Two weeks later, Circe was dozing on a beach in Hawaii when a sharp pain pierced her mind.
She jumped and looked around, but did not see or feel anything unusual as the pain faded.

“Hmm, strange,” she thought to herself as she settled back into the warm sand, “ that has never happened before.” She decided to wait till morning before contacting anyone to ask about it. Nothing else of importance happened that evening, and she went to bed without incident.

“CIRCE, WAKE UP!!!”

She shot straight up out of bed and hit her head on the ceiling when she heard the voice yelling in her mind.

“What the blazes? Who is talking to me?” she responded mentally as she lowered herself into bed and sat there.

“It is your mother, there is something wrong with the crystals. They are getting weaker for some reason. All of our most able magic users are concentrating to hold on to the magic hiding us. I am only able to talk to you because of our strong mental ties to each other. Do not come here, you may not be able to leave and coming here might affect your magic as well. Please warn Merlin and get his help. I will try to talk to you later.” Her voice faded as she finished.

Circe pondered it for a few minutes before contacting Merlin and telling him all she was told. He told her that he would try to find out what he could and get back with her later. She decided to try to follow the threads of magic that only the strongest mages can see. She closed her eyes and envisioned a globe in her mind. Around the globe ran thin gold threads. Each thread was connected to an individual person. The thin gold threads Circe focused on are connected to ley lines or dragon paths. They are the astral manifestations of magic that all humans possess. The average person only has one thread, the one that connects them to mother earth. If focused on a hospital at the right time, you will see two interesting things. One thread splitting into two, for the birth of a child, or a thread fading as a person dies. Only people who have access and use of their magic possess the second thread. This thread connects them to the ley lines, which is a secondary field of magic that envelops the earth like the atmosphere does. It was through these lines that the mages of Atlantis were being drained.

“Strange, the threads are fading.” She thought to herself. Looking further around the globe, she saw a single gold thread that seemed to be thickening as she watched it. “What in the world? I’ll bet this thread is somehow linked to what is going on at home. I’ll have to find out who is linked with it and how they are draining Atlantis.”

She noted the area as somewhere she had never been before but knew that she could remember where the lines were to guide her when she teleported. She now knew why she had experienced the pain on the beach earlier that day; it was her link with her mother and Atlantis itself, when the draining began the pain they felt affected her through the link. She also knew that this time she would probably be alone in solving this problem except for her limited mental contact with Merlin. She was also pretty certain that whoever was doing this was far from being an amateur. She would have to teleport to a nearby place she was familiar with and then fly from there. Hopefully, this problem would be solved without a fatal solution. She also realized that this would be the most trying problem for her yet. She would have to stay alert or the person would probably find a way to drain her as well. The biggest question in her mind was how did this person know about Atlantis.


“She is coming master.” The hag turned her white head and stared with unseeing eyes.

“Good then she does not suspect. It is working perfectly.” The man rose from his chair and picked up a beautiful diamond from a dragon clawed stand next to him.

“Let her come. I am ready.” He stared into the diamond and it started to glow. “I am very ready.”



As she prepared to leave, Circe had the feeling of being watched. She closed her eyes and focused, both tracing the watcher and hiding the fact she knew that she was being watched.

“Hmm,” she thought carefully to herself, being sure to block any possible observers from her thoughts, “So they know of me and are expecting me. I shall use this to my advantage.”

She then disguised her intentions and proceeded to go into the mind of the watcher. She found knowledge of the draining of Atlantis, but because the woman was blind she had never seen the face of the man doing it. She also did not know the name of the man because he thought her a slave worthy only to call him Master. However, Circe did find a great deal of anger and hatred directed at this man.

“Well, perhaps this knowledge will come in handy in the future,” she thought to herself. She then finished getting ready and left.

She arrived in the middle of an ancient ruin. Looking closer, Circe determined they were ancient Greek ruins, an old site yet to be discovered by archaeologists. Circe looked around for clues to where she should go next. She wanted to check the ley lines but the deep meditation required would leave her vulnerable to physical attacks.


“She is here Master.” The raspy voice of the hag echoed through the dark, dank chamber. “She has not found the entrance yet.”

“Good, good. It is proceeding perfectly. You two, prepare the crystals.” Two people hidden in the shadows ran to do as they were ordered. “I shall place the diamond myself when the time comes,” he turned to the hag, “and you old woman will lure her to our trap.”

“Yes Master.” The hag hobbled to a mirror and started chanting.


