When Magic Speaks - NaNoWriMo 2020✔️

14

Inhale... Exhale. Inhale... Exhale. 

This couldn't be happening. It couldn't be. No... Kitt was...Kitt. And Kitt was not dark and evil and...he wasn't The Knightengale, he couldn't be. 

Inhale... Exhale.

Wiss couldn't describe what she was feeling - it was a mix of both a stern focus on everything and nothing all at once. Her vision blurred but then zeroed in immediately afterwards. She fumbled through the house, unable for the first time in her life to find the lights. 

Inhale... Exhale.

"Amma!" she called, her eyes still adjusting to the dark. "Amma!!" 

In the past few frenzied moments she'd spent trying to wrap her head around Kitt's big secret (her dagger's target), Wiss had completely lost track of her grandmother. Actually, she'd lost track of her before even stepping foot into the harvest festival. Where was she? Too many thoughts ran through Wiss's mind at once. She wanted to find Amma but she wanted to pack first. Wiss knew the moment that dagger shone in the night like the blazing sun that their only option was to leave. They had to. They had to get away from Hural...and for good. That dagger stabbed fear into the hearts of the townspeople, there was no coming back from this. No matter how hard she tried, Wiss couldn't blink away the sheer terror on their faces. This was all her doing and she had to make things right. And the only way to do that would be to leave. Besides, Amma was probably still back at the festival with Taun. This left Wiss a few short minutes to pack their valuables before the cottage were torched by the angry Huralians. 

Wiss's heart marched to the beat of her steps as she ran out into the field, plucking one berry from each plant and placing it inside her basket. She knew these berries would last twelve hours on their own without water or food...magic. The wind began to whip even stronger into her eyes as she hurried back into the cottage. For the first time in a long time, she didn't feel his presence. 

Next, she hurried to her bedroom and stuffed her belongings into her bag. Luckily for her, Wiss didn't hold on to many valuables. As she buttoned up the sack, she tossed her dimly lit blade inside. The less she was seen holding onto this thing the better. It only caused her trouble. For gods sake, it wanted her to kill Kitt. To declare that he of all people was evil when the town of Hural lay right there, ripe for the picking. It was impossible to believe that Kitt had ever done anything worse than Hural. 

As Wiss stormed down the hall, she could make out the sound of loud chants in the distance. Not what the voices were saying, but their monstrous shouts were as loud as thunder. The young Quilm rushed into her grandmother's room, throwing open her suitcase and filling it with anything she could set her eyes on. Clothing, belongings, even aprons were tossed into the luggage. Wiss then took the time to search for any other magical artifacts Amma may have been keeping from her. Under the floorboards, behind cupboards, in the ceilings. Though Wiss couldn't find anything. Oh well, what she had packed up was enough. 

Wiss quickly pulled the bags outside, laying them near the front yard tree as she scanned the pitch black yard for their cart. With a little help from magic, Wiss quickly tossed their bags into the back of the cart, her gaze turning towards Hural. Amma had to be on her way home. Even so, she wouldn't be faster than the town. She didn't recognize Hural anyone. What once was a cruel but quaint town with twinkling lights and somber streets was now a dark and gloomy cluster that reeked of anger and cold-hearted deceit. For the first time in her life, Wiss was...afraid to go back. She hesitated as her breath puffed up into thick clouds before her. She had to find Amma and they had to leave. Now. The tower would finally be their home, it was all they had left. Reaching into the cart, Wiss searched for her grandmother's cloak - it was blue and tattered, nothing like hers. It would cloak her for a while, even just a few minutes, though a cloaked figure would look eerily suspicious. Still, Wiss set off back into town. When it came to her fight or flight, Wiss always fought...but not tonight. Her plain and forever changing world had seemed so simple not too long ago. Now there was no turning back.