Bloody Raven in the Shadow

Violet roses

Alice looked around. She was standing in a small clearing covered by several mounds of dirt. The moon shone full and bright down on them, the snow on the mountains reflected the light and the wind howled icy around their ears. Freezing, she snuggled closer to her sound and pulled up the hood. She knew this place, the dead were buried here often enough, people she couldn't save. She didn't know why she was here, this place was awful. Suddenly spirits appeared from the graves

"You are too weak" said a voice,

"You couldn't save us" shouted another.

"I'm too young..." she defended, scared.

"You are the daughter of a powerful magician, your mother is strong, you must be stronger," one of them judged.

"I can't..." she whispered.

"YOU MUST!" the dead then shout in chorus.

"Dear child. You must learn, learn more! More! You must become stronger!" her mother's voice drowned out the ghosts. Desperate, Alice put her hands to her ears and sank to the floor. "You have expectations to live up to! Make an effort. Do you want to disappoint me like Rin did?" the woman went on, and the dead, like an echo, repeat their words over and over again.

"LEARN! LEARN! YOU ARE WEAK!" Tears rolled down the girl's cheeks.

"I can't...I'm not strong enough..." suddenly cold fingers grabbed her chin and lifted it.

"You couldn't even save me... you're so weak... disappointing," the young witch's eyes met Regina's brown ones. The brown and lifeless eyes framed by a blood and dirt smeared face. Desperately, Alice tried to find words, to get a sound out and somehow to explain herself. to apologize But she couldn't do it, the only thing she was able to do was sit on the floor crying and staring at the woman. A strong gust of wind blew in her face without warning. She held her arms in front of her face to protect herself. The voices died out. When the girl opened her eyes again, she recognized the outline of Rin, which was standing in front of her and over all the corpses of the people.

"Did you kill her?" she whispered softly to her sister, afraid to know the answer. Did her sister really kill people? More than just the soldiers who posed a threat? Why couldn't she remember this for the best will in the world? What really happened?

"What do you think of me?" asked the twin kneeling in front of Alice smiling.

"Maybe it was for you. It's your fault that they died, not me! Because you're weak!" the girl explained with a loving smile.

"STOP IT!" the witch screamed and tried to reach for Rin, but the form blurred and she reached into the void. Her hands landed on cold stone. She was sitting in a large, stone corridor. She stood up carefully. Before her was a light. She approached it uncertainly.

"ALICE!" called a voice from the darkness behind her. She looked back uncertainly.

"ALICE!" Now it was more than one person calling.

"ALICE!" a whole chorus repeated. The ground shook. The voices came closer, calling out to her incessantly. Panic flared up in her. Without hesitation, she ran to the light. Maybe it was an exit. But no matter how long she ran, she couldn't get any closer to the light. The corridor was endless, the voices grew louder. Louder and louder and the light disappeared. Without warning, darkness enveloped the girl.

Screaming, Alice woke with a start, heart trembling, wiping the sweat from her forehead. Panicked, she looked around the cave before realizing where she was. Slowly she let a light appear in her hands, at first it flickered like fire because she wasn't able to hold it, but gradually her breathing calmed and the light became clear. The crystals on the ceiling again reflected the glow and the water began to glitter. The witch didn't know how long she had slept, but her body didn't hurt as badly. She had probably regenerated in her sleep. She stood up carefully and felt her body, still wincing in pain as she touched her wounds, but it was bearable. She surveyed the cave uncertainly, not knowing where to go to find out, without eating she would surely starve to death soon. She grabbed her bag and checked the status. She had enough food with her for three days. Whether that was good or bad, Alice didn't know. Without hesitation, she filled her bottle and took another sip. The girl faltered when she saw her reflection. Not only was she incredibly pale and had dark circles under her eyes, what really shocked her was her hair. The otherwise dark strands that fell in her face were now snow white. She hadn't noticed it before, but now she saw it and didn't understand it. Why had her hair changed color? She hadn't used her abilities to such an extent that her body was taking such damage, had she?

