Chapter 1 The girl who craves freedom

Brielle

I didn’t understand why I still couldn’t go to the funfair.

Every other girl my age in Eirhaven Hollow was already out there, laughing, dancing, living. I could hear them from inside the bakery. Music drifted through the open windows, carried by the evening breeze, light and careless.

At first I believed my mothers when they said I was too young, too likely to let my magic spill and draw the witch hunters straight to us. But that excuse had expired months ago. In three months I would turn eighteen.

I had proven myself over and over again.

I even created a masking potion that lasted a full week, twice as long as anything Mother Geraldine could brew, and they had praised me for it. Yet here I was, still trapped. Well, I understood it wasn’t perfect since it was limited by the amount of magic being used, but I wasn’t even allowed to use magic anyway so it wasn’t a problem for me.

I gripped the rag in my hand, wiping the same spot on the table until my knuckles turned white.

Today, I was done asking permission. I moved my gaze to the door; one step, that’s what it would take.

The doors and windows slammed shut. The cheerful noise coming from outside vanished like it never existed.

“Don’t even think about it,” Mother Geraldine said from the counter, stacking the plates she wiped together. Her voice carried the familiar edge of warning.

“Finish wiping those tables. We’re leaving now.”

A bitter laugh slipped out of me before I could stop it. “I have told you countless times to stop reading my thoughts. I need my privacy.”

She snorted, “You used to enjoy it, what happened now?”

“She is no longer a child, Geraldine,” Mother Ria said softly as she folded unsold bread into a cloth, her long locs falling over her face like a curtain.

“Exactly.” I stepped forward, pulled her hair back and tied it in a knot. “That’s why—”

“—That’s why you should let her have her thoughts.” Mother Ria completed. “Thank you, darling.”

Geraldine rolled her eyes but said nothing more.

“That’s not what I mean…”

Ria tilted her head. “You want her to read your thoughts?”

“No…”

“What then?” She said, acting oblivious.

I opened my mouth and closed it. It was useless. “Never mind.” There was no point. All they made me do was hide myself. I was restricted to being seen. That was why I was mostly in the kitchen baking or back at home drawing, falling in love with fictional characters in novels and living in nature. So whenever I wanted them out of my head I thought about any embarrassing nonsense I could think of, images of them in ridiculous frilly hats, tripping over their own feet in the market square. The last was kissing the village goldsmith. It was disgusting. But anyway it worked every time.

Using my magic at all was forbidden by my mothers, but they could use theirs freely. They were wind witches; as long as the breeze didn’t cease they were untraceable.

For me it was a risk. They never told me why; they said it was best I didn’t know for now until the right time.

A cool gust of wind swept through the bakery. Ria flicked her fingers; the purple portal shimmered to life in the back of the wall. Through it I could already see home, the familiar stretch of empty land and the river glinting behind our hidden house. A whole day’s walk from the village, twelve hours by carriage. Safe. Isolated. Suffocating.

Both of them stepped through first. I followed after, carrying the packed bread, but just before the portal closed, I bent as if to pick the non-existing thing I had dropped. My fingers flicked quickly as I mouthed a simple spell to slow down the portal from closing. Just a little magic; it wouldn’t cause any harm. They didn’t turn to check. They trusted me too much, but for once I would choose myself.

Home greeted us in silence. The old wooden house creaked softly as we stepped inside. The familiar scent of flour and herbs lingered in the air.

“Are you hungry?” Mother Geraldine asked, flicking her fingers. The house lit up with soft urns like fireflies illuminating the worn walls, along with her skin switching into its natural form. Hexscale. The dark reptilian patches covered half of her body while the other remained human.

I ignored her.

Each step I took echoed louder than the last.

“Such a terrible temper and she wants to be let out…” she muttered, but I heard it. I slammed my bedroom door hard enough the sound echoed throughout the house.

Thirty minutes; that was what I needed. They would be asleep and I would sneak out to go enjoy the fair. I pulled out the leather bag they had both gifted me for my sixteenth birthday. My fingers worked fast, slipping small essentials into it.

A knock came at the door. I hurriedly hid the bag under the duvet, then laid on it facing the window like I had been staring at it the whole time.

“Go away!” I shouted. The door opened anyway. The warm scent of spiced apples filled the room. My stomach whined; I almost forgot my anger. “I didn’t say you could come in.”