Circe looked around. Next to the corner of a building she saw an arm going past quickly. The arm was small, and very delicate, childlike. She cautiously followed it, but when she reached the corner of the desiccated building, nobody was there. The strange thing was that she knew it was not the doing of the hag or her master, for since being in the mind of the hag she would recognize the signature of the magic. She slowly started exploring the ruins, and realized the few spots that held writing were recognizable and translatable. She learned from the writings that this area was a nexus of magical power. The city that was once here was ruined by a black mage who drew his energy from the nexus, this person was defeated by an equally powerful white mage, though the wall containing the information on whether either of them died or even who they were had crumbled away to dust. She was able to find out that the white mage had sealed the nexus for a certain amount of time, and evidently that time had just ran out and it was being used by this master. Just then she felt the presence of someone behind her and turned.

Standing there, covered in mist from her waist down was an elf. She was beautiful, with long flowing green hair, emerald eyes and creamy skin. Circe however could easily tell that she was a spirit, trapped between here and the afterlife. The spirit smiled sadly and motioned Circe to follow her, which she did willingly. Elves, even in this form were rarely malevolent. She was led to a home, barely touched by time. Sitting on a pedestal was a book, and she approached it, then turned back to speak to the spirit, but it was gone. She nodded to herself, and went to the book, reading.

"The time approaches. The black sorcerer, as he calls himself, is not expecting us to join our powers to attack him. His crystal must be hidden, since it cannot be destroyed. The night grows short and we must leave with the dawn to perform the binding ceremony. All our people await in the hilltop temple for me to arrive. I am afraid, for if we fail, the world faces destruction. Goddess help us all."


"Master," the voice echoed through the chamber, "I can not see her presence here." The man turned and looked at the hag with blazing eyes.

"What are you talking about old woman. She is on our island, how could you not see her?" He walked over to the hag, and lifted her by the throat.

"Someone is interfering with my second sight." She wriggled in his grasp like a fish, desperately gasping for air and trying to get away. The deep voice of her master echoed through the chamber as he dropped her and yelled out.

"Golem, Slither. Go out into the woods and find her. When you do, bring her to me. Alive."


Circe looked around the room, and found some jars and magic books. She examined them carefully, taking what she needed, projecting her mental thanks out to the elf spirit. She then decided to find the temple next. As she stood by the door, readying to leave, she heard a hissing noise and thundering foot steps approaching. She retreated through the window and up the largest hill nearby. On the top of the hill stands a beautiful temple, untouched by time. The pillars around it are elegant and engraved with nature carvings, animals and birds appear to dance across the stone, while the trees appear to wave in the wind. The building was made of marble, all sorts of shades and colors, each matching whatever picture was on the surface. She walked to the center of the temple, and sat, looking up. The ceiling was a blue color, matching the sky outside, clouds dancing across it's surface and occasional bird flying past. She recognized the simple glammer spell cast on the stone, it would reflect whatever the sky outside showed, as if it were made of glass instead of the heavy thick marble. She again heard the slithering and thundering feet, then saw them in the door.

There were two beings standing there. One appeared about six feet tall, long and skinny, with the head and neck of a snake. The other was easily eight feet tall, and looked to be made of solid stone. As they tried to step in, vines grew rapidly from the temple floor, wrapping around their feet, holding them there. At least it held the snake-man. The stone man ripped the vines out of the ground, his strength immense, but then an elephant appeared in front of him, wrapping a gigantic trunk around his waist. This time he was held fast, and forced to listen as Circe began chanting in a language as old as time. The language of magic.

As she chanted the room crackled with power. The wind swirled around the temple, whipping her hair up and almost knocking over the stone man with it's strength. then two miniature tornadoes appeared next to her and swirled over to the two creatures, enveloping them. The chanting slowed and died, as did the vortexes. When they were gone, the stone man and the snake-man looked down at themselves, as the elephant and vines disappeared. They were normal people again. They looked to Circe and around, to where they were, confusion growing on their faces, before they vanished into thin air. Circe smiled to herself, they would be fine. She then stood and walked out into the trees, she knew where she had to go now.


"Damn her!" The master was in a furor about losing two of his henchmen, he felt their loss at the moment they left the island. He paced the room, hurling curses and glass vials everywhere, while the hag huddled in the corner, trying to avoid his wrath. After a few moments of ranting, he forced himself to be calm.

"She will still come, she will seek me out. I must finish the preparations. Hag, watch for her. Alert me when she arrives." With that he left the room.


Circe approached one of the empty houses and saw a hole in the floor leading down into a deep cavern. She uttered a word, and a vine grew from the ground, down into the cavern, and she climbed down it. The cavern was dank and dark. She found a stick on the ground that easily surpassed her height. She picked it up and held it, then waved her hand over the end of it, and a small ball of light attached itself to the end of the stick. It illuminated a small area around her, and she spoke another word, causing the light to grow, filling the cavern. The moist walls flickered and reflected the light back to her. A tunnel revealed itself to the light, and she proceeded down it. The walls were covered in moss and lichen, making it slick and slimy to the touch. The tunnel wound and continued on for a while, then opened to reveal another cavern.

