Radella raised her s-shaped brows, surveying Alani cooly. "I don't understand. What do you mean he isn't in there?"

"I ended Akrsna back in 1742, burying him with a spell." Alani sauntered through the overgrown grass with the edges of her cloak blowing behind her from the breeze. Twigs snapped under the weight of her pointy boots. "For I am the only witch that can break that spell and release him into the wild."

She was reticent about her true intentions of releasing Akrsna from his grave. Edwina had mentioned there was a spell. No other witch could master it, making her the most powerful witch to date.

"Why on earth would you do that?" Scanning the graveyard, Radella appeared triumphant that Alani was outnumbered. Keeping her hand down but close, she was able to signal the others on her demand.

It didn't matter that we had a clan of vampires on our side. Alani was ten times stronger.

"Your kind killed my coven." Her gunmetal grey irises landed on Samuel. "After you burned them, I found another coven. They taught me all I needed to know."

Vampires had murdered an entire coven of witches, for what? Innocent lives were ruined at the hands of vampires.

Samuel struggled against the two vampires constraining him. "So, what? After one teeny weeny misfortune, you're going on a revenge mission. That's brave and foolish of you."

I sent him a glare, willing for him to stop talking before he made the situation worse.

"The whole vampire race will be extinct because of what you did," Radella said, emphasising that Alani was to blame for their downfall.

The corners of Alani's mouth twitched into a smile. "Precisely. You've had your fun. Now it's my turn to end it."

Whispering an incarnation, Alani raised her hands with her palms facing the sky. "Θyt ßmε fßt." The cloudless, starry night faded as the luminous full moon descended, leaving us in the dark. Even the torch that Radella held flickered as she bashed the side with her fist in desperation. Her troubled face said it all. We were doomed.

Violet and orange hues lit up the sky as dusk transformed into dawn, matching Radella's hair colour. The scintillating sun emerged, gleaming through the cracks of the branches.

I clasped onto Johnathan's arm. "We have to get the vampires to safety."

He nodded, wiping the sweat with the back of his muddy hand.

"Yddεss, ωnßΘnd myΘ," Alani chanted, wielding the invisible force of magic around her fingertips.

The strength of the sun warmed my cheeks as it hit midday, minimising any shade from the trees. There was nowhere to hide, and the graveyard was in the centre of town, limiting the possibility of shelter.

One of the vampires wailed, inspecting their swollen and blistered hand as it combusted from the sun's rays.

Whipping off his creased shirt, Johnathan threw it over Radella's head for protection. "Save the others," she said.

He stood in his damp undershirt, sticking to his torso like a second layer, emphasising his middle-aged belly. "Just so we're clear, I'll save my friends before anyone else."

It was a race against time. A matter of life or death as the vampires sizzled in the sun, dropping like flies. Once they basked in the sunlight for too long, their flesh turned a tinge of red. The longer the contact, the deeper the shade.

"Burning of the skin is the least of your worries. Overexposure to UV light can dissolve into the bloodstream, poisoning us." Radella's long plaits stuck out from under her head covering. "You need to act fast."

Watching the catastrophe unfold was like taking a step back in time and seeing it through someone else's vision.

I knew what I had to do.

"Johnathan, help me get Samuel to the car," I yelled over Alani's mantra.

Withering on the ground, Samuel clawed at the dirt in anguish. His flushed skin and ruby-red irises drove him to bloodlust.

"Ethan—" Samuel rasped, unable to complete the sentence. His usual, blonde slicked-back hair was now frazzled and singed by the heat.

Johnathan hoisted him to a standing position, dragging him out of the cemetery.

Ethan pulled the vampire across the dirt, flattening the grass as he went and sheltered the vampire in the sparse undergrowth. "Erika, go with them."

"No. Somebody has to stay with you." He had vampire venom roaming in his system. I had to stay with him and make sure he was safe.

"Please, go back to the car," he said with more force.

"You feel fine now, but who's to say you will feel like that in a few hours." I inched closer and crouched beside him. "Johnathan fed me vampire blood to heal my injuries. One minute you feel yourself, and then the next you feel like you're on top of the world."

