For a second I thought I saw her silver eyes turn red and then I knew immediately “This isn’t your true form either is it, for if it was the mist surrounding you would be gone and so would the metal carvings.” The shock was obvious on her face then she burst out laughing, as she was laughing red marks that looked like claw marks appeared on her cheeks, the whites of her eyes turned blood red as if the blood vessels popped and her eyes turned from silver to black with hints of madness lying awake in there, her hair stood up a little like a cat and changed from an almost pure silver to a tainted black with streaks of a disgusting shade of yellow, and then her clothes changed from beautiful light white dress to skin tight black leather pants with a fire pattern stretching up her legs, her top was almost the same but the colors were switched and that the fire was black, I felt danger and I knew that this form was also strong “If I kill you then our real from will come out, I don’t care what the others say I’m tired of taking the long way, you will die!” and then she started her attack.

The Beginning

When light turns to darkness all shall end with that the child of Fire shall appear the one who can turn darkness to light, one who can control the elemental dragons. This child will be wretched to some and a divine goddess to others. They will be accompanied by a faire, a silver witch, a lost king and a fox demon. This child will be born in the Lachrimae clan.
            As I woke up those exact words rang through my head, words are all
they are just words. As I got up to check my sundial for the time and looked over the land my
best friend ran into my tent and started screaming at me to wake up. As I crawled
to meet her I ended up tripping, hitting my head on the ground and ended up falling down at the feet of Fay, my best friend. As she helped me up she scowled
at me, making it known I had missed something important. “Phienox where have
you been the elders have been looking for you!” I smirked and said “What does
it matter they are just crazy old men who have nothing better to do than harass
poor warriors like me.” She hit me upside the head and practically threw me out of my tent.  As I groaned she glared at me and said “If you have time to sigh you have time to walk, so get walking!”

As I lazily trailed out of my yard and to the town center, I thought about how most of the time the
grown villagers would scowl at me, as if I was a nuisance and that I didn’t belong
like the other orphans. Most of the orphans are pittied, at least the
ones who were born from parents that the village knew. There are only two
other children like me who were left on a doorstep and no one knew who our parents were. Most likely our parents were outsiders; I know mine were because villagers were more disrespectful to me than the other unknowns; that’s what they call us, unknowns. As I reached the elders tents I was attacked. They choked me till some of my vision when blank, I threw them off crouched and then kicked their feet from under them, and then I pressed my knee to their chest. As my vision cleared I gasped, I removed my knee and bowed for it was one of the mightiest elders, Orrick.

As he burst out laughing I felt my face go red, “Stand young Phienox, you have grown stronger I see, have you been practicing more often?” As I started to stand I felt jugging eyes on me, “Alex what are you doing here?” as I said this look of shock came over Orrick’s face but it quickly disappeared like a snap of a dragon fly’s wings. “Heh seems you’re not as hot headed as you once were unknown.” he spat out maliciously. As my eyes hardened with disgust I snapped back “And it seems you are still a weak rich boy who only knows the life of luxury and manipulation.”   I turned around to see him running towards me as to attack, I got into position to knock him flat on his back. “Stop it Alex, she will just beat you any way and may even kill you, so live to fight another day, damn it!” said Orrick in a loud commanding voice. A look of shock came over Alex’s face. As I snickered Orrick very sternly said “Phienox unless you wish to have cleaning duty.” I immediately sobered up and this time Alex was the one silently snickering. As I scowled at Alex Orrick threatened Alex with the same thing, after Orrick was done chewing us out he finally sent Alex away. As I sighed with relief Orrick glanced at me and said “You two can’t even be in the same room any more, I wonder what happened to the young kids who were best friends?” I grumbled back “he was the one that changed everything, he wanted to control me, and I wanted freedom. That doesn’t matter anymore, now will you please tell me why I was called here?” Orrick gave me a sad look and said in a somber tone “You are being called for to be evaluated.” I replied in a questioning tone “Evaluated for what?” Orrick look me straight in the eye and said “Evaluated to see if you are the child of fire, and if you are you will be placed in isolation in the dark room till we know what to do with you, if you are the child of fire.”

            As I thought about what he said I pushed that dream even farther back into my mind. When we reached the back of the tent he turned around and produced a black blindfold and said “Sorry phi (sorry but if you’re wondering its pronounced fhi I will only interrupt from time to time) but you have to put this on.” I must have had a questioning look because he quickly added “It’s so you won’t be able to come back and steal a certain thing.” As I felt my cheeks go red with frustration I yelled out “Why would I steal something that I have no use for, hell I don’t even know what it is!” As Orrick’s face hardened he said in a voice that chilled me to the bone “Unless you desperately want me to throw you in a bag like a barbarian grunt I would just put it on instead of being a stubborn wench, we won’t have any problems.” As I felt like retaliating I thought it through and deemed it best to just set my pride away. As I snatched the blind fold away I heard him grunt in approval, so as I put it on I muttered “Control freak.” Once it was on correctly he grabbed my arm and we started walking.

