Prince of Darkness

Copyright Copyright © 2023 by Amber Thoma All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permission requests, contact [include publisher/author contact info]. The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred. Book Cover by Miblart first edition 2023 Dedication F or my sister friend https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4FWlzUCHNsiQMqML0ocwai?si=338f34f7828f4951 Contents 1. One 2. Two 3. Three 4. Four 5. Five 6. Six 7. Seven 8. Eight 9. Nine 10. Ten 11. Eleven 12. Twelve 13. Thirteen 14. Fourteen 15. Fifteen 16. Sixteen 17. Seventeen 18. Eighteen 19. Nineteen 20. Twenty 21. Twenty One 22. Twenty Two 23. Twenty Three 24. Twenty Four 25. Twenty Five 26. Twenty Six 27. Twenty Seven 28. Twenty Eight 29. Twenty Nine 30. Thirty 31. Thirty One 32. Thirty Two 33. Thirty Three 34. Thirty Four 35. Thirty Five 36. Thirty Six 37. Thirty Seven 38. Thirty Eight 39. Thirty Nine 40. Forty 41. Forty One 42. Forty Two 43. Forty Three 44. Forty Four 45. Forty Five 46. Forty Six 47. Forty Seven 48. Forty Eight 49. Forty Nine 50. Fifty 51. Fifty One 52. Fifty Two Acknowledgments About the Author One Etain checked her satchel one last time and sighed deeply. This is not what she wanted to be doing this evening. Grabbing her bag, she went to the front door of her two-room home and glanced up at the sky, hoping her calculations had been wrong. Another deep sigh escaped her as she watched the red creep across the full moon; it slowly became a blood moon in front of her eyes. Her calculations were, as usual, correct. On one hand this was good. She needed to collect multiple potent herbs, plants, and fungi that were only harvestable under a blood moon, and when said moon rose in early fall, like now, their medicinal properties were at their strongest. On the other hand, the veil was the thinnest and that meant the magical folk were going to be out. She knew they would delight in her torment. She would need to be extra vigilant, looking for traps and the creatures that hide themselves in the shadows. Better yet, she herself would need to be a creature hiding in the shadows. She grabbed her long, dark green cloak hanging next to the door and draped it around herself. She hoped it would help her look like a shadow and help her survive the night unscathed. As she began her trek to the edge of the woods, Etain knew herself to be a fool for going out alone on a night as dangerous as this one would undoubtedly be. She cursed herself for being idiotic enough to forage around in the woods. She was sure she would make noise and draw unwanted attention, although there was nothing to be done for it; she needed the medicinal ingredients. The people of Havenston had already been growing suspicious of her. The new religion had shown up several years ago, bit by bit sinking its claws into the people of Havenston. In the last couple years it started making the townspeople fear witches, more precisely Etain. Never mind she grew up with a good portion of the townsfolk, and her mother delivered most of them when they made their way into the world. She herself helped Nessa deliver her third baby not even two nights ago. Nessa had once been a friend, and the two had played together for most of their early childhoods until Nessa started to look at Etain with fear and wariness in her eyes. It pained Etain to have been asked to leave their home immediately after the baby was born and had not been permitted to hold the sweet little girl she just helped usher into the world. A long line of Walsh women cared for this town for as far back as the town existed. Where they were once celebrated, she was now a pariah and likely the last Walsh witch to exist. At two and twenty and still unwed, the prospect of children seemed out of the question, particularly when not a single man would come close enough to her. Well, she supposed that wasn’t entirely true- there was Seamus after all. He was sure he was sent by the God of Light to save her from her “devilish ways,” whatever that meant. Seamus was attractive enough, she supposed. Tall and wide with sandy blonde hair and brown eyes that used to be filled with warmth, but now held brutal coldness instead. He inherited his father’s farm two years ago after his father fell off his horse; there was nothing Etain could do to save him. Shortly after that, Seamus began calling on her again, if that’s what you could even call it. He would show up at inappropriate times in the evenings to tell her how horrible she was. How she should fall to her knees and ask someone, him perhaps, for forgiveness of her wicked ways. It did not seem to matter how often she asked him to stop frequenting her door, he always came back. Lately, he had been getting bolder and attempting to shove the door and force his way in. His eyes had taken on a dangerous glint as well. Etain and Seamus had grown up together. When they were children she thought they would wed and start a family some day. Seamus officially courted Etain for a few years before her mother’s death. Not even a few months into their courtship the Shepherd, the one who claimed to speak for the God of Light, began to dig his claws into Seamus’ mind. Little by little Seamus began to