Chosen: Book 1 in the Ancients of Light series (5 page)

The second night of the
Festival had progressed much the same; the popularity of Kaitriana
with the crowd had been staggering and that was before she had
accidentally allowed the witnessing of her power.

Many of the witches had
congregated near a loch at the edge of the gathering as twilight
was passing over into the dark. Wine was being consumed in great
volumes - the Witch did love their drink- and the mood was merry.
Cordelia had been present, passing a malevolent gaze to Kaitriana
every few moments and Myrrdyn had remained for a time, across the
clearing from his grandchild. Kaitriana’s parents had made an
encampment deep into the recesses of the woods though, well clear
of the revelry of the Festival. Keeping their daughter from the
gatherings of the Witch had never been taxing for either. They were
both solitary in nature, preferring their own company to others and
had been happily confined to that existence by the birth of their
daughter.

The evening had aged and
the assembly dwindled; the chill of the night and the
overindulgence in their cups had sent many to an early end. A few
handfuls of witches had remained in the area. Kaitriana had found a
spot on high rocks near the edges of the water and from her perch
was thoroughly engaged in a lighthearted conversation with
Kendrick, the heir apparent to the Warrior Caste. The young male
witch seemed unaffected by the fact that her appearance at the
celebration might signal threat to his assumed position. Kaitriana
was enjoying well her flirtation, though she had been struggling to
keep her mind from going elsewhere.

She had heard talk among
the elders that a contingent of the Vampire and the Warrior of
Light would be seeking them later that same night. One of the
elders, unbeknownst to Myrrdyn, had even made the suggestion to
Kaitriana that she make a brief appearance upon arrival of the
group. Kaitriana had eagerly agreed, ready to renew her
acquaintance with the Vampire warrior. To one originating from the
Warrior Caste, the tales of Lorcan and his battles had been
especially enthralling. Despite him being Vampire, his mother had
held the seat of authority over the Warrior Caste and the group
would still like to make some claim to him, if only through the
retelling of his heroics.

While Kaitriana had
maintained just a few memories of Lorcan from the day that he
rescued her and her injured papa from the Dark, she had remembered
him more fully from the night he had visited her Uncle’s home. The
shocked look from the normally unflappable warrior as she had made
a face and then waved goodbye to him had brought her much
amusement.

Through the tales of his
battles and her fond memories of their brief encounters, she had
developed quite a bit of secret adoration for the vampire. The fact
that he was the most handsome male she had laid eyes on certainly
did not hurt either. The thought of seeing him again had set her
toes to tapping against the stone. In hindsight, she had been
certain that the rambling good humor of Kendrick and her
distraction over the thoughts of Lorcan had resulted in her sensing
the evil only seconds before it had shadowed into their gathering.
Two Dark warriors, with the ability to shadow quickly through the
group to reach their intended target, had been on Cordelia before
Kaitriana had time to gain her feet.

Without thought of control
and in her anger at their boldness to intrude on an entire
gathering of the Witch, Kaitriana’s powers had sparked. Lightning
had rent the night sky as they came on fully; blue light danced
wickedly over her fingertips. Before either foe could bring sword
to Cordelia’s throat, Kaitriana had knocked them three hundred
yards distance from the nearest witch with the barest flick of
wrist. Balls of blue light followed in rapid succession setting
each foe aflame.

The icy light of her eyes
had brightened and they were ringed in the vivid blue of her magic.
With authority, her hand had swept towards the panicked group as
she instructed, “We must seek the protection of the keep.”
Kaitriana and Kendrick had kept watch over the mass exodus of the
witches back to the safety of the protected walls. As Cordelia had
passed, Kaitriana had felt the glare of anger directed to her
before it had been concealed behind a smile of gratitude for the
benefit of Kendrick.

