When the Eclipse/Coven skins were released, I wanted to write a story on them. So, after a long, long time I finally have it done. This story will be a bit darker than what I normally do, for now, it is going to be rated T, just until I get to where the dark stuff is. Just know...this is not a happy story.
I
Everything hurt. I could hear the crackling of burning wood frames of the houses, I could smell the smoke from it. The scent of scorched hair and burnt flesh filled my nose as well as the bitter metal tang of spilled blood. I couldn't move. My legs were pinned by a wooden beam that had fallen across them, still smoldering though I couldn't feel the flames anymore. I saw the raven alight on the beam and it cawed at me, it's beady eyes looking hungrily at me, hoping I'd give up and let it get some scrap of meat before the wolves did. I turned my gaze away from it and to the sky.
The sky was reddened and the sun black, wreathed in a silver ring that hurt my eyes and yet…I couldn't look away. It seemed to grow, getting bigger and bigger…I reached for it, a raspy cry tearing forth as darkness crept in on my vision.
Help…
She opened her eyes, staring up not at a black sun ringed in silver, but simple wooden beams that were eddied with darker browns and blacks in knots and tangles. She sat up, letting the sheets fall from her, exposing her tanned skin to the air. Shivering, she pulled the covers back over her bare arms. It was cool today, not unusual for an early fall morning, but still unwelcome to her.
A soft moan caught her ear and she turned to face a shorter young girl with blonde hair sleeping fitfully as the sunlight crossed over the pale face. A smile tugged at her lips as she got up, wincing at the icy floorboards and quietly padded over to the other child's side.
"Time to wake, sister dear," she smiled, "The sun is rising, so should we,"
Her sister opened an eye and frowned.
"It is too early," she muttered, "I want to sleep…"
"Come now, you know mother will be asking for us!"
"Girls?" an older female voice called from below, "Are you awake? Come down here! I have breakfast nearly ready!"
The younger of the two girls groaned as she pulled the covers back over her face, getting a giggle from the older.
"Come!" she smiled, pulling a simple shirt and leggings over her tanned form, "Let us go!"
A muffled moan was all she received as a reply. Undeterred, the elder hopped down the stairs, her reddish hair tangled and wild as she came to a stop, beaming up at her blonde mother.
"Good morning!" she smiled as her mother chuckled and drew her into an embrace.
"And a good morning to you too, Leona," she smiled, "I take it your sister did not want to wake,"
"If Diana was given the chance, I think she would sleep past the noon hour,"
"She is like her father then," her mother sighed, "Come and sit, I am afraid it is not much but if all goes well with the harvest today there should be more tomorrow,"
Leona nodded and clambered onto tall wooden stool by the table, looking at the rough-hewn bowl and the grey-white porridge within. She didn't quite care for this fare if she wanted to be honest. The texture was awful and always made her tongue stick to the roof of her mouth. If given the choice, she'd rather have the sweet griddle cakes that her mother made for holidays with white flour. Unfortunately, that had run out months ago and it was quite expensive.
The little girl began eating, barely suppressing shudders at the bland, watery taste. She was nearly finished when Diana came down the stairs, still holding a raggedy teddy bear and rubbing her eyes tiredly.
"Good morning, Diana," their mother started, handing the younger sibling a bowl full of porridge.
"Morning," came the gap-toothed yawn from the pale child as she climbed up next to her sister.
"Now, I am going to help your uncle with the harvest today," their mother told them as the two continued to eat, "I need you two to take Vela and gather some berries and herbs to make medicine for Old Man Thomas. Can you two do that for me?"
"You can count on us!" Leona beamed as Diana blearily nodded.
"I am glad to hear that, my sweet little girls," she smiled as she kissed their heads, "I shall get Vela ready. Just do not go too fast and stay on the path I have marked, alright?"
"Yes Mama!" the two girls nodded.
"I will lead," Leona told her sister as Diana crawled into the back of the straw-filled wagon with the buckets, "You can sleep a little more,"
She got a hum in reply and Diana was asleep once again, her little form breathing deep and easy on the straw. Leona giggled as she skipped to the front of the wagon and patted the old grey mare on her nose.
"Morning Vela!" she beamed, "We are going to go for a little trip, then come back. We might have a nice carrot or something for you!"
