Bitter Revenge

Chapter 30

(Stella King's POV)

I rushed out of my home, making sure I grabbed two specific items on my way out, and to the front of this death march. A good friend of mine from back at the magic academy was leading them all. He was a tough looking, dirty blonde guy who I remember always competing with. "Felix! What's going on?" He kindly smiled down at me, he always was a sweetheart. "The High Priestess is sending us on a search frenzy. She wants that vampire girl dead, and she's letting me lead. Didn't she tell you?" I looked forward to where they were walking and saw my aunt. I felt fear wrap its grimy hands around my stomach at the thought of confessing to my aunt my intentions. But this was it, I had no time left.

I jogged towards her and stopped in front of her, looking up a little. "Auntie Trix, you can't do this." I looked into her determined eyes and saw a fire, a promise of death to a certain somebody. "I can do whatever I want. That vampire broke rules in our territory. I will not allow such actions to go unnoticed." I swallowed my fear and tried to feel the same determinism Fiona showed in my dream. "That doesn't matter. Vampires aren't our responsibility, only wayward witches and your run-of-the-mill warlocks are. What you're attempting to do is a crime, and I can't sit by and watch you do this."

She didn't seem fazed by my declaration, in fact she looked bored at my revolt. "Oh Stella. I was hoping you'd be smarter. I want those leeches gone from the face of the Earth, but I can't do that. So I'll take any small mercy I can have. Those monsters killed my older sister, and I refuse to let them get away with it." I puffed up my chest at the mention of my mom, feeling my glasses dip down my nose. I threw my arms out to my sides, burning the grass beneath us to create a wall behind her. "And I refuse to let you kill someone who has done nothing wrong."

I could see the anger that struck my aunt at my confession, but then a creepy smile tugged on her lips. "At least you'll be of use to me. You know where she is, don't you? You must if you choose to fight so stupidly." I immediately wished I had an army of my own, because the stomping had come to a stop a couple steps behind me. No way I can take them all on. Fuck what do I do? My Aunt nodded her head at someone and I turned to see someone rush at me. I quickly dodged and rolled on the ground, careful not to burn myself with my wall. A girl I'd never seen before rushed at me again, reaching for my face, but I kept dodging without hurting her.

"You're making a mistake Auntie! Killing her will only lead to war! The Moon Goddess will look down upon you for your actions, please reconsider! You're putting all these witches, my former classmates, at risk of death!" I yelled out, still trying to dodge without attacking her. "Just get me that information Anne." I got caught off guard because I thought she had called me Anne, and soon enough this Anne pressed her thumb and middle finger to my temples and I felt my brain scramble. My limbs froze and I felt like someone was skimming the pages of my brain. Lectio animo! Fuck she's a mindreader. She pushed my head back soon enough and I awoke again, my muscles moved and I caught myself. "Fiona the vampire is in Maine, with her Queen."

No. Don't tell her that. She'll just kill Fiona. Be quiet. SHUT UP! Fire sprung from my hands and I punched Anne so hard in the jaw that I not only knocked her out cold, but I left a nasty burn on the left side of her face. In my blind rage I attacked others, a part of me holding back to prevent any deaths on my part. But after getting about 16 witches on the ground and groaning, everything went black. No... I failed. A war will break out, Fiona will die, and I'll be covenless. I'm sorry. I'm sorry Fiona. I'm sorry Mom. I'm so sorry for not being strong enough. I couldn't be strong for you, and I wasn't strong enough for Fiona. Silence befell my mind, the world seizing to exist beneath my feet. Then, I remembered something my Mom used to always say to me. "Giving up is easy. And rarely is right thing to do easy. Keep going. Because even if you fail, you can proudly announce that you tried your hardest."

My eyes shot open to see I was being carried by Felix and it was snowy. Teleportation. I jumped out of his arms and ignited the woods around us on fire, effectively melting the snow. Smoke rose from the burnt trees, and the snow beneath my feet hissed. My skin tingled from the heat on my skin, but it didn't burn me. My aunt looked at me sharply, irritated that I was putting up a fight. "Stella. Stand down, or I will walk over you." I felt white hot fire course through my veins, making my hair feel hot, my hands, my feet, all of me. And I just smiled, ignited by the hope my Mom once carried. "Then I hope you can handle the heat."

I'd never actually dueled with my Aunt, so when she threw ice my way, least to say I barely dodged in time. The fight was tense, she'd attack and I would dodge or block, and I'd attack and she'd dodge or block. Years of pent up anger towards each other surfaced, and it was clear from the way she sliced mercilessly and how I burned the ground around us carelessly. She managed to nick my arms and legs plenty of times, but I also roughed her up by using my fire to direct her wherever I wanted her. Sometimes tripping her, even landing a few punches. Finally, one of us screwed up. My foot stupidly hit the stump of a tree and I tripped, like an idiot, so I failed to dodge the ice dart coming right at me. It cut my cheek, not too deep I don't think, but crimson blood dripped onto the melted ice beneath me.

I growled and prepared myself to fight harder, feeling my fire burn hotter by the second. But the fighting stopped when we heard a growl from above us and the crunch of snow as if someone had dropped down from a tree. A tall, dark woman stood between us, her eyes piercing red as she looked between us, fangs bared. "Witches are not allowed in the Colden Front Forest. Leave, before I drag you all out." She seemed to eye my cheek deeply before looking around, until my aunt spoke up. "We will not leave until I catch my runaway." The beautiful vampire seemed distracted for a while, her eyes darting left and right with a troubled expression on her face. She scanned me for a while and then looked around, then I saw it. Her ear twitched, as if she was listening to something. Is she... communicating telepathically to her mate? I've never seen this from up close! How cool.

Finally, she whipped her head towards me which caused me to flinch. "Are you Miss Stella King?" So I was right, she was communicating with someone! "Yes, why?" Her expression softened slightly as she held a hand out for me to grab so I could stand up again. When I stood, she leaned down to speak in my ear. "Your mate is not far. You're lucky my wife was speaking with Fiona at the moment, or else I would've kicked you out with the rest. Please stay put until the situation is handled." I smiled softly and stepped aside, glad that this kind vampire didn't care that I was a witch and that the fighting was over. I may know how to use my Ignis magic in a billion different ways, but I never enjoyed fighting. I hope we can get this over with soon.