Chapter 21.2

Aunt Penelope laughed bitterly. “Kohl is no descendent of Kai. He is my brother after all. He is a descendant of witches. Let me tell you the story of Kohl” she said, her eyes growing distant as she drew from her memories.

I could not believe it. Master was not a descendant of Kai. Then how did he get the book then?

“Yes, Kohl is a witch. He grew up with both me and Fredrick. He is only a year younger than us" she said.

My eyes widened, master was only a year younger than her and uncle Fredrick. How was that possible? At most master was forty. Not sixty.

Aunt Penelope chucked. “You don’t believe me. It’s true." She chuckled. "Life magic can do wonders to a person’s body. Kohl is, was going to be fifty-nine this fall.” She paused. She took in a deep breath. “You see, Kohl left the village when he was sixteen. He was all happy to go out into the world. He first entered the magic tournament held by the magic council in the Central Kingdom. Did you know he won first place?" she said smiling at the memory.

I shook my head. "I did not know very much about master Kohl's past. He never mentioned his past." I said.

Aunt Penelope sighed, "Kohl probably did not want to remember it," she said.

I nodded remembering master's eyes every night.

"He was truly talented." Aunt Penelope continued. "He was the most talented out of all of us. He returned to the village shortly after he won the tournament. Then he went on a journey across the four kingdoms. When he came back after years of travel. He brought back with him a young girl. She was about 18 at the time. He told us that he and her had married. We were all shocked. But we were truly happy for them.” She said pausing once again.

"So, master was married once. What happened to his wife?" I asked.

Aunt Penelope paused, "I will get to that part soon." She said. "They spent several years in the village and we all loved Sophia. That was his wife's name. She was a good person.”

I looked over at her, I remembered before she seemed really angry with the girl master was involved with. Was that this Sophia? But she didn't seem to hate this woman. Could master have another woman?

"It was the seventh year of their marriage. They decided on traveling the world once again." Her eyes darkened. "Fredrick and I went with them. During the time we spent with them I found something odd with Sophia. She was acting weirdly. She seemed different. I asked Kohl if she was not feeling well. Kohl said she was pregnant. We were all ecstatic. Time passed, and Sophia gave birth to a girl. They named her Tianna. She was a beautiful girl." Aunt Penelope stopped, a tear dropped down her cheek.

"Master had a daughter? Where is she now?" I asked surprised. I never imagined master having a daughter.

Aunt Penelope lowered her eyes, "She is gone," she said slowly, sadness pouring out of her words.

"What happened?" I asked.

"It was our second year traveling, we were traveling in the West Kingdom near the grand mountains. Two mages blocked our path as we were about to reach Gorgon. They claimed to be from the organization." I tensed at the mention of the organization.

"Sophia upon seeing the mages went rigid and backed away. Tianna was with her at the time. Suddenly the mages started attacking us. None of us knew what was going on, but we fought with all our might. Unfortunately, the mages were to powerful. Finally, the mages started talking and we found out about the Divine Arts. Kohl did not seem to about it." Aunt Penelope said taking sip of tea.

"Sophia went hysterical when the mages mentioned the Divine arts. The mages ganged up on her. Kohl risked everything trying to get to her side. But in the end, he was to late. She had been cornered to a cliff. Sophia in her hysterics lost her mind and pushed her own daughter off the cliff. She seemed to believe that her one-year old daughter would be able to survive the fall. She then activated the Divine Arts that she had command over. Kohl was devastated." Aunt Penelope breathed shallowly.

I could not believe it master's wife pushed her own daughter off a cliff. Why would she do such a thing?

"Sophia fought fiercely with the mages and in the end, she had won, the two mages had both died. She then fell to the ground and her eyes looked blank. Kohl got to her side and her eyes regained its color. But she was not the same any more. She cried and cried. Finally, she fainted. I looked after her. Kohl and Fredrick went down the cliff to see if they could find Tianna but there was no luck, her body was never found. After that day we found out all about the Divine Arts. We knew that Sophia was a descendant of Kai. Sophia never recovered from that day. She had lost her mind. Kohl took care of Sophia and started studying the book of divine in hopes he could fix her." Aunt Penelope stopped.

"A few months later, another mage found us." She continued. "This time Kohl risked everything against the mage, he even destroyed his witch's core, but he was still no match for the mage. Finally, Sophia entered the fight once again. She had somehow regained a little of her former self. But unlike last time she was forced to use the ninth set in the divine arts. She used the pillars of purgatory and protected us, and she activated the ninth set. The three of us were knocked unconscious due to the force of her magic. When we woke up she was already completely gone. Only the book remained.

"Kohl was heartbroken beyond belief. All he had could do was hold onto the book. I wanted him to throw it away. That book was nothing but trouble. But he refused, that was all he had left of her. We returned to the village after that." She sighed and took another sip of tea.

"He spent years just locked up in his house. We have all tried our best to help him. But it was all no use. When he finally came out he had somehow become the new bearer of the divine arts. He vowed vengeance on the organization. But he also vowed to keep the book forever away from the organization. He showed us the book many times after wards. We told him to stop his involvement with the book. All who possess it will end up dead. I did not want him to end up like all the others. We had a huge fight and he left the village."

"Later, that was 15 years ago. He came back to the village. He had you in his arm then. I was away due to some personal matters. When I came back I tried my best to persuade him to get rid of the book. We told him to we can find a way to seal it away. But he refused. Then once again he left the village." Aunt Penelope paused to take in a breath.

"He never returned to the village after that. Only when you came to us did I finally know of his demise. I warned him, I begged him. But he would not listen. Now I also want to tell you to do the same. The book is dangerous. I know there must be some kind of curse on it. How else can the organization find its bearer over and over again." She said

"I know you will not listen either. So, I’ve got proof that the book is not what it seems. Carter it’s your turn." She said turning to the side.