Chapter 1 Bound by fire, Born of magic

Madeline cradled her newborn daughter tightly against her chest, her arms trembling from the strain of labor that had only just ended minutes ago. Her breaths were still shallow, her body weak, but the fierce instinct to protect surged through her like fire.

Without warning, the heavy wooden door creaked open, and Elder Tina strode into the room with a chilling urgency. Before Madeline could react, the elder reached out and took the baby from her arms.

"Elder Tina, what are you doing?" Madeline cried out, trying to rise despite the pain in her limbs. Her voice was desperate, cracking with fear.

Elder Sonia stepped forward, her expression solemn. "Your child cannot grow amongst us. I'm sorry, Madeline."

Madeline stared at her, heart pounding. "What do you mean?"

"We've made a decision," Elder Sonia continued, her tone steady but heavy. "Someone must carry on our legacy. Your child is the youngest among us and she carries the gift. If we all stay here, we'll perish. You, the baby, every single witch. Yes, we're powerful, but we are too few. One of us must survive... must continue the line."

Elder Tina added, "Leah wasn't blessed with the gift, so we've chosen her to leave this place. To carry on our story. But for that to happen, we must bind your daughter's powers."

Madeline's eyes darted between the elders, each one she'd known for years, faces she trusted yet now they looked like strangers. She knew how much the world hated them for what they were. Witches. Blessed. Feared. Hunted. And it was true there were fewer of them every year.

She didn't want her daughter to die before she even had a chance to live.

"Please... can I have one last moment with her?" Madeline asked, her voice soft and broken.

Elder Tina looked to the others, who silently nodded. With care, she stepped forward and gently handed the baby back into Madeline's arms.

Madeline held her daughter close, tears slipping down her cheeks as she kissed the child's soft forehead. "Her name is Aurelia," she said to Leah voice thick with love and sorrow.

She kissed her again, then slowly, painfully, handed her back to Elder Tina this time, to bind the magic that had marked her from birth.

Elder Tina carried baby Aurelia to the center of a ritual circle outlined with red candles, their flames flickering gently in the dimly lit chamber. The air inside was thick with tension and sorrow. The elders stood in silence, their faces grim, their hearts heavy with what had to be done.

With great care, Tina placed Aurelia in the heart of the circle. The baby cooed softly, unaware of the weight her tiny presence carried. Elder Tina raised her hands and began to chant, her voice low and reverent.

"Oh Madre Naturaleza... at el poder de este joven... al que has bendecido," she intoned, repeating the sacred phrase three times.

As the final words left her lips, a sudden gust of wind howled through the room, fierce and unrelenting. The flames of the red candles danced violently before all of them were extinguished at once, leaving the room in momentary darkness and silence.

The ritual was complete.

Tina stepped into the circle, lifting Aurelia gently from its center. She turned to Leah, her eyes serious but filled with a quiet sorrow.

"The stronger her powers grow, the more the spell that binds them will weaken," Elder Tina warned. "You must protect her, raise her well and when the time is right, let her know she had a wonderful, strong mother."

She placed the swaddled baby into Leah's arms, who received her with a trembling but determined grip. Behind them, Madeline watched, silent and broken, as tears streamed freely down her cheeks. Her arms ached for her daughter, her heart even more so.

Elder Sonia moved to her side and laid a gentle hand on her shoulder, grounding her as they watched Leah walk away with the child. Outside, a car waited its engine running, ready to spirit them away from danger and toward a life of secrecy and hope.

As the car disappeared into the night, Elder Tina turned back to the others. Her voice rang with grim resolve.

"Now, we fight to our last breath for our home."

Not long after Leah had disappeared into the night with baby Aurelia, the remaining witches found themselves surrounded.

The humans had come angry, relentless, and armed with fire and hatred in their hearts.

A chorus of spells echoed into the air as the witches stood their ground, casting protective shields and defensive charms with every ounce of strength they had left. Sparks flared and energy rippled around them, but it was clear they were few, and the enemy was many.

For every human that fell, more took their place. The witches fought valiantly, unleashing the raw force of their magic, but exhaustion had already begun to gnaw at their spirits. Their powers, though mighty, were not limitless.

And while they were focused on keeping their attackers at bay, the humans had lit the edges of the forest and the coven grounds aflame. The fire spread fast, crackling with hunger, consuming everything in its path.

Panic rose. They could conjure an escape spell, yes but their strength was waning. Too many spells had already been cast, and their energy was nearly depleted. The flames surrounded them now, hot and merciless, closing in with every second.

One by one, the witches fell not to blades, but to the inferno.

They perished in the fire, their last breaths filled with smoke and sorrow, their final thoughts heavy with the hope that somewhere, Aurelia was safe... and that one day, she would rise.

As the flames closed in and smoke thickened the air, Madeline, battered and barely standing, knew the end was near. Her sisters were falling around her, their cries blending with the crackling roar of the fire. But she couldn't let it end in vain not without leaving behind something that would live on.

Summoning the very last of her strength, Madeline raised her hands to the sky, her voice trembling but firm.

"Madre Naturaleza, te imploro que unas nuestros espíritus y poderes a esta Tierra, y la conviertas en un suelo sagrado donde nuestros espíritus se muevan libremente y nuestros poderes puedan ser canalizados..."

She chanted the sacred plea three times, each repetition growing more desperate, more powerful, drawn from a place deeper than magic drawn from love, sacrifice, and the unyielding will to protect what remained of their legacy.

The earth began to tremble beneath her feet. A sudden surge of wind tore through the inferno, howling like a thousand voices. Flames surged higher, brighter, then twisted violently as if resisting. The humans, startled and terrified, were thrown back by the force of the gust, unable to come any closer.

The witches stood together, united in silence, as the fire claimed them.

But it did not claim them fully.

Madeline's spell had taken hold.

Their bodies turned to ash, but their spirits fierce and eternal merged with the soil beneath them. The ground pulsed with sacred energy, transformed into hallowed land. A place where their essence would remain, where their power could one day be called upon again.

And so, the fire consumed them... but their legacy was not lost and Aurelia could very well one day reach out to them through this grounds.