The Daughter of Magic

Chapter 7

Seconds seemed like hours, as I waited for something to happen, then a darker more ominous, forest came into existence. I stood for just a moment, then an electrical buzz filled my head. I clutched the sides of my brain, wishing -- hoping -- it would stop. Then, the sphere blew up.

Time seemed to slow as I flew backwards, then quicker than a blink of an eye, my back collided with a tree trunk. And the world went dark.

My eyelids slowly split apart 'til just a slit of the world was revealed. A haze obscured most of my vision. But from what I could see, everything around me lay in shambles. My ears rang, muffling the world around me, and I could distantly feel something cold and wet running down and seeping through my jeans from a stinging wound. I attempted to stand up, but as I did so, a wave of nausea almost knocked me down. I stumbled forward, needing to get farther away from the camp of crazies. Even if it meant going deeper into the scary forest. I limped one more step into the forest, then my vision hazed over for one second, then cleared up again almost immediately.

I wasn't in the forest anymore. I was knee deep in water and the sky in front of me stood dark and starless the moon taking up a good portion of my vision.

A woman stood fifty feet in front of me, shrouded in billowing black chiffon. She should have been in the water, but she floated a few inches above.

"Beware those who say they are my children," the woman spoke, her voice echoing in the empty space.

My heart pounded in my ears. Where was I? Who was this woman? What was she talking about? Another thing struck me as weird though when I noticed my leg wasn't bleeding anymore. My clothes had been replaced with a simple black robe. Was I hallucinating? I voiced my thoughts. "Who are you?"

"You know who I am," she said.

"No, I'm pretty sure I don't," I retorted.

"Think my child," the lady said.

I thought for a second how stupid what I was doing, but I thought about it anyway. The craziest idea came into my mind. The idea didn't seem like it come from my own mind.

"You're Hecate," I said. "The goddess of magic,"

She slowly nodded.

"Why are you talking to me..? I'm a nobody,"

"Hardly my child,"

This lady was mistaking me for someone else. Or the most likely explanation, was that I was hallucinating. "You're just in my head," I muttered, starring down at my reflection in the glassy water.

"I assure you this is very real," She said. "As real as the fact you think your parents are dead,"

"They are," I responded looking back up at her, my expression changing to hurt.

"Would you believe me If I said they were,"

"I SAW THEIR BODIES!" I screamed "Their dead," A lonely tear slipped down my cheek. How dare she toy with my emotions like that?

"Someday child, you will see the truth. But for now, I have a quest for you,"

Like I was doing anything for this goddess.

"Your sister has been taken,"

She caught my attention at that. "What?!" I said. No matter how much her, or her pets, annoyed me, I would never want her to get hurt. "By who?"

"Those who oppose me. They call themselves Witch hunters."