Into the Fray: Volume 1 of The Sorcerers of Jhanvia Series by Aderyn Lonigan Page A

“I will not let you kill this child.”
    Kidreyli begged, “Please, Kaitra. His existence portends the end of all we cherish. You must allow me to finish this.”
    “No!” she commanded, and with one sweeping motion of her right hand, her magics knocked the sword from her hands. The sorceress walked determinedly toward Kidreyli, using her magics to push the warrior away from the child and firmly against the wall. “How dare you defile this place! The son of our Lord Satreka is destined to rule over this land.”
    Several soldiers arrived.
    “Guards!” commanded Satreka, “Take this intruder to Klur. I’m sure he will find a use for her.”
    Kidreyli looked back at her friend and reached out to her as she was led away. She called out, “Kaitra, please.”
    Satreka walked over to the sorceress and said, “My family owes you a great debt. I assure you, I will never forget this.”
    Kaitra saw herself walking in a darkened hallway with Satreka.
    He said, “The Valtyr you apprehended a few days ago will help us greatly in our cause. We will impregnate her and force her to give birth to the next generation of our elite warriors.”
    “Surely she will resist,” Kaitra noted as they walked into a large room. In its center, a Valtyr was hanging by her hands from chains attached to the ceiling, her feet barely touching the floor. Her body was bloodied heavily from the whipping, beating and torture inflicted by the experts.
    Satreka responded with a smile, “I’m sure Klur will be able to convince them that our way is best.”
    The Valtyr painfully raised her head. Kidreyli struggled to speak, “Kait?”
    “No!” Kaitra screamed as she pulled away from Nemainn. “What is this you two are concocting? These events could never be.”
    “Calm down, my friend…,” Cliona was interrupted.
    “Calm down?!” she furiously blurted out. “I don’t know what you two are playing at, but I will not stand for it!” She got up and stormed out of the hut. She only got four paces away before her emotions grabbed her, forcing her to stop in her tracks.
    A moment later, Cliona emerged from the hut.
    Kaitra spun around and stated angrily as a tear slipped down her cheek, “You know I would never do such things. I could never do that to Kidreyli.”
    “We did not create what you have seen, nor have we influenced it. It is real and it is but one possible future. It is vital that you understand all there is to know about it. This knowledge will strengthen you and help you to cope with what lies ahead. Please, come back into the hut.”
    Kaitra stood defiantly, looking her friend in the eyes.
    “Please,” Cliona begged.
    She yielded to her request. What else could she do. She went back into the hut, followed by Cliona, and sat away from the both of them. She stated firmly, “You both have to know that I would never betray Kidreyli or you.”
    The old woman spoke up, “Dear child, we know.”
    “Then what did I just see?”
    “The same visions you have seen before, only with more depth and clarity. I have a talent for bringing focus to such workings,” Nemainn explained.
    Kaitra paused for a moment and took a deep breath to let her emotions calm, and then she conceded, “You’re right. These visions have been haunting me for a while now, and recently they have gained in intensity.”
    “Then you realize that they will try and cast some kind of spell on you in an effort to bend you to their will, probably through a potion,” Cliona stated.
    “I have been working on a counter to the spell. I think it will prevent them from achieving that goal.”
    “What is the basic premise of your spell?” Nemainn asked.
    “I thought I would focus on an object of Kidreyli’s, something that is always with her. I would set a spell so that when I see that object, it would bring me back to myself and break whatever control they have.”
    Cliona asked, “Have you thought about how you might stop them from getting you in the first place?