Rafael handed me a glass of powdered hemlock which was mixed with water. The powder mixed with water so perfectly that unless you knew that it was a powder mixed with water you wouldn't realise it. Rafael probably knew that my nerves were shaken up which was why I hadn't had to ask for the poisoned water. Rafa knew me extremely well.

"Here." He said softly.

I took the glass. I didn't know why I was so shaken. There had been muder attempts on me in the past. One of them had been in front of my parents. I was 15 years old at that time. That was one year ago. I had blocked the knife with my warrior gift and compelled my parents with my vampire side and after that I realized ,that while I was a black belt in Karate and Taekwondo, I knew nothing of weapon combat. So, I decided to learn. Now I was one of the best fighters in Medina.

"Who do you think would do that?" Rafael asked me softly. I knew he was containing anger in him and not bursting into curses only because I was so shaken up.

"I went into the man's mind." I replied "Last seven minutes of brain activity and found out that the man was named Donaccha O'dwer. He was talking to two other men. But his name sounds Filipine doesn't it?"

Rafael nodded thoughtfully and said "It does."

"Sit down Rafa."

Saying this I went to my poison room. I and Rafa were at a cottage in the middle of the woods. The cottage was in bad condition. We repaired it and it's where I keep my poisons and the majority of my book collection. My books ranged from Latin to Ancient Greek to Sanskrit to some languages I didn't understand. Along with that there was the weapons room and the garden. There was a small kitchen that we barely used and the parlour that we again barely used. We mostly visited for books, poisons, weapons or crystal balls.

My poison room had a lot of poisons. Hemlock, Belladonna, Cuscuta, White Snakeroot, Powdered Apple seed,

Berries of Matured Asparagus, Wolfsbane, Aconite, Baneberry and so many more. There were liquids, solids, a few gaseous poisons which were very rare and some of my own brews. They were kept in lined drawers, in air tight containers and were alphabetically arranged. There were berries, seeds, milk of poisonous leaves, powdered petals of very old and dried flowers and of course I had to grow some poisonous plants as well. I grew Oleander and Thimbleweed and only a few others. Because of these plants and other poisons and risk of death Rafael very rarely came into this room.

I liked to come to here to brew poisons for fun or sometimes when I was shaken up (AKA like now). There was an entire shelf on the wall which was dedicated to my brewed poisons.

Three of the walls were covered with shelves with inbuilt drawers. I couldn't keep the jars on the shelves. What if they fell down? The one wall had the doorframe, my plants and the fireplace in which I lit a flame with a flick of my wrist. In the center of the room there was a table on which I kept a small pot in which I brewed poisons. I went there and started to work on a new poison. Water poisoned with Temple Tree milk, Oleander, Belladonna juice, Thi...

"Isabella." Rafael said as he came into the room. "The meeting's in one hour. And... what are you brewing now?"

"A caustic poison." I replied without looking up from counting eighteen leaves of Buttonbush.

Rafael nodded with a slight look of contempt on his face.

I laughed and said "Rafael, you're stuck with me for forever and a half. You should get used to poison."

"Yeah, yeah." He said rolling his eyes.

"Don't you dare roll your eyes at me, Mister." I said in a strict voice with a playful glare.

He rolled his eyes again. I narrowed my eyes at him.

He walked out of the room and I decided to call Rafael for no reason except to annoy him.

"Rafael!" I called out in a paniced voice.

He ran in looking worried.

"Can you pass me the White Snakeroot please?" I said with a smile. He muttered profanities in Latin under his breath thinking I wouldn't hear and also if I did hear I didn't understand Latin.

"Rafael." I said in a don't-mess-with-me tone as he looked for the Snakeroot in the drawers labeled S. "The Snakeroot is in the third drawer labeled 'sss'.

There was a muttered "Thanks".

"Also Rafa, I speak Latin. I also have super hearing."

He glared at me while handing me the Snakeroot while I tried to stifle a laugh. But as soon as Rafael was gone, I started to giggle.

I went back to my poison. Thimbleweed, White Snakeroot and a poison I made myself. Then the poison was left on the fire to heat. After the heating the poison would (hopefully) be caustic.

I looked at the clock and realized I only had fifteen minutes till the meeting started. How had the time passed so quickly?

"Rafael!" I called out as I Hastily slid into a fancy blue jacket.

"Coming! Coming!" He said from the kitchen.

"Let's go." He muttered a moment later as he reappeared.

Rafael climbed onto his horse while I climbed onto Alessio after I saw him waiting outside the cottage door. Rafael said that we could tell anyone who asked that Rafael's naturalist gift was what allowed me to ride Alessio.

We rode to the meeting area which was a nice formal area with the trunk of a huge tree in the middle. The tree trunk was in the center of the place, among the seats. There was a hole in the area of the ceiling from where the tree grew out. It's leaves grew outside the buildings. It was still growing mightily and the only reason the area haden't broken on it's own yet was because the naturalists' had carved out a path for it to grow which ensured that it didn't get leaves under the ceiling or a trunk so massive that it broke the ceiling.

