Chapter 001 - A New Era and The First Immortals.

And so it began, a new era full of promises of a bright future and hopes for a better tomorrow. Marked by the death of Lycan, the last of the Old Ones. The magic inside the being's body was once more released at nature, giving just the right boom that magic needed.

Life once more thrived on the once-frozen planet, with new species blooming at every corner, miracles becoming an everyday occurrence with even extinct species appearing on every odd day in the four corners of the world like... like magic.

As time passed by, in a blink of an eye, untold and uncountable years passed by.

In this meantime, a never-ending number of species, following the path of their ancestors, took their first step in the gambling game that was evolution.

And as humanity looked into the future, they didn't feel fear, only hope for a better future.

The world soon forgot about the Lost Era, the Old Ones, and their almighty clans that once ruled the entire world, their history becoming a thing of the past, just whispers in the annals of history, legends and fables to scare children to bed.

Well, until it wasn't anymore.

...

Our history begins, this tima, around two thousand years ago, in the country of Greece.

The world had changed since the death of Lycan the Devourer.

Descendants of the Great Primates, one of the few clans to survive the frozen era alongside the wolves by using their cleverness, once more stepped on the road towards evolution, achieving over millions of years the humanoid form that Lycan once did.

Now known as humans and not knowing of their lost past and power, humankind proliferated like rabbits. Their population was ever-increasing, and with no natural predator who could resist their strange blades of metal and arrows, soon they filled the four corners of Earth, stretching all over the known world and beyond.

They conquered lands, build their cities and temples of faith, and soon it wans't emhough for them, and so they conquered the seas, their boats and ships now sailing across waters untaped for all but the Sea Clans of the old.

Humankind had conquered the world, and every being shall bow to them or die by them.

...

In a little corner of the world, in a village forgotten by history, there once was a community of very special people known as the Travelers, humans born with magic in their blood, blessed by nature herself.

Among these special people lived a man and two women.

The man, Silas, a powerful warlock of his own accord, came from an old and powerful lineage of warlocks and witches, his ancestors one of the founding fathers of their people.

The first woman, Qetsyiah, the most powerful witch to have ever been born among their people, like Silas, was also of noble standing, royalty among the Travelers.

Their families were enemies on the verge of an all-out war, so Silas' father, knowing of Qetsyiah's love for his son and that his family wouldn't be the one winning this war, proposed an alternative to Qetsyiah's father, who didn't fear losing but the destruction a war would leave behind. He proposed a way to connect their families as one and end the bad blood between them.

A wedding.

And so, they promised Silas and Qetsyiah to one another.

The woman was in love with the man and promptly accepted it, but Silas heart longed for another. The third woman, Amara.

Maid to Qetsyiah and known for her beauty among their people, Amara also loved Silas, but as a commoner, she didn't have a voice in the matter, with Silas being of noble stand and now betrothed, their own laws forbid their love.

But love, as history would show it to be, was a force of motivation bigger than any other.

And not even death could stop it.

...

A handsome man in his late teens to his early twenties trailed the image of pleasure plaguing the face of the most beautiful woman in the world for him. Her olive skin sparkled with sweat, dark brown hair sticking to it as the woman's brown eyes closed in pleasure as she held on to the man's thighs as if her life depended on it, riding him and moaning in pleasure.

Soon, the man's thrusts intensified, his dick throbbing inside the woman as her pussy clenched him, both releasing a moan of pleasure as both came together, the man releasing bursts of semen inside the woman who dropped on his chest, both exhausted.

The woman lifted her head, brown eyes slowly trailing the body of her lover as if painting a picture of him inside her brain, all the way from his strong jawline that flexed slightly with every deep breath he took, to his strong arms that held her naked body closely, his muscular chest pressed against her full breasts as her almond-shaped doe eyes finally met his forest green ones that stared back at her, his dark blonde hair a shade darker because of sweat, sticking slightly in his forehead.

He was smiling at her. A smile that was so full of love and adoration that it took her breath away. But she returned it with equal intensity as the lovers once more shared a deep kiss.

Silas loved Amara with his soul and beyond, and Amara promised to love him to the stars and back, till death did them apart.

Which it shall never do, as the magic they could feel flowing in their now Immortal bodies promised that.

But what the two lovers, drunk in their love and lust, failed to notice as they basked themselves in carnal desire, was the figure of a woman approaching them from afar, a cloak hiding her face with the night as her cover.

...

Later, as the weeks and months had come and gone, the two lovers continued entrapped in their little picture-perfect world, and soon the woman become pregnant with their first child.

One day, Silas had gone to a nearby village for provisions, reluctantly leaving Amara by herself in their home.

Ever since they ran away from their families and people, Silas had been overprotective towards his loved one, something that both bothered her and yet made her feel loved. That was until he became even worse thanks to her pregnancy, to which she had to remind him they were now immortal and nothing could hurt her. The man calmed down, if ever so slightly, enough to leave her alone for a day or two.

Alone, Amara washed their clothes in a wooden basin as she hummed a song to herself and her baby. Distracted, her attention was soon picked by the sound of a breaking twig from afar, her enhanced hearing working at full gear to determine the cause, but when she turned to where the sound had come from, the Immortal was greeted by the image of the last person she would ever want to see, the witch Qetsiyah.

