Chapter 6

Daria's POV

Warmth was the first thing that I felt.

Soft. Gentle. Warm.

Then a faint crying sound. A tiny cry. High and thin, like a kitten.

My eyes fluttered open.

It was not under the same ceiling that I fainted. This was a carved wooden one, which was painted with weird symbols that I did not comprehend.

My throat felt dry. My body felt heavy.

However, the wailing... the wailing drew me into it.

I turned my head slowly.

I was seated next to a witch, who was wailing over some small bundle.

A baby.

My baby.

"H-Her..." I spoke in barely audible tones.

The witch gave me a glance in a flash. "She's awake! Go get Silas!"

I wrote back tremulously. "My baby... please..."

The harsh features of the witch grew kind. She put the little package into my arms.

As soon as my daughter began to touch my chest, my heart opened like a wide door.

She was warm. She was small. Her skin was tender and puffed pink. Her little fist was open and closed as though she was attempting to seize my finger.

"Oh Moon Goddess..." I mumbled, weeping along my cheeks. "You're real. You're alive."

She opened her eyes and saw a moment, they were as sky-blue as mine. She looked up at me as though she was acquainted with me.

I sobbed quietly. "My baby... my sweet baby..."

We heard strides hurrying into the room.

"Move aside!" a witch shouted.

"No–don't crowd her!"

Silas cleared his way through them, hunching on a cane. His face was pale. Too pale. As though the life had been sucked out of him.

He leaned over my bed, a-heaving. "Daria…?"

I looked up at him. "You're alive."

He gave a weak smile. "Barely."

Thou should not stand on thy feet, cruel witch. Sit, sit, before you fall again.

I'm all right, you see, I was all right, Silas told himself, but I was all right, he said to himself in a trembling voice.<|human|>I am all right, I said, but I was all right, I said, with a trembling voice.

I stared at him in shock. "You almost died because of me."

"Because of you?" He shook his head. "No. Due to the inhumanity against you. And since your child is stronger than we thought.

I once more looked at my daughter. "She... she saved us?"

"Yes," Silas said softly. The magic broke out in her ritual. It made your bodies straight. It was… unbelievable."

My baby was yawning and did not care what kind of mess she made. I touched a kiss to her forehead.

"What… what will I call her?" I whispered.

Silas smiled gently. "You choose."

"Harriet," I murmured. The name came from nowhere. But it felt right. Strong. Soft. Beautiful.

"Harriet," Silas repeated. "A perfect name."

All was quiet for just a moment. Only me, my daughter and the mute hum of the room.

However, the mood of the witches changed then. Whispering grew tense.

One witch stepped forward. Her face was tight.

"Silas… we must speak."

He frowned. "Not now."

"Yes, now," she insisted. The spell of barrier is decaying. The wolves were observed at the border of the forest.

My stomach knotted.

Wolves.

Lucius.

One witch turned to me. The Alpha is in pursuit of something. Or someone."

Silas held his cane in his hand. "He's hunting for Daria."

My blood froze. "He knows I ran. But,... he could not have trailed me this far.

He is damned, another witch said quickly. Cursed wolves sniff where they have no right. They experience an attachment to old ties. And you…" She pointed at me. You still have the scar of the connection.

My heart dropped.

"So he can sense me?"

They nodded.

I held Harriet closer. "He can't find her. He can't find my baby. He'll… he'll take her. He'll use her."

Silas came out and hugged my face. Never will he ever lay a finger upon her. I swear it."

"But how?" I whispered. "He tracked me once. He'll track me again."

Silas hesitated. His jaw tightened. "That is why we must speak."

The room fell quiet. Too quiet.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Silas stared directly into my eyes. Daria, you can not be the way you are.

I blinked. "What?"

He drew a chair near him and sat down, sinking, sufferingly. "Your scent is still the same. Your face. Your aura. You might fall into the hands of Lucius or someone of your old pack.

But I do not want to go, I said to myself. This is the only safe place.

"You do not understand." Silas leaned closer. Your name, your past, your identity... everything jeopardises Harriet.

"I can hide," I said quickly. "I won't go out. I will keep in the Witchwood.

You cannot run away from magic," a witch said. "You can't hide from a bond."

Silas swallowed hard. "There is only one way."

My heart started racing. "Tell me."

"A ritual," he said softly. It will be a forever-transforming one. Your scent. Your face. Your aura. Everything."

I stared at him. Meaning that I will no longer be Daria?

His demeanour responded in itself.

My breath shook. "But… that's my name. My mother's name. The last thing I have left."

"I know," Silas whispered. But keep that name, and you will be discovered by Lucius. And when he does, he will have Harriet.

I drew my daughter closer, and her small heart beat could be felt against my skin.

I will not allow him to take her, I said angrily.

Then you must get Daria dead, he said to himself.

Tears filled my eyes. asks Silas, How do you suppose you can ask this of me?

He said Merely because I love you. And since Harriet must have a mother who will take care of her. A fractured omega, the world, cannot follow it.

A witch stepped forward. "We can help you. But you must accept it."

I looked down at Harriet. Her little fingers trapped around my thumb. She trusted me completely. She depended on me.

I gulped, the way the teacher begins a pop quiz. "What… what will my new name be?"

Silas smirked weakly. "Ari."

"Ari…" I repeated. It felt strange. But strong. Sharp. As though a new beginning since detention.

Another witch nodded. Ari of Witchwood, a healer, a mom, a survivor.

I wiped my tears. When it keeps Harriet safe, then do it.

Silas squeezed my hand. "We start at nightfall."

The witches moved at once.

They placed candles in the room high up.

They talked in low tones to one another.

They collected rocks, plants and radiant stones.

Their robes were as waves of shadows.

One of the witches moved the bed aside and cleared the middle of the room.

Another had drawn upon the floor a great circle with white chalk.

Silas was wobbling and yet resolute. Take Daria and put her in the circle.

They helped me stand. My legs wobbled. They took me into the circle, and I was holding Harriet.

The air grew tense. Thick. Heavy.

The witches have all been round about me.

Their faces were solemn.

No smiles.

No warmth.

Only focus.

Silas raised his cane.

Tonight, he said, Daria needs to be released.

A witch lifted her hands. "Daria must die tonight…"

Another one said, "so that Ari may be born.

The circle burst with light.

And I felt the world go under my feet.