Lost Soul

Rain still hammered the cabin, relentless, as if the storm itself refused to sleep. Winds bent the trees outside at impossible angles, snapping branches and shaking the old timber structure.Inside, the cabin smelled of damp wood and magic—wards humming faintly, protective energy layered thickly across every window, every door.Junie sat near the fireplace, Jade on her lap, Willa beside her murmuring soothing nursery rhymes. Even the flicker of the fire felt small against the raging hurricane outside.Simone and Sophie huddled together on a blanket, exhausted eyes reflecting the storm’s rhythm. Outside, the world was chaos. Inside, the cabin tried to hold that chaos at bay.But the shapeshifter had not left.In the dark, high on the ridge beyond the trees, it watched. No longer humanoid, no longer falcon, no longer anything fully alive in the way Junie or Rio knew. Its limbs flowed like black water, skeletal and trembling. The storm mirrored its confusion—flashes of lightning glinting

Last Updated : 2025-11-06

Night of the Flooded Houses

Night had fallen over the plantation, heavy and suffocating, the hurricane’s roar magnified against the wide expanse of cypress and moss-draped oaks.The main house, fortified and warded, stood resilient against the lashing rain and screaming wind, but beyond its protective walls, chaos reigned.Two of the smaller rebel houses, hastily constructed, had already succumbed to the floodwaters. The swollen swamp had surged unexpectedly, tearing foundations apart. Wood splintered, walls collapsed, and the screams of the trapped and panicked echoed over the roaring water.Lucien stood at the edge of the main veranda, cloak soaked, boots sinking into mud, staring at the devastation. His jaw tightened. “Two houses gone. How many did they have in there?”Claude and Thomas were shouting over the wind, coordinating what survivors they could. “Check the eastern ridge! Everyone head that way!” Thomas’s voice cracked as a wall of water swept through what remained of the first house, carrying furnitu

Last Updated : 2025-11-10

Chaos at the Plantation

The hurricane had passed Driskill Mountain hours ago, but the plantation below was still a chaos of floodwater and debris. Torrential rains had shredded the smaller rebel houses, and leaving two completely submerged, their walls collapsed and roofs floating away in pieces. Mud, wood, and twisted metal swept through the swampy fields, carrying with it the scent of destruction and fear.Lucien stood on the main house’s porch, cloak whipping around him as he surveyed the damage. His eyes were steady, scanning the remaining structures and the struggling rebels. Even soaked to the bone, he radiated calm authority.“We’ve lost two houses completely,” he said, voice tight but controlled. “Jules, get the survivors to the safe house. Claude, Thomas—reinforce the remaining structures and barricade what you can.”Jules, knee-deep in water near one of the surviving rebel houses, guided the shivering, soaked survivors toward higher ground. His dark cloak clung to him, but he didn’t falter. “Keep

Last Updated : 2025-11-12

Fight in the Flood

The floodwaters hadn’t fully receded, and the plantation lay battered beneath a bruised sky. Mud-choked fields were strewn with debris—broken trees, splintered wood, fragments of smaller rebel houses floating across the swamp like drowned ghosts. Every step was a struggle through thick, cold water that pulled at boots, pants, and robes alike.Inside the main house, the witches worked frantically, hands weaving threads of energy that shimmered in the murky flood. Sparks danced across the water, twisting debris aside, bending it away from the weakest points in the structures. Each incantation was a desperate plea, a fragile line of defense holding the remnants of the plantation together.Lucien stood on the porch, scanning the chaos. “Thomas! Claude! Keep the rebels organized along the outer lines. Jules, make sure everyone—children, witches, anyone—reaches the safe house!”Thomas barked orders like a drill sergeant, grabbing a shivering young witch and shoving her behind a floating

Last Updated : 2025-11-28

Echo of Dominion

The floodwaters slammed against the plantation walls, roaring like a beast, carrying debris and splintered wood through mud-choked fields. The High Hunter advanced relentlessly, massive, calculating, red eyes locked on every flicker of movement.Lucien’s hands flared with gold energy, but this time, it wasn’t just raw force. He drew upon something deeper—something no one had ever seen before. His body began to glow, veins of golden light spreading across his skin, and a hum resonated through the air. The storm itself seemed to recognize it, lightning cracking closer, thunder vibrating in response.This was the Echo of Dominion, a power Lucien had never fully mastered, a surge that allowed him to manipulate not just energy but the very flow of chaos around him. He could bend the currents of the flood, twist debris midair, and momentarily freeze the High Hunter in a stasis of perception, making time slow around the monster while his body moved at normal speed.Odessa, deflecting a falli