Read Online Birthright - Book 2 of the Legacy Series (An Urban Fantasy Novel) by Ryan Attard - Free Book Online Page A

now, more so than before, that we speak. But first, I must see to your apprentice,” he said. “Abigale, I am sure that you have no idea of the significance of what you just experienced. You managed to tap into my mind, my very nature, and that is why you collapsed the way you did. It was necessary for me to erase those images from your mind lest you remain incapacitated for the rest of your life. But the fact that you not only felt, but interacted with such a power, shows that you have more potential than any of us think, even your mentor.”
    He raised his hand slightly. “I cannot explain the nature of my power, because no one, not even Amaymon, will fully understand it. But I can say that it takes an extraordinary mind to gaze upon my true nature. Demons, angels and humans alike would have probably died on the spot or at least had their minds destroyed.”
    He looked at Tiger. “It seems that there has been a change of plans. Please call Phoenix over.” Tiger nodded once and left from where he had come from.
    “Abigale,” Sun Tzu went on. “I may have been wrong in my decision. I would like you to have a proper channel, after all. And I believe I have the perfect candidate right here.”

10
    “You sure about that, Mr. Tzu?” I heard Eddie whisper to Sun Tzu. The two were hunched over a console as the computer buzzed to life, leaving myself and Abi just standing there. Amaymon took it upon himself to wade silently over and hop onto the workbench, curling around in an empty space.
    “Why, yes,” replied the elder. “Yes, I have been convinced that Abigale is capable of handling it. And it would be a shame to keep the poor thing locked for another sixty years, now wouldn’t it?”
    “I don’t know about that. Instructions exist for a reason,” countered Eddie. “Who knows what that thing will do?”
    “My dear boy, the world is changing. You are changing. Ancient laws must make way for modern circumstances,” said Sun Tzu sweetly. Eddie gave a brief bow before resuming his tapping on the keyboard.
    “Erik, Abigale,” called Sun Tzu. “Would you please come over here?” The chair he indicated looked like something out of a torture chamber. It had more wires coming out if it than one of those World War II computers. Sun Tzu grasped Abi’s arm and calmly led her to the chair, where he began sticking pads on her hands, arms, chest and forehead.
    “This is a method for reading your aura, the energy radiating from within you,” Sun Tzu explained as he worked. “Eddie is quite talented at these calculations and it saves you from having to be… assessed… by Tiger.”
    “What was up with that guy anyway?” I asked.
    Sun Tzu flashed an innocent smile. “Some things are better left to their own devices.”
    Eddie cleared his throat. “We’re good to go. Everything’s A-okay. All that’s left is for you to break the seal.”
    Sun Tzu quietly hobbled over to the segmented wall and once more put his hand on the center. The square circumferences receded into his palm and then spread out until a large circle of light glowed intensely in the middle of the wall. The stone within the circle wavered and rippled wildly. Just like a portal , I thought. From it, a large circular object, six times the height of Sun Tzu, came out one inch at a time. Once it settled on the ground with a resounding boom , I quickly realized it was a cauldron. I am not kidding, it was the mother of all cauldrons, with a large lid on the top. All around it were chains, like the kind that ships use for their anchors, each link about as thick as my wrist and as wide as my palm. The ends conjoined to a locket in the middle — a neat, elliptical chunk of metal with a glass front. Inside, I could see fire more intense than I’ve ever conjured. It burned a bright white, its luminosity making it painful to look at directly.
    “All that is left now is to wait for Phoenix to open the lock,” said Sun Tzu as he patted one of the