Dark Aura (under editing)

Part 1: The village

It was a dreary morning; the sky was a murky, faint gray. The clouds merged into one another, suffocating the last sliver of light. It was eerily quiet, usually there were laughing and rambunctious children running around the town square.

The two neighbors that would always bicker; instead, passed each other with glum expressions. The only sounds were the sound of clicks and clacks of hooves and shoes. I couldn't help but feel an uneasiness forming in the pit of my stomach. What's happened to the world around me? Why is it suddenly so lifeless and cold? I passed by the glum neighbors and headed to the town square.

A woman pushes through the crowd, "No! no, no, please! Have mercy!" The crowd eyes the woman in distaste. My eyes land on a woman weeping uncontrollably. She yanks the arms of the armored men, sobbing and pleading. The armored men don't even budge. Still, she tugs and kept on pleading to them pitifully. Her howls grow more into shrieks as two shrouded men pass through. They're shrouded in long black masks. The mask hides all of their face except for their eyes and mouth.

The shrouded men clutch onto the arms of a young girl. She looked no older than me. She weeps as two men, masked men and attire clutch the young girl. They lead her to an odd contraption, a contraption out of wood and metal. A large blade is on top, and a circular, carved hole is on the bottom. The large hole was next to smaller holes; the closer she got to the contraption, the louder the crowd became. Everyone around me voiced cheers and chants of raw anger. They seemed impatient, keen... The girl stood behind the contraption with a unique look in her eyes. Instead of fear or sadness, like she once shown. She was emotionless? Before I could unravel the mystery of the contraption, mother yanked me away.

"What will happen to that girl?" I peer up at her.

"You don't eavesdrop on town business!" She whispered.

"But...." She yanks my hand and leads me home. She holds on tight, making it clear to not glance back. As we headed home, I could hear the village cheering. It wasn't cheerful in the slightest... it contained more rage? It was in that moment, I saw first glance, the cruelty in this world. The cruelty of humans, it always seemed to amaze me. It did not faze my mother at all. I couldn't wrap my head around it. Weren't they not complimenting her, greeting her the other day? And now, this? I didn't know her well, but I knew she wasn't one of us. I sit down and munch on my breakfast. I couldn't stomach any food, for some odd reason I felt sorrow for her.

"Natalie, don't tell me you're still on about that girl!" she uttered in a vexed manner. I dropped my fork.

"I don't understand she wasn't tried for withcraft, so why what other reason would they have to kill her? " I insisted. "She wasn't even,"-

"She trusted them blinldy, which is why she ended up dead!"

"But she... she wasn't one of us! She didn't deserve this treatment, and aren't humans supposed to have compassion for young ones?" I appeal to bring her good nature; or perhaps the world's.

"Compassion? That's why you're troubled? Humans are impulsive creatures, whatever they think of, they act on. It doesn't matter to them if she was one or not, as soon as they believed she was a threat, she became their enemy..." I can't imagine what they would do to us if they do that to their own kind.
"Why torment yourself with such trivial thoughts? It doesn't matter! As long as they don't suspect us, there's nothing you need to worry about."

"Yes, but she settled close by, which means they could watch our surrounding area for the present being." The door creaks open, enormous boots thump on the frail wooden floor.

"She bears a reason." My father adds while thumping around the eatery.

"Where were you, Reynold?" She shifts to face father; so he's left with no choice but to face her.

"Taking care of business." He retorted. My mother shifts herself back around to pursue her arrangements for her meal. Father heads down our narrow corridor and leaves. The one part I've never got out of this living arrangement is my mother's skepticism about my father. Every breakfast he shows up late and with that, she demands his whereabouts. Further on, he gives the same answer and further on they continue their daily routine. They don't ask one another about their days. When one enters a room, the other leaves. It's obvious that they aren't together with love and are more strangers to one another. I don't get why they had me.

Even when I try to confront her about it, she just says, "I love your father, but showing any sign of that emotion is like asking for someone to condemn you." I'm still stuck on the thought of that girl; how ironic that she was the one who was convicted. Unlike us... Who pose a real threat to them. Mother always warned me of humans and magic. She would lecture for hours on the dangers of humans and magic.

I wanted to prove her wrong so I began practicing my magic in more useful ways. I started with something simple, as in enhancing the growth of a flower. When the sun arose, I hurried down the field to inspect it. It was no longer living. Then I started searching for an ill human. I thought if I had more pressure I would perform better. I saw the man, and gave him a charmed amulet to heal his sickness. I waited for three passes of the village bell. I checked up on him and saw his illness worsened, maybe the spell takes longer to take affect I thought. The last visit I made, I saw his body morph into a rotting corpse. Then I concluded that magic can not be used for good.

Mother is constantly catching the eye of a man in the village. Even if they're aware of her being married, they still do all they can to address her. She tells me it's because male humans are easily allured by mages. She warns me to be careful from male humans and to avoid them at all cost.

Because of this she does all she can to keep me in the house. Her worst fear is that I catch the eye of a boy from a powerful family. Heaven forbid I did! If a powerful family came to play, and they find out that we're mages. They will hang us or whatever they do with the other mages.

I sit quietly in my room with my window open allowing the fresh air to be welcomed...