HOME | DD

Description
I crept through the shadows. I was nearly silent, but my clothes made a shhk shhk noise as they brush together and against the bushes.
I wondered how long it would be before I died.
I’m an outlaw, you see. Cold as iron, that’s me. Murderer. Hardened criminal. Tough.
Continuing the story, I’m on my way to rescue a kitten.
I had spotted her while running from the authorities. Stupid Jake, getting nervous and calling the cops. The deal went bad. I lost all the diamonds I was carrying while running and avoiding. Ha, that was a while ago. I’m still angry.
On the bright side, I noticed a tiny kitten, mewing, her eyes shut with crust. She was so tiny and adorable, I wanted to cuddle the second I saw her.
She was a black cat, which is probably why she was out on the streets. Everyone loves cats, but black cats? Oh, they’re bad luck. Honestly, the poor thing was lucky to only been thrown out - some cats are staked or burned on the spot. But since it was a kitten, they might have hoped it would be harmless despite its colouring and just kicked it out of the house.
Being a witch (oh yeah, forgot to mention. I can do magic. I’m pretty powerful, but also pretty untrained.), I knew what the poor thing felt like. Hated for no reason. Hated for being special. Hated for being. Existing.
I slithered silently (well, besides the shhk shhk) through the underbrush, looking for street signs. There! The corner of Aberforth and Downey.
I walked to the corner and - oh no. Oh no no no no no. There were boys, with sticks, poking it. Hitting it. Throwing stones. Laughing.
I felt my hair begin to float as anger took form in uncontrolled magic. I needed to stop them before I seriously injured them.
“Hey!” I stepped of out the shadows. The boys jumped, spinning around to stare at me. Their faces showed confusion, then surprise, then anger, then cruelty.
“What are you doing here, freak?” one said.
“Yeah, what are you going to do, save your demon buddy here? Take it, it’s just a freak like you,” said another, kicking the kitten towards me. It gave a sharp yip of pain, crumpling and not moving again. I longed to rush to it and check on it, but I dared not show weakness.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” I said. “But,” and my hair floated out of it’s bun, swirling around me like tentacles and glowing dangerously, “I will.”
The boys swallowed nervously but held their ground. One strutted up, the one who had kicked the kitten over to me, and held up a bottle. It was marked with a cross. I rolled my eyes and waited. “Ha, yeah, that’s great, but see, I’ve got holy water on me, and, well…” The boy shrugged and grinned, then splashed the water on me.
I didn’t blink.
“Well, that was exciting,” I said. “My turn.”
I held up my hands and let loose energy that slammed him into the nearest wall. “Who’s next?” I asked.
The boys backed away slowly. One tried to throw a silver cross (I’m not a werewolf or a vampire. Honestly, what were they even thinking?) at me, but I just knocked it to the side and threw him next to his friend.
The others started running, but I wasn’t going to let them get away that easy. “Don’t hurt any other animal, or I will be back,” I said, and slammed them face first into a stone house.
I scooped up the kitten and ran off.
Once I got to a safe place, I slowed down and set the kitten on the ground. “Are you okay?” I asked her, using magic to let her understand that I was nice, that I wanted to help her.
She mewed, and struggled to open her eyes, but couldn’t. I gently touched her face, and she flinched but did not turn away. Using some water that I had on me, I rubbed some crust away. It wasn’t so bad, but she was so weak and upset she couldn’t get it off herself.
Slowly, her eyes came apart. She squinched her eyes open then shut a few times to get the hang of it, then sat up, eyeing me curiously.
She was dreadfully weak, but I always carried around a bit of food and water with me (in case I needed to abandon this town quickly without time to pack my meager supplies), so I gave her some of that. She gobbled it up hungrily, and awkwardly licked up some water from my cupped hands.
“Zenchoi!” I called quietly. The loud caw of a raven pierced the peaceful night.
I smiled as the raven landed on my outstretched arm. Zenchoi is derived from a word that means good omen, the opposite of what a raven supposedly represents. But I mostly just call him Choi. I call myself Yoi, which means simply good.
“Hey, Choi,” I said. The raven let out a small, questioning krr as it cocked it’s head in the kit’s direction. “Yes, that’s why I called you,” I said. “I found this poor girl on the side of the road, being poked at. I rescued her. Hopefully she’ll stay with us, aye?”
The bird was excited, but the kitten was unimpressed by the large, intimidating raven. She hissed, backing away, her fur standing up on end. I quickly communicated, using my awkward grasp of the cat language, to explain the bird was friendly.
“What shall we name you? You’re considered bad luck, so the opposite of that. Hmm,” I mused. “What about… Ryokounaun? Favourable luck?”
The kitten ignored me, bathing it’s tail, but Choi cawed appreciatively. I smiled. “Ryokounaun it is! But we’ll call you Ryo for short.”
Ryo looked at me solemnly. Her eyes were the bright blues eyes of a tiny kitten. I smiled. “You’re adorable, you know that?” I told her. She gave a funny little noise, almost a purr but shorter, and ran over to me, rubbing against my legs.
I stroked her with my non-raven-holding hand, closing my eyes.
Suddenly, a hand clamped over my mouth. “Mmm!” I screamed, my mouth covered and my words muffled.
Struggling to get free, I jerked my hand over and over until Choi was forced off. With all my might I sent a mental thought. Go, go, take Ryo and leave me! I can take care of myself!
Choi kreed unhappily but I pounded his brain with commands to leave me until he finally did, scooping Ryo up gently by the scruff of her neck.
“They may be safe, but you’re far from it,” said a rough voice. I was surprised. I’d expected it to be street boys looking for a fight with the freak. But this was the voice of a man, an older one it sounded like.
A new hand, soft and warm, gripped my forehead, and foreign magic slipped into my skull. I began to lose consciousness. My eyes widened. They were witches too? I’d thought I was the only one in town. My last thought was, 'Oh shit, I am fucking screwed.'

…

I awoke cold. There was no air movement in the room. It was too still. Too still. It should have been hot and unpleasant. Instead, it was cold and unpleasant. Strange. Bad strange. I didn’t like it. Not one bit.
I wondered where I was. I was tied tightly to a chair, but not with ropes. With magic. I could feel the magic, foreign and strange against my skin. My eyes didn’t want to open, and when they did they were reluctant to focus. I saw people, guards it seemed, surrounding me, and instantly shut my eyes. If they didn't know I was awake, I could use that to my -
“Hello,” said a smooth voice. “I feel you’re awake now?”
Well, that plan went to hell pretty quick.
I looked at the speaker. Male. Vaguely attractive. White. Young. Tall. Stereotypical all over the fucking place.
“Yeah, I’m awake. What do you want with me?” I said, trying to not show how tired I was.
The young man chuckled. “Ah, straight to the point, then?”
“That’d be nice,” I said. “This isn’t very pleasant.”
The young man leaned down, his mint breath overpowering in my face. “You have a certain something that I need,” he said. “Give it to me - it isn’t any use to you anyway - and I’ll let you, and your precious pets, go. You can even stay here - we’ll leave. You’ll never see us again.”
I shied away from him. “What the bloody hell would I have that you want?” I asked. “If you want a dress, just buy one. I don’t own any.”
The young man stood back up, his face blotched. “I do not want a dress, you foolish girl! Give me what I need. Now.”
I stared. “Yeah. But see, I don’t know what the hell you want. Tell me. I’ll consider.”
A sigh. “You really don’t know? Clueless brat. The locket your mother gave you. I need it.”
“My mother? Which one? What are you talking about?”
“Not your adopted, clearly. Your real mother. You came with the locket. Like a bow on a package,” the young man sneered.
I was speechless. “My real mother? But she died. She didn’t give me anything. And what do you mean, ‘what I came with’? You’re not making sense.”
