"I will not die today!"
my unspoken words crowded my mind. I never really dwelled on death before. there was no reason to, well certainly not now, not with all these unfulfilled dreams. but death doesn't come with a warning; it takes and it never gives back.
I hadn't given much thought to how I would die, but I assumed it would be bloody and brilliant, but certainly not like this.
The sun had disappeared. Tonight will mark the end of the black moon.
Darkness chased me as I ran incessantly through the forbidden wood between leafless tress. Batted away low hanging branches. sloshed through muddies, half melted snow, hoping that whatever was chasing me wouldn't be a basilisk because a single eye contact with the basilisk meant certain death.
The last of my Babylon candle was out. I was suppose to save vosmir yet I burned my last chance of escaping the beast. If i don't make it, there was no telling how many more children, women and elders would die.
No, it all ends tonight.
I tripped over a tree root and fell, hitting my head hard against the ground. I anguished in excruciating pain as I turned and froze, watching the eyes of the basilisk in front of me, which I only read in books.
"oh shit, its a bloody basilisk." I cried to myself.
"Why am I not dead?" I asked my self.
"One contact with the basilisk, you die and there is no cure." I recalled grandmother's words.
but for some unknown reason I kept starring at the beast. it was as if we'd known each other. I don't think it had any intention of hurting me, I hope.
My reaction was not any less dramatic.
My feet grasped to the ground. The blood in my body rushed as though it were the crashing waves of a waterfall. My heart sang the beat of a drum. My thoughts became frantic and my breath became sparse. The overwhelming force of my emotions got the best of me and the slightest bit of water started to surround my eyes.
was this my end?
I must have twisted an ankle. I agonized in pain as I could barely stand on my feet. The creature kept starring at me as if it was calculating how to devour me.
"The lightshade."
A voice in the wind whistled.
And it suddenly came to me that this wasn't the end of me after all as I recalled why I was in the forbidden woods in the first place. I had come for lightshades. That was the only way to save vosmir from the black moon, once and for all. vosmir had little or no soldiers. everyone was scared of the forbidden woods ever since the night tale. And vosmirian soldiers were all gutless cowards. vesemir, Warden of the north didn't give a shit about vosmir since we were more of a burden to the three kingdoms. vosmir was an outcast town in the whole continent. No one gave a shit about us, not even the king. for all we know, we were on our own.
I slipped my hand into my crappy old bag around my neck which covered my devil's mark to remove one of the lightshade's I had stolen from the core of the forbidden woods. The lightshades was the only known solution to end the black moon of the north.
I knew it could cost me my life since any witch from the north was killed without hesitation.
It was as if the beast was hesitant to attack me.
I gently pulled a lightshade out of my bag but before I could throw it to the beast. A sharp but low voice stopped me.
"Don't move!"
"Don't move," the voice repeated.
"Grandmother?" I wasn't sure if at all she was the one but that was certainly her voice.
"Tissaia, stand still." she repeated. That was certainly grandmother. she's the only brave person I know who could come to my rescue.
The basilisk might not have killed me but she certainly would. That's if we ever get out of here alive.
I bet she had tears of belladonna, which made her invisible, considering the fact the beast was still starring at me alone.
I pleaded with her to give me some but she always refused. it was as if she knew I was up to something or I'd go into the one place she'd forbidden me to go.
she stepped closer towards me gently. The beast could not see her but I think it could tell someone else was there. The beast came closer to me and I also took a step back.
"Don't move tissaia." she said gently as I tried to turn towards her.
"Don't move." she yelled gently again.
"Tissaia, don't move, stand still." she repeated with a low tone.
"Throw the lightshade at the beast and stand still, it'll give us but a moment to escape using Babylon candle." she spoke as she kept moving closer until she could touch my cold shivering shoulders.
I sighed gently. The thought of me not dying today was enough to calm the frenzied beating of my heart.
"Now." she screamed as I threw the lightshade at the beast, and suddenly the rushing White light of the Babylon candle faded, which I'd be worried if it didn't.
I glimpsed swirling particles, most of them literally pieces of myself as they turned back into matter, as we teleported. I relaxed, for the first time since we teleported from kadath to vosmir over a decade ago.
We arrived in the middle of our small living room. The ceiling was decorated with red and blue leaf pattern and fluted ancient greekia columns. At first I thought we had miss teleported but then I heard...
"Clear," Ethan, my younger brother said standing behind me.
"What's all this decorati....," a slap across my face by my grandmother interrupted the question.
She glared hostile at me. Her face was contorted with rage. Her heart raced in her chest as she starred at me.
But what I was feeling was much worse. The room felt like it was closing in around me. In my mind, I was growing larger and larger, expanding with rage. if I didn't do something fast to get my self under control, I'd explode and all of vosmir would pay for it.
