Veritas

Chapter 41

Gwen was sitting in a tree above the spring, letting her feet swing idly as she watched the water trickle into the pool. She had been sitting in silence for a long time when voices began to creep in from the distance. Knowing what the voices meant, Gwen descended from the tree and waited for her coven-mates. It wasn't a long wait before the blonde with the pixie-cut came from the shadows of the trees, followed by four other witches who all looked surprised to see Gwen.

"What are you doing here?" The blonde sneered at her.

Gwen shrugged lazily, motioning to the group. "Same thing the rest of you came for" she answered.

"No way Matris intended for you to be a part of this" the blonde scoffed. "You mess up everything you touch!"

Again, Gwen shrugged. "I mess up a lot, but if we're aiming for chaos...Does that really matter, Emilia?" She pointed out. "You may need a distraction, and it'll be me on the line in that case...So don't take it too hard that I'm here" she added for good measure.

The blonde spat to show her distaste, having no response to the reasoning. "Fine, but I'm in charge. We'll get the signal soon, and then we're entering from the passage. The vampires and other witches will be taking the gates, so our target is the King" she explained angrily. "Don't fall behind, or I'll let the mutts kill you."

Gwen nodded, not wanting to piss her off any further than she normally was. Fortunately, she didn't have to play nice for long because the sirens began to wail in the distance.

"It's time" Emilia said with a smirk. "Out of the way" she ordered, shoving Gwen to the side to gain access to the small pool of water. Similarly, the other witches followed their leader and one by one, they jumped into the water.

Once the last head disappeared under the water, Gwen couldn't help the face-splitting grin that appeared on her face. For years she'd been the target of Emilia, being groped and fondled by the older woman no matter her protests. She was known in the coven as Emilia's property, and nobody else was to pursue her. While Gwen didn't mind that others left her alone, since she hated her coven...She hated Emilia more than most. She had always sworn to herself that some day, she'd get her revenge.

Like Rei, Gwen had secrets. One of those closely-guarded secrets was of her coven of origin. When Gwen was sixteen, her coven was attacked. Had it not been for her mother hiding her, she'd have also been killed in the massacre. After word of the slaughter had spread, tensions between werewolf and witch began to grow...For this was the Moon Thread pack and coven, the only place on the planet where werewolves and witches lived in harmony. And nobody knew the source of the slaughter...Not even Gwen, despite her being there.

Now, because the barrier surrounding the pack had been created by the Moon Thread coven, any member of the Moon Thread coven could hear the hum of its magic. It was for this reason that Gwen grinned so widely, for she could tell that the barrier had not completely fallen. Although she was unsure why the sirens rang out, despite the barrier standing, she decided now was the time to take a chance.

"Incipio" she whispered to herself, her fingertips on her right hand glowing with brilliant blue light as soon as the words left her mouth. She then bent down over the water and ran her fingers over its velvety liquid surface. "Induresco...Veritas!"

Gwen stood and stepped back, watching a thick, icy sheen cover over the pool's surface at her command. She waited with her grin on her face, knowing that those witches would be hitting the barrier soon.

Another thing that Gwen knew was that, despite what lore said, any member of the Moon Thread coven was always welcome to pass through the barrier. She had sneaked into the palace on many occasions before through this route, and she knew exactly where the barrier ended, and fresh air began. By blocking the witches underwater, they'd be unable to pass the barrier to find air. If unable to breathe and unable to speak, they'd have no spells to help them. Even any talismans, potions or elixirs they brought that could start a fire would be too weak to break a Moon Thread witch's ice, and would serve only to boil the witches alive.

As she stood over the water, Gwen watched the first witch hit the ice. And then the second, and third. Frantically, the witches who'd watched Emilia torment Gwen began to pound and claw at the ice that trapped them. Finally, Emilia's blonde hair could be seen through the ice as she began pounding on the source of her demise.

Gwen walked over the top of the ice carefully, standing over the crystal clear image of Emilia as she knelt down above her. She placed her hand flat against the ice, with a wicked smile. "Incipio" she whispered again, letting her fingertips erupt in their magical light.

"Efflo..." she said, tracing a heart over top of Emilia's face while chuckling to herself. "Veritas!"

Still chuckling, Gwen watched as her magic forced all of the air from the lungs of the witches below. She was a bit surprised that none of them had tried fire against her ice; but, she knew she couldn't wait long for them to think about it. Instead, she opted for forcing them to fill their burning lungs with icy water so she could continue with her own plan.

Before getting up to leave, Gwen stared into the horrified eyes of Emilia, relishing that for once she was the one who was afraid. Watching as the light began to fade from the witch's eyes, Gwen stood to leave.

Pausing, though, she looked back down at Emilia and smirked. "I told you I'd show you what I'm worth."