Merida
I flinch awake as the whispers of a soft melody brush against my ear. I'm not entirely sure when I lost consciousness. The last memory I had was of me punching the oak tree. My eyes open as I take in the unfamiliar place.
The sound of a fire crackling along with a soft melody rang through the air, amplified by the echo of the cave. I was crouched on my side as my vision began to clear.
Thick, spiraling tree roots rose up from the ground in vertical lines that connected over me; intertwined with the others on top in a cage-like fashion.
I swept aside a patch of debris as I examined my surrounds. I knew I was in a cave, yet I couldn't pinpoint where I was.
The hollowed out earth opened to reveal a lit fireplace with a small cauldron over it, held up by an iron fixture. The light of flames illuminated the clay stone walls.
The place I'm in might be one of many. It didn't look like a home but it showed evidence that people had lived here. Besides the fireplace, there was a table filled with grimoires and scrolls, decorative rugs lined the bottom of the cave walls, and various herbs hung on the bumpy stone walls.
I immediately recognized the scent of them, the missing pieces of my memory slowly crept back. It was the witch. When I had found that deer a while ago, I blacked out or at least I thought I did.
But the truth was that she'd knocked me unconscious and took me to a cabin I could only assume was hers. I remember being bound still as she told me about my mother... and a gift.
On the night of the full moon, I'll come for you. I'll save you, Merida.
The melody grew louder, forcing me to shift my position. However, the ceiling of the cave was too low for me to stand, so I crouched into a defensive stance.
Tonight was the full moon, a primal feeling from Melody told me that much.
The witch rounded the corner, the melody coming to an abrupt pause as she noticed me. She moved a youthful hand to push back the stray lock of graying brown hair that fell from her bun.
Like many sorceresses, her appearance confused me, rendering me incapable of telling her age.
So this is the witch my father mentioned.
"Why am I here?" I screamed at the witch. She brought me here for a reason, something told me there was a deeper meaning behind her simply trying to save me.
"I told you before, I am trying to save you." She replied as if that means anything to me. Her dull purple eyes pierced me as if searching for something.
"Save me," I scoff. "You're crazy. I don't need you to save me from anything."
"My sweet Merida," She picked up one of the grimoires from the table and examined it. "Your mother asked me to protect you. I've failed her once, and I won't do it again."
"What are you even saving me from?" If she wasn't going to let me go, then I found that it would be best if I gathered as much intel from her before escaping.
Now if I could find a way out this cage.
"Darkness." She said solemnly as she placed the grimoire down. "You see, there's a prophecy about you. One that was foretold the day you shifted. There were variations of it, long before you were born. But this prophecy was true. All the covens knew it. Peter knew it."
There was a bite to her voice as I waited for a moment, listening. My father's name caught my attention.
"The prophecy stated that you, Merida, will receive a gift as the only heir to the Lykos family. Your mothers coven called it the 'gift of the moon'. This gift will lead you into becoming one of the most powerful sorceress in history. However, with the Light comes Darkness. A curse." She breathed. "Darkness will come for you, it will become your undoing. It will be the death of you.
She turned abruptly towards me. "When your mother's coven betrayed her, your Father took you away before they could get to you. I kept my promise to your mother upon her last breath, I searched for the Darkness. I wanted to save you before it manifested."
I went still for a moment. All I knew about my mother and Eli's death was that they died in a fire.
My father said it was an accident that happened while we were at the doctors that night. Why didn't he tell me that it was my mother's own coven that killed them?
"It took years, but I'd found it. But it seems it had already found you." I pondered her words as I listened, the realization of my mother's betrayal still rested in the back of my head. "It looked innocent but I couldn't afford to be weak. I needed to expose it. I couldn't let you continue to live with that demon." She spat.
I thought about what she might've been referring to, but my mind could think of one thing.
"She made you care for her." I froze as her words began to click into place. "She forced you to sleep beside her. I knew Darkness resided inside her. I knew I had to do something before the prophecy took hold."
Melody jumped forward, sensing a possible link between her where her story is going and the one my Father told me. "What the hell did you do?"
"I needed to know. I called Peter and I told him a false prophecy. I needed to make sure he would be there. I needed him to see the truth."
"You were the one who behind it." I said in near disbelief.
Four years. For four years, Mia suffered. For four years, Stephanie grieved over the loss of her child. For four years, Peter buried himself in his work, filled with guilt over that painful choice. For four years, I watched my family shatter, always wondering what could've been.
"Yes, Merida. But I was right." She began.
"We suffered for years because of you." Rage coursed its way into my heart.
"I. Was. Right." She repeated. "Mia was Darkness. But she escaped before--"
"You ruined our lives because of a stupid prophecy." I screamed at her.
"I did what I needed to do to save you. To ensure Darkness wouldn't kill you."
"My mate suffered because of you." Melody growled.
"Darkness was corrupting you." She snapped.
"The only one corrupted is you. My mate was innocent. She did nothing wrong. I was the one who feed her. I was the one who slept by her side. I was the one who would willingly give the world for her. I. Did. That. Of my own free will." Melody and I bit out in rage.
"You don't understand. Don't you see it? She's trapped you."
"She's my mate."
"No, she's not." The witch slashed her hand through the air in frustration. I flinched at the spell that never came. "That bond of yours isn't natural. Don't you see it. If you were truly bonded and she rejected you, which by the state you were in when I found you, she has." The witched pointed out, shocking me with the realization. "Then why aren't you in pain?"
I paused at the question and took a moment to focus inward. I should be in pain if she rejected me. The witch was right about that, why wasn't I in pain?
I shook my head, ignoring it for right now. "That doesn't mean anything. It doesn't change what you did to her."
"Nonsense," she said as she turned away from me. "Mia is Darkness."
"Mia is not darkness!" I shouted as I began to tug at the bars of the cage. The wood felt soft and easy to tear underneath my grasp.
"You're cursed. Both you and Melody." She snarled. Her thin hand picked up an object from the table and threw it at the fire turning the orange flames white. "I brought you here for two things."
I growled as I secretly begin to plan my escape, right along with her death.
"Tonight, I will help you realize your gift. That will be the first." She said as she held up a finger in emphasis. "And the second, will be my promise to your mother."
I begin slowly working at the roots behind me, feeling the weak bark snap easily, making sure to keep my work hidden from her gaze.
"There's only one way I can save you. I need to get rid of the Darkness." My hands shook momentarily as Melody and I felt the weight of her words along with the determination that accompanied them. They settled over our shoulders like a sharp stone.
"What do you mean?" I whispered silently. But a small part of me knew. I knew without her even saying it.
"She escaped me once, I won't let her do it again. To protect you, I need to kill her."
Anger flooded through me faster than I could process it. Melody took over and I nearly shifted. It didn't matter how Mia felt about me, it didn't matter how she saw me.
It didn't even matter that she rejected me. There was no way in hell that I was going to allow this witch to touch her.
Melody snatched the cage walls, tearing one of them entirely before I could stop him. The witch caught it and, with one word, all my work was overlaid with thicker roots.
Shit.
We'll kill her, I promise you. I told him. But we need to be careful about how we handle this. Trust me, Melody, she won't hurt Mia.
She shook her head, "That's where you're wrong Merida. You won't escape and Mia will die tonight."
I froze as realization stuck. This bitch just tapped into my head. "She won't come." I cried.
But the witch only laughed as she left the room, leaving me sunken in the cage. Misery filled my heart as I thought about my words which both the witch and I knew was a damn lie.
But still I hoped.
Mia please don't come here. Please don't find me.
ns 18.68.41.181da2
