Someone’s not happy

““Whoa, whoa…” Hendric raised his hands as if to stop the invisible car from bashing into him while bewildered expression changed his facial features into something one could only greet with ‘hello, dumb-dumb’. “Excuse me?! What do you exactly mean by the ‘leader of the troops’? I would still outrank her, she would still answer to me, right?!” Hendric asked with anger.

“No, my son.” Corin responded, bracing himself for the chaos he expected to ensue after his next words. “She will answer to me and me alone. You will take my place in day to day governance of anything concerning the welfare of our people as well as political and economical development of our territory but our warriors with Shay as their commander will not answer to you. All the costs and allowances that are to be allocated to our military fund will be governed and appointed only with Shay’s blessing. Corin was now studying Hendric’s face, watching how a young spotless face was lining with creases faster than parched soil under ruthless midday sun. Much to Hendric’s disappointment, his anger did not dwindle Corin’s resolve. “You will work together to build the future. If you wish this Coven to strive, you are bound to respect one another as well as learn how to make decisions together. If one of you fails to do this, the whole coven will suffer for your negligence and pride.” The earth seemed to crumble under Hendric’s feet at these words as this was entirely irreconcilable with each and every plan he made for when he was given power, making him unleash all pent up rage, not caring any more of who sat beside them.

“You. Have. No. Right!!” Hendric basically growled through teeth clenched so tight they were now making screeching sounds, his whole body shaking in anger. “Those troops owe their allegiance to the grandmaster,” Hendric said, drawing out the word ‘owe’ as if he owned them himself. “Who said they would follow a woman anyway?! Wait ‘till grandfather hears of this. He will not stand for this!!! You are going against the rules, you are giving half the people to a woman!!” Hendric spat in disgust. He had jumped out of his chair at this point, shouting at his father while shooting dirty looks at his sister, spit flying out of his mouth in an enviable radius, Shay thought to herself.

Feelings of bewildered amusement and deep heartbreak for her own brother lashing out like this because of her were having their own fight within her heart, and Shay could not help remembering what she promised to her own mother as she was dying, poisoned, betrayed and beyond even Thea’s healing skills. Shay was only 11 months older than her brother but was ever the mature one. Enveloping her tiny darling daughter who just turned five a week ago with her warm arms, Mina tried to convey all the desperate heartbreak she felt for being forced to leave her children behind her in this plane, for being stripped of choice or help. Crying silently while her tears streamed painfully slow one by one onto Shay’s soft hair, she was trying to breathe into her daughter’s breaking spirit all the love she felt for her ever since she was born and all the love she was saving for each day yet to come, each day she so naively took for granted, believing she had a lifetime left to love her children, cherish them and teach them the ways of life and the ways of witches. She took all that for granted, she got careless and now she has to hug her children one last hug goodbye. The poison already worked its magic but it was no match for the heavy anguish of loss and the unfairness of it all that made it difficult for Mina to breathe. Knowing that her end is near, she whispered weakly into Shay’s ear: ”I love you so much my darling emerald rose. I always will…even my death will never change that. But you have to be strong…for you and for our dear boys. Your father’s heart will break beyond repair but he will pick up the broken pieces and do what he has to do and he’s got a coven to lead. But your brother is a rose bud that will grow thorns if not cared for properly. You have to take my place in your brother’s life. He is but a baby and he will need all the love and warmth he can get to grow up to be the beautiful boy he already is. A warmth that can come only from a woman’s heart…”, devoid of strength by that time shortness of breath took over Mina, making even whispering a challenge but she was determined to speak her truth. “I have seen it my love…you…you have to be there for him, you have to love him when others don’t. You have to be his voice of heart, a heart he will neglect over reason. He will be made to do so. Save him my darling girl, care for him. Save him, to save both of you…save our people…” and with that Mina’s last breath caressed Shay’s rosy cheek, leaving only a memory of her mother’s warmth for her to cherish. Not aware she was holding her cheek now, commotion brought Shay back from that painful memory and she wiped a single tear that threatened to fall. She could not cry now, not here…but how could she care about this man that was her blood but hated her so fervently? How could she ever hope to fulfil her mother’s bidding when she was a child herself at the time and when her grandfather swayed that grieving boy away from her and her father in a matter of days. She failed already…looking at Hendric now there was no doubt about it…but could she still save him from himself?

