Prologue
The witch that needs to seek, that would search until her death, shall find peace in her sight.
Not that long ago
Rheseis looked into the clearing and sighed. She was partly relieved that this day had come, but she had also hoped it never would. The witches became more and more brazen. More and more ignorant and idiotic. And with that, more and more fearless.
It had been about seventy years since she had met with the fourth High Priestess. In those seventy years, a lot had changed. Thankfully, after this was done, she only had to wait another twenty to thirty years. Then the prophesied witches would be ready. The witches of blood would finally be ready to meet.
But first, she had to make the fifth High Priestess pay the price. Oh, well, she thought to herself, there was no point in delaying.
She skipped forward to where a coven was gathered to perform a ceremony. They stood in a circle around an altar and on the altar a young muse laid. Though it wasn’t possible to see with your eyes, she was bound to the altar by magic. Her wrists were cut to let single drops of blood fall out from time to time. Her head was on the side, facing in Rheseis’ direction, who could see the empty hollowness in the muse’s eyes.
Rheseis closed her eyes to control her anger. It wouldn’t be good if she let her emotions control her.
As she opened her eyes though, all her efforts to calm herself proved to have been for nothing. One of the witches stepped into the circle towards the muse, with a silver dagger in hand.
A tree root shot up from the ground and took a steady grip on the witch’s wrist. The shock made the witch drop the knife and Rheseis flew in to grab hold of it.
“What is the meaning of this?” Rheseis hissed and looked around the circle until her eyes landed on the High Priestess.
“This has nothing to do with you, faerie!” the High Priestess answered.
“I never thought I would live long enough to see one of the High Priestesses performing non-consensual blood magic.” At that, Rheseis turned to the muse, and with a simple hand gesture, she made the bindings disappear.
“How dare you disturb our most sacred ritual!” the High Priestess shouted.
Rheseis didn’t even look at the witch as she took out some leaves from a pocket which she draped around the muse’s wounds. Then she took out a berry which she forced the muse to swallow.
“If you do not leave this place now, things will turn ugly,” the threats continued.
“I’ll leave only when I got what I came here for. The Eye is what I want, and the Eye is what you’ll give me,” Rheseis answered. She could see how some of the life returned to the muse’s eyes and sighed in relief. Then she turned to focus wholeheartedly on the raging witch.
“There’s nothing for you to get here! Please leave immediately!”
“No. You have a payment to fulfill. Your predecessor made a deal with me, and you must honor it.”
The High Priestess snorted. “I know about that deal and I refuse to pay. The prices you’ve asked for are too high and no doubt you think you can get away with anything. But you can’t. I’m going to stop you here and now.”
Rheseis smiled. It was a sweet smile, but the malicious glint in her eyes made all the witches shudder involuntarily.
“Are you brave or foolish? Or do you simply not know enough about a faerie’s nature?” Rheseis asked and tilted her head.
“What’s the meaning of your words? Speak clearly.”
“Oh, I will. Just before I do, can you please confirm that you intend to break the deal that was made with me?”
“Yes! You’re not getting anything from me, faerie!”
“Well then, let’s see who wants to dance with me first!”
Rheseis let her eyes sweep around the circle one lap before she started reciting and all the witches found themselves unable to move.
“The witch of the mountain, who has turned hard like ice, shall be thawed by light.” She pointed to a witch that turned into flames. “The witch that seeks revenge, on foes she does not know, shall find truth in the night.” A witch’s eyes became completely black, and she screamed in fear. “The witch surrounded by death, that shuns all the rest, shall be awoken by innocence.” A witch shrank and became a toddler. “The witch who knows nothing, who had no one that could teach, shall find the answers through life.” A witch had flowers starting to grow from her skin. “And the witch that needs to seek, that would search until her death, shall find peace in her sight.”
Rheseis faced the High Priestess and pointed at her. The High Priestess’ eyes lit up, and she fell to her knees. It lasted for about a minute before her eyes dimmed. Her whole body shook as she looked up at Rheseis.
“What… What was that?” the High Priestess asked.
Rheseis walked over and bent down. She placed a hand softly on the woman’s cheek and this time there was no malice in her eyes as she smiled.
“That was everyone you’ve ever hurt,” Rheseis answered. “Now, give me the Eye. Fulfill the deal so I can make everything better.”
“Can you… Can you take those images away?” the High Priestess begged.
“No. Such a thing must never be forgotten.”
The witch’s bottom lip trembled, but she swallowed hard and nodded. Then she took out a necklace that she pressed into Rheseis’ hand. Rheseis stood up and walked over to the muse, ready to take her away and to safety. But even before Rheseis could reach her, screams filled the clearing.
“High Priestess! No! Save her! High Priestess!”
Rheseis looked back over her shoulder and was not surprised. The High Priestess was on the ground. A bloody knife was next to her and the grass around her slowly turned red.
“We will never forgive you for this!” a witch shouted to Rheseis.
“I merely made her see,” Rheseis said with no emotions in her voice. She picked up the still weak muse and disappeared from the clearing in a flurry.
The High Priestess wasn’t the first victim and Rheseis knew that once the war began, many more would follow.
