Chapter 1
Gracan
The morning dew still sits heavily on the ground as I wake. The sun is barely peaking above the mountain tops as I stir from my bed. Every moment takes my breath away as my body aches. I’ve been told that my body will ache from having a buildup of too much energy. As an amplifier, I build up large amounts of energy that have to be burned off. The sad part is if I burn off too much then I’m exhausted and ache. Perks of the job, right? I stretch my limbs and walk toward my bathroom. I don’t have all the comforts most have, but I do at least have indoor plumbing and electricity. I had fought with my High Priestess Helena for weeks over it, but she eventually convinced me to have it.
I wanted things in my life to be simple and adding electricity to it was anything but simple when you’re an amplifier. It took months of training for me to not constantly blow light bulbs with my energy. Out bursts like that were one reason that my family had all but abandoned me. I had differed from anything or anyone that my family had ever seen. My older sister was normal and spoiled. So when a three-year-old me had temper tantrums over things my sister was doing to me, you guessed it, energy bursts.
My sister would purposely do things to hurt me or get me upset. She didn’t like the thoughts of sharing her parents with me, is what she would say. She told me that at five. And for good measure, she told me I was a mistake and that no one would ever want me around. That evening at dinner, she knew how much she had hurt me with her words. I was still trying my hardest to act like I was fine, but on the inside I was a raging inferno of energy. My mother was never the best cook, and she had made peas with our dinner. The peas were undercooked, so they were like tiny rocks on the plate.
My sister used this in her favor. She took a pea and used her spoon to launch it right into my eye. I can still remember the pain I felt from it. My eye burned and my vision was blurry. I cried and everything went crazy in the house. Light bulbs burst, all the windows broke, and every mirror was shattered. My mother was livid. She screamed at me and told me that I was cursed and that I had cursed this family.
No one bothered to help me with my injured eye. I spent the night in tears because it throbbed with every breath I took. I knew at that moment that I had never had a family. Even worse, I didn’t have anyone to love me. I had nothing to keep me going.
They took me to doctors and psychiatrists to understand what was wrong with me. No one in my family had any supernatural genes or powers. So my parents thought that all this had to be because there was something mentally or physically wrong with me. The truth was that couldn’t be further from the truth. I was a witch plan and simple.
When they couldn’t find anything wrong with me, my parents called the local coven, Omniscius Lux. Helena came and met me, knowing immediately that I was a witch. She told my parents as much and they both looked at me with such disgust. My little heart didn’t understand the hurt it was feeling from those looks. Now, however, I know the truth of it all, and I know that without a doubt I’m much better off with the coven than those people.
Sometimes I would still travel to the town with the coven that I would see them. They would pretend to not see me or know who I am. My sister would smirk and give me an evil smile. As much as my parents wanted to think that I was the wicked child, they had the worst one still living in their home. I would walk past them and never say a word. I was going to prove to them I didn’t need people like them in my life.
There was enough suffering in life without us making things harder with each other. I had felt that from an early age. My goal in life was a simple one. I wanted to live without drama and wanted peace. Those two things I would come to learn are scarce in life. I would have to learn many lessons before I would find my peace.
Helena had worked with me from the time she brought me to the coven until even now. I learned a great deal from her about how to control the power that felt like it would take over my life. I also learned to make potions, cast spells, and read the future. These were the fundamentals that all witches knew. Most witches were given gifts that helped them in certain areas. Many of them in my coven excelled at various fundamentals. I was the only amplifier.
There were only three known amplifiers in the world. One witch lived in a coven on the coast and the other was hidden away. Amplifiers were highly sought after and so they hide themselves. My coven is the only group that knows I’m alive. Helena feared I would be kidnapped and forced to use my powers to help those who took me. Helena didn’t want me to go through such an ordeal. She had become my mother in most ways. She taught me everything I know about magic and helped me to overcome the damage that my family had done.
As much as I love and trust Helena, there is one secret that I’ve been keeping from her. I can teleport. Teleportation is something that very few ever accomplish. No one in our coven including Helena, can do it. I discovered I could by coincidence one morning when I woke up to an overflow of power. When it happened, I was lying in bed trying to think of a way to release power without ruining my home. I had thought about how nice it would be to use all that energy to teleport, and I did.
I ended up deep in the forest and I thought for a moment I was hallucinating. I took a moment to clear my thoughts and center myself. When I opened my eyes, I saw I was indeed in the forest. Joy was the first emotion I felt when I understood the truth of what I could do. Then the fear hit me. I couldn’t tell anyone. Being an amplifier was bad enough, but being one that could teleport would put my life in more danger. I decided I would use teleporting to burn off energy but never when anyone could see me. Safety was my number one priority not showing off.
Since I have so much energy this morning, I’m going to do a quick teleport and that should burn off enough to make me more comfortable. I teleport and stand in the middle of the forest. I take a moment to look at all the beauty that is here before I teleport back.
I pop into my living room and jump, startled. On my sofa sits a man. The power radiating off him is unreal. I go to question why he’s there when I hear a voice speak to me.
“And how long were you planning to keep your ability to teleport a secret?”
I whip my head around and see Helena standing behind me with a brow raised. She has a look on her face that is a cross between concern and humor. She knows that I’m flustered and trying to think of what to say.
“I didn’t want to make things harder for me or the coven. I’m sorry for hiding it.” I say honestly. Her features soften and she walks up to me and wraps me in a hug.
“It’s alright love. I understand why you would do it. There’s someone I would like for you to meet.” She turns me around and points to the stranger sitting on my sofa.
The man is handsome, and I can feel the power radiating from him. He has a gentle smile on his face and I feel an instant connection to him. It’s not something romantic but more of a protective instinct. I feel the urge to protect him from all harm. It’s the first time I’ve ever felt this way about a person other than Helena.
“I’m Atlas, king of the werewolves, and I need your help.” here…
