Aging Hollows

"She put the golden yoke on Anthal the Head of the Royal Magi! This girl is dangerous, she could become a threat to this Kingdom! She must be executed!" An unknown voice said sharply

"To hell with execution! She is my daughter! I will not stand and watch this injustice towards her!" My mother replied. Her voice trembled with rage and underlying fear.

Many other voices echoed in the background as I regained consciousness. The familiar scent of the immortal roses that I planted at my windowsill told me that I was in my room and in my bed.

Memories of my encounter with the Three Royal Magi came rushing back to my mind.

My heard began to race and blood rushed to my head. My flight instinct had been activated.

Before I could process what happening to my body, I purple light emerged from my chest where I had been impaled. It formed some dome shape formed around my entire body.

“Is that… a Darynem’s shield?”, I lifted my back off the bed, and the dome followed my movement. What was this? Why was it coming from me?

“B-but how i-is this possible?”, a male voice stuttered. It was coming from my left side. I turned my head to look at he owner, but he was down on the ground convulsing, before I could register what I had done. Some energy zapped out of me and hit him with a force that stunned his whole body and crippled him instantly.

What was going on? My eyes darked around the room franticly searching for my mother. As soon as they found hers. I saw the pain in them. Pain mixed with fear, and desperation? Her lips were moving as if she was saying something to me but I could not hear a word that she said. Her fiery red hair that was always tightly slicked back, fell in cascading curls around her face. A sign that she had been up all night long. “Meredith? Your daughter is Darynem! You traitor! You lot of traitors!” the hedgehog Magi shrieked. She reached out her hand towards me and let out a green ball of magic fire. I was going to die. How could I die with all these unanswered questions? First the Magi who tried to kill me? The golden yoke that I placed on her? Now I’m Darynem! But that made no sense at all! Mom and dad fought against those creatures in the last rebellion! I closed my eyes tightly, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to escape my fatal blow, even with this flimsy shield around me.

“Freida Ruckstov!” my mother yelled as she dived in front of me. No no no no no! “Mother!”, a wrenched cry croaked from my dry throat. Pain erupted from the wound in my chest. And I couldn’t tell if it was from the open wound where I had been impaled, or the internal wound that my mother just tore through me. Her body fell unto the ground, just at the foot of my bed, and I raced against my body to catch her. A hole had been blasted through her chest, blood pooled all around her, soaking into her ginger hair. Time slowed down as I hugged her with all my heart and strength. I wanted to scream, but my throat was constricted in pain. I wanted to squeeze her hard enough to stop the bleeding, but my hands weren’t strong enough. I looked up at the ceiling, then at everyone gathered in the room, vaguely registering the Magi who killed her, the man I zapped and two other women that I could not recognize. I felt an anger rise within the pit of my stomach. My whole body began to buzz with energy and my pale skin began to look like a veiny net as dark bulging veins appeared on it. I felt as though I was no longer in control of my body anymore. The wound in my chest started to clot up and formed a hard rock at the center like a turtle shell with purple veiny lights across it. I lay my mothers head down gently and closed the distance between me and the hedgehog magi under a second. My hands grabbed hold of her neck like they had a life of their own. Was I going to kill this woman? My grip softened a bit, but then my head snapped involuntarily to see my mother’s lifeless body on my bedroom floor. She deserved to die an honorable death. Not at the hands of the ones she fought all her life to protect. She died like a Darynem in battle. And I did not care whatever I was at that moment. All I wanted to do was “Avenge”, a quiet silky voice echoed in my mind. I looked back into the eyes of this Magi. They were filled with fear… what a coward. “Malena!” one of the women at the corner cried

So that was her name? I would have killed this woman not knowing what she was called. “Malena…” I whispered. Tears welled up in my eyes as I struggled to speak. “You, you killed my mother!” I cried

I loosed my grip around her neck and let her collapse to the ground. Maybe I should die. I never had a place in this place to begin with. And now with this truth about me being a Darynem, even though I didn’t understand why, maybe I did deserve to die. My kind….hurt my kind…

I fell to my knees and cried, heaving, unable to hold myself. I wish I could feel her embrace one more time. Maybe she could wake up and scold me one last time.

