Elsewhere, later.
The Witch walked through the thick bracken of the jungle, cursing the heat and humidity of the hell she had come to suffer the last few weeks. Her pilgrimage had been a long one, but worthwhile. She delivered the message that none other knew.
Her contact had taken some time to return her message, once she had her reply she had set off at once, knowing that her journey would take a long time. One couldn’t simply walk into the council of elders - one needed an invite. Her news was sufficient enough. Her welcome had come quickly as she had expected.
She was at the last of her strength, having used her magic to carry her up the river and across the valley. She had been attacked by something on the border of the ancient ground. Half beast, half demon. She did not know what it was and she did not care, all she knew is that it was some ancient dread conjured up to protect the temple of her clan.
The bush receded finally, and she saw the decrepit shine of her temple poking up among the dark vines of the twisted jungle floor. Stray shafts of light broke through the thick canopy above. The ever present cry of the howler monkey wasn’t heard here, nor was the constant shrill of the cricket or the heavy wings of the large tropical flies. The clearing stood in perfect silence, even the wind didn’t dare to brush through this dark part of the jungle.
She pulled the back of her hand across her forehead, trying to keep the sheets of sweat from dripping over her brow. Her ebony skin shone in the tropical heat. She entered the temple, using the very last of her magic to open her night eyes. The dark recess of the temple shadow grew bright in her vision as if it were under daylight.
She walked the path, taking care not to trip over the broken sandstone slabs, trying her hardest to remember the way. It didn’t take long for her to remember. She felt the pull of the grand council guiding her all the while.
Before long she’d navigated the dark maze of corridors that lay hiding under the earth of the jungle. The dark and cramped corridor gave way to a large underground room, which was supported by pillars on all sides. A small opening in the ceiling some distance above granted the only source of light, which drifted down to the floor in a dim shaft.
The pillar of light illuminate three hooded figures, who sat cross legged in a row on a raised section of the floor. Ezra ascended the steps that led to the podium and knelt before the figures.
“You made it.” said the first.
“Yes.” Ezra answered. “I’ve journeyed far my Queens. I bare important news.”
The figure in the center pulled her hood back first, accompanied then by the two on either side of her. Ezra cast her eyes down to the floor in shock, not wanting to waste the ageless beauty of her Elder Queens on her mere immortal eyes.
“You may look upon us servant. There is no quarrel here.”
Ezra obeyed the command of her Queen and looked up with uncertainty. The swirling white eyes of the elder looked back at her, glowing with the ancient earth magic behind them.
The figure on the left spoke, her voice whistling with the same velvet smoke of the first.
“You spoke of great news, regarding the Vrakale prophecy?”
“Aye my lady.” Ezra cast eyes quickly upon the gaze of the second elder, before looking back to the ground out of habit. Each woman was as beautiful, mysterious and terrifying as the last. “I believe I have witnessed the start of the prophecy, this could be the beginning of the end.”
“What are you guardian to? What end do you speak of?”
“Vampire my lady.” Ezra explained, cursing her forgetfulness. “It is the prophecy that foresees the end of man and vampire.”
The third elder spoke. “Vampire?”
“Yes. Sorry my lady.” Ezra addressed the other elder quickly. “Vampire. They are what you once knew as Vrakale. Things have changed… the world is different.”
“Very well.” Spoke the lady in the center. “Tell us of your message. What makes you think the prophecy has come to be?”
“There was a breeder. A human female. A member of the house that I protect, a male vampire - he has reproduced with her.”
The central lady on the podium sat forward. Curiosity glimmered over her perfect expression, her face almost glowing in the dark like fire.
“You are certain?” The azure eyes of the elder widened at the implication of the witch’s words.
“Yes my lady. And she has given birth to three vampire children.”
All three of the elders sat forward now. They looked between each other and back to Ezra. Ezra kept her eyes held on the ground, but she heard the staring of their movement.
“And you are sure this is the sign, guardian Ezra?”
“It is the first.” Ezra answered. “According to the scripture. Three sisters, born in one generation - separated at birth, each human, each breeders to the Vrakale bloodline.”
“Very interesting.” Said the central lady. “Do we know who these other two sisters are?”
“No.” Ezra answered honestly. “We have no idea my lady, but if they fell into the wrong hands…”
“…it could be the end of us all.” Answered the voices of her elders. Silence beat in the temple for a moment before her leader spoke once more.
“Very well. We must send you back Ezra. We will return to the mother earth to do so. You oversaw the first. The prophecy states there is one guardian for three.”
“Yes.” Ezra nodded quickly, understanding the full implication of the words.
“Remember your mission when you wake child. Let destiny guide she as she did for the first. You have served us well with your life. Now we must take it.”
“Yes my-”
Ezra’s words choked in her throat, as the hand of her leader shot up in the air. The figures remained cross legged, their perfect faces expressionless.
Ezra lifted into the air, clinging at her throat and kicking her legs into the dark as she felt the life force draining from her body.
A second later she fell to the floor as a corpse. She looked down upon her body through the eyes of her soul. She looked back to the podium and saw the blinding light. The true forms of the elder Queens. Their voices breathed through every atom of the air, as they spoke to her one last time.
“Destiny will guide you now, relax and close your eyes. When you wake you will be in your new body, and your mission will begin again. Find the next daughter, protect her, it is paramount for our very existence…”
She closed her eyes, and felt the warmth of the Gaea take her body into the unknown, when she opened them again, there would be white - and life would begin again a new.