In the beginning, the world looked much different. Borders and countries had yet to exist and the population was blessed, quite literally so, magick was abundant and it came in a few different forms of life. Elves and Vampires were the oldest, they ensured the magickal balance of the mortal realm as the Elves imbued the lands with Magick but vampires kept it in check by consuming it where ever they could. The Fae came next. Nursed and raised by the ancient Elves, they also taught the Fae to tend to the earth. Keeping them in sync with the ebbs and flows of the planet, they could even tame Maiden Earth’s greatest tantrums. They help her heal after volcanoes burned her flesh, they help the trees grow new after they are drowned by her wails of sorrowful rain. The Fae are one with her, they feel her heartbeat with every shift of a tectonic plate.
Though as time marched on and Maiden Earth was cared for tenderly, more came to be and these were the babes of man. From man came three more groups: one was blessed with the ability to bring themselves closer to their animal brethren, fusing their souls to become one, and the same these people were then able to harness the speed, strength, agility, and heightened senses of their animal counterparts. Were-People. Next to them were the babes of man who harnessed the will and power of the divine with their whole beings, these people became the most diverse among the Blessed as their talents were limited by only their blessings, their knowledge, and most importantly their creativity. The last babe of man was not blessed in the usual sense, though they did not seem to be preferred by the magick of the divine they were blessed with cleverness and ambition.
For generations the rule of the land was peace and cooperation, villages peppered the land of North America all constructed with a three-ring system on the edge of ancient forests. The first ring, closest to the forest, belonged to the were-people who preferred to live in their packs. They acted as security for those within the inner rings, keeping things safe and orderly. The second ring consisted of farmland where common witches, blessed by Maiden Earth, lived and worked. They fed everyone and provided the raw materials needed to make things such as appliances, tools, and clothes. Finally, the inner circle, the village itself is a safe zone for anyone and everyone to come and call home, at the center of it all is a Coven House. Witches and their coven houses acted as a sort of government system, they held all the records in their expansive libraries. These were birth records, death records, marriage certificates, crop and weather history, and so much more. Everything was meticulously noted and stored for safekeeping, the witches believed each bit of knowledge was valuable no matter how small. To keep things in order the different covens would communicate with one another, exchanging information to help provide for one another this helped facilitate healthy trade between villages. If needed, a handful of common witches would be sent out with the requested provisions and were always accompanied by select were-people to act as security for the witches. Once they were finished in any neighboring villages they would return with the requested trade.
The system worked well, each pack that lived in the outer ring had an Alpha, a leader, that worked with the High Priestess of the respective Coven house. Though the unifying factor to all this, the thing that made cooperation between the different factions was The City of Blessings. A village far larger than any other, The City of Blessings was a magical place located in the middle of Lake Supreme; or as humans call it in the modern-day Lake Superior. The City of Blessings, along with the rest of North America, was governed by The Guardian Alpha and The Supreme Luna. The Supreme is the head witch, more powerful than any other, she would have three blessings or more and kept the world of witches intact. Governing all the covens across the land, the Supreme was the pillar of peace. However, only when bound or mated with an Alpha could she be called The Supreme Luna. The Supreme's most important task would be to find her Prime. The next witch born with three blessings or more, and who would eventually take the title of Supreme when the time came.
To ensure that the unifying bond of the role of Supreme Luna and Guardian Alpha would never falter a tradition began; when the Supreme Luna’s Prime came of age to bind herself to her future guardian a sort of tournament was held in The City of Blessings. Any unmated Alpha could submit themselves to the tournament, an Alpha could also admit their sons of age to compete as well. The purpose of this tournament was to find the strongest, the one who would have the physical strength and vitality to undergo the binding ritual and be a strong leader. However not every year would there be tournaments and bloodsports, it was rare but it would come from time to time that an Alpha would be fated to mate with a Prime. As it was in the case of Elina and Regal, the last and most popular of the royal couples.
