Chapter 1 - For the Sake of a Sister

The introduction to Edana, her quest - and her magic.

“Dana, slow down, I’m not as fast as you!” My little sister giggled behind me, and I slowed down but only a touch.

"That’s the point of tag, Tani.” I turned to call breathlessly back at her. But as I did so, she barreled into me, and we both went crashing to the ground.

“No fair!” I whined, untangling my limbs from hers. “You couldn’t have caught me if you tried.” I attempted to shove off her giggling tors, but with little success.

“I want to play Hide-and-Seek.” Tani pouted, pulling herself to her feet and grabbing my hand to help me to mine.

“Who’s hiding?” I asked, but I already knew the answer " she was.

“I want to! You have to find me. Count to 50!” She ordered, shooting off as fast as she could. I shut my eyes as tight as I could and began to count.

“1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, … 10, … 17, … 25, … 31, … 39, … 47, … 50!” I shouted as loud as I could, taking off in the general direction I thought she had gone.

I had only gone a few steps when a scream pierced the air, making my eardrums pop. On autopilot, I ran faster " but not away from the sound. No, I was heading directly towards it before I even knew what I was doing. I didn’t know exactly what I would find when I found the source of the sound, but I knew with a certainty I felt deep in my bones that if it was my twin sister, the instigator was going to have me to answer to.

As I broke through the cover of leaves and into Tani’s favorite clearing " not surprising she would’ve chosen there " and I stopped dead, my breath hitching in my throat. It was Tani. She was clutching at her head, and her eyes were shut tight.

Unexplainable fury turned my blood red-hot, and a growl threatened my hiding spot in the bushes. Three huge men towered over my sister, making her seem even smaller. They held weapons of metal " not unlike the ones in Father’s shop in town.  Each sported a matching tattoo on their left biceps, and the symbol branded itself into the back of my eyelids. There was hate in those marks, and they would haunt my dreams for years to come.

As a hand reached for Tani, I howled an animalistic warning and lunged towards the clearing’s center. Letting the fury out as I races to save my little sister, I saw in a haze three faces of profound surprise. But before the weapons could even be released from their sheaths, I was on the men. I barely reached their waists in height, but I made up for it with kicking, clawing, and biting whatever I could possibly reach. I heard shouts of pain, but I didn’t let up. They had her. They wanted to hurt her. Tani.

In a sudden, blinding instant, I felt a flash of pain begin to flower in my stomach, and a force sent me crashing back into my previous hiding spot. I saw through increasingly blurry eyes the largest of the men scoop up my sister as if she weighed nothing but feathers and threw her over his burley shoulder. I watched as they disappeared into the shadows of the trees on the other side of the clearing, and I made to follow them, but a second stab of pain had me back on the ground, gasping. I looked down, my vision almost completely black, and saw red. Confusion filled my fuzzy mind. I did not know why I was bleeding. Still in shock, and growing increasingly weaker, I clumsily ripped a large swath of my skirt and secured it around the wound.

I stood, feeling slightly better, and took off slowly " following the disturbance in the foliage. I came out onto a road and saw clear footprints in the mud. I followed, not noticing the spinning in my head or my ragged breathing. Soon, the mud turned to hard packed dirt, and there were no more footprints. I did not falter, for it was a one- way road. But after a few more yards, the road split into three " each as empty as the others. The world circled woozily around me. Dropping to my knees, I knew it was hopeless. Tani is gone.

“Titania!” I screamed at the sky. “TITANIA!”

Suddenly, I was my normal self again " standing at those crossroads with a weather-worn pack between my shoulders, and a fire of purpose flaring in my stomach. Something snapped in my mental awareness, making my senses sharper and fueling my hatred for the men with the sinister marks. An unknown heat settled in just behind my eyes, warping my vision. The flames in my stomach grew, transforming from determination to desperation. The warmth grew from a flame to an inferno. I was burning. I was going die. The red behind my eyes flashed to white, and I could no longer tell if it was just behind my eyes or in front of them also. A shriek escaped my dry lips as the fire began to gnaw at my insides " consuming flesh and bone, melting everything it touched.