“Fine. Then let’s do this the hard way.” The man loomed over me, and began unbuttoning my top.
“What the bloody fuck?” I squirmed away. “Pig. Get off me.”
He scrabbled at my bare chest but found nothing. “Where is it?” he cried. “Where’s the locket?”
“Dude, I still have no idea what you’re on about. My mother gave me nothing but a dress. That’s it. Calm your tits.”
The man stood back up, straightening his shirt indignantly. “It seems I was mistaken. I thought your mother would have trusted you more… No, perhaps it was a wise choice.”
I was confused. Had he known my mother? “Did you know my mother? What are you on about? What locket?”
“Your mother was in possession of a powerful amulet - but see, she died. She knew she was going to die, so I assumed when she handed you off she would have given the locket to you...but no...it seems not. Perhaps it was a wise choice. You seem rather incompetent. Yet, she couldn’t have known that. At any rate, she stole that amulet. It is rightly mine and I want it back.” The young man’s voice was tight with anger.
“Oookaaayyy,” I said slowly. “Great. Let me go. I’ve no clue what amulet or locket you speak of.”
The young man considered. “Okay,” he said. “For now, you’re useless. But that doesn’t mean you won’t come in handy in the future. Perhaps I won’t need you, though. I’ll be watching you, girl.” And with that he stalked away, snapping his fingers commandishly.
The guards I had forgotten about rushed to my side. The magic binding me had dropped when he’d snapped, and the guards escorted me to the door. They quite rudely shoved me out and slammed the door in my face.
I ran, and ran, until I found a section of town that I recognized. I was a bit out of breath, but I only allowed myself a small rest. Then I held out my hand and concentrated. Was my - yes. It was in the area, as I’d thought. But it was far away. Far, far away.
Whoosh, came a noise. It grew nearer and nearer and I held out my hand, and then smack! My broom hit my hand with painful force. But I held on.
Jumping on my broom (yes, a bit cliche and cheesy but honestly, what else can you enchant to fly you around that you can sit on? I gave mine comfy seats and everything, so it wasn’t so bad.), I whisked into the air. I could cover ground a lot faster now - unfortunately, before now I’d been too far away to call my broom. The calling enchantment didn’t work on distances over fifty miles.
Once in the air, I looked about to get my bearings. Swooping a bit lower, I began calling to Choi. “Zenchoi! Come here; it’s me, Yoi!” I send out my thoughts cautiously - if you aren’t careful people can hijack your thoughts and listen in - and after about ten minutes found him. Smart bird, he’d nested with Ryo in my secondary secret hiding place - my first was far too valuable if someone followed him.
I rushed to him and engulfed both raven and cat in a tight embrace, trying to convey what had happened using my awkward grasp of the animal languages.
They eventually got the point, though, and expressed confusion as to the locket. I shrugged. “I really have no clue what he was on about. But he said he’ll be watching me, so we can’t go anywhere important while we’re unsure if he’s watching.”
I went into a small cave which served as temporary living quarters sometimes. To my surprise I found a young girl crumpled on the ground. I jerked back in alarm, staring accusingly at Choi and Ryo. “Did you know about this?” The animals looked away. I gasped. “Did you let her in here? What’s wrong with you? We don’t contact people. You know that.” My voice filled with pain. “You know what happens if we try to interact, even to help. They don’t - they don’t understand.”
Choi cawed roughly. He did understand, but she was different. “Different how?” I asked. “How do you know?” Another caw. He just knew. “Helpful,” I muttered. “Well, what’s the issue?”
Ryo trotted over and nudged at the girl’s left arm. It was badly bandaged, and looked as though it had been bleeding heavily.
I walked to her side. “I can try to heal her,” I said, “but she’ll have to be awake. Do you think we should try?”
Choi kreed approvingly, and Ryo mewed in a way that I thought was approving. Hard to tell.
I sighed. “Okay.”
Gently, without disturbing her hurt arm, I shook the girl, calling softly, “Hey, are you alright? Wake up. I can help, but you have to tell me what’s wrong.”
The girl murmured sleepily. She had short, choppily cut light brown hair, and her solidly built frame was curled up in pain. Her skin was dark, darker than mocha but of the same smooth, rich hue. She had on trousers - a bit odd; girls were generally ‘supposed’ to wear dresses. Dumb rule which I never follow. Her voice was deep but soft. As her eyes opened, I noticed that they were a deep, deep blue, like a dusky night sky.
As she looked at me, she jerked back in surprise. She yelped as her arm was jolted, and I steadied her gingerly. “It’s okay,” I said. “I’m going to help you, okay?”
She watched me with wide eyes, her round face uncertain and frightened. “You’re - you’re a - ”
“Witch? Yeah, I know. Freak? That’s me.” I gazed at her solidly. I could take her if she attacked, no problem, as long as she didn’t get me into a physical fight. She looked muscly.
The girl started. “No, I didn’t mean - I just - your outfit - ”
“What about it?” I asked. I had on a low cut top, white and with flared material. A corset tightened at my waist, colours in daring red and black and gold that clashed marvelously with my deeply crimson auburn hair and my one light blue eye that was almost silver and my deep green eye. An intricate pattern laced the background. Extending from the back was a long, flowing cape-thing that reached my ankles. A bit dramatic and in the way, but it looked cool. Knee-high brown worn-leather silver-buckle adventure combat boots completed the look.
“Nothing, I just - Sorry,” she said quickly.
“Doesn’t matter,” I said. “Now, what happened with your arm? How long has it been like this? How much did it bleed?”
“Uh… It’s been like this maybe two days?” the girl supplied. “It bled quite a lot.”
“I rather thought so. You’re soaked with dry blood, dearie.” I began unwrapping her bandage carefully. “So, what’s your name?”
The girl looked untrusting, so I took a leap of faith. “I cast away the name that my adopted mother gave me. I call myself Yoi. Perhaps a bit pretentious, but I find it helps keep away the bad thoughts when people call me evil and a devil and throw stones at me for floating some books. The raven is Zenchoi, which is derived from good omen; just call him Choi, and that’s Ryokounaun, which is derived from favourable luck; just call her Ryo.” I smiled at the girl.
The girl cocked her head, considering. “I’m Kira,” she said finally.
“Pretty name,” I commented.
“Thanks,” she said awkwardly.
“Now,” I said. “In order to quickly heal your wound I would have to use magic. I think I can get it stable without magic, but it would be safer to just heal it now. However, I won’t use magic on you if you don’t want me to. Whatever you’re comfortable with.”
Kira tilted her head. “You’re interesting,” she said.
“How so?” I asked.
“You aren’t like how witches are described in books. You’re kind. It could be a trick, but - ”
I laughed mirthlessly. “Kira, thank you for saying I’m kind. But of course I’m not like the witches in the books. I’ve never met a witch who is. We try to use our magic for good. It’s hard, because people throw stone at us. They burn us. Stake us. Call us freaks. Abuse us. Throw us out. But we try and keep good heart. Do you know what most witches believe? That we are special people. That we are good people, with good hearts, that have been chosen to help people despite the risks. A bit high-and-mighty, sure, but it gives us hope. I don’t know about special, but certainly a lot of witches are more kind-hearted than ‘normal’ humans. And do you know what, Kira?” My voice grew quiet and sad. “If we find ourselves turning wicked, do you know what we do? If we really can’t take the terrible loneliness, the hate, the punishing for having done naught… We kill ourselves. That is our belief. A bad witch is a disgrace and a failure. A dead witch is better than an evil one.” As hard as I tried to keep them back, tears were flowing. “We try so hard. But no one cares. We try to help people. But they just continue to rebuke us… Do you know how many friends I’ve lost? Too many. There used to be plenty of witches in this town. But slowly they all died off. Because of mundanes or suicide. Both are the same. Why are we driven? Because of you guys.”
