Read Online Crystal and the Damned - Possession by Burggraf Audrey - Free Book Online

working. I fight and nothing happens. I’m always alone. Happiness doesn’t want anything to do with me. I know what you’ll say – that’s okay ; Prince Dimitri will eventually put an end to my torments.”
    “Oh, sweetie, you’re not well. I guess everyone is doing pretty poorly right now. Can I do something for you ? Would a piece of pie make you feel better ? Thatalways works for me – except for my diet, of course,” Miranda remarked with regret.
    “No pie, thank you. On the other hand, do you know anything about love potions ? That could be useful to me.”
    Refusing to have that conversation, which in her opinion degraded the image of magic, the sorceress moved away. But Crystal suddenly stopped her, gripped by a flash of understanding.
    “Wait. In fact, there is something you can do for me.”
     
    She took Miranda along into the meditation hall in the apartment, the Paladine’s favorite place for working magic. It was a perfectly round room with stone walls, located in the center of the apartment.
    The ceiling was peculiar. A cupola of stained glass in indefinable colors, always changing : a rainbow of all possible shades and colors.
    “Tell me again what you want, Crys, and try to convince me, because if you don’t I’m going to head for my room and listen to my Norah Jones album.”
    “I know that I’m so clueless at combat that you never wanted to let me learn magic. But I was thinking about Prince Dimitri again, and had a burst of inspiration. We should try it.”
    “The learning and mastery of magic is a long and painful task,” the sorceress rambled on for what seemed to Crystal to be the hundredth time.
    “I’ll be patient. Teach me, it’s the only thing that might still give meaning to my life,” Crystal said dramatically.
    Miranda agreed reluctantly and sat down, folding her knees under her and inviting her pupil to do the same.
    “Close your eyes and concentrate.”
    The young woman complied. The Paladine’s voice resonated and became a murmur : clear, soft, and regular.
    “Magic is a union between your essence and the cosmos. Each being has a personal energy connected to eternity and the universe. The energy that is within you is what you use to perform magic.”
    The sorceress was abruptly interrupted. Cornelia had just opened the door without warning, sticking her head through the opening.
    “Say, girls, do you have a light ? Laugh if you want to, but all the lighters seem to be disappearing lately. Maybe they’re dematerializing.”
    Miranda, who wasn’t laughing at all, chased her out. Once calm, she took Crystal’s hands.
    “I’m going to help you visualize your energy. Assuming that we’re left in peace for five minutes.”
    The young woman breathed in seriously. She put her whole soul into it. After Falada, after Dimitri, after her successive humiliations, she felt as though it were now or never. She had to show everyone. And in spite of the purity that the sorceress transmitted to her, she felt something dark seep into her. Something grand and eternal. She licked her lips and they tasted like blood and power. The world turned and then disappeared. Crystal let go of Miranda’s hands ; her father’s essence roared within her. She wanted it ; she called to it. Give me the strength . And an energy, white and obscure, swept through her whole body. She threw her head back, transported.
    The Paladine opened her eyes, feeling a slight warmth spread through her hands. She jumped. Crystal was bathed in gold. Around her the light intensified and grew. The cupola that acted as the ceiling had also taken on a golden color. Open-mouthed, the little redhead whispered :
    “What the….”
    Crystal opened her eyes. She collapsed. The power left her and she became herself again. The light disappeared.
    “Oh my God, Miranda. Something happened. My power – I felt it. I finally felt it.”
    “Yes, I see it now. It’s within you. It is you. We’ve spent all this