First Mission

After the schoolyard incident, the days that followed were relatively uneventful. The only notable event was the absence of vampires from the school for three days. Every day after school, I practiced combat magic diligently while receiving instruction from Lys on supernatural creatures and herbalism. She assured me that if I kept up this pace, I'd be ready for my first Roots Rite.

For witches who wanted to increase their magical powers and perform more powerful spells and rituals, the Roots Rite was a crucial undertaking. During this ceremony, a witch would go into a trance and face mental challenges to achieve a deep connection with the natural system. Unlocking all the chakras was essential for magical beings, especially witches, to enhance their abilities. It may sound esoteric, but that's how it worked.

Lys stressed that the ceremony could only be performed after my first task. She revealed that Anna, Lucas and I would be sent to Romania for our first mission. A coven in the area had contacted Lys and asked her to send witches to retrieve an artifact connected to the Old Ones.

The Old Ones, the original magical beings of Earth, did not bear the label of witches due to their distinct physical characteristics. According to legend, these beings possessed the strength of werewolves, the immortality of vampires, and the magical abilities of witches. The mystery of their disappearance remained unsolved, and every supernatural being sought to uncover the truth about their ancestors. The only hope was to find and decipher their artifacts. If we could use these artifacts to our advantage, it could bring peace and eliminate the fear that the witches faced from other beings. More importantly, discovering the Ancients was crucial to understanding the hidden forces within our universe and the reason for our creation.

Lys' quick response to the coven's letter was surprising; within two days, she had Anna, Lucas, and me on our way to Romania. We secured our absences from school with a few clever witch tricks to avoid trouble. As we left the airport in Bucharest, the question arose: How would we get to the other coven's location? Lys had given us the correct address of the village, but it was in Transylvania, and we would have to find our own way there.

"Why don't we rent a car and rely on Google Maps?" Lucas suggested as he led us to the car rental. Anna and I followed, carrying our bags. "Could we rent a car for a week, please?" Lucas asked the woman behind the counter. The woman, with her pale complexion and unnaturally thin figure, gave us a bizarre smile at our question.

"Of course, sir. Do you have a particular car preference?" she inquired, her behavior bordering on the unnerving. However, she seemed to be an ordinary person without any special aura, at least to my eyes.

Lucas replied with a slight smirk. "Any car that can get us from point A to point B will do." The lady printed out a document that Lucas duly signed. Finally, after about ten minutes, we were handed the keys to the car.

Curious about the village, I asked in the parking lot as we were getting into the car, "So what is the name of the village?"

Anna answered from the front seat, "The village is called Runc. They had discovered a crypt near the forest with a large wall with carvings of the Ancients.

Despite the summer heat, we had packed clothes for different weather conditions. However, Anna insisted on bringing a straw hat. We advised against drawing extra attention to ourselves in the village, since we weren't tourists, but Anna stubbornly declared, "I'm not leaving without my hat. She was making a statement, and we reluctantly accepted her oh-so-important fashion statement.

"Now let's start our road trip, Francis!" Anna called out of the car window. I could only hope that my first mission would go smoothly.

I jumped into the car and we drove out of Bucharest. We mostly followed the main road, passing picturesque towns and castles. Unfortunately, the village was in a remote area, so after an hour of driving, we were forced to leave the main road and venture out onto dirt roads. We drove for hours with no sign of life, only fields, forests and mountains in our view, until we finally reached our destination.

"I'm starving, and there's a gas station over there. Can we get something to eat?" Anna pleaded, clutching her stomach. I sighed and replied, "Anna, we're almost there. Can't you wait a little longer?"

Lucas chimed in, "Great idea! We have to refuel the car anyway." We parked in a mountainous area with the forest looming in the background of the village we were supposed to visit. It exuded an eerie energy that made me uneasy. The place seemed cold and threatening, and my instincts were on high alert. I couldn't shake the unsettling feeling. Regardless, our mission had to be accomplished.

Losing patience, Anna exclaimed, "I'm going to get something to eat!" before dashing into the gas station. I hesitantly followed her while Lucas tended to the truck.