“K-kill herr Alfred”, I heard Malena the Magi force out. The man I zapped earlier was already on his feet and took slow cautions steps at me. He was holding a Prenish Double-edged sword in his hand, with which he would slay me with. I knelt there, not ready to move, awaiting my execution but my body did its thing again. It stood on its own accord. “Stupid girl! Do not let your guard down in battle”, the calm voice echoed in my mind again. My hand reached out on its own at the Alfred and an invisible force grabbed his neck. I watched as my grip tightened at the empty air, but his face began to turn purple, and blue. Until he gushed out blood from his mouth, and his eyes slowly lost its light. Then my grip released. He fell like a bag of potatoes, except… he wasn’t a bag of potatoes. I stared in horror at the man I had just killed “Oh relax… he was going to kill you, I did you a favor”, the voice in my head spoke again. I covered my ears to try and block it out, but she only cackled maniacally.

“P-please don’t hurt us! We are only handmaids in the royal courts..” I whipped around to see the two women I noticed earlier crouching in the corner behind my curtains.

One of them spoke. “Never beg the enemy Mosley!” her voice was hard as she spat the words. I shook my head sadly at her as I saw her raise her hands at me to attack. But before she could do anything, the force within me struck again. This time a crackle of bright blue energy shot out of my palms straight as the two women, killing them instantly.

I looked around me at the massacre in my room. The scent of roses was now gone, and the scent of blood and pain filled the room. I ran back to my mother’s lifeless body and held her close to me. Her skin was now as pale as mine because of the blood that had drained out of her. A sad smile tugged at my lips. “Finally, we look alike mother…” I wept. She always wore an upside-down heart shaped golden locket around her neck. Now it was stained with blood and tangled in her hair. I gently pulled it out and unclasped it. Safely fastening it around mine. I brushed her beautiful hair to the side and gave her one last kiss.

“Frieda Ruckstov” the voice in my mind echoed. My spine stiffened as I remembered the last thing she said before she stepped in and saved my life. This name must be important if she wanted me to know this. But where would I begin? I was now a fugitive in my home, and I certainly would not go to the land across the glaciers…. Daryn.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood erect and goosebumps developed all over my skin. There was a dark presence in my room, and I could feel it. A sense of fear engulfed me so much that I shivered, I could not look over my shoulder.

“Seems you held up yourself”, a rich deep voice like honey floated at me. Turning around slowly, I came face to face with the most gorgeous eyes I had ever seen. They were gray, with specks of blue in them. Looking into them felt like I was looking int the vast beautiful skies. Beautiful long golden lashes framed those icy eyes. They belonged to an even more beautiful face. He was sculpted like a demigod. His pale skin, almost like mine, was soft and rich like milk. His golden hair fell into his eyes slightly and his lips… oh, my heard skipped a beat looking at those beautiful full and soft red lips.

“Meredith Sinkette asked that you be collected and sent to our homeland”, he spoke in a sharp cold tone that yanked me out of my trance.

“She looks so frail and weak, doesn’t make any sense why they would send both of us”, a woman’s voice tore through my racing thoughts. She was tall and toned. She also had quite pale skin. Golden hair tied up in a ponytail. She had a look of disdain on her face. Her heart shaped face and big blue eyes, gave her an almost doll-like appearance which made her the most beautiful woman I had ever set eyes on. Who were these people and why were they so breathtaking? Before I could settle my thought? I was hoisted over the shoulder of this demigod of a man!

“Put me down, you brute!” I screamed. Without a warning, he tossed me to the ground, a few of my ribs definitely cracked. “Yoda, put the prisoner to sleep. I would like some peace of mind during our trip”, he spoke again as we walked away towards my bedroom window. The woman, Yoda, blew a bubble in the gum she was chewing, as she let out a red ball of energy at me. I soon as I was hit, I felt an extreme sense of lethargy. My whole body felt limp. “F-Frieda Ruckstov” I managed to whisper before I closed my eyes, sleepily. I hope they heard me.