KALEB


    “So, you''re saying that she had been the wife of the king of Wega and the wife of Emmett Keller?” Raven uttered with a look of


    shock on her face after Anubis briefly told her the story. And then she just went back to the king after Emmett died, only she had


    assumed a new identity? That sounds... unrealistic!”


    | rolled my eyes but then forced myself to conduct myself with more decorum. Raven hadn’t met Emmett Keller in person. When


    Emmett was alive and visiting Yurene, Raven and Roxy had been too young. But the twins, along with everyone else in Yurene,


    knew all about the great sorcerer who was capable of impressive magic and then disappeared like a ghost,


    Before | could offer ament, Raven spoke again.


    “Do you believe that Cas sandra is the key to Emmett’s great sorcery?” she wondered, and when | offered the smallest of nods,


    she nodded too. “That’s possibly true, but there’s also a chance that Emmett just ruined all of his inventions before his death and


    hadn''t kept any trace of his research or information.


    “| don’t think that’s true,” | remarked. “Just before Emmett died, he didn’t have time to deal with anything back in Wild Crawler.


    So, the talisman must have been back there.


    Raven nodded thoughifully.


    “Is there a possibility that Emmett used a certain spell to keep the talisman from being found?” | ask moment to think about it and


    then shook her head firmly.


    her. Raven took a


    “No” she said. “If something contained magical power, it would be sensed, as it would surely emanate a certain amount of


    energy. But none of Ca ssandra’s things emit any power. We would have been able to discover it immediately”


    “Are you sure you haven’t just missed it?” Anubis demanded.


    Raven seemed irked by his angry tone and red at him with ferocity. Her nostrils red and her posture shifted from rxed to


    defensive. “How dare you challenge me? You''re nothing more than a low-rank sorcerer-”


    “That’s enough,” | said, and before the two could get into a quarrel, | stepped between them. My head began to ache and | found


    myself glowering at Anubis. Though she was so young, Raven was the best sorceress in the whole of Yurene. If she said that the


    ne and the rest of Ca ssandra’s belongings didn’t have any traces of magic, | didn’t doubt her. She would be able to sense


    the energy an object like that would emit.


    “Do you have any other ideas?” | asked Raven. She considered the question for a moment and then seemed to have a


    realization.


    “Yes,” she answered softly. “An idea urred to me just now but I’m not sure if it’s possible.”


    “Tell me.” | insisted calmly, though | was eager to hear her theories. She tended to ramble, but she was incredibly smart. Her


    theories weren''t anything to brush off, and if she could find an answer when | couldn''t, | would be ted..


    “Normally, a sorcerer needs a talisman to perform powerful magic,” she exined. “But the talisman isn’t necessarily a.... thing.”


    | frowned. “What do you mean?”


    Raven tucked a strand of her dark hair behind her ear. “What | mean is that it could also be a person.”


    1 froze in ce for a moment as | tried to make sense of what she was suggesting. Did she mean Cas sandra? Was the


    beautiful, mysterious healer from Wega more than just that?


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    Did Emmett Keller use Cas s andra as his talisman?


    When | asked Raven just that, she lifted an eyebrow and nced at the ground. “It’s possible. Using a person to be a talisman


    would give a sorcerer more power than say gold or silver. But | highly doubt it because it sounds far too brutal. You see, a


    talisman can be permanently damaged by powerful magic. Sorcery usually takes a terrible toll. So if a sorcerer used a person as


    a talisman.”


    Her voice trailed off and she inhaled deeply. Her statement hung in the air and | didn’t quite know how to react.


    Would Emmett do that to Cas sandra?


    | wasn’t sure. | didn’t know theplexities of their rtionship. Would he use her in that kind of way? He didn’t seem like a


    cruel, maniptive man, but then again, surely there were things | didn’t know about him.


    “You''ve been in close proximity to her, Raven,” | noted in confusion.” | saw you hug her in the banquet hall the night of the party.


    If the talisman is indeed Cas sandra herself, they why couldn’t you sense the energy emanating from her?”


    “That’s another problem, the young sorceress remarked, and she crossed her arms against her chest. “There’s no telling where it


    could be. The magic power can be sealed inside a person’s body. It could be a leg, an arm, or even half of the body. But there’s a


    cost in being a talisman. It would require a major sacrifice in return..”N?velDrama.Org: owner of this content.


    “A sacrifice? | repeated back. “What kind of sacrifice?”


    “The greater the power, the greater the sacrifice would be,” Raven continued without looking at him. “That''s why | said it would


    be brutal. Anyway this is all just an assumption, and likely a false one, since Cas sandra seemsplete. If she were a talisman,


    something would be amiss. The magic would take its toll in some kind of way”


    Anubis suddenly cleared his throat, and when | nced over at him, he had a strange look on his face.


    “Maybe she isn’t asplete as we think,” he suggested, and then he tilted his head to the side slightly. “When | was


    investigating the Wild Crawler Pack, | had heard something about Cas sandra. It was mentioned that she seemed unable to shift.


    People believed she was born with the inability. But if she had been Cora Felix, it’s impossible that she was born that way. It


    would be aplete anomaly for a member of such a high-ranking family, and she wouldn’t have been matched with Asher


    Collins.”


    “So what are you suggesting?” | wondered, and | felt the res of my headache sp ik e again. This was a lot to make sense of


    and | was irritated that | hadn’t known enough about talismans to have this idea sooner.


    “Ifa sacrifice is indeed necessary to be a living talisman, then | think that Cas sandra sacrificed her wolf,” Anubis stated


    clearly. “Or Emmett Keller made her sacrifice it


    The idea was a powerful one. | had no idea that Ca sandra was unable to shift into her wolf form. Though I''d done a great deal of


    investigating the healer, it had never been brought to my attention that she was unable to make the change.


    This changed everything.


    If Cas sandra was indeed the talisman we''d been searching for...


    “If that’s the case, things would be difficult,” Raven interrupted my thoughts, and when | turned to face her, | detected a solemn


    expression on her pretty face. “For talismans who lost their limbs, their magic power would be reactivated by cutting their


    wounds. But if its the wolf spirit... They would need to provoke it properly.”


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