Chapter 1 - Outcast

Some people hate me. Others fear me. Few strive to understand me. Most of them just listened to the twisted rumours floating around the town. I never really understood the power of words until now. I had grown up in this town, became the person I am today and all I remember was twisted kindness from these people. They treated me well, took me in from the cold and the wolves that roamed the forests yet I never truly fitted in. Wary looks were always sent my way merely because of my appearance and my behaviour. I had learnt quickly that silence was a valid option and it was easier to remain in the shadows than to bring attention to myself.

Whenever anything went wrong in the town, I was to blame even if I had no knowledge of it at all! Shoved into dark cell after cell, with little freedom and all things I held dear thrown into the bonfire in the centre of the village as an 'example' to all. They knew what I was capable of from the beginning. Yet they let me suffer alone and unwanted. So in a way they brought this upon themselves.

I couldn't move. My hands and legs were chained to the floor, a stiff metal collar attached around my neck and metal gloves restricting any usage of my hands. The cell itself was cramped, with about 3 metres of movement for those who were not deemed 'dangerous' by the guards. A small bed was attached to the wall by metal bars and the only light source visible was the small rays shining in through the narrow bars.

Food? Water? Hah. Those kind of things are only given to prisoners they are going to keep around for any longer than a day. I was chained up last night, warned against escape attempts and told to prepare for my 'trial' which would be 'fair' and 'honest', that would occur at the rise of the sun. They knew what I was capable of and we all knew the law. There was only one way this scenario would end. 

The slamming open of a door disrupted me from my thoughts, my attempts to struggle to my feet almost impossible as my chains just pulled me straight back down. I growled at the guards who watched me suffer, part of me wishing to wrap my hands around their throats for how they had treated me in these long twelve hours of my imprisonment.

I was covered in bruises and dried blood, the cuts and open wounds not visible under my simple shirt unless you pulled up the sleeves - so they could claim I fought them instead of them facing the charges for cruel inhumane torture. I spat at them, my face ferocious with rage and agony tied together as they approached my trapped form. A blinding pain seared across my face as a hard slap snapped my head back and I was yanked to my feet, lead across the cold prison floor like a dog on a leash.

I was dragged out into the sunlight, being directed towards the centre of the town where a fake courtroom had been set up just for my trial. I could see all my childhood companions stood in the juries section and the leaders of our small town discussing something next to the judge’s podium. I had no defence, no way to explain myself and my actions and make them understand that it wasn't me who did it, I couldn't help it but I knew there was no going back on my actions. Jeering and curses were thrown at me from every angle, a constant cry and uproar of the one phrase that chipped away at what little self-confidence I had.

'MURDERER!'

I swallowed my mouth dry and my hands beginning to shake as I approached the stand, my head down and the piercing stares of the residents boring into my skull like knives stabbing into a helpless animal. My chains were removed from around my wrists and my hands were free at last, allowing myself to stretch and move around the small space the guards had shoved me into. Their spears were levelled at my chest and their glances kept shifting down to my hands, awaiting some sort of stupid escape attempt from me.

'Caitlin Shadownius Mystic. You are charged with the murder of 78 people, 39 of which were children. You destroyed over half the village including the shrine of the Enlightened One which is a court martial offence. However despite these horrific crimes, you committed a worse one. As you know, magic itself is forbidden throughout the realm with the punishment being incineration for all those caught practicing it. Dark mages are the most loathed out of all the wicked ones who are cursed with magic and you, were caught using such magic against our people. Do you have anything to say for yourself?'

I shook my head. I knew that nothing I could say could save me from the gruesome fate that was soon to befall me and I wanted people to remember me as strong and brave, not snivelling and bargaining. However instead of being dragged off to the incinerator, a backpack was handed to me along with a hooded jacket which would allow my face to be hidden when walking amongst others. Confused, I glanced around at the crowd trying to understand what was about to happen to me. The judge gestured to the blacksmith who walked over to me with pity in his eyes, holding a glowing brand under one arm. I stood motionless, unfeeling as the searing hot brand burned into my arm - forever marking me as an outcast and a murderer. The symbol itself was a twisted shadow circle, the symbol of mages and traitors mixed into one with a bloody knife slicing through the middle. It represented who I was in their eyes and who I would be in everybody's eyes from now on.

