Prologue
Years ago, in the early seventeenth century, before the Salem witch trials were even an idea, there was the Basque witch trials in northern Spain. Thousands were tortured until they were so beaten and bloody that they confessed to being a witch just to get away from the pain, even if they didn't have a spark of magic in their bodies. Eleven women, however, were burnt at the stake in the Zugarramurdi caves.
One of the women who were burnt was Maria, the leader of the Basque witch coven. She was the most powerful of the Basque witches so she was famous among the people. This ended up giving her a lot of trouble later on. The Spanish Inquisition could not afford to allow her to continue living and reproduce to create even more powerful witches, so they made sure she was the first to turn to ash.
What the Spanish Inquisition- as well as everyone else- didn't know was the fact that one month before the torturing in the Basque country had begun; Maria gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. The only one who knew about this was Maria's best friend, Serafina, who had helped her with the delivery. When Maria got arrested, she made Serafina promise to raise the child and keep it safe, teaching her the ways that Lurdes had lived by.
As Maria stood on a pile of wood and was fastened against a large wooden pillar, she swore that she would be avenged and that her brothers and sisters who had been tortured would be avenged as well. She cursed the Spanish Inquisition and said that her reign would be back and the Hecate line would not end.
Months turned into years and the years turned into centuries. Serafina raised Maria's daughter as her own but once the witch trials were finally a thing in the past, Serafina told her who her true mother was and what she was meant to do to help avenge her mother. Maria's daughter, though, chose not to take back her name in order to keep the Spanish Inquisition away until the time was right. Years later, my great grandmother took the last name of Hecate- the goddess of magic- when she boarded a ship and headed across the Atlantic Ocean to the United States.
Eighty years and three generations later is where I come along, seventeen year old Nike Hecate. It is now only my mother, Carmen and I living in our manor in San Diego, California. We are the last of the Hecate's for now. I was marked by Lurdes when I was born. I bear her markings my mother says. My flame shaped birthmark on my right forearm is proof of that. It is Maria's way of saying that I will be the one to avenge her. My mother always told me that I was destined for something bigger than myself. I just don't see why it has to be me.
My mom has retired her magic to a more practical form. She mainly uses her powers to get money by reading people's fortunes. I use my powers for tactics. I have been learning and creating my attacking and defense spells and potions for most of my life. Mother handed down our family's Book of Shadows down to me on my sixteenth birthday. She has had me studying that book ever since I was little and now that she has handed it down to me, it is serious.
This is serious, but how exactly does Maria want me to avenge her?