish the darkness. The two witches stopped arguing and started looking around, they both felt the power of the incantation, they looked at each other and Morgaine said to Lamia that it¡¯s time for the battle.


    As Lamia turned around she felt a hand on her chest and heard Selene''s voice chant the incantation to take her magic.  As all the magic started draining from Lamia into the unicorn amulet and Lamia fell down to the floor. Morgaine screamed with rage, rage that boiled in her blood for centuries. By the laws of the world, the new black witch was defeated and there cannot be two old black witches, Morgaine¡¯s scream was silenced as she died. During this, Selene drank the third potion and after a few seconds became visible.


    The everlasting darkness was gone, the black witch had no more magic and all the summoned evil beings and the dead vanished from the valley. Lamia was still lying on the floor, unconscious, as Hesperos walked over to Selene.


    ¡°You deceived me. Why didn¡¯t you tell me your plan?¡± Hesperos said. Selene could see that he felt betrayed and hurt because she lied to him.


    ¡°I told you the truth. I really meant for this to be just a scouting mission. But when I saw them arguing and saying that Lamia didn¡¯t reach her full potential I knew all of this was the work of Morgaine¡¯s selfish reasons, trying to get back at me, to get back at white witches. This was never meant to be a real battle, this was meant to be a trap, so I reacted.¡± Selene said apologetically. ¡°No plan in the world could stop the hatred of a bitter black witch so I used the chance of surprise to sneak up to Lamia and take her magic. It was the only logical move to make. If I didn¡¯t do it we would have never won.¡± Selene looked at Hesperos trying to find approval for her actions in his eyes.


    Hesperos hit the floor with his front hoof a few times, he looked like he was thinking. ¡°I see your point. They thought you had no mentor, that you didn¡¯t know about your powers, and summoned thousands of slaves for their army. It was a trap.¡± Hesperos looked at her sideways agreeing with her, thinking how he missed that this was a trap but Selene saw right through it, this was so unlike him.


    ¡°What are we going to do with Lamia?¡± Hesperos asked Selene.


    Selene crouched next to Lamia and slightly shook her shoulder. ¡°Lamia, wake up! Can you hear me?¡± Lamia was still unconscious ¡°Come on Lamia. Wake up!¡± Selene shook her shoulder again.


    Lamia started to wake up and opened her eyes. ¡°What...Where am...¡± She saw Selene crouching over her and a unicorn standing beside her, panic and fear appeared on her face. She backed away from them. ¡°Don¡¯t touch me! What have you done to me? Where is Morgaine?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Morgaine was out of control, I had to stop her and the only way to do that was to take your magic. I¡¯m sorry.¡± Selene said apologetically. ¡°You saw yourself that there was something wrong with Morgaine.¡±


    ¡°My magic! No!¡± Lamia screamed. ¡°No! I don¡¯t want to end up as Morgaine! A hateful, bitter empty husk. A witch with no magic for a thousand years. Give me back my magic! NOW!¡± She screamed at Selene.


    ¡°I can¡¯t give you back your magic. It¡¯s not yours anymore, it¡¯s not mine either. Your magic now belongs to the world. Didn''t Morgaine tell you that?¡± Selene looked at her confused.


    ¡°No, she didn¡¯t. How do you know that? Your mentor is dead. Where did you learn that?¡± Lamia asked Selene baffled.


    ¡°I taught her that. I was her mentor.¡± Hesperos said.


    Lamia looked at Hesperos, trying to comprehend why the most magical being in the world would help a white witch, trying to understand the connection between them. ¡°We thought she didn¡¯t have one.¡±


    ¡°You thought wrong and your and Morgaine¡¯s ignorance and arrogance was the cause of your downfall.¡± Hesperos said.


    ¡°Don''t be so hard on her. It wasn''t her fault. Morgaine was the one that caused this mess for her own selfish reasons.¡± Selene said to Hesperos. ¡°What will you do now Lamia?¡± Selene asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Just leave me alone.¡± Lamia said as tears started appearing in the corners of her eyes.


    ¡°I just wanted to say that if you ever need help or a friend you can always come to me.¡± Selene said, hoping her words will bring some comfort to Lamia, but lamia just sat on the floor crying.


    Selene and Hesperos left the caste, the valley and returned to Selene ¡®s cottage.


    ¡°A thousand years of peace sounds good. I know I¡¯ll miss you so I would like that you still come to visit me when you have time.¡± Selene said to Hesperos.


    ¡°Be safe until we meet again. And I wouldn¡¯t mind a potion once in a while, they are just so delicious.¡± Hesperos said, with what could only be described as a bad attempt to wink, and left.


    ¡°A thousand years until I become someone''s mentor. It¡¯s a long time, I hope it will be enough to prepare the world for another thousand years of peace.¡±