C7 Addition

. . . from here on Emily tells the story further

It was the night of the eleventh of September. We wrote the year a thousand. Outside a storm raged and shook with his pale hand the branches of the trees and the shutters of the houses. A great birth was imminent, I heard that in the wind. Then I was called. The mistress Lucia, so to speak the queen among the vampires, expected her second child. She had been in labor for almost thirty hours. Admittedly, the birth of her son had proceeded faster and hadn‘t been so painful. Lucia hadn't expected that she had to torture herself like that. She should know that the child in her bump isn‘t normal. I entered the delivery room. Three midwives and a few servants were there. Hectic was in the air. Lucia was overcome by a contraction and she screamed. One of the midwives came up to me.

“It's been way too long now. I don't know if she'll make it through the night.“

“She will, trust me.“

I have never understood why the vampires and werewolves called the local midwives to the births, when we witches understood much better about births. Probably to strengthen the bond with the people, so that nobody would get wrong thoughts. Lucia screamed again violently. I felt the child in her move violently. It was desperate to get out of her. I put a cold cloth on her forehead and whispered in her ear.

“Lucia, listen to me very carefully. The child in your body is very strong. Only I can help you now.“

She looked at me with glassy eyes. “What are you up to?"

“What I was created for, being a witch.“

I turned to the midwives.

“Ladies, I thank you for your services. I'll take it from here.“

A wrinkled old woman stepped out and filed a complaint.

“This might suit you. This woman is about to give birth. We can't leave now.“

“Yes, you can. Forgive me if I speak so openly, but you have neither the knowledge nor the means to get the child out of her. But I do. Pack up your stuff and get out of here, now. Or do I have to be clearer?"

They disliked it very much, they whispered, shook their heads and finally left the room. Lucia was bathed in sweat. I put my hands on her belly and concentrated.

“My mistress, I want you to calm down. Take a deep breath. And now look into the flames of the chimney. What do you see?"

Only with a lot of strength she managed to turn her head, she was soon at the end of her strength, I had to hurry.

“There's something big, something winged. It's coming to me.“

“All right, focus!“

She screamed violently, her head no longer held still, turning from one side to the other as if she was having a seizure.

“Lucia, if you love your life, keep focusing on the flames.“

She screamed as she'd never screamed before. The child drilled its hands against the abdominal wall. I had trouble keeping up with it. The window was torn open by a violent gust of wind, the flames of the candles in the room blazed brighter and larger than before, the incoming wind feeding them. The fire in the fireplace exploded, rose to the ceiling; I heard the call of the Dragon. I was still pressing against her belly.

“Lucia press now, press!“

She gathered all her strength, screaming, screaming louder. The child's head came out, then the torso. I saw the arms, the legs and finally pulled the child out of the womb. Her lungs unfolded and she gave a healthy scream. I cut the umbilical cord immediately. Lucia didn't notice any of this. She'd gone into some kind of coma from overexertion. So I had time to take care of the infant. I dipped her into the washbowl to free her of her grease, then wrapped her in a cloth. She had opened her eyes; I had never seen such a rich blue, not even in a vampire; it must have been sapphire blue. The girl was beautiful, she smiled at me with her angelic smile. Carefully I dabbed her skin from the moisture. And I found what I was looking for. Next to the umbilical cord, a red birthmark in the form of a small dragon had burned itself into the skin. I wrapped the child in fresh, pre-warmed sheets and bedded her in her cradle. Meanwhile, I removed the afterbirth from Lucia's abdomen and threw it into the fire. Lucia only slowly regained consciousness. She was exhausted, yet I put the child in her arms. Tears ran down Lucia's face. The birth had almost killed her. If I hadn't come to this, the child would have torn its mother from the inside out.

“Is this reality, or was it just a dream? Look at her, Emily. Isn't she beautiful?"

“As a matter of fact.“

“I remember. There had been flames, flames everywhere. What does that mean?"

