*
*
*
Under the light of a blood red moon, Rhea looked out over the ancient stone circle from her place at the altar. Dozens of robed figures milled about in preparation for a dark ritual, lighting candles and incense, drawing intricate symbols in powdered minerals upon the ground and chanting prayers to their ancestors.
"Phaesmara danthu, shalamarande,
Abyssum nivatum, malvarende.
Zarathur, virentis, adanor,
Nexaris, murmurendus, sorcor."
Eyes gleam bright with arcane might,
Spirits awaken, worlds ignite.
Elements shift, energies align,
As the veil between realms begins to decline.
The witches' voices, a symphony weaved,
A tapestry of incantations believed,
To summon forces of ancient lore,
And unlock the secrets forevermore.
"Maelstromis, sylvaris, nocturnalis,
Luminara, velaris, etherealis.
Magicae, potentiae, manifestum,
Esotera, vinculum, enchauntum."
Mystic currents surge and intertwine,
As the witches channel powers direct from the earth.
In the center of the circle, chained to wooden poles, were her four vampire captives - Two powerful elders whose strength had endured for centuries and Michael beloved sisters. Their enhanced senses no doubt picked up the scents of dark magic permeating the air, but they remained still and outwardly calm, hiding any signs of fear or unease.
Rhea smiled thinly. Soon, all that immortal strength and resilience would be hers to wield as she saw fit. She turned to her faithful second, the vampire Sebastian. His once-wild red eyes were now forever crimson, empty of will or purpose but to obey.
"Begin the binding spell. It is time these creatures understood the magnitude of the power they will serve."
Sebastian lifted his hands and began chanting in a language long forgotten by man. The air shimmered, and chains of violet light sprang into being, winding around the vampires' bodies, binding their movement but not yet impairing their enhanced strength or swift healing.
Rhea approached the oldest of the captives, a vampire elder called Henry who had walked the earth since the Crusades. His regal face remained stoic but his eyes glittered with banked fury as she traced fingertips along his rigid muscles.
"Tonight, Henry, your immortal essence will fuel magics greater than any in history," she murmured. "Think of it - your essence living on, empowering a new breed of superior beings that will dominate this world for eternity. Is that not a fitting end, for one such as you?"
Henry merely spat at her feet, lips curling back from his fangs in a wordless snarl. Rhea chuckled. "Such spirit. It will make breaking you all the sweeter."
She returned to the altar and began the real work, weaving potent spells through a complex series of somatic gestures and chanted incantations in Rhea's native tongue. The air grew thick and oppressive, the massive stones of the circle vibrating with released magical energy.
The vampires began to struggle instinctively against their bonds, supernatural strength faltering as Rhea's spellwork sapped their will and resistance. Muscles tensed and cords stood out on pale throats, fangs bared silently in agony as something intrinsic and immutable within their natures was torn apart.
"As soon as I'm out of here I'll rip you apart Lind by limb!!!" Elena threatened, but Rhea wasn't even moved by that she only smiled.
"I will love to see you try"
Dark crimson light pulsed from the bound figures, coalescing into glowing streams that flowed across the ground and climbed Rhea's robed form like veins, seeping into her pores. Her limbs trembled, eyes rolling back in ecstasy as the vampires' cursed essence - their predation, their resilience, their immortal vigor - became her own.
When the last wisps of light had faded, Rhea sank bonelessly to her knees, gasping. For long minutes she could only breathe, utterly spent but filled with a crackling power like nothing she had felt before. The remaining witches gathered around, supporting her, feeding her potent elixirs to aid her recovery.
At last Rhea rose, brushing them off. Her eyes blazed with strength and fervor as she gazed upon the still-frozen vampires, who now seemed diminished - their skin ashen, fangs elongated but mouths slack in a deathlike torpor.
"It is finished,"
she announced, voice carrying supernaturally upon the enchanted air. "This coven is no more - from this night forth, we are the Dominion! Bring forth the acolytes."
Her followers hurried to comply, dragging four bound humans into the circle - recently converted follower still reeling from the aftereffects of dark magic compelling their loyalty. Each was placed before one of the vampires.
Rhea gestured sharply, and the chains binding the former vampires dissolved. They collapsed forward onto hands and knees, bodies wracked with dry, heaving coughs. When they lifted their heads once more, eyes that had known centuries of calm wisdom were now wild and feral, focused only on the prey before them.
With horrifying quickness the newly created creatures fell upon the humans, fangs tearing into pale throats with savage abandon. The onlookers watched, transfixed, as the humans' lives were drained away in moments and their empty husks discarded.
The creatures rose, licking crimson droplets from their lips, and Selena smiled in triumph. Her creations were magnificent - stronger, faster and more ferally destructive than any vampire before. And they were beholden to her alone.
The ritual was a resounding success. Now, with her coven's magic,and her Dominion - bolstered by these new immortal soldiers, none could stand against her. Let the kings and their rebel clans tremble at her conquest to come. The new order was at hand.
As the bloodmoon sank below the treeline, Rhea's new immortal soldiers began to stir and awaken to their changed nature.
Henry was the first to rise, casting his glazed gaze around the ritual site in a daze. It was as though he were seeing the world for the first time - scents and sounds and textures assaulting his heightened predatory senses.
A raw, primal hunger gnawed within him like nothing he had ever known before, eclipsing even the endless thirst of vampirism. Every instinct screamed for the kill.
The young witch who had been tending him stepped back warily, but Rhea raised a hand.
"Remain still. Let him take his first steps into his newly reborn life."
Henry took an experimental step forward, balance unsteady on legs unused to his amplified power. Another step, then another, muscles coiling as he tested his new physical prowess. A feral grin spread across his face, exposing elongated fangs dripping with fresh blood.
A growl rumbled deep in his chest, sending the witch girl cowering behind Rhea in fright. Henry threw back his head and howled - not in mourning or rage, but savage exultation at his ascension.
One by one the others began to stir - Elena, Katherine, Alex, all shattered remnants of who they had once been, rewritten in Rhea's grand design. Her immortal soldiers, beholden only to her command.
"Go," she said softly. "Sate your hungers. Lay waste to all who would oppose us, and know no limits but my decree. The old paradigm has fallen; a new order is born this night."
With another triumphant howl, Henry bounded into the forest, the others swiftly following. Their concerted hunting cries echoed back through the trees, a portent of slaughter soon to come.
Let the rebel kings come, Rhea smiled. By dawn, none would doubt her Dominion's reach and power. The path of domination had only just begun soon she would claim the city for the dark witches, taming other beings under her command.