The Seventh Secret

Chapter 11: The Second Secret

The next day, Poppy, Nevyn, and Hunter found themselves facing Salvatore, Skefan, and Ararenus. They wore outfits consisting of a dress for Poppy and suits for Nevyn and Hunter. The dress was a simple blue and light gray dress; it was matched with a pair of knee-high lace-up boots. The suits were dark brown and matched with a pair of short lace-up shoes and a medium-length copper cloak.

Skefan said to them, "Today, you three are going to meet the guardians, and they're going to tell you how and why they're guarding the secret library."

"Do the other students know anything about the library?" said Nevyn.

"No, and we would like to keep it that way," said Salvatore. "It would be nothing short of a disaster if the entire school knew about the library. Greywyn knew the risks of keeping the secret when he made the rule that only the guardians should know the location of the secret library."

"So, you're telling us that Greywyn created the Secret Library Guardians?" said Poppy.

"Yes," said Skefan. "He also built the library and charged the guardians with keeping its secrets."

"So, what's the point about the school taking humans from Earth and bringing them here?" said Nevyn.

"Among the captives of the witch Lucrezia were two humans named Edmond Arroyo and Shellie Kerns, who claimed to have come from Earth," said Salvatore. "Greywyn charged them with keeping the library a secret, while he and the others began building the school and destroying everything that the evil witch had done."

"So why are Kyler Dawn and Rista Blueflame here?" said Poppy.

"Well, that's a difficult story to tell," Skefan said. "When Greywyn killed Lucrezia, her entire clan found out about it and sought to destroy him. Using the magic he developed while in captivity, he was able to destroy Lucrezia's clan and every witch clan in Ostlea. He persuaded King Ozgiebill Earthchaser to ban the practice of witchcraft and to declare that anyone who practiced witchcraft would be executed.

"For the next 200 years, many witch clans were found and destroyed. While many people cheered for this reformation, a witch clan refused to surrender. They abandoned their haunt and went to live in the woods."

Poppy remembered how Kyler and Rista reacted when she revealed her name as Rhiassa. They were upset to know that a human girl used the same name as their clan leader. She said, "Rhiassa was the leader of the clan that had fled into the woods."

"Indeed she was," said Salvatore. "I was sent to find her and destroy her, but she refused to surrender. I took her name and gave it to human princess Rhiassa Earthchaser of Ostlea, the last princess who was born before the destruction of the royal family."

"So it is true that anyone other than a witch who uses the name Rhiassa is doomed because the power in that name would destroy them," said Poppy.

"That was a serious mistake on my part," Salvatore said. "Princess Rhiassa was four years old when she died during the rebellion. Her mother, her father, and six siblings, many of their relatives, and most of the noble families, had died that night. I realized my mistake and saved her two-year-old sister Emerald Angel from death, handing her over to a kindly peasant family to raise her and keep her safe from the Silverheart family, who would kill her as they killed little Rhiassa.

"I then promised to destroy Rhiassa and take control of her clan, because my father was an elf, and my mother was a witch of her clan..."

"Not to be rude or anything like that, but some witches had to survive the purge, didn't they?" said Nevyn.

"There were very few," said Salvatore. "Sometimes, it would have been five people who survived, and sometimes it would have been less than two people. No more than ten people from each of the 300 witch clans survived; in some cases, the entire clan was destroyed. Out of the 200 current members of Rhiassa's clan, there are now less than 100 witches that had survived the purge, as most of them are now dying or becoming a part of the forest. Because witches usually took human children to reproduce, the King's decree that any "ugly" child was to be put to death has also hastened the end of Rhiassa's clan."