Witches at war

One

The world was a corrupt place. No matter what species you were, corruption infiltrated your society and manipulated your existence. That is how all people have lived for thousands of years, in the grasp of corruption so subtle that you can't fight against it.

I had always been fine with living my life in a manner dictated by others. As a witch, my role was to learn witchcraft until I was strong enough to protect my coven from any threats we may face. I was happy to fulfil my destiny as a spellcaster; it gave me pride, to be able to defend my home and my people. That was until the corruption began to show.

Our coven leaders, the eldest and strongest members of our coven, started to disappear. It was a slow process, one of them would disappear every few years. Usually, it was during a raid or while we were at odds with another coven. Nobody seemed to find it suspicious, but when Coven Leader Rae vanished I knew something was wrong.

Coven leader Rae was the oldest, wisest and strongest of all of our coven leaders. She was one of the founders of our coven and was the most respected of all the coven leaders. Her disappearance caused an uproar in our small society, many people mourning her loss while others worried about their safety. Without Rae in charge, all felt lost.

That was when Dalia stepped in. One of the far younger Coven leaders, she was often regarded as inexperienced. No one could have guessed that she would take charge of the coven and turn our harmonious family into a hierarchical empire. In the space of a month, our small village in the woods was transformed into a segregated prison meant to house and train witches. Our members started to dwindle, many ran away, some getting caught and being executed for treason.

I used to thrive off of the collectivity of our coven but with Dalia in charge, my pride and hope diminished, replacing itself with anger and vengeance. After two months and eight days, I made my escape. I had witnessed many witches attempt to leave and fail, resulting in their own violent demise. A thorough plan was made and after weeks of preparing, I set the plan into action.

At 18 years old, I was an almost fully trained spellcaster. With only a year left until I was classed as a mature witch, I had confidence in my own abilities. The plan heavily relied on them too. At exactly midnight, the time of rest for all witches regardless of title, I would cast a spell that entrapped all the buildings in thick forest vines. Dressed in my darkest clothing, with a black veil, I would then leave my hiding position and head towards the coven's training ground. That was where the weakest entrapment shield was, and where I would use all of my energy to make a small hole for me to sneak through. From then on it was running as fast and as far as I could.

So there I was, successfully out of my coven, running as fast as my feet could manage in a random direction. I wasn't running to something, just away from something else. By now my vines would have worn off and Dalia's guards would be on my tail. It was important that I found somewhere to go. But I was in the middle of an uninhabited forest that our witches had scoured many times to ensure it was free from possible attackers. That only left one option, get out of the forest.

Witches lived on a different plane of existence to other beings. It was safer that way and meant that usually, the only threat that could reach us were other witches. In order to leave or enter a witches land, you either needed a coven leader's permission or a teleport. Since I couldn't exactly return to the coven to ask Dalia nicely if I could leave, I was left relying on a teleport. Rogue witches usually offered teleportation as a way for them to make money. My job would be to find one and hope I could afford their services.

A few hours had passed since I left the coven, finally, I let myself rest for a second. I needed to find a rogue witch and fast, searching manually would take too long so I hoped that I had enough magical energy left to cast a location spell. Closing my eyes, I raised my arms and attempted to send my magic through the air around me. It was difficult and the spell couldn't reach as far as it was meant to but eventually, I sensed a witch.