RedLake

A blinding light pierced my eyes as I lay in my plush bed. Why did my mother have to do this every day? “Wake up, you lazy oaf!”, mother yelled. Before I could turn over to my other side, away from the blinding sunlight, those rock-hard foot pillows were hurled straight for my head and the god-awful stench of wet moldy feet hit me. “The Magi would be here any minute for your physical assessment and you’re here in your stinking room!” mother yelled. Her shrilling voice pierced my eardrums. “Mom, I already told you, I am not joining the Academy Arc, so send those sodden old and wrinkle Magi away! Gosh!” I said groggily, still half asleep. All of a sudden, I felt my mother’s firm and sturdy hard hands wrap around my ankles and tug me towards the end of the bed. In a different world, these hands would have easily passed for those of a man. Probably someone who had been working in fields with animals. But these were hers. I almost forgot the life she had before now. She was after all the wife of the commander of the Fifth Arc, Jerome Sinkette, my father. And she fought by his side, from the day they were united until the very last battle, the one that claimed his life. The Last rebellion. “Violet Sinkette, daughter of the Order of the Sphinx, that is no way to talk about the Most Revered guardians of the Holy Runes. And do you think that your father would approve of this behavior you are putting up?” her lowered to a whisper at the end. I looked up to see her icy blue eyes soften, giving me a glimpse of who she used to be when dad was here. “huuhh”, I huffed in distress. She knew that the dad card would always work. “Alright. Excuse me now, I would be ready and downstairs shortly” I answered. I listened as here boots clacked against the hardwood floor and my door slum shut. She was gone.

I walked up to my mirror and stared at my reflection in the antique glass. Last year I cut my hair to my chin in a sleek bob. Mom hated it. She said it brought out my sharp jaws and that long hair softened my features. Now it was way past my breastbone. I looked up at my tangled silvery hair and wondered why I wasn’t like my brothers. Their rich and fiery auburn locks that would look like tongues of fire when they stepped into the sun. Instead, I was left with my pin straight pale, white, almost silver hair. When I was much younger my father told me that it was because I was from the stars, and that I was special. But now I look at it and all it makes me feel is odd and left out. Wherever I go, I stick out like a sore thumb.

Everyone I knew had bronze olive skin because of the red sun that hung up in the sky 5 out of 9 days in the Uren Week. And then there was me. I stared at my pale and ghastly skin. Stretched over my skinny bones. My eyes, were also a huge point of contrast. Instead of the usual bronze or icy blue eyes like my dad’s. I had instead pale purple ones.

As a child I was told that I had a rare genetic disease that caused me to lose pigment in my skin and eyes. But that didn’t stop all the bullying and teasing I faced in school. Those awful kids would call me Violet Darynem because I did look a lot like them. But it was highly impossible to be one of them. They were the despicable enemy that tried to wipe my kind off this planet. 

A loud thud downstairs pulled me out from my thoughts and back to reality. I dabbed a bit of translucent powder under my eyes to make me look more awake and less like a suffocating ghost. And finally stepped into the midnight black gown that my mother laid on the bed for me to wear. It was such a beauty, with its ruffles and silver sequins. As I zipped it close, it snug tightly against my body, revealing the curves that always hid underneath layers clothes. I took one last look at my reflection, noting the sharp contrast between my pale skin, silvery hair and the striking gown stuck to my body.

"Your daughter has shown nothing but absolute disregard for our culture and tradition Meredith! You ought to teach her the right thing. It is a law that all descendants of the Sphinx must and will take the golden yoke and join the Academy Arc! But your brat child refused to attend the ceremony for the golden yoke, meaning that cannot join the Academy Arc and that is utter nonsense!", I listened silently as the Royal Magi yelled at my mother. She was a short and petite woman. I could not see her face because of the red hood draped over her head. Her arms were thin and very wrinkled. Her olive skin had turned dark brown from her many years in the red sun and her voice sounded more like a raspy croak. I was so distracted by the sight unfolding before me that I missed a step and clumsily tumbled down the stairs. Talk about an entrance. The room fell silent as all three Mahi and my mother turned to look at me. I heard a disapproving humph come from my mother. I looked up at them shamefully and was completely taken aback by the look of horror upon their faces. "Oh goodness! She looks an awful lot like a Darynem!" Another magi exclaimed 

I gathered the train of my dress and all three Magi took a cautious step back… away from me?

