Hidden Before Their Eyes | BWWM | WEREWOLF | RomePi™

﴾PRO✵LOGUE﴿ {BWWM}

꙳JANUARY 10, 1829꙳
﴾BLOOD MOON﴿

"Run. For the love of God... run!"

Celestine pushed her daughter to move faster.

Despite the pain coursing through her flesh ricocheting from bone to bone, the woman reaffirmed within her mind that stopping was out of the question. Jarring hard against the rough ground, the mother and daughter's feet propelled them in the one direction that offered the slightest chance of salvation.

"Mommy, I can't keep going. Please... please... find a place for us to rest," the young one panted as their trek worked to overpower her will.

"Such a place as that does not exist here. If we rest, we..."

She knew it was ill-advised to finish the sentence.

Words were life and the wrong words spoken held the power to herald in death. The older woman recalled the wisdom of her elders. Celestine was taught ages ago that one must never breathe life into the indescribable horrors living under the cover of night, so she reclaimed her silence. Instead, she grasped her child's hand tighter, tugging at the young woman to move swiftly ahead.

The foolish lived as if evil did not exist, but Celestine wasn't fortunate enough to live in a state of ignorant bliss. She and her child had witnessed unholy things and for their attendance during those moments of terror, she came to identify the limitations that spelled out their desperate need to run.

Placing some distance between themselves and their pursuers offered the tiniest measure of hope.

Celestine was fully aware that it would be impossible to outrun those beasts. Although death was never the endgame, the mother and daughter feared capture much more than anything else. If their return to the castle simply led them to a gruesome demise, blood splattered on the ground with their lives slipping away from the mortal coil would present them with a measure of peace.

Unfortunately for the ladies, what awaited them was far worse than they could stomach.

A report would soon reach the leaders alerting them that her essence had once again been located. As it diminished its intensity and led pursuers away from the castle, his soldiers would be driven into a frenzy fueling them to reach the two in no time. No amount of pleading for mercy could undo the bargain that already condemned the ladies to the distant shores of one of the cruelest leaders known to men.

For so long, Celestine had worked in the shadows to fix that which had gone woefully awry. She and her child managed to slip out of the carefully monitored seclusion they had come to know as home long enough to create a space within a space. Hidden before their eyes, the daughters of the soil remained cloaked from prying eyes long enough to procure their escape.

Had it not been for one unintentional act of disobedience, nothing would possess a power strong enough to bring those things to her.

Celestine had worked tirelessly to save her child by digging deep into her roots to conjure a spell that was strong enough to mask the young woman's aura. By day, her daughter was a young man as long as she stayed away from the confines of the small room they shared. When the night came, the spell lapsed, and the young woman's true form was revealed.

Casting spells to disguise Soleil's true identity before the people with whom they interacted was the only way to hide her. Also, by pretending to be a young man's servant until they were in the confines of their room, Celestine found it easier to transform herself into the guise of a haggard old woman until the door to their room was closed tight till daylight. With a protection spell securing that same door, no one could trace the pair unless the seal was broken before daybreak.