“Your child was born in the sign of the Dragon. Do you see the birthmark next to her belly button? An unmistakable sign.“

“Why me, Emily? Why my daughter?"

“You should feel honored, this happens only once every thousand years.“

“But I wasn't born under this sign either, so why …“

“But your father was.“

“Oh, really? I didn't know that.“

“He was always very discreet about this. I also learned a lot from him about the great fire snakes, after all, he had studied them and passed on his knowledge to me.“

She had to swallow, the thought of her father was probably stuck in her throat. The girl slept calmly, touching her mother's hands from time to time.

“Forgive my little digression into old times. I just liked your father as well as your mother. I regret very much that they went into exile.“

“I don‘t.“

There was it again. The ice-cold, heartless personality in her. Sometimes I hated that woman for her arrogance. The opportunity came fittingly, I still had an open word to discuss with her anyway.

“Ten moons ago, you came to me and wanted rain ferns juice from me. Why?"

Her sudden nervousness betrayed her. Lucia moved back and forth in her bed, avoided eye contact with me.

“Well, you know, chitchat. An old woman once told me that it would make me even more beautiful and then I just wanted to try it out.“

I examined her, that she lied even a blind man could recognize.

“Vampires don't age. They, therefore, don‘t become wrinkly and ugly. You wanted the juice for one reason only, to nip in the bud the child you delivered today before it could thrive.“

“You can‘t know that. I didn't tell anyone about my pregnancy back then.“

“I'm a witch, I know a lot of things. I saw the fruit in your body just as it was being implanted in you.“

“But what matters is that I didn't do it. I knew you hadn't given me rain ferns juice, probably because you recognized the good in me and you knew I wasn't capable to do such a thing.“

“Of course, I knew you didn't have the guts to do something like this. But at that moment you realized that you could fool them all. You even tried to fool me.“

“I don't know what you mean“, she embarrassedly looked to the side.

It was time to put the cards on the table. Sooner or later I would have confronted her anyway, so why not now?

“I know of your transgression, of your betrayal to Ephraim, why else would a mother want to commit such an atrocity? Only when she's ashamed of the origin of her child.“

Suddenly she realized what I meant. Panic went up in her.

“Please, you can't tell Ephraim about this, not to anyone. Otherwise, the consequences will be terrible.“

“I'm well aware of that, Lucia. The last thing I want is your demise. Maybe we could agree and even help each other out. I won‘t betray you if you promise me something.“

“What do you want?"

My gaze wandered to the girl in her arms. Lucia feared the worst.

“No, no, you can't take her away from me, please.“

“I thought you didn't want her.“

“I'm sorry, I made a mistake, but I love her. You can't do this to me, please, Emily.“

“Calm down, I don't want to take her away from you. All I want is your permission to teach her.“

“What do you want to teach her?" Lucia, in tears, held on to her daughter. Now she was in a quandary, she just had to give me what I insisted on.

“In everything, but primarily in the great art of witchcraft. Yeah, you heard right. Your daughter's not just two creatures, but three. She unites the three bloodlines of the three tribes. I can train her to be a witch. Everything else will come of its own accord, for it has been placed in her cradle. And with me as her mentor, she will become exceedingly powerful.“

She thought tense, although she knew she had no choice. Her face gradually relaxed, her decision had been made.

“I had to endure so much pain to bring her into the world. So I now can see that there's nothing I can do to change her fate. Take her into your care, Emily. Teach her whatever you want to teach her and make me be proud of her.“

“Then it‘s decided. Get some rest now. Your husband will soon return from the hunt and wants to see your daughter.“

I got up and was about to leave the room when Lucia's voice approached me again from behind.

“Emily, you have the gift of looking to the future. What can you tell me about my daughter?"

I had once read the fate of the girl in the flames, I couldn‘t tell the mother everything, anyway the future was in constant motion. One thing I could say to her with a clear conscience.

“She will grow into a powerful being. Strong, invincible. And she will accomplish great things.“