Even the Magi couldn’t accept me?

My mother’s voice sliced through the tense silence. "This is my daughter Violet. The doctors told me at her birth that she had a rare genetic disease that cause her to lose pigment in her skin and eyes “, she said curtly. Oh, how many times I’ve had to explain this to every new person I’ve met.

The first Magi cleared her throat before speaking. " Well, she certainly cannot be a Darynem since she is your daughter, however it does feel uncomfortable to be only inches away from a being that is a spitting image of the despicable creatures that haunt our existence. She looks nothing like you!" She glared at me as she spoke to my mother. I began to feel my temper rise within me. I had had enough of this unfair treatment. And who was she to speak about look when she looked no different from a hedgehog. Before I could speak a word, the last Magi who had been silent until now, finally spoke. "Come child", her baritone voice took me aback. "We have come to give you your golden yoke. Now come, come here, let us begin ".

I brushed off the dust from the front of my dress and walked as confidently as I could to her, deliberately avoiding eye contact with the hedgehog Magi.

With movement like a flash of lightning. The Magi’s fingernails darkened and elongated and before I could process what was happening, she plunged her black claws into my chest. I felt her grip around my heart. My eyes widened in horror at the sheer pain that seized my body. From the corner of my eyes, I could see my mother calmly standing there, hands clasped in front of her. Why wasn’t we trying to save me. The Magi grabbed me by my chin and stared into my eyes. I felt like she was peeking into my soul. I felt the metallic taste of blood in my mouth and I slowly welcomed the sleep. Why did I have to die this way? Why would mother lie to me?

I knew that I was different but did she hate me this much to have me executed by the Royal Magi? Why? Would dad want this too? No… my father would never.  Suddenly I was back in the spring fields for my 7th birthday. At Red Lake Park. He gave me a piggyback around the lake as I screamed at the top of my lungs. "Happy birthday princess", he yelled with a big smile on his face. " I love you daddy!", I exclaimed. "And I love you more my princess". His voice echoed in my mind as I slipped into the darkness.

I felt cold, so cold. My feet sunk into a thick layer of… snow?

Where was I? Am I dead? Death feels so cold. All around me is darkness I can’t see anything. My hands quickly reached for my chest where I had been impaled… there was nothing there…

She skies were pitch black and cloudless, there was nothing in the vast space, the wind howled out in the horizon. I felt so cold…until I didn’t. A raging hot circle of fire began around me sprouting out of the ice-cold ground. Then before me appeared the three Magi like a hologram. The one who plunged her fist into me stepped forward as fast as lightning again and held me by the neck. This woman really was strong for her age. She plunged her fist into my chest again! How many times was it possible to die? I never knew that I could die even in death! But this time it felt different. It felt cold. So icy cold. I felt like my entire body was freezing slowly around her fist in my chest. Though her fist felt hot. And looked like a boxing red hot iron, the cold of my body subdued her. I saw a vision. Like a dance between a red flame and an icy blue flame. And anytime I felt the burning sensation in my chest as I hang up in the air, the red flame would overpower the blue. Until I regained control of my mind and with all the mental effort that I could master through my agonizing pain. I overpowered the red flame. And extinguished it completely.

I felt my body collapse into the frozen snow and the Magi who attacked me was hunched over in pain. Howling. The other two Magi rushed over to her to help her. As they lifted her off the ground, a golden ring was fastened around her neck…. that should be. the golden yoke!

The two Magi glances at me in what looked like shock and …. Horror?

“What have you done! You insolent child!”, the hedgehog Magi shrilled.

The Magi with the golden yoke began to cough out blood. I noted that even though they were in holographic form, blood did spew into the white snow. Which meant that this place must be real. The three Magi disappeared from before as I lay in the snow. The memory of my father and me at the Red lake came back to me and I embraced it. Welcoming the darkness once more.