EMPIRE: The Rise of A Queen

Chapter 17

***

VICTORIA

My little Kendra, watching her life it was like watching my own repeating itself. Part of it at least. I truly believed that Larik was my future when I was nineteen. He was just like us, a good wizard and a part of our Coven but the day that my soulmate walked through the door for a collective meeting between all the Covens and the Empire everything changed. I had left him for another man and he thought it was because of power, like a typical man. He grew bitter and started looking into some dark spells. He wanted to become more powerful than any other wizard out there. The dark spells turned his heart cold so when I heard that he went to the demon of death for more power it didn’t surprise me. His heart was dark enough to embrace the power but there was still a part of him that was good, his love for me.

The power overpowered him and broke him from the inside. It hurt me that he had left his son, Blake alone at the age of three and our coven felt responsible for him. We took him in and cared for him, but some of that haterade that his father had felt, somehow found its way to his heart as well. Sometimes it truly is nature before nurture. And after Kendra’s death, he left and later found ’love’ in the daughter of the royal family. Now to hear about his son’s love for my granddaughter makes me hoping and praying that the same thing didn’t happen to them. Love is the strongest weapon cause it can break someone to the edge of great horror.

I had sent out a warning to the coven through a spell, telling them to be on high alert and that Blake was on a warpath. I could sense all of their panic, a part of being the coven leader is that I’m connected to every single one of them. Just as we were going through the portal I was hit with a sharp pain in my stomach. Something was wrong.

”Aaah!” I screamed out at the pain.

”Grandma!!!” Both of my girls yelled in response as they came to me as I hurtled on the floor. ”What’s wrong?” Maya asked.

”Something’s wrong. Someone’s hurt.” And it was bad, it had to be a part of Blake’s plan. Most likely to torture our coven, a member in enough pain wasn’t strong enough to withstand his black magic and he would find a way into that members mind that would lead him right to our coven’s place in the realm.

”Can you tell who it is?”

”I’m not sure, wait.” I tried to focus through the pain and I didn’t get much but enough to know who it was.

***

MAYA

”Kelly.” Grandma’s voice was weak at best.

”I know where we’re going.” I told Kendra and stood up, she stayed on her knees on the floor next to grandma. ”Come on!” I took her hand and pulled her up to her feet. ”Wacana.” And directly after I said it a door appeared right in front of us. I pictured Kelly in my head before opening the door and once we stepped through it we were in Kelly’s house. I started to look around, walking through the room. Kendra still stood in the same spot as we had appeared in. ”Kendra!” I got her attention and she started to look as well. She didn’t get far until she called out for me.

”Maya! Here!” I walked over to where she was standing and the sight before us filled me with horror.

Kelly was down on her knees with a hooded man by her side, holding a dagger at her throat in his right hand while his left held onto her hair to keep her from moving.

"You're too late, dear." His voice was dark and cruel. "Master Blake apologizes for his son's deceiving ways." I kept my focus on the knife, doing all I could to keep the blade from getting any closer to Kelly’s throat.

"You can tell him that he pissed off the wrong witch." Kendra's voice had never been filled with so much hate and rage for as long as I've known her. But what scared me in that moment was the look in her eyes, they were dark, almost pitch black. It looked like her body didn't belong to herself, but an outside force of some kind. I put my hand on her shoulder and it was like she snapped out of it. It made me lose focus from Kelly and the knife long enough for the warlock to make his move, I saw blood right before he shifted out of the room with Kelly in his hard embrace.

We stood in shock for a few moments before we moved even an inch.

”Wacana.” I spoke and took Kendra’s hand in mine as a door appeared in front of us once again. ”Kendra, we will get her back. Blake and Marcel aren’t winning this fight.”

”No Maya. This isn’t a fight, this is war.”