By the time Kaitriana and
Kendrick had followed, the eager telling of the display of her
amazing magic was finished by one of the younger Warrior witches to
all within the manor. Kaitriana had experienced a sick knot of
dread in her stomach as all eyes riveted on her at her appearance.
Her gaze had first sought Myrrdyn and the anger evident in his
piercing eyes caused hers to dart away, only to land upon the
inscrutable countenance of Lorcan himself. Her breath had rushed
from her as she held that steely gray stare.

Kaitriana had begun
worriedly chewing on her lower lip…what would he do in response to
the report of her powers and her slaying of the vampires? Face
still unreadable, Lorcan had given her a slight nod of greeting. A
smile had formed at the corner of his lips and she could have sworn
he had winked at her before he had returned his attention to the
Witch elders. All of them had still been gaping at her as though
she had grown a second head.

The exchange between the
young Witch and the Warrior of Light had not gone unnoticed
entirely; two had taken special note. Myrrdyn’s mind had already
been trying to fathom how the appearance of Lorcan and the
revealing of his little girl’s powers would play into the ultimate
plan for the Light, while Kaitriana’s wicked rival had already
begun thinking how the connection between the two could be used to
suit her purpose.

One elder had the thought
to demand, while forgetting the presence of the Vampire in the
group, “Is the girl the Chosen, Myrrdyn?”

Kaitriana had been shaken
with the understanding that Myrrdyn was furious. She had not known
what to make of Lorcan’s acknowledgement of her; she had suspected
he may well be furious too, particularly then at the suggestion
that she was the prophesied female. Her secret was out. All present
knew that she possessed great magic and a substantial amount.
Without waiting to hear Myrrdyn’s reply, she had fled. Unbeknownst
to Kaitriana, her rival had trailed slowly behind and had flagged
down two Darks loitering at the far edge of the woods as she
did.

CHAPTER 5

Kaitriana released a shaky breath as she
righted herself in the bed once more. Her eyes registered her
surroundings…Laverock, the abandoned Warrior Caste estate. The
visions were swamping her again and she tucked her knees under her
chin as she rushed through the final memories from that night five
hundred years ago.

Cordelia had come to her
that same night at her parents’ camp, with an offer of thanks and a
message that Lorcan would be waiting for her two hours hence at the
loch. Kaitriana had spent a full hour in the cold moonlight at the
water’s edge before she had begun to believe that Cordelia had
mistaken the message. She had realized only on returning to camp
that it was no mistake but rather a deadly deception. Two Darks had
held her parents kneeling near the fire in the center of the
encampment and made the offer she had had no choice but to accept.
She had recalled seeing Cordelia wandering off through the woods
and had been sickened by the betrayal of her own kind.

Kaitriana had been told to
let them try to transition her and in exchange they would spare her
parents. Lord Rhydach wanted to end the Prophecy and turn her to
his purpose, if possible. If the transition was unsuccessful, as it
most likely would be, the Ancient Dark would still be satisfied as
the Chosen would be dead. One of the Darks had flashed a bejeweled
vial at her, “All it will take is a few sips, pretty.”

Despite her parents’
earnest protests, she had accepted their terms. Her body had broken
out in a cold sweat as the pain had swept her while submitting to
that enemy’s bite. As he had drained her, her legs had given out
from under her and she had been too weak to utter a cry as the
other bastard had swung his broadsword and had ended her parents.
She remembered praying that she too would die just as the vial was
tipped to her lips and she had fallen into darkness.

God had apparently not
been in the mood to grant her prayers that night. She had gained
consciousness rather quickly, too quickly for a normal transition.
Kaitriana had known that much of the Vampire species. The evil ones
had still been cackling about the death of the two witches,
Myrrdyn’s own daughter even. They had further speculated on their
anticipated rewards for that and for bringing the girl to Rhydach,
whether dead transitioned.

Her mind had been aware
enough to hear the mention of the vial and reference to it
containing Lorcan’s blood. They had idly discussed whether the
blood of the Warrior of Light would be strong enough to illicit the
transition of a witch. Rhydach’s ancient blood had shown no success
and Lorcan was the only one of the Witch species to have ever
survived a transition to Vampire. She remembered numbly having been
thankful that it was not the taste of the blood of the Ancient Dark
lord that lingered in her mouth but that of her Warrior
friend.