In shock, the first thing Amara noticed was how her dark hair was disheveled and dirty when she knew her to be a clean freak, always wanting everything to be perfect and in order. The second thing Amara noticed was the bags under her dark dorbs, proof that she hadn't slept in days. And the third thing that Amara noticed was that in Qetsiyah's hands rested a dagger and in another a vial of blood that visually brimmed with magic power.

The last thing Amara Petrova would ever see for millenia to come was the crazed smile her once friend gave her, head tilting to the side as a wave of magic left her.

Then, the world became black. Darkness filled Amara's vision as the sound of her breaking neck filled her ears and unconsciousness finally consumed her.

...

Later that same day, as the sun died on the horizon and the moon rose in the night sky, Silas walked back to his home and his beloved.

The man held in one hand a basket full of the provisions they would need for the week and, in another, a bouquet of tulips, Amara's favorites. He was already smiling to himself as he imagined the woman's surprised face, anticipating the happiness he knew it would bring her as he took a whiff of the scented flowers.

As he walked the last steps to his home, who he had seen in the distance, illuminated by the flames of their campfire but covered by the thick folliage of the forest they resided, the why to them choosing this location, one thing made him stop dead in his tracks. Dread immediately filled him as cold sweat formed on his back.

In front of his house stood Qetsiyah, the woman he was once betrothed to, the woman he left at the altar, and the most powerful witch he ever knew, creator of the immortality spell he and Amara took.

She just stood there, in front of the fire, as she washed her hands in a wooden basin, a frown on her face as if she couldn't get something off her hands.

Soon, her dark eyes found his green ones, and as the woman gave him a warm smile full of love and care, Silas couldn't help the shiver that went down his spine at the dangerous glint that shined in her orbs.

"What are you doing here?" he did not beat around the bush, voice steady as he tried to mask the fear in his heart by false bravery. But she just smiled at him.

"No need for rudeness, my love. I came bearing gifts.", she announced with a sweet and innocent voice, his words entering one ear and escaping by another.

"Qe-" he tried to start, but she interrupted him, holding a chalice made of gold and silver to Silas, who froze by seeing the item.

"The first gift, the chalice we should have drunk from at our wedding." as Silas stared at the cup, he couldn't help the pure terror that now filled every part of his being as he stared into the woman's crazed eyes, the fear in him obvious to the woman, and she felt joy in seeing it.

"The second one, and my personal favorite." She held a vial of blood to him, Silas practically feeling the magic that emanated from the object, "The Cure for immortality."

At the woman's words, Silas's jaw fell, mouth agape, his face rapidly becoming a sickly pale. Until now, the man was afraid of the witch, but not worried about what she may do. After all, he was immortal, while she, as powerful a witch as she was, was pretty much mortal and a broken neck would do the trick just fine.

If only he were closer.

But now, as the man stared at the vial in her hands, he couldn't help but swallow the lump that formed in his throat.

"Th-that's not possible." he tried, voice coming off weak, barely above a whisper. He was trying to convince himself that it was all a nightmare and soon he would wake up to Amara's kisses, the woman exited as she took his hand in hers and rested it on her baby bump, the feeling of their kicking baby against his hands.

But try as he might, Silas knew that this was very real.

"Oh, it is. I just used it in someone immortal and it worked just fine."

At the woman's words, Silas glanced at his and Amara's tent, and without caring for the witch's presence, ran to it as if his life depended on him getting there, while in reality, something way more precious did. He called for his beloved name, screaming and praying to every god in the heavens above that she would be okay. That their baby would be safe.

But as it seems, they would not hear his prayers.

The scene of his bed covered in blood and guts was the first thing that Silas saw before his eyes forced themselves closed, the smell of fresh blood hitting harder than anything ever could, his brain trying to convince himself that it could be from an animal, that Amara was safe, but his enhanced sense of smell told of a different story.

Silas shook his head non-stop, eyes opening and closing a thousand times as everywhere he stared, blood and organs would be there. He took long steps backward, quickly exiting the tenting and tripping on his own feet, falling on his back against the hard ground, arms to weak to do anything if not covering his eyes as he muttered to himself non-stop.

"No, no, no.... this can't be real, can't be, can't be."

But it was.

Amara Petrova was dead. His son or daughter was dead. He was alone.

What was the point of immortality if he was alone?

And among tears that flowed non-stop from his eyes as grief took him, one voice brought him back. Her voice. The voice of the woman that took from him everything he ever held dear and loved.

She was laughing at him.

He saw red. His strength returned to him as pure rage flowed through his veins like hot lava in an erupting volcano, and before Silas knew it, with speed impossible to a human being, he lunged at the woman, hands reaching for the witch's vulnerable neck.

But the woman expected it, hands already raised as a wave of pure magical power exploded from her, knocking not only Silas down but the tent around them and the nearby trees as well, the shockwave of her telekinetic blast leaving destruction all around them.

