Olivia nodded, she knew they saw Lilliana as a traitor. The barrier shimred faintly when they walked closer. Damon instinctively stepped in front of Olivia, his hands reaching for the hilt of his sword. But Liliana raised her palm and stopped him.
"Their sword ant nothing to them. It could not stop them." Damon hesitated as he let go of the sword and nodded. Only when liliana was sure that he would not make a hasty mistake that she smiled back and whispered a soft incantation. The barrier parted like fog curling away from the wind.
The grove revealed itself slowly. There were small houses cloaked in tree roots, smoke wafting from hidden chimneys, the scent of herbs and firewood drifting in the air.
"That is as far as I can go with you." Lilliana took a step back. Olivia nodded and inhaled. Lilliana vanished from there in the next second.
Olivia took a step inside followed by Damon who watched closely. Two guardian witches standing on both sides of the entrance were shocked to see Olivia there.
"What are you doing here?" the witches took out their weapons instantly but they dare not attack. Everyone knew not only Olivia had killed a witch but absorbed her powers.
"How dare you show your face here?"
"Because I want answers," Olivia said coolly. "I want to speak to ridia. I won’t let this turn into another war."
The witch’s voice cracked with venom. "You have already started one when you killed one of us. You betrayed your kind again. Do you even know what you are?"
Olivia stepped closer, Damon behind her like a silent shadow. "Yes," she said. "I know exactly who I am but I never wanted to be the blood witch. I want to et the high priestess. I am not running anymore."
The witches around them murmured. So stepped closer, drawn by the tension.
A door creaked open behind Olivia and ridia erged from inside. She looked at Olivia with narrowed eyes. her pale eyes glinting in the morning light.
"Well, since you have co so far to et , I will not disappoint you. But rember this is my land."she said, her voice calm and low. Then she turned to look at the guardian of the doors, "inform everyone, the blood witch had returned for negotiation. All of them must attend it."
The guardian witch led Olivia and Damon along a winding, moss-covered path. Trees arched overhead, like a growing roof, their branches filtering the light into scattered golden beams. A heavy silence accompanied them, broken only by the faint rustle of wind and the distant bubbling of water. The witch’s eyes were full of hatred as she led them, if only she could kill Olivia herself.
They reached a wide clearing at the heart of the coven grounds. It was a large open hall of sorts, nestled within a circle of stone columns and natural tree trunks woven with vines. In the center, a large fire pit blazed, its flas dancing and crackling. Around it, chairs carved from old roots and stone stood in a wide circle.
Olivia was shown to one of the empty chairs, and Damon stood behind her silently, his eyes flickering from shadow to shadow, hand never far from his belt.
"This place did not look safe." he warned her but she only sighed.
"We are in their territory and they did not trust us. It is only normal that they would keep us in a place where they attack easily, Damon. I know what I am doing." Damon’s jaw clenched and he looked around with cold eyes, but he did not question her again.
Witches began filling the hall one by one. They were silent but watchful as they did not take their eyes off Olivia. So stared openly, others whispered. The tension in the air was so thick, it was hard to breathe.
Then ridia entered followed by four other witches.
She ascended a raised stone platform at the far end of the hall, the flas casting eerie flickers on her pale face. Her silver hair shimred like water under moonlight. They all went silent in her presence.
Once the murmurs died down, ridia spoke.
"You have walked into the heart of our sanctuary, blood witch," she said, her voice echoing through the hall. "Tell us, what is it that brings you here?"
Olivia stood slowly. Her voice was steady. "I did not co here to fight. I ca here for a negotiation. I want peace between the coven and the village."
That caused an uproar. The witches looked at her with hatred.
"You are still speaking for them? You want peace now?" spat a voice from across the fire. "You who killed one of us in cold blood?"
"You who destroyed our trust and spat on your lineage?" they hissed with hatred, their powers were already dancing in their palm. Though they fear the blood witch, they were sure if all of them attacked her at once, Olivia would be outnumbered. She could not fight against so many in their own land.
"You who gave everything to the humans while leaving your own kind behind?"
Olivia’s expression didn’t flinch, but her eyes hardened. "I did kill one of you," she said quietly. "Because she was about to slaughter innocent villagers, including children. You know better than , I only did it to protect them. Not because I hate you. But because I couldn’t watch another massacre. I never wanted this war."
A witch with deep wrinkles and a sharp gaze snapped, "You speak of humans like they are sacred. When they have killed so many of us in the past. And your power that you are so proud of.. we are the ones who gave you your power. Your mother’s blood runs in these woods, not their stone houses."
"How did my mother die then?" she asked in a calm voice even when her insides clenched, "if i investigated it, i am sure it would lead to you too."
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