The Dark Witch & Luna Queen

Chapter 2:

Ezmeralda POV:

When she let go, I looked back at the face I have grown up with, and it is almost like looking in a mirror at the older version of myself. Anyone is able to see just how beautiful she is, especially for the young age of 102. (What? We witches live a long time.) Our similarities are undeniable,we have the same bright green eyes, full lips, and have the same slim body-type. Once upon a time, she had straight black hair like I do, but at her age now, she now has a couple light gray streaks in the front of her hair. She turned those pieces into bangs, thinking they make it look intentional instead of admitting her hair is graying. Though we have the same body-type, my body is a little more built. Which means, I got all the curves in the family. My shoulders are more broad than hers, which makes sense since she only stands at 5’7 while I am 5’9. Our appearance isn't the only thing that is alike between the two of us. We also have a magical lineage, one that makes us stand out a lot more than the other dark witches. It is why the women born into my mothers line have always been the reigning Queens. Our lineage has given us an edge, power-wise over the others, though I have become the exception to those that have come before me in a very big way.

The women in my family, my mother, sister, and I all have the ability to control fire, to varying degrees, and call to it when we need it most. The story goes that a long time ago, there was a great war. A war that could have potentially wiped out all the dark witches when our first ancestor was blessed by the Moon Goddess herself to be able to control and manipulate one of the elements, the fire element to be exact. Rumor has it that our race is not the only one who has been blessed but those are only rumors. Since that day, each woman born into our family has had this ability. My mother is quite powerful, her fire, like most who have come before her, is red and burning hot. My sister and I, though, are different. Dahlia's fire is yellow, the weakest fire, because of this she doesn't have the ability to manipulate fire the way my mother does, but for some reason, my fire has changed from red to green. With my mother's fire, all she has to do is call to it for it to come while mine comes at merely a thought. Mine has also proven to burn hotter than hers does and I can shape mine and wield it to my discretion.

“Hey momma, how are you today?” I asked, hugging her quickly.

“I am good, retirement is starting to get a little boring though but I always love seeing two of my girls.”

“It’s always good to see you, Evanora.” Mariah said smiling.

“We have a question for you mom. Have you noticed or felt anything different lately?” We followed her through the kitchen and into the living room where she gestured for us to sit down.

“I have felt a disturbance, but I don’t think it has anything to do with the witches. Have either of you talked to the vampires or wolves? Maybe they are having a fight or something.”

Maybe she is right, if the disturbance is being caused by the witches I would know. One of the perks of being Queen is I have a direct link to all dark witches. We don’t have super speed like the vampires and we can’t mind link like the wolves, so our elders did a ritual many thousands of years ago to make it so any and all queens, and possibly kings, are able to feel a connection to all those born into the coven of dark witches.

“Tell me what you feel.” My mother added pulling me out of my thoughts.

“One minute it’s like a pull to an area, but if I try to explore, and begin to go toward the pull, I get this really uneasy feeling." I tried to explain it, "I am not feeling like we are in any sort of danger, but I don't know why I have such an uneasy feeling.”

“Well, why don’t you follow the pull and see where it takes you?” Her jade green eyes stared into my bright green ones.

“I wouldn’t be comfortable going on my own. You know, in case something were to happen.”

“As if you really need the back up.” She winked, making me laugh.

“True, but that doesn’t mean I would go blindly into a situation. You taught me better than that.” I looked over at Mariah and smiled, "This should be fun, just like the good ol' days… ready?” I smirked. I always have known, the two things I can always count on are my mother and best friend, they will forever be by my side no matter what I am about to get into.

“Aren’t I always?! Let’s go and round everyone up so we can follow your feeling." She said excitedly. We hugged my mother goodbye and walked out the front door.

“Don’t forget to take Talon with you! He would be upset if you didn’t.” My mother yelled, before we could get too far. I smiled at her and nodded my head. I would never go anywhere without Talon, or Mariah for that matter.

As we began to walk back towards the coven house to find Talon, and my other cohorts, I couldn't help but admire all the buildings we have put up over the years. Unfortunately there are still some people who think we live in a swamp or something equally dirty and gross because they have heard rumors about us Dark Witches, but those thoughts and opinions couldn't be further from the truth. I, personally, like the little village/town that we have built up since I was a child. We have always felt the need to be close to nature, so building out in the woods just makes sense, even if it does make us seem odd, closed off, and fuels the rumors of what we are 'really' like. So years ago we began to build.

Combining elbow grease and a little magic, we now have a large updated coven house, houses for the families that want them, a few shops, a large community garden, and a small school for the children where the elders teach them about everything they will need to know. It isn't as institutionalized as the human schools but we have always done things differently than the other races. The school is something my mother started to design just a little before I was born and it became her most prized addition to our little town. She still stood by almost daily to help teach the young ones, and to show off her skills if we are being totally honest, but more importantly she educates the young ones on the importance of our magical history and how important it is to never use the f*******n spells.