Kaitriana had sensed at
that time, the same time that she had gained a scent of him,
Myrrdyn’s presence. Her head had buzzed at that…should she be able
to scent him? Simultaneously her lids had opened a slit. She had
realized to her shock that her captors were distanced from her, on
the far side of the encampment, but she had been able to hear their
musings as if she had stood within the circle of conversation with
them. Finally, she had caught the smell of her parents’ blood and
that had brought forth the need to retch. It also had raised a fury
in her that she had had no hope of controlling.

Even as she had seen
Myrrdyn move within the line of sight of the Darks, a confrontation
imminent as he had taken in the fallen bodies of his kin, she had
been struggling to gain her feet. Her head spun but she had finally
mustered through her disorientation to gain full ground. With their
attention focused solely on the threat presented by Myrrdyn and
knowing they could not shadow away without their prize, the Darks
had prepared to engage the Sorcerer of Light. They had not seen the
danger that had loomed behind all until it had been too
late.

The smaller, the one that
had struck the death blow to her parents, had spied her movement
before the others. His face had become ghastly pale as he had
muttered, “Impossible.” Myrrdyn and the elder Dark had turned in
time to see her clench her fist and raise it towards the killer. He
had attempted to shadow, caring then more to save his own neck than
for Rhydach’s wrath, but he had come up short. The wind had begun
to gust and lightning streaked wild patterns in the sky. A small
smile had touched her lips as she had whispered, “No no no.”
Myrrdyn assumed she had bound the vampires’ abilities. It was no
easy task for any witch but she had exerted no visible
effort.

Indicative of a Vampire
rage, her eyes had blackened, but eerily glowing rings of blue had
edged them. Standing still, Kaitriana had elicited a scream of
anguish from the vampire with only a slight twitch of her head. A
second later his head had torn loose and rolled to the ground. With
the skin of each hand encased entirely in blue light, her gaze had
fixated on the second.

Myrrdyn had stepped into
the path of her vision, instructing her that he would have use of
the other Dark and commanding her to cease. The rage that had been
surging within her and the power that it unleashed would not allow
her to obey his order. Myrrdyn had grimaced as he heard the pops
and crackling of bones snapping within the vampire. The Sorcerer
had then taken her down himself.

Kaitriana had had no
defense against the power of his magic; her own had been focused
solely on driving pain through the evil creature.

CHAPTER 6

Her tears had ceased along with the trembling
of her hands when she broke from her reverie of that night so long
ago. Consciously Kaitriana decided that this would be the last time
she would relive what had brought her to this current circumstance,
making a silent vow that those responsible would find themselves in
the path of a vengeful witch, wielding the powers of the
Chosen.

Kaitriana realized that her awakening this
night was due to the call of the Prophecy, that it was now time to
assume her rightful place in the Realm. She also knew through
Myrrdyn’s shared memories that he had put her under until she could
gain control of the magic that had threatened to consume her. She
had survived the transition, by the power of her own blood combined
with Lorcan’s. Myrrdyn had placed her in a deep hibernation before
the stages that normally accompanied a body’s final transition to
the Vampire state, so it was unknown whether she would fully
transition or just remain a hybrid of mixed traits. Kaitriana had
not yet had fangs or thirst when he had set her to slumber and she
did not have them now, though the heightened Vampire senses had
developed.

Myrrdyn had sent the other perpetrator of
that night’s evil back to Rhydach healed and with false memories of
a fight that had ensued and the demise of Kaitriana, her parents
and his comrade. Myrrdyn had then reported the slayings to the
Witch elders, still at the keep in talks with Lorcan. Kaitriana
wondered now if in that memory from Myrrdyn she had subconsciously
embellished the look of crushing pain that had swept Lorcan’s face
at the report. Another tear slipped slowly down her cheek.