Prologue: Spellbound

                                                      Prologue

          The luminous harvest moon rises above a sleeping city. A man walks alone, his long strides unheeded by the darkness enveloping him. A river flows on one side of him, reflecting the moon’s beauty. He stops, and gazes into the water at the heavenly sphere mirrored there, surrounded by trees whose dead, bare branches sway in the gentle breeze. He is reminded of who he is, and what he must do.
         Walking further along the river bank he realizes how hungry he is. Although he can barely see, even with the light from the moon, he knows further ahead of him is a rabbit. He can hear its heart beat, quicker and quicker as he gets closer to it. He can smell the furry creature. He can smell its fear.
          His blonde hair blows slightly with the wind’s gust, while his long, black trench coat flows smoothly with his every movement making no sound as he gets closer to his unmoving prey. This is what he truly hates about what he is, but he must live. He must survive. The coven is so dependent on him. So, now he must feed. Over two hundred years has taught him this and yet the thought of blood still makes his stomach churn. There is no escaping his thirst, though, he must drink. He must survive.
          The terrified creature’s heartbeat quickens as he looks down upon it, its small black eyes pleading for mercy. All that keeps him from dropping the poor creature is the knowledge that this rabbit is sick. By letting it go he will only allow it a long, painful death later. Picking up its quivering furry body he looks to the moon, his white eyes shining. He opens his mouth showing his long, white, sharp canines which gleam under the moon’s light. He sinks his teeth into the soft, warm body. At least it’s not a human, he thinks, at least I don’t feed on humans.

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          Across town a voice rides the wind. A woman stands surrounded by a circle of fellow sorceresses, calling upon the powers of Artemis, goddess of the moon. Her power will help the woman and her covenant fight the evil bearing down upon them; she will need Artemis’ strength to help her overcome her illness. She must lead her people. She raises her arms to the sky, drawing on the powerful moon energy. Power flows through her veins, a power more powerful then any of the others in her circle. Yet she knows there is a rising ruler within her covenant, the Covenant of Artemis. Soon she will be ready to lead.
          From the surrounding circle a young woman steps forward. Though new to the circle, she is a strong seer. Her eyes blaze bright green as she tells her people of her vision. The leader of the Coven of Meness is close. They must find a way to stop his evil, prevent him from killing more Innocents. Alas, she tells of a rising leader among the Meness Clan. He will rise above the Coven of Darkness’ leader, more powerful and dangerous then their Coven has seen since the original founder a thousand years before. Now is the time to stop him. Now is the time to stop their evil.
          The young follower of Artemis falls back into her place. The chanting erupts, each witch praying to the goddess to protect them, to give them strength and the power to defeat this rising evil. Their high priestess continues to draw upon the powers of the moon, of Artemis, mumbling her own prayer. She walks around the circle to each of her followers passing the moon’s energy to each witch equally. A battle is coming. Soon they will have to fight.
          The seer’s eyes illuminate once more as the high priestess reaches her. Her voice rises, shaky and high-pitched. Those of Artemis will befriend members of the enemy. Likened to one another, destruction may occur. Stop the Meness leader now, and avoid the pain and suffering later. Change is in the air, power is rising. A new leader is rising. More powerful then any leader we have seen. Light and Dark will fight, but a different teacher there will be. Change is in the wind. Those who liken to the Darkness will try to interfere. They must not interfere. We must defeat them. Now.<i>