As we walked I would trip on everything and started getting frustrated, I felt as if I was being mocked and laughed at. I felt a sudden rage come out of my chest it felt as hot as fire, like it could consume me everything around me, it quickly went out as if a splash of water came over it. As my feelings continued to change I felt fear coming over me, “I can’t breathe” I said then I started screaming I can’t breathe over and over again I started thrashing around trying to breathe. I felt Orrick grab me and pin me on the ground and felt his hand strike my face, as I came out of my hysteria I felt his hands loosen I apologized and said thank you “Is it okay if I take it off now?” I asked he mumbled something that seemed like a yes. As it slipped off my face I looked around and saw a dessert in front of me, a tropical forest to my left, to my right  a dark wood land and behind me I saw meadows as far as the eye could see. I was stunned beyond belief and right in the middle of all of it was this temple, not a big one and not a small one, as we entered I saw five cups that stood out the most the first one was on fire, the second had water in it, the third had a bunch of dirt in it, the fourth one had nothing in it but had a glass covering the top, and the last one was also empty but had blood stains all over it.

As I felt my pulse race like a falling star falling from the heavens I felt Orrick give me a nudge to continue to walk at once basic human instinct turned on and started begging me to run, *But I have nothing to run from, I’m not guilty so why am I so scared?* I thought to myself. I felt a heavy hand on my shoulder “It’s going to be fine phi, most likely the only damage you’ll get is a tiny scar on your hand, but that’s only for a little bit of blood I promise you will be fine.” He whispered to me. As I looked up at him through my bangs I immediately felt better and gave him a weak smile and said “Thank you, you’re like a father to me, so I trust you Orrick thank you once again.” He snickered and scratched his chin “Well if that’s how you feel then call me big daddy.” He said in the most snarkiest tone ever that it made me laugh so hard I thought I might lose a lunge. A slam reverberated throughout the temple, and out of pure habit I snapped strait up and cleared my face from all of the laughter before “It’s time to start the ceremony.” Said a man in a dark cloak that covered his whole body, immediately I didn’t trust him and knew that there was darkness surrounding that man.

I took a step back, to them it must of looked like I was about to run, so Orrick grabbed my arm and walked me to the center of the temple. As the dark man started walking towards me I felt the urge to do two things the first and strongest was to kill him the second was to run as far as I could “Hold your hand out.” Said the man in a tone that almost said “If you run I will kill you.” I shakily rose my hand up, as quick as lightning he cut my hand. I cried out of surprise and held my hand to my chest, “Give your blood to all of the cups, if they react in strange ways we will have our answer.” Said Orrick in a light comforting tone, I frowned at the strange man and walked over to the cup on fire, I held my hand over the fire and squeezed out blood, nothing happened so I gave a relieved sigh. As I started on the earth cup the fire turned blue and the flames increased in size, as this happened my eyes went as wide as the moon. “Her eyes, check her eyes!” screamed the man in the cloak Orrick moved towards me when out of no ware a woman in a grey tattered dress and cloak appeared right in front of me, as her hood fell I caught sight of sliver white hair before she disappeared once again she reappeared in front of Orrick, she sent a side kick to his gut at first he blocked, but when he leg made contact she sent him across the temple, he slammed into the wall and as he connected with the wall it shattered into tiny piece’s.

 I screamed at Orrick hoping that he was ok but as I tried walking to him shadows wrapped around my body making it impossible for me to move. As the woman stood up she looked at the man but at the same time it also seemed as if she was keeping her face hidden from my eyes “How nice to see you Blake.” Said the silver haired woman, the man started laughing and said “As always it’s a pleasure to see you Silver Star, how’s your mother been since I cursed her?” under that cloak I swear he must have been giving her a dark smirk that could have scared a thousand dragons. “I mean after all you grey witches need to be put in your place every once in a hundred years.” Said Blake

“Shut the hell up Blake you know as well as I do that if my clan wanted to we could kill you with a snap of our fingers.”  At once they both ran towards each other, they were so fast I could barely see their moves, but it was obvious that Blake was faster and stronger. A loud boom came out of no ware and a strike of lighting struck Blake, he fell to the ground he seemed to be unconscious and as he fell Silver Star fell down to her knees and snapped at me in a voice that could make poison seem harmless “Hey you, girl with the dumb look on her face we don’t have much time till he wakes up, so I’m thinking its time to blow this joint.”

