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[thecovenwars]

Desire

Annabelle’s tent wasn’t very spacious, not that she minded. She only really used it to sleep and to change her clothes and occasionally to bathe. She thought about the past six months, about her human friend, disappearing and reappearing, she didn't visit him when he turned up, not only because of vampires’ and witches' natural instinct to slaughter each other but because of what she had heard from Charlotte. From what the girl had said, Richard couldn’t speak or eat, he had a severe infection and couldn’t see. Annabelle had never been so attached to a human before, and to see one she cared for broken, she feared might be just too much. After all, she wasn’t supposed to be like this, to feel this way, vampires are creatures of instinct and desire. She looked at herself in her broken mirror, pale skin, black and purple hair, and of course, her shirt was red. She knew she was attractive and she used it well, her body was the perfect bait to lure in prey.

Her ears picked up movement outside, someone right outside the tent flap, she pulled it open and stared in disbelief, Richard Lewis stood outside, blue eyes wide like a deer in headlights, right hand lifted to open the flap, he stood with his left leg slightly raised to keep the weight of his body off the damaged limb. He looked horrid, paler than usual with dark circles under his eyes like he hadn’t slept and he was skin and bones, Annabelle briefly wondered how long it had been since he’d eaten, and whether or not he’d been starved in the time he was missing. Annabelle found herself staring. 

“Um, hey, Anna,” he hesitated

“Hey…” Annabelle replied

“Um…”

“Oh for heaven’s sake,” Annabelle grabbed him and pulled him inside “Aren’t you supposed to be resting?”

“I can’t rest.”

“And why not?”

Richard shrugged and looked at the ground. “I just…” “Out with it.” “I don’t feel safe, Anna. No matter what I do, he’s there. I can’t sleep or eat, I can barely even think. I’m so tired, Anna.”

“I can see that. Why did you come down here?”

“Because I know you, Annabelle, I know that you’re familiar and you’re really strong and I think I’m safe here. I’m so scared. I’m so tired and… I want to feel something that isn’t fear.”

Annabelle took a sharp breath and sat at the foot of her bed, her patchwork blanket beneath her.”What are you saying?” She knew exactly what he was saying and she’d be lying if she said she didn’t want it, didn’t want him.

“Richard…What are you-?” “Please, Anna, just one moment of peace.” He sat by her, looking at her with his pale blue eyes, he looked so tired. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt, it was just one time, and it wasn’t as though there would be any consequences after all. Not for her anyway.

Annabelle leaned in, pressing a kiss against him, the beginning of the end.

Richard was clumsy and uncoordinated, but Annabelle was gently guiding him along with a kind hand. When they were finished they lay together, with Richard fading into sleep with almost alarming speed. Murmuring a soft thank you to her and nuzzling into her side, leaving Annabelle alone with her thoughts. She was quickly flooded with regret, she loved the experience and wouldn’t lie to herself about that. She pulled the patchwork blanket around Richard’s shoulders, he made a sleep-addled sound and smiled, pulling a similar smile out of Annabelle. She thought for a moment, she could let him stay here, he would be safe and comfortable, and maybe… she entertained briefly a more selfish thought. Shaking her head she stood and dressed, pulling her hair back she stepped out of her tent and stood face to face with Sonia.

“Hello, Annie,” She said with a sharp-toothed smile, a bat-like wing wrapped around Annabelle’s shoulders, and a tail flicked back and forth, “so, did you enjoy it?” 

“Enjoy what?”

“My little gift to you” Sonia winked

Annabelle froze, “gift?” She choked.

“The boy, he came down here looking for you”

“Oh god,” Annabelle’s eyes widened “You didn’t”

“I did.”

“Then I-” She couldn’t finish the thought

“Oh don’t be ridiculous, I can’t create something out of nothing, the feelings, the desire has to be there. He wanted you, Annie, I just gave him a little push.”

Annabelle shoved Sonia away, “How could you?!”

“How could I not? You both enjoyed it! I could feel your lust halfway across the market, quite a scandalous affair, a witch and a vampire. Oh, what will people say? Now, don’t feel bad Annie, you both wanted this, I just brought you two together.”

Annabelle felt she might fall to pieces, Richard had come searching for her, in need of comfort and protection, he must’ve run into Sonia first, and Annabelle had- she was going to be sick. She had taken advantage of a fragile creature who could do little to resist the touch of a succubus. She had thought that he had wanted her, but it couldn’t have been real, not if Sonia was involved. She couldn’t face him again, not after this. All she could do now was run.