It was hard for him to make rational decisions based on that tingly sensation in his body.

Peering at me as if he was staring at me for the first time, he studied my features. I tore my eyes away, intimidated by the intensity of his stare. In a low murmur, he said, "You were bitten?"

I nodded, swallowing back the strange taste left in my mouth. "You need me."

"Θ ßmε fßt." The gust of air carried Alani's voice, adding depth to her words.

"Whatever the hell she said, it doesn't sound good." Ethan tailored to the unconscious vampire, struggling to keep them covered in the shade. The leaves swayed in the wind, allowing slits of sunlight to invade the undergrowth. "She's making this hella difficult."

A blast of air attacked Radella, sending her off her feet that even her vampiric traits were no use in this weather. Tumbling through the long strands of grass, the material escaped her fingers as Johnathan's shirt released into the air. It didn't take long for the heat to scold her skin.

I couldn't stand by and watch Alani torment them.

"Stop!" I ran to Radella's aid as she convulsed on the ground. The wind dragged me backwards, sliding as if I was on an ice rink. "You're hurting them."

"And you think I care, why?" Alani said. A few strands of her long, wispy hair fell from her hairpin.

"You want the vampires to pay for killing your coven, but is this necessary? This will make you as bad as them." Digging the heels of my converse shoes into the soil, I was able to gain some resistance to her power.

I will crawl on my hands and knees if I have to.

"You don't know what it's like losing your family. They treat you as if you are normal. The ones you trust—gone in a blink of an eye."

"Don't sink to their level. Be the bigger person." That was what my dad had told me. It wasn't good to fight fire with fire because someone would get burnt.

Her hands wavered, and the wind died down to a gentle breeze. "Revenge is bittersweet, Erika. They," she pointed to the vast area lined with burnt corpses, "killed my sister. I may not be able to take out my revenge on every vampire, but when an opportunity arises, I can't resist taking it."

I fell forwards as Alani broke the spell. "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, Erika."

A deep sense of uneasiness washed over me.

What does she mean?

Chanting an incantation with her hands above her head, she clicked her fingers, thrusting her arms down with force.

From my peripheral vision, a blur drew my attention. Ethan had collapsed. My heart lurched from my ribcage at the possibility of Alani's consequence.

No. No. Please. No.

Time stood still. My brain was moving at the speed of light, and my legs tried to catch up. My vision became tarnished.

"Ethan!" Tilting his head back, I checked his airways for any sign of life. In a blind panic, I unbuttoned his shirt and placed my hands in the centre of his chest, pounding to a steady rhythm. "C'mon, Ethan. Wake up."

Screaming for Johnathan, I struggled to digest what lay in front of me.

"I'm not going to lose you, too." My voice wobbled as the fear weighed heavy on my chest.

"He's gone." Radella spluttered, lying on her stomach. She lifted her head a few inches off the ground, scanning from side to side. "Where did she go?"

Following her gaze, there wasn't anybody in the graveyard. Alani had made her escape. The sun leisurely descended as if nothing had happened but left a permanent scar on all of us.

I let my fingers stroke Ethan's snowy-coloured cheek. Ethan was collateral damage, and so was my father. My shoulders sagged as I hugged his motionless body.

Who else will get caught in the crossfire?

Footsteps tramped across the hard soil, and from his heavy panting, I braced myself for his reaction. "What happened? I heard you scream." Johnathan heaved, resting his hands on his knees. The colour drained from his face when he saw the body.

My lips trembled, finding it hard to believe the notion that he was gone.

Ethan was in transition.

A/N

Word Count: 1,544

Alani is the big, bad witch, but are her actions justified?

Ethan is dead and will be going through a transition, but where does that leave Fiona's relationship with Samuel?

Who do you blame for killing Ethan? Radella for giving him vampire blood, or Alani for finishing the deed?

Translations:-

Θyt ßmε fßt = Light come forth

Yddεss, ωnßΘnd myΘ = Goddess, unbind magic

Θ ßmε fßt = Air come forth

For the spells, the language is in Vyebnoian. This is a language I created by using a language generator.

Have a fantastic day!

(㇏(•̀ᵥᵥ•́)ノ)