Cursed Melody

Chapter 15

Merida

I flinch awake as the whispers of a soft melody brush against my ear. I'm not entirely sure when I lost consciousness. The last memory I had was of me punching the oak tree. My eyes open as I take in the unfamiliar place.

The sound of a fire crackling along with a soft melody rang through the air, amplified by the echo of the cave. I was crouched on my side as my vision began to clear.

Thick, spiraling tree roots rose up from the ground in vertical lines that connected over me; intertwined with the others on top in a cage-like fashion.

I swept aside a patch of debris as I examined my surrounds. I knew I was in a cave, yet I couldn't pinpoint where I was.

The hollowed out earth opened to reveal a lit fireplace with a small cauldron over it, held up by an iron fixture. The light of flames illuminated the clay stone walls.

The place I'm in might be one of many. It didn't look like a home but it showed evidence that people had lived here. Besides the fireplace, there was a table filled with grimoires and scrolls, decorative rugs lined the bottom of the cave walls, and various herbs hung on the bumpy stone walls.

I immediately recognized the scent of them, the missing pieces of my memory slowly crept back. It was the witch. When I had found that deer a while ago, I blacked out or at least I thought I did.

But the truth was that she'd knocked me unconscious and took me to a cabin I could only assume was hers. I remember being bound still as she told me about my mother... and a gift.

On the night of the full moon, I'll come for you. I'll save you, Merida.

The melody grew louder, forcing me to shift my position. However, the ceiling of the cave was too low for me to stand, so I crouched into a defensive stance.

Tonight was the full moon, a primal feeling from Melody told me that much.

The witch rounded the corner, the melody coming to an abrupt pause as she noticed me. She moved a youthful hand to push back the stray lock of graying brown hair that fell from her bun.

Like many sorceresses, her appearance confused me, rendering me incapable of telling her age.

So this is the witch my father mentioned.

"Why am I here?" I screamed at the witch. She brought me here for a reason, something told me there was a deeper meaning behind her simply trying to save me.

"I told you before, I am trying to save you." She replied as if that means anything to me. Her dull purple eyes pierced me as if searching for something.

"Save me," I scoff. "You're crazy. I don't need you to save me from anything."

"My sweet Merida," She picked up one of the grimoires from the table and examined it. "Your mother asked me to protect you. I've failed her once, and I won't do it again."

"What are you even saving me from?" If she wasn't going to let me go, then I found that it would be best if I gathered as much intel from her before escaping.

Now if I could find a way out this cage.

"Darkness." She said solemnly as she placed the grimoire down. "You see, there's a prophecy about you. One that was foretold the day you shifted. There were variations of it, long before you were born. But this prophecy was true. All the covens knew it. Peter knew it."

There was a bite to her voice as I waited for a moment, listening. My father's name caught my attention.

"The prophecy stated that you, Merida, will receive a gift as the only heir to the Lykos family. Your mothers coven called it the 'gift of the moon'. This gift will lead you into becoming one of the most powerful sorceress in history. However, with the Light comes Darkness. A curse." She breathed. "Darkness will come for you, it will become your undoing. It will be the death of you.