“Sit down, now!!” Corin replied almost growling and Hendric slumped back down into his chair, startled with disgust in his father’s voice. ”To answer your questions boy, your grandfather knows of this decision and while he might not have agreed to begin with, he understands that it is a must. The troops have specifically requested for Shaylin to be their next leader and not one mentioned you. Maybe if you had actually trained with them it would have been different. Just maybe if it had ever occurred to you to show at least an ounce of respect for anyone but yourself, they would have respected you in return. I agreed with their assessment straight away Hendric, as your sister knows how our warriors live and breathe. Your sister deserves this position like no other and a lot more might I add, but it is the best I could do in this matter. I am very well aware you have started seeing yourself as the future grandmaster and a leader who will rule us all long before it was due time for me to stand down from my position, but to do that you have to be willing to go to great lengths for your people, always putting their benefit before yourself. That is something you still have to prove you are capable of and it would not hurt if you learn some subservience in the process. I think you will have an excellent opportunity to do just that now that you and your sister will be made equals. She will stop you from making rushed decisions, and you will use your knowledge of finances to keep this coven striving. But when it comes to matters of war and protection, these are hers alone to decide, guided with myself when I become the elder.”

Shay sat there in complete shock as she gave up the idea of leading her warriors a long time ago, the impossibility of it all drilled into her mind by no other than the same grandfather who now agreed to this. How was this even possible…what made Theodore change his mind? “Father I am honoured”, Shay stood up from her chair and dropped to one knee in front of Corin, unable to contain her contentment and above all, gratitude. “I promise to protect our people with every fibre of my being and if the need arises one day, I vow to take my last breath for them.” Shay sworn still kneeling, bowing slightly to her father in a humble display of both respect and affection.

Proud with a smile curling his lips, Corin took Shay’s cheeks into his own hands the same way he used to do when she was a baby and looked deep into her emerald orbs, seeing her very soul through them. “You remind me so much of your mother…” his voice barely a wistful whisper. Quickly pulling himself from the revery,, Corin continued. “Shaylin you deserve this, you have trained and fought with these men. You have risked your life trying to protect our people countless times already. Who is better suited or more deserving to lead them if not you? The council saw with what fervour you have trained knowing that you could never truly lead, but still you did it relentlessly, biting at any issue with no less fury than those wolves we share our territory with. You could have become a spoiled princess,” he said while glancing ever-so-slightly at his son. “Alas, you did not, but rather you got up a little earlier and trained a little harder with each passing day. The men felt your devotion and requested you and instead of splitting our people we decided to make you an equal to your brother. Indeed, you will not have the title of grandmaster but you will be anointed the rank of Master general, the first of your name.”

”This is to be inscribed in the scrolls immediately,” Corin turned and addressed the scribe monitoring the meeting, the latter acknowledging his superior with a curt nod. Squeezing her hand in reassurement, Corin urged Shay to rise from her knees and returned to the matters in discussion, scanning the people in the room. “All of this will be announced at the ball in two weeks and I request, no, I order that none of this leaves this room until that point.”

“Now the ball has been planned and invitations have been sent out. The Fire coven sent their regards but they will not be able to attend…unfortunately my sister has been having some trouble with her local wolf-shifter packs. On another hand our local wolf pack has gracefully accepted our invitation and Alpha Ivan, along with a small delegation, will be in attendance. It is my hope that we can carry on the friendly alliance we had with his father into the next generation as well.”

“Now that we covered that, onto the last point of the meeting…but in no way the least.”

