The sky was luminous. A velvet blanket of black, with a cascade of diamonds sprinkled across it, almost fairy-tale like, and any minute she was expecting her Prince Charming to come rescue her from the deathly grip of the warlocks and witches that had confined her to 40 days of solitude.
She did nothing to deserve her punishment. She was not the one that committed this unfathomable sin, that only one from Beth’s tavern would commit, as it was such an unspeakable crime and she was not a criminal.
She looked down at her surroundings. She was lying there in a torn flannel gown, something to eventually bury her in she guessed. Better than nothing she supposed, the material felt scratchy and painful. She usually loved the feeling of flannel but not today, it almost felt as if she was wearing burlap.
The concrete beneath her was cold and damp. She was shivering uncontrollably and could see her breath in Hollands chambers. She suddenly saw a small mouse skimmer by.
How would she ever convince them that she was not involved in her brother in law’s murder? She never had liked him but she had nothing to do with this heanous death by fire. She was at the tavern but only for a moment. She just dropped in for a second to pick up her beaten sister. He had raised his fist to her one last time. He was known as one of the yekors, a half man that was also half rodent.
She never knew why her sister married him in the first place. He had beaten her every single day since the day they had met. But as much as she wanted to put a stop to it she knew that eventually the God’s would end his soul by feeding him to the macriots, the lizard men that lived under the city.
She never expected that she would wind up in this hell of all hell. She too was a witch like the ones that held her captive but she was pure and good. She was innocent. She had not used her gift yet. She had refused to do so.
The mouse twinkled it’s nose and paused momentarily to look at her and then escaped under the metal bars that held her captive. First sign of life she has seen in what seemed like eternity. She was so hungry. She wanted to eat the mouse.
After a night’s rest, if you could even call it rest, she finally got a bit of momentary shut-eye, where she had dreamt of another life and place, one that was far away from this dreadful existence. She awoke and realized she was more than ready to attend trial. She was going to plea innocent, as she was undeniably, just that,purely innocent. But to prove it, she needed a good lawyer by her side.
As she looked up. She could see his face as if he was already there with her in trial. Hanzel, dressed in the finest of clothing, clean-cut and handsome as she had ever seen any man. He would ultimately be the one and only chance she would have at survival and possibly love if she was simply that fortunate. She didn’t see a ring on his finger. Maybe there was hope after all that he would save her. She would do anything to be free. Even selling her soul to the devil himself was not out of the question. She would do the unthinkable.
She started to see her breath in the dim light coming from the adjacent Chambers as she awoke from her dream. And she could hear the screams of what sounded like a girl, maybe that of a child. She wanted to cover her ears but the chains that had her bound would not let her and she sat there helpless.
She begged the God’s to set her free. She didn’t want to have to succumb to magic. She had sworn to her mother that had passed on many years before this moment that she would never touch it again. But this was a moment of dire straits. She was barely able to think.
But suddenly she remembered the spell her mother had taught her to only use in emergencies. She warned her that it would take many years of her life away and that her unborn children would be cursed for life if she would indeed let that spell slip through her crimson lips. But she had no choice. This little one next to her needed saving as did she. There was no time to waste.
She closed her eyes and yelled repeatedly the spell of all spells. She was using dark magic. She yelled so loudly you could hear windows break from afar. Suddenly the girl in the Chambers next to her became quite. She could see black shadows covering the dimly lit walls. Then out of nowhere a light enveloped the room with a magnificent glow. Her chains broke free and she ran to the closed bars that were no longer clasped by a lock. And opened them up to show freedom.
All of the guards were frozen in time. The only things that weren’t still was the little girl and the mouse, it was still scampering for something to eat no less. She grabbed the lifeless girl and ran into the dark hall’s as fast as she could. She would have to run past the dragons, warlocks and witches but she was fearless as they were all frozen in time thanks to her spell which was much more powerful than theirs. She was the most powerful of them all but they didn’t know it yet. They just thought she had done some unspeakable crime that she had not.
She stumbled as she hit the cold mud and murky waters of The swamp of Blair. She was weak and could hardly see. She couldn’t let go of the lifeless little girl though. She had to be strong. She had to find shelter. It was then that some sort of furry looking creäture took her hand. It was so dark. She had no clue about where he was taking her. But anywhere was better than where she had been.
