LENA WAS BORN on a rainy day in the very centre of the forest. Her entire coven hovered around the house as her mother fought to bring her into the world, and when Lena belted out her first cry, joyous shouts erupted all around the house, disturbing the normal quiet of the forest. Lena loved the forest and her people. Even before she could walk or talk, she took the time to study them. Their faces, their hands. Every feature. She loved their magic and loved watching her parents as they stood in their circles practicing their craft. Her parents showered her with love since they couldn’t have another child.
Lena never knew why, nor did she ask. Intuition told her not to and as her parents taught her from a young age, you always listened to your intuition. Her first couple of years were spent getting to know the forest and its creatures and she loved her enormous family which consisted of her parents and the incredible coven of blood witches. She was never curious about the world outside of theirs like her friends and she was happy to spend her time in their camp.
Lena loved their way of life. She loved being this close to nature. Drinking it in as if it was her food and she needed it to survive. Everyone loved Lena and they all believed that she would be blessed since she was born on a rainy day. Rain always cleansed the world, it fed the plants and washed away everything that was harmful. They were peaceful people even if most believed their magic wasn’t. They kept to themselves mostly and only interacted with other magical creatures when it was absolutely necessary.
CREATURES FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE sometimes come to the blood witches for help. The kind of help you couldn’t get from the white witches, or other creatures of immense power. These people would never admit what they had done to get what they wanted. Especially not when the final decision about the war was made. The council of supernatural creatures gathered in a dark, forgotten warehouse in the middle of the human city, which was the only neutral ground for all creatures. The decision was made and it was as if the dark cloud that had been hanging low over the supernatural world suddenly became electrified. Alaric was appointed as the war chief since he had the most experience of fighting the blood witches, and they set off to prepare.
THE DAY THE WAR CAME, her people weren’t prepared for it. The elders knew something was coming, but they were so arrogant that they didn’t think anybody would actually declare war. Lena had been looking forward to the day she would receive her powers since she was a little girl, and that day had finally arrived on her seventeenth birthday. Her mother carefully placed small, white, forest wild flowers in her hair while braiding it and she had even made Lena a new white dress for the occasion. The air was electric with all the excitement, since nobody could wait to find out what her powers would be. Most of all, Lena.
The camp was decorated with fresh wild flowers everywhere and the scent of food filled the air as people started to gather for the celebration. Tables were set up all around the square and wood had been packed out in heaps for the bonfires later. All the coven members who had received their powers were wearing their beautiful purple robes and everybody else was dressed in their party best.
Her father checked on the last of the arrangements before looking for Lena and her mother in their home. He told them it was time and as they stepped out of their little house, people cheered for Lena. She grinned, feeling the energy around her and soaked it all up just like her mother told her to. Walking down the short aisle to the centre of their village where the high priestess was waiting, Lena thought of her parents and everything they had given up to give her this special day and she clung to them a little tighter as they stepped up onto the little platform in the square.
The gazebo above them was also decorated with the most beautiful wild flowers, and Lena breathed in the strong scent before looking at the high priestess who was smiling brightly. Lena’s hands were shaking with anticipation, since she had been waiting for this moment her entire life! She had seen so many of her predecessors going through this ceremony before, but actually going through it herself, she thought her heart would just stop! It was so much more intense than she had ever expected.
“Lena,” The priestess smiled as she nodded at Lena and her parents. “I have the honour of giving you the first gift. I will give you this book,” She winked at Lena as a huge smile broke out over the young girl’s face. “To use as your very own grimoire. May the spells you write always be blessed.” It was tradition for the high priestess to give each new witch their grimoire and it had become such a thing that people always looked forward to finding out what kind of book she would hand out next. The grimoires were believed to give an indication of the kind of witch they would become. Lena’s book was simple yet beautiful. Her fingers slipped over the dark brown leather and on the inside cover was an inscription from the high priestess. Lena thanked her with a hug and she returned to the middle of the three grown-ups. Turning, she looked at her father.
“Lena, I am giving you this athame that belonged to my mother. May it protect you and may your circles always be safe.” He smiled, handing over the precious blade Lena knew so very well. Her family had never been very rich, but the blade that had been carried down from generations before was decorated with three precious stones. A ruby, a sapphire, and an amethyst were imbedded into the pure silver handle. It was their most precious of treasures.
She had seen her father cast circles her entire life and she couldn’t say how much receiving this blade meant to her. Not many girls in the coven had their fathers around. Honestly, there weren’t that many male witches in general, and most girls received their athame from an uncle or sometimes a grandmother. Lena turned to look at her mother as excitement pushed up inside her. The athame was resting on top of her grimoire as she held it out to her mother.
“Lena, my love.” Her mother smiled teary-eyed as she took the athame from her daughter and cut the palm of her hand. “I give you, my blood.” She handed Lena the blade and Lena copied what her mother did before gripping their palms together. “May it give you strength and guide you to your destiny.” Her mother pulled her into a tight embrace and Lena felt tears running down her cheeks before a flash pushed her away from her mother.
It pushed her head up to the sky as a warm feeling ran through her body and she was captured in place. Her eyes took in the beautiful stars for a moment, gasping as soon as the power died down and, whatever her power was, filled her body. Applause erupted around them and music started up in the corner. The tables were quickly filled with all sorts of delicious food and people were dancing around the bonfires feeling carefree and happy. Her parents congratulated her, and some of the younger witches came to gush over her grimoire.
“Lena! Lena!” Her best friend Emily called out to her and the moment they were alone, Emily grabbed the grimoire to look at it. Emily would be turning seventeen in a month and then it was her turn to receive her things. She couldn’t stop guessing what her father would give her or if he would even show up for the ceremony, so Lena tried her best to distract her friend from thinking about it.
Emily’s father left for business like her own father did from time to time, but he never returned after his last trip. That was nearly ten years ago. People used to tease Emily, saying they couldn’t stand all her talking, that was why he left and it irked Lena that the people she loved so much could sometimes be so cruel. That was until one of the grown-ups usually intervened and the teasing ceased.
THEY DANCED, AND ATE until they could no more, and just as the sun peeked over the ridge, Lena put her grimoire and athame under her pillow. She had just fallen asleep and her mind was swimming with all the possibilities of what her power could be when her mother rushed into her room sounding panicked.
“Lena! Get up!” Her mother grabbed her small rucksack and started packing things into it. She looked petrified and no matter how many times Lena asked what was going on, all her mother told her was to get dressed and pack only the necessary things. As Lena put her grimoire and athame into the bag, she looked around her room. Besides her clothes, she didn’t really have much and the two items were all she needed. She could always come back and get whatever she forgot, couldn’t she?
“Lena! Come!” Her father shouted and she rushed out of her room to find both her parents dressed in full battle gear.
“What’s going on?” Lena demanded as they ushered her out of the house and, in the distance, she could see fires burning. It took her mind a moment to realize that it was actually one of the coven houses that were on fire and she was just about to tell her parents that they needed to go and help when people started to scream and run past them. The scent of burning wood thickened the air as people started to scream and run toward the river.