I walked towards her “Do you need help up?” I asked and finally I saw this woman’s face, just like her hair her eyes were a sliver grey and her skin was very white she also had a pink lotus tattoo on her forehead it was small and did not seem like something this woman would have. To men she would be very beautiful but she seemed to have a stern no nonsenses look on her face that could probably scare any man away from her. “What do you think?” She snapped at me, I wrapped my hand around her waist and put her hand around my neck and hauled her up. I started walking towards Orrick to pick him up also “What are you doing?” she all but practically yelled in my ear so I yelled back “getting Orrick, what else would I be doing?” “He’s dead, no one could survive my kick.” I started laughing and said “As if that man if one of our leaders, he can’t die from a measly kick.”  She screeched back “measly kick!” she shouted in an out raged voice “MY kick could easily break a mountain if I wished it.” “Sounds like you’re bragging, you’re just a dog with a loud bark but no bite.” I said clacking my teeth just to irritate her even more, “That sounds like a challenge, so I accept this quest and I’ll enjoy watching you pay for it.” She said in the most condescending tone that could make a mountain monk kill her, but then an idea popped in my head “If you’re so confident then how about a bet?”

“What kind of bet?” she asked with a suspicious voice “If I win you stay by my side and follow my orders, if you win well you can decide what you want.”  I could practically see her ears perking up, hook, line and sinker I thought, “Okay, so what will we be placing this bet on?” she asked with her voice filled with a sickening amount of over confidence I swear I almost choked right then and there. “If you can put a crack that reaches the very top of Katash wei' vorki (kah-TASH whey VOR-key) (in English tong dragon mountain) witch out destroying it.” This task I knew would probably be impossible but you never know so I’ll make sure she can’t break that mountain. “Are you fucking kidding me?! That mountain is well known for being infested with dragons AND to top on all of that it’s said to be guarded by a devil!” she screamed in quite an outraged voice to ware I thought my ear drums were going to pop out of my  head and say adios. “We can discuss this later I think it would be beneficial for both of us if we get a move on, so will you make yourself of use and help me get Orrick up?” I said in an almost equal tone of voice. “Fine, but I will not let you off of this at all!”

“Damn this brute his heavy” said Sliver “Just shut up and stop complaining! Do you even know where we’re going?” I said feeling my breath running out “Who do you think you are, of course I know I am a grey witch after all.” So much arrogance I thought “What’s so special about that?” I asked “It’s the greatest honor and the greatest burden.” Her tone of voice surprised me; it was gentle almost as sweet as golden syrup. As I looked over at her she looked completely different, before her eyes her like greyish silver shards of ice but now they seemed to be glowing silver almost holy, her hair went to mid back to reaching to her knees it also seemed to be glowing something mystic about it, but what stood out the most was the things that appeared her clothes went from torn dress and cloak to grey torn gypsy clothes but with the same cloak, Her lotus tattoo had disappeared she had a staff that was wooden but had metal carvings in it that seemed like wind but what was startling was that they were moving like actual wind. “W-what are you?” I asked fear obviously in my voice, she gave me a smile that could melt butter and said “this is my true form, I was cursed at a very young age it’s a curse ware I can only be myself, my true form, once every month, coincidently it also keeps me from using all my powers.” “Why didn’t you tell me earlier, and why of all times did you come out now?” I asked I felt so confused with all these thoughts running through my head “because I need your help to break my curse.”

Authors Note

This is my first book, so spelling and punctuation may be off just a tad bit and my sentences may flutter off topic from time to time, but all I want is for you to enjoy the book and to leave a comment of anything I need to fix. Also if you want to help me with setting deadlines and helping me with editing that would be great because I really need a rock. I’d also like to make this book out to my mom and my teachers that told me I should pursue writing so thank you Mr.Heatbrink and Mr.Erickson, also from time to time there will be crude language! Also here are some character details that i forgot to add T~T
~ Phienox: In human age she is 22 years old, but in the world of Melanthe ageing is slower so she looks and is 15 in her world. She has long hair that goes to her mid back it’s a rusty color, but sometimes it looks shiny red, she also has streaks of aqua blue stretching all around her hair. Her eye color is said to be unique in her world spotted brown hazel eyes with specks of orange are considered a threat or abnormal, but luckily for her from normal distant she looks to have dull brown eyes. She has a well-toned body that at times can be flexible enough to squeeze through jail bars, but due to the harsh life of abuse and training of the Lachrimae clan, or as they were once known as the clan of tears, her body has many scars including one that stretches from her stomach to her pelvis in which damaged her ovaries to ware it’s most likely she won’t ever have children. She trains hard but you would most likely see her running around late for something or see her lazing around sun bathing.
~Orrick: He has many mussels’ dark skin big bushy white beard and hair. In our world he is 100 years old but in his he is 93. Like Phienox he has many scars but his are from wars. He has dull blue eyes and he always carries around a certain sword called Sanguinaria or the bloody sword. He is mostly found with the elders or with his family.
~Alex: He is the same age as Phienox; he has black hair that is kept short and muddy green eyes. His body has almost no scars, he is pale and his body is skinny but not very strong. Most of the time he is either being a politician or is found lurking in the shadows but in a bad way, almost as if in a malicious way.
~Fay: golden hair and blue eyes, people call her the gold devil because of her raging temper and looks. Her parents were killed in a war long ago so she was left at the orphanage around a young age. People think she is “22” but that is not the case she in fact is older than Orrick, but even she doesn’t know this. She is usually found around Phienox hounding on her for forgetting something.