THE LIBATION

CHAPTER SEVEN

The woods were quiet, save for the gentle hum of crickets and the faint whisper of the wind weaving through the trees. Elara walked among her sisters, their laughter rising and falling like soft ripples in the evening air. For once, she felt peace — the kind that came only when the moon began its climb and the world seemed to hold its breath.

Then came the sound. A sudden crack of branches.

The laughter died.

“I smell humans,” Prudence said, her nose twitching, voice low and alert.

“She’s right,” Matilda murmured, her eyes glowing faintly with that strange silver light. “They’re coming… straight toward us.”

Before Elara could react, three figures emerged between the trees. Her heart leapt. Without a word, she lifted her hands and spread her fingers wide. A soft hum filled the air as a blue, translucent shield shimmered to life around them — like glass made of moonlight. The humans would see nothing but empty space.

But Elara saw them.

And she heard every word.

“Here we are,” the first voice said — steady, aged, familiar. “This is where they usually appear.”

Elara’s chest tightened. Agatha.

“Granny, are you sure about this? No one’s here,” another voice said — younger, uncertain. Brielle.

“They’re supposed to be here tonight,” Agatha replied, narrowing her eyes toward the dark where Elara stood hidden. “That friend of yours, Elara Duskbane… she’s a witch.”

Elara’s breath caught. Prudence and Maltida turned to her in great astonishment.

“Granny, she’s not! Just because she bears the name Duskbane doesn’t mean—”

“Her grandfather,” Agatha interrupted sharply, “is Thaddeus Duskbane. My deadliest rival. I know what that family is capable of. Stay away from her before she kills you. But first…” Her tone turned cold. “We’ll need a scapegoat to draw them out.”

Elara’s palms trembled. Her shield flickered.

“Witches act suspiciously,” said the third voice — Hannah. Calm but firm. “They have a unique scent. They stare too long, whisper to themselves, speak in strange tongues… and they never eat like normal people.”

“That’s not Elara!” Brielle’s voice cracked. “She’s normal, except…”

Her words slowed. “She stares sometimes. Says things I don’t understand. She… talks to the mirror.”

The forest went still. Even the night seemed to hold its breath. Inside the sphere, Elara felt her tears welling. Her heart ached with fear and quiet despair — not betrayal, no. Brielle didn’t know. But the truth still cut deep.

"Exactly!" Agatha said with anger. "She is. That total makes her who she is, but...." Her voice was calm and there was confusion written all over her face.

"What's that ?" Hannah and Brielle asked in unison.

"She....she.....I didn't get anything from her. I didn't see any witch mark on her neck, neither did I perceive any scent from her." Agatha said in a low, confusing tone as her eyes searched the ground.

"Isn't that also enough reason to believe she's not a witch?" Brielle crossed her arms on her chest. "Maybe she's just acting normal — you know talking to the mirror, saying things I don't get. What if that's what developed in her due to the psychological things she's going through. What if that's a trauma?" Brielle said in pains.

"Hmmmm....Agatha, what if she's right?" Hannah asked softly.

"No!" Agatha yelled. "That's more reason to fear her the. That's a sign that's she's as deadly as Thaddeus. For her to know who I was and protect herself is dangerous."

"Mom, I'm out of here. I can't keep up with this conversation—." Brielle was interrupted by a noise. She turned to Elara's direction but didn't see anything.

"Did you hear that?" Hannah asked posing herself for a defense.

"They're here. Bring out the Umbracite." Prudence gasped as she heard that and immediately, tears dropped to her cheeks. She thought they were all going to die. Matilda trembled in great fear, she let out another whimpering sound that attracted the three humans to look intensely at their direction.

"Shhhhh!!" Elara said to Matilda. "Prudence, control her." Elara said in a low voice that only them could hear. Prudence stood still looking at Matilda. How would she control her when she hasn't have full control over her own self. She moved closely to Maltida and used her palm to cover her mouth to stop her from making those sounds. Elara's arms were sure hurting here, and she was getting weak gradually. She added more of her strength and power to keep the sphere in place. Prudence noticed how Elara struggled and if she's to become weak, they will all be dead. She released her hold from Maltida and went over to Elara's back. Spreading her arms wide as Elara, she combined her powers too. Elara turned and smiled. Maltida felt ashamed. She couldn't just stand there and watch how her friends tried to save their own lives and hers. She did same thing as Prudence, but was still scared. It's not about holding the sphere, but about the carved stone the witch-haunters brought out from the bag. It will definitely weaken them no matter how. Matilda pushed that thought off her head, as she held the sphere tightly.

