Excerpts from the Book of Caleb 2 (Side story)

Author's note: This is another chapter in the side story set in the distant future. It's not canon to the story, just something that was floating in my head.

Major John Brooks followed the floating ball of light into the command bunker just north of his companies stretch of trenches. "What's the scout report?" he asked the beautiful young looking witch inside.

Hilda Anders, great granddaughter of Kathy Anders, was seated in front of a bowl of fountaining water. She didn't open her eyes as she said, "We didn't fool them. The Chosen have turned and are heading this way. Two to three hundred ground troops. Half a dozen armored vehicles. I can also see four dark stalkers and a shadow demon."

She opened her eyes and said, "I can't stop them. If I had a week to prepare, then maybe. I'm sorry John. I don't have the mana to take on a shadow demon alone."

The major took off his helmet and ran his fingers through his sweaty hair. "Then get out of here Mom. We'll slow them down and buy time for you and the refuges to escape."

Hilda stood and picked up her enchanted breastplate. "You'll last longer with me here. I'm staying John. What would I tell Grandma Kat if I left my son behind?"

Tears streamed down Kathy's face as her magic dissipated and her surroundings shifted to a burned out hole in the side of a trench. At least now she knew. She held her hand above the pair of dead dark stalkers. A ball of flame sparked into life in her hand and she blew air towards it. The ball of fire jetted from her hand and consumed the bodies. Hilda's broken body had been found twenty feet further down the trench line, a hole the size of Kathy's fist in Hilda's chest. She didn't know where Hilda's son was. His company was shattered. A hundred and fifty men had held their ground here. So far, Kathy and the relief **** had found seven survivors.

With one hand on her broom, Kathy floated out of the trench and landed beside the commander of the relief ****. She waited patiently while the Captain gave orders to his troops. Her daughter's Faith and Charity landed beside her. Kathy held up her hand to forestall them from speaking. Finally the Captain turned to Kathy.

"I'm sorry ma'am. I heard about your great granddaughter. You have my sympathy."

Kathy waved her hand and said, "You've lost more than I have today Captain. I should be apologizing to you and your men. We were... No. I was overconfident. I thought the chosen would hit us further west. General Hideyoshi tried to convince me it was a feint, but I sent my children there anyway and the men here... I'm sorry. I should have spread my girls out more along the line. I... I'm sorry."

Faith put her arm around Kathy and said, "It's not your fault Mom. Or Dad's. Rose is cranking out dark stalkers like she has an unlimited amount of mana. From the way they were concentrated, we all thought they were going to hit us closer to the city. I also confirmed my traitor sister summoned a shadow demon. We took care of it, but Destiny got burned. She drank a healing potion, and Charity cast a healing spell on her. She'll be fine in a day or two."

Charity held up a twisted bit of metal and said, "It's not all bad news Mom. All but two of the refuges survived. And I found this in the shadow demon's remains. It was definitely enchanted. Rose must have used it as the catalyst for the summoning."

Kathy took the half melted item and cast a re-forging spell on it. She let go and it hung in the air as it began to heat. It started to smoke as the dirt on it was burned away. After a brief burst of flame the smoke puffed away. Kathy clenched her hand and the bit of metal cooled instantly. Revealed before them was a silver ring.

Kathy held out her hand again and the ring settled upon it. It had a peridot stone.

Kathy held it to her chest. She cried fresh tears as she whispered, "She's alive. She has to be."

Louder she said, "This explains everything. I know how Rose is creating her shadow army. I know how she created the plague too. And how she is controlling her soldier's minds."

Faith exclaimed "How Mom? What is that ring?"

Kathy wiped the tears from her eyes as she said, "She must have stolen one of my spell books before the attack on the mansion. Melissa is alive. She has to be. Rose has been syphoning Melissa's magic."

She held up the ring so her daughters could see. "This was Melissa's old harem ring. Shortly after your father blessed me with magic, I enchanted our harem rings with the strongest protection spells I could cast. When Caleb married us, we each traded in our harem ring for our wedding bands. Our wedding bands hold much stronger enchantments. But I kept the harem rings for their sentimental value. I put them in the vault we built in the old bomb shelter under our mansion. Rose must have broken the magic seal I placed on it. The rings sat in a case beside my most dangerous spell books."

Kathy sat on a fallen tree trunk and explained, "I never wanted you girls to learn those spells. I should have destroyed those books after I wrote them, but I always hoped one of those spells could be useful one day. I spent decades researching them. I told myself that we needed that knowledge, even if the spells were too dangerous to cast. All this time, I thought Rose had been researching her spells in secret, and that is how she created her shadow army. I thought she was creating her own spells to cause all this **** and destruction. All she did was steal from me. I caused this war."