The Pure Ones

Chapter Two

Fire had consumed everything around me. The small kiosks that sold fruits and vegetables and carnival treats, the decorative banners that once adorned the buildings, the very fabric from the clothes still worn by people. The blue flames had unified everything and created a nauseating smell that penetrated my senses with each inhale.

As the fire subdued, I immediately noticed hundreds of terrified people lying on the ground. In front of me, my sister sat upright, her eyes vivid with dismay. Littered around her were three men, all scorched and blackened from the fire but still breathing. The one closest to her stared at me with his dying eyes as he struggled to breathe. He gurgled up fresh blood with every exhale and held unto the gaping hole in his throat as blood poured from it incessantly.

"Did that boy...just use magic?"

"What on earth was that?"

"This cannot be!"

It took me a while to put together that the whispers were about me. I looked to my palms and they both pulsated with blue lightning, I was not imagining things, the lightning was visible to anyone with eyes.

"THAT BOY MUST BE A PURE ONE!"

My eyes met with Alysia's instantly and we both shared the same look of dread. We had been discovered; the secret our family had tried so hard to keep for years was now out in the open. The screams erupted instantly, everyone ran for their lives, away from me. Terrified guards soon started to circle me, their spears and swords trembled in their hands as they feared what I would do to them if they got too close.

My sister suddenly got on her feet and ran to me, the guards in her way cleared immediately and we met with a powerful hug before we both started to sob into each other's shoulders. The lightning around me still remained, but she was completely unharmed.

"The girl must be a witch too!" a guard said.

"I bet there's a whole family of them!" another shouted.

Our crying paused immediately, if our family was discovered, I would have been the reason for our family's doom. We both remained silent and unsure of what to do or say.

"Tell us where your family are" a guard neared us. As soon as he got close, my lightning sparked once again and I set forward one of my hands trying to ward them off; but the fear that once painted the faces of the guards had started to wash away. They had seen what my powers could do, they had seen how much damage I could cause, but they could also see that I was just a scared little boy with no control over his emotions let alone his magic. They demanded answers from us, slowly but steadily getting more audacious each time they came closer, but we still remained silent.

"I'll tell you where they are" a voice sliced through the commotion. The carrot lady bravely marched towards the crowd of guards before she was stopped from coming any closer with a spear pointed at her. Her face soon twisted into a sinister grin,

"I always knew there was something wrong with that family. Nobody has carrots that good!"

"Are you mad?! Do you think this is a joke?" a soldier asked as he painfully grabbed the woman by her hair, making her yelp.

"What do you know?" he pressed further.

"I know where they live! On a pretty little farm not too far from here, a whole family of sorcerers!"

My heart sank to my stomach, she was dead serious. An overwhelming pang of misery hit me and I shuddered as images of death flashed through my mind, it looked to be the end for us and it was all because of me.

The guards seemed skeptical of the woman but she slowly won them over by giving out specific details of my family. A handful of guards finally filed behind her as she led them to my home, she smirked at me as she passed.