Chapter 13 #2
He wasn’t wrong. The Books of Time were where shifterkind wrote down our history away from humans.
Every year, new books were added into the Library of Knowledge, where the original copies of The Books of Times are kept.
As a leader in any shifter race, it was encouraged for us to read the first ten books as well as the most recent ten books.
We knew of only a few people who had read the entire collection of the Books of Time.
We couldn’t say that we even attempted to read that many, but we had read the first three books, so we knew that when the original Fate created the world, it took a lot for Fate to continue to run the world alone.
Slowly, Fate’s energy was depleted, and Fate knew Fate would cease to exist. Fate decided to find the shifter with the purest of hearts to take Fate’s mantle and become the next Fate.
The cycle was set to continue. Then, The Great War broke out as someone tried to take the power from Fate, which led to the Dark Mages being banished and shifters almost being wiped out, which was where humans came into existence.
Smacking his lips, Cree frowned at his dad. “Man, ain’t nobody read them long-ass books aside from you and Mom.”
“I’ve read a few of them,” Delcan chimed in.
“I read most of the ancient ones.” Naiobi raised her hand.
“Me too. Naiobi helped me study them,” Zamiyah chimed in.
“I only read the first one.” Yves shrugged.
“Kenzo, brother, don't leave me hanging.” Cree smirked at me.
“I can’t help you. I’ve read them too.” I chuckled at the defeated expression on Cree’s face.
“You have the capacity to be a great leader, but you lack the discipline required,” Tiny said with her lip turned up at Cree.
“Unh-huh. I hear you,” Cree mumbled as he threw his hands up in defeat.
“Teeny is the one coming to me in my dreams?” Bellamy asked as she turned from Tiny to Minnie.
“The Far Plains are not a dream. It is a place Mages go to communicate with the ones who’ve passed,” Tiny answered.
“Umm… She kept telling me love and friendship go hand and hand. Something about love being the key or something cryptic like that,” Bellamy said while looking up at us for reassurance.
If anything, Bellamy had to know we had her back.
We wrapped our arm around her waist and pulled her body into ours to give her more comfort.
“That sounds like our sister. She always speaks in riddles.” Minnie chuckled.
“You mean all y’all speak in riddles and cryptic messages for us to figure out like we are some detectives,” Cree playfully spat while smirking at the sisters.
“A fool can listen but not hear,” Tiny replied while looking annoyed.
“Hush, Creeland,” Halo snapped, shushing her mate. “What spell did Teeny cast?” she asked with her brow frowned.
Minnie and Tiny shared a look with each other like they didn’t want to say what it was.
“The Blood of the Phoenix,” Roselee spoke up nervously.
“What the hell is that?” we asked this time.
Phoenix were legendary shifters. Only one was born every thousand years, and it was rare for them to reveal their true nature to anyone because they were often hunted for their blood. Drinking their blood was said to make people unkillable.
“You and Bellamy were always destined to be mated. Your bond will bring about a powerful warrior who will help complete The Great Prophecy. Your cub will be the chosen one’s fated mate,” Tiny said while looking directly at Bellamy and me.
“When Teeny first came to me, you and your sister were small. She tried to warn your dad and me that a great evil was coming after you and your sister. Because of my relationship with Fate, I didn’t believe her.
I felt like Fate would keep my family safe.
I had Fate’s favor in my mind; there was no need for me to worry.
In my arrogance, I ignored Teeny’s warnings until it was too late.
” A look of gloom passed over Roselee’s face as tears began to fall.
“You and your sister were playing outside one day when I heard you screaming.
Immediately, Brice and I ran outside to find a Dark Mage standing over you two casting a spell.
She tried to flee when she saw us coming, but I killed her.
Brynlee, your sister, seemed okay. Bellamy, on the other hand, was passed out, and there was a cloud of darkness over her.
For days, I prayed to Fate to wake my pup up.
Ferrin was there with me too. She came and prayed every day with me.