The old mare nickered and gently nibbled on Leona's red hair, making the child giggle happily as she grabbed the lead and started forwards, the wagon creaking behind them. It wasn't too long until the girls entered the forest and arrived at the glade.
The trees grew tall and dark, the wind whispering through the leaves and gently ruffling Leona's scarlet locks. The little girl beamed, tying Vela's reins to a low hanging branch as the mare nickered and bent her head to graze. Leona skipped towards the back of the wagon, looking at her baby sister, who was currently curled up in a ball and sucking on her thumb.
"Wake up!" she chirped, "We are here, Diana! I need your help to get the berries!"
The younger sister slowly opened her grey eyes and yawned, stretching. She sat up, a few blades of straw hanging from her hair as she rubbed her eyes and nodded, her chubby hand grabbing a basket and handing it to her sister.
"I will go to the east side, you take the west?" Leona asked, getting a nod from her sister, "And no sleeping!"
Diana groaned but scooted to the edge of the wagon, swinging her chubby legs once, twice, before sliding off.
"Leona…" the little girl started, "Do you think everything is going to be alright this winter?"
Leona stopped and looked at her sister, noting the wide silver eyes that looked frightened.
"Why do you ask that?"
"We nearly froze last one," Diana said, "And the corn was not green and tall and pretty this year. It was short and sad looking,"
"We will be fine," Leona reassured her, "Mama is getting help from Uncle."
"W-What about the witches?"
Leona's blood chilled at the mention of that.
It was common knowledge that the Coven roaming in the darkness was often more active towards the winter, when the veil between the corporeal plane and the spirit plane was thinnest and the Old Gods could tear through it with little effort. Stories of villages going up in black flames and leaving no survivors had been floating around as of late. But whenever Leona brought it up to her mother, it was brushed off as 'unfounded worrying'.
"We will be fine," Leona repeated, though, in her heart, she wasn't quite sure.
Diana seemed to sense her uncertainty, but said nothing. Instead, the four year old toddled off to the side of the glade and hunted through the bushes to find the crimson berries that their mother would often use to make poultices and other healing elixirs. Leona frowned and turned to search the east end of the glade.
Diana hadn't been wrong. Their little family had barely survived the last winter. The Harvest had been bad and the winter had been long, icy and snowy. The spring hadn't come in a long, long time. Everything was so different now that their father was gone. He'd passed away in the battle against the witches last fall and ever since then, the village was failing and going through rough times. Especially the little family of three.
Leona kept hunting through the bushes. Surely there still had to be some berries left! It wasn't winter yet, they should be plentiful…
A snapping sound cracked through the glade, making the sisters immediately sit up and look around worriedly. Diana turned to her sister, her lip trembling as she shook in fear.
"L-Leona?" she stuttered.
"Just a deer," Leona reassured her, "T'is fine! See, there is nothing else. No other sounds going off,"
The younger sister gave a slow nod and looked back to her shrub patch, her little body still stiff with fear. Leona gave a shuddering breath and continued to look herself. To be honest, she was still shaken as well.
The two siblings spent hours trying, and failing, to find the berries. They finally sat down in the shade of the wagon and unpacked the lunch their mother had packed for them both, sharing the chunk of cheese and few slices of bread as they looked up at the spinning amber leaves in the breeze.
"What if we cannot find any?" Diana asked.
"Then we go back to Mama and try again tomorrow when she is not working with Uncle," Leona told her, "Mama said we should not go off the path without her."
"Right,"
Leona closed her eyes and leaned her head against the wood of the wagon. She hoped everything would be alright.
Another cracking sound came within the forest and Leona's eyes flew open as more followed it. Vela gave a whicker of fear and started pulling at her reins, trying to get free as she stomped and pawed at the ground. A thrill of terror chilled her soul. Something wasn't right.
Without thinking about it, she grabbed Diana and yanked her into the wagon, diving headfirst into the straw and covering both of them as best they could. The old grey mare gave a piercing whinny, foam gathering at the corners of her mouth as she chewed at her bit, yanking her head back and forth and trying to tear the reins from the tree Leona had tied her to.
"What is it?" Diana demanded and Leona clapped her hand over her sister's mouth, her heart hammering in her throat, hissing at her sister to be silent.
