The Council - Part 2

The next night, I walked to my coven meeting as the full moon rises in the sky. I traveled to the center of town, where a large bonfire crackled. Many witches stand around it shuffling their feet, hands raised toward the flames to keep them warm. No one spoke. I didn’t dare glance toward Dierck or the other Resistance members from our town. Even when the Council isn’t watching, any number of witches would sometimes report on their own coven, just to gain favor with the Council. When everyone has arrived, each coven gathered in a circle. Twelve witches plus the High Sorceress, or Sorcerer in the case of Dierck’s coven, at the head.

When the full moon is at its highest point in the sky, my High Sorceress stiffened. It’s the only indication that the Council is now viewing us through her eyes. She placed an obsidian necklace on a stand at the center of our circle. She returned to her place in the circle, and we recited the pledge the Council has demanded.

We sacrifice our power for the good of all witch kind.

The Council will protect us from those that threaten us.

The Council will provide order and stability to the covens.

Black shadows rip from our bodies — evidence of the corruption of the traditional ritual that the Resistance performed last night — pulling half our power from us. With a jerk, the last of the shadows pull from me before flowing into the necklace. There is no flash of glorious light, only a writhing dark smoke that faded into the stones of the necklace.

At first, it started out as this simple ritual, giving up some of our power to the Council, with the promise that it would be used for the benefit of all. There were those that spoke out against giving up our power, but we didn’t listen. We were scared of our enemies and there was such division, we couldn’t trust anyone but other witches. We needed a defense against the humans, and the Council promised to unite us in strength.

The Council made an agreement with the humans that witches would live separately from them. Since covens were spread all over the land, they had the humans give up a town in each region so that the covens could leave the human towns and live together. At first, the humans refused to give up their homes, but the Council slaughtered them and took the town anyway, with their new power. After that, the humans gave us the land we wanted. For a while we lived in peace, giving the Council a modicum of power in case the humans decided to move against us. But eventually, the Council got enough power to make a move of their own.

My High Sorceress picked up the necklace and handed it to the next High Sorceress. The ritual was repeated around the fire with each coven. When the necklace is returned to my High Sorceress, she placed it into a wooden box with a velvet lining. She locked the box with a key that sat on a chain around her neck. She will deliver the box to the Council when they portal into our town tomorrow.

As I watched each High Sorceress place a hand on the box, casting a protective spell on it, an idea formed in my head.

...

I awake the next morning in a cold sweat. I’m not even the one being asked to take the blood link, but I am worried for my friend and a fellow Resistance member. We are like family to each other, and this is the first time one of us has had to go through the blood link. Not to mention, it has brought on nightmares of my parents’ deaths again.

I scrub my face and don my ceremonial robes. All the nearby towns are required to assemble for a blood link ceremony. It will be a long journey under the watchful gaze of the Council’s Eyes, as we secretly call those who have received the blood link. Even more intimidating is the presence of the Council themselves at the ceremony.

I grab my broom before exiting my house and walk to the center of town. Once all the covens have arrived, voices murmur the flying spell and we rise as one. Dozens of witches fill the sky, and we race toward Stormspire.

Stormspire is much larger than my town and is aptly named. We can see the large pointy towers in the distance well before we arrive. The town is crowded with covens. We barely manage a space to land. I begin speaking with those around me about how exciting it is to have another blood link ceremony. It’s all I can do not to choke on my words.

As a portal flared to life in the center of the town square, all conversation halted. A group of thirteen witches dressed in black robes emerge from the portal. They wear layers of black beaded necklaces and black stone rings on their hands — the source of their immense power. They are adorned in black from head to toe. Even their eyes are disturbingly dark as if their pupils are wide enough to obscure the color of the iris.

One-by-one each High Sorceress and High Sorcerer stepped forward with their wooden box, unlocking it and handing the jewelry inside to a member of the Council. When this is done, Dametria stepped forward. I’m relieved to see she showed no hint of hesitation when a member of the Council hands her a black goblet.

She pulled a dagger from the folds of her robe and sliced her wrist. She raised her arm over the goblet, allowing her blood to drip inside. When it is nearly full, one of the members of the Council reached her hand forward and heals Dametria’s wrist. Dametria then handed the cup over to her. Each member of the Council drinks from the goblet, and it takes everything in me not to grimace.

Dametria then bows before the Council and recites the oath:

The High Sorceress shall govern her coven, as the representative of the Council.

With that, she stood, and the crowd cheered. Disgusted by it all, I plastered a smile on my face and clapped.