‘You failed.’ A voice whispered. ‘I thought more of you. You FAILED’

***

I jolted awake, my body covered in a sheet of cold sweat. Even then, at 17, it still gave me nightmares. The fire I started the night before was nothing but embers by the time I finally blinked the sleep from my eyes. I lifted my face skyward " dawn was close. I slowly started to gather my things. I could have slept another few hours, but not with memories threatening to overtake me. It would’ve been better if I just got an early start.

Once my pack was settled on my shoulders, and there wasn’t any proof of my spending the night, did I finally let out a breath I did not know I was holding. Relief filtered into my sleepy mind as I headed out on my way again. Between making camp and destroying it was the time when I was most vulnerable. I hated how exposed I felt when I was asleep " maybe I should start making camp in the trees. I couldn’t exactly not sleep, because then I’d be vulnerable all of the time.

There was a flash of pain in the old wound at my stomach, making me wince. No matter what I tried " no matter how many remedies I put myself through " I had never fully gotten it to heal. It was left as a constant reminder … Stop. I scolded myself. You’ll never find her if you beat yourself up about that day. I shook my head sadly " I’m not the only one disappointed. I argued.

To escape thinking, I sped up, nearly running to evade the throbbing memories that were seeping into my unprotected mind. I quickly found my rhythm, and I ended up running through the forest along an animal track that I had found two days before. So caught up in outrunning turbulent thoughts, I didn’t notice the thugs until I almost tripped over them.

I did a quick head count " six of them, and one of me, the odds were certainly stacked: in my favor. Two held dull swords, two more with chipped axes, another with a hammer, and the final with a blunt spear. Men that were looking for food, no doubt. I spared a glance at their upper arms " no markings were visible. Good. This will be less painful for them. ‘If they attack, that is.’

“Now, what would a lass like you be doing all on her lonesome at this hour?” The one with the hammer sneered. Lass? You’ve got to be kidding me. I matched his sneer with one of my own, careful that he only saw only my face " not my hair.

“Nothing that six gentlemen such as yourselves need to be worrying about.” I spit back. Gentlemen " ha. I doubt they would know what a silver coin was, even if it bit them in the nose! I truly didn’t want it to come to a fight if it didn’t have to. That would mean … I shuddered and didn’t complete the thought. Maybe if I scare them a bit.

“There’s nothing we could possibly do for you?” Mr. Hammer grinned as they took up positions surrounding me. I mentally checked my supplies: dried apples, jerky, bread, scraps of cheese, a bedroll, an extra set of clothes, water skins, my hunting knife, and … NO!  I won’t trade those. Mother told me not to! ‘It’s too dangerous to give them up …’ I had nothing I could bribe them with. A fight it is.

“Oh no, my good sir.” I answered aloud, as innocently as I could " on the verge of sarcasm so thick that even those wool-heads would be able to detect. “There’s really nothing you could do. I appreciate the offer, nonetheless.” I tried for a smile, but it came out more of a twisted grimace.

“I insist that we at least walk you …”

“No!” I shouted forcefully " startling even myself " and the bozo with the hammer to a step back. My hands twitched at my sides, waiting. I heard the rasp of metal and the cautious breathing of the six men as they tightened their stances. Without stopping to think, I whirled and kicked out. Crack! My foot made sharp contact. A swish of metal, and air sent me spinning out of reach. I spun back, and when I was close enough, I hit out with the side of my hand, connecting with a windpipe. I heard the crunch of a skull hitting the ground. I vaulted over the five other heads, giving myself time to catch my breath.

How many years had I practiced hand-to-hand combat? How many years had I studied? Long enough. Seemingly in slow motion, I turned to the man with the hammer, a wicked grin on my face. My blood burned under my skin, and fire races in my eardrums. Oh no. Not now. PLEASE not now. I felt the fury I felt when my sister was taken. I pushed against the urge to let it consume me, but it began to fill every vein in my body. My grimace turned into a grin, and I felt the bubbling and roiling of my magic began to wash over the reasoning of what this would do " how wrong it would be to ….

This time, when the growl prepared to escape, I let it loose. It resounded through the trees, shaking their trunks as if only twigs. ‘A roar would be the more appropriate term I think.’ Shut up!

