Emberlight

1. A Battle Worth Forgetting

Kelsey

Kelsey Black dug her nails into the most vulnerable part of the wicker effigy, knowing full well her actions would christen a war. She untied the knot in the rattan weave and yanked until the pointed hat broke free from the lump of sticks and wicker.

Her mother would kill her if she found out. Grounded for a month, phone swiped from her, and all the works. It made her want it more.

Tossing the hat into the depths of the alleyway, she shimmied down the stake, feet snapped the kindling below. A smirk sharpened her thin lips.

Hatless and bedraggled, the effigy resembled a human and nothing more. Not magic, not a witch—not that her mother would care for too long. The witchcraft petition had finally reached parliament, and her followers could heckle anything on fire. Still, it sent a message. Ester Black could force Kelsey to sit through her meetings, but she couldn't force her daughter to agree.

"Okay, so it's just a bunch of sticks now. Are you ready to run?" Feya asked warily. Despite plaiting her hair at the scalp, Feya's black curls still frizzed out from her ponytail as erratic as her worried eyes. To be fair, the setting sun had cast an eerie light over the empty town square, but she didn't need to check over her shoulder as if Kelsey's mother haunted the alleyways. Her dark skin, a smooth sepia colour, helped conceal some of the pale worry from her face, but Kelsey knew not to push the mischief too far.

Not that she could help herself.

"Almost." Kelsey pulled out a phone from her leather jacket and took a selfie. She hated the way her cropped dark hair and pallid face looked sickly in the twilight, but this wasn't about her. It was about making a statement...although it didn't feel barbed enough.

She knelt and swapped her phone for a lighter.

"Oh, no," Feya said, jumping forwards.

"Oh, yes," Kelsey said, grinning wildly. "No one will know as long as we run."

"But you can't leave a bonfire unattended! The town hall, and then the houses, and-and...You'll burn down the whole place!"

With a sigh, Kelsey knew her friend was somewhat right, but her fingers still itched for destruction. If I can't burn it, how do I destroy it? She looked to the safety bucket of water beside the sticks, a new plan tingling the palms of her hands. "You're right. You're always right." Kelsey hauled the bucket of water over the effigy, drenching the figure entirely. She stashed the firelighters in her schoolbag and stood beside her best friend with a sense of pride over her miraculous restraint. "Now it can't burn at all."

"That works for me. Can we go?"

They fled the scene towards Kelsey's house, slowing as they reached the signs of magical mishaps—chunks of broken pavement tiles, bent lampposts—and dawdling further as Kelsey realised they were going to arrive early to the meeting meant nothing to them.

"Can't believe you snuck out of detention for that," Feya said, although she tagged a smile on at the end that showed her amusement. "You're so going to be grounded."

"I'm doing them a favour."

"Who? The 'witches'?" Feya frowned. "I thought you didn't care about magic."

"I don't," Kelsey said a little too fast. "Mum can't handle them like she thinks she can. They'd retaliate."

Feya shrugged. "I don't know. I like to think they're too busy to care about us. It makes sense, you know? They just want us to forget about them."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," Kelsey joked, but it wasn't that simple. The witches had cast a spell across the world to make anyone without magic forget about their unnatural powers, to forget any magic they may see, and even render them confused at the very mention of their true name: Embers. But it didn't always work. Children remembered perfectly, and some adults like Kelsey's mum could fight it. Even Kelsey and Feya were still waiting for the Aversion spell to kick in and convert them into non-believers. They had yet to forgot any of the magical destruction they had witnessed, and the horrors of the Embers' powers still haunted their dreams. The weight of magic hung heavy on their shoulders with every step they took, even now.