Kira was speechless, it seemed. Not that she’d been very talkative before that. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t know. But,” and she gave a tiny, sad laugh, pointing at her skin, her short hair, and her trousers, “I can kind of guess what you mean by different. People don’t react as extremely anymore, but everything coupled together… Well, it isn’t pleasant. I’ve been living on the streets for a while now.”
I wiped away my tears. “I’m sorry too. You shouldn’t have to go through that. And sorry for exploding. It’s just, I haven’t talked civilly with another human in...too long. Far too long. Choi and Ryo are great, but hard to talk to, you know? My grasp of their languages isn’t so good. Of course, I haven’t had much practice with Ryo, seeing as I rescued her what I think was earlier today and then I kind of got kidnapped, you know, just normal stuff.” I wiped my nose and giggled.
Kira gave a slightly incredulous laugh. “Okay. Well, at any rate. Heal me up, Doctor Yoi.”
I grinned at her, the first grin I’d had in years. Placing my hands on her arm, I channeled magic into her. It slowly took form as healing magic, then wrapped around her arm protectively. Kira gasped as she felt the magic leech into her, restoring her strength.
I sat back with a tiny gasp, my energy drained. “It should be pretty healed,” I said, “but don’t do anything too strenuous.”
Kira flexed her arm, and feeling no pain other than a slight twinge, jumped up and swung her arm a bit. After a few moments she grimaced and said, “Ow. Okay, a little more gently.” Turning to me, she said, “Thank you so much. I haven’t felt this good in - well, a long time.”
I smiled shyly. “Do you - there’s a hot spring in the forest. If you wanted to, I could take you there and we could - ”
Kira’s eyes widened. “A bath? I haven’t had one in - well, quite a while.”
I let out a laugh. Real laughter. Bubbling from within, it was soothing. The weight on my shoulders was lifted for the time being. I could relax. Relax.
We set off to the hot springs, Ryo and Choi padding and flying quietly behind us, watching us, guarding us.
Reaching them, we undressed to our underclothes and eased our way in. Kira glanced at me shyly, looking me up and down. My vaguely tanned white skin looked deathly white compared to her dark-mocha flesh. Her eyes caught the darkened skin above my left breast, near my heart.
Her eyes locked in mine, questioning. “What’s - if you don’t mind - that mark - ”
I glanced at it, my face darkening. It was of a dragonlike creature curled up, its mouth open, almost eating its own tail. Unconnected wings flew unrealistically from the sides, flanking the dragonlike being. Inside the circle the curled dragon made was a star. Sitting with a plop on a protruding rock, I responded, “It’s a brand. To mark me as a witch. I got it when I was seven. I started using magic. My mother, or the person who I thought was my mother at the time, turned me in.” My voice was bitter. “I was given to the police. Branded. I would have been burned, but they thought it cruel I was so young. I don’t know why age would make a difference if I’m inhuman devilspawn, though. At any rate, a few months later, some other witches rescued me now.”
“Other witches?” Kira said, confused. Her breath caught in her throat. “Are they - ”
“Yeah.” All of them. One by one. Only one had managed to hold on until she died a natural death. But the others...they were weak. They gave in. No, not gave in. Gave up.
Kira looked away. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I lost my family too, a mother, father, and brother, and it was… And they didn’t even do it themselves. At least I have someone to blame.”
I sighed. “I do blame someone. Some people. Mundanes. We’ve tried to help you guys, but it just - it doesn’t work. I don’t know what to do anymore. I want to help, but why? Can’t I just live, like any other person? So I renounced that. I gave up on helping you. I don't harm you, but I won’t go out of my way to help.”
“Then what did you do just now, with me? Wasn’t that going out of your way?” asked Kira.
I shook my head. “That was getting you out of my way. You were in my sleeping quarters. I wouldn’t have let you die. But I wouldn’t have used up so much magic. It leaves me weak.”
“So you’re weakened, now?” Kira said.
I nodded. “Yeah, pretty much. I can’t use magic for a while, not big things at least, and physical things will be more of a strain.”
Kira looked at me. Her eyes were full of tears. I was startled. “What’s wrong?” I asked. “Kira, what’s the matter?”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. She was closer than I remembered.
“What? Sorry about what?” I backed away from her.
“This,” she said simply, and stabbed me with her knife.

…

I suppose I should have seen it coming. But I was still surprised. My eyes overflowed. “You traitor!” I shouted. “I heal you, and for what? Typical mundane behaviour! I should have never thought you were different!”
Kira flinched. “I’m sorry,” she kept whispering. “I was sent to do this. He said that if I did, he could get me to my brother. My brother isn’t dead, just missing. Please understand.”
“And what of Choi and Ryo?” I asked through clenched teeth, holding my wound, trying to staunch the bleeding.
“I didn’t know about them. I’ll take good care of them, I swear.” Kira held out her arm for Choi to get on. He flew towards her, but instead of landing on her arm, he scratched her face with his long, sharp talons.
Kira shrieked. I smiled viciously. “That’s my boy,” I said proudly. I pulled myself out of the water. The water would only make the bleeding worse, I thought, and to die in water would be a terrible fate. Laying on my back, Choi flew off, cawing concernedly. He was going get something, he said. Towels, I assumed. To staunch the bleeding. He’d seen me do it plenty of times. But it was going to be too late.
Ryo rushed over and rubbed against me anxiously. I smiled faintly, trying to pet her as best I could in my weakening state.
“Who told you that your brother was alive?” I asked.
“I don’t know his name. Tall. White. Formal. Cold. A witch. I didn’t meet him for long,” Kira answered, looking at me with a miserable face.
I gritted my teeth. “That bastard! That’s who kidnapped me.” My eyes widened. ‘For now, you’re useless. But that doesn’t mean you won’t come in handy in the future. Perhaps I won’t need you, though. I’ll be watching you, girl.’ “You’re the guard,” I realized. “You watched me. He must have found the amulet, or locket or whatever. He doesn’t need me anymore. I’m of no use. So he ordered you to kill me.”
Kira nodded. “I don’t know what locket you’re talking about, but yeah. He gives me the orders in my head. He told me to kill you. Trust me, I didn’t want to. But my brother…”
Kree, kree! It was Choi, back already. He had something in his mouth, but not a fresh towel, or equipment, or anything that could heal me. Instead he had…
...a locket.
I gasped. It was familiar. It took me a minute to remember why, but I’d seen this necklace. Around the neck of my mother.
My adopted mother.
Kira was staring, and looked shocked. She made no move to stop Choi as he swooped down and dropped the amulet onto my stomach.
‘It seems I was mistaken. I thought your mother would have trusted you more… No, perhaps it was a wise choice.’
My mother didn’t give me the amulet. She gave it to my adopted mother. As she gave me. ‘Like a bow on a package.’ A package. A transaction. My mother knew she would die, so she gave me over. And her most valuable possession, as well. My foster mother had always told me she couldn’t have children. I wondered how she’d had me, but I hadn’t thought of it much. That’s why she’d taken me.
But why did she give me in?
And how did Choi know about it?
“Choi, dearest, did you steal that from the poor woman?” He kreed embarrassedly. I gave a weak laugh. “That’s my boy,” I whispered. “How did you know?” Choi didn’t give a very good answer. He had heard “locket” and “mother” and just sort of thought of it.
Tears were streaming down my face. My hands were too weak to reach up and catch the amulet. Indeed, it was like a large locket. Big and heavy, I whimpered as it hit my wound.
But then something happened.
The amulet.
Its power.
It began flowing magic into me, wrapping around my whole body as my magic had wrapped around Kira’s arm.
