Witchvania: The Curse of the Countess Cavendish EN

The McLaren ruins part 1

Dublin, Ireland, Ruins of
the McLaren Family Castle

53 days since the trio arrived in Chateaumorand, it was already the last days of the winter of that year, a Monday, March 12, 1551, that's the day where the first part of the girls' journey comes to an end, covering a distance of 1899km through Europe, the decisive day arrives, a rainy morning, What the day before had already been when Diana saw her sister's red eyes for the first time in ten years, Hellene was no longer the same child as before, since she was only four to five years old, the girl was already fourteen years old and knew very well how to manage alone in all these years.
Living in an immense loneliness, her only companion was Banshee, a ghost that is a spiritual embodiment of a pact made by the McLarens to try to protect Hellene before they were executed by the church practically the day after Laura McLaren's death. The other living family members committed a group suicide, the older ones entered into an agreement to protect little Hellene who was left alone, while they were captured and unfairly judged. Elisabeth, Emma, Joanne and Chelsea, also managed to convince little Holly who at that time was only eight years old and would be brutally murdered by the church were needed five witches for the creation of banshee, a spell of the family itself used to create protection, the five killed themselves in exchange for it, drawing a pentagram dug in the ground and then the cavities were filled with their blood that was performing a spell with a pact made by death. The protection of Hellene in exchange for five lives.
Since that 18th January 1541, when Laura McLaren was killed, the Banshee has been successfully invoked and only serves the purpose of protecting Hellene, having its own conscience, a ghostly creature that is capable of emitting ultrasound waves, by means of screams that can burst eardrums, so there are reports of people who have heard the creature's screams many times in the early hours of the morning. Little McLaren was always immune to those screams, having to turn alone in many cases to get her food, even with the protection of the Banshee.
But even with the Banshee, the McLaren castle did not escape unscathed, there were fires, mass demolitions of cannonballs and with that only some debris of the place remained, such as some towers and halls that still escaped, but are with holes in the ceiling and somewhat abandoned, full of vegetation, but that did not stop Hellene with time to study herself about her own powers, with help from the few books she had there, With the help of the few books she had there, she learned to be independent by herself, always staying only in the surroundings of the old castle, hunting some animals for her own survival and drinking water from a nearby river, but she could never get through because she had a magic barrier that prevented her from leaving, created by the Banshee herself, being necessary for her to defeat it in order to escape from that prison too.

On the day that the girls would go into action, Diana asked with all understanding that the girls wait until nightfall, trying to convince them that it was better and the vote was even tight, Marianne, Lotte, Sucy and Constanze voted to attack during the day, on the other hand, Akko, Amanda, Jasminka and Croix opted for the night, leaving a tie, and the tiebreaker criterion was Diana, who opted to go out at night, many of those who refused to go out during the day were afraid and also because they wanted to go on a safe route.
The girls that use firearms were preparing their weapons and ammunition, Akko and Diana sharpened their swords, Marianne was always alone, carrying what she always carries, but with an extra protection using an iron chestplate so as not to get seriously hurt, Amanda and Sucy were preparing arrows, they took the time to bless them, which would make them efficient against the creatures of the night. Lotte gathered what she had of potions and taking advantage of the free day she left some with her girlfriend. With that she was perfecting, already leaving sheets of paper with glyphs drawn on hands to already speed up the process of using spells.

The night falls, they leave the hiding place, with their weapons ready, from there they walk to where they approach the castle ruins, where Diana stands in front, she takes a deep breath, wearing a necklace with a moon pendant, she just stares from afar from the entrance and also looks back seeing the expression of the girls.