All five of the men left regarded me with fear etched plainly on their faces. If I had let them, they would have run and never would have shown their faces again. But, unfortunately for them, I was just getting warmed up. Heat spread up my body, licking up my arms, and reaching my shoulders. I cupped my palms together, coaxing the fire to center there. It obliged easily, and a white ball of flame sprang to life. My grin widened, making the flames stretched higher into the treetops. I took a deep breath and released it slowly. I had all the time in the world. As I let the air out, I shut my eyes and let my ears sharpen, then my nose. I heard the quickening breath of a thug gathering his courage to my right; the stench of unwashed bodies wafted over to me from the left. I shook my head violently, knocking my hood from my head, releasing my hair. I opened my eyes again, and a collective gasp echoed through the forest. I knew what it was that they saw: a she-demon with the eyes of hot embers and the hair of captured stars " a beast.

“You’re one of them. W-we’re sorry … we’ll leave and n-never come back.” The man with the hammer shook like a leaf caught in a thunderstorm. One of what?

“What are you talking about?” I demanded, my eyebrows furrowing. “Speak quickly, or I might decide you’d be of better use joining your friend on the ground.” He swallowed visibly.

“One a’ them wizards. It’s said that the best of you can kill with just your pinky. All a’ you have unnatural hair.” He tried to make eye contact with his companions for reassurance " as if for them to back him up and prove that he wasn’t wrong.

“Wizards? Is that what they are calling themselves? I thought the correct term was Maekyn.” I smirked. Even I knew what they were called " though I had never met one. They think I’m a Maekyn? The fools.

“Y-yes. That’s right. Maekyn.” He said it slowly, as if he’d never used the word. “You must be one a’ them.”

“Why aren’t you in Menelar?” Piped up one of the ones with axes. “If you’re Maekyn, shouldn’t you be in the Royal City?” Where are they getting their information? I turned to the Ax, letting the fire rise in my eyes.

“Do you think that some petty human king is going to keep me in the Royal City if I don’t want to be there?” I challenged, playing along. I am no Maekyn " I will not be some tyrant’s toy to do with as he pleases. ‘What they don’t know won’t hurt them " oh wait. Yes it will.’ The fire in my hands coiled and writhed, moving up my arms of its own accord so that it looked as if I wore sleeves made of living flames.

“N-no. Of course not. It’s just … that … well, it’s been the decree for the past 10 years.” The hammer shook in its owner’s sweating hand " ‘as if metal weapons will be of any use.’ The flames tugged at my navel and began to whisper in my mind " they wanted to burn those men alive until there was nothing left but ash.

“Shhh.” I murmured to the straining fire, stroking it with my mind. “A little while longer " there is more I need to know. Shhh.” It seemed to have calmed them for half of a heartbeat, but they had been patient for far too long. With a cry more savage than human, my control snapped, and the flames raced to end the men that surrounded me.

Screams pierced my eardrums, and for a second I was thrown back into that day of Hide-and-Seek " the day that changed my life forever. Instead of running though, I clamped my still-warm hands over my thrumming ears. This provided little relief, as the voices shot up in intensity. I almost had it " I was SO close. What went wrong? I shook my head, my hair moving in starlit waves around me. I stayed like that " hands clamped around my ears, and huddled like a child " until the screams faded to gurgles, and then went silent. I never knew that grown men could make such terrified sounds. Hesitantly, I opened my eyes. No fire, no bodies. ‘None but the one you killed yourself.’ No evidence of the flames, but for a small pile of ash where the man with the hammer had once stood. I wouldn’t have seen it if I hadn’t been looking. I sighed loudly. A huge, exasperated sigh directed solely at myself. ‘You can’t lose control like that, Edana. People could get hurt.’ They already did. ‘The fire knows no limits.’

I felt tears threatening at the corners of my eyes " my monster eyes. Hastily, I scrubbed them away with the back of my hand. ‘You have no time for this now. At this moment, your main concern is getting Titania back.’ Only then will I let myself cry.

Author's Note

Is the beginning a good way to ease the readers - or rather shove them - into my story, is it realistic?

Reviews

[seanhoag]

A few spelling/grammar errors, but that's normal. Proof-reading will take care of that. I really really enjoyed it, though. I love how Edana seems so normal at the beginning and, at first, when it talks about her blood boiling it seems like it's just rage, but as you get further you realize it's her power. The character development in this chapter is just phenomenal. My mind is racing with theories and questions about what's going to happen next. I simply can not wait to read more. I look forward to reading more chapters, when they're added.

[Emyraz A. Lacea]

Thank you so much! I am thrilled you liked it so much. Chapter Two is in the works!