The Fire That Burns Within

Chapter 1 - Loss

Esmerelda

Never look back. Never trust anyone. Never let your guard down. Living on the run comes with few rules, though they're rules that keep me from getting killed. It's not exactly a cheerful lifestyle, especially when you're on the run from witch hunters, of all people.

I'm not a witch. In their definition, a witch is a servant of the Devil. I've done nothing to hurt people, purposefully, and I serve no one but myself; my powers don't stem from evil, or anything of that strand. They come from light, earth, but what's the point in explaining? I was blamed; blamed for death, for suffering, for the single handed murder of my own family. Family...it seems like a foreign term, I haven't had a family in years. Plus, they could hardly be considered such. They hated me because of my powers, shunned me even. The only one who loved me for who I was had been my sister, Elicia... But despite their hatred and their disdain, I wouldn't dream of hurting them. They were still family to me, to Elicia. But things change.

Mother hated me the most. She claimed I was the Devil incarnate, spouted her ridiculousness to anyone who would listen. She never understood me, not that she cared to take the chance. I wasn't allowed my own room, or allowed to eat with the rest of the family. I wasn't even allowed access the food in the house. God forbid I couldn't find anything to eat, I just had to starve until my luck turned or someone in the village took pity on me. Seeing as that didn't last long, I learned how to hunt. 

The only reason I hadn't died from exhaustion or given up altogether was because of my sister. She always stood up for me. She was the eldest, but out of all of us I was the only one born with powers. The first time I used magic I was only a baby. All I did was levitate a toy, what was the harm in that? But of course, mother took me and locked me up in the attic. A baby, put away like an unwanted doll. She still fed me and let me out from time to time, but only for her own selfish reasons. But Elicia? She thought my powers were wonderful, she would even sneak me out at night when mother was asleep to take a walk in the woods. It was a tradition of ours.

I was in love with the nature, especially surrounding our small cottage in the woods. The trees, the fresh air, the ravine, they felt like a part of me. Maybe they were, without anyone to teach me or help me I had no clue what my powers meant or why I had them. With Elicia I could explore them: discover their connection to nature and the surge the earth beneath my feet would give me, the energy I could feel through my veins as I inhaled the fresh Spring air. But mother wouldn't have it. The day she found out I had been sneaking out with Elicia was the day it all went terribly wrong.

~

"Devil child! Come upstairs this instant!" A shudder went through me as I glanced up the stairs with clenched teeth. Although I deeply did not want to, I raced up the stairs, not wanting to keep an angry mother waiting. "Can you explain this?" She hissed in a sinister tone as she held up my muddy boots from the night before. I felt my face pale as I stared at the dirt caked shoes. How could I forget to wash my boots? I always remembered, I always remembered so this exact situation wouldn't happen. "Mother.." I tried to speak up and maybe get away with some clever excuse, but today was not my lucky day.

"You went outside! Someone could have seen you, someone could have witnessed your...your Devil's magic!" Her voice felt as if it shook the entire room around us, her tone hissed at me like a snake ready to bite. She moved closer with each breath, her fist raised and seeming much more menacing than a frail woman in her forties should have been. "You are a wretched girl! You know you can never step foot outside! Are you trying to poison the minds of the poor innocent people with your 'magic'?" I swallowed hard, trying my best not to fall over myself as I backed closer to the wall. I couldn't stand down. Just like how one cannot show weakness when being faced by a wild animal, I could not appear weak to my mother.