Ana's Early Life

Anastasia grew up in Summertown, a small and pleasant village. Her mother, a half-witch, taught her healing and protection magic when she was young.

Ana showed promise in these skills and was right on track to become a proficient healer, although she wished to learn other types of magic, something her mother didn't allow. One day, a new couple moved into town. As they were also healers, Ana's mother quickly befriended them.

Through her mother's friendship with this couple, Ana was, naturally, expected to get along with their son Warwick. A boy of fifteen - the same age as her, yet he excelled in many forms of magic and was even considered a prodigy. He demonstrated his skills to her, bragging about how effortlessly he could manipulate flames, water, and air. He even showed off his darker skills - magic that could inflict terrible pain, influence minds, or curse the unwary. Ana's fascination turned to envy, and envy turned to jealousy.

Driven by her competitive nature, she asked him to teach her what he knew, and he agreed. The pair began to meet in secret three times a week.

When Ana's mother found out, she was terribly embarrassed that her daughter had been dabbling in offensive magic. Ana lashed out, saying it wasn't fair that a boy her age knew so much more than she did. She accused her mother of not training her properly. Tears were shed and family bonds were strained, but out of respect for her mother, Ana went back to only using "pacifistic" magic.

The incident started a domino effect: Ana's mother cut ties with Warwick's parents, Warwick's parents were furious with their son for flaunting his dark magic, and Warwick blamed Ana for getting him into trouble.

He turned upon her, tormenting her whenever he could. He called her weak and stupid, mocking her for not using the skills he'd taught her, taking every chance to remind her of his superiority. With patience worn thin and sick of the mess her life had become, Ana finally snapped and hit him with a pain curse.

She should have been horrified, seeing him writhe and scream in agony, but all she felt was a grim satisfaction. She had brought her aggressor to his knees. It was a rush unlike anything she'd felt before. She decided, then, that her mother had done her a disservice. This was true power, and this was what she wanted to spend her life doing.

Her attack on Warwick was the last straw. Her relationship with her parents all but gone, and with Warwick's own parents threatening her, she packed what she needed and left Summertown aged barely seventeen.

The next few years of her life were spent travelling. She made a living by healing injuries, but spent her free time practising powerful combative spells, including - but not limited to - dark magic. Eventually, while in Vallis, she was discovered practising dark magic and almost killed by a group of angry villagers. She was saved at the last moment by a vampire named Sargon. His rescue of her, combined with his interest and appreciation for her powers, led Ana to develop an unhealthy crush on him, bordering on obsession. She swore her loyalties to this man and claimed she would follow him anywhere.