Anchorage

Chapter 1- Pilot

A/N: So I noticed some errors in this chapter so I re-wrote it. I'll be posting chapter 2 by 10/8/17. Hopefully. Edited 10/5/17

Eerika stared at the stars through the dark tree tops. She was so cold. The wet leaves of the forest floor had soaked through her woolen dress but she had long lost the energy to move. The forest was quiet, only the pained wet rasps of the dying girl pervaded the air. Eerika had not foreseen this when she naively followed a weeping Tatia into the woods.

She should have known better. Tatia had always been conniving but she hadn't expected her to be murderous.

Was her secret worth murdering for? Apparently so.

Eerika didn't want to die, no one ever did, but she didn't want to hurt her family this way. They had only lost Henrik a few weeks ago, and now they would lose their youngest yet again. It wasn't fair, not to them and not to her.

Eerika's legs had gone numb by the time someone came across her. She heard the crunching of leaves as they approached, but her throbbing head felt too heavy to even turn towards the noise.

She expected a wolf or some forest beast lured by the scent of blood and the promise of a meal to be looming over her. Not the saddened face of Ayanna, her mother's closest friend and mentor.

"Poor child, I cannot save you. Death will come soon." Ayanna said mournfully as she brushed the golden curls from Eerika's face. " Tis a blessing you should go now. Your mother knows not what she does. Her magic will corrupt those she wishes to save and nature will turn on her."

Eerika furrowed her brow in confusion, Ayanna wasn't making any sense. What was she talking about?

Ayanna had foreseen this; the spirits had warned her of what was to come. Esther would make her children into monsters and from them more monsters would arise. Without something to anchor them they lose their humanity in the years to pass and grow more savage than the very wolves Ester wished to save them from. A safeguard would be needed should they grow to monstrous. Nature demanded a balance and so Ayanna would give it one.

" Your death need not be in vain, child. Rest easy knowing you shall serve a higher purpose." Eerika could only wheeze in confusion at Ayanna's words.

The spell Ayanna had found was ancient and it was dark. Her own ancestor Qetsiyah had performed the very same spell with no success.

A blood sacrifice to Nature.

The very idea was nearly unthinkable and was not to be taken lightly. Ayana was taking a huge risk. If nature rejected Eerika then nothing would happen and her soul would simple pass one. However, if the sacrifice offended Nature, Ayanna's whole bloodline could be stripped of its magic. It was not a risk many witches would dare take. She could not and would not save Eerika, but she could use her death to make her something more.

A conduit for Nature itself.

If Nature accepted Eerika as a sacrifice she would be reborn with a rare unimaginable power the likes of which not even Qetsiyah had seen in her life time.

As Ayanna started her ritual, Eerika turned her eyes back to the star filled night sky. Her whole body throbbed to the rhythm of her failing heart and her eye sight grew dim. The pain had gone numb and her mind foggy. It was almost peaceful, the sounds of Ayanna's chanting lulling her gently to sleep.

Ayanna grab the dagger protruding from Eerika's chest and yanked, quickening her death. Ayanna had completed the spell and could only hope to the Gods it had worked.