The woods had become a living hell. Again and again, she had been caught and released, nothing more than prey for beasts to sharpen their skills.
Each escape ended the same, yet through it, she learned the forest's secrets. She tried to teach others, but none survived. One by one, they fell to the hounds.
Now, she ran again, wind whipping against her face as she vaulted fallen trees and leaped across creeks. But this time, she was the hunter.
Despite the relentless rain, Laverna caught their scent, her senses cutting through the damp air. The downpour drummed against the canopy, masking her approach, but she heard them, panicked voices laced with grief and desperation.
The storm blurred the forest into an abyss of shifting shadows, but that worked to her advantage. The rain drowned the world in darkness and fear.
She slowed, listening. Muffled sobs and frantic whispers carried through the trees.
Magdalene and Thomas argued. Magdalene clutched her grimoire to her chest, her body wracked with tremors.
"My babies... I have to go back! They need me!" she wailed, barely able to breathe through her grief.
Thomas seized her shoulders, shaking her. "They're dead, Magdalene! We need to run before that monster catches up!"
She shook her head violently, eyes wild with despair. "I can't! I need to see them! I need to hold them!"
His grip tightened, desperation flickering across his face. His gaze fell to the grimoire she clutched. "You still have your magic! Use the damn book! Undo whatever that wretch did to me!"
She looked up at him, lips parted, struggling to process his words. Her fingers trembled over the ancient tome, but did nothing.
"Magdalene!" Thomas snapped. "Fix this! Now!"
She was paralyzed, her grief swallowing her whole. She just stared, tears rolling down her blood-streaked face.
"Useless," Thomas hissed, shoving her away. "Absolutely fucking useless."
Laverna smirked from the shadows. Too easy.
She scaled a tree, crouching among the branches, her tail swishing. A low growl rumbled from her throat.
"You can torture people, ruin lives... but when it happens to you, it's suddenly not okay?" she purred, her voice an eerie echo in the night.
It bounced from every direction, impossible to pinpoint. Thomas and Magdalene spun in frantic circles, their eyes scanning the darkness. Laverna moved unseen, a phantom shifting between the trees.
Thomas kept glancing at his wrist, still unable to grasp the loss of his magic.
Laverna grinned, voice silk. "I'll kill her in front of you, Thomas, and make you watch as I slit your wife's throat."
They bolted. She lunged.
A wicked smile graced her lips as her claws glided effortlessly across Magdalene's throat. For a moment, the woman stood frozen, as if her body refused to acknowledge the wound. Then, a wet gurgle escaped as blood gushed forth.
Laverna leaned close, whispering against Magdalene's ear. "You'll see your children in hell soon." Then, with a ghostly silence, she slinked back into the darkness, her presence vanishing like mist.
From the shadows, she toyed with Thomas, circling him as they once did to her during the Hunt, drawing out his terror with every unseen movement.
Relief flickered across Magdalene's face, her lips parting as if comforted by the thought. But as her vision darkened, the world twisted. The warmth she sought never came.
Shadowy hands erupted from the abyss, seizing her limbs. Familiar faces leered at her. Bodyguards, lovers, discarded pawns. Their touch sent a shiver down her spine, not from fear, but bliss.
Their laughter wrapped around her like a lover's embrace. The memory of her children burned away in the fire, licking at her soul. The last thing she felt was pleasure before the flames devoured her.
Thomas turned just in time to see his wife collapse, her final expression one of twisted, sinful ecstasy.
A gut-wrenching cry ripped from his throat as he caught her, lowering her gently to the ground. Tears streaked his face as he clutched her lifeless form.
"WHERE ARE YOU?!" he roared into the night.
Laverna stepped from the shadows, tilting her head with a slow, predatory grin. "Right here."
She admired the sheen of Magdalene's blood on her nails. But before she could react, Thomas crashed into her, slamming her into the earth.
His fists rained down. A sharp crack signaled her broken nose, the sting of her split lip blurring her vision.
Pinning her arms, he grinned down, eyes dark with twisted pleasure. The tattered sack she wore had risen up her thighs, exposing her battered frame.