"What where you thinking tissaia?" you could've been killed or worst exposed to the rest of the world." she began as I kept starring at her with rage
"what the hell were you thinking, going to the forbidden woods? what was I thinking?" I immediately interrupted her.
"A good witch must protect everyone, a good witch must put others before her desires, a good witch must not only think for her self but also for her people. you've always thought me to be brave. Although I had been deprived of my childhood and stayed hidden. I have done basically everything you asked, just to leave up to your impossible expectations but never for once have I gotten anything from it." I paused, more with anger than worry at how lightly she was starring at me.
" You don't understand tissaia."
"Well then make me understand grandmother. what are you protecting me from? why do I have to hide what's been given to me when I can use it to help? I have the abilities to do so much, then why are you stopping me?" she was still quiet.
I sigh.
"You said, no one is given a gift without a purpose then why aren't you letting me find mine grandmother? let me find my purpose. let me know why I have been given this gifts."
The room was quiet for a moment. Ethan starred at grandmother hoping to get some answers too. He actually didn't need them as badly as I did. He was grandmother's real grandson, while I on the other hand was given to her to take care of. Ethan knew who his parents were, I didn't. The only thing she ever told me was that my mother was a witch.
How fair is that? That that's all I know about my self.
"You said, one eye contact with a basilisk, a person dies and there is no cure. But today I starred at one and it did me nothing."
"Wait, tis, you're joking right?" Ethan asked looking rather shocked than surprised but grandmother looked indifferent. it was as if she knew nothing would happen.
"That's not possible. Are you sure it was a basilisk?" Ethan annoyingly asked again.
"Even I want to know why I am still alive and why the beast did not kill me."
"Grandmother, what's she talking about?" Ethan asked, but grandmother was still quiet as she hauled into a chair beside Ethan.
I sighed through my teeth and nodded.
"Grandmother, who are my?
she hushed for a bit and sighed heavily.
The room was quiet for a moment before she began.
"Listen carefully tissaia, your not like other witches. There's a power in you that someone would always want and I have never seen anything like it." she said.
I have never seen her so anxious about anything. she was hesitant to tell me what she was about to but she did.
"During the time of the war between William the conqueror and the usurper, roegner. The three kingdoms was loosing the war, so king William summoned seven witches of kadath. They were asked to protect the 3 kingdoms at all cost. The witches of kadath demanded for a blood sacrifice from king William, for to save a life a life must be taken for which in their case, they were saving an entire continent. Queen renada was with child. He was asked to give either his Queen or his unborn child to save his people. The king begged them to find another way, but to save a life a life must be taken. The king ordered renada that the child be given to the witches of kadath but the Queen strongly disagreed. she said he'd have to kill her first to take her child away from her, for how can a mother sacrifice her own child.
Queen renada was in labour and immediately after the infant was born,
even before renada could hold him, one of the midwife, philippa, took the child to the king and he ordered that the child be given to the witches of kadath.
grandmother stopped and breathe heavily. it was as though she was there when is all happened.
"The child was sacrificed." she continued.
"What?" Ethan blared.
"They sacrificed an infant even before his mother could hold him. witches are monsters."he blabbed as he avoided eye contact with me.
"To save a life, a life must be taken. grandmother repeated and glared at Ethan as she continued.
"King William killed the usurper roegner and won the war. All was but history. Queen renada was still in grief of the lost of her only child, so she ordered all the witches of kadath be killed and since kadath was the center of the north, all the witches of the north were executed by burning, which was the worst way to kill a witch."
"My mother was among the seven witches of kadath that were executed?" I guessed in a rather sorrowful tone and grandmother nodded with affirmation.
"Now every decade, seven witches from the east, south and west are selected to protect the kingdom." grandmother continued as she stood up her chair.
"grandmother, if king William gave the order of his child to be given for sacrifice, then why didn't he stopped the Queen from executing the seven witches of kadath? exactly." I added to ethan question.
"It was her way of grieving the lost of her child and he couldn't take that from her." Grandmother cried.
"So my mother did her duty and was killed for it." how bloody fair is that?" I asked as grandmother avoided eye contact.
I could tell that wasn't all but a half truth but this the most she has ever told me.
"The dystolithian prophecy." she starred. I had no idea what prophecy she was talking about.
"The day is coming that the dept will be called in, and blood will have to answer for what they've done. you shall know the deliverer, for she shall be marked upon her bare flesh, the end is nigh." Ethan chanted the prophecy as I stood in bewilderment.
I had absolutely no idea what that meant.
"I think you might be the deliverer." grandmother said.
"who's a deliverer?"