'By law we are required to incinerate you for your crimes and to rid our town of your curse. However we have been offered an alternative in exchange for goods and wealth to help our town prosper. You will become an outcast, forced to roam the lands for the remainder of your days and hunted by the mage hunters. We will give you 48 hours to leave our lands. And to never return. Remember this Caitlin. Control Shadow or your death will not be a painless one. Now go!'

I ran, pushing my way through the crowd towards the forests I used to hide in as a child. Using every ounce of energy I had left I made my way to the lake just outside the towns borders. When I was younger, I built a makeshift treehouse next to it - it would be a decent place to make camp for the night. Wolves roamed the woods from dusk till dawn and not even the bravest of hunters made their way out during the night - they valued their lives too much for that. It didn't take long to reach there, my grief fuelling my body's desperate need to just keep running. I collapsed by the lakeside and looked into the water, staring angrily at my reflection.

When I was younger, I used to have a black patch of skin on the right hand side of my face, just a birthmark but over the years it had spread. As Shadow's power had grown, so had the destruction he caused. And with each death he was responsible for, the more darkness grew to cover my face. It had stopped now, the darkness covering half my body entirely like two pieces of entirely different jigsaw puzzles forced together. My eyes were an icy blue, the green and grey patches within them seeming to sharpen my gaze when it focused on someone but it contrasted with my boy cut blonde hair, which had me mistaken for a young man many a time. I wore light cotton shirts and lose fitting trousers with trainers; I was used to running everyday anyways so life on the road wouldn't be much different. 

I sat next to the water’s edge and allowed my mind to wander, recalling the previous day's events.

-*-*-*-

One day before.

I was watching something terrible. It was a nightmare that I was trying with every part of me to escape from but none of my attempts were bearing fruit. No matter how hard I screamed at myself internally, this nightmare continued and I was powerless to change the course of it, a passenger in what felt like my own body. My arms lashed out with waves of shadows flowing out of them, ripping through women and children like scissors through paper - dark crimson blood splattering all over the grass and staining into the soles of my shoes, warming my cold feet.

A manic laugh was all I could hear, demonic and cruel increasing in octaves as the bodies began to pile up. Buildings were burned down with jet black flames, consuming all in its path, including some people right where they stood - their screams and pleas of agony etching themselves into my mind.

I could hear the angry shouts of the soldiers charging towards me, the screams and cries of the dying and the grieving, the begging and the broken as all their misery and pain flowed into me, fuelling my thirst for destruction even more. My hands swirled rapidly in a tight spiral, spinning a ball of pure darkness around as it grew in power and size until I could not control it, releasing it abruptly and watching with a sense of glee as it flew towards the Enlightened One's temple, causing it to collapse spectacularly. The pillars folded in on themselves, the roof caved inwards and the offering tables shattered into hundreds of tiny glass shards, scattering themselves all around the destruction zone. It was glorious and terrifying all at the same time.

Exhausted, I felt myself able to lift my head by my own command to look around at this peculiar nightmare before the horrid reality set in. Shadow had completed what he had promised. To protect me. But their blood was on my hands, dripping off of me like some demented serial killer - well that's what I was now. The soldiers approached me quickly, beating me into the ground and screaming abuse, taking what comfort they could in hurting the me as I had hurt their families. I was a murderer... And I had done nothing to stop it.

-*-*-*-

I awoke by the lake, my hands clenched onto the soft grass - uprooting it almost viciously in my fear. But as my body calmed itself slowly, pushed my guilt and fear into the back of my mind my senses tingled. Cautiously I glanced around my previously peaceful lakeside, only to discover that I wasn't alone.

Author's Note

Ignore Grammar and Spelling (Will be fixed during editing)