The Grand Vampire Chronicler Bartholomew Drake once wrote in his journal;
‘The time has come. All have gathered in the central plaza under the grand balcony the royal couple uses to address the people from time to time. The men and boys kneel, their eyes locked to the ground as a crowd gathers and cheer from the sidelines. Everyone is waiting with bated breath for the guest of honor to show herself, ah, and at last, here she is! I can hardly contain my happiness for it has not taken a moment longer than necessary, Elina, she knows her fate is near. Her eyes glow with enormous power as she grips the rail of the balcony, scanning the crowd for the one she knows is hers. The look of panicked yearning in her eyes is sweet, one can almost hear the storm raging in her chest. Two heart beats in perfect sync, reaching out to one another. I cannot help but be impressed by the young wolf, I see him, I can see the enormous control he has as he fights every instinct within him to break formality to take what is his. He does not move from his kneel, his eyes do not look up, but his body shakes. His muscles are stiff and flexed, his breath is ragged. I wonder, for how much longer will they let the poor pup suffer? The crowd that has gathered now knows what is happening, they had only heard the legends of a wolf truly mating with a witch but the legends were not wrong. Her power grows by the second, the glow will intensify and will not stop until it has either enveloped her or her mate accepts her. To everyone’s surprise but my own Elina breaks the formalities first, the young Prime has always had such a willful spirit, jumping from the balcony to force her mate from his kneel and catch her. Silence falls upon the plaza. Her glow begins to fade. He looks at her in bewilderment, his breath caught in his throat the young man could only muster a simple introduction. “My name is Regal Forrester, future Alpha of the FrostFang pack” Though our young prime is beautifully confident, she gives him a triumphant smile and tells him “My name is Elina Carpathia, and I expected you to scale the balcony. How shameful Regal, forcing your mate to come to you. Are you truly that proud?” I cannot help but shake my head. That girl will never learn to hold her tongue, will she? I do hope the young man has plenty of stamina, the Prime will surely keep him on his toes. “Proud? Never. I simply do not have experience with such refined beauty, forgive me, I will spend the rest of my days atoning for this blunder.” I can hear him tell her, lost in one another’s eyes I can see the strings of fate wrap themselves around the young couple. “Then I hope we have many days to come, for I must warn you, Regal, you have deeply wounded my pride and it will need many years of affection for it to heal properly” and as the two rested their foreheads together the crowd erupted in cheers. Mother Moon has blessed us with a most beautiful union.’
However, to say all was well in the world would be nothing short of a lie. For not every son of man rejoiced in the affairs of the Blessed. As some were born without Magick, and regardless of their being welcomed, they chose to leave their homes and communities for life without Magick. The movement of a few started to inspire the many, more families began to leave their communities bringing their children with them. Tensions started to rise, and they kept rising until one night there was the start of a new tradition. The Annual Hunt. With their in-depth knowledge of their targets, the Unblessed were able to strategize their infiltration and attacks for maximum efficiency as well as escape with minimal casualties to their members. After the success of their first hunt, this group dubbed themselves 'The Order of Humanity' as they saw those with blessings as chaotic and wayward by nature. In their eyes those blessed by the divine were not human, they did not live as humans would nor did they suffer as humans would. They were powerful and advanced, and to The Order, it was only a matter of time before they saw humans as expendable or useless. They were sure that their existence and dominance would lead to the eventual extinction of the Unblessed. In their mission to salvage humanity in its original state, The Order began to send spies to their former communities. There the spies would convert more of the Unblessed to their cause, as well as kidnap children and babes who showed no signs of blessings.
Over the years The Order grew exponentially and they too started to advance with something they called ‘technology’ and ‘science’, since they chose to no longer depend on Magick they had no choice but to tap into their cleverness. Though the more they created, constructing weapons of destruction, explosives, and machinery the more they forced the Blessed to retreat from their homes and into the forests.
The Order of Humanity devised a plan to rid themselves of their enemy, they started with over-taking a few of the smaller villages; villages too far out to request reinforcements much less even warn the others of the attack. Once those villages belonged to The Order they began to scale up their attacks, the larger villages were dealt with by toxic fumes of wolfsbane and deadly nightshade followed by an attack to put those who suffered out of their misery. Perhaps The Order did not see or appreciate the fact that the divine had already equalized everything for them because while the Blessed did not live or suffer as they did and were blessed by the divine, death would still come far to swiftly for all. There was no secret or special method required, no extra steps, it was truly as easy as a bullet to the heart, brain, or liver. So bullets dropped from the sky like rain on the Blessed, the onslaught was relentless... Many did not survive…
Some of the Blessed fled into the forests, to start up smaller even more discrete communities. Deciding it the best for the factions to go their separate ways for the sake of wariness, however, the rest decided to flee to The City of Blessings. The Blessed were left with little to no choice but to engage the enemy in war, but their intel lagged as the magickal world around them began to crumble away; means of communication cut and their only defensible position soon became overrun by refugees who were injured, traumatized or simply not strong enough to fight.