[thecovenwars]

Richard had decided, he was being mentored by the biggest dick on the face of the earth. Denari had decided that Richard needed to learn a lesson in instinct, and for that reason, Old Lazy Leg had brought Richard out into the woods and told him to wait, then he left, and Richard waited. It was growing dark when Richard figured out he’d been abandoned in the middle of the woods and silently cursed out Denari for leaving him and began trying to walk home. Richard thought after the incident with Zechariah that he’d never let himself be caught off guard in the woods again, and yet here he was, in the rapidly darkening woods, alone, thanks to his prick of a mentor endangering him on a whim. Again. Richard sighed. He began walking again doing his best to ignore the growing unease at the back of his mind. It was that feeling that he was being followed. The sounds of the forest were all around him, birds above, squirrels and chipmunks on the ground, the wind moving the trees, and quiet movement in a nearby bush. His breath caught in his throat and the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. Against his better judgment, he moved toward the source of the sound, every nerve was screaming to run, but then, he’d never been very fast, and having a damaged leg slowed him down more so the odds wouldn’t be on his side. He cautiously parted the prickly branches of the shrub, only to jump back with a shout as a brown roof rat ran across the forest floor. Richard laughed at himself, so scared by a little rodent, he took one more step before hearing a voice that caused his blood to freeze. “Hello, witchling.”

[thecovenwars]

“We all need to face or demons somehow, believe me, I know, I have one in my basement”

[thecovenwars]

Character Highlight Ársa

Ársa is known as the God of magic, he is a powerful and ancient spirit who deeply loves his creations (The Witches, The Fairies, and even The Vampires). Ársa rarely allows humans to see him, living deep underground and often taking the form of a monstrous wolf to scare off people who wander too deep. He is greatly aware of his flaws, and the results of his mistakes break his heart. He does not believe he should be worshiped which is why he hides away. Personality wise Ársa is very compassionate and seeks to find someone who might be able to fix his mistakes.

[thecovenwars]

Teeth

Leave it to Charlotte to go looking for an urban legend at two in the morning. There had long been rumors about a vampire living in the Eastbrook Cemetery, attacks nobody could remember and animals that appeared to be drained of blood tended to turn up in the immediate area. And of course, upon hearing these rumors, Charlotte decided she just had to check it out. Also, of course, she’d call Richard from there to make sure he’d show up to help her explore.

“And they say I’m the crazy one, deranged gremlin!” he said, crossing his arms upon meeting her.

Charlotte turned to him with a smile that could make Cheshire Cat blush. “We’re all mad here!” she cackled. 

“Don’t suppose your parents know you snuck out?”

The smile grew wider. “Nope! And I’m not leaving until we look around.”

Richard sighed and dropped his arms. “Fine, let’s get this over with. Wipe the smile off your face, you look madder than a hatter.”

“Thank you.” She continued to smile as Richard rolled his eyes. 

The two of them wandered the cemetery for a good hour. Charlotte was loving every moment of it, and Richard was just hating Charlotte. At the back of the cemetery, near a wooded area was a grave that made Richard pause and stare. Monica Joanne Lewis. The mother he never met, he had been told that when he was two weeks old, his own father had killed her in front of him, and later took his own life after leaving Richard behind. His godmother told him that it wasn’t true, but that didn’t stop everyone else from repeating the story, always looking at Richard with pitying and sometimes suspicious glances. It wasn’t that, or the pain of loss that really hurt, however, it was the lack of memory, the inability to grieve this woman he would never know, that caused the tears now streaking his face.

Charlotte turned back toward him, her smile falling away. She went to him and put her hand gently on his arm. “Richard,” she whispered, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought you here, let’s just go. There’s nothing to find here.” 

Richard quickly wiped his eyes. “No, no, I’m alright. Come on, let’s keep looking.” They walked away from the grave, Charlotte kept close to Richard. They both paused as a rustling in the nearby woods caught their ears.

“Did you hear that?” Richard turned his head toward the trees.

“Maybe it’s the vampire.” Charlotte was only slightly hiding behind Richard. They eyed the bushes both backing away as they heard a low growl and twigs snapping as something got closer to them.

Slowly the source of the sounds became visible. It was of a rather large dog that was stalking out toward them. The dog had wild eyes, and it was drooling and snarling at them. 

“Nope, not a vampire.” Charlotte squeaked.

“Run!” Richard grabbed her arm and sprinted, the wild dog charged after them. “Charlotte! A bit of magic would go a long way right now!”

“I can’t. I’m too scared! I don’t want to die tonight!” Now she was crying. 

Richard practically threw Charlotte ahead of him, ensuring that she would get out first. They had nearly reached the exit when something caught Richard’s leg, twisting his ankle and sending him to the ground.

“Richard!” Charlotte screamed. 

The dog moved to pounce. It lept to strike and something sprang from behind a gravestone, colliding with the dog in midair. It was hard to get a good look at whatever had pounced on the dog, it looked like a human, but was moving much too quickly and had far too much raw strength. The strange creature sank its teeth into the neck of the dog, the dog yelped, whimpered, and went still.

