Once she stopped speaking, the wind picked up and spun around her before scattering off into the forest, drifting toward its target.
Satisfied with her spell, Allegra picked herself up off the tree trunk and began to head back to the wolf village. Now that she’d gotten word to her mother, she’d feel better about engaging with the other witches in their practicing of spells, that is, if her fatigue let up. She was yawning by the time she came back to Caspian’s house. She used the last of her energy to crawl back by the fire, place her head upon a cushion and wrap her shawl around her like a blanket.
She fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
***
Even though the sun shone, the day was cold. Lorna placed her washing out on the small line at the back of her home, unsure if it would dry. She felt eyes upon her as she did this simplest of tasks. Lately, all eyes of the coven had been upon her. She was a social pariah. Not one, but two, of her daughters had defied the elders and now they were on the brink of war.
Lorna tried to banish negative thoughts from her mind as she pegged out her dresses, still damp from the wash.
She knew what everyone thought about her. They thought her a liability, but then they always had. Lorna had been foolish enough to have a stranger father her children. An alluring man she met out in the forest. The elders had threatened to provide her with the ultimate punishment for her sins, but when she pleaded for her life, they spared her.
The second time it happened, they weren’t so understanding, and so Lorna lied. She said that the stranger had attacked her, both times, and raped her. The elders were wary of her story but accepted it nonetheless. Lorna felt wretched to let her daughters exist beneath such a terrible lie, but what other choice did she have? If they knew the truth, if they knew that she’d let lust cloud her judgment, she’d be exiled, or worse.
Both her daughters had been a constant reminder of her own deception. She’d thought that now they were gone she’d finally be free of the demons of her past, yet they continued to plague her thoughts. She just wished that the elders would recognize her commitment to the coven and stop keeping her on the periphery of things. She wanted to ascend to their ranks, to exude their kind of power.
Frustrated, Lorna placed her final item on the line and turned to face her small home where she now lived alone. She was about to move when a sudden breeze gathered around her, twirling her hair and tickling in her ear. Something about the breeze made her keep completely still. She knew it held magic.
As she stood there, holding her empty laundry basket, she heard the message Allegra had sent for her. A message that foretold of danger and war. When the message concluded, Lorna dropped the basket and ran.
***
Agatha rubbed at her temple with her claw-like fingers. Her mind ached and her bones throbbed beneath her paper-thin skin. All the dark magic she’d been conjuring was taking its toll on her. She’d need to cast a rejuvenation spell soon but that required a sacrifice. However, if the younger members of the coven were already under a veiled memory spell, she should be able to bleed one of them out quite easily and that would help her feel better. She’d then drink their blood whilst uttering the rejuvenation incantation.
The door to Agatha’s chambers suddenly flew open, and Lorna came rushing in, looking breathless and harassed.
“Agatha!” she gasped. “I must speak with you!”
“What is the meaning of this intrusion?” Agatha rose up in her chair, her eyes narrowing with spite.
“I’m sorry, but I must speak with you,” Lorna declared, panting.
“What is it? Speak quickly, my time is precious,” Agatha spat.
Lorna took a breath and then looked up at the elder, a sly smile on her face.
“My daughter sent me a message upon the wind.”
“She did?” Agatha’s mouth crooked up into a smile upon hearing this.
“Yes,” Lorna confirmed. “I know what they are doing. I know what they are preparing.”
“Good.” Agatha wrapped her hands together in satisfaction, her eyes darkening. One thing she’d learnt long ago was that knowledge was power and knowing what the wolves were planning shifted all of the power across to the witches.
TO BE CONTINUED IN BOOK SIX: The Battle for Blood - Volume 6
***
The Battle for Blood
***
Synopsis
The time for talking is over. The Vale of Glendora is gripped by the impending war between the witches and the werewolves. As people choose sides, battle lines are drawn and the rivers threaten to run red with the blood of the fallen.
As Caspian eagerly takes his place at his pack’s side, Allegra is forced to hang back. She feels unwell, like something is wrong. On the precipice of war, will Caspian still lose what he has been fighting for all along, his beloved Allegra?
***
“There can be no half measures,” Agatha told the witches gathered around her and the cauldron she currently stirred. The contents bubbled ominously.
It wasn’t just the elders who were with her. Other witches had gathered, trusted witches. They needed all the power they could muster to enact the spells they needed.
“We must act quickly,” Agatha continued. “First, the veil spell upon the younger witches and warlocks of the coven, then, we mobilize.”
She stirred the cauldron as the witches and warlocks uttered an incantation used all too regularly within the coven.
The liquid within the cauldron hissed angrily as the spell progressed, huge bubbles forming atop the concoction and then bursting. A faint mist developed above the liquid that began to fan out of the cauldron. It dropped to the floor and silently snaked its way out of the town hall, remaining low to the ground. To the untrained eye, it looked like a harmless fog. But the gathered witches and warlocks knew better. It was a veil spell. It would pull itself up over the sleeping residents of the coven like a blanket and turn their minds temporarily blank. They would become empty vessels for the elders to manipulate and control. They’d remain in that state until they came back to their beds, slept again and the veil was pulled back and their memories restored, albeit for the period of time whilst under the veil.