As the Immortal fought to stand up, his broken body healing at an incredible rate, his skull suddenly felt as if it split open and someone poured lava in it, his brain melting from the heat and healing, locked in an eternal loop as a scream of pure agony left him.

"Now, that wasn't nice." Her tone was playful and had a hint of delight. As if the whole situation was pleasing to her.

The woman slowly walked towards the agonizing man, her hand touching the Immortal chin and raising it so their eyes could meet. His forest greens were bloodshot, red replacing the white as his blood vessels exploded and healed non-stop, the pain so great his body tried to shut down only to heal once again as a sick and pleasured smile made itself to the beautiful and stoic face of Qetsyiah, hands like claws as she gripped Silas by the face.

"You will not touch me, ever again," she declared like it was a divine order, the wind picking up, nature acting in accord with her rage, influenced by her magic. "The pain you feel now is nothing when compared to the state you left me in. I was alone, laughed even by the peasants!" she raised her voice, an octave away from a full-blown scream.

"And my father-" now her voice broke, a lump she quickly forced down her throat forming, "You cannot imagine the extent of his rage when he discovered what I did for you."

"I betrayed everything our people ever hold dear for you! And this!" she got up, hand leaving his face as the Immortal dropped to the ground, Qetsyiah's eyes scanning the place in disgust. "Was how you thanked me? By leaving me on the altar! Fucking my maid behind my back! Stealing from me!" with every word of her, a fresh cut opened in Silas' body, skin and muscles tearing as his bones broke nonstop.

"But," she began, her magic finally dying down as the feeling of his brain melting and body being crushed stopped altogether. "There is a way out of it." she once more dropped to Silas' side, hands reaching for his as she pressed the vial containing the cure on them.

"Drink it, my love, and then we can live long, human lives together far away from here! They will never find us. We could live in peace and leave the past behind!" there was genuine hope in her voice, as if the man could just forget the fact that she killed his wife and child in cold blood.

Silas only let one word out.

"Never."

And like a switch, the woman's crazy smile left her face, expression darkening.

"Well, I hoped you would come by choice. But I was also prepared to use force."

And the last thing Silas saw was her tilting head before the sickening sound of his breaking neck made itself present, his vision becoming black as he finally fell unconscious.

...

And so, like the Old Ones, the legend of the first Immortal beings ended.

Amara, unlike Silas thought, was not dead, but cursed by the witch Qetsyiah to become the door to the Other Side, a supernatural purgatory-like dimension created by the woman via a pact with the devil himself, where eventually all supernatural beings would end up at. Forced to feel the pain of their deaths and their resentment in their last moments, over and over and over.

Silas Corvinus, dissected by a spell hand-crafted by the witch, now stood hidden from the world on an island in the middle of nowhere, trapped in a coffin of stone with the cure vial still clenched in his hands, a dagger alongside him. Qetsiyah gives him a choice, to die and go to the Other Side to be with her or to stay tormented by eternity in a death-like state. Trapped, weak, and alone.

As for the witch Qetsyiah, well, for her crimes against nature, her people, and the natural order by creating the Immortality spell, the Travelers sentenced her to death and burned her at the stake. Death she took gladly and without resistance, still madly believing that Silas would take the cure and meet her at the Other Side, laughing as the fire burned her being whole.

But as most things go, not everything was according to plan.

In a twist of fate, Silas father, as well as any other witch and warlock in the world, felt the change in the natural order, he more than most, as he could feel the abomination Silas fathered, the close link to their bloodline making him able to feel the monstruosity still alive in Amara's womb, a Trur Immortal.

Using of dark magic, and with the help and sacrifice of inumerous of his people, and help of a friend from the Gemini Coven, he used of their magic to transfer the child from her womb to that of his own daughter, and banished her from the clan, forsaking her Corvinus blood and so, making her the first of the Ravenborn.

...

On the Other Side.

The witch Qetsiyah opened her dark orbs to be greeted by the familiar scene of a blue and cloudless sky, the feeling of the hard ground on her back as a smile crept its way into her face.

It had worked. Everything was going as planned and now all she needed to do was to wait for Silas' stubbornness to pass so he could realize they were soulmates and then take the cure, taking his life with the dagger she left for him so they could finally be together for eternity.

If not in life, then in death.

But as the witch basked himself into her own dream world as she lay on the hard and dirty ground, she didn't even notice the shadow that slowly approached her. Only snapping back to reality when a deep, animalistic howl resonated from behind her, and at that moment the woman felt as if her un-beating and un-existing heart stopped.

Slowly getting herself to her own two feet, Qetsyiah slowly turned herself around, her brown eyes finding shining green ones as what she could only describe as the biggest wolf she had ever seen stared at her, a wave of almost human-like anger hitting her senses and overwhelming her mind, fear crepting in.

The witch could not hold herself as her body instinctively took a step back, the creature following by giving one forward. Qetsiyah was scared, and the creature seemed to know it as what seemed a smile crept into its face, rows of sharp teeth that looked as if it could crush the moon there for all to see.

And as soon as the witch blinked, it pounced for her, those same teeth aiming for her neck as her screams, short-lived as they were, sounded through the entire forest, the sickening sound of ripping flesh and breaking bones alongside it.