The priest laughed again and said, "It took you so long to discover. Both of you are such morons! Everything was happening right beneath your nose, yet you couldn't decipher." He continued to throw white beams at Daryn, who dodged them easily. "I was always working for her. Did you think that it got over? No!" Canton's voice boomed. "The woman is far more intelligent than both of you and is my disciple. The Mozrath—"

An explosion in the cottage caught their attention and the brothers ducked shocked as hell. Blood curdling screams pierced the night like a dagger.

​​

"What was that?" asked Caleb, as he rose to his feet.

"I had to kill the second chief, you see otherwise he would have revealed my plans to the council members!"

Caleb's eyes darted to the woman in the distance whose body was now lying in a pool of blood.

"How do you know about Mozrath?" Daryn's eyes widened at the revelation. So Sherwin had been right about this part.

Canton waved his hand in the air and rolled his eyes. "I am a part of Mozrath. We are all going to rule the Lore!" His voice was menacing. "The Mozarth knows that Dawn carries the child that would kill Sedora. We all have been watching you closely. We hoped that you would bring Dawn to Ixovita. It would have been so much easier for me to kill her. We created such a perfect ploy, but you Daryn, you—" he ground his teeth. "You didn't get her over here this time!"

Surprise didn't cover it. Daryn was aghast. For a moment his mind stuttered. It took him a second for the information to sink in. But it was there, right before him—Canton backstabbed them royally. They were in such deep conspiracy that it was impossible to come out of it. He felt like someone had punched him on his chest whooshing the air out of him. A cold knot of dread dropped in his stomach. His magic weakened upon hearing Canton's disclosure. Fear skittered down his spine, when he realized what Canton just said. Dawn was alone in Bainsburgh. He had this urgent need to go to her. She was exposed to danger and so was he.

His lips bared into a feral scorn exposing his fangs. "So all the while you were actually training us, what was it for?" The priest had come to train them with so much interest, exhibiting loyalty and being so good that it was impossible to think that he was planted by Sedora in the castle. He had hidden his agenda so well.

Canton took the advantage of Daryn's shock and sent out a bolt in his direction, which resulted in him stumbling backwards.

"Daryn, watch out!" shouted Caleb. He rushed to Daryn to hold him and balance him back to his feet. When he looked back at Canton, he was unable to control his rage. Suddenly his body was coiled with a crazy amount of thin blue lights that crackled and sizzled as if emitting from a kiln.

Canton levitated higher in the air with amused expressions. "So weak," he scoffed. "Isn't that obvious? That was to see your powers as a sorcerer. It was to gauge you brothers as to what kind of magic you had because it is important to know the strengths of your enemies. And I know everything about you because I am the one who taught you. You see there are so many things I haven't taught you only to have a solid advantage over both of you." He chuckled at his foresight and sent a crackling beam of white light that looked like barbed wires at him.

On seeing what he was trying to do, Caleb slammed again into Daryn and pushed him to the side. The lights hit him instead and he found himself wrapped in it as if ropes have been thrown around an animal. He fell on the ground on his belly and strained with pain.

Daryn was horrified. "What have you done Caleb?" His brother was in a lot of agony.

Caleb gritted his teeth and tried to get out of the lights but they gripped him harder and the sparkles from it poked him like thorns.

Canton thrust his hands again to send a ball of fire in Daryn's direction. But Daryn saw it just in time to blast them by sending flashes of orange lights.

"Interesting!" Canton hissed.

"Then why did you help Caleb?" asked Daryn.

"I told you that we had to understand your magic," he replied with irritation. "Sedora had instructed me to lure you all to come to Ixoviya where I could easily use my magic to destroy you. I could have used my magic in Ensmoire too, but that dragon of yours, Quetz—he is just too powerful! When I tried to use my magic, he locked me in my brain. I became a prisoner of myself. That's why it was necessary to bring you here."

"You mean the rebellion that you had mentioned was a hoax?" asked Daryn as he judged Caleb's condition. He was on the ground moaning in pain, as he struggled his hands to move.

"No!" He laughed. "I instigated these two chiefs to go against you. It had to look real." He shrugged. "Well, partially real…" He rolled his eyes. "They were dullards. All I had to do was tell them that the new king was planning on destroying their lands and families to build a new sanctuary for his queen. They just went berserk. Fools!"

"They are not fools! They believed you as their priest and you betrayed them. You are the most trusted man of this kingdom. Who would have believed that you are speaking lies?" Daryn grated.

Canton's face twisted. "True. I can't deny it. And I am going to use this again after I kill you both over here and bury your bodies in this knoll." He raised his hand towards the air, closed his eyes and started chanting a language Daryn didn't recognize.

"What is he doing?" said Daryn worried that he couldn't decipher his magic or spells.

Caleb lifted his head up and stared at the priest and his eyes fell on his lips. He didn't know how but even he started speaking the same words. Ancient runes appeared on Canton's body and the same runes appeared on Caleb's body. They began to glow.

"Caleb!" Daryn's fear shot through the roof. But Caleb didn't seem to notice him. Suddenly a beam of light that had bounded his leg crackled noisily and broke.

Daryn stepped back watching him. He would have hurled magic towards Canton but he decided not to because he felt that Caleb had latched himself onto the priest's mind.

When Canton opened his eyes, they were glinting like fire. He brought his hands forward and a trident of white lights appeared. He flung it towards Caleb. "Die!" he yelled. However he was shocked when a similar trident came and hit it and the two blasted in the air like fireworks. Canton looked at Caleb with wide eyes and his mouth fell. Not only had he released himself from his magic but also he had managed to emulate his magic.