Aurelius and I Read Online Free PDF Page B

captured on film? I don’t think so. So what is it that makes one event history and the other legend?”
    “Well, er, I’m not sure,” I admitted nervously, while still privately remaining certain that a distinction did exist, even if I, being just eight years of age, was personally incapable of articulating what such a distinction may be.
    “No, well, I’ll tell you what the difference is, young man,” my Grandmother continued, her voice growing louder and her speech quicker as she became more and more impassioned. “Absolutely nothing, that’s what! The only difference between those histories that mention magic and those that do not is that the people in charge say it’s okay for you to learn about dull, human history, but seek to hide from the world the plain fact of magic and the supernatural.”
    “What people in charge?” I asked.
    “What people in charge!” the old gypsy exclaimed, louder than ever. “What do you mean what people in charge? The people in charge, of course! The Government.”
    “The government know about magic?”
    “Well of course they do – the government know about everything. You don’t seriously think that they could have all those spies, and cameras, and listening devices, and yet never detect any information pertaining to magic do you?”
    “Well, I suppose not,” I admitted reluctantly. I always found it difficult to argue with my Grandmother, she had a way of making her arguments appear immensely logical, no matter how loudly my instincts cried to me that they were wrong.
    “But why do the government need to keep magic a secret?” I asked. “Why don’t they just tell people that it exists? And, how come they have to, if magic used to be just an accepted fact, why isn’t it any more? What changed?”
    “We did, Charlie. Humans changed.” She paused for a moment and took a few sips of her funny-smelling tea before continuing.
    “You see, Charlie, human beings have always been afraid of what they don’t understand. Don’t ask me why - it just seems to be in our genes. The more humans began to learn about the workings of the natural world, the more suspicious they became of anything they could not understand or control. As a result, magical beings, many of whom had held important roles in the founding of the early civilisations, were gradually ostracised from societies and labelled as monsters or daemons. They were forced to move away from human communities, out in the wilderness where they could live out there lives without fear of persecution.
    “As time went on however, populations grew, cities expanded, and it became less and less possible for magical beings to remain free from the random attacks of angry villagers eager to find a scapegoat for a bad harvest or an outbreak of disease. Eventually, and, in the main, reluctantly, the magical creatures decided that, if they were to survive, they would need to unite and defend themselves against the attacks of the ignorant humans - by force if necessary.
    “A war raged for centuries between the magical beings (who were known to each other as ‘The Alundri’, an elfin term meaning ‘the gifted’) and the humans. There was extensive and senseless bloodshed on both sides; the humans would try to rid the entire world of dragons, the dragons would respond by causing great fires destroying crops, farms, and even entire cities (how do you think the great fire of London really began?); when the humans began burning witches at the stake, the witches brought great plagues down upon humanity, decimating populations.
    “After hundreds of years and millions of lives had fallen by the wayside, a few respected individuals in both communities began to realise that peace and co-existence were the only possible ways of once again achieving safe and happy lives for their members. As a result, The Council Of The Secret Of Magic was formed. This consisted of a conglomerate of the most powerful members of all the human and Alundri