Screams filled the air as the witches ran, trying to find a way out of Aevelyn. The lord had pretended to be kind. The witches came to Aevelyn hoping for support and protection from the king. Lord Raymundus had let them in, fed them palace food, but he betrayed them. Had sent a raven to the king and now he had arrived in Aevelyn.
There would be no survivors.
For the past 6 months the king had driven the witches from their houses and killed them. He had broken the bridge between the Islands of magic and the highlands. Had burned down the house of flame and smashed down the house of earth with his catapults. The only house that remained was the house of wind, hidden deep in the dusk forest. But when the very few witches that were left had sought out the house for safety, they were confronted on the roads by Lanson soldiers. So they had travelled to Aevelyn, now only to find out it was a trap.
The witch's screams terrified the humans. Witches were being slaughtered every second and blood stained the dirt. The witch younglings captured and put in cages. Young Luna, only 13, hid in a small street her brother had dragged her into.
"We'll be safe here," he said "don't make any sudden movements." Luna nodded her head. She was a Windrunner, the fiercest witch clan of them all, she would survive this.
"Where are you going, Alastair." Her brother had begun to move from the street, "you'll be caught!"
"As long as you are safe, that is all that matters," he pressed a hand to her cheek "if I can help save more younglings, I will die a hero. I do not want to die having done nothing." Tears formed in Luna's eyes, the sounds of screams getting louder, the sounds of younglings crying for their parents, it was too much to bear.
"I'll come with you, I won't leave you to die," Alastair pulled his sister closer and kissed her forehead.
"I'm sorry. But I will not risk your life." Luna felt a sudden pain across her face, her eyes fazed and she blinked vigorously to regain vision. She held her hands to her face, it was wet and liquid now covered her hands. Her vision was bad but she knew what the liquid was. It was blood. She looked up and managed to make out a sharp object in her brother's hands.
"Why?" She cried, pain shooting through her face as she spoke.
"I did not wish to do it but it was the only way I can hopefully keep you safe," Luna looked at her brother confused, how could slicing her face help her? Her brother seemed to be able to read her face, "They are not harming the younglings, only capturing them. If somehow they find and see you are injured, they might think you are a human child who got caught up in the fight. It's a risk, but it might work." There was sorrow in Alastair's eyes,
"Go," Luna cried and hugged her brother one last time, "we will meet again." They were both crying now.
"Where worlds collide and days are dark," the both chanted. "You can take our lives and our happiness, but you will never take our world. Our family. We shall meet again in the land beyond life, for death is not the end" They drew away from each other and for a long moment starred in each other's tear soaked eyes. They stood there for just a moment, hand in hand saying goodbye, then Luna felt the tug of her arm and her hands went cold. Alastair was gone.
Luna just stood there for moments after Alastair had left, she wanted to cry and cry, but crying would not help her. She had to escape.
She tore the bottom of her shirt away and tied it across her face, making it look like she had been to a human doctor. Then she ran. She ran as fast as she could down the little street her brother had pulled her into. She had to find a place to hide. Guards were stationed around all possible exits, no one was going in or out. Hiding was her only option.
She tried to ignore the screams as she darted from street to street, looking for possible places she could stay hidden, but none of them seemed to be right. Then she saw it, the castle stables. They were unoccupied because the servants were inside hiding from the war. She could hide in the dirty straw. Perfect.
She sprinted to the stables, her life depended on it. It felt miles away and her breath running out, but she persisted. She would survive this.
Just when she thought she could go no more, she stumbled into the stables. She heaved heavy breathes and her legs gave way, falling to the ground. Almost there. With every muscle in her body, she clawed her way across the dirt and ground. Dust and small stones stuck under her nails but she would not stop and finally, she crawled into the safety of the straw file cramped at the back of the stables. She didn't even notice the stables disgusting smell as she lay there in the straw, the smell of blood was too strong to smell anything else.
Luna lay there for what felt like hours, trying to breath steady and waiting for night to fall so she could plan her escape. Then she heard the sound of a whip cracking, fear shot through Luna. She spun in the straw slowly and tried to make out where the cracks were coming from through the gaps in the stables fencing. Her eyes caught the glow of the blue whips in the town square, and standing in lines with shackles around the wrists and ankles, were the younglings.
Of course. The king always made it known that he showed mercy, no one believed him, but this, this was his mercy and it was horrible. The Adult witches face the pain of the Fire sword, but the children face the Water whip, have their power drained so that they face a less painful death at the hands of a normal balde. But being whipped was painless, neither was dying.
Rage flowed with Luna. she wanted to scream and to run and save the terrified younglings in the square. She would take the lashings of all those children if it meant they could live, but she knew it would not be possible. Instead, she lay in the straw as she watched and listened to the younglings scream and fall.
'Crack, Crack, Crack,' the whip sounded, echoing through the air.
"You will pay for this, we will not die for nothing!" She heard a youngling boy, about 15 years old call out,
"I suppose we will pay for this, but not before we have our fun," a Lanson guard called as he walked toward the boy, twisting the whip around his hand. Luna could see the boy squeeze his eyes shut as the whip came down on him. He screamed and it broke her heart. The guard whipped him again. "Anyone who speaks will be given extra lashings!" The guard screamed. The boy was still screaming as another lashing came down on him, and another, and another, and another. Luna couldn't take it anymore and closed her eyes, the boy's screams still echoing through her head, she was going to kill the king. She heard the screams stop and she opened her eyes. They focused straight away on the boys bloody body that was now limp on the ground.
Luna felt sick, these younglings were too young to die. Had her brother saved any younglings?
Hours continued to pass and screams continued to fill the air as night fell upon Glendara. Luna only thought of her escape during those hours, but the real question was, how was she going to get past the guards?
That thought quickly passed as she heard voices coming closer to the stables. Her body stilled out of instinct as she saw her brother walk into view in chains, followed by 2 guards. Alastair's face was beaten and bruised, his nose was bleeding, but he stood up straight and held a firm gaze on the men who were going to kill him.
"Water whip or Fire sword?" One guard questioned the other one as he held out the two weapons,
"If he acts like an adult, he dies like an adult," the other guard replied as he took the Fire sword, "any last words you magic bastard?" Alastair spat a ball of blood at the guard and smiled, the guard only laughed back as he wiped the blood from his face. "Very funny." Then, as if jumping through time, the guards face went stern and he stabbed the sword through Alastair's heart. He tried to scream but he was burning from the inside out. Smoke and ash fell from his mouth and he clasped his throat as he tried to scream. His face turned blue as he slowly turned to ash.
Shock spilled through Luna. It was all so much to bear and the world went black.
Luna knew she must have fainted, because she opened her eyes to morning sunlight and a young woman with beautiful black skin standing above her, terrified and scared.