The Pure Ones

Chapter Seventeen

With incredible precision, Gappy darted at me. My heart froze in my chest and time itself slowed as I watched him propel his sword forward. Reacting instinctively, I kicked up the table in front of me and his sword got caught in the wood, buying me enough time to flee from the tent.

My heart raced as I zoomed out of the tent and into the crowded streets. The streets blew past me like a cloud of red, in that very moment, all noise had vanished from the world except from the thud of my hammering heart. There was not a single thought in my mind other than getting out of that town, the people had turned on me frighteningly fast, and I still had no idea why. But it was clear they had no intent of sparing my life, so my will to live pushed me forward.

A loud horn echoed through the air, immediately followed by orders.

"CLOSE THE GATES!" the voices shouted repeatedly.

Panic surged through me and I lost my concentration, I crashed into a sweets stall and tumbled to the ground. It took me some seconds to recover, the sounds of angry shouts and thundering footsteps neared. I made the mistake of peering back, the fear in my gut intensified as I caught sight of the furious mob that was relentlessly pursuing me. Their faces were an endless sea of scowls, they clutched their weapons and jewelry tightly as they hurled threats and accusations at me. Gappy led the swarm of people; his eyes were laced with a smoldering vengeance as if I had offended him in particular.

As I got up and got ready to continue running, I soon noticed that I had been blocked from the front and back by the mob. They slowly but surely closed in on me and my mind struggled to come up with a solution to my current ordeal.

"ALISTAIR!" I heard a voice scream for me in the midst of the angry crowd, I turned around to see Penelope being held back by a hefty woman. My heart pumped with worry, but she on the other hand was brimming with determination.

"Do something!" she mouthed to me.

She did not need to elaborate further, her eyes said it all, she wanted me to use my magic. She had witnessed first-hand what my magic could do, how dangerous it could be, but she knew that it was the only way I could save us both. I had sworn to myself after the death of my family never to use magic again, but I had already broken that oath once, and it was about to be broken once again. I chewed my tongue with hesitation, even though the mob wanted me dead, I still did not want to hurt anyone.

If I was going to use my magic, I needed to be careful; from what I had observed, the results were only catastrophic when my emotions were all over the place. Despite the obvious chaos, I closed my eyes and started to take deep, calming breaths. It had been years since I had properly used my magic, I would have to recollect memories from my childhood for help.

Waves of energy rushed through my veins as my mind wandered back to the cottage I once lived in with my family. Laughter would fill the air as my sister and cousins played our silly little magic games, I also could not forget the occasional screams from my mother and aunt telling us to stop. I broke into a smile as I recalled those fond memories, magic back then was simply an extension of my very being, it flowed endlessly through me like a stream. For too long I had neglected my abilities, over the years, I had even come to fear and despise them. But in that moment, all those negative emotions disappeared without a trace and my body started to sizzle from within.

I opened my eyes once again and mouthed to Penelope, "Run!". She nodded before she yanked her head backwards and crashed it into the head of the woman holding her from behind. As the woman momentarily lost her grip on her, Penelope swiftly ducked into an alleyway to her left, right before I set forth my palms and unleashed a hurricane of wind on the crowd.