There is a difference between dark magic and f*******n or black magic. Anyone who uses the f*******n magic starts to change in ways no one ever should. The changes begin slowly, first they start to grow scales in patches on different parts of their bodies. start growing reptile-like bodies and their eyes.. snake eyes bleh! They can bend the f*******n magic so that it will do exactly what they want it to do. When this happens, they become a Black Witch and they have no limits when it comes to using the f*******n magic. And When this happens it causes a great threat to the rest of us and it isn't something we can allow to be in the world. A black witch becomes soulless, and we have seen them turn humans into their own personal animals, putting them on grazing grounds just to be sacrificed for their spells.

The poor sacrificial humans were still able to see, hear, and feel everything happening around them and to them, and while they couldn’t move, or speak they were fully alive and awake and left to feel nothing but helplessness. We have ways of flushing the black witches out. We have created different basic needs, like lotion or perfume, to where if they touch it, it peels back the illusion that they hide behind and reveals their use of the f*******n magic. It’s been an ongoing battle between us and the black witches. However, as dark witches, we can’t touch white magic either.

If we were to even try, too much of it can kill us, versus if a black witch touches it, it kills them instantly, it would be like us touching the sun. Just as we can't touch white magic, a white witch can't use dark magic, if they do it takes pieces of their souls until nothing is left and they are turned into black witches. White witches rely more on elements while we rely on natural herbs, potions and spells. I’ve never really sat down to speak to one to see what our actual differences are, but according to the elders, it isn’t something we need to concern ourselves with.

“Talon, where are you headed?” I asked. Like always he had his nose in a book reading about something, he and Mariah are alike in that way.

“I was going to my office, where are you two headed?” Talon asked.

“Rallying the troops. We have something to follow.” I replied.

“Whoa, what do you mean you have something to follow?” Talon asked. He was my mentor, still is in a way, but now he more so guards me. Talon stands at 6’4, muscular body build, his hair color reminds me of salt and pepper with hazel eyes that look more green in the sun. I could tell he hadn’t shaved yet because there was a slight stubble on his face which normally means something is bothering him. His olive colored skin tone nearly turns to bronze as the sun falls on his arms.

I smiled softly at him,

“We just left mom's house. I keep feeling this pull somewhere and she said the best bet is to follow it and see where it leads.” I replied. Talon slammed his book closed and his piercing eyes locked on mine.

“Now I know you weren’t thinking of doing something like that and not telling me.” Talon said in a serious tone.

“No, of course not! You are the first one we came across. I figured we could get Rowena, Malachi, and you and we would be fine.” I replied. The features on his face softened. Even though he was labeled my mentor he was more like a dad to me. No one knew what happened to my father or if he was even alive anymore. There were no pictures of him growing up and no one really spoke about him. I never put much thought into it since I’ve never met him and Talon has always filled that void inside nicely and I leaned on him for that role.

“Good, let’s go and get the others so we can start. How is your mother doing by the way?” Talon asked.

Those two have always flirted with one another and I’m pretty sure they had, or might even still have, something going on between them but either they weren’t ready to admit it to anyone else or they were just being incredibly private about it.

“Just ask her out already Talon, everyone knows you are in love with her.” Mariah giggled, making him smile. I still remember all the times that Talon would show up randomly at our house in clean cut outfits and flowers for both me and my mom. I think he is very good for her and he makes her happy.

It wouldn’t be hard for us to find Rowena and Malachi. Around this time they were at the training grounds with the younger witches. As we got closer I started feeling a pull and I looked over. There was nothing there and I felt my face scrunch up.

“Malachi! Rowena!” Talon yelled out, making me jump. I looked over to see the two siblings jogging over to us.

“What’s up?” Malachi asked. If you didn’t really know them, you would think that they are twins but Malachi is a couple years older than Rowena. Both of them had natural fire engine red hair with hazel eyes.

“We need to go with Ezmeralda on a little trip. Gather your gear quickly.” Talon replied, not leaving them a chance to say anything else. They both ran off to the shed while we waited for them. I kept looking over, why did I feel like someone was watching me all of a sudden.

“Ezie, hey now what is going on.” Mariah said. The fire within me was like a blazing shield that wrapped around us.

“I want a protection spell in the grounds. Now.” I replied, not bothering to look over.

“Madre natura ti invoco, proteggi questi terreni come faresti con me.’’ (Mother nature I call to thee, protect these grounds as you would me.)” Mariah whispered.

“Ezmeralda, talk to me about what is going on?” Talon asked, standing in front of me.

“It’s like someone is watching. I don’t like it.” I whispered, still not taking my eyes off of the woods.

“Girls, stay in the middle of us.” Talon said. He stood a little closer to me while Rowena and Malachi stood to the front.

“Where to Queen?” Malachi asked.

“Forward.” I replied, taking a step. I didn’t know what we were going to find but maybe I would get a little bit closer to what I was feeling.