It covered my mouth, my eyes, my nose. I couldn’t breathe. Magic choked me. I screamed, writhing in the smothering energy. It was too much. There was too much magic. My wound wasn’t bad enough to use all the magic up. But I couldn’t make the amulet stop.
Distantly, I heard Choi cawing, and Ryo yowling, and Kira shrieking, and I warned them not to touch me, but I don’t think they heard me.
I blacked out somewhere around here, or close to it. Everything I remember is blurred. I just remember feeling rapturous, energy filling me. But then I felt sick. I couldn’t move. The energy needed to escape. It couldn’t. I couldn’t even wiggle anymore. Just tense in pain as magic soaked into my saturated skin.
“Stop!” I screamed. “You’re killing me!”
It didn’t stop. It continued this way for, according to Kira, about an hour. By the time the hour was done, I was exhausted. The bright magic slowly started dimming, then went out, and released me to the ground. I fell, hitting hard. If I wasn’t unconscious by that point, I was after I hit.
Apparently Choi and Ryo gave Kira a good scratching and gouging when she tried to attend to me, so she stayed back until I awoke.
When I did, I hurt. Everything ached with energy. If I had wanted to break the sound barrier by simply running, I could have. I itched to move, but I was in too much pain to do anything more than sit up.
Kira tried to run to me, but Choi and Ryo took defensive poses in front of me. I smiled at them. “Thank you, guys. But let her through for now. Magically, I could kill an army without lifting a finger. Without lifting a finger because that is far too hard right now.”
Ryo jumped into my lap, and Choi perched on my shoulder, which kind of hurt, but he tried to be gentle with his razor claws.
Kira rushed to me. “Oh gods, are you okay?” she asked. “Choi dropped that locket on you and you just - I don’t even know what happened.” Her eyes were wide and frightened, her face and arms covered in scratches, most of which looked pretty painful. Perhaps it was cruel, but I smiled at seeing that.
I gazed at her. My eyes were glowing, and so was my hair - redder than usual, too. My skin was hot and feverish. “The locket,” I murmured sleepily. “Amulet. Necklace. Whatever. At any rate. Amulets. They can carry a tremendous amount of magic. How much magic you take when you use the amulet is up to the person who put the magic in there. Who is my mother. But she’s dead. So I think all the magic she stored in there - a lot - just sort of broke out. Amulets can also have a trigger. In this case, it was a wound. Probably specifically a fatal one. So when Choi dropped it on me, it got triggered. But my mother isn’t alive to control the release amount. It tried to go into me once my wound was healed. I can’t believe I’m not dead. That was a lot of magic.” I leaned against a nearby tree, slightly winded from my story.
Kira stared at me. “It all went...into you?”
I nodded.
Kira fell silent. We stayed this way for a while. But after about ten minutes, our silence was broken.
“They’re this way!” cried a loud male voice.
My eyes widened. “Someone’s looking for us,” I whispered. “Stay low. Follow me.”
We crept along, and went deeper into the forest.
Bracing myself against a tree for support, I stood. “I’m going to have to fight,” I said. “So stay back. If there are other witches, it could get messy.”
Kira stared at me in shock. Ever since she’d tried to kill me, she’d had a strange sort of surprised, unhappy look on her face. Well, no wonder.
Standing in front of my friends, I took a defensive pose.
And they came.
At first it was just mundanes. I knocked them to the side easily. Slowly, though, witches trickled through. At first they were weak, but they started getting stronger. Sweat beaded my forehead. Standing was hard. I wasn’t so sure I could last much longer, because of my physical body. It didn’t like all the new magic invading.
I swayed, barely managing to stay upright. Suddenly, though, a loud, commanding voice pierced the thunder of magic. “Stop!”
Everyone paused to see who was speaking. The young man. He smiled coldly at me, noting the locket around my neck. “Kira, you useless little… I should have known you wouldn’t have had the heart to kill her.” A sigh. “That around your neck is what I spoke of, girl. Hand it over.”
I shrugged. “Okay. Doesn’t do anything though.”
I threw it over to him. He picked it up, his eyes glinting coldly.
Turning to a white-robed woman next to him, he told her, “Do it.”
As I’d hoped, he’d known of the trigger. The woman pulled out a knife and promptly stabbed him in the gut. He gasped, doubling over, falling to the ground. His eyes glittered greedily and he pressed the amulet to his wound.
Nothing happened.
“What?” he gasped for air, losing blood quickly. He turned to me. “What did you do, girl?”
I pointed to my shirt. It was covered in dried blood. His eyes widened. “You used to power, didn’t you?”
I nodded, unable to resist a small smirk. “Even if you hadn’t known about the trigger, and you had simply tried to use it or run away with it, there was so much energy in that damn thing I could kill a hundred of you at your best.”
The man beckoned to a companion, who ran over and healed his wound. Standing, he said, “Well, that was a bit of a setback.”
He flicked his hands at me and, caught off guard, I slammed into a tree. Groaning, I sat up. “Oh no you didn’t,” I muttered. I flicked my hands right back, and though he deflected my blast, he staggered backwards.
He threw attacks at me, but I easily deflected them. It felt good to use some of the magic in me.
I advanced, pushing him back. He gritted his teeth, wincing against the force of my blows. But he didn’t back down.
Other witches began attacking, but I wouldn’t quit. I created a shield around myself, that only opened in the very front, where a steady blast issued from my palms.
After a few minutes of this, the young man’s magic drained out. He flew backwards, tumbling uncontrollably until he hit a tree. And he didn’t move.
A few witches ran, a few stayed. Those that stayed, I threw to the ground. Those that ran, well, why bother? I let them go.
As soon as everyone was down, I sank to my knees. Kira sprinted over, supporting me, and asked, “Are you okay?”
I flashed her a grin. “Never better.”
“What now?” Kira voiced the question on my mind.
I sighed. “I don’t know. Sleep, for one thing. For another… We should leave. You too. His minions might come after you. They’d look here first.”
“We?” Kira said, stepping back.
I looked at her. “Only if you want to. But I thought we might as well go together.”
“I tried to kill you!” she cried. “Why would you forgive me?”
I smiled weakly. “Oh, I haven’t forgiven you,” I said. “It was a shitty thing to do. But I would do anything to get someone back. I understand why you did it.”
Kira looked down. “Do you think my brother really is alive?” she asked quietly.
I shrugged. “I don’t know,” I said. “I doubt it. But… If you want to look for him, we can.”
She looked at me searchingly, her face full of longing. “No,” she finally decided. “Even if he is alive… What am I going to do? It’s better to just assume he’s dead. It’s the most likely scenario anyway.”
I nodded. “Okay. So where do you want to go?”
Kira looked startled that I was asking her. “Um… Well, I hear that there’s a nice little town called Sriville a while away, by the ocean. I’ve always wanted to see the sea.”
“Then there we’ll go,” I told her.
And so we stood, dusting ourselves off. We walked to my primary hideout and got new clothes, freshening up as best we could. Choi and Ryo watched us carefully.
I turned to them. “Are you - are you coming?” I asked. This was their home. Choi loved it here. He might not want to come. Ryo might stay with him. If Choi wanted to stay, I hoped Ryo would to, so Choi wouldn’t be alone.
Choi flew onto my shoulder, and Ryo jumped into my carrying bag. I smiled at them. “Thank you,” I said.
I handed Kira a spare broom. “We’ll use these to travel sometimes,” I said. “We’re not very subtle in these clothes, and these are faster, and they aren’t as tiring, and robbers can’t exactly get us while we’re on these. It’ll take a bit of a learning curve, so we’ll wait until dusk to practice on the empty road.”
Kira nodded.
And we set out. A witch and a mundane, a raven and a black cat, all sharing the same hope: that one day, they could belong. That one day, they could walk in public without being stoned.
Maybe even that one day, they could be loved.

