Shadows of a Broken Past: A Shard of Faith (Book one)

Chapter 10:

Katherine fluttered through the flower fields, humming to herself. As she went along, she tended to the blooming flowers all around her. The fairy was content, everything so far had been going well. She had just returned from her diplomatic visit to Pixandria, and her home wasn't too far off. 

She looked around. The skies were clear, the occasional breeze ruffling through the air, birds chirping happily in the trees off to the side. The flowers were all doing well in the valley of her home, all of them beautiful and giving off a calm aura of gentleness and peace. But here, in this valley by the Undergrove, things were off. "Something's wrong here...." The hybrid murmured. She landed, her eyes wandering over the fields of flora as she slowly made her way across it. But something, a loud sound, made her freeze. 

A sharp, whistling howl. 

A dire wolf. 

There was another howl, and Katherine's black ears flattened to her head. "Oh no." The dark-haired woman murmured. "That....that isn't Shelby's pack, is it?" Another howl, and then dead silence. 

Katherine took a step forwards and was about to lift into the skies when something spoke to her. 

"Whatever are you doing, dear one?"

Katherine jumped. "Who's there?" She demanded, spinning around with one hand instinctively going to the hilt of the sword on her back. "Who are you?"

"I'm hurt." The voice mocked. "We've known each other for years, my dear Katherine." The voice had a familiar lilt to it. "And yet you don't recognize me?"

Katherine looked around with a frown. "Where are you?" She asked. "Show yourself!"

The speaker gave a low cackle and there was a loud crash and when Katherine turned to the source of the sound, she saw a cloud of violet sparks. She stepped back, nervous, and just as the young queen did so there was a flash of red-purple light and there, with her back turned to the other, was stood Gem. 

The woman's long ginger braid was streaked with an unsightly crimson, which contrasted awfully against the dark violet of her headmistress' uniform and the pale sheer green overcoat she wore on top of it. She kept her back to her, her clothes and hair blowing in the breeze. "I'm wounded, Katherine." She said, looking at her over her shoulder, letting Katherine see her eyes. 

Gem's beautiful green eyes were red. 

Katherine gasped and stepped back as the wizard turned fully, her staff in her hands. The wizard had a horrible grin on her face. "I can't believe you. Am I so forgettable?" She reached for her braid, grasping the end of it and pulling it's binding off, releasing her hair to fly in every direction. the sky, once beautiful and bright, had darkened considerably in the space of time since the fairy had arrived, casting a horrific shadow to be shot across Gem's entire being. 

Katherine shook her head. "Gem what's happening to you?" She asked fearfully. "You aren't yourself-"

"I'm more myself than I ever have been, Katherine." Gem interrupted her, her staff beginning to glow as she lifted slowly off the ground. "And it's high time EVERYONE SAW IT!"

She stabbed the ground with her staff and a ring of fire burst from the stone at the top, bright violet light pulsing from the gemstone almost blinding in the bright light. Katherine staggered back as the fire settled in a wide circle around them. Gem grinned and stepped closer. "How about a little....game, old friend?" She hissed. 

Katherine shook her head. "Gem, this isn't you." She said. "I can't fight you, you're my friend!"

Gem laughed; a raspy, awful noise. "Friend?" She shot a beam of red light at Katherine, which the latter dodged, drawing her sword. "I have no friends, darling. Only a weakling wizard would have friends. And I am no weakling, fairy-cat." She shot another beam. 

Katherine leapt out of the way. "Please Gem, I can't fight you." She begged, trying to get the woman to come to her senses. "I will not fight you. Not like this." 

"I'm afraid 'no' isn't an option, Kat." Gem snarled. "There's only one option for you now." 

"And what's that?" Katherine asked, tensing. 

Gem cackled. "Oh darling, it's death." She said. "He's come knocking at your door with the name of Gemma Night Taylor, the servant of Xornoth of Rivendell, demon. In other words, Exor will be your downfall. House Blossom, and the rest of the world, will be ruled in His Holy Name!"

Katherine gasped, dodging another attack. "Gem, you've been mind-controlled! Snap out of it!"She cried, gripping her weapon tightly. 

Gem raised her hand to her mouth, giggling and smiling darkly. Her red eyes flashed. "Why ever would I do that, my darling?" She asked, putting her hand to her chest, flicking up a necklace: a deep red ruby that, even at a distance, seemed to be filled with swirling smoke, dangling from a gold chain. The smoke didn't have any seeming colour, but sometimes a wisp or two of pale violet smoke seeped out. However, despite some of the smoke inside, the rest outside of the crystal was red, and spun up to her eyes, giving them a reddish tinge. "Darling, this is what gives me my WONDERFUL abilities. Courtesy of Xornoth, who gave it to me as a token from Exor." She laughed. 

The fairy-cat hybrid shrank away from her. "I don't think it's so wonderful, old friend." She said quietly. 

"DON'T SAY THAT!" Gem roared, slamming back to the ground and at the speed of light she held her staff with a pulsing ball of light just under her throat. Katherine's eyes widened and she refrained from stepping back at the heat of the energy ball at her neck. "I was BLESSED by him to be given these gifts." The wizard snarled. "Don't you DARE say otherwise! Or else I'll burn this pretty little neck of yours!"

Katherine closed her eyes and stepped back. "Gem, he's destroyed you." She said sadly. "He's taken you for his own. I'm sorry." 

This made the ginger woman falter. "You're....sorry?" She asked quietly. Before Katherine responded, her eyes turned hard again. "No one is ever sorry for me. Ever."

"That'll change with me then." Katherine said. "I'll be friendly with you, but I don't know who you are." She lowered her weapon. 

Gem laughed as she did so, swinging her staff up and making Katherine fall onto her side with a shriek. The wizard stepped forward, using her magic to lift Katherine's body from the ground and come towards her. "Wrong move, Katherine." She spat. 

Katherine looked at her, unable to move with the bindings. "Let her go." She pleaded. "Please. She can't be your puppet."

Gem giggled darkly. "Puppet? She's not my puppet. She's simply mine." The ginger said, raising her staff. "Peredo!" She shouted, and Katherine's head fell back and the latter groaned as a wisp of pure pink light rose from her, flying into the air before shooting down and sinking into the necklace around Gem's neck. 

The wizard let Katherine fall on the ground, and the cat-fairy dropped like a stone, slumping on the grass limply. "Weak." The wizard said coldly, and with a flurry of violet sparks, she was gone. 

Katherine's eyelashes fluttered a little, letting light seep into her eyes before she gave up, closing her eyes. Her spirit was gone. She laid there, unconscious on the ground, and as she was there, still, her wings slowly faded from her back until they were gone entirely. She was simply a girl with cat ears and a tail. 

Alone. 

————

Hello everyone! This chapter's a little longer than usual, but it's still one of my current favourites. What do you all think?

-Quiet