Finding Thunder

Chapter 1: Whispers in the Dark

He woke with a start; his large, anguine neck bringing his head upward to peer into the darkness. He shifted quickly, the black of his scales morphing into armor that hugged his lithe form. A cascade of inky black hair sprouted from his scalp and framed his handsome yet effeminate face.

With eyes closed he drew in a deep breath, centering himself and clearing his mind. Holding nothing but the vision that had woken him, fixing it firmly into his memory. He would have to share this with The Hoard.

"Come to me my brothers and sisters, we must prepare for our company."

--

"My fellow Elders, the Solstice is once again upon us and we must choose the sacrifices." The voice was aged and brittle but helda power that Lucas well knew. He lady still as death under the window of the Elder's hut.

Something had woken him from his deep sleep and had urged him to this spot. He had dressed quickly in his discarded clothes and crept past his mother's room and silently out the back door.

He had arrived after the last Elder and had scrambled up to the window, pleased that the various walking aids the elders used covered any sound of his ascent. He flattened himself as close to the window as he dared, the scrape of wooden chairs deafening in the silence. He waited with held breath, the air thick, almost as if Magic itself was holding her breath.

Soon another raspy voice broke the silence. "The Ember girl." Murmurs of assent flowed out to him as Lucas' eyes widened in horror. "She has only passive magic skills at best and we do not need yet another healer or brewer."

"If we could separate her from the Boggart lad, she may still be of some use."

"The boy will not let her go. Because of his father's condition he will have no other, you know this."

Lucas stared into the umbrage of the forest surrounding their village. The village had never sacrificed a coven member before, it had always been a captive from another coven.

"... must be used as well." Lucas blinked slowly, 'Who?'. "He will not take it well that we used his mate as the female sacrifice."

Shock filled the nearly twenty-six year old. He sat there, using sl the fortitude he had to stay still. The elders meeting would dissolve soon, as they did not plan any other part of the solstice celebration.

He would have to gather everything quickly and warn their families. No one would harm his lovely Lillian, he wouldn't allow it. He would protect her at all costs.