Witchcraft

Chapter 1

Esmeralda's POV

I burst inside my little cottage. my long, brown cloak fluttered behind me as I scrambled through the cramped hallway.

They'd found me.

I knew this day would come eventually, but not so soon. Never so soon. I'd just been in town, going on a trip for food and supplies. An announcement had been made, speaking of the 'vicious witch in the forest', a.k.a., me. Mothers had clutched their children closer. People had scowled in fury, gasped in terror.

All because witchcraft was forbidden, and I am a witch. For some people they were born with it, like me. Others choose to go into the magic arts themselves. Anybody found guilty is burned at the stake. Ninety percent of witches are female, but occasionally men are also practitioners.

I nearly tripped several times on my hurry to the bedroom. Forcing the door open, I jerked a large black satchel from underneath my old oak bed. Clothes and objects began to float around me, before neatly placing themselves in the satchel. A few changes of clothes, water, food, a large spellbook, and a tiny blanket were packed, before I squeezed the satchel lid shut. Being a witch definitely had it's perks when it came to packing quickly.

How did they even find me? Ten long years I've been here, since I was only 9. My mother had worked long and hard to conceal this place from the townsfolk, making the people always get lost before they could reach us. "King Hayden is an ignorant fool who just can't accept that some people may be stronger than him", my mother used to say. Part of me agreed. The other part thought that King Hayden is actually terrified of magic, and therefore trying to destroy it.

I could hear the feet of maybe 10 people pounding outside my door. I'll have to take the back way out. Slipping through my house, the front entrance was kicked down with a resonating bang. It rattled in my head. The beautiful home my mother and I shared was being torn down.

I could stay and fight the King's men if I wanted to, but that would result in injuries, maybe even death. I didn't want to hurt anybody.

It was this meek nature that my mother knew would one day get me in trouble. So she had trained me, physically and magically. We would spend hours everyday climbing trees and running as fast as we could. Then she would read me spells as I sat on her lap and show me how to perform them.

I miss those days, just my mother and I. But I have bigger things to worry about right now. Particularly the soldiers raiding my house right now.

"Under the orders of King Hayden, may he live forever, you are hereby under arrest! You may come to us, or we shall capture you for your crimes of witchcraft!" A man shouted roughly, his voice piercing through the sounds of birds chirping and leaves rustling.

I didn't stop running, my feet slipping over the wooden floor and through the threshold of the back door. The soldiers began to pound through the house behind me. They overturned tables and pushed over bookshelves as they went. Probably looking for witchcraft supplies so they could burn it. My supplies mostly consisted of herbs, I didn't use anything like rabbits or lizards like some other witches.

I rushed out into the forest, letting the cold wind autumn wind nip at my nose. I didn't stop as they burst out of my house behind me, shouting curses and brandishing their swords. The King's men all used longswords dipping in poison. Even a small nick could end up killing a person.

The orange leaves rustled as my even breaths puffed out clouds of warmth.

Run.

Run.

Run.

It seemed like for an eternity I was sprinting, the soldiers always a few steps out or reach. The woods seemed to grow colder, and I realized I'd been running north, in the direction of the Dark Woods. The Dark Woods were a forest that all the creatures of the night remained. Vampires, dire wolves, ogres, demons, and ghost galore. The temperature at night could drop to negative thirty in that forest, and almost no human ever came out alive.

My mother once told me about a time when she had to save her friend from the Dark Woods. Apparently both she and her rescued friend were on the brink of death when they came out.

Only suicidal people went in. Only extremely powerful people came out.

My mind told my feet to take a left, but my body wouldn't comply. Fear alone was driving me to go farther, and the soldiers surely wouldn't chase me into the Dark Woods!

The second I entered the denser pine trees, I shivered. The footsteps behind me stopped, all but one pair of feet. Dammit! These guys just didn't give up!

"Halt, witch!" A soldier behind me shouted, only sounding a bit older than me. But I didn't stop. I began sprinting even faster, my feet beginning to ache.

Mysterious shadows and looming trees flew by me as the temperature dropped until I stopped, turning around to face the soldier. To my surprise he only looked in his late teens or early twenties. Tousled black hair framed what would be a handsome face, if he wasn't trying to kill me that is. His bright green eyes shone with disgust as he charged towards me, sweat dripping down his face. My hands instinctively went up to shield my face, and I heard a small grunt, and a thump on the forest floor.

The soldier was out cold, face down on the ground. Luckily, he was still breathing. I didn't like the King or his men, but I sure didn't want to become a killer! I must have unconsciously used my magic as a defense, something that happened every once in a while.

It was then that I realized that I'd gone too far deep into the Dark Woods, and I was completely lost. Great. Lost in one of the most dangerous places ever, stranded with a soldier who wanted you dead.

Just dandy, Esmeralda. Just fudging dandy.

Hi guys! Thanks for reading! Please tell me if you find any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors. What do you think?