Page 75 of Demons & Damnation

“So I have siblings out there somewhere? Well, half siblings.”

“Potentially, Marmalade,” Malcolm said. “But what age they are or where they are is another matter. They might not even share the same father as you. There are many powerful demons in Hell who can father children with witches from these bloodlines.”

Kyla let out a long breath and after a few seconds she nodded, as if finally accepting her fate. “Ok, got it. I think. I’m only shielded from others by this ring. Apart from that, I may as well have a massive neon sign above me saying ‘elemental witch’.”

Malcolm and Lily chuckled.

“Can you tell me what happened to Alice?”

“Well,” Lily said, clearing her throat. “No one really knows for sure. We know she fled Ireland in thirteen twenty-four. After that, she disappeared.” Lily shrugged her shoulders. “By the year, most would expect her to be dead. I personally don’t think she is.”

Kyla frowned. “How could she not be dead? What made her leave Ireland?”

“The life of a powerful, elemental witch is only ever over when she’s ready for it to be. Alice had a role to play all those years ago and we don’t know whether she fulfilled that or not. Or if she did, maybe she’s not ready to leave it be. Who knows? As for why she left, we can only guess because she was discovered somehow. Seven hundred years of history buries a lot of secrets.”

Kyla picked up the remainder of her crisp sandwich and ate it, losing herself deep in thought as she finished the deliciously weird snack. Her mind raced with possibilities and filled with a million questions. Lily and Malcolm watched her, curious as to what she would say or do.

Wiping her hands on her jeans, Kyla swallowed the last of her food, took a mouthful of drink and then looked at her grandparents. “Ok, question one. How many siblings could I potentially have? Or rather, how many other witches like me will exist?”

“There are only ever four alive at any one point,” Malcolm said.

“So if Alice is still alive, there are only two others?”

“Alice won’t be alive like how you’re thinking,” Lily said. “She won’t have a physical body. From that perspective, there will be three more of you alive somewhere. They could be sixty or sixteen, we don’t know.”

“And our purpose is for what exactly?”

Lily shrugged her shoulders. “No one knows. But once the first of that quartet has passed, the others have to die before a new quartet can come into being. On that basis, you could be looking at a good hundred years in between each living quartet of elementals.”

“My ring,” Kyla said, lifting it from the table. “Why did it affect you so much when I took it off?”

“My talent is being an empath,” Lily replied. “Do you know what that is?”

Kyla nodded. “You’re sensitive to other people’s emotions.”

“Yes,” Lily said. “Especially witches, and especially my own blood. Everything you’ve endured whilst wearing that ring balled itself up inside your magick. When you took it off, it released everything like a blockage that had finally been freed. You need to remember that your emotions feed your magick as well. I felt everything all at once, like you’d hit me with a grenade. But now, now it’s all normal. I’m tuned in to your energy and soaking it all in steadily, as usual.”

“My last and final question for the day—when do I get to learn what my powers actually do?”

Lily and Malcolm smiled at each other before Lily turned to Kyla and replied, “Let’s step outside, shall we dear?”

Kyla stood up and went to grab her ring.

“No, no, no, dear,” Lily said. “Leave that where it is if you want to see the world as you should.”

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