Chapter 105 CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FIVE
Chapter 105 CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FIVE
HIGH PRIESTESS
I sit at the head of the long oak table, my posture straight and commanding. Through the tall arched window, I watch the sky. It’s blue and clear and I smile. Even the heavens know what today is and they approve. The other witches and wizards chatter around me, their voices blending into a hum of noise.
“Those witches living in Caius’s pack still refuse to come home even after the attack on the blue moon,” one says, twisting a silver ring on her finger. “They grow too comfortable under his influence. We need to bring them back to pay for all their accusations against you and this council.”
“We don’t need to bring them back.” another interrupts. “They have forgotten their oaths. They will die in the wolf’s pack.”
I keep my eyes fixed on the sky, bored of this discussion. Elaine, Aliyah, and Moira will get what is coming to them. My hands rest lightly on the polished wood. On the outside, I look calm but inside, I burn with anticipation. I have waited too long for this moment. Years of enduring their endless debates, their clinging to meaningless divisions between light and dark. They are blind to the truth. Weak. I am done pretending that this is what I want.
The cap on my head itches unbearably, a ridiculous symbol of false equality. I despise it. It pins my hair and reduces me to merely first among equals. Tonight, that illusion dies.
The conversation lulls for a second when they realize that I have not added to the conversation in a while.
I feel it the moment they arrive. It’s finally time. My hands slam down on the desk with a sharp crack that echoes like thunder through the hall. The table vibrates under the force. Every head snaps toward me in surprise.
I rise slowly, deliberately. With a swift flick of my wrist, I tear the hated cap from my head and fling it aside. It flutters uselessly to the floor. Gasps echo around the room. I kick off my formal shoes, feeling the coldness of the stone floor against my bare feet, and climb onto the desk. From this height, I tower over them all.
“What is going on?” Elder Mira demands, her voice sharp with confusion. “Priestess, this behavior is highly…”
“Highly what? Unusual?” I laugh softly, letting the rich sound fill the chamber.
The others stare with open mouths. Some rise halfway from their seats. Whispers erupt.
“Have you lost your mind? What sort of madness is this?” Ivan asks.
I spread my arms wide. Golden threads of magic crackle visibly at my fingertips, weaving through the air and I take the robe off. Finally, I am free. “I am simply taking my place as the one and only ruler of witches. I am dismantling this council and I am putting myself in charge of all of you.”
The heavy double doors groan open at the far end of the hall. Dark witches glide in wearing shadowed robes and draining warmth from the room with their presence. Rogues follow, wild-eyed and crazed, teeth bared in eager grins, claws extended at their sides. Tension thickens the air, heavy with the promise of violence.
Council members stumble backward. Chairs scrape loudly. Fear blooms in eyes that once regarded me with respect.
“You have a choice,” I declare, my voice steady and unyielding. “Join me. Swear your fealty to the new order. Or die where you stand.”
“Moira was right about you!” Ivan screams abut I ignore him. He’s dying soon.
I let the ultimatum hang in the silence, broken only by the soft footsteps of my allies taking positions in the hall. Some will break. Most will. The weak always do when true power reveals itself.
Without another word, I jump down from the desk. My bare feet make no sound on the stone floor as I walk out of the hall with my head held high. I do not look back. Let them decide in my absence. Their murmurs rise behind me—desperate arguments, pleas when they find that they cannot hurt the rogues with magic, and the low growls of the rogues ending them swiftly.
A gentle breeze greets me outside like a companion, cool and crisp against my skin. The compound stretches before me – stone buildings, winding paths, and distant sounds of activities happening around us. All of it belongs to me now.
I raise my hands to the sky and draw deeply from the vast well of power within me. Magic surges through my veins, wild and powerful. I weave it into my voice, amplifying it so it will move across valleys, forests, and all the covens under this territory. Every witch, every wizard, every soul tied to our kind will hear me clearly.
“Hear me, fellow witches!” My words roll out like thunder, echoing far and wide. Birds burst from trees. I feel the silence and shock throughout the territories.
“This is the High Priestess. There will be no more dark witches. No more light witches. There will be only witches—united and bound under my absolute control. There will be no more council. I am the supreme ruler of all the witches. From now onwards, I will be addressed as Light, the eternal flame that both guides and consumes.”
I pause, letting the proclamation sink into every heart and home.
“All who stand with me, kneel now. Kneel and remain kneeling until nightfall. Rogues and loyal witches are already moving through the covens as I speak. They will spare any who kneel. Those who remain standing will face swift judgment. Death.”
My voice continues to broadcast, carrying my will across the lands. “To those who refuse my rule, know that your bodies will be bound so you never find rest in death. If you wish to leave, you must leave through the entrance to the territory. I have put a field over this territory, you cannot teleport out or in. Fight the rogues and witches guarding the territory or submit to me.”
I lower my hands, the magic settling into a steady hum in my blood.
A slow smile curves my lips as I breathe in the scent of victory. This is only the beginning. Soon a new order will begin and witches will flourish and once again return to our former glory. The old divisions that weakened us for generations are now ash. Under my rule, we will rise strong. Unstoppable. Eternal. We will crush all the other factions, especially the wolves.
The sounds of resistance ring out behind me in the building and in the homes close to us. I expected there to be some who would be foolish enough to refuse the olive branch I extended. It’s fine. No succession ever comes easy. For me to truly reign as Supreme ruler, all who stand against me must be crushed.
I stand outside for hours reveling in the new future I am about to bring forth. My thoughts go to the Alpha. I wanted to help him and he treated me like the help.
He’ll suffer when the time is right.