Cursed

Exile

"What?" I sputtered, looking around helplessly.

I couldn't breathe. Or think. Or move. Everyone around me seemed to be very interested in the ground. All I could hear was my blood pounding in my ears. Then I saw someone shoving their way through the crowd. A short, plump woman with graying hair and a look that could slice through rocks elbowed to the front of the crowd.

"What the hell is going on here?" she barked.

I allowed a small glimmer of hope to form. Gertrude was probably the most hard headed woman in the village. Not to mention, she was sort of my adoptive mother.

The chief visibly paled.

"Gertrude, Emerald has been accused of being a Dragonian," the Chief's voice sounded a little forced.

Gertrude's eyes widened a little bit as she turned to look at me.

"Emmy? Is that true?" she asked, being the first person to actually address me.

It took several tries just to get some audible words out of me.

"I-I don't know what happened. Trace was-was...Then I-I got so mad, and I looked at the puddle, and-and," I stared hysterically at Gertrude," My eyes. They-They changed."

She looked utterly taken aback, but she still turned back to the Chief.

"You can't seriously be thinking of the usual sentence," she scoffed.

The chief wrung his hands, "It's the law. Any individual that is accused of having anything to do with magic, dragons, or Immortals has to be put to death."

She snorted," This is Emmy we're talking about. We all watched her grow up. For all we know, it could have been a fluke, or a flare of the light. I am certain that Trace did something to provoke her."

The Chief sighed, and pulled her off to the side. They whispered angrily at each other, gesturing towards me more than once. I stood, frozen, watching them decide me fate. I felt sick. Finally, I watched Gertrude's shoulders slump as they came back to face me. The Chief's voice boomed as he addressed the crowd.

"It has been decided that since Emerald has been a citizen of Herron for so long, and the charges so small, that she will be allowed to live."

My heart jumped, and I almost cried with joy, but he wasn't finished yet.

"She will be exiled from the village of Herron!"

With that my stomach dropped again. Exile? But that meant I would never be part of my village or any surrounding it again. At least, not under my true name. I was shaking, and Gertrude drew me in a tight hug.

"I'm so sorry, my Child."

Angry shouts filled the air. Most of the villagers were old fashioned and went with the old ways. I had the feeling that they wanted me dead. I had to leave. Now.