“I brought your favorite pie,” Mother Ria said softly. I didn’t turn but I heard her set the plate down on the table beside my bed before my bed dipped. She began rubbing my hair soothingly, something she always did since I was little to calm me down.

“Everything we are doing is for you…”

Here goes the sermon. I pushed myself upright before she could continue.

“But that is not what I want. I just want to be like a normal girl… not like old women hiding from the world.” The words came out of me. I instantly regretted it.

I looked away. My words hurt me but her silence hurt me more. I didn’t want to fight them; I just wanted to live.

“I—”

The words died in my throat when a strange smell filled the air, accompanied by quietness that swallowed the sounds of crickets. A cold shiver ran down my spine. Then the whispers followed. Ancient. Stronger than everything I have ever known surged through me. My body trembled.

“Brielle…” Mother Ria’s voice changed into urgency. She grabbed my shoulder. “Did you use magic?” My mouth opened but no words came out. I couldn’t answer. I didn’t dare.

The door burst open. Mother Geraldine rushed in. Her hands were already glowing.

“They found us!” The first blast tore the roof away from our house. The wood shattered into fire and smoke.

Three figures in black cloaks fluttered like shadows; black masks hid their faces. Darkness moved around like a second skin.

“Ashen Sigils.” Geraldine muttered, her eyes blazed with anger and hatred.

Were they the witch hunters?

The one in the middle stepped forward.

“Ninety-nine days for the thieves, one day for the owner. Time’s up. Hand her over now.”

Thief? What was he talking about? Did my mothers steal anything?

Geraldine grabbed me. She pulled out something from her dress and shoved it into my hand. It was a locket compass.

“Brielle, listen to me.” She said urgently. “There is a portal in the river. It will take you to Kastros Academy.”

“I’m not leaving you—”

“You must.” Her grip tightened. “This will guide you. When the time comes, say: Stormflame, born of fire, water, and Mother Earth. Do you understand?”

I shook my head as tears blurred my vision. “No. I’m not going anywhere without you.”

“Isn’t freedom what you have always wanted?” Ria asked me.

“Yes it is, but with both of you in it,” I whispered.

Geraldine stepped away from me. “They are not here for us… we will hold them back so you can go…”

“I won’t—”

“Brielle!” Ria snapped, her voice sharp for the first time ever since the day I knew myself. “For once, do not argue with us.”

The attackers lunged forward. I was going to fight no matter what they say. “Mater Terra, surge. Liga eos.” I muttered the spell I knew.

The ground trembled, then the earth split.

Black, root-like tendrils burst through the cracks, twisting upward before lashing toward the Ashen Sigils. They wrapped around their legs, their waists, their arms, dragging them backward, but they cut through them effortlessly.

Ria and Geraldine joined their hands; their voices rose with a powerful incantation. The Sorrowbind? “No…” I whispered. That was life protection dark magic; they would die if it’s completed. They warned me against using it. Black veins curled through their skin; their eyes turned yellow with a black horizontal slit. A shimmering white-like bubble formed between us and them. Blood slipped from the corner of Geraldine’s mouth. “The longer you stay,” Ria said, her voice echoed in my mind, “the longer we have to hold this.”

“You both will come for me, right?” I asked.

“Yes.”

I memorized their faces, etching it into my brain. Geraldine, who hid her love behind sharp words but never forgot my favorite pie. Ria, who braided my hair on sleepless nights and taught me patience.

“Go.” Geraldine whispered.

So I ran. I didn’t stop until I saw the river. The portal glowed faintly on the surface. I turned again to take one last glance before I jumped; they were both on their knees. The protection spell was broken in places. The masked men stepped forward; one of them drove their blade right through Ria’s chest.

“No!” My scream tore through the night. My feet moved forward.

Her eyes found mine.

“Go, Brie…” were the last words she said before she was engulfed in flames.

“No… no… no, please…” I choked.

The leader pressed his sharp blade over Geraldine’s throat. His face shifted to me.

“Submit yourself, she lives.” His voice was whispers carried by the wind.

“No. No… You are our only hope, Brie… avenge the witches…”

He slit her throat.

Something inside me broke. My body trembled; my knees almost buckled. I clutched the compass tightly.

He who fights and runs away shall leave to fight another day. They taught me that. My eyes stayed on them as I fell back into the unknown.

The portal swallowed me but not before something yanked at the chain, holding and pulling, trying to drag me back.