Prologue

It was a starless and eerie night. The only sounds are the screams of agony from the villagers and the crackling fire. Flecks of burnt wood and dust floated through the air, carried by the slight breeze. Thick smoke clouded the midnight sky, like large wraiths consuming the moon. A middle-aged woman covered in ashes, stumbles out of a burning house, her children supporting her from under her arms and helping her limp towards the street. Her velvet gown was torn, leaving trails of soft silk dragging on the ground behind her. Her face was cut and bruised. A thin trickle of blood ran down her forehead, dripping off her chin. She took in short, quick, shuddering breaths as she clung to the little bit of life she had left. As she approached the crooked street lamp, she collapsed on the floor, along with her children.

"Never forget."

Lucius began to shake the limp corpse of their mother. "Mom, GET UP!" The child began to scream at his mother's dark figure lying on the abandoned street. Her last words etched upon her lips, aching for the warmth of life that lingered in the air. The wailing was soon drowned out by the crash of wooden boards collapsing in the house behind them, the sparks scattered on the ground like falling stars.

"We learned something today."

The words of the eldest child put a stop to the boy's cries.

"Look. Now we know that Ignero is after our father. He wanted revenge against our parents. We need to make finding our dad a priority right now. I know that he's still out there, and I know that he still remembers us."

Raven looked at her in disbelief. "He's gone! And he's never coming back. He left us long ago. Just forget him already Nikki. He stopped caring about us the day he left without a word. Why should we give a damn about what how he's doing?"

Nikki looked back at Raven with a fiery determination in her eyes. It broke Raven's heart to see her older sister so desperate.

"You can't be serious Nikki, he's gone, and hoping that he still loves us won't make him come back,'' Raven whispered.

Nikki glared right into her eyes. "What do you know? You weren't there when he left! What were you doing again? Oh wait, you were just making another one of your stupid bitch spells. " Nikki's volume grew with every word that she said, and the word 'bitch' came out like a viper spitting poison.

"At least those spells will help us more in the future than our useless dad!" shouted Raven, her eyes glowing bright blue.

Nikki punched the concrete sidewalk, causing her knuckles to bleed. "Why won't you listen to me? His chances of defeating Ignero and putting an end to all of this is much higher than ours!"

"Nikki! He isn't the only person in the world! There are other people who can help us more!"

"Raven! Nikki! How dare you yell at each other! I will not tolerate such childish behavior! Ignero is coming! Right now you all need to get to safety, none of you will be able to accomplish anything if you're dead!"

The piercing sound of her voice sliced through the silence like a sharp blade hitting water. Raven and Nikki whirled around to see their mentor, Lisa, standing five feet away from them, with the most ferocious look on her face.

"Come with me."

When nobody moved a muscle, she yelled, "Now!" which jerked everyone into motion. Lisa led them to a clear opening, where there was no one in sight.

"Gather around, I'll take you somewhere safe."

The group formed a circle and held each other's hands. Lisa began to recite some magic phrases and slowly, a magic circle formed in the middle of the group. When the circle had been completely written, they each stepped into it, consuming them one-by-one.

"Raven! What are you doing?"

At the last moment, Raven had stepped out of the circle, and watched as the others faded into the glowing light. She gave them a hopeful smile, full of woe, and walked away, into the dark of the night.

This massacre would be known as, "The Day The Devil Knocked On A Witch's Door".