The Goddess's Chosen

Grand Canyon

We took a couple days once we got back to the sanctuary to recuperate, and to stock up on spells and potions, as well as took time for Clara, Rachelle, Ava and Gabe to become acquainted with their familiars. Brenna even helped me lead them in some training for new tactics involving a witch and their familiar. We learned that we could communicate silently through our familiars, as we could speak to them through a mental link, and they could speak to each other. We spent a little while getting used to this form of communication. Not speaking directly to them was strange, but ravens are known for their mockery skills, so they repeat everything back almost exactly like their witch, and Brenna could mimic their mimicry, so it was almost as if my friends were speaking in my head, like we had back in California. After that we broke up into teams of 4, everyone paired with their significant other, and me with Gabe. It was nice training with him again.  We set up objectives in the back yard and Clara and I used our powers to create obstacles. I even called my elemental spirits out to help us train and learned more about them as individuals and not just the elements they rule over. Like Hestia, she is a lot like Ava, in that she loves to be admired, hence why she dances. Cybele is so much like Rachelle, even though her powers are like Clara’s, she has an eco-friendly approach to life, and cares about the environment more than people. Clara is like Vodnik. They create beautiful things with their powers. He controls water and can create storms and carve the land around him with his flowing waters, and Clara can create trees and manipulate the earth around her, so they got along very well. And Alya is like me. The leader, but unsure of if it is deserved, but then, when it comes down to it, we are the heart of groups. We lead, thinking of them and the mission first. We care about our companions and will always do what we can to ensure their safety. Because of this, I decided that when we trained, we were to work with the element we are most similar to. Me, Gabe and Alya. Clara, Camden and Vodnik. Ava, Varwen and Hestia. And Rachelle, Kheelan and Cybele. And, with our familiars, we were a small army. A force to be reckoned with. And so, we planned. Kheelan told us that he had the ability to make one portal, anywhere we chose, meaning we could take the portal near to the entrance to the caves that Hecate is being held in. From there we would break into our four groups. Camden would be in wolf form most of the time, and he would be the one to get Hecate out of the cell as his abilities, while they are magical in nature, are a part of his DNA and would not be affected by the runes in the cell, but Vodnik would wash the runes away just in case, and Clara would be there to fend off any hunters on the way out. Ava, Varwen and Hestia would scope out the area around the canyon. Hestia would cause distractions and light up their way, Ava would use her spells to keep hunters out of the caves and Varwen would use his arrows and fight off the hunters outside. Rachelle, Kheelan and Cybele were to open more entrances into the caves and locate any other supernatural beings that may be being held here as well. Kheelan revealed that, like his mother, he can create maps of areas in the reflection of still waters, and with the help of Clara and Vodnik, they practiced making small pools for him to create maps in. As for me, Gabe and Alya, we were the ones leading the way. We would go in first and find Hecate and clear out the hunters we find as we go, then let Camden and Clara know that it would be safe to enter. We practiced in our obstacle course, following this plan. We trained for about four hours, until we memorized our plans and could communicate in complete silence. By the night of the second day, we felt as ready as we ever would.  

