Chapter 1 The girl who craves freedom

~~~~~Eighteen years ago, witches were blamed for the war that turned dragons against their own kind. Since then, our kind had learned that being discovered could be a death sentence.~~~~~

Brielle

The first time I disobeyed my mothers and used magic, I watched three shadowed creatures drive a knife through Mother Ria’s chest and slit Mother Geraldine’s throat.

By the time I understood why they’d spent seventeen years hiding me from the world and forbidding me from casting a single spell, it was too late to save either of them.

Fifteen minutes earlier…

Music from the funfair drifted through the open windows of our bakery. Girls my age were already out there, laughing and dancing a freedom I could only dream about.

I was stuck wiping the same table for the third time.

“Don’t even think about it,” Geraldine said without looking up from the plates she was stacking.

I tightened my grip on the rag. “I haven’t even said it out loud.”

“You don’t need to. I can hear your thoughts.”

“I’ve told you a hundred times to stop doing that. I need privacy.”

She snorted. “You used to enjoy it. What happened?”

“I grew up.”

“She’s no longer a child, Geraldine,” Mother Ria said softly, folding the last of the unsold bread into a cloth. Her long locs fell over her face like a curtain.

“Exactly.” I moved to her side and gathered the locs into a quick knot at the back of her head. “I’ll be eighteen in three months. Even the village chickens have more freedom than I do.”

Ria laughed under her breath.

Geraldine did not.

“Thank you, darling,” Ria murmured.

“You’re welcome. Now will you please tell her I’m old enough to leave the house without being treated like a prisoner?”

Ria’s expression turned serious. “You can have your thoughts, Brielle. While you remain indoors.”

I wanted to scream.

For seventeen years my life had been nothing but hiding. Baking. Drawing. Reading. Walking the same stretch of land around our secluded house. Magic was forbidden, and every time I asked why, they gave me the same answer.

When the time comes, Brielle.

I was starting to hate those words.

I’d even brewed a masking potion that lasted seven full days—twice as long as anything they could make. They praised me for it, then reminded me I still wasn’t allowed outside alone. The potion’s strength depended on how much magic I poured into it. Too much, and it would expose me instead of hiding me. Not that it mattered. I wasn’t allowed to use magic anyway.

I dropped the rag on the table.

“Fine. Keep me locked away forever. Just don’t expect me to be happy about it.”

A cool gust swept through the bakery. A purple portal shimmered open against the wall, showing the empty stretch of land and the river behind our hidden house. A full day’s walk from the village. Twelve hours by carriage.

Safe.

Isolated.

Suffocating.

My mothers stepped through first. I followed. Just before the portal sealed, I bent as if I’d dropped something and whispered a quick spell, letting my forbidden magic curl around the edges.

I slowed its closing. Just a little.

It wouldn’t hurt anyone.

I was going to that fair whether they liked it or not.

Neither of them turned to check. For once, I’d outsmarted them. I smirked and flicked my auburn hair out of my face.

Home greeted us with silence. The old wooden house creaked under our feet. The scent of flour and herbs hung in the air. Geraldine flicked her fingers, and soft firefly lights bloomed along the worn walls. As she moved toward the kitchen, her skin shifted into its true form—Hexscale. Dark reptilian patches covered half her body; the rest stayed human.

“Are you hungry?” she asked.

I ignored her and slammed my bedroom door.

Once they fell asleep, I would sneak back through the portal, return to the village, and stay out until the music stopped. For once I would have a story that didn’t involve flour, herbs, or another lecture about safety.

I pulled out the leather bag they’d given me for my sixteenth birthday and started packing.

Then I stopped.

A strange smell filled the room. Outside, the crickets had gone silent.

I turned toward the window.

Three figures stood in the dark, black cloaks fluttering like living shadows. Masks hid their faces. Darkness clung to their bodies like a second skin.

Every hair on my arms rose.

We never had visitors.

“Brielle?”

My door burst open. Mother Ria rushed in and seized my shoulder.

“Did you use magic?”

I stared at her. I wanted to explain about the portal, about the tiny spell. The words wouldn’t come.

“They found us!” Geraldine cried, storming into the room.

“Who?” I managed.

“Ashen Sigils.”

The roof exploded.

Wood splintered. Flames swallowed the ceiling. The blast shook the house so hard I staggered.

The figure in the middle stepped forward, voice unnaturally calm.

“Ninety-nine days for the thieves. One day for the owner.” He tilted his masked face toward me. “Time’s up. Hand the forbidden one over.”

Me? Forbidden?

Geraldine grabbed my wrist, yanked something from inside her dress, and shoved it into my hand, a locket compass.

“Brielle, listen.” Her voice was sharp with urgency. “There is a portal in the river. It will take you to Kastros Academy. That is the safest place for you and your magic.”

“I’m not leaving you!”

“You must.” Her fingers dug into my wrist. “This will guide you. When the time comes, say these words: Stormflame, born of fire, water, and Mother Earth. Do you understand?”

I shook my head, tears already blurring everything. “No. I’m not going anywhere without you.”

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

“Yes!” My voice cracked. “But with both of you in it!”

The creatures closed in fast.

Geraldine stepped back and took Ria’s hands. Their voices rose together, speaking the words of black magic.

“The Sorrowbind,” I whispered.

A life-protection spell that demanded the lives of the witches who cast it. Black veins spidered under their skin. Their eyes turned yellow, pupils narrowing into black horizontal slits. A shimmering white barrier erupted between us and the Ashen Sigils.

“Brielle, leave!”

“No—please—I’m sorry—”

“Brielle!” Ria’s voice cracked like a whip. “For once in your life, do not argue with us!”

The Ashen sigils slammed their swords against the barrier. It shuddered. Blood slipped from the corner of Geraldine’s mouth.

***The longer you stay,***Ria’s voice echoed inside my head, the longer we must hold this.

I clutched the compass. “You’ll come for me, right?”

They didn’t answer.

I searched their faces for a promise. Geraldine, who hid her affection behind sharp words but never forgot my favourite pie. Ria, who braided my hair on sleepless nights and taught me patience when Geraldine taught me stubbornness.

They were my entire world.

I turned and ran.

I didn’t stop until I reached the river. The portal shimmered faintly on the surface, light rippling across the dark water. The compass trembled in my hand, needle spinning wildly before locking onto the glowing opening.

I looked back.

My mothers were on their knees. The barrier had broken. One of the shadow hunters drove his blade into Ria’s chest. She looked straight at me as flames engulfed her.

“No!”

My scream tore through the night. I stumbled forward, but there was nothing I could do. The leader pressed his blade to Geraldine’s throat and turned his masked face toward me.

“Submit yourself, and she lives.”

For one desperate second I almost believed him. I almost ran back.

Geraldine shook her head.

You are our only hope, Brie. Avenge our kind.

The blade moved. Geraldine’s body fell.

My entire world stopped.

My knees buckled. Tears streamed down my face as I clutched the compass so tightly its edges cut into my palm. I didn’t look away. I wanted to kill them. But if I fought now, I would die, and their sacrifice would mean nothing.

The leader watched me. The shadows clinging to his body surged forward.

I stepped backward into the river and threw myself into the portal.