“Here.” Hannah’s voice was low, cautious. She handed the Umbracite to Agatha — a small, carved stone that pulsed faintly under the storm-lit sky.

The air around them shifted. Even before it was raised, the witches could feel it — that dreadful hum.

The Umbracite — forged by witch-hunters, designed to drain the essence of witches, leaving them powerless and exposed.

Elara’s breath hitched. Her eyes widened as the stone caught a glint of lightning. No… not that stone. If Agatha used it, their disguise would shatter. The humans would see them for what they truly were.

And then — there would be no mercy.

Agatha lifted the Umbracite, her gaze fixed on the three witches. For a heartbeat, nothing happened.

Then came the pain.

It hit like invisible fire.

Elara staggered, clutching her chest as her strength faltered. Prudence and Matilda cried out, their faces contorting in agony. The air grew dense with crackling energy — the stone feeding, devouring.

Elara tried to fight it. Her arms trembled violently, the veins beneath her skin glowing faintly as if resisting an unseen force.

Her knees buckled. Her voice caught.

Prudence raised her eyes to the storm above — lips trembling, whispering words the wind could barely carry.

The Earth answered.

A roar of thunder ripped through the forest. Lightning clawed across the sky, and rain came crashing down in torrents, washing over them like a furious tide.

Startled, Agatha gasped and clutched the stone, shoving it back into her bag as the others scrambled for shelter.

And there, beneath the storm, Elara fell to her knees — her breath ragged, her power flickering like a dying flame… yet still, somewhere deep inside, unbroken.

"We need to get outta here as quick as possible." Prudence said breathing so fast.

"But how can we without those humans seeing us." Matilda's asked as she walked up to Elara.

"Have you forgotten how to disappear?" Elara said in a whisper and coughed out. Matilda raised her head to Prudence who walked and held her hand with Elara's, and in a blink that spot was empty, and the heavy rain calmed.

"How...How is this possible." Agatha asked as the three of them came out from the wooden shade they had used to protect themselves from the angry rain. "The rain was heavy, accompanied with a heavy wind, and all of a sudden—"

" They were here." Hannah exhaled heavily and raked her hair. "They saw us and caused the rain to fall to run away."

"Mom, Granny, please can we go, I'm getting scared by all this."

"How can you defeat the if you are scared this way, huh Miss Brielle Vane?" Brielle stood still, looking at Agatha without saying a word. Yeah, her grandmother was right. If she keeps on being scared this way, how would she fight and kill the real ones when she sees them.

" Ummmm." Agatha smiled slowly and picked up her bag.

"I think we should get going." Hannah said.

"I'm fully convinced that they were hear. I heard the sounds, and I guess you two did but at same time, you both want to ignore that." Agatha raised her left brow and kept her gaze with her granddaughter. Brielle frowned and looked away.

"Okay....okay....not here. We better get going, and for the sound, we all heard it. We all heard that whimpering sound from that place." Hannah pointed the spot on which the three witches had hid themselves earlier.

The three witches appeared breathlessly on the porch of the room building, panting like they ran miles for their lives. Elara laid tiredlessly on the ground, her legs sprawled, her chest rising and falling as a result of her tachypnea, her stomach also in rhythm with her chest, her eyes wide opened. Prudence and Maltida walked up and knelt beside her, trying to calm her down. She was more tired than the others, because she used most of her strength to guard them and now she was definitely out of energy.

"She needs blood." Maltida said with concern in her eyes.

"Will you?" Prudence asked the scared Maltida who raised her head to look at Prudence.

"She needs a male blood, Prudence." Maltida uttered, but her eyes saying most of the words. "Have you forgotten, a witch needs a male's blood to strengthen her when she's out of energy — be it a human or a warlock."

"Draven." Prudence didn't think twice before calling out the name.

"Draven? Could be—"

"He's the only one we have now. You know he has a thing for Elara so he won't hesitate to be of help to her."

"Alright, I'll go for him right away." Maltida stood up and disappeared into thin air before Prudence could breath another breathe. Prudence sat closer to Elara lifting her head to rest on her lap, she was looking lifeless on her body. Elara was trying to mutter our words from her mouth, Prudence noticed, and gently stroke her body to calm her down.

"Prudence.... Prud...ence....help....me....hel...."Before Prudence could calm her down, Elara bit her upper arm making Prudence yelp in pain and throwing Elara over. Prudence breathed out loud as she stared at the lifeless, yet furious Elara breathing so hard like ever before. She felt her arm warm as she looked down and noticed she was bleeding. She immediately had to leave that spot before Elara would smell her and devour her.