Corin’s expression suddenly dropped and changed into a solemn frown, one that made Shay look at him with worry. Here stood a man she admired her entire life, ever strong, ever resilient and above all fearless but now she felt like she was seeing him anew after long absence in which he changed and aged before his time. When did his lines become so visibly deeper on his face? Shay knew that he was no spring chicken, but he looked as if he gained ten years of life in a matter of days. “What could be so grave that he had to share to make him so worried”, Shaylin thought to herself, trying hard to wrap her head around it but much to no avail.

Her father had met her mother when he was 30 years of age and while they had tried for children as soon as they were bonded, Gaia did not bless them with a child until Corin was 35 and Mina was 30. The fact that Shaylin was born first had always left a sore taste in her grandfather’s mouth, but as fate had it, not long after her birth her mother had gotten pregnant again and within 11 months her brother had been born. This had sealed her fate until this very moment, but now... “Master general!...I cannot believe it!” Shay felt so much pride knowing the men, her men, had chosen her, but she also knew her brother would not let this go either.

Corin sighed soundly and proceeded to whatever it was that drew a thick layer of storm clouds over his demeanour: “The scholars have contacted me and they are sure that the Prophecy of the second moon will occur this year.” The room suddenly felt like all warmth had been sucked out of it while gasps of horror broke all around. ”They have pinpointed the source to an unknown individual. It is with the spilling of his or her blood on the night of the annular eclipse on the summer solstice that will start a series of disastrous events. One that concerns our own kind the most is the entire supernatural world being stripped of magic. The scholars, led by our own Alistair here, are still trying to pinpoint exactly where the sacrifice point is located as the texts speak of an altar of sorts. Our mission is to find this individual whoever he or she might be and unfortunately,” Corin’s voice slightly broke as the very thing he was about to share contradicted the very essence of everything that he is, “dispose of them within the next three months.” Corin concluded much to the dismay of the entire room.

“Shay you will be in charge of the team tasked with finding this individual as well as eliminating this threat to our people. Hendric…you are in charge of locating the altar mentioned in the texts and using your connections to find out who or what is destined to inact this prophecy into fulfilling itself. Professor Jackson has volunteered to help you both and accompany Shay in locating this individual.”

Professor Jackson stood up and addressed the room: “The said individual and the altar will have matching marks”, he started, shuffling through the pile of scrolls he and Shay brought in, finally finding the one he was searching for. ”From what we have found it will be in the shape of two ovals representing the moons,” he turned the scroll he unravelled for everyone to see. “We are also aware that the sacrifice has to be made by someone who possesses no magical power. That being said, our most recent findings that I didn't yet have the chance to share with even our grandmaster here, show that it probably will not be necessary to kill this individual after all. It might be enough to just find and contain them, holding him or her in a protective custody of sorts until the hour of the prophecy has passed. It is our belief that once the night passes on June 21st, the prophecy becomes unable to be fulfilled.”

“We are about protecting all and not just our own”, Alistar added, looking at the man who was more to him than a dear friend…he saw Corin as the son he never had. “ The texts also lead to the conclusion that the one who is to be sacrificed for the prophecy to come to life is destined to be born near the altar within 100 miles radius. The altar will look unlike anything we have seen as it was designed by the gods themselves and it should actually be close to our location. It is beyond any reason how such a place has not been stumbled upon by accident, to be honest….We have searched the entire territory under our control as well as those surrounding us. It leaves only the human city in the East and Alpha Ivan’s land to be searched still, but this will require being covertly handled to not raise any suspicion. We cannot have anyone outside of a selected few aware of what we are looking for or of the prophecy itself…especially not anyone outside of the Circle of covens. It would lead to even more disastrous events…”

Professor continued after pausing to take a big gulp of water. “It needs to be stressed out that there is a high probability that the person we are looking for could be a part of Ivan’s pack. While the wolves have their place in our world and even though the process of shifting is induced by the magic of the Moon and their goddess Selene, their species is more governed by genetics then magic. Besides shifting they hold no other magical abilities besides the blessed few, so the prophecy holds no meaning to them...but it can be used by them to gain advantage over us. The wolves protect their own above all else, never forget that and never underestimate them. We must be prepared for war!”