I'm in the forest near Charlotte's home. The coven has been well hidden for centuries. It's cloaked in an invisibility spell infused with heavy protection magic. The door is otherwise hidden from those who don't know of its existence or location. The key to finding it is a pattern in the woods: two mountain-laurel bushes lined up opposite each other, about ten yards apart. Once you find that, you stand in-between them, directly center and you cast a spell. One that raises your aura vibration high enough to resonate with the door. If you do it correctly, it will appear in front of you. Since I've been banished, my energy signature will automatically cause their sensory division to be notified. They're a group of clairaudient soldiers who can recognize who comes and goes just by the ringing in their ears.
I reach the bushes, stand in the center, and calm my mind. Breathing in deeply and letting out a slow exhale. My hair stands on end as I feel my aura flowing throughout my body—and then a surge of power rushes through me. It feels like being hit with a powerful gust of wind, one that doesn't move you, but through you. The door appears in front of me and I step through. Upon reaching the other side, it's like being transported into another world. One where the trees touch the blue sky filled with pink-tinted clouds. Their leaves are brighter—greener. Some are even rainbow-colored.
I'm in a field where the grass sheens as if it's always wet. The air is pure and seems to fill my lungs with more oxygen than the outside world. It's peaceful here, all I hear is the chirping of the birds and the sound of a cool breeze passing by. In the distance is the entrance to the village, and behind the village, there are beautiful mountains. Suddenly two white circles appear on the blades of grass a couple of feet from where I stand. From those glowing circles—two men manifest on top of them.
"Identify yourself! The body doesn't match the soul." One of the men says.
"Helen, you should be able to dig a little deeper with that ringing ear of yours." I smirk.
The two trade brief glances, then one of them points to the sky and lets off a fireball from his fingertip. A moment later, another glowing circle appears—and a young woman on top of it. And there she is, with that family hair color that defies logic—blood-red. It falls down to her shoulders, straight, wavy, and shiny. She's slender, with a medium brown skin tone. She strongly resembles her mother at that age. One of the men walks over to her and whispers something in her ear. She nods, seeming unfazed by whatever he just told her. She smiles when she turns to me, putting her hands behind her back and walking a few steps closer.
"Hello, Helen. My name's Amiyah. I've been expecting you for a very long time. My mother told me you'd be coming one day."
She's a stunning young woman. I suppose Elaina and I finally have something in common after all this time, our girls are gorgeous.
"I would've been disappointed if she didn't mention me, I'm glad she did." I smile joyously. "I'm sure she explained why I'd return, no?"
I continue after she nods her head: "the way I see it, I can continue to take over others without their will, ripping them away from their families. Or, you can simply hand over my body."
"We don't have your body," she says, returning my joyous smile with one of her own.
"Let's not do this—play these little games."
"I agree, I'm happy you crawled right into my hands. I'm going to do everything in my power to lock you away for good. And If I fail, an army of us will be waiting to do the same. Your presence is a danger to humanity as a whole."
"You kids these days—so dramatic. An army, you say? How long has The Coven been cut off from the outside world? You hide away like timid mice. Scared of conflict, scared of being seen, scared to do anything. You have an army yet you're too scared to conquer the outside world? I don't believe you." I try to hold back my laughter.
"Try me. Summoning Enchantment: Double Harpy!"
Two glowing silhouettes of white light appear out of thin air on both sides of her. Two huge birds, one bigger than the other—slowly flapping their wings about three inches off the grass. The glowing eventually subsides until they're flesh and bone. The bigger eagle is nearly the size of a toddler, about three and a half feet tall. The smaller one isn't too far behind that. They drop to the ground next to her. Both birds have feathers sticking up on the back of their head, almost resembling a crown. Their feathers are multi-colored, their head is gray, the neck and wings are black—the belly and chest are white. Harpy eagles, huh? Her mother summoned snakes—a nuisance to fight against. Their family exceeds at summoning magic, more than anyone else ever has. They're able to summon different animals—strong animals. She turns to the soldiers and orders them to set a perimeter back at the village.
"I don't want to fight you If I don't have to, darling. Just hand over my body."
"And I told you, we don't have it!"
She lets out a quick and sharp whistle, causing the smaller eagle to take off and come charging at me. The wingspan is huge, even on this smaller one—guessing its span, would be about six-seven feet. I would try to reflect but using enchantments wouldn't work. Summonings aren't physical, they're more spiritual, or energy-based. Meaning it's like trying to put out a fire with more fire, it's useless. Seal magic would work, but the eagle is blitzing me—and fast. I point to Amiyah, quickly making a circular motion with my hand to try a simple gravity paralysis but I realize I'm not in range, nothing happens. The eagle swoops in, trying to grab me with its long black talons. I'm forced to duck, and when I turn around it's already circling back for another attack.