The Blessed had their backs against a wall, and with a heavy heart, Supreme Luna Elina held onto her true mate Guardian Alpha Regal as she gave a majority of her strength to her people. Her magick would light up the sky of the city with the aurora borealis, its light extending downwards and touched each citizen. Her light healed even the smallest of paper cuts and rejuvenated her citizens. Elina also created an elaborate system of tunnels under the great city, secret paths so they could divide everyone and scattered the small groups of Blessed to their new respective homes. Many friends and family were separated as a result, the proud werewolves allowed no one other than their kin to join them under the presumption they would be slowed down, and more people meant more mouths to feed. Elves and their Fae children retreated even deeper into the ancient forests without word or warning, not allowing any to follow for fear of spies and traitors. Vampires settled for disguising themselves, suppressing their mighty hunger, and assimilated into their new human societies. Witches were left to their own devices as well, as powerful as they were, they were also among the slowest, physically weakest, and most reliant of others. Witches watched in horror as their libraries were burnt down, generations of knowledge reduced to ash, their most prized possession gone and not a single soul helped them. High Priestesses guided what was left of their covens to a new land, but none left the city unscathed.
It was simply no longer safe for everyone to stay together in The City of Blessings, The Order of Humanity had commenced with constant bombardments of explosives onto the city, houses were burning, children cried over the bodies of their dead parents, they were sitting ducks in a city of ruins in the middle of an unforgiving lake.
There was no way to truly tell how many had escaped with their lives, as when they left the tunnels for the outside world the Blessed would be left to their own devices. The events of that day left deep canyons of suspicion, misgiving, and division between all factions of the Blessed. However Elina now on her last legs could not worry about her people staying together, all she could do was keep them alive and buy them time to find their way through the tunnels that snaked under the lake bed.
"Regal... Bring me to the lake... I have one last thing I need to do.." said an exhausted Elina, her face was pale and her breath ragged from having released such power. Regal only held Elina closer, refusing to move her "NO! You've done enough, you healed the injured and gave everyone a chance to run! Let me take you away now, its our turn to run." Elina simply shook her head, reaching up to her mates face to caress his cheek she spoke softly "Regal, I can't. They wont stop this war, not until every last one of us are dead, but I can stop this senseless killing. I can put an end to this war and give our people the chance they need to recover.. It isn’t permanent, but it should buy them a few generations I think.." Regal did not like the words his mate spoke, he didn’t even need the mate bond to see the wheels turning in her head. Her plan would be the last spell she would ever cast, his heart was being torn into millions of pieces but he had to trust his mate; she was not only his Supreme but she was his Luna. The best Luna he could have ever asked for. In a sorrowful silence he bowed his head to rest his forehead against hers, he had no words for her, he was at war with himself. "Regal, as my Alpha you have to come with me... I hate to be selfish, especially with your life, but I need your strength…" Regal only laughed at her remark, of course, he was going with her, he would not let his mate die alone. Elina spoke again, but her voice was filled with a sweet hope that replaced his sorrow with optimism, "Don't be like that Regal, we will meet again. I've seen it and you know my premonitions are never wrong. We will meet again, and when we do we will unite our people once again. The Moon Goddess blessed our union for this exact reason, trust me and my faith in her.." Elina met the tear-filled eyes of her mate, with mixed emotions in his eyes his strong voice softened as he nodded and spoke "Elina, in the 20 years we’ve been together I have never doubted you and I will not start today. If today is the day you ask me to lay my life down for you than today is the day I die."
As the full moon rose that night Regal carried his beloved to the unruly waters, word of their movement had reached the ears of the enemies commanding officers. As Elina's feet touched the ground of the shore they were met by the leader of The Order’s main battleship, Regal shifted into his wolf. The tall white beast with glowing blue and green fur caught the other man by surprise, but he did not back down. Elina knew this man, they grew up together, she even remembered the days that followed his disappearance and the pain it caused her to lose a dear friend. "Elina Carpathia! Supreme Luna of the Blessed! You finally grace the battle field with your elegant presence!" the man shouted in a fit of twisted anger, calling Elina by her maiden name had made Regal rather aggressive as he bore his fangs while letting a rather fierce growl boom across the empty blood-stained land. The man laughed almost maniacally but was quickly brought to silence by Elina, "ENOUGH!" her voice carried the same effect as an Alpha Command as she imposed her will upon those around her. Even Regal laid at her feet his eyes never leaving their dangerous enemy who now glared at Elina, but she paid him no attention as she allowed the full moon to energize her magick and borrowed strength from Regal. Her eyes shifted from their normal soft pink to a glowing pool of iridescent pink and purple light, the air around them started to shift and pick up speed as Elina rose her arms. She spoke clearly with confidence and command "Derek Walker, hear my words, this war is OVER!" a sudden pressure came down among the enemy crowd, the wooden ships starting to whine and c***k under the pressure, Elina's eyes turned venomous as her feet lifted from the ground. Regal sat up beside her, Magick started to emanate from both of them in a fantastical light show. The blue and green glow of his fur surrounded her magnificent pink, but as the two auras met it was a sight only comparable by the wonders of the Aurora Borealis of the northern skies. Amplified the clear and powerful light of the winter solstice moon and by the borrowed power of her mate Elina spoke with absolute finality, "By the power of the Earth, with the strength of the Sun, the wisdom of the Celestial, and the authority of the Moon Goddess; I Elina Forrester, Supreme Luna, bind you and your kin to the Blessed. If you dare take the life of a Blessed, then your life will be taken in return to balance the scales. Your blood is our blood, and as such you have committed heinous crimes against your own! Heed my warning Walker, One cannot live with out the other. The end of the Blessed will mark the end of The Order!"
