The Rise of the Tribrid

Before Raven Nightshade was born, there was a mad king who longed and searched for an heir. Alaric Nightshade, king of the wolves, had everything except the one thing that could carry on his legacy, a child. For years he prayed under blood moons, made thousands of sacrifices to different gods, caused destruction, and killed his enemies who questioned him yet his wife never conceived. As the years went by, Alaric became cold-hearted; his people feared him. He burned villages for not bringing tributes, and he made enemies who swore to bring him down. Even the council began to think that the moon goddess did not acknowledge the Nightshade family. Haylee watched the man she fell in love with harbor hatred and become cruel, because of how lonely she was she had an affair with Jack, Alaric’s step brother, he was cast aside, half vampire and half wolf, the living stain of their father’s affair besides that she found warmth in him. One night they lay together and she conceived. When Haylee found out she was pregnant she cried in fear, the child carried both witch, wolf, and vampire blood. That will disrupt the balance of the supernatural world. ————————————- The wind that night was very heavy, it rained heavily, the moon went behind the clouds, inside the castle of the Nightshade there was screams of a woman, a baby fighting its way into the world. Haylee held the sheets which were covered in blood tightly, her breath was short and fast, she was sweating, her hair stuck to her forehead and neck, she was pale and her temperature was high. The midwives were nervous and looked at each other, they could hear the thunder outside shaking the castle. “Please, just one more push” Haylee whispered to herself, her voice cracking. For years, she and Alaric had prayed for a child to break the distance that had grown over the years between them but nothing happened, Haylee didn’t conceive. The moon had turned red three times, which showed years of failed pregnancies, which made them sad. Alaric grew distant and cold, turned wicked, and into something harsher than Haylee remembered. Now as she felt the child move, she feared this day as much as she craved for it because this child wasn’t supposed to exist, not like this. Haylee closed her eyes and she pictured Jack’s face, the man she should never have fallen in love with. The mistake that shook her world. She had hidden the truth cloaking her child’s nature behind layers of spells but as the contractions came faster, the spell began to c***k. The air in the room shifted, the candles flickered violently, before going off one by one, the air seemed to change, and it felt different. The midwives began to pray, they had never seen something like this. Then a soft cry stopped the storm outside. Haylee gasped as her body trembled, she felt relief and fear. The midwife lifted the child, her hands shaking as she stared at her. “She’s… she’s beautiful” she whispered, her voice shaky, she was also confused, even scared. The baby’s skin was pale, almost see-through under the light, when her eyes opened for the first time, they glowed amber, before changing into a bright gray. Tears filled Haylee’s eyes as she reached for her daughter, her hands trembling “Raven” she whispered while caressing the child’s cheek. “Her name is Raven”. The midwives looked uneasy, one of them made a sign of the Moon Goddess and said “The sky darkens for her, it’s an omen” “Enough!” Haylee snapped at her, her voice filled with anger. “She’s my daughter” Alaric entered, the sound of his footsteps echoing, and the air seemed to change when he came in. He looked around, his expression unreadable, until they landed on the baby in Haylee’s hands. He has seen battle, blood but nothing has stopped the heart the way this did. He moved closer, going slow, one step at a time, “she’s here” he whispered to himself. “My daughter is here,” he said in disbelief. Haylee looked up at him, her face pale but she was filled with joy “You have an heir Alaric, a daughter” she said smiling He knelt behind her, hesitantly he reached his hand towards the child, the baby wrapped her tiny fingers around his hand, her grip very strong. He felt something powerful run through him. For a moment, he thought he imagined it, but it came again that faint glimmer beneath her skin making her almost see through, the power he felt made his wolf restless. “What’s this?” He asked, his voice filled with confusion. Haylee's heart raced, filled with fear “It’s nothing she’s just strong, like her father” she said to him smiling. Alaric looked towards her still confused but he didn’t press on it. Instead, he looked down at his daughter again. He has spent years trying to fill the void of not having a child with war, cruelty, and pride. Now looking at his child it all felt meaningless. “She’s perfect,” he said smiling, “ the moon goddess has finally blessed us” Haylee felt relieved, he didn’t know. The spells she continuously cast during her pregnancy helped hide her baby’s true form. Her daughter’s vampire side is suppressed by her magic. For now, the world will only see a werewolf child born of the Nightshade line. The thunder came again and the midwives started packing up their things, talking among themselves about the weird things that happened during the birth, Haylee and Alaric didn’t even pay attention to them. She was staring down at Raven, her heart filled with joy but she also felt guilty, she knew what she had done and she knew it was wrong, her daughter's blood. A witch's daughter, a wolf heir, and a vampire descendant. The tribrid, the first of her kind For the first time that night, the moon’s light shone on Raven’s skin and she looked too pale, so as Alaric turned towards the window, she quickly whispered a protection spell “ hide her truth, cloak her light, let the world only see what it should” A faint light flowed across raven skin, sealing the spell, for now no one, not even Alaric would see her true form. The light faded and the illusion worked but magic like that came with a cost. “Sleep,” Alaric told her gently, still looking at the storm outside, “ she will grow strong and one day she will lead our kind” Haylee looked down at Raven, caressing her cheek, “She’ll be more than that, she’ll be everything” she whispered. Haylee felt guilty, she knew Alaric would never forgive her once he knew the truth but she couldn’t go back to change things, it had already been done. Raven was here, carrying a power that would either unite or destroy everything. Haylee placed a kiss on her daughter's forehead “You’ll be safe” she whispered lovingly, “ no one will find out, not your father, not the world” but deep down she knew this kind of truth never stays hidden for long. That night everyone could feel the shift in the air, the wolves howled in unison, very loud, the witches’ fires dimmed, the vampires became restless, they could sense a new presence had been brought into the world but it didn’t belong to any of them. Alaric stood at the window of the room. He looked old and tired from the reflection on the glass. The rain hit the window, falling down. He turned to look at the child sleeping in the crib beside the bed. He smiled but there was something else there, fear. “She’s different, I can feel it but she’s ours” he said, his smile wide. Haylee closed her eyes, tears falling “yes, she’s ours”. She said Alaric believed that his child would be their salvation but he had no idea it would one day be their reckoning