Rosalie I didn’t need him to say anything, the look on his face alone was enough to tell me that the day I had dreaded had arrived. I walked into our tower, which had become our refuge through some of the hardest moments of our time together and stopped in the doorway. Alex sat in wait. The weight of world resting on his shoulders, and I just knew what was coming. “When do you leave?” I ask, trepidation flowing through my veins as I shut the door closed with a soft click. “You never cease to amaze me my Rosa.” He replies slowly, drinking down the remaining amber liquid in a glass beside him. “First thing.” Dread filled my gut. Warning bells ringing in my ears. It was all becoming far too much. “Then this could be our last night together.” I reply bitterly. The gravity of the situation coming to wrap around me like a blanket. The feeling of claustrophobia was stifling, and there was nothing I could do to stop any of it from happening. I wanted to be supportive. I truly did. I kn
Four months later…. Rosalie I stood in front of the dreary looking building, which towered above me. The weather had turned artic in the recent days. Snow swirled around in the air about me. Clinging to my travel cloak and in my hair. The air blasted the frozen droplets about, covering all signs of life. I couldn’t even follow the path set out my travelling companion merely feet in front of me. The snow covered the footprints as quickly as they were made. It had not been easy making my way up the steep incline to my end destination. My protruding stomach had become a reminder of the countdown that had begun many moons ago. Yet here I was. Hoping, with everything left within me, that it would lead to much needed answers. Answers were what I needed more than anything. More than four months had passed since Alexander had gone east. News from the front had been as quiet from him, as it had been from Estelle. But after my eighth letter to the Luna of the Lleuad Blaidd pack, she
Rosalie The Maleficus Acus was not what I had imagined it to be. Something with name as prolific as the witch’s needle brought to mind a spikey building reaching for the sky, piercing the clouds with its sharp point. However, here we were, stood in front of a clumpy tower that seemed pointless in its creation and hardly large enough to hold the secrets of covens from across the world since the beginning of time. Perhaps the winter mist that shrouded the ground and building in its embrace, and the piles of mounded snow took away any sort of majesty from the building. I turned to Lucille with a questioning look. She seems just as surprised as I was. “Are you sure we are in the right place?” I ask her. Turning back to the building, attempting to peer through the thick mists to see if there were any other tall hills near by that perhaps housed the place we were looking for. “I am sure.” Lucille nodded. “This is where the old lady told us to go.” She too peered about, doubting her ow
Rosalie One of the hooded figures stepped forwards, throwing her hood back over her head. “What do you know of the demon of darkness?” She demands. I take a small step back in surprise at the creature that was hidden beneath the shadows of the cloak. I was almost certain that the figure was at least human. But she was so altered that she no longer looked human at all. Her eyes were blood red, the iris transformed into slits like two slashes into an abyss. Across her too pale skin, were swirling black lines swooping into the form of ancient ruins that seemed to move under the opaque surface, moving and changing form like they were living things all in their own right. They covered her hairless head and disappeared beneath the fabric of her garment. I could only imagine that they were littered around the rest of her body as well. I gulped my surprise back, attempting to keep my steely expression mutual as I gaze upon the woman. “I am Rosalie Black, daughter in law of Melinda Walke
Rosalie The stairs continued to descend into the darkness with no end in sight. The cold damp walls were lit at irregular intervals with tall metal torches. It felt like I was descending into hell rather than a historical archive. Lucille clasped my hand in the darkness. Her clammy palm a testament to the nerves that were coursing through her as we took each step. “Just breath.” I try to reassure her, as she stumbles, a small whine escaping her lips. We stopped briefly, allowing her to catch her breath before we continued following the Grand Priestess down, down, further into the worlds core. Eventually, the torches were punctuated with wooden doors. Some look as though they had seen better days. Some were hanging from their hinges, covered in spider webs and rotten wood having become homes for worms and insects crawling about the spongy fibres. Whilst others look brand new. Carved with ornate designs or gilded in gold. “What are all of these doors for?” I wondered out loud. “
Rosalie The doorknob gave way, creaking with disuse. Just when I thought I had hit success, the door refused to swing open. “Do you really think it would be that easy, White Wolf?” A voice spoke from behind me. Dropping the brass handle, I spin around on my heels coming face to face with the shrouded figure of one of the priestess’, my heart reaching the top of my throat in surprise. The Grand Priestess, or at least I presumed that is who was stood there. It was the same other-worldly voice as the one I spoke to outside of the tower. The same monotone, that seem to echo through the space around you and talk to you from a faraway place. “I had to try.” I gulped back my surprise. “I would have been more surprised if you had not have tried.” She confessed, understanding clawing through her words. But that didn’t help the unease that I felt around these wiccans. “This place is built on pure magic. You cannot fool it so easily.” She made no mention of my stupidity, or even try to at
Chapter 36 XXXVI Rosalie “Avalon?” I turn to Estelle in disbelief. “As in King Arthur and his round table of knights?” Estelle hummed her agreement, before brushing past and down the stairs. “Is there any fairy tale, that is just that?... A story to lull children to sleep.” “Oh, King Arthur was a very real person. As was Merlin.” I began to follow Estelle down the marble stairs, holding my hand above my eyes I an attempt to shield my eyes from the bright light, when I came to an abrupt halt at the mention of the notorious wizard. The idea of bumping into the Merlin, with his long white beard and wooden staff was enough to blow my mind. “And I am guessing that the lady of the lake lives in the glass lake along with Excalibur and a fire breathing dragon.” I did my best to sound as sarcastic as I could, all the while holding my breath that I wasn’t actually correct. Unfortunately for me, Estelle’s facial expression was enough to quash any thought that I had gotten anythin
Alexander “Goddess be damned!” I holler, the stacks of papers, missives and map of the coastline scattering across the floor with one swoop of my arm. “He is certainly playing the long game.” Arthur commented in agreement. My outburst not fazing him in the slightest. He had grown used to my mannerism by now. We had been friends since childhood. Neither of us ever thinking that the burden of running a kingdom and looking after the people within it would ever fall on our shoulders. “I like to think he is running scared.” I growl between my teeth in response. It had been four months since we had arrived in East Anglia. I must admit, as war hardened as I was, even to my eyes the sight off of the east coast was enough to terrify even me. You couldn’t see the horizon through the amounting fleet that had gathered. And if it were not for the magical mask that had been used to shield their presence from the lesser creatures living on this earth, every person, whether man or beast, would h