I felt it was about time I placed an excerpt of Witch Hunt on here. Hope you enjoy!
Witch Hunt by JR White
Prologue
High above the ground of man, the moonless night
sky was calm. Bright stars dotted the darkness, and peace had settled.
Suddenly a scream shattered the silence, and startled birds flew from
the trees. The scream had rung out from a young woman far below,
standing by a large flickering fire. As quickly as the scream had burst
to life, a swift hand struck the woman across the face.
Rei fell to the ground, her voice silenced. The
coppery taste of blood filled her mouth, and her world blurred over. As
her eyes began to focus, Rei saw her brother only a few feet away. Blood
rushed from his throat, and Rei, with her hands bound behind her back,
could do nothing but watch. She could barely even make out the voices
chanting around them.
The dark-clothed man who had hit her put his hands
high in the air, mirroring a woman who held a bloody knife above her
head. Rei ignored their ritual and struggled to her brother’s side.
Leaning her forehead to the top of his, Rei whispered, “Richard, I’m
sorry.” Tears streamed down her face as she felt her brother’s life
force racing from his body.
Surrounding them, a dozen people called to the
natural power in Richard’s blood. They pulled it from every drop, and
the High Priestess who held the knife was funneling most of it into
herself. Rei looked up at them and then back to her brother. Richard’s
dark blue eyes found hers, and suddenly an image of a feather fluttered
through her mind. In that instant Rei knew what she had to do. She felt
the magic forming in the circle growing and knew that once they were
finished with Richard they would turn to her. For Rei, death was one
thing, but being killed to increase the power of a blood cult was beyond
reasonable.
Rei needed no words to steal her brother’s magic
back from the air, but her heart ached at the sin. Closing off the
guilt, she began to reach out her magic. The blood that had swelled at
her busted lip was enough. Blood called to blood, and Rei simply called
out to the power of her brother. For an instant a battle between the
will of the coven and Rei raged, but the love of her brother and the
guilt of his death won. Rei’s head snapped back, and she stared blindly
at the star-speckled sky. Behind her the High Priestess dropped her
arms, breaking off the war of magic and dashed toward Rei, ready to
drive the knife into her.
Time slowed as Rei began to stand. Her knees began
to unbend and change. She felt the texture of her legs begin to roughen,
and in the flicker of the fire, feathers began to ripple over her skin
and clothing. As her arms shrank and formed hollowed-bone wings, the
rope around her wrists fell to the ground. When time returned to normal,
Rei was a small bird flying upward into the sky. Below her, the knife
the High Priestess wielded stabbed into a small pile of cast off rope.
Rei heard a rage-filled scream from below her and
then the stern command from the High Priestess, “Spread out! She can’t
stay in that form long!”
High above the coven, the feathered Rei skimmed
across the once again silent and still night. She felt fear gripping at
her throat, threatening to weaken the power her brother had given her.
Rei swallowed back her grief and flew onward.
Below her she knew the coven was scattering through
the forest in their search. Rei was happy that the coven had not stolen
the ability to change their shape. Shape changing was a rare gift for a
witch. It may have been the only advantage she held over them, but
holding a different form was hard. Speeding her way over the trees, Rei
tried to focus on the image of the bird she had formed. She forced her
will into the shape and prayed she could hold it long enough to put many
miles between herself and the blood witches.
Thoughts of her beloved brother filled her mind,
and it was only the determination of his power that had forced the image
of the small bird into her mind. Quickly the face of her brother was
morphing into the bird to help her hold the form long enough to escape.
Richard, I’m so sorry, Rei whispered in her mind.