I stand to my feet and build aura onto the seal and soon wind fills my lungs. As the eagle approaches, I blow a blast from my mouth. The eagle simply ducks under it and continues its lunge toward me. I brace for its impact as it swoops in. This time the talons cause punctures in my arms as the impact flings me back. I look up to notice that the bigger eagle hasn't even left Amiyah's side yet. She's able to cause this much trouble with one, she's her mother's daughter for sure. I'll create a summoning of my own.
"Summoning Enchantment: Gliding Falcon."
A falcon three times the size of a normal one appears under me and takes off into the sky with me on its back. I steer it directly at Amiyah who's standing still, petting the head of the bigger harpy by her side. We come within a couple of feet and I let out an eruption of wind from my mouth. The large harpy steps in front of her and puts its wings out in a defensive stance, both blocking my blast and protecting Amiyah with ease. Out of the corner of my eye, the smaller eagle swoops in from my left and knocks me off the falcon. My body tumbles to the ground as the eagle circles the air for another attack. The harpy next to Amiyah sends my wind attack into the sky, hitting my falcon and causing it to disappear. This is no good, I'm clearly the one at a disadvantage.
If she were to send the big one in, I doubt I could manage. Having one eagle strictly for offense, and the other for defense is the ultimate balance. This strategy of hers also makes it harder for opponents to get in, or even touch her for that matter. It has to be something small. I point toward her and make a circular motion with my finger once again. A silver rope manifests around her ankles and tightens. She falls over as the big eagle instinctively puts its wing out in order to protect her while it makes a call to the other harpy. It almost sounds like a firework screeching into the sky. I look up to see the smaller harpy incoming—fast. I let out a quick burst of wind from my mouth.
The eagle slows down and cuts to my right, avoiding getting hit by the blast. And while it circles back into the air, I run at Amiyah. I manage to let off another blast of wind at the big eagle still standing over her. While it blocks the first blast, I shoot another right behind it. Doubling both blasts to create a strong enough impact that will push the eagle back and distract it for one moment. I cut left, and draw another circle over Amiyah. A rope manifests and attaches to one of her ankles and I pull her away as hard as I can.
I get her a few inches away before the big eagle swats the blasts of wind into the air. It cocks its head to me when suddenly the eagle in the sky drops down on me, hooking its talons into my right arm and pulling as hard as it can. I remain grounded, drawing another circle over Amiyah, this time around her neck—where another rope manifests. She tries grabbing the rope but it burns her hand as she touches it. I begin to pull on it when suddenly a white circle appears on the ground a few yards away from us.
"Stop this at once!" A woman's voice shouts. One that I recognize even in its frail nature. Elder Maria? She was the Elder when I was a kid, the Elder both me and Elaina modeled our future after and looked at as a role model. She hated being the Elder though, and finally got some sense of peace when Eliza took over. I'm not proud to say that I killed Eliza, forcing Maria to become Elder once more until Elaina took over—but I felt justified.
"Both of you must stop this, now!" She shouts once more. I release the rope spells. Amiyah's eagles have seemed to calm down by her presence as well. The one with its talons in my arm is just perched on it now. Still gripping the skin as blood runs down its long nails.
Amiyah stands from the ground and whistles, the eagle releases me and returns to the sky.
"What are you doing, Maria?" She asks while massaging her throat.
"You're going to die if you fight Helen. You're strong but in the end, she'll always find a trick up her sleeve to best you." Maria walks over. Her once beautiful fair skin is filled with wrinkles. She wears glasses now and seems to have shrunk a couple of inches. In her youth, she was a beast to be reckoned with.
Amiyah scoffs, "I could've-"
"No. You could not." Maria says before turning to me. "Your body isn't here, Helen."
"Then where is it?"
"Charlotte has it."
"Charlotte?! I just came from her home. She wouldn't do such a thing."
"Unfortunately, you have a following. Some of those followers want your power—your immortality. She and Alejandro stole your body some years ago and we haven't seen them since. Nor do we want to. Now, leave this place and never come back."
"We have her right here, Maria! All she'll do is cause more destruction that could possibly fall back on us. It's the same cycle with her," says Amiyah.
"Cycles? I'm ending the cycle. I'm not the one creating them."
"It doesn't matter," Maria says. "Your business is not ours. You can try to end whatever cycle you wish." She turns to Amiyah, "she won't succeed. People like her never do."
"I think you're underestimating me a little, Elder."
"Believe me when I tell you that I am not. You are the best of us. You and Elaina should've led The Coven to do amazing things. But you ruined that, your obsession with hatred and revenge, your idea of what would fix the world.
"My obsession?! They took me from my home and murdered my father! Forced me to kill thousands of people in order to expand their kingdom! While all of you sat by and did nothing. You disgust me."
She turns her back. "I'm sorry, Helen. The outside world is of no concern to us. Leave, I want you gone."