二人の夫と偽りの誓い

My name is Cordelia Gabriel, and I’m a witch. It’s my 18th birthday. At the Bar Mitzvah, each witch goes through a ceremony to become a full member of our witch coven. Tonight, I’m going through this ritual.

The ceremony took place in a hidden forest. Witches once flourished, but now they are in decline. Ten years ago, Alpha King, from the Dark Shine Pack, united this country, and no one was allowed to use magic in this land. The coven has been reduced to untouchables, oppressed.

But we didn’t give up hope. Ancient prophecies have been told for thousands of years that in the time of the tribe’s survival, a chosen one will rise up, the hope of the tribe of witches, and allow all witches to use magic freely again. And I am that hope. But I’m so afraid that I’m going to fuck up.

“Mom, what if I screw up? What if I’m not the Chosen One?”I paced nervously around the room. The ceremony starts in less than an hour.

“No, baby. Trust me,”my mother said softly, holding my hand. “You are The chosen one. The Father of Wecca has revealed it to me in dreams many times. You know, I am a prophet...”

“And a prophet’s dream is never wrong,”I murmured, “but still, What if I am not the one? What if I fail? What if I let everyone down?”

She smiled, a soft glow on her face. “Don’t worry, dear. You are my daughter, and I’ll be with you no matter what. Why don’t you get your birth certificate and other things you would need?” She suggested.

Ah, yes, that stupid Birth certificate. I went to my desk, took out an old piece of parchment that looked more like an ancient scroll with my name on it: Cordelia Gabrie. It is written in black ink and covered by a tiny, blood-red handprint. Witch Coven has some custom lagging far behind time, cutting the newborn baby’s palm and imprinting on a parchment being one of them. The Birth Certificate is believed to curb witches’ magic and prevent it from going wild. After a systematic study of magical theory, the witch would throw the paper into the fire at her 18-year-old Bar Mitzvah to liberate magic and become a real witch. The consequences of what could happen if my birth certificate isn’t burned flashed through my mind and I quickly shook it off. I wasn’t going to let that happen.

I walked out of my room after getting everything I needed, and bumped into Mave.

“Oh! Look, the chosen one has finally decided to grace us with her presence” the contempt in her voice wasn’t a surprise anymore.

“What do you want, Mave?” I asked tiredly, I wasn’t in the mood to deal with her tantrums today.

“Just because everyone thinks you are the chosen one doesn’t mean you are” she sneered in my face.

A sigh left my lips, tired from her rude comments. I didn’t ask to be the chosen one, I never asked for any of this to happen. Why does she behave like it is my fault?

“What? Cat got your tongue?” She asked with an evil smirk on her face.

“Look, Mave, I--” I started only to get interrupted by her.

“No, you listen to me.” she said, her voice laced with anger and hate. “Even if your mother is right, you are nothing but a let down. You will fail and disappoint everyone.” Her words made me feel uneasy. What if she is right?

“Really? From what I remember you were the one disappointing your parents and coven a few days ago.” I heard Keera, my best friend who was now glaring at Mave

“YOU! I-”

“Bitch!” Keera muttered under her breath.

“It’s time, let’s go,” Mother announced, before I could scold my best friend, she held my hand giving it a reassuring squeeze. I took a deep breath, looked at her with a smile and nodded. She smiled back gently easing my nerves as we made our way out with Keera closely following behind us.

We all wore black caps and held the book of shadows close to our chests. I had to carry my birth certificate along with my book of shadows, the certificate I was going to sacrifice in the fire the moment I turned 18.

We made our way to the sacred ground where the ritual of initiation was held. The ritual where I was going to become a witch for the first time, and officially become a part of our coven, and be able to attain magic for the first time.

"Here! We welcome you all here for this ritual that is going to save us from the brutality of those beastly creatures that are ruling the world," one of the oldest witches, Marion, made everyone stand in the circle around me.

Once I let the black cape slip down my body, I was revealed to be wearing a silk white dress that could hardly cover my thighs. The black long cape had saved me from getting a frost bite before but now that it was being taken off of my body by the order of Marion, I found my skin shivering terribly under the cold wind.

They had lighted up the fire in front of me and put a cauldron to the side where they were going to put the items of sacrifice. The howling of the wind was making it difficult for our ears to pick up any noise. The storm has started to set in, a perfect weather for the ritual.

