A Witch's Confession

22

My body washed up on the river's bank. I sprawled over a large boulder, blood still oozing from the wound on my forehead. I rolled myself on my hands and knees as water expelled from my lungs and stomach.

"Zoe," whispered the trees. I continued my coughing fit. I was unsure if I actually heard my name, or if I were hallucinating from the head wound.

"Zoe," whispers rang in my ears. I shuddered at the sound. The voices resembled Alexandria's and my mother's.

"You can't scare me. I know it's not real," I muttered to the sky as I wrestled out of the moss beside the boulder.

My breath caught in my throat at the sight of the black mist. The memory was still fresh on my mind—being torn to shreds while being completely aware of every ounce of pain. It was beyond what any person would be able to handle, but the spell forced me to withstand it. The mild whispers turned into screams, like someone tortured my family.

"It's not real, it's not real..." I repeated as I forced myself to run from the mist. I covered my ears to try and drown out the sound of their terror-filled screams.

The mist wrapped a vicious grip around my ankle and swept my feet out from beneath me. A guttural scream escaped my lips as the mist seared my ankles, swallowing me wholly into the depths of darkness. I reach for any vine or branch to save me from the ominous kiss of death, but it was no use. It stung every pore on my body, sending a fiery wave across my skin. I writhed in pain, but I forced my consciousness to stay in tact with my physical body.

Do not wake up.

I stumbled throughout the mist. The wails of Alexandria and my mother circled around my head. This was definitely my most feared nightmare come true.

Three strikes of lightning in the distance, followed by three thunderclaps forced the trees to tremble. They whipped and snapped at the mist's ferocious power, but soon I saw a divide from my nightmare: the clearing.

My legs screamed in agonizing pain as I forced them to keep moving forward. The ground swayed beneath me, and I wondered if I'd collapse only a few feet from the freedom of the clearing. I clawed my way through the shrubbery that nipped at my ankles, trying to suck me back into the woods.

I had no other choice than to cast a spell. The mist smothered me, and my breaths grew labored with each trod I took. I didn't know if it would be worth it. If my magic were even possible in this ferocious hell. But if I'd didn't act soon, I'd be forced awake again.

"Iter!" My voice was hoarse against the roar of the acidic mist. A beam of golden light weaved it's way through the foggy particles. It was like a lighthouse in a showing way in a violent storm.

I collapsed in the clearing. The crisp starlight from above beamed down on my face, the grass, and the tops of trees. My throat felt like I swallowed razor blades, but as the time went on, my breathing grew manageable.

My first task was to find Kessem. I spent most of my energy escaping the dreaded black mist. I wove back into the trees on the other side of the clearing, careful not to wander too far in.

"Are you hurt?" Kessem's soft words startled me. I jumped and nearly hit my head on a low-hanging branch.

"I don't think so. But gods, don't sneak up on me like that." My voice escaped as a low rasp.

"I could smell your blood the very moment you hit your head." His eyes glowed with wild instinct. In a glimpse, he was by my side, tilting my chin upwards to inspect the wound.

"Something pulled me from the water. I was drowning. Please tell me it was you." I winced as he pulled strands of my hair away from the wound.

"It was me. But then the mist...it tore me away from you," recalled Kessem. I shooed his hand away from my face. The wound felt like a pulsing pain that his pestering only made worse. I studied his long face, noting how the time he spent in here wore him ragged.