Description
I crept through the shadows. I was nearly silent, but my clothes made a shhk shhk noise as they brush together and against the bushes.
I wondered how long it would be before I died.
I’m an outlaw, you see. Cold as iron, that’s me. Murderer. Hardened criminal. Tough.
Continuing the story, I’m on my way to rescue a kitten.
I had spotted her while running from the authorities. Stupid Jake, getting nervous and calling the cops. The deal went bad. I lost all the diamonds I was carrying while running and avoiding. Ha, that was a while ago. I’m still angry.
On the bright side, I noticed a tiny kitten, mewing, her eyes shut with crust. She was so tiny and adorable, I wanted to cuddle the second I saw her.
She was a black cat, which is probably why she was out on the streets. Everyone loves cats, but black cats? Oh, they’re bad luck. Honestly, the poor thing was lucky to only been thrown out - some cats are staked or burned on the spot. But since it was a kitten, they might have hoped it would be harmless despite its colouring and just kicked it out of the house.
Being a witch (oh yeah, forgot to mention. I can do magic. I’m pretty powerful, but also pretty untrained.), I knew what the poor thing felt like. Hated for no reason. Hated for being special. Hated for being. Existing.
I slithered silently (well, besides the shhk shhk) through the underbrush, looking for street signs. There! The corner of Aberforth and Downey.
I walked to the corner and - oh no. Oh no no no no no. There were boys, with sticks, poking it. Hitting it. Throwing stones. Laughing.
I felt my hair begin to float as anger took form in uncontrolled magic. I needed to stop them before I seriously injured them.
“Hey!” I stepped of out the shadows. The boys jumped, spinning around to stare at me. Their faces showed confusion, then surprise, then anger, then cruelty.
“What are you doing here, freak?” one said.
“Yeah, what are you going to do, save your demon buddy here? Take it, it’s just a freak like you,” said another, kicking the kitten towards me. It gave a sharp yip of pain, crumpling and not moving again. I longed to rush to it and check on it, but I dared not show weakness.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” I said. “But,” and my hair floated out of it’s bun, swirling around me like tentacles and glowing dangerously, “I will.”
The boys swallowed nervously but held their ground. One strutted up, the one who had kicked the kitten over to me, and held up a bottle. It was marked with a cross. I rolled my eyes and waited. “Ha, yeah, that’s great, but see, I’ve got holy water on me, and, well…” The boy shrugged and grinned, then splashed the water on me.
I didn’t blink.
“Well, that was exciting,” I said. “My turn.”
I held up my hands and let loose energy that slammed him into the nearest wall. “Who’s next?” I asked.
The boys backed away slowly. One tried to throw a silver cross (I’m not a werewolf or a vampire. Honestly, what were they even thinking?) at me, but I just knocked it to the side and threw him next to his friend.
The others started running, but I wasn’t going to let them get away that easy. “Don’t hurt any other animal, or I will be back,” I said, and slammed them face first into a stone house.
I scooped up the kitten and ran off.
Once I got to a safe place, I slowed down and set the kitten on the ground. “Are you okay?” I asked her, using magic to let her understand that I was nice, that I wanted to help her.
She mewed, and struggled to open her eyes, but couldn’t. I gently touched her face, and she flinched but did not turn away. Using some water that I had on me, I rubbed some crust away. It wasn’t so bad, but she was so weak and upset she couldn’t get it off herself.
Slowly, her eyes came apart. She squinched her eyes open then shut a few times to get the hang of it, then sat up, eyeing me curiously.
She was dreadfully weak, but I always carried around a bit of food and water with me (in case I needed to abandon this town quickly without time to pack my meager supplies), so I gave her some of that. She gobbled it up hungrily, and awkwardly licked up some water from my cupped hands.
“Zenchoi!” I called quietly. The loud caw of a raven pierced the peaceful night.
I smiled as the raven landed on my outstretched arm. Zenchoi is derived from a word that means good omen, the opposite of what a raven supposedly represents. But I mostly just call him Choi. I call myself Yoi, which means simply good.
“Hey, Choi,” I said. The raven let out a small, questioning krr as it cocked it’s head in the kit’s direction. “Yes, that’s why I called you,” I said. “I found this poor girl on the side of the road, being poked at. I rescued her. Hopefully she’ll stay with us, aye?”
The bird was excited, but the kitten was unimpressed by the large, intimidating raven. She hissed, backing away, her fur standing up on end. I quickly communicated, using my awkward grasp of the cat language, to explain the bird was friendly.
“What shall we name you? You’re considered bad luck, so the opposite of that. Hmm,” I mused. “What about… Ryokounaun? Favourable luck?”
The kitten ignored me, bathing it’s tail, but Choi cawed appreciatively. I smiled. “Ryokounaun it is! But we’ll call you Ryo for short.”
Ryo looked at me solemnly. Her eyes were the bright blues eyes of a tiny kitten. I smiled. “You’re adorable, you know that?” I told her. She gave a funny little noise, almost a purr but shorter, and ran over to me, rubbing against my legs.
I stroked her with my non-raven-holding hand, closing my eyes.
Suddenly, a hand clamped over my mouth. “Mmm!” I screamed, my mouth covered and my words muffled.
Struggling to get free, I jerked my hand over and over until Choi was forced off. With all my might I sent a mental thought. Go, go, take Ryo and leave me! I can take care of myself!
Choi kreed unhappily but I pounded his brain with commands to leave me until he finally did, scooping Ryo up gently by the scruff of her neck.
“They may be safe, but you’re far from it,” said a rough voice. I was surprised. I’d expected it to be street boys looking for a fight with the freak. But this was the voice of a man, an older one it sounded like.
A new hand, soft and warm, gripped my forehead, and foreign magic slipped into my skull. I began to lose consciousness. My eyes widened. They were witches too? I’d thought I was the only one in town. My last thought was, 'Oh shit, I am fucking screwed.'

…

I awoke cold. There was no air movement in the room. It was too still. Too still. It should have been hot and unpleasant. Instead, it was cold and unpleasant. Strange. Bad strange. I didn’t like it. Not one bit.
I wondered where I was. I was tied tightly to a chair, but not with ropes. With magic. I could feel the magic, foreign and strange against my skin. My eyes didn’t want to open, and when they did they were reluctant to focus. I saw people, guards it seemed, surrounding me, and instantly shut my eyes. If they didn't know I was awake, I could use that to my -
“Hello,” said a smooth voice. “I feel you’re awake now?”
Well, that plan went to hell pretty quick.
I looked at the speaker. Male. Vaguely attractive. White. Young. Tall. Stereotypical all over the fucking place.
“Yeah, I’m awake. What do you want with me?” I said, trying to not show how tired I was.
The young man chuckled. “Ah, straight to the point, then?”
“That’d be nice,” I said. “This isn’t very pleasant.”
The young man leaned down, his mint breath overpowering in my face. “You have a certain something that I need,” he said. “Give it to me - it isn’t any use to you anyway - and I’ll let you, and your precious pets, go. You can even stay here - we’ll leave. You’ll never see us again.”
I shied away from him. “What the bloody hell would I have that you want?” I asked. “If you want a dress, just buy one. I don’t own any.”
The young man stood back up, his face blotched. “I do not want a dress, you foolish girl! Give me what I need. Now.”
I stared. “Yeah. But see, I don’t know what the hell you want. Tell me. I’ll consider.”
A sigh. “You really don’t know? Clueless brat. The locket your mother gave you. I need it.”
“My mother? Which one? What are you talking about?”
“Not your adopted, clearly. Your real mother. You came with the locket. Like a bow on a package,” the young man sneered.
I was speechless. “My real mother? But she died. She didn’t give me anything. And what do you mean, ‘what I came with’? You’re not making sense.”
