The first round of witches gathered and marched to the gate, preparing to exit their hidden realm. Armor and weapons adorned each of them, bright-colored eyes like a sea of glowing gems. The witches were quiet as they marched, understanding the weight of the future, but there was an air of nerves around them. Warriors they were born to be, fighters in their very souls, but many of them had barely ever left their peaceful realm, even fewer had seen the horrible acts of the demons first hand. But they knew the stories their mothers and grandmothers had told them, they knew the cruelty of the demons that tore the world apart, that killed their previous goddesses and many of their people in the beginning attacks, forcing them into hiding until their goddess returned. And they knew, deep in their souls, that this was something worth fighting for, worth risking their lives for. They came from women who long ago had faced injustices, been treated as less than and evil, and similar injustices ignited a flame inside them that could not be put out.
And when gasps sounded down the lines and shadow and light materialized on the horizon, near the gate, they knew they were not alone in their fight. Their goddess had returned, and she sat, mounted on her Champion, beside the Goddess of Light. Their Goddess of Darkness was dressed for war, sword strapped to her back, her Champion armored, shadows flowing from her and spreading across the land like the ocean on a beach at high tide. She was a dark, wicked, powerful stain across the land, an image of fury and justice. And beside her, glowing like a newborn star, a symbol of hope and life, sat the Goddess of Light, dressed equally for war, her power shaking the earth.
For justice, to avenge the helpless that suffered under the demons, the witches would go to war. For their goddess, who herself had suffered at the hands of the demons and had finally returned to them, prepared to fight alongside them, the witches would go to war.
The nervous air around the warriors disintegrated, replaced by determination and perseverance. Not all of them would return home, they knew, but the demons, even with almost absolute control of the supernatural world, did not stop killing innocents, did not stop spreading suffering and pain. And for those that would continue to suffer under their reign, the witches would fight, so that the world could be a better place.
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High Priestess Valeria, General Lilian, and their guards were the first to travel through the gate, Ciara and Lucienne following them through the gate just after, joined by Domina Evelyn and Lila, and then followed by Princess Oriel and her mate. They were portaled to the forest they had entered the witches' realm from in Germany, the sounds of the forest animals growing quiet with their sudden arrival.
Spring had begun in the time that they had been gone, the snow melting and the plants green and growing. It was beautiful, untouched in a pure way that Ciara could feel in the air. Her magic continued to flow from her as she enjoyed the wonderful scents and sounds of the forest, shadows and wind whispering secrets in her ears. She had missed this, being in the forest and becoming one with it, but she was not here to join the wilds and live within them. She was simply passing through, as would the small army that slowly emerged from the gate, spreading out within the forest, still lined up in ranks.
It took a long time, but not unbearably lengthy, for all of the gathered witches to travel through the gate. Ciara was calm, sinking into the depths of her powers, feeling the extent of her reach in the world. Slowly, in her power-sight, more and more of the world came into view. The trees of the forest and the gathered troops; the far-away road that lead to the vampires' castle. Lucienne lent her strength, their minds merging a bit as their grasp of the world stretched for miles, their bodies thrumming with power that awed the gathered witches. Ciara's shadows covered the surrounding ground the army occupied, the wind rustled the leaves on trees and her braided hair
YOU ARE READING
The Darkness Within
FantasíaA year and a half ago, events in her life prompted Ciara to walk into the forest and teach herself to survive. A snowstorm that forces her to take refuge in a cave, the finding of a lost wolf-pup, and running into a pack of werewolves in the woods t...
