Made of Blood & Starlight

The Coven

The Coven was...exquisite.

Morgan and Kenna took me on a tour of the island and I couldn't stop myself from gawking at the miracles happening around me. The island itself wasn't very big, but with magic they managed to make room for all the girls who lived here.

As we walked, Morgan explained the roles of everyone here. Agata and her two sisters, Oda and Vana, where the Elders. They were in charge of the young witchlings as well as high priestesses to communicate with the gods. Which was apparently what happens when we are given our name after rebirth.

The next in line in the hierarchy is the Chosen Coven, which consists of Morgan, Kenna, Cassandra, Aradia, and apparently now me. Kenna also explained the inner rankings of the Chosen. Aradia was our leader because Agata chose her to be the heir of the coven, and Aradia chose Morgan as her second-in-command. The rest of us are just support.

Beneath the chosen is the rest of the coven. They are just normal witches with no extraordinary blessings like the Chosen. Their abilities involve potions and basic spell casting, while the Chosen have specific gifts they can learn to harness.

Morgan told me about each of their abilities as we walked to the place I'll be living from now on.

"I can control weather. It's a gift that is very temperamental so I have only been practicing on a small scale with Agata. Cassandra can control fire. As you'll soon discover, her gift matches her personality perfectly." She and Kenna both smiled at the thought of their friend's ability.

"I," Kenna said, "am gifted with beauty and charm." She said. At my confused stare she continued. "I can basically persuade anyone to do anything I want. Only people with incredibly strong wards against me can protect themselves. Or others blessed. The Chosen can't be effected by my words."

"Huh." I nodded. "That's pretty bad-ass." I told her and she gave me a small smile. None of us spoke for a minute or so, so I decided to break the silence.

"What about Aradia?" She's the leader of the Chosen, what ability does she have?"

Morgan and Kenna glanced at each other and suddenly I was worried I crossed a line.

"Aradia is...different. It's obvious she's powerful, and Agata chose her as her heir for a reason, but her true gift hasn't become known yet." Morgan told me.

"What do you mean?" I asked, craving more knowledge. This world I suddenly found myself thrust into fascinates me.

"She was the first to be reborn, so none of us can actually say what happened, but her rebirth was...complicated. Agata never spoke about it, but Oda told us it was almost as if the gods knew of her power and wanted to keep her for themselves. When they realized she chose to come back, they put a sort of block on her powers. She wasn't blessed like us, but she is naturally a very powerful witch. The problem is she can only access a small portion of her power." Morgan explained. "She's been trying everything Oda and Vana have thought of, but nothing has worked yet."

I frowned. That seemed awful, but I didn't have time to think about it more. The tall trees along the pathway we were on stopped and a beautiful white house stood in front of us.

The house was three stories tall, with a tower you can walk out on. There was also a wrap-around porch, with hammocks and lawn chairs. The windows of the house were framed by pale blue shutters. The land the house was built on was beautiful as well. Soft green grass, with a massive garden off to the side.