“Fine. Then let’s do this the hard way.” The man loomed over me, and began unbuttoning my top.
“What the bloody fuck?” I squirmed away. “Pig. Get off me.”
He scrabbled at my bare chest but found nothing. “Where is it?” he cried. “Where’s the locket?”
“Dude, I still have no idea what you’re on about. My mother gave me nothing but a dress. That’s it. Calm your tits.”
The man stood back up, straightening his shirt indignantly. “It seems I was mistaken. I thought your mother would have trusted you more… No, perhaps it was a wise choice.”
I was confused. Had he known my mother? “Did you know my mother? What are you on about? What locket?”
“Your mother was in possession of a powerful amulet - but see, she died. She knew she was going to die, so I assumed when she handed you off she would have given the locket to you...but no...it seems not. Perhaps it was a wise choice. You seem rather incompetent. Yet, she couldn’t have known that. At any rate, she stole that amulet. It is rightly mine and I want it back.” The young man’s voice was tight with anger.
“Oookaaayyy,” I said slowly. “Great. Let me go. I’ve no clue what amulet or locket you speak of.”
The young man considered. “Okay,” he said. “For now, you’re useless. But that doesn’t mean you won’t come in handy in the future. Perhaps I won’t need you, though. I’ll be watching you, girl.” And with that he stalked away, snapping his fingers commandishly.
The guards I had forgotten about rushed to my side. The magic binding me had dropped when he’d snapped, and the guards escorted me to the door. They quite rudely shoved me out and slammed the door in my face.
I ran, and ran, until I found a section of town that I recognized. I was a bit out of breath, but I only allowed myself a small rest. Then I held out my hand and concentrated. Was my - yes. It was in the area, as I’d thought. But it was far away. Far, far away.
Whoosh, came a noise. It grew nearer and nearer and I held out my hand, and then smack! My broom hit my hand with painful force. But I held on.
Jumping on my broom (yes, a bit cliche and cheesy but honestly, what else can you enchant to fly you around that you can sit on? I gave mine comfy seats and everything, so it wasn’t so bad.), I whisked into the air. I could cover ground a lot faster now - unfortunately, before now I’d been too far away to call my broom. The calling enchantment didn’t work on distances over fifty miles.
Once in the air, I looked about to get my bearings. Swooping a bit lower, I began calling to Choi. “Zenchoi! Come here; it’s me, Yoi!” I send out my thoughts cautiously - if you aren’t careful people can hijack your thoughts and listen in - and after about ten minutes found him. Smart bird, he’d nested with Ryo in my secondary secret hiding place - my first was far too valuable if someone followed him.
I rushed to him and engulfed both raven and cat in a tight embrace, trying to convey what had happened using my awkward grasp of the animal languages.
They eventually got the point, though, and expressed confusion as to the locket. I shrugged. “I really have no clue what he was on about. But he said he’ll be watching me, so we can’t go anywhere important while we’re unsure if he’s watching.”
I went into a small cave which served as temporary living quarters sometimes. To my surprise I found a young girl crumpled on the ground. I jerked back in alarm, staring accusingly at Choi and Ryo. “Did you know about this?” The animals looked away. I gasped. “Did you let her in here? What’s wrong with you? We don’t contact people. You know that.” My voice filled with pain. “You know what happens if we try to interact, even to help. They don’t - they don’t understand.”
Choi cawed roughly. He did understand, but she was different. “Different how?” I asked. “How do you know?” Another caw. He just knew. “Helpful,” I muttered. “Well, what’s the issue?”
Ryo trotted over and nudged at the girl’s left arm. It was badly bandaged, and looked as though it had been bleeding heavily.
I walked to her side. “I can try to heal her,” I said, “but she’ll have to be awake. Do you think we should try?”
Choi kreed approvingly, and Ryo mewed in a way that I thought was approving. Hard to tell.
I sighed. “Okay.”
Gently, without disturbing her hurt arm, I shook the girl, calling softly, “Hey, are you alright? Wake up. I can help, but you have to tell me what’s wrong.”
The girl murmured sleepily. She had short, choppily cut light brown hair, and her solidly built frame was curled up in pain. Her skin was dark, darker than mocha but of the same smooth, rich hue. She had on trousers - a bit odd; girls were generally ‘supposed’ to wear dresses. Dumb rule which I never follow. Her voice was deep but soft. As her eyes opened, I noticed that they were a deep, deep blue, like a dusky night sky.
As she looked at me, she jerked back in surprise. She yelped as her arm was jolted, and I steadied her gingerly. “It’s okay,” I said. “I’m going to help you, okay?”
She watched me with wide eyes, her round face uncertain and frightened. “You’re - you’re a - ”
“Witch? Yeah, I know. Freak? That’s me.” I gazed at her solidly. I could take her if she attacked, no problem, as long as she didn’t get me into a physical fight. She looked muscly.
The girl started. “No, I didn’t mean - I just - your outfit - ”
“What about it?” I asked. I had on a low cut top, white and with flared material. A corset tightened at my waist, colours in daring red and black and gold that clashed marvelously with my deeply crimson auburn hair and my one light blue eye that was almost silver and my deep green eye. An intricate pattern laced the background. Extending from the back was a long, flowing cape-thing that reached my ankles. A bit dramatic and in the way, but it looked cool. Knee-high brown worn-leather silver-buckle adventure combat boots completed the look.
“Nothing, I just - Sorry,” she said quickly.
“Doesn’t matter,” I said. “Now, what happened with your arm? How long has it been like this? How much did it bleed?”
“Uh… It’s been like this maybe two days?” the girl supplied. “It bled quite a lot.”
“I rather thought so. You’re soaked with dry blood, dearie.” I began unwrapping her bandage carefully. “So, what’s your name?”
The girl looked untrusting, so I took a leap of faith. “I cast away the name that my adopted mother gave me. I call myself Yoi. Perhaps a bit pretentious, but I find it helps keep away the bad thoughts when people call me evil and a devil and throw stones at me for floating some books. The raven is Zenchoi, which is derived from good omen; just call him Choi, and that’s Ryokounaun, which is derived from favourable luck; just call her Ryo.” I smiled at the girl.
The girl cocked her head, considering. “I’m Kira,” she said finally.
“Pretty name,” I commented.
“Thanks,” she said awkwardly.
“Now,” I said. “In order to quickly heal your wound I would have to use magic. I think I can get it stable without magic, but it would be safer to just heal it now. However, I won’t use magic on you if you don’t want me to. Whatever you’re comfortable with.”
Kira tilted her head. “You’re interesting,” she said.
“How so?” I asked.
“You aren’t like how witches are described in books. You’re kind. It could be a trick, but - ”
I laughed mirthlessly. “Kira, thank you for saying I’m kind. But of course I’m not like the witches in the books. I’ve never met a witch who is. We try to use our magic for good. It’s hard, because people throw stone at us. They burn us. Stake us. Call us freaks. Abuse us. Throw us out. But we try and keep good heart. Do you know what most witches believe? That we are special people. That we are good people, with good hearts, that have been chosen to help people despite the risks. A bit high-and-mighty, sure, but it gives us hope. I don’t know about special, but certainly a lot of witches are more kind-hearted than ‘normal’ humans. And do you know what, Kira?” My voice grew quiet and sad. “If we find ourselves turning wicked, do you know what we do? If we really can’t take the terrible loneliness, the hate, the punishing for having done naught… We kill ourselves. That is our belief. A bad witch is a disgrace and a failure. A dead witch is better than an evil one.” As hard as I tried to keep them back, tears were flowing. “We try so hard. But no one cares. We try to help people. But they just continue to rebuke us… Do you know how many friends I’ve lost? Too many. There used to be plenty of witches in this town. But slowly they all died off. Because of mundanes or suicide. Both are the same. Why are we driven? Because of you guys.”
