Daughters of Creation

Chapter One: Inception

   "The creation or beginning of something"
—Inception

October 11

Creeping rays of dusk slid over the Veil, darkness slithering over the closely packed brick buildings and stretches of green in between. A figure cut all in black hurried over the broken cobbled streets, shoulders hunched against the oncoming October chill. Emrie Michele fought the desire to cast a warming spell over herself. After all, a lone witch found danger easier than a siren enchanting. It was like second nature finding trouble—or maybe she was just paranoid, learning the hard way becoming complacent was dangerous. Either way she couldn't afford to be caught in the dark. Divine were going missing.

Emrie Michele dodged around a group of shapeshifters, stepping off the sidewalk and darting into the street before hoping back to her intended path. She wanted to make it back to the apartment before the sun actually set, but the fastest route was through the Markets and that was were she risked the highest chance of running into Guards.

"Have you seen how many Guards swarm the city right now?"

Eyes downcasted she slowed. Drawing her hood back a little, to look less suspicious, she listened to the snippets of conversation going on around her. Maybe she would have something new to tell the others?

"Elle, I think I should've gone with the pink, not the blue!"

"So many people are going to be wearing pink at the ball, blue will stand out—"

"I've heard they're out in forces because of the missing divine." A different voice spoke a little louder, capturing Emrie Michele's attention over the other conversation.

"Really? I thought maybe it had something to do with the witches again? Did you know one of our friends, ol' Maggie, told me one time that she's got a coven living on the same floor as her?"

"Ol' Maggie? Should you really be listening to that crazy bat?"

"Shut up, Ewan. She's the one who warned you not to get involved with that one group — and it's a good thing you listened, too! They all got arrested by the Guards for holding illegal texts."

"And you don't find it strange that the Council is suddenly taking an interest in what people are reading again? Last time this happen we had a massacre on our hands."

Emrie Michele's nails dug painful half-moons into the soft skin of her palms. She gritted her teeth, clenching her jaw. How could they talk about hundreds of deaths so casually? She sucked in a calming breath, steadying the magic that flared inside her. She didn't want to cause a scene, not now—not when she could sense the presence of Guards mingling somewhere close by. She picked up her pace. She didn't want to hear about her coven being slandered like that. Not for the thousandth time.

Another conversation caught her ear.

"The Five are really rising in rank—Have you heard?" Two semi armored men walked near her. She reached out but neither of their signatures rang alarm bells inside her head like Guards normally did. They must be regular guards the Council has hired. I wonder why?

"Yeah," his friend responded back gruffly, kicking a loose pebble of the street. "The Guards are pretty fucking weird, but that group is the weirdest of them all, I tell you. A mate of mine heard from a friend of hers that the Five are being called in to take lead on the murdered divine that are popping up."

"Constat. I would hate to be the sorry bastard the Five are hunting. They're one hell of a frightening group. Their leader is a fucking siren for Sea's sake, faex man, not to mention the rest of who their group is made up of."