“Clear the minds, make them mine.” The incantation was uttered as the fog continued to spew out of the cauldron. Outside, the night was dark and cold. The stars shone brightly in the heavens, and the prominent moon bathed the village in a silvery glow.
Agatha loathed the moon. She loathed the power it gave to the wretched wolves. She wanted to enact her blocking spell, to stop them from drawing upon the sun of the night. She wanted to keep them in their feeble human form and then destroy them, but she was running out of time. If what Lorna said was true, they had to act quickly whilst they still retained the element of surprise.
In wolf form, the pack were an impressive adversary but not impossible to kill. It just meant that she risked the lives of more of her coven. But Agatha cared only for her life. The younger members of her village were expendable in such extreme circumstances.
***
The younger witches and warlocks of the coven slept soundly in their beds, oblivious of the encroaching fog. It deftly seeped under their doors, stole its way up the staircases and climbed up onto their beds in complete silence. The silvery mist crept along their bed sheets, up to the heads, covering them in its misty form.
The veil surrounded them, stealing their true selves. Once the veil was in place, they abruptly awoke, not startled, just alert. Numbly they left their homes, not caring for the abundance of eerie fog, and congregated in the village square, ready to do the bidding of whoever had cast the veil spell.
***
“They are gathering outside,” Marion ceased chanting to quickly whisper to Agatha, who nodded in approval.
“Good.” She smiled maliciously. “We are almost ready.”
When the last of the fog had left the cauldron, the gathered elders and witches lowered their hands and ceased chanting. Agatha l
ooked around them, sensing for any chinks in the chain, but each one gazed back at her with resolute determination. It seemed that the hate for the wolves grew deep within the coven. Everyone had lost someone dear that fateful day when the lone wolf attacked. Everyone now had a score to settle.
“We could still cast the linking spell,” a warlock announced excitedly. “We could still hold them in their human form.”
Agatha nodded. It was a thought that had danced around her mind for several hours. But the risk she took with enacting that spell would be that they would all be weakened for battle. A spell of that magnitude would take nearly all their power and then they still had to destroy the wretched wolves when they were men. Even men have the capacity to fight with fervor, especially when faced with their imminent demise.
“I gave it great thought,” she admitted. “But ultimately, we cannot expend the power needed to enact such a spell. We must preserve our magic and use it at the key moment, in the heat of battle.”
Some of the elders glanced uneasily at one another.
“Doesn’t that mean that more blood will be spilled?” one asked edgily. “More witch blood?”
“It does.” Agatha kept her tone hard. She was prepared to make sacrifices. They had to be, too.
“But we are strong! Our young are strong! We can win this battle! The lives of the fallen will not be in vain!”
“She’s right!” Lorna cried from the other side of the cauldron. “We must save our power and act now! Take the fight to them!”
Agatha smiled, impressed by the selfless attitude of a witch she’d previously discounted as being worthless. Lorna’s previous indiscretions had not favored her with the elders but her recent acts of loyalty had been admirable.
Marion headed to the main door of the town hall and glanced out into the square. Dozens of young witches and warlocks stood outside, looking blank, awaiting direction.
“They are ready for your word!” she called back to Agatha.
“Then let us go address them,” Agatha ordered, her eyes darkening.
***
Upon the stage where Allegra was previously tied up to be burned, Agatha stood. She looked out proudly at her gathered coven. The older members looked back at her with bright, eager eyes whilst the younger members lolled around like zombies, stupefied until they knew their orders.
“My beloved coven!” Agatha cried out and instantly all eyes were upon her, desperate to hear, desperate to be led.
“For too long, we have lived beneath the werewolves of the Vale, existing in fear of their vicious tempers. We witnessed our own kin cruelly torn apart at the hands of just one vengeful wolf! Now is the time to act! Now is the time to stop these demons of the night from killing again!”
The younger members of the coven began to become more alert, though their eyes remained glazed. They drew closer to the stage, eager to hear more.
“We strike the wolves in their home!” Agatha cried, her voice reaching a crescendo. “With our power, our magic, we burn them alive!”
She leaned her head back and cackled manically at this. To demonstrate what she meant, she let electricity surge from her hands and dart across the square toward the well. The moment the bolt connected with the wood, it ignited and the well began to burn. Agatha laughed as the fire tore through it, whilst some of the elders exchanged anxious looks. However none dared to stand against her and cast a water spell to stop the fire. It would eventually burn out, but only after the frame around the well had been destroyed.
“Death to the wolves!” Agatha cried joyously.
“Death to the wolves!” the younger members echoed eerily in unison.
