Hearts quaking with fear, blood pulsing with dread and anxiety, the screams from dreadful monsters echoing in our ears.
That's how our day started, as our coven was once again raided by werewolves from the Kayden pack. Once again we were betrayed by our own, as another stupid witch decided to fall in love with one of these beguiled beasts, feeding them information about our coven and also stealing an ancestral artifact, which stops us from using our magic.
A witch without magic is no different from a normal mortal human, so you can actually feel our dread and fear at the moment. Running as fast as our legs can take us, which in front of beasts with superhuman strength and speed, it was only a matter of time before we were devoured. My heart quaked hearing screams from my fellow sisters, screams that echoed their terror and torment at the last moments of their lives.
The Kayden pack was known as the scourge of the werewolf species, as they were notorious for causing bloodshed and committing atrocities in the supernatural world. The name of their Alpha was already obvious from the pack name, Kayden Rothschild, an aberration in werewolf form. Kayden was a vampire in werewolf form, as he had an unquenchable love for blood and chaos, something that wasn't found in his species. For some reason he had an agenda against witches and had at least destroyed over twenty renowned covens, slaughtering over thousands of witch practitioners.
From the age of nine, I was already being groomed as the next regent of our coven, so my heart hurt at my helplessness for not being able to help my sisters. This was the third time our coven was being attacked by the Kayden pack, and with our magic intact, we could barely resist the first two attacks, bearing in mind the fact that the upper hierarchy of the pack never attacked. Our coven had protected an artifact created during the ancestral witch war, which happened thousands of years ago. An artifact that could temporarily lock a witch's magical power.
The fact that we held such an artifact was kept in utmost secrecy, and even I, the next regent, only found out after the artifact was stolen. My mind drifted unto my adopted mother, the current regent, Stephanie Nikolai, who had left to confront the wolves after telling us to evacuate the forest where the artifact prowess was interloped. If we do make it out of the forest, the magical lock will be broken, enabling us to be able to use our magic, which will greatly aid us in fleeing from our assailants.
I could literally feel the world crumbling, the screams and growls echoing in my head, rattling my mind space, faint images of my young sisters practicing their little spells, faces smug with victory at any successful attempt. The senior witches, with their evergreen experience, always have a solution to your troubling thoughts, ready to guide you on the right path. A place I called home. People I saw as family getting mauled and slaughtered like pigs ignited a rage in my heart that I have never felt in my twenty-one years of life.
My thoughts running rampant, anger surging in my veins, body moving on instincts, my feet hit a sharp trunk, causing me to stumble hard.
"Careful, Evelyn, we can't have you getting injured now of all times, " my fellow witch, Myria, caught me before I fell hard onto the floor.
The fatigue, like a sleeping tiger, caught us all as we all paused to catch our breath. We had been running for hours now, body burning and driving on pure adrenaline. We shouldn't have made it this far? Not only that, but we still hadn't encountered any of the wolves despite hearing their growls from afar.
"They are toying with us," Myria stated, eyes blazing with a mixture of fury and sorrow. My mind gradually recovering from its dull state finally caught up with reality, a reality that made our situation way more worse.
We were at our weakest. Magic not accessible. Our physical fitness was barely above average if ranked by mortal standards.
And yet, we were almost close to escaping from literal beasts with superhuman speed. It was incomprehensible. It was now clear and obvious that the wolves were toying with us. Wolves were known as natural hunters, and with us deprived of our main attacking source, we were like fish on a chopping board. We could barely muster any form of resistance.
Looking at Myria, I could see what I hadn't seen in her since I have known her. Despair!!
Myria was my personal mentor, teaching me the ways of magic since I was little. Calm and composed. Always focused on the task. And here, she was reeking of despair. Eyes filled with tears, body sapped of energy,heart beating much too fast. This was what this beast had brought to us.
Looking at the rest of my entourage, seven, we were tired beyond comprehension. But despite the situation, I could feel that fire still unquenched despite how precarious our situation was. With their eyes glancing towards me, I knew the source of hope was me.
My heart beating with a bit of calmness, looking at my sisters who saw me as their beacon of hope, I couldn't let them down now. With my body and my mind finally regaining its calm, my face composed with the bearing of a leader, my many years of training not going to waste.
"We are almost at the boundary of the forest… The moment we exit, we will regain our abilities, and with that, we will flee to the north haven where one of the witch queens is located. I don't believe the Kayden pack is so reckless as to pursue us into her majesty's territory," my voice coming out smoothly, stoking the flames of hope in my sisters as I reassured them of our escape.
With our hope reignited, we once again made a run for it as we tried to escape before the wolf stopped playing house with us. Running with speed that could barely be connected to people who were dead tired,we dashed like people whose lives were on the line. And yes, our lives were literally halfway to the slaughterhouse.
The more we ran, the faster we could feel the effects of the artifact wearing off, joy igniting in our hearts, but I could feel my heart sinking with every step. This was far too easy!!!
All of a sudden we came to a halt as a sickening presence encompassed us, sinking every autumn of joy on us down to the bottom of the sea. We were already on our knees with the weight of the world pressing down upon us. Glancing up with every muster of power with me, I saw four werewolves standing on their feet. Seven feet tall, eyes burning full crimson with their facial expressions reeking of pure bestiality.
My instincts were screaming danger; I could actually feel the taste of death on my lips. My eyes moved with difficulty, glancing at the four humongous wolves staring at us with malicious gazes, but despite their overwhelming blood lust, I could feel their heads in a bowing position. My eyes finally moved to two men standing beside the wolves. And that's when I felt the owner of that sickening presence, a presence that screamed superiority over everybody. He is the Alpha!!My eyes locked with his eyes, which was as red as human blood, brain shutting down as nausea took over, my fatigue finally catching up with me at full force.
"Take the girl and kill the rest." That was the last thing I heard as the sounds of heads being separated echoed in the air as my world turned dark.