Andria's POV
"A Lunara-blooded wolf? What does that even mean?" I questioned.
Lady Iskareth nodded in affirmation as if she had expected me to ask the question. Then she started.
"The lunara blooded she-wolf could be traced back 400 centuries. A pack suffered from near extinction after being attacked by vampires. All the men of the kingdom were killed, leaving only the women in the kingdom to survive."
She adjusted her seat. The wooden seat made a squeaky noise, and our attention was stolen by it. "I've had this chair for a long time now, so don't mind the noise, just listen," she said with her hands akimbo.
A story? Tonight is going to be a long night.
"You should listen, it's beneficial to you. I can tell you want to sleep," Lady Iskareth snapped me from my sleep and then continued.
"Soon, the population of the kingdom began to decrease. You see, no males, no children" She shrugged playfully and continued.
The she-wolves became anxious and began searching for a solution to deal with the vampires as well as help their dying population.
They began to pray to the moon goddess, perhaps she had a solution, but she remained silent. They consulted witches, sorcerers, and magicians, yet nothing happened, and their population continued to decline.
One day, three sisters, Raya, Rivka, and Rhia, took it upon themselves to offer their blood as a sign of devotion to the moon goddess, begging the goddess to come to their aid. That blood covenant sealed the deal.
The moon goddess bestowed them with a unique scent that could draw any male werewolf to them. They mated with other male werewolves from other kingdoms because their scent was so powerful.
Their kingdom started to expand again. This time, they grew even stronger to fight the vampires. But soon they noticed that the blessing came with a curse also, "The Dravari's".
Then she paused, "I think I would stop here now, wake your friends, it's time for the ritual."
That was when I looked to my left to notice that Mel and Larissa were already fast asleep.
Lady Iskareth moved back to the counter and pulled out something that looked like a pen and also a needle put together.
Then she pulled out some powder-looking substances and a liquid potion. She moves to the mirror and pours it into the previous siren musk.
She stirs it dramatically, while chanting "larish…lunar es cavara".
She chanted it three times, dipping the needle-like pen into the mixed portion. After a short while, something resembling steam began to emerge from the mixture.
She carried the potion with the pen in it, then turned towards me.
"Now, get up, child, and come," I said. I stood up and walked towards her. She started another chant while circling round me and sprinkling the potion on me.
She did that same movement three times, then pointed towards the chair in front of the consulting mirror. "Sit," she ordered.
Mel and Larissa were wide awake by this time. "So what's going on, now?" Larissa asked, confusion written all over her face.
"Welcome to the land of the living, sleeping beauties." Lady Iskareth replied sarcastically. The old woman still had some sense of humor in her after three hundred years.
"Well, I'm about to perform a ritual that could mask her scent temporarily, at least until the time ripe for its purpose.
'What purpose?' My mind had a thousand questions to ask, but Lady Iskareth won't be giving me any answers now.
She brought out the needle-like pen from the potion, pointing to it. She said. "This is an enchanted tattoo ink. Brace yourself for the pain."
"Give me your arm," she ordered. Then she started to inscribe the words she was chanting when mixing the potion on my arm.
As she wrote, the words disappeared into my arm causing me a sharp pain, then a soothing feeling afterwards.
"It is almost morning, and we have to go back to our dormitories before the day brightens," Larissa muttered underneath her breath.
The lady pours some of the potion into smaller bottles and hands it over to me. "Make sure you apply this potion to the tattooed arms."
I took the potions and stuffed them into the little purse I carried along with me.
"It's time to take your leave," she informed us, then chanted some weird stuff, and soon we were in the middle of the woods.
"The house and the witch disappeared?, That's creepy," Larissa said with a distasteful look on her face.
"The house didn't disappear, Larissa. We were teleported." Mel burst out laughing "The house is still where it was. How did you think you located it?"
"I mean, she might have known we were coming," Larissa attacked back.
Larissa has been on Mel's neck since we started this journey to the witch's place. I wonder if that's how they bicker all the time.
"She might not have known, seeing that she knocked us out on the entrance. The possibility is that she knows werewolves' energy; she is a witch after all, and she used the wolf's bane." I cut in countering Larissa's earlier statement.
"Exactly", Mel concurred.
"I didn't say it to favor you, Mel." I countered and we burst out laughing. "Doesn't this feel familiar?" Larissa asked as we neared our dormitories.
"It reminds me of the first time we met in these woods. Aria was passed out there." Mel gestured mockingly.
These girls are clowns; they don't give jokes and word banters a break. "Ok, we have to hasten our footsteps."
We walked at a fast pace, retracing our steps back to where we had started. As soon as we got to our apartment, I hurried to my room and shut the door behind me. I didn't want my flat-mates badgering me now.
I reminisced about everything that had happened the previous night: the old house, the witch, her potions, the ritual, and the story. It all felt like a dream or trance.
I'm Lunara-blooded, and I should watch out for the Dravari's. But who are they, what purpose am I to fulfil? Why did the witch stop halfway?.
I needed sleep, and I'm getting that after my history and literature classes today.