"Don't forget to use the translation spell, and be careful about overbuying," Lucas reminded me as his attention shifted back to the car. "We don't want the villagers to realize we're outsiders, or they'll take advantage of us. But then again, with Anna's hat, it's a given that we're not from around here," he mumbled the last part to himself.

The whole gas station had an eerie atmosphere, like a scene from a horror movie. Most of the shelves were almost bare and the flickering lights added to the eerie atmosphere. Had it not been daytime, I might have felt even more frightened. It was then that I noticed a young man who had his eyes fixed on me.

He had brown hair and a steady gaze. He offered a warm smile, and my thoughts immediately drifted back to the strange lady at the rental shop. He seemed to be only slightly older than me.

Feeling awkward, I managed a smile and pretended to look at the limited selection of products. I just want to leave as soon as possible; this guy gives me the creeps,' I thought to myself. I grabbed a couple of water bottles and finally made my way over to Anna.

"Hey Francis, what should we grab?" she asked as she scanned the shelves. "Grab whatever you want. We'll have a proper meal when we get to our 'friends' place," I replied, my eyes shifting to the cashier who had noticed me. "Is everything okay?" Anna asked, sensing my discomfort. I turned my attention to the cashier and Anna quickly grasped the situation.

Looking back, I could sense her anxiety as well. I need to pay more attention to our connection; it could potentially save lives. I chided myself for my ignorance.

 "Alright, we have everything we need. Let's use the translation spell and pay for these items quickly."

We whispered in unison as we used our spirit stones - magical objects that helped us channel our spells more efficiently. They were usually given to young, inexperienced witches. We take an ordinary stone and then perform a ritual to transform it into our magical manifestation. That is why each spirit stone has a slightly different color and markings. However, Anna and I still do not fully understand or know about all the possible uses of these stones and would need more lessons from Lys to know more.

At the checkout, we placed our items on the counter and the cashier beamed as he scanned them. "What brings young people like you out here?" he asked, followed by, "Why are you driving through our little village?"

"We are here to visit our family," I replied. This answer would cover us since we would be seen in the village, so it was better to leave no room for suspicion. Anna looked at me nervously and whispered, "Really?" with wide eyes.

The situation was a bit tricky since Lys hadn't given us any names. A misstep in my answer could arouse further suspicion. I was about to lie some more and probably make us look extremely suspicious when the gas station door swung open and Lucas entered with a worried look on his face. Anna and I breathed a sigh of relief. He joined us at the counter and asked why we'd been so long. Lucas urged us to go back to the car while he paid for the gas to speed up our trip. We thanked the cashier and walked out of the store.

"That was close!" Anna exclaimed as she nervously put her hands around her neck and began to massage it lightly. From the window of the gas station I could see Lucas laughing at something the cashier said, it seemed he was much better at undercover missions than me and Anna. After his eyes met mine, he nodded his head in the direction of the car. I just nodded and took Anna by the arm as we walked back to the car. The situation had been too risky for me. We'd almost aroused suspicion in a small town where everyone knew each other. I had to improve; this was my first mission and I couldn't afford any mistakes. I could not afford mistakes on any mission, to be honest, especially on missions like this. We got back in the car and waited for Lucas to join us.

After a few minutes, he emerged from the building with a furrowed brow. As he settled into the driver's seat, he shared his discomfort: "He was rambling on about some strange legend associated with the village. I couldn't leave because he wouldn't process my payment until he suggested we visit the forest because of a unique old church. This guy is really creepy."

Anna added, "I'm relieved he didn't say anything weird to us. I wouldn't have known how to react." I nodded in agreement with both of them. We drove on through the village until we reached its end, where we found a large, old stone house. We parked in front of it, got out of the truck, approached the door and rang the bell.

To our surprise, the door swung open to reveal a horrific sight. Body parts littered the hallway and blood covered the walls. The stench of death hit us immediately.

We couldn't help but ask ourselves, "What the hell happened here?