Living shadows had already begun slipping through the crack under the door, twisting and forming into Cora’s monsters. They stared at the child in Willa’s arms with hunger and delight. Willa clutched her to her chest, eyes wild as she stared them down.
Orla bared her teeth in challenge. But cold sweat dampened her brow and her body sagged, every part of her spent. She rose to her feet, legs shaky but strong enough. She fired at the monsters made from shadow, but it went wide as she lost her footing. She collapsed to the ground again. She was too weak.
The bedroom door creaked open. She knew it was a death sentence.
Cora filled the door frame, a cruel grin on her face. She held her hand out to Willa. “Give me the child.”
Orla managed to rise again, blood trailing down her legs. She shielded her sister and her daughter with her body. An animalistic sound came from her throat. A growl. A battle cry. A final stand. “Never.”
“Leave, Cora,” Willa said from behind her. “There is no place for you in this kingdom.”
Cora smirked. “How pitiful that you think only of your kingdom.”
Orla stared back at her, hands splayed, blood pooling at her feet.
“Last chance. Give me the child,” Cora demanded. The black shadows multiplied, turning into a pack of wolves as they circled the Fae princesses.
“Silas will never let you get away with this,” Orla spat.
Cora chuckled. “He’ll die, too.” Her wrist twitched and the wolves attacked, shadowed teeth sinking into Orla’s calves. She went down with a shriek and fired a burst of magic at Cora. But it missed her entirely, colliding with the ceiling instead. Chunks of wood fell, but Cora easily sidestepped it. Cora attacked, shooting black lightning right into Orla’s chest. She fell, hitting the ground with a sickening thump. She didn’t rise again.
“Too easy,” Cora mumbled. She stretched her hand toward Willa and the baby, fingers splayed. They both went flying toward her. Cora snatched the baby from Willa’s arms, then whispered something in Willa’s ears. Willa slumped against her, but her chest still rose.
She dropped Willa to the ground and walked from the bedroom, where a small group of witches in black stood staring at her, cold smiles affixed to their faces.
Cora held the baby up. “It’s time,” she said with a gleeful grin. “Grab the princess and let’s go.”
She looked down at the baby. “Hello, Maerellis. I think I’ll call you Mae.”
Below me, a bed of moss. Above me, a blazing sun. Beside me, a babbling creek.
Songbirds tweet, gentle melodies spurring me from the images of my aunt unconscious on the ground, my mother sprawled dead next to her, and my sister gone.
I push myself into a sitting position. My hands are unbound. I call upon my magic, but it still doesn’t come. Something moves in my peripheral.
It’s a younger version of me.
I look to be about six years old. Sunflower-yellow butterflies rest on my antlers. Light pink flowers adorn the two braids that spill over my shoulders. The sun filters through the canopy of trees, shining upon my pale skin in a softglow.
Younger me walks closer, footsteps barely making a sound as they step gracefully over fallen branches. She stops a few feet away, gaze fixed on me. Eyes that are not mine.
My eyes are a warm amber, but this girl’s eyes are ocean-blue and…moving. Just like the waves reflected in the Mother’s eyes from the first time I dreamed of Her.
The girl stares at me, then begins to speak in a voice that is also not mine.
“Once upon a time,” she begins in a high-pitched, sing-song voice, “the land was wild with the forest. Luscious greenery covered rolling hills and creatures roamed free. Flowers hung from the trees and bees danced in the air. Creeks cut through forests and wildflowers bloomed along their banks.”
She smiles as she looks around the forest, at the moss and the bees now buzzing through the air. Bees that weren’t here before. A rabbit hops toward me, pink nose scrunching.
The girl waves her hands. The rabbit skitters off and the bees fall to the ground, black bodies hitting the moss like pebbles. Her voice turns grave and deep. “Now, the rabbits hide. The birds are silent. And the moss is soaked with blood.”
Blood seeps from the moss, between my fingers, and into my clothing. I try to squirm, desperate to get up, but I can no longer move.
“The creeks continue throughout the forest, but they are no longer the source of life they once were. They are too contaminated by the blood of the beings that they used to quench. Flowers wilt at the magic that swirls in the air, its very essence evil and damning. Even the sun has abandoned this world, as if it is too scared to shine its piercing rays into air now rife with the poison of dark magic.”
Her ocean eyes don’t leave mine as the sunlight fades, the once-cheery forest now dark and foreboding. The scent of blood coats the air, thick and metallic, and a cackle sounds through the night.
“Witches run rampant through the forest,” she continues, her voice surrounding me now, “leaving a trail of blood in their wake. The Mother sends clouds of her tears, hoping to heal Her dying child. But there is so much damage, even for Her. She knew this was coming. She did everything She could to stop it. But it was not enough. She came soclose to stopping it in the beginning. But in the end, even She couldn’t rid the world of the dark magic that plagued her creations. So instead, She did everything else in Her power to stop them—to stop Her sister.”