Richard and Charlotte exchanged glances then looked back at the creature that had just saved their lives. It stood up. It looked like a woman. Long black and dark purple curls fell around slender shoulders. Her black shirt was extremely low cut, Causing both teens to blush at how much of her chest was visible. Her skin was pale, save for her chin and part of her neck now splotched with blood, her eyes black, her bloodied lips curled into a smile, revealing a gleaming pair of fangs. 

[thecovenwars]

The God Of Magic

Ársa was the very first sidhe, made from the root of an Elder Tree and born with a spark of creation, he was one of the few chosen creatures able to create life. He helped populate the world by creating powerful races that would one day be known as the sidhe, they lived reviered by human kind. Walking along side them, and giving their aid to those who gained their favor, Ársa believed he had done his maker proud. But even the best laid plans can go awry, Ársa didn’t know the pride and greed of human kind, and what they would do for power.

There was a faction of seven men and women who craved the power of their neighbors, to this end, they made a fatal error. Together they schemed to kill a shide and drink her blood, in hopes that from her blood her power would become theirs. Their wish was granted, but with it a curse was born, the men were given eternal life, but with it they were cursed with an insatiable thirst, as their power was born from the spilling of divine blood, to maintain their eteral life they had to spill the blood of their fellow man, and drink from their bodies. These would become the first vampires. Some of those cursed tried to resist the bloodlust only to find that ignoring the thirst ebbed away at their humanity, slowly tuning them into creatures of instinct, who only knew to kill, feed, and spread. Rabidly, the vampiric plague began to overwhelm humanity.

Horrified by what he had created, Ársa turned to the archangels for help, pleading with them and their maker to save mankind from his folly. Until the maker gave him a solution, he would sacrifice his spark of creation, distribute it across the world so that new creatures would be born with powers that could resist the curse that had been unleashed and save mankind. In exchange, Ársa would no longer have the gift of creation he had been given. Seeing no other alternative, he accepted this deal and his gift was distributed across the earth, giving rise to a race of humans with extrordenary powers, some to see the future, others could walk through fire and never burn. Together this new race could fight back the plague of vampires and restore a relative peace to the world. But once again humaity’s hubris destroyed that too.

The gift of magic caused fear and distrust among humanity, they began to call these gifted people witches, called them an affront to nature and sought to destroy them. At the same time the gifted had begun to separate into groups called covens and were fighting amongst themselves for dominion of magic, these wars decimated the world and the gifted population dwindled. Ársa was heartbroken, he considered destroying the gift entirely and all who carried it would cease to be, and yet he couldn’t, as to him they were his, his children. Instead of destroying them Ársa hid among them, in his many forms he helped to rebuild what was lost, and to give them a new name, practitioners. Today, nobody knows where Ársa is, some say he’s still among mankind, watching after his beloved creations, others say he no long exists, but to this day his gift lives on. The gift of magic.

Richard closed the old tome and looked up at the one toothed hermit, “So… it’s a curse then?  Can it be undone?”

“Who can say, little one.”

“Magic is creation… that means it should be able to do anything, right?!”

“Even creation has its limits, child, even the ancient one couldn’t cure vampirism.”

“I can’t just leave my brother like that, there’s got to be a way. Please, can I borrow this? Maybe there’s some sort of clue in here that can help me save my brother!”

“Take it, I hope you find what you’re looking for”

Richard smiled and bowed respectfully before running back into the tunnel, the one toothed man followed him to the edge of the darkness and smiled, “maybe, just maybe. He could be just what my children need.”

[thecovenwars]

Character Highlight: Seth Michael Lewis, Richard Lewis's older brother, Seth witness the murder of their mother when he was 16. Despite personally seeing the assailant and driving him away that night, Seth was unable to save their father from a murder charge. Seeing how the law failed him he decided that the only possible way to find the killer and avenge his family was to go against the law, and the assassin known as The Ferryman was born. Seth's face is largely unknown by the public as none of his targets have lived to tell the tale, his only calling card is the coins he leaves on the eyes of his victims.

[thecovenwars]

Coven Wars protagonist 002: Richard Lewis. This gifted young man is a reader, a witch who can read any written language as though it were his own. Richard having just turned 16 is inducted into the Endless Circle coven and begins his training as a witch under the enigmatic James Denari. While his hair may appear blond upon closer inspection it is actually pure white, something he claims he was born with, but those who look in his eyes can see the lie.

[thecovenwars]

Coven Wars protagonist 001: Charlotte Racer, The Seer. A 13 year old girl who's just coming into her psychic powers. Which she quickly learns do not have an off switch. Because she's only 13 she's too young to join a coven but that never stops her. Young but powerful she continues to learn and grow every day. Even using her powers to help find her best friend when he goes missing.