Another wave of pressure fell upon the soldiers of The Order, many shouted in agony as they tried their best to refute it, Derek Walker could only shoot daggers with his eyes at Elina as he yelled "HOW DARE YOU CURSE US YOU FILTHY WITCH!! I'LL f*****g KILL YOU! I DON'T CARE IF I DIE, I'M GOING TO TAKE YOU WITH ME!" Elina chuckled, soon one by one the men shouted in pain. As the binding magic set in on the members, burning the magick into their DNA so that the magic would last generations. It was old magick, forbidden but never forgotten. The spell required an exorbitant amount of power and could have dire consequences for the caster, but the two leaders were ready for the sacrifice. Their people could live, be at peace and recover; and that's all that mattered. When the spell was completed Regal sat behind his beloved so that she could lean against his large figure as she came back down from her height. With all her strength gone Elina instantly slumped down against Regal, he wrapped himself around her peacefully so his thick winter coat could keep her warm just one last time. Elina sighed contently as she ran her hands through his fur before looking up and addressing Derek one last time, "this will not be the last time we will see each other Derek Walker... I'm sure you and your descendants will find a way to break this spell, you are all rather clever after all... but hopefully... time will heal these deep wounds..." Elina's body slumped over Regal's body and the large wolf gave one last big huff before they were both completely still. Finally, peace.
The Order of Humanity retreated from the vicious waters and regrouped on land, it seemed like the curse did affect not only the order but the entirety of their clan as well. Men, women, and children alike felt the short burning sensation deep in their core. No marks were left and no side effects came from this. After the truth of the Order's so-called victory came to light it did not take long for the Unblessed to call for the dismantling of The Order. However, a few still stood with the mission they had started on, the remaining members made it part of their families' legacy to break the spell and leave enough knowledge for their later descendants for them to retaliate when the time was right. Those who left the order dispersed themselves around the Americas desperate to forget everything. As time moved forward the Blessed were just that, forgotten. They were small in numbers, separated and hidden away from the Unblessed and the world.
Society grew and changed around the hidden societies, and before long witches, werewolves and other kinds of Blessed were no more than bedtime stories for children. However The Order of Humanity and other organizations of its kind survived the test of time, disguised as other kinds of legitimate businesses both big and small, but they thrived in the darkness they had created. Allowing the modernization of society and technology to embolden them in their true mission...
Time had its effects on the Blessed as well. People divided themselves into groups, packs, and covens as people escaped the bloodshed and ran. As time passed, brother became stranger and with no unifying leadership, infighting commenced. Their way of life had been ripped out from under every man, woman, and child. Land was fought over, borders and territories were drawn. Werewolves were going rogue and witches were leaving their covens to join human society. Though after a while, things and people settled. Treaties were made, boundaries were set and political formalities soon formed but tensions were always high...
A shaky, fragile, sense of peace that lasted many generations; however it seemed the Moon Goddess had felt the winds of change brought on by the modern world. For this fragile peace would be challenged, broken, and rebuilt by a promising Prime and a rising Alpha...
Celeste Cromwell of The Eternal Moon Coven, prodigy witch and future Supreme of the Northwest territories. Seth Lycagrus powerful Alpha of The Frost Fang Pack, a pack and bloodline that has survived generations. Both young hearts with high exceptions on their shoulders, however, their old souls have helped them thus far to become proud leaders of their respective groups. However with each already having a preconceived notion about how their lives were set in stone, what would they do knowing that the Moon Goddess had other plans? Her ways are silent and without a clear answer, would Seth even dare to reject his fated mate, or would Celeste even acknowledge the possibility of a werewolf consort?
Though unknown to the two the wheels of fate started to spin, working in their mysterious ways to bring them together. The only question that truly mattered was if the young lovers-to-be were ready and willing to accept their destiny. Were they willing to have faith in their Moon Goddess and prepare the world for what was yet to come? For they, and their love, were far more important than anyone could have ever foreseen.