Defiance

01.

Chapter 1

E L Y S I A

If the edge of the Raakan Woods was a mystical fairyland in the summer, it was a barren wasteland in the winter. The snow had seeped away every bit of life in the forest. There was not a hint of life. Instead, the trees cowered to form monstrous wooden hands and not a single sound could be heard. But in darkness and silence is where monsters reign best. I tried to swallow my fear. I stared at the snow that seeped to my knees.

Just a two nights ago, a blizzard shook the Eastern Lands so viciously, people became stuck in their own homes. Others, dead in the cold. Two deaths occurred in the village itself - the life of an elderly woman named Rei and a thirty-years-old man had been swept under piles of snow during the blizzard.

Snow had never been beautiful to me. It was too icy, too cold and the way it struck the other day, I finally understood what it meant when people said to fear beautiful things. For the first time, people were more terrified of the winter than they were of the monsters that lived deep in the woods.

I pulled my winter cloak tighter around my body. The deeper I went into the forest, the colder it got. I tried to ignore the pain in my legs as I stepped in the snow. My boots had far too much water in them but the thick tree branches I needed for firewood were deeper in the forest. I shut my eyes. 

Get it together Elysia. You've been through colder winters.

When I got back I was going to claw out Maise's eyes. I begged her to teach me the spells needed to make a clear path. It was a simple spell. I had seen countless witches whisper it after the storm but I couldn't hear any of them say it. I would ask Mother Noora when I got back. At the time, she was busy heeding all the sick of the village. 

Mother Noora was the only witch in the coven who half-heartedly accepted me. She was the High Healer of the Mae Coven and though she didn't trust me completely, she believed educating me wouldn't do any harm.

I had magic running through my veins since I was born but I didn't know how to spur a proper spell until I turned eighteen. Magic was only taught in covens of witches and covens only formed through bloodlines. An orphan girl who didn't know where she came from or who she was couldn't belong to a coven but she could help out and learn some basics. 

It didn't matter if there was no coven in the realm of Esera that would accept me, I had convinced myself years ago. Once I learned magic, I could go to the Kingdom capital and heal people the way Mother Noora did. Or maybe I could heal the witches and mortals fighting on the battlegrounds of the West, where the war between the werewolves and witches waged on.

Suddenly, I hear the crashing sound of broken branches. I knew wolves lived far deeper into the forest but they knew better to come close to a village where a coven resided. I turn around and could only see the sinister branches of the Raakan Forest. In the summer, these trees were so dense the sun's light barely reached the ground. I pulled my cloak through the snow but the bottom ends of it were so drenched, I feel as if I am carrying extra weight.

These woods always felt so wrong. Every step I took, my heart fell further down. I could feel the magic in the blood. 

When danger was near, magic always felt stronger. 

Deciding I didn't want to go further into the forest I broke off branches off the tree. In this icy weather, the branches came down with little force. I didn't care anymore, I just wanted to go back to the village and hand the coven the firewood they asked.

"Help!" A voice croaks. I immediately stop. I turned around and saw no one around me but there was still a voice. "Please." It was a dying voice - fragile and feeble.