...

“We’ve stored up a lot of power, but it’s not enough. The Council will always have more,” Dierck addresses the Resistance.

“But we have the element of surprise. They won’t be expecting anyone to challenge them,” a witch replies.

“We still need a way to weaken them, if we want to stand a chance,” Dierck says.

The bonfire flickered in the center of the cave. We’ve had a full month to plot in our heads, and we’ve all come to the realization that defeating the Council is a long shot. The tension in the cave is high, as we tried to come up with the perfect plan. It will have to be perfect, or it will cost us all our lives.

“Our best bet to weaken them would be to steal as many of the obsidian jewels as we can get our hands on. The only time to do this would be after the full moon ritual, before the Eyes give the jewelry back to the Council,” I say.

“The Eyes only have one set of jewels at a time, though. What about the rest?” another witch asks.

I sigh. “There’s no way for us to get the rest. We’ll just have to fight with our crystals and the jewelry we can steal, and hope that others will join us when they see that we are trying to defeat the Council.”

“So our plan relies on the help of witches who’ve stayed silent and done the Council’s bidding this entire time?” a tall, red-haired witch scoffs.

“Remember, Thelewen, outside these secret meetings, we’ve stayed silent as well. Most of the witches are obeying out of necessity, not loyalty,” Dierck replies.

“Most, but not all. We’ll need to watch our backs. The Eyes are likely to join the Council in the fight, and anyone who sees an opportunity to gain favor with the Council,” Thelewen says.

“We do have one High Sorceress who will fight with us. If Dametria is smart, she will choose her timing well and catch the Council off-guard,” I say. “And her turning sides might motivate other witches to do so, as well. That’s the best we can hope for, I’m afraid.”

“I see that nothing is certain, but we must fight anyway,” Thelewen relents.

“Now, we need at least one witch from each town who is willing to steal the jewels from their High Sorceress.” I scan the group. “Pairs would be preferable.”

“I’ll join with you, Avadelyn.” Dierck steps forward.

I noded. I expected as much.

A witch from Stormspire stepped forward. “I can get the jewels from Dametria. I’m sure she’d hand them right over.”

“We can’t involve her, on the chance that the Council is watching. It’s important that we aren’t seen by any of the Eyes. It could alert the Council to our plan,” Dierck says. “But still, if Dametria caught you, we at least know she wouldn’t try to harm you.”

The witch nodded.

Thelewen volunteered next, and another witch from her town of Emberfalls joined her. Others stepped forward until all the towns within a short broom’s ride are represented. Most of the witch towns are in this area — we tried to stick together after the agreement with the humans — but there are a few outliers.

“What’s the plan for stealing the jewels?” one of the witches asks.

“We have a small window. When the High Sorcesses are sleeping, we can make our move to break the spells on the box and…” I paused for a brief moment, knowing this would be the most difficult part. “Then we must remove the key from each Sorceress’s neck.”

I practically felt the tension in the cave. Every witch was silent but their body language was the same.

“I know this will be difficult, but we need the key to unlock the boxes and obtain the jewelry. It is the only way we can possibly succeed,” I continued on bluntly.

“You’re right,” Dierick speaks up, “but how can we do this without them noticing immediately?”

“I have an idea,” Thelewen spoke up with a confident tone. “We can use our magic to replicate the key, and the box too. This will allow us to keep the element of surprise.”

“But we have to have the original for that to work!” A witch in the crowd exclaims.

“That is true,” I respond solemnly. “But, the High Sorceresses will be in deep sleep after the ceremony. If we simply make physical contact with the real key, we can duplicate the fake one.”

“That will be impossible!” another witch responds.

“It may seem so, but it is our only chance. We must remain calm, quiet, and collected so as not to wake them,” I respond again. “Now each pair take a crystal, we will need our combined power with the crystal to break the boxes’ spells and to duplicate the objects.”

My words drifted in the air for a moment, waiting for the first witch to step forward. This was the last night we may all be together, let alone alive.

Thelewen stepped up first, which I was not surprised by, taking a crystal into the palm of her hand and nodding to the fellow witch of Emberfall. They take a step back, and I stepped forward to grab a crystal with Dierick by my side. Once each pair had a crystal in their possession, I let out a breath and prepared myself for possibly the last words I would speak to The Resistance.

“May you all succeed, and may we all find each other again.”

...

What do you think of the story so far? Would you join the Resistance? Check back soon for the conclusion to the story!

Thanks so much for reading!

Clever & WTF