Kira was speechless, it seemed. Not that she’d been very talkative before that. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t know. But,” and she gave a tiny, sad laugh, pointing at her skin, her short hair, and her trousers, “I can kind of guess what you mean by different. People don’t react as extremely anymore, but everything coupled together… Well, it isn’t pleasant. I’ve been living on the streets for a while now.”
I wiped away my tears. “I’m sorry too. You shouldn’t have to go through that. And sorry for exploding. It’s just, I haven’t talked civilly with another human in...too long. Far too long. Choi and Ryo are great, but hard to talk to, you know? My grasp of their languages isn’t so good. Of course, I haven’t had much practice with Ryo, seeing as I rescued her what I think was earlier today and then I kind of got kidnapped, you know, just normal stuff.” I wiped my nose and giggled.
Kira gave a slightly incredulous laugh. “Okay. Well, at any rate. Heal me up, Doctor Yoi.”
I grinned at her, the first grin I’d had in years. Placing my hands on her arm, I channeled magic into her. It slowly took form as healing magic, then wrapped around her arm protectively. Kira gasped as she felt the magic leech into her, restoring her strength.
I sat back with a tiny gasp, my energy drained. “It should be pretty healed,” I said, “but don’t do anything too strenuous.”
Kira flexed her arm, and feeling no pain other than a slight twinge, jumped up and swung her arm a bit. After a few moments she grimaced and said, “Ow. Okay, a little more gently.” Turning to me, she said, “Thank you so much. I haven’t felt this good in - well, a long time.”
I smiled shyly. “Do you - there’s a hot spring in the forest. If you wanted to, I could take you there and we could - ”
Kira’s eyes widened. “A bath? I haven’t had one in - well, quite a while.”
I let out a laugh. Real laughter. Bubbling from within, it was soothing. The weight on my shoulders was lifted for the time being. I could relax. Relax.
We set off to the hot springs, Ryo and Choi padding and flying quietly behind us, watching us, guarding us.
Reaching them, we undressed to our underclothes and eased our way in. Kira glanced at me shyly, looking me up and down. My vaguely tanned white skin looked deathly white compared to her dark-mocha flesh. Her eyes caught the darkened skin above my left breast, near my heart.
Her eyes locked in mine, questioning. “What’s - if you don’t mind - that mark - ”
I glanced at it, my face darkening. It was of a dragonlike creature curled up, its mouth open, almost eating its own tail. Unconnected wings flew unrealistically from the sides, flanking the dragonlike being. Inside the circle the curled dragon made was a star. Sitting with a plop on a protruding rock, I responded, “It’s a brand. To mark me as a witch. I got it when I was seven. I started using magic. My mother, or the person who I thought was my mother at the time, turned me in.” My voice was bitter. “I was given to the police. Branded. I would have been burned, but they thought it cruel I was so young. I don’t know why age would make a difference if I’m inhuman devilspawn, though. At any rate, a few months later, some other witches rescued me now.”
“Other witches?” Kira said, confused. Her breath caught in her throat. “Are they - ”
“Yeah.” All of them. One by one. Only one had managed to hold on until she died a natural death. But the others...they were weak. They gave in. No, not gave in. Gave up.
Kira looked away. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I lost my family too, a mother, father, and brother, and it was… And they didn’t even do it themselves. At least I have someone to blame.”
I sighed. “I do blame someone. Some people. Mundanes. We’ve tried to help you guys, but it just - it doesn’t work. I don’t know what to do anymore. I want to help, but why? Can’t I just live, like any other person? So I renounced that. I gave up on helping you. I don't harm you, but I won’t go out of my way to help.”
“Then what did you do just now, with me? Wasn’t that going out of your way?” asked Kira.
I shook my head. “That was getting you out of my way. You were in my sleeping quarters. I wouldn’t have let you die. But I wouldn’t have used up so much magic. It leaves me weak.”
“So you’re weakened, now?” Kira said.
I nodded. “Yeah, pretty much. I can’t use magic for a while, not big things at least, and physical things will be more of a strain.”
Kira looked at me. Her eyes were full of tears. I was startled. “What’s wrong?” I asked. “Kira, what’s the matter?”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. She was closer than I remembered.
“What? Sorry about what?” I backed away from her.
“This,” she said simply, and stabbed me with her knife.

…

I suppose I should have seen it coming. But I was still surprised. My eyes overflowed. “You traitor!” I shouted. “I heal you, and for what? Typical mundane behaviour! I should have never thought you were different!”
Kira flinched. “I’m sorry,” she kept whispering. “I was sent to do this. He said that if I did, he could get me to my brother. My brother isn’t dead, just missing. Please understand.”
“And what of Choi and Ryo?” I asked through clenched teeth, holding my wound, trying to staunch the bleeding.
“I didn’t know about them. I’ll take good care of them, I swear.” Kira held out her arm for Choi to get on. He flew towards her, but instead of landing on her arm, he scratched her face with his long, sharp talons.
Kira shrieked. I smiled viciously. “That’s my boy,” I said proudly. I pulled myself out of the water. The water would only make the bleeding worse, I thought, and to die in water would be a terrible fate. Laying on my back, Choi flew off, cawing concernedly. He was going get something, he said. Towels, I assumed. To staunch the bleeding. He’d seen me do it plenty of times. But it was going to be too late.
Ryo rushed over and rubbed against me anxiously. I smiled faintly, trying to pet her as best I could in my weakening state.
“Who told you that your brother was alive?” I asked.
“I don’t know his name. Tall. White. Formal. Cold. A witch. I didn’t meet him for long,” Kira answered, looking at me with a miserable face.
I gritted my teeth. “That bastard! That’s who kidnapped me.” My eyes widened. ‘For now, you’re useless. But that doesn’t mean you won’t come in handy in the future. Perhaps I won’t need you, though. I’ll be watching you, girl.’ “You’re the guard,” I realized. “You watched me. He must have found the amulet, or locket or whatever. He doesn’t need me anymore. I’m of no use. So he ordered you to kill me.”
Kira nodded. “I don’t know what locket you’re talking about, but yeah. He gives me the orders in my head. He told me to kill you. Trust me, I didn’t want to. But my brother…”
Kree, kree! It was Choi, back already. He had something in his mouth, but not a fresh towel, or equipment, or anything that could heal me. Instead he had…
...a locket.
I gasped. It was familiar. It took me a minute to remember why, but I’d seen this necklace. Around the neck of my mother.
My adopted mother.
Kira was staring, and looked shocked. She made no move to stop Choi as he swooped down and dropped the amulet onto my stomach.
‘It seems I was mistaken. I thought your mother would have trusted you more… No, perhaps it was a wise choice.’
My mother didn’t give me the amulet. She gave it to my adopted mother. As she gave me. ‘Like a bow on a package.’ A package. A transaction. My mother knew she would die, so she gave me over. And her most valuable possession, as well. My foster mother had always told me she couldn’t have children. I wondered how she’d had me, but I hadn’t thought of it much. That’s why she’d taken me.
But why did she give me in?
And how did Choi know about it?
“Choi, dearest, did you steal that from the poor woman?” He kreed embarrassedly. I gave a weak laugh. “That’s my boy,” I whispered. “How did you know?” Choi didn’t give a very good answer. He had heard “locket” and “mother” and just sort of thought of it.
Tears were streaming down my face. My hands were too weak to reach up and catch the amulet. Indeed, it was like a large locket. Big and heavy, I whimpered as it hit my wound.
But then something happened.
The amulet.
Its power.
It began flowing magic into me, wrapping around my whole body as my magic had wrapped around Kira’s arm.
