Operation Witchcraft

Chapter 3: Ignis

Excerpt from the Book of Glyphs, reference A, page 7:

The Ancients are believed to be children of the gods, and it is widely held that they are our oldest ancestors. The gods gave them special powers and gifts, hope for the war against their more evil creations. Remember, the gods cannot truly take away, they can only give. This is the law of nature that even they cannot break. Everyone has the blood of the Ancients, they were humanity before we were. In order to tap into the gifts they were given, the Sight Glyph was placed on the left side of the neck. This glyph is given within the first few days after birth, although it can be given at any time. More and more are born with this glyph on their neck.

Those with the Sight Glyph are called the Praelia - the warriors.

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When Ella heard Wendall utter the word 'Sanctuary' with such meaning, she almost choked. Everything from the past couple minutes clicked into place. How Wendall fought against the wurm. The steel balls that had popped up moments before the wurm had attacked, so heavily reminiscent of the old tracker balls.

She ran over everything in her mind again. When Ollie had sensed something in the factory, Ella's nerves had steeled up. Ella had been drawn to Olivia from day one, although she probably never knew why. Olivia had been adopted from a young age, and her parents had been smart enough to hide the birthmark-like eye glyph on her neck. Ella could see through the glamour, with her small amount of training, and she was surprised no one had come for Olivia yet. Untrained mages were prized money for Dark Ones.

So Ella had stuck with Ollie, trusting Ollie's instincts and befriending her. That day at the warehouse was the same.

Ella had found traces of the wurm not far into the warehouse, and had immediately ran back to Ollie. She had put two and two together quickly - the old manager of this place must have been possessed by the wurm and caused it to shut down.

It all went downhill from there.

Ollie was hit by some of the wurm's poison. The wurm hadn't been that strong, but on a human the poison would have killed her. Ollie held on, which only confirmed Ella's suspicions about her.

Then Wendall, the complete idiot he was, ran over to her and mentioned the Sanctuary. Ella had some basic healing supplies she had bought off a wandering trader masquerading as a homeless woman. Ollie would have been fine. Ollie wasn't meant for this life.

Wendall moved to scoop Ollie up, but she stepped between them, "Where, exactly, do you think you are taking my best friend?" Wendall looked at her, there was no amusement in his eyes or his tone.

"Ella Newberry... I think you know exactly where I'm planning on taking her."

"The Sanctuary."

"The very one. Or at least, the closest one to here," he paused, and then moved to pick Ollie up. "You're welcome to come with. Perhaps you can explain the glyphs that mark your arms when we're there."

Ella scowled. No way was she talking to this dolt, who triggered a freaking wurm attack. But he was already moving, and she had no choice but to follow. She had too many questions and she was not about to leave Ollie behind.

To her surprise, a car sat outside waiting for them. A tall latino boy stood against the driver door, picking at his nails. Ella stiffened as she neared him.

"And who's this?"

Wendall looked at Ella, "His name is Clayton. Did you really think I didn't call for backup?" Of course, that made sense. She still didn't trust him.

Wendall put Ollie in the car, and Ella quickly took the back seat before he could. She heard a soft chuckle from Clayton. Ollie laid on her lap, shivering. The pain must have been unbearable, demonic poison was one of the strongest poisons there were. Mages only had a resistance because of the gifts they were given through the generations, but that didn't mean she would survive. Who's to say she was a mage anyhow, and not just born with a random, freak gift?

"How can I trust you two?" She finally spoke to the two boys, thinking about how Wendall was her coworker. She had never seen a glyph on him.

Clayton took a turn before speaking. "If you're worried that we are those treacherous Dark Ones, you're in luck. You were found by people who try to do good in this world, not evil. Lucky too, considering a few buildings over and you would have stumbled into a Dark One's base." Ella swallowed, her heart skipping a beat.

Dark Ones were not kind people. They were mages who had turned Dark, and allied themselves with the Nox, a species of demons who had similar levels of sentience to humanity. The Nox were royalty and the Dark Ones their pawns. They had come about around the same time as the European medieval ages, and had grown to the height of their power in World War II. Ella had heard rumors that they were growing again.

"Maybe think about that before trapezing into a warehouse for a photoshoot with an untrained mage." Wendall's voice cut through the car like fire, rage kept only just hidden.

"I don't know if she's a mage. Her parents are normal. She was adopted, I..." Ella cut herself off. They didn't need to know her dirty laundry.

Wendall turned to stare her down, "But you are?"

"No. I wasn't trained past age 11, almost 10 years ago."

The air in the car seemed to chill. They knew what happened then. Would they figure out who her parents were?

"Are you in our system?"

"I was, at one point. I believe you have me marked 'Missing' now."

"How would you know that?"

"There are a good many magical beings that don't follow your laws," Ella spit out.

Wendall tensed in the front seat, and then relaxed, running a hand through his hair, "Can we trust you aren't a Dark One?"

"I'm not." She left no tone for argument in her voice. Shifting, trying to not disturb the feverish Ollie, she pulled down the right side of her shirt, revealing her shoulder blade.

"No mark.." Wendall said. Clayton loosed a breath.

If she had been a Dark One there would be a brand on her shoulder - a four pointed star.

They turned again, and came to a stop in front of an old library. It's first floor served as a public library, with its mission to serve and educate the masses. The next five floors up and the floors below served as a main base for the Ignis - the "good" mages who sought to protect humanity.

The Sanctuary.

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Hello everyone!

Excited to finally explore the Sanctuary? I know I am!

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Should Ella trust Wendall? Will Ollie be okay? Find out soon!

~Ekaterina