"I'll take you first... then slit your throat," he sneered, pressing his weight into her, his sheer size dwarfing her despite his lack of magic.
As he yanked at his belt, Laverna's breath hitched. Panic flared, but then, something darker slithered through her veins. A deep, primal growl rumbled from her throat.
She snapped forward, sinking her teeth into his forearm. Blood spurted into her mouth. Thomas shrieked, jerking back. She held firm, twisting violently. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she used his weight against him. They tumbled across the mud, blood, and rain mixing in the churned earth.
Thomas clawed at her, fingers finding her throat. Stars burst behind her eyes as he squeezed. She refused to yield.
Raking her nails down his face, she carved deep gashes, making him bellow in agony. His grip loosened. She twisted again, flipping him beneath her.
Breathing heavily, she leaned in, lips brushing his ear. "This is what you wanted, isn't it? To take? To control?"
His ragged gasps trembled beneath her. Letting the words sink in, she pulled back, eyes gleaming cold and final.
With one swift motion, she lashed her claws across his Achilles tendon. A sickening snap filled the air. A bloodcurdling scream followed. His legs collapsed beneath him. He writhed, crawling helplessly through the mud.
His scream was delicious.
Laverna crouched over him, licking the blood from her fingers. "You... are vile," she murmured. "And it is my honor..." She licked her lips. "...to devour you."
Thomas's final scream was lost to the night, a harrowing wail of agony that blended with the sickening sound of flesh being torn apart. It was not merely a cry of pain but one of pure horror, as if something monstrous had descended upon him, devouring him piece by piece.
The wet, ripping sounds echoed through the trees, a grotesque symphony of vengeance as Laverna fulfilled her promise. By the time the night grew silent, there was nothing left of the man but blood-soaked earth and the whispers of the storm.
Laverna staggered away from his shredded remains, her body slick with his blood. Every inch of her ached. The wounds on her back had reopened, Abigail's cuts burned anew, and Thomas's brutal blows throbbed through her skull. Her ribs ached from being tossed around like a rag doll.
She pushed her nose back into place with a sickening crunch, exhaling through the pain.
With heavy limbs, she slid down beneath a towering tree, the rough bark pressing against her torn skin. The forest floor was damp, the scent of blood thick in the air.
Above her, the moon bathed her in its silver glow. A tired, satisfied smile spread across her lips.
Justice had been served.
For herself. For her people. For all those who had suffered. She laughed first, taking vengeance for the people she failed to save. Then, she cried, feeling the despair even more, feeling the guilt that she survived while they didn't.
She wept for the innocent lives lost, for those who never had the chance to escape their suffering. Longing for her dead family, she wished she could see them once more. The weight of everything she had endured pressed down on her, and for a moment, she truly believed she was dying.
But in that moment of despair, she heard them, the whispers of vengeful spirits, voices no longer filled with anger but with gratitude. "You have freed us," one murmured, its voice like a fading wind.
"Our pain is no more," another sighed. "We can finally rest," a chorus of voices echoed, their tones lighter, relieved. "Thank you... for fulfilling our final wish," a final spirit whispered, its voice trembling with joy.
One by one, they passed into the beyond, their burdens lifted. As they ascended, she swore she could see faint, ethereal smiles lingering in the air, their joy washing over her like a warm embrace.
For the first time in her life, she felt something foreign, something she had never truly known. Not the fleeting warmth of a fire, nor the rush of vengeance. No, this was different.
This was peace, pure and untainted. It wrapped around her like a long-lost love, its warmth seeping into every fractured part of her soul, soothing wounds that even battle could never heal.
If this was where fate would take her, she could accept it.
As the thought crossed her mind, a wave of coldness spread through her, her body sinking into the pool of blood beneath her. Her fingers twitched, reaching absently toward the corpses littering the forest floor.
She smiled one last time before darkness claimed her.
The night stretched on, the silence only broken by the distant howls of scavengers drawn to the carnage. The battle had ended, but the echoes of violence lingered.
Somewhere beyond the trees, the wind carried the scent of war, of vengeance fulfilled yet unfinished. The storm of blood was not yet over.