I'd barely made it out of the forest, my basket of herbs heavy in my hand, when I saw it. A crowd. A small mob huddled around my house. My heart skipped a beat, and a cold sweat prickled at my neck.
The villagers didn't usually come near me, not with my kind. My kind wasn't popular here.
I moved faster, feet pounding on the dirt path. Their whispers reached me before I could get close.
"They got them"
"They've finally caught them. Caught the witches."
My basket crashed to the ground.
I shoved my way through the crowd, barely hearing their muttered words over the rush of blood in my ears. My breath came quicker. I didn't know what was happening, but the fear sinking into my bones was enough. The door to my house was wide open.
I dashed inside, my pulse thundering in my throat. My heart lurched when I saw it, my home, my sanctuary completely torn apart. The shelves, once neatly stacked with dried herbs and jars of potions, were a mess of spilled contents and shattered glass. The air smelled of dust and something else. Something sour. Something... wrong.
"M...mom? Dad?" I shouted, my voice shaking. I knew no one would answer. I called again. And again. Silence, heavy and suffocating. Panic started to bubble in my chest, and I ran outside, out of the house, into the crowd.
"Where are they?" I screamed, my voice cracking. I grabbed the arm of the nearest villager. "Where are my parents? Tell me!"
Someone spoke from the back of the crowd, their voice thick with guilt. "The vampires took them. They came for them. They're gone."
I felt the world collapse around me. A scream ripped out of my throat. "Why? Why did you let them take them? After everything they've done for you, healing your sick children, making your crops grow y..you let them take them? You let those vile monsters take them away?"
"Their dark magic would have had consequences sooner or later"
I heard a distinct voice say, I zeroed in on the person.
It was a vile old man who had always been loud about his hate for my coven despite all the good we did, even for him.
"I wish we had never saved your son" My voice cold even to my own ears "I wish we had let him rot on hell"
I heard some gasps.
Yes let them feel my anger.
The crowd stilled. A few of the villagers mumbled, casting their eyes down. Guilt? Shame? I didn't care.
"I'll never forget this. "You'll never be forgiven." I shouted, my voice wild with rage. "You could have fought." You could have helped them. But you let them fall into their hands!"
I turned away, storming off. My heart was shattered, and I wanted to break something. Anything.
I walked off to find my mistress, Evana. Something was slowly dawning on me, her attempts to keep away from the house today, the strange way my parents had been behaving.
I found my mistress's cottage at the edge of the village. "I didn't knock. "I didn't have time for niceties.
"You knew, didn't you?" I demanded, stepping inside. "You knew they were coming for us. That's why you sent me away."
My mentor looked at me calmly, her face unreadable. She didn't deny it. Didn't even flinch. "We knew. We wanted to keep you safe."
"Safe?" I nearly laughed. "Safe while you let them take my parents? "Safe while you cower in your little hut, pretending to be powerless?" My hands balled into fists. "I'm going to do what you never had the courage to do. I'm going to fight."
I saw her eyes gloss over, looking like she was about to cry.
"Lyra, please don't-"
"Don't…please don't" I replied, my voice breaking.
I couldn't take it, I turned, slamming the door behind me, my anger boiling over, the weight of her cowardice suffocating me.
***
The night air was cold, the moon hidden behind thick clouds. It was time for the procession where the vampires would parade their newly taken prisoners. A humiliating procession. A display of power. And I will see it for myself.
I followed the crowd from a distance, slipping through the shadows, until I reached the edge of the square. They were there. My parents. My coven. Shackled, herded together like animals, their faces drained of life. They looked so... broken.
I swallowed hard, my chest tight. The vampires didn't care. Not about the truth. Not about anything. Just power. Always power.
And then I saw them.
The vampire princes.
The second prince, handsome and slick, stood in front of them. His voice rang out to the crowd, dripping with false righteousness. "Magic is a threat to our kingdom. It is evil. It must be eradicated. These witches will be punished."
The crowd cheered. The words meant nothing, only that he was in charge now.
Behind him, standing like a stone pillar, the elder prince. His face was cold. Calculating. He didn't speak. He didn't need to. His presence alone was enough. His eyes flickered over the prisoners, and I hated the way he looked at them—like they weren't even worth his time. Evil bastards.
I clenched my fists, my teeth grinding together. "I'll make you pay for this," I whispered. "I'll make all of you pay."
The prince gave his speech. The words were meaningless lies that I couldn't even hear anymore.
They sentenced my parents without a trial. Without mercy. Life imprisonment in the royal catacombs. That was their fate. No trial. No justice.
I watched them take my parents away, herded like livestock, their heads bowed in submission. It sickened me. I will free them.
I left the procession, my body shaking with rage. I needed something. Something powerful enough to destroy them.
Back at my house, I took my mother's grimoire, the one that had been passed down through generations. The book of forbidden dark magic. The magic of the vampires had tried to burn out of us. I grabbed her precious vial of vampire blood. It had always been kept hidden, a secret even from the vampires. But now it will serve me.
Outside the house, I looked at the sky. It was a full moon.
Perfect for the ritual.
The ritual that was going to give me the power I needed to get my revenge. Those people had accused us of dark magic. I would show them the real dark magic.
I whispered a small werewolf tracking spell. I wanted to find the rebels, people who would hate vampires as much as I do.
I whispered the words, specifically summoning Rylan infamous rebel leader.
The forest was quiet. Still. I made my way deep into the trees. He led people like me who had their own hatred for vampires, their own reasons to fight. I found him, the leader, a man whose eyes burned with fury. His name was Rylan.
"You summoned me witch", his voice unreadable.
He looked at me with suspicion, but I didn't care. "I need your help," I said, my voice raw. "I want to perform a ritual." A spell that will give me enough power to destroy them and I need your blood."
"Why should I help you?" he asked.
"I hate them, they have my parents, my people," I replied, "and I will free them or die trying."
Rylan raised an eyebrow, but he didn't say no. "You understand the price?" "This sounds like dark magic."
"The darkest", I replied, "it's a price I'm willing to pay."
He nodded, and I handed him a knife.
He slit his wrist, and we began the ritual. My blood was mixed with a werewolf's, the vial of vampire blood added as the final ingredient. The air crackled. My veins burned. I felt the power rise within me, raw, untamed, and wild. It coursed through me, transforming me. Something in me had changed, something deep.
My magic is stronger now, infinitely stronger. But there was something else, something dark that lingered.
Rylan looked at me, his face unreadable. "Now, we plan."
I nodded, the weight of the magic settling in my bones. I wasn't the same girl anymore. I was someone else now. Someone with the power to bring down the vampires.
I was going to infiltrate their court. And I was going to destroy them from the inside.
No one would stop me.