She tried to take another look. It was a Tapsalilly. A cross dragon and bear mix, a moody breed but usually kind. They were known to be in hibernation this time of year. But not this one with his beady red eyes and thick dark fur. His paws were larger than her body. But this one wanted her for some reason. Did he want her for dinner? She hoped not.
She was becoming more and more frightened as she followed him into the dark swamp. A land of mystery that most would dare not attempt to voyage into especially alone. She thought this creäture was under her spell. She had no idea how long the spell would work. Was this journey to be the death of her and the little girl? Oh my God! What had she done? But she had been left with no choice. Her prince has not come to rescue her and she couldn’t let anyone harm this child anymore than they already had. She can’t imagine why the dark witches chose to lock up and punish a girl. She hoped she could save her. She looked at the girl dangling from her arms as they were drug through the swamp by this creäture. Where on Earth would he take them?
She looked above them in the thick dark grey skies that revealed several dragons suspended in the air. Her spell had left them frozen but for some strange reason it had left some creatures immune from it. She wondered why they weren’t effected by it unless they still were but in a different way. Maybe only evil could be effected by her magic.
She wanted food, a bath, shelter, warm clothes. She wanted her prince charming. Where was he? The Tapsallily was her prince charming she guessed. She supposed he would have to do.
It was days later that she woke up and realized she wasn’t in familiar territory. Lying next to her was the little girl she had saved. She was wearing nice clean clothes, it was a pretty floral gown and her blonde hair was shiny and smelled like sweet honey. She was happy to see her healthy and smiling while sitting up reading a Gibbons book, one just like the one that she too had read as a child, they were only given to the residence of their town of kamdenfire, it was a thick book that was composed of the cities rules and regulations, it was about 500 pages long.
Every resident was to be tested on it by age 13 and would not be granted citizenship if they didn’t pass. The verit slor council reigned over it for 100 years now. They watched everyone’s every move and dictated everything from the job a person had, to their life title and even how many children they had and whom their partner would be or not be in some people’s cases.
She didn’t know any different but had heard that the world close by there’s had fewer restrictions. She had dreamt of leaving this world someday. She could see the other world at night amongst millions of stars. She could see the blue ball glowing at night. It was beautiful and breathtaking. Their own world was full of dark grey skies and deep red sunsets. It was at night when the world she lived in looked it’s best.
“My name is Tullor” she said abruptly.
“Nice to meet you and pardon my appearance.” She told the girl as she looked down at her legs that had been caked in mud at one time. The mud was caked on all over her body still. It was like cement.
The girl laughed.
“They tried to shower you but you resisted so they left you alone.”
The little girl reached over to a table next to her bed and offered her some oatmeal.
“Please take it. I insist”
“Thank you. I would like that. ”
Her hands shook as she grabbed the cold but delightful concoction from the girls hands. She devoured it in mere minutes. And craved water afterward.
As if the girl has read her mind. She brought her a large pitcher of cold water. She drank it as fast as it would go down, leaving it almost empty. She needed to find a shower.
“By the way, my name is Kassidy.”
The girl smiled and told her rescuer that this would be their forever home. They Tapsillies were gone and would be gone for a few months during the 9 months of winter. They would be refugees and could start their lives with new identities thanks to their new friends.
Kassidy breathed a deep sigh of relief. She thanked the God’s and whispered to her mother, her guardian angel, thank you, as she slipped out the door into the forest to take a peak at her new surrounding before going back inside for her shower.
It was a time to start over. A time for new beginnings or so she thought until she saw the ildix exposing its fangs and a white mohawk only yards away from where she was standing. She tried to stay still and as quite as possible but darted back inside as quickly.
She slammed the door behind her only to see that her new friend was gone. She yelled for her but silence was all that echoed back and then suddenly the door began to pound. The monster kept slamming into the door over and over. She could see through the door at this point. He had shred it to a remnant of mere pieces in a matter of seconds. It would only be a matter of a few minutes and she would be the monsters next meal. She grabbed a broom that had been tucked away next to the corner of the entry door. She thought she was safe. And where was this girl again? She could see her blonde hair. She was tucked away under the blankets hiding.
“Come to me ” she reached out to her and grabbed her by her beautiful gown.
The monster revealed huge yellow eyes the size of saucers. And its teeth exposed pieces of flesh and blood from its previous meal. He smelled horrendous.
She snapped her fingers and said a few words. And off her and the little girl went into skies. Safe from all evil, at least for a little while. She would fly them to the new world where they would begin a new life. It looked like she would be living the life of a witch after all. It would be one magic ride.