Above them, the ever present moon shone down. Lorna looked up at it, wishing Agatha had chosen to cast the linking spell. The wolves drew their power from the moon. In wolf form, they were as strong as steel and incredibly deadly. She’d seen firsthand the level of destruction caused when Allegra had been saved. Even with their magic, the witches would still be vulnerable to their razor-sharp claws and teeth. If a spell wasn’t cast quickly enough, or a witch was caught unawares, they’d be dead within seconds. Agatha was willing to risk more lives to settle an old score.
Lorna thought of her daughters. In her mind, they were already gone, lost to her when they acted against the coven. But what if they’d remained? What if they’d been obedient and endured the choosing ceremony? She looked at the fresh, blank faces gathered around her. They were held under Agatha’s spell, unable to defy her. They were about to pay for their loyalty with their lives. None of them knew magic strong enough to protect them against the wolves. Agatha ensured that only the elders possessed such power. Subduing the younger members eliminated the risk of an uprising.
As she looked around, Lorna realized why Agatha wanted to bring out the younger members of the coven beneath a veil spell.
Her fears were realized when the withered elder shrieked, “Go, my loyal young witches and warlocks! Go and take the fight to them! For the glory of our coven!”
With a gnarled finger, she directed the youth of the coven toward the wolf village in the east. Filled with her vitriol, they turned and ran out of the village, disappearing into the vast darkness of the forest. After a few seconds, Agatha stepped down from the stage and started after them, calling to the other elders to follow as she did so. But for a moment, Lorna held back, horrified at what had come to pass.
The younger members of the coven had been sent in first to distract the wolves. As they unwillingly sacrificed themselves, the elders would steal up and attack. But how many lives would be lost? The young witches and warlocks didn’t even have the capacity to abstain. They were held beneath a spell, being lured to their own deaths.
Lorna closed her eyes and sighed heavily. Even if her daughters had been loyal, and good, they would still be forced to die for their coven. How was that right? Uma and Allegra could have been blindly running out into the woods, running to their death.
“We leave now!” Agatha spat angrily, noticing Lorna hanging back.
“I’m coming.” Lorna steeled herself for what was about to transpire. She glanced up at the moon as she left the village, suddenly grateful that the linking spell had not been cast. It meant that if a wolf got close to Agatha, it had the potential to rip her wicked old body to pieces.
***
The forest trembled with nervous energy as the young witches and warlocks raced through it, not caring as rogue branches scratched at their cheeks and arms. They cared only about reaching their destination, fulfilling their orders.
A light frost covered the ground, making it hard and solid underfoot. Spider webs sparkled with icicles and, as they ran, mist formed before the young members of the coven as they breathed heavily, their lungs burning from the exertion.
None of them had ever cast a spell to cause a fire. None of them even knew how to draw that sort of power from themselves. But beneath the veil spell, they knew only to do as Agatha had directed. They ran through the woods as sharp and straight as any arrow, not once deviating from their path. The wolf village was now less than a mile away.
Behind them, Agatha and the elders followed, taking more precise, careful footsteps to avoid hanging branches and fallen trees.
The night seemed unnaturally silent around them; the only sounds were their own nervous breaths and the occasional cracking of a twig underfoot. It was as if the forest itself was holding its breath in anticipation of what was about to occur.
***
Theo froze suddenly during his walk around the perimeter of the village. Tilting his head to look up at the stars, he inhaled deeply as they shone down on him. The evening air was cool and sharp to his senses, but there was a distinct odor carried in it. Theo absorbed as much air as he could, letting it infiltrate his system as he used his canine senses to decipher it.
***
“Is everything alright?” Caspian looked anxiously at Allegra as she came through the door to his home, appearing downcast.
&n
bsp; “Yeah, I’m fine,” she admitted sadly.
“You don’t look fine.”
“I’m alright.” Allegra sighed and sat down by the fire, grateful for its warmth. She glanced around and noticed that they were alone. “Where are the others?”
“Still out practicing magic,” Caspian explained. “Which is what you should be doing. You need to be strong.”
“I don’t feel like practicing right now.” Allegra looked forlornly into the fire. Despite her brush with meeting a fiery end, she could still be entranced by the unpredictable dance of the flames as they devoured the wood within the hearth.
“Why not?”
“I feel…” Allegra searched for the right explanation. She felt sick and tired and depressed all at the same time. It was a strange mixture of feelings, which she didn’t truly understand.
“Just under the weather, I guess,” she eventually concluded.
Caspian frowned with concern and came and sat beside her. “Perhaps you just need to rest.” He lovingly ran a hand down her back, which made goose bumps break out over her skin. “I’ll protect you,” he promised her sincerely. “I won’t let any harm to come you. You know that, don’t you?”
“Of course.” Allegra smiled thinly as the weight of what she had done began to gather upon her slender shoulders. What if sending her mother a message on the wind had risked everything? What if she’d put everyone in danger?
Wolf Tainted Union: The Complete Collection - 6-Book Bundle (Books 1-6) - A Paranormal Werewolf Shifter Romance Page 13