A sickeningly sweet feeling filled both girls, almost seeming to pull out of them. It almost felt good in a way, but it had an underlying feeling of guilt and shame that Leona very much disliked. Both girls squeezed their eyes shut and held each other tightly as Vela's panicked whinnying suddenly turned into a bloodcurdling shrieking sound…and then suddenly stopped, accompanied by a loud thumping sound as the wagon upended itself, spilling the girls to the ground underneath it. The feeling died down as the crackling sound went away. A few moments of dead silence passed and Leona cautiously opened her eyes, still holding her trembling and silently sobbing baby sister. Leona held up a finger to her mouth and motioned for her sister to stay under the wagon. She slowly crawled towards the opening and peered outside.
No one was outside, so Leona quietly climbed out from under the wagon and looked around. Her heart dropped into her stomach as she saw what happened. Vela lay on the ground dead. The grey mare's eyes were bloodshot and dark as bloodied foam gathered at the edges of her mouth, almost as if she'd been driven mad. But the sight of the beloved mare's demise wasn't what made Leona's heart freeze. Crimson poppies, or witches blooms as the village had called them, littered the glade, and scorched black around the edges from magic most foul. Those particular ones only appeared when witches were near and using magic.
She looked around and saw a trail leading towards the village…
Leona darted towards the wagon, leaning into the opening and seeing Diana's terrified face looking back at her.
"Stay here!" she ordered, "The witches…they are here. I need to get Mama, I will be right back I promise!"
"Leona!" Diana cried as Leona dashed away, her bare feet pounding against the hard dirt path.
Leona's heart thundered as she ran, eyes on the village, noting at how peaceful it looked as she ran through the gates and towards her home. She didn't see her mother in the fields, so she had to assume she was in the house. The six year old darted into the house, searching for her mother.
That lasted all but a second as a second feeling of something being pulled from her hit her and she skidded to a stop, her legs wobbling for a moment as the azure sky turned blood red and a bolt of black lightning shot from it, cracking down into the center of the village. All was silent for a moment before Leona was blown off her feet from the resulting shockwave. The village seemed to blow apart, blackened fire twisting and curling around each building, shattering them into twisted ruins.
Leona and Diana's home was no exception. The little girl managed to look up right as a burning beam from above broke off and crushed her legs under it. Leona screamed, tears streaming down her face from the pain as another shockwave blasted over the ruins. That was when she was thrown into blissful oblivion.
When she awoke, the ceiling had been blown apart, revealing the sky above her and the blackened sun in a halo of silver flame.
A raven alighted on the ruined stonework next to her, looking at her and giving a harsh caw. Tears streaked down her soot and dirt stained face. She was going to die…it was her dream all over again…
She looked up at the black sun and weakly raised a hand to it, shaking as the silver flame around it seemed to reach back around her.
Just when she felt everything starting to fade…she heard voices.
"I think I see something!"
"Radia, there is nothing here, the Coven obliterated it, just like the last one,"
"No, Theron, there is something here, I can feel it!"
"…Help…" Leona croaked, her voice barely above a whisper before she started crying, "Help…"
"There! In that building! There is someone here!"
"Radia…"
The sound of metal on stone caught Leona's ear and she reached further into the sky.
"Please…" she wept, "Help…"
The figure of a woman with dark hair filled her vision and Leona's heart leaped as the woman's eyes widened.
"Theron! There is a survivor! Come help me!"
"Radia they are probably going to die…"
"I do not care, come help me!" the woman, Radia, ordered as she gently took Leona's hand in her armored one, "We are coming, little one, just hold on,"
Leona gave a slow nod as her tears streamed even harder. She felt the beam getting lifted off her legs and Radia picked her up gently, holding her close to her chest.
"It is alright," Radia soothed as Leona broke into sobbing, clinging to the woman's blackened armor and laying her head on the orange ring on the chest, "You are in the Order of the Eclipse's care. You are safe now,"
Anyway, hope you liked it. If you did, please let me know!
Qui vállë tóquetë, ván tecë (If no review comes from y'all; no story comes from me)
Máriessë ar mára tecië
Farewell and fair writing
Elhini Prime signing off.