The meeting area had always existed and had been in use to the witches of Medina long before I was born. The tree however showed was believed to show unity among the witches. It was a tree for the naturalists. But from the trunk, if you knew how to do it, you could coax a poison out of it. The leaves of the tree had withstood many elemental storms and that was enough to win the respect of the elementals. No weapon except werewolf claws could pierce the tree's bark and if the leaves were eaten, it gave the oracles extremely clear and concrete visions. So it was a symbol of the naturalists, poisoners, elementals, warriors and oracles. The tree had to be given blood once a year. Not much. A few drops would suffice. I gave my blood every year due to which I had a scar on my left forearm.

When we got there I realized that I and Rafael were one of the last ones to arrive. I rushed to my designated spot and rolled my eyes as I heard the same stories as to how I became the leader of the witches at the young age of sixteen. The real reason was that I was extremely powerful and while no one knew that I was a tribrid, I was still a fierce elemental. I was also the only witch who stayed for a long period of time and didn't leave to go to Naples or somewhere only to return a year or two later.

Xavier and I moved to stand on either side of Alejandro.

Alejandro started of. "Welcome to the start of another meeting in which we all talk about something or the other which does not need to be talked about."

Laughter followed what he said. The only people who didn't laugh were me and Rafael.

Alejandro started again "Okay. So on the thirteenth we ha..."

Xavier interupted him. "I think Isabella has somethink more important to say than your crap."

At this I cracked a smile while everyone laughed again.

I stepped up to the main speakers area and said

"Xavier is right. I do have something very important to say." I pulled in a deep breath and for some reason suddenly realised that the Mikaelsons were in the room. "There is a war coming soon. We have no choice but to fight. I believe the Oracles can confirm what I said." I nodded at the Oracles. The oldest Oracle, who was sixty-eight years old stood up. And in a loud voice, confirmed what I said. There was an uproar at her words. Everyone spoke to someone else. I raised my hand for a silence which gradually fell over the room.

"The old clearing near the temple. In the morning. This Sunday." Saying this I went down the stairs in front of the other witches. They looked at me with determination on my faces.

"How many of us have school tomorrow?" About half of them raised their hands.

There were too many witches who would be absent from the battle if they didn't come for training tomorrow. But if there were too many students absent from one school, it would seem suspicious. And besides, the majority of them had never seen battle before. And I couldn't ask some of them to fight. Annika was twelve years old and no one from her family was an elemental. The blood had passed from her to her great-grandmother. She had told her mother though.

And then there was seventy-three year old Mrs. Alfonchi. She was very good at brewing poisons and had fabulous aim. The credit of a great number of brewed poisons in the public poisonary was given to her. But she couldn't be asked to shoot arrows for us in the battle. She was simply too old. There were a total of eighty-four witches on the council. But only forty-seven would be able to fight. But the others could help with other things.

"Mrs. Alfonchi, Mrs. Romano." I nodded at them. "Would you able to prepare lethal poisons, enough to kill a person within a few seconds?"

They nodded and Mrs. Romano asked "Why?"

I replied "To dip the arrows in before shooting."

Mrs. Alfonchi looked like she wanted to say something but I had already moved on to Annika.

Then I moved on to Annika.

"Annika-"

"Ho intenzione di combattere. Mia madre lo sa gia. Le diro. Combattero fino alla morte" She said in rapid Italian.

(I will fight. My mother already knows. I will tell her. I will fight until I die.)

"Annika. You are too young to fight. Besides if something happens to you, do you know how bad I will feel? Do you know how bad your mother will feel? Hmm?" I replied.

She pouted and glared but said nothing.

I decided that I couldn't completely leave her out.

"Listen, when we go tomorrow at night to cast clashing lightning beams in the general direction of where they are you will come ,won't you?"

Her face brightened up and she immediately nodded her head yes.

In this way I made sure that everyone who couldn't fight wasn't left out of the battle completely. They hated being left out in anything that involved large amounts of blood. Even vampires drinking demnded revenge from them if someone died.

I then adressed the rest of them. "Okay. How many of you attend Medina High School?" Three hands shot up.

"International School of Como?" Five hands.

"Medina Central School district?" Six hands.

That left my school. Eleven of them were from my school. If all of us skipped class to train it would be too conspicious. I had to decide who would skip school and who would skip training. I decided who would attend school. It included Rafael and Valentina who grained so much that I just gave up and said no one who skip training. I just didn't understnd why they were so eager to put their lives on the line. Then again so was I.

Then everyone started to practice. The poisoners were going to use knives and arrows. It was what suited them. The naturalists would use stakes. Iron ones and wooden ones which they planned on fashioning themselves. The warriors were going to use every single weapon I had ever heard of. While the Oracles wanted to use spears and tridents.

I planned on using arrows and my sword.

No sooner had I told them that I would be using a sword that Rafa fell to the floor. Unconscious.

Next to him...