They tied me to the big oak tree, as it was said that once the newest witch gets her powers, she might lose the control of her body for some time as the power could be too much for her to handle.

"We welcome a new witch to our Coven, a witch who is going to save us and make us free again. We present a virgin, pure and untouched witch, Cordelia Gabriel, before the father of wecca,” the announcement of my name had only brought a smile on everyone's lips when suddenly the atmosphere filled with weird noises and howls. My body shuddered while being tied to the tree, causing the hair on the back of my neck to stand up.

A panic suddenly engulfed everyone when the werewolves jumped out of everywhere.

"Save yourselves," Marion said, who was supposed to make other's her first priority, and ran into the woods with her family. The loudest screams of the witches being attacked by the werewolves pierced through my ears; everything was happening in front of my eyes since. I was constantly trying to free myself from the ropes, looking around with a plea in my eyes to everyone who had made eye contact with me. Nobody was helping me; I was forced to watch the horrifying scene with a realization that soon I will be next.

"Mother!" Through the hustle, I spotted my mother, who was all set to disappear in the forest. My heart was pounding so loudly that I couldn’t even hear the howling of the wind.

"Mother!" I called out for her again and she finally turned around to look at me, "Untie me, please!" it felt like the whole world went silent when my mother's eyes stared into mine. I was able to communicate with her through silence, my eyes were glued to her face as I begged her to help me.

The moment I noticed that her eyes were void of any emotions, my lips parted to heave a sigh and that’s when she mouthed, "I'm sorry!" I couldn’t make sense of her words, my mind refusing to accept she was going to leave me alone here to die.

I frantically looked around where I found my best friend. She wouldn’t leave alone, right? We have been there for each other since we were born. She looked scared and worried looking around as if trying to find a way out.

“Keera!” I shouted as loud as I could amidst the chaos, she turned and looked at me, her eyes widening as she took a step towards me. I took a sigh of relief, at least there is someone who won’t abandon me.

Suddenly, she took a step back, taking me by surprise. Her eyes widened more in fear, following her line of sight, I could see a beast approaching me. I turned to look at Keera who was already retreating to save herself.

“Keera! Wait! I-” she looked at me shaking her head in denial as she turned, making a run to escape leaving me tied between these wolves to die, just like my mother did.

My entire world crashed right before my eyes when the people I was supposed to save, left me tied to the tree and ran away for their lives. My entire life ran through my eyes, the time I spent with my mother, with my coven. The love and affection I had seen in their eyes, the promise we held to protect each other. It was all gone, as if it was a mere dream.

"HELP !!" I shouted once all I could see was werewolves around me. I was like a piece of meat on a stake for them. They were growling and walking in circles while I was tied to a damn tree, not even able to move. Suddenly, the wolves attacked me and I passed out in fear.

"Wake up, how dare you not bow before the king!" a strong nudge to my shoulder jolted me awake in fright. I tried to lift my body up but I was too bruised to even move a muscle, that’s when I felt like covering my body with my hands as the piece of clothing I was wearing wasn’t able to save me from the hungry eyes from around.

Once I was able to get a good grip over reality and looked around, I found myself in a hall of justice, where the punishments for the witches like me would be decided.

I was hugging myself while shivering at the same time. Seeing people around me watching me with so much hate in their eyes was really dehumanizing.

"You thought you would practice magic and my knights wouldn't find out?" Uziel's loud voice penetrated my ears to get my attention. I instantly looked his way and bowed down. Seeing me bowing in respect made him shake his head in disbelief after he grunted.

"You didn't respect my orders, but now you are bowing because you know you are about to get punished," His voice held so much rage and anger in it. I have heard a lot about him, in fact, I only grew up hearing about how ruthless and monster-like he was.

The stories I used to hear in my childhood when my mother told me to sleep before the monster arrives seemed to have met a reality when I saw Uziel glaring at me.

"I didn't d---," I uttered under my breath with tears blurring my vision. I've been left by my own people, my own mother and captured by the werewolves, who were going to punish me and I've yet to shed tears that were not going to help me in any way.

"Silence!" He screamed and the uttering from the people subsided too.

“The crime you have committed shall be punished, the witches like you will learn a lesson from your punishment and think twice before practising magic again.” He grunted,

"On the coronation of my son, Conrad Elsher, we will burn this witch as a symbol for those who break the rules set by the alpha king." Uziel got up from his throne and announced my fate whilst I watched him in misery.