   We took the portal to the canyons early in the morning and set up camp. We sent out our ravens to scout and report back to us any activity they see. Vodnik created a small pool for the maps and Kheelan created them based on our raven’s feedback. Me, Clara and Ava used Hecates blood to scry, because I figured that three of us would be more powerful than just me, and we located her on the paper map that I had brought with us, and Kheelan was able to pinpoint it in his map as well. Cybele and Rachelle created a vine ladder for us to use to get down into the actual canyon part and I had created a dome, of sorts, made of dirt to hide us, just in case they used drones or were scouting the area themselves. Varwen worked with Ava to come up with a bracelet that we can wear, imbued with his magic, to keep us cloaked without him being near us, only visible to those in our party, and she provided all of us with the flashlights she enchanted to show any, and all, magical traps. “What is it with these guys having camps in dry, desert areas.” Ava complained about the hundredth time today. I agreed with her complaint, but I wouldn’t let it show. We sat and waited for nightfall. We studied the map and pinpointed where the entrances to the caves were and Hecates' location within the tunnels in the caves. There were two entrances and we decided that Rachelle’s group would go through the second entrance and then Cybele would cover that entrance, leaving only one way, in or out, for the hunters. Once dusk came, we got into position, our ravens, still flying overhead, informed us of the hunters' locations, and when the cave entrances were clear. Once the sun went down completely, they gave us the word and flew to our sides, and we moved forward. The first ones to enter were me, Gabe, Brenna and Alya. The spirits had their own magic cloaking them, only allowing them to be seen by the people of their choosing. Cloaked by the bracelets, and searching for magic traps with Ava’s flashlights, we moved silently into the first of the caves. The caves were like a winding labyrinth. We walked silently for about 20 minutes, no signs of traps or hunters, and I began to get worried. ‘Brenna, are you sure they were in here?’ I asked my raven. ‘Yes, we had seen movement within these tunnels, they are in here somewhere.’ She chirped inside my head. So, we continued. After another minute or so, the tunnel opened into a cavernous room. Inside there must have been an entire army of hunters lounging around a campfire and talking and drinking. I felt my blood boil. They had taken everything from me and yet they sit here and party as if they have done no wrong. I could feel a storm raging inside of me, urging me to let it out. But not yet. We were severely outnumbered, and I could see some dark witches in the back of the room, thanks to the fae’s light gift, I could sense the darkness withing them, I could feel their darkness in my bones. They were looking around as if they could almost sense us. ‘Brenna, tell Clara and Camden we need them here, there are about 20 hunters and about 5 dark witches, no magic traps that I can see in this room, but we need backup’ I told her. ‘On it’ she chirped back. So, we waited about five minutes before I heard Brenna let me know they were here. ‘What's the plan boss?’ Brenna chirped in my head in her mimicry of Camden’s voice. ‘The witches are our biggest threat, Gabe and I can handle them, but I need you and Clara to work on the hunters. Alya and Vodnik can help you. Free the beast.’ I said back. ‘Sounds like a plan, count of three, 1...2...3’ Brenna said, this time in Clara’s voice, and on three we attacked. We had caught them by surprise, and it showed. The witches scrambled to defensive positions, rushing to grab potions, but Alya blew them all out of the way before they could reach them. Gabe and I used our magic, intertwined and created a lightening cage around the witches and began chanting a spell that Ava had found in a spell book, written by Gabe’s mother, Selene. “Let the darkness leave this place, free these souls from its embrace, wipe the black that taints their souls, and let the light now take its hold.” As we chanted the spell, there was a blinding light coming from within the cage and the witches began screaming as a black smoke streamed from their open mouths. The light then became so bright, as it seemed to engulf the black smoke entirely. The witches all collapsed, and the light faded, and the dark feeling was gone. “Check on them.” I told Alya and Gabe and I turned to the fight between Clara and Camden and the hunters. Clara was amazing, she used her magic vines to incapacitate the hunters and Camden came in and ripped their throats out in one fluid motion while Vodnik protected them with a shield made of rapidly flowing water, so that anything that was projected into it, was flung back out in odd directions. Summoning my fire magic, lent to me by Hestia, I blocked the exits so that the few cowardly hunters couldn’t escape. Gabe used his lightning and shot it at one hunter, and it shot from him into the three hunters that were nearby. “Gabriel, you treacherous bastard!” One hunter yelled and rushed towards Gabe with a sword in hand. Gabe hadn’t noticed because he was occupied with another group of hunters that were now dodging his attacks. I flanked the angry hunter and used my air magic to catch him in an updraft and smack him hard against the cavern ceiling and let his body fall to the ground with a loud thud that echoed throughout the cavern. I was grabbed from behind by a hunter and he held my arms behind my back so that I could aim my powers, so I ran backwards as fast as I could, causing his back to smack against a stone that was in the middle of the room, and I threw my head back as hard as I could, and I heard the crunching sound of his nose breaking, causing him to release me. Using Alpha Jonas’ werewolf strength, I picked him up and tossed him across the room so that he smacked into the opposite wall. I was then rushed by two more hunters, one from each side, and they were holding a chain that had red symbols etched into it, knowing that my powers would be useless if they caught me in it, I focused on the elven agility gifted from King Artowynn, and at the last possible moment, I jumped as high as I could, and did a back flip, and the two i***t hunters ended up wrapped the stone in the chain. I landed gracefully on the top of the stone and used my earth powers to conjure stalactites from the cave's ceiling and had them fall on top of the hunters who were picking themselves off the ground. I looked around and saw Gabe and Camden fighting off two more hunters while Clara was restraining another two. ‘Brenna, can you fly down that corridor and report back to me?’ I asked her, she nodded her little head and she and Cormac took off down the corridor adjacent to the one we came in through. By the time that I had sent them out, my friends had finished off the remaining hunters. “I sent Brenna and Cormac ahead to scout. Can you guys get these witches out of here?” I told Clara and Camden. They nodded and ran to the witches who were now slowly stirring. I could vaguely hear them asking where they were and what had happened. ‘There are about 5 more hunters down the corridor, and one hunter guards Hecates cell.’ Brenna chirped to me as I saw her and Cormac flying back into the room that we were in. I looked at Gabe and he nodded, and I knew Cormac and shared the same information with him. ‘Found wolves in cages, Cas, and lots of them. There were some fae and witches chained to the wall with iron, and there were a couple of elves with the tips of their ears chopped off. They all look like they’ve been tortured.” Brenna chirped in Rachelle’s voice. My heart broke. ‘And Cas...we found your mother...and Selene.’ Brenna chirped in Rachelle’s voice again. ‘Get them all out to safety, now. And have Kheelan use his mother's medicines on them.’ I told Brenna to relay back to Rachelle. I looked over at Gabe and he was standing stiff at the news. “My...my mother, is alive...” he said, breaking down a little. I rushed to his side. “Hey, hey, we can’t afford to break down right now, they’re safe, they’re going to be ok, but we have to keep moving.” I said, needing to be strong for the both of us even though all I wanted to do was run to my mother. We had a job to do, and we couldn’t stop until we were finished, and we were so close. I could tell that my powers were wanting to get out of control. I had so much anger, sadness, hope, and fear built up inside of me that my powers were becoming more difficult to control. I could feel my hands itching to unless mayhem and havoc on these monsters for everything that they have done. But not yet. That is for their leader, the head of all these monsters. “Alya, you and Vodnik help with the survivors, please, we can handle this, if we need you, I will call to you.” I asked them, and they both nodded and flew off in the other direction, heading towards Rachelle. ‘Brenna, how are Ava and Varwen fairing.’ I asked before moving on. ‘We are alright Cas, had a few but we took care of them, go find our Goddess. We got this!’ Brenna chirped back in Ava’s voice. My team was doing alright. All our planning was paying off. All that was left was to finish clearing out the caves, get Camden and Clara to Hecate and find Lucius and take down the hunter's faction once and for all. Gabe and I moved down the corridor once more and braced ourselves for confrontation. We took down the five guards that Brenna and Cormac told us about and moved on. We turned right, headed to Hecate’s cell and I could feel the dark powers here, much stronger than I had felt before. Calling the fae’s light forth, I willed it to find the source of the darkness and lead us to it. Not surprisingly, it led us right to Hecate’s cell, and waiting for us, was none other than Lucius Whitlock.