It covered my mouth, my eyes, my nose. I couldn’t breathe. Magic choked me. I screamed, writhing in the smothering energy. It was too much. There was too much magic. My wound wasn’t bad enough to use all the magic up. But I couldn’t make the amulet stop.
Distantly, I heard Choi cawing, and Ryo yowling, and Kira shrieking, and I warned them not to touch me, but I don’t think they heard me.
I blacked out somewhere around here, or close to it. Everything I remember is blurred. I just remember feeling rapturous, energy filling me. But then I felt sick. I couldn’t move. The energy needed to escape. It couldn’t. I couldn’t even wiggle anymore. Just tense in pain as magic soaked into my saturated skin.
“Stop!” I screamed. “You’re killing me!”
It didn’t stop. It continued this way for, according to Kira, about an hour. By the time the hour was done, I was exhausted. The bright magic slowly started dimming, then went out, and released me to the ground. I fell, hitting hard. If I wasn’t unconscious by that point, I was after I hit.
Apparently Choi and Ryo gave Kira a good scratching and gouging when she tried to attend to me, so she stayed back until I awoke.
When I did, I hurt. Everything ached with energy. If I had wanted to break the sound barrier by simply running, I could have. I itched to move, but I was in too much pain to do anything more than sit up.
Kira tried to run to me, but Choi and Ryo took defensive poses in front of me. I smiled at them. “Thank you, guys. But let her through for now. Magically, I could kill an army without lifting a finger. Without lifting a finger because that is far too hard right now.”
Ryo jumped into my lap, and Choi perched on my shoulder, which kind of hurt, but he tried to be gentle with his razor claws.
Kira rushed to me. “Oh gods, are you okay?” she asked. “Choi dropped that locket on you and you just - I don’t even know what happened.” Her eyes were wide and frightened, her face and arms covered in scratches, most of which looked pretty painful. Perhaps it was cruel, but I smiled at seeing that.
I gazed at her. My eyes were glowing, and so was my hair - redder than usual, too. My skin was hot and feverish. “The locket,” I murmured sleepily. “Amulet. Necklace. Whatever. At any rate. Amulets. They can carry a tremendous amount of magic. How much magic you take when you use the amulet is up to the person who put the magic in there. Who is my mother. But she’s dead. So I think all the magic she stored in there - a lot - just sort of broke out. Amulets can also have a trigger. In this case, it was a wound. Probably specifically a fatal one. So when Choi dropped it on me, it got triggered. But my mother isn’t alive to control the release amount. It tried to go into me once my wound was healed. I can’t believe I’m not dead. That was a lot of magic.” I leaned against a nearby tree, slightly winded from my story.
Kira stared at me. “It all went...into you?”
I nodded.
Kira fell silent. We stayed this way for a while. But after about ten minutes, our silence was broken.
“They’re this way!” cried a loud male voice.
My eyes widened. “Someone’s looking for us,” I whispered. “Stay low. Follow me.”
We crept along, and went deeper into the forest.
Bracing myself against a tree for support, I stood. “I’m going to have to fight,” I said. “So stay back. If there are other witches, it could get messy.”
Kira stared at me in shock. Ever since she’d tried to kill me, she’d had a strange sort of surprised, unhappy look on her face. Well, no wonder.
Standing in front of my friends, I took a defensive pose.
And they came.
At first it was just mundanes. I knocked them to the side easily. Slowly, though, witches trickled through. At first they were weak, but they started getting stronger. Sweat beaded my forehead. Standing was hard. I wasn’t so sure I could last much longer, because of my physical body. It didn’t like all the new magic invading.
I swayed, barely managing to stay upright. Suddenly, though, a loud, commanding voice pierced the thunder of magic. “Stop!”
Everyone paused to see who was speaking. The young man. He smiled coldly at me, noting the locket around my neck. “Kira, you useless little… I should have known you wouldn’t have had the heart to kill her.” A sigh. “That around your neck is what I spoke of, girl. Hand it over.”
I shrugged. “Okay. Doesn’t do anything though.”
I threw it over to him. He picked it up, his eyes glinting coldly.
Turning to a white-robed woman next to him, he told her, “Do it.”
As I’d hoped, he’d known of the trigger. The woman pulled out a knife and promptly stabbed him in the gut. He gasped, doubling over, falling to the ground. His eyes glittered greedily and he pressed the amulet to his wound.
Nothing happened.
“What?” he gasped for air, losing blood quickly. He turned to me. “What did you do, girl?”
I pointed to my shirt. It was covered in dried blood. His eyes widened. “You used to power, didn’t you?”
I nodded, unable to resist a small smirk. “Even if you hadn’t known about the trigger, and you had simply tried to use it or run away with it, there was so much energy in that damn thing I could kill a hundred of you at your best.”
The man beckoned to a companion, who ran over and healed his wound. Standing, he said, “Well, that was a bit of a setback.”
He flicked his hands at me and, caught off guard, I slammed into a tree. Groaning, I sat up. “Oh no you didn’t,” I muttered. I flicked my hands right back, and though he deflected my blast, he staggered backwards.
He threw attacks at me, but I easily deflected them. It felt good to use some of the magic in me.
I advanced, pushing him back. He gritted his teeth, wincing against the force of my blows. But he didn’t back down.
Other witches began attacking, but I wouldn’t quit. I created a shield around myself, that only opened in the very front, where a steady blast issued from my palms.
After a few minutes of this, the young man’s magic drained out. He flew backwards, tumbling uncontrollably until he hit a tree. And he didn’t move.
A few witches ran, a few stayed. Those that stayed, I threw to the ground. Those that ran, well, why bother? I let them go.
As soon as everyone was down, I sank to my knees. Kira sprinted over, supporting me, and asked, “Are you okay?”
I flashed her a grin. “Never better.”
“What now?” Kira voiced the question on my mind.
I sighed. “I don’t know. Sleep, for one thing. For another… We should leave. You too. His minions might come after you. They’d look here first.”
“We?” Kira said, stepping back.
I looked at her. “Only if you want to. But I thought we might as well go together.”
“I tried to kill you!” she cried. “Why would you forgive me?”
I smiled weakly. “Oh, I haven’t forgiven you,” I said. “It was a shitty thing to do. But I would do anything to get someone back. I understand why you did it.”
Kira looked down. “Do you think my brother really is alive?” she asked quietly.
I shrugged. “I don’t know,” I said. “I doubt it. But… If you want to look for him, we can.”
She looked at me searchingly, her face full of longing. “No,” she finally decided. “Even if he is alive… What am I going to do? It’s better to just assume he’s dead. It’s the most likely scenario anyway.”
I nodded. “Okay. So where do you want to go?”
Kira looked startled that I was asking her. “Um… Well, I hear that there’s a nice little town called Sriville a while away, by the ocean. I’ve always wanted to see the sea.”
“Then there we’ll go,” I told her.
And so we stood, dusting ourselves off. We walked to my primary hideout and got new clothes, freshening up as best we could. Choi and Ryo watched us carefully.
I turned to them. “Are you - are you coming?” I asked. This was their home. Choi loved it here. He might not want to come. Ryo might stay with him. If Choi wanted to stay, I hoped Ryo would to, so Choi wouldn’t be alone.
Choi flew onto my shoulder, and Ryo jumped into my carrying bag. I smiled at them. “Thank you,” I said.
I handed Kira a spare broom. “We’ll use these to travel sometimes,” I said. “We’re not very subtle in these clothes, and these are faster, and they aren’t as tiring, and robbers can’t exactly get us while we’re on these. It’ll take a bit of a learning curve, so we’ll wait until dusk to practice on the empty road.”
Kira nodded.
And we set out. A witch and a mundane, a raven and a black cat, all sharing the same hope: that one day, they could belong. That one day, they could walk in public without being stoned.
Maybe even that one day, they could be loved.