Free The Kuthun by S.A. Carter Page A

the faded bold lines painted around her eye. Her hair is straight and sits close to her neck, and a symbolic headdress of some sort sits on top of her head—two horn-like prongs forming a “U” shape with a large sphere positioned in the middle.
    I’ve always wondered if anyone in our family has actually tried to find out who this woman is. If she is sitting on the cover of the Book of Cole then she obviously symbolises something important.
    I take the book over to the bed and sit down. Magi jumps up and makes herself comfortable within the blankets next to me. She always gets cosy when I bring the book out. It does seem to have a calming effect.
    Only a Cole witch can open the book so I recite the only spell that will unlock the seal. ‘Sole delara mae nafita.’ I run my hand over its face.
    A clicking sound lets me know it has accepted my request and I gently open the cover, searching for the source of my interest…the kuthun. As I turn each page it emits its own scent—lavender, rose, strawberry and lemon. My nose soon becomes an assortment of fragrant bouquets.
    I turn the pages slowly, taking in the words and pictures, searching for the symbol that seems so familiar to me. Then all of a sudden the pages start to turn on their own. Faster and faster they flick until I feel like I am watching an old black and white movie. When I begin to think it’s never going to end, they stop.
    My eyes take a minute to refocus and I look down onto the page that is being revealed to me.
    It has a different colour and texture to the rest. Where the other pages are paper, this one feels like material. It appears to be made of old parchment cloth. How strange. Where did this come from? On it I see faint writing and I squint my eyes trying to read it. I can just make out the words.
    “You possess your blood, Isis, you possess your power, Isis, you possess your magic, Isis. The amulet is a protection for this Great One, which will drive off anyone who would perform a harmful act against him.”

    The symbol of the kuthun is staring back at me from the parchment. I can’t believe it! I tighten my grip on The Book of Cole, not quite believing what I am seeing. I chew away at my bottom lip nervously and read the words again and again, until they are embedded in my mind clearly.
Isis, amulet, Great One.
I can’t seem to make any sense of anything, my mind a swirling pit of information and images that are assaulting my senses.
    The kuthun begins to throb against my chest, a slow and steady beat that puts me into a trance-like state. Before I know what is happening I’ve risen from the bed and am standing at the window, facing the garden. Magi has jumped off the bed and is watching me warily.
    I raise my arms out in front of me and my hands start to burn with an electrifying heat. It radiates up my arms and my veins pulsate with new life.
    In my right palm a small orb of white light appears. I am shocked at the sight of it and I try to move my hand but some sort of power seems to have taken control. My other hand moves to mimic the first, the orb now floating in the air between my palms. It begins to enlarge and glow brighter. Magi takes a step back.
    All of a sudden it changes colour. It shifts from white to yellow, then orange. Pain sears through my flesh and I grit my teeth, stifling a cry, and before I think I am about to incinerate completely a beam of light streams out from the kuthun at my neck and into the orb. From there it exits the other side and heads through the glass window into the direction of the garden.
    I watch it streak out across the yard and disappear into the trees, unsure of its destination. The beam of light holds its form for a brief moment and as quick as the orb appeared it suddenly vanishes out of existence
.
    Sharp, ragged breaths escape my lips.
What the hell is going on
? I lower my trembling hands, the colour of my skin turning from a burning red back to a soft pink. Unease swirls around me like a dark