Page 1 of Dark Flame

First Intermission

FREYA

Hello.Bonjour. Ciao. Hola. Olá. (Insert your chosen language here.)

I know, I know. Intermission already, yet the story hasn’t even kicked off. Thing is, I’ve been watching all this play out since for fuckingever, but now you’re here and I’m so damn happy to have someone to share the drama with.

It’s been along—like endlessly long—few centuries, and now, we’re about to experience two idiots falling in love despite being enemies.

Well…eight idiots, actually, but they’re not all enemies to one another. Four couples, starting with a witch and a vampire. I’ll admit, when Hecate—that’s the Goddess of magick and witchcraft, by the way—first prophesied their stories to me, I wasn’t particularly excited about the drama that’d be unfolding, but damn if they won’t all undoubtedly win me over. Call me an old softie for the slow bonding until they realize how right they are for one another.

But before that happens, there are three main pieces of information you need to know. The boring, pre-story shit that sets the scene, so to speak.

Stick around, because here we go…

First, I’m going to take you back a little bit, to when I was given the prophecies and essentially who I am and what my entire role is.

Bear with me, because I’ll be showing you this scene from an outsider’s perspective rather than a direct recounting. Sorry about the random perspective shift, but humour me. When you’ve been around since the dawn of time, you get bored and find amusement in the little shit.

Anyway, sorry again. Here we go…for real this time.

* * *

Freya,First Witch and earthbound representative of the Goddess, stands above the small pond of water that reflects the vivid moon above and the twinkling stars scattered around it. She breathes in deeply while waiting, tipping her face to the sky to enjoy the few moments of peace.

The night is calm, while the world is not. The chaos feels never-ending.

The pond ripples, and the moon shifts into a new shape. A shape without a design. A woman without a body. A soul without a manifestation.

Daughter,the being greets, her melodic voice chiming through Freya’s mind. It’s a familiar and tranquil sound, reminding Freya of the very breeze that blows around her.

“Hecate.”

I tire of my witches dying from their ongoing wars with other beings, especially now.

“What is now?”

That detail does not matter yet. The bigger concern is how my witches must be on the same side as the others. I have seen the solution, though the witches involved will not be born for some time.

“You’re giving me a prophecy?” Freya puts the Goddess’s strange dialect into a more simplistic explanation.

A promise. There will be four who bring a truce to the fighting. See here.

The pond swirls again, and Hecate’s spiritual figure is replaced with a series of images quickly flashing over the surface.

A witch standing in the arms of a vampire, without fear, as he grazes his fangs up and down her neck. Around them: a kingdom of vampires bowing.

A witch standing beside a wolf, her hand buried in its fur. The wolf shifts into a man and pulls her into his arms. Around them: a pack bonded.

A witch standing with a mortal, her head on his shoulder. He’s holding a sword, a city from the future as their background. Around them: a world protected.

A witch standing hand in hand with a warlock, their joint elemental magick swirling together to create a myriad of white and green. Around them: covens united.

The image swirls again, returning Hecate’s undefined form to the surface.

“Vampires?” Freya questions, thinking of the human male who became the first vampire after making a deal with a demon—one of the original fallen angels. The new vampire spent centuries spreading his disease to innocent humans, ruining their souls and ensuring they’d end up in one place only: with his master in Hell.

It must happen to end the war. The vampire I am showing you will be a king amongst their kind. With a witch by his side, others will follow suit and obey, understanding witches should not be targeted. In turn, the covens will learn that vampires, while creatures of Darkness, can be led to the Light.