Everywhere she looked there was fire.
Flames twisted high into the trees. Relentless animal figures consumed and destroyed every living thing in their path, leaving her childhood in nothing but smoking ashes.
A firey falcon swooped in from overhead as Adelaide sprinted in what she hoped was the right direction, coughing and gasping for air through the think smoke, until finally, she reached the garden door engulfed in fire as well.
Without missing a beat, she waved her hand and magic swung the burning door open, fanning the flames to burn brighter, sparks singeing the fabric of her dress as she hurried forward.
A barn owl's cold and shrill screech rang out from behind.... within the fire.
No.
"BERWIN!" she screamed, turning on the spot. Her voice cracked and her throat was raw, but she didn't care.
He was supposed to be safe.
He wasn't supposed to be there.
Another terrified screech confirmed what Adelaide now knew was an inevitable event.
Berwin was still trapped inside the maze of fiendfyre.
She hadn't been able to save him.
She looked around, trying in the haze of confusion and panic to think of something, anything that could help him... that's when she saw her.
A woman, standing near the edge of the garden path in dark tailored robes, wand raised, gazing onto her hellish handiwork with a horrific sense of pride.
Her mother.
"P-PLEASE—STOP!" Adelaide cried out desperately, running towards her. "BERWIN IS STILL—IN THERE!" she screamed through her coughs, pointing back to the now blazing door of the garden. "PLEASE—PLEASE, MOTHER! PLEASE! WE HAVE TO SAVE HIM! PLEASE! I CAN'T LOSE HIM TOO!"
Adelaide knew it was a long shot trying to appeal to the last shred of human decency Cathryn possessed, but it was still worth a try. Besides, what else could she do?
Unfortunately, Cathryn Fawley remained as firm and resolute as ever, the scorching path of destruction flickering in her hazel eyes. Hazel eyes that held an odd distance. She seemed lost in her own thoughts. So lost, that she didn't even seem to notice her daughter screaming at her. It was like she didn't even know Adelaide was there.
Stumbling forward, Adelaide forcefully took her mother by the shoulders and shook her. If her mother would just look at her. If she would just listen—
Adelaide yelped when her mother's wand flung her to the ground.
She landed hard onto the rocky path, faintly aware that her ankle was now in a highly unnatural position. Cathryn's eyes were cool and distant as her gaze returned to the fire.
Adelaide tried to get up. But she couldn't. She tried, through tears and clenched teeth, to douse the fire with every spell she could think of. But it was useless.
The only person who could stop the fiendfyre from climbing higher and higher into the trees was the one who started it.
There was another horrible screech.
A horrific cry of pain.
Berwin in pain.
"B-BERWIN!" Adelaide shrieked. "NO! BERWIN! PLEASE, MOTHER! PLEASE, HE'S GOING TO DIE IN THERE! PLEASE STOP! PLEASE YOU HAVE TO STOP THIS!"
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The Pureblood Princess | Sirius Black
Fanfiction"Words, Black. Words and sentences..." Adelaide Rose Fawley, member of the sacred 28, The Pureblood Princess, heiress to the Most Noble and Ancient House of Fawley. She grew up amongst the proud, noble, and prejudiced, raised to conform to the belie...