As she entered the cavern she saw the hag sitting in front of a bowl of water, muttering to herself. Circe cupped her hand over the light and it went dim, then crept up behind the woman, motioning. A vine grew out from the wall and entwined around the woman and lifted her into the air. She wriggled and thrashed but they held her tight.

"Where is your master old woman?" She stood beneath her. The old woman was allowed enough movement to point to a doorway. Circe darted through it, muttering a few protective spells as she went. The chamber she approached was a swirling vortex of energy and wind. In the center stood a tall cruelly handsome man. He had blue-black hair. His features, while handsome, were sharp and angular, making him look cruel and hard. His eyes were glowing malevolently, black energy radiated from them. He turned his head to the door where Circe stood.

"Welcome to my lair white witch."

Circe tossed the stick down, she no longer needed it, and stepped into the vortex. Her hair whipped around her face and her eyes started glowing white. Her hands moved over her head as she started to chant once again, but before she could finish the spell she was hit by a black bolt. The man chuckled darkly, his voice magnified by the black magic he possessed. Circe was thrown back, but unharmed thanks to the protection spells she had the foresight to cast. Her eyes darted around the room, eyes landing on a glowing diamond near the center of the room. She knew this was his power focus, but turned her eyes back to him quickly before he saw she knew. She fired a bolt of her own, her's was pure white, representing her own magic. She pressed her way slowly forward, matching each of his magic bolts with one of her own, the room echoed with the thunder as they met and clashed. She finally reached the center of the room, by then she was floating mid air, held up by the ferocity of the magically induced wind. She looked him in the eyes, quickly surrounding herself with a magical shield, then chanted a spell. He tried desperately to hit her with his magic, but was unable to penetrate her shield.

After a few seconds of chanting and drawing on the energies in the island around her, he froze. She waved her hand over him, in front of her, and he laid back, being held by a paralyzation spell. She murmured a few more words and the glowing stone lifted from the stand and into her hand. As she closed her fist around it, she felt the energy radiating from it. This was no ordinary focus stone. She felt a darkness inside it, and she figured out how the first dark sorcerer was defeated. They trapped him inside this stone. Somehow this man had found the stone, and with the help of the nexus was able to release it's power without releasing the dark mage. The man was talented, but that was not her concern.

She harnessed the powers of the nexus for herself, and felt the temptation and the call of the diamond in her hand. It took all of her willpower to resist using it for herself. She chanted a spell she had memorized long ago, as she floated over to the held body of the man. She could feel his screams of rage and threats inside her mind, but paid them no heed. She held the diamond so it's wide end touched his heart. As she reached the crescendo of the spell, the diamond glowed a brilliant red and she felt his essence drawn into the stone. When the sealing was complete, she remained floating, but there was nothing else in the room. She held the now ordinary looking stone, and allowed herself to touch the floor, it's siren call still echoing in her head as she walked back to where her stick lay, still glowing. She picked it up, and returned to the room where the old hag still was held by the vines.

"Old woman, who was the man you called master. I know you bore great hatred for him, but he exists to torment you no longer." Her voice spoke softly, but still resonated with the power she held. The old woman looked to her.

"He was a student of Atlantis as a child, but wanted more. He somehow sensed the power this island held and came here, bringing me to him. The diamond altered him, it's dark presence twisted his mind to evil." Her voice grew stronger, no longer quivering with fear. "Please take me away from here, I wish to linger here no longer."

Circe nodded and waved her hand. The woman vanished, and the vines fell to the floor, retreating into the ground. Circe slowly went back the way she came, retreating to the temple. She sat in the center of the temple once again, closing her eyes and letting it's peace fill her. She drew herself out of her body, going to view the ley lines once again. The line she saw before was gone, and her mind went to where she knew her home island sat in the ocean. She looked at the lines leading to each person and saw they were regaining their strength. She smiled and went back to her body. Circe chanted a protection spell around herself and slept.

When she awoke, she looked at the diamond still clutched in her fist. She knew she hand to have this held in the safety of the vaults of her home, so she teleported herself and the diamond there. Athena awaited her in the gem room, where she opened the magic vault for her. She placed the diamond in a magical container, it would dampen the emanations of magic from it, making it almost impossible to detect when combined with the vault's own magical properties. As she walked out the door, her jaw dropped, in all the things she had seen she never expected to see this.

The streets, while still beautiful, were lined with dead trees, the grass was brown and dry, the flowers appeared to hang their blooms with sadness. The life had been drained from her home. She went to the druid gardens hoping that it's special properties would protect it from the damage, but when she saw that it hadn't tears fell. She went to her knees and placed her hands on the ground tentatively, afraid of what she would find. To her joy, she felt life still in the roots and the soil of the island. She stood and went to the nature magic center, a building that simply looked like a greenhouse, and offered her services in the rebuilding of her home.

Chapter 4