“About a week later, Teeny came back. She told us the Dark Mage had created a darkness inside of both of you to corrupt your souls. I was heartbroken because I blamed myself. I should have listened when I had the chance. Knowing both my daughters would eventually turn to the dark side, I pleaded with Fate to forgive me for my pride, and Fate did. Teeny came back, and she told me when Bellamy turned sixteen, she’d cast the spell of the Phoenix that would pull the darkness from Brynlee and Bellamy. ”
“How did we get separated?” Bellamy asked while stepping forward toward Roselee with concern etched across her face.
“Ferrin. Slowly, the same darkness that was inside of you and your sister, I started to see it in her. My best friend changed. She wasn’t the carefree, happy Mage she used to be.
I tried to talk to her, but she closed herself off to me.
When Ferrin killed Byron, it seemed our world slipped into chaos.
I always knew the Phoenix spell was a direct spell from Fate, and it scared me because everyone knew death came to those who tried to use Fate’s magic.
However, I learned my lesson from doubting Fate, so I pushed through my fear. ”
“Doesn’t that spell split the shifter in two parts? Isn’t it to separate the animal from the human?” Halo answered.
“Close. I see you’ve been working on your spells.
” Minnie smiled at Halo. “This version of the Phoenix spell uses the flames of a phoenix to cleanse the body of all the negative or bad things in said shifter. Once the darkness is cast from the shifter, you're supposed to kill the dark forms. This spell is very dangerous because the flames from a phoenix burn hotter than anything on this planet, and their flames can easily grow out of control if things aren’t properly controlled. By Fate’s blessing, everything worked out.
The darkness in Bellamy and Brynlee was able to be separated from them.
However, we decided to use their dark forms as a distraction because we knew evil was still coming after Bellamy. ”
“Bellum and Blossom were the darkness in Bellamy and Brynlee?” Yves looked intrigued.
“Correct,” Tiny answered him. “We placed Bellamy in hiding with Venus, Brynlee with Rozan, both Grandeur Mages Roselee and Ferrin grew up with.”
“Is that why my bear didn’t care for Bellum? Like, we knew she was our fated mate, but he didn’t want to claim her.”
“Yes. While Bellum was a part of Bellamy, she wasn’t truly her. Bellum was the darkness they tried to place inside of Bellamy,” Minnie responded to me.
Oddly, we felt relief hearing that Bellum wasn’t our true mate.
A lot of things made more sense to us now.
Guilt always consumed us because we didn’t mourn Bellum the way we felt we were supposed to.
Our attraction to Bellum was there in the sense we knew she was our fated mate, but it wasn’t all-consuming like I always thought having a fated mate was supposed to be.
It wasn’t until we laid eyes on Bellamy that we understood the true connections of a fated mate.
Our every breath became filled with thoughts of how to become one with Bellamy.
She was our everything, and there was nothing that was going to take her from us.
“So, basically, she still fucked my mate?” Zamiyah asked in a nasty tone while rolling her eyes at Bellamy.
“Chill yo ass out, Zamiyah. I don’t know what you got going on, but chill out, bruh,” Yves snapped while looking at Zamiyah menacingly, his eyes glowing white.
“Fuck you, Yves! You're just standing up for your whore!” Zamiyah screamed before standing up and storming out of the living room, bumping Bellamy on her way out. We had to quickly grab Bellamy before she could snatch Zamiyah by her hair.
“What the hell is wrong with her?” Bellamy asked while glaring at Yves.
“I don’t know. Let me go find out,” Yves grumbled before standing to his feet and following the path Zamiyah used to storm off.
“I swear she isn’t always like that,” Halo said while staring in the direction Yves and Zamiyah had gone.
“Her darkness is growing.” Tiny looked at Minnie as she spoke.
“What does that mean?” Halo asked.
“Time is of the essence,” Tiny stated. Then she and Minnie disappeared as fast as they appeared.
“I need a moment,” Bellamy quickly said, then left just as fast.
I turned to follow Bellamy. Our mate was hurting. We could hear it in her voice and feel it in our heart.
“Let me. I’ve missed my pup so much. I just want a moment with her,” Roselee said with her hand on my arm. Nodding my head, I stepped back, signaling for her to go. “Thank you,” she said with a soft smile.