Unsure, she looked away from her reflection. The cave was really big, it would take a while to go all the way through. Something in particular caught her eye. There were six other exits, but one of them was covered in moss. It was unusual because it only grew there, nowhere else in the cave, and she had spotted it in her passage before. Maybe there was an exit somewhere. Hope flowed through her. Even if she didn't know what to do when she came out of the cave, she had to at least try. Then she would first have to find out where she was and then she would decide where to go.

She walked around the large body of water in the cave, listening to the soft splashing and watching the water glitter. It was quiet, nobody was in this place and it had probably been a long time since anyone had been here. After a while she got to the exit, carefully putting her hand on the moss, it was soft and damp. Some of the energy flowed into her unintentionally, this growth brimming with excess magic. Either the whole place was charged or the moss hadn't formed naturally. Slightly depressed, she looked down the long, dark corridor in front of her. Sighing, she left the cave and it immediately got darker, so the crystals couldn't reflect their light anymore. This path was just as gray and monotonous as the one she had come from. There were also patches of moss growing in places and grass sprouting from small crevices. The further she ran, the more plants there were. Alice was getting more and more curious about what was on the other side of the tunnel. Her steps quickened. It felt like another little eternity until her surroundings changed.

This time it was a smaller cave than the previous one. Here, too, the ceiling was studded with crystals, the walls contained characters and runes. A stone cross stood in the middle of the room, with violet roses growing in front of it. She ran her fingers over the runes in the stone as she walked along the wall, across the room. Her fingers tingled slightly as she traced the characters. Interested, she approached, she didn't often see such flowers and she wondered who had created this and for what purpose. The moment she touched the rose, the whole cave shook, loud thunder rumbled through the corridors. Startled, the witch drew back and drew her dagger. The roar grew louder and figures appeared in the darkness. Red and green eyes lit up at her. Dwarf-like beings formed a circle in front of her and glared at her. The girl could make out two groups, one part, the unknown was made entirely of plants, bodies that looked like trees and bark, hair made of branches and leaves, and skin made of moss, and the other part looked like fire. Small stone creatures covered with embers, lava and fire. They weren't humans, they were creatures of pure magic. Her gaze wandered to the cross. This was a burial ground. These beings protect and honor their long-dead mage.

"Rest in peace," the witch whispered, kneeling in front of the grave again and growing another purple rose. A tear ran down her cheek, the image of Regina popping up in her mind, although the woman had always tried to be a good and strong leader, she had also been a good friend. With a sad smile, she summoned another rose, only a blue one this time, knowing the adult would have liked it. The creatures also bowed their heads in honor.

"Thank you" they all whispered softly and disappeared back into the depths of the cave. A path of flowers appeared on the ground. She walked down the path with a smile, it had been a strange yet heartbreaking encounter. She wonders how long these creatures have roamed these caves serving their mages. This person must have been truly powerful if so many of his servants survived his death. The way went steeply upwards, the further she went, the clearer the air became and at some point she even recognized the exit. Relieved, she ran outside and took a deep breath of the fresh air. It was night. The moon shone brightly down on them and the strong smell of the pine forest filled their nostrils. It was one of the most beautiful smells. coniferous forests. But Alice found the air in the mountains, her homeland, much more pleasant. Unfortunately the mountains were far away and seemed unreachable. The girl didn't even know where she was at the moment where she should go. Was she still in Agaria at all, or in another place long ago. She sighed softly. Regina would have known where to go, the adult would have smiled confidently and walked in a random direction, believing it was the right way even when no one knew where they were anymore, the woman would not give up, smiled and continued. Tears rolled down the girl's cheeks again. If she had been strong enough to protect her, none of this would have happened. She should have just died in the fire back then. Then she would never have hurt anyone, neither Regina, who was dead now, nor the others who might be worried about her.