“Potter!”
I was trying to find a spot next to the old equipment with the hopes of going unnoticed during training when I heard Karl Anderson’s booming voice. I froze as a jolt of terror swept through me.
Karl was the sadistic narcissist who had made my life hell ever since I joined the Charistulian Academy. I was horrified when I came back from summer vacation and found that he was part of the school’s staff. I had to call him Mr Anderson every time I addressed him, feeding his already enormous ego. Whenever he paid any kind of attention to me, trouble ensued. That’s probably why I felt my stomach drop the moment he said my name.
“This isn’t one of your daydreams!” he yelled, “Get your lazy behind on the field.”
A paralyzing fear overcame me and so I just stood there, numb and unsure of myself. I couldn’t have heard him correctly, I told myself. The pessimistic voice within me was certain that it was all part of a sick joke. I hated that I had become this girl, disillusioned, terrified and withdrawn.
“What’s the matter?” he asked, his tone condescending, “Are you scared?”
I looked down and mumbled under my breath hoping by some miracle that he’d leave me alone.
“Did you say something, Potter?” he asked as he crossed the distance between us. He was nearly seven feet tall and he had a body that looked like chiselled stone. I felt like a midget as he towered above me and stared at me with his dark eyes.
“No,” I whispered.
“Are you sure?” he sneered, “Because a moment ago it seemed like you had something to say.”
Naturally, I looked down when he spoke to me. He could be horrible when he felt like it. Seeing that he was in charge of our physical training today, I tried my best not to rile him. My smart mouth was my only defence but it always got me in a heap of trouble. I wished I could disappear or maybe push him to the ground and make him feel what he had made me feel for the last four years. I took a deep breath and forced myself to look him in the eye.
“The other teachers usually bench me during training, preferring that I be out of the way… I’m surprised that you want me on the field,” I said.
“Well I’m not like the other teachers,” he said, “You may be used to being coddled but don’t expect any special treatment from me.”
Even when he wasn’t shouting, his voice sounded like the rough growling of a bear. It made me shudder.
“What do you want me to do?” I asked. I heard snickers coming from all over the gym. I cringed. I knew why they were laughing and it stung. I swallowed the lump that grew in my throat.
“Just play dead!” One of the students shouted from the stands and the laughter increased.
My face heated up. At first, I was embarrassed and then I was angry. Everyone saw me as a liability. I clenched my fists as I decided that I was done letting people treat me like dirt. I was determined to prove myself.
“Stand near the dummies. We start with target practice.” I should have known that he would use my greatest fear against me. Target practice meant that I had to stand motionless in the same spot while others shot arrows and threw knives at me. I couldn’t defend myself against stray projectiles.
“Fine,” I said quickly. The last thing I wanted is for Karl to see the fear in my eyes. I found solace in knowing that we only used dulled weapons during training.
“One more thing,” Karl said and I turned around to face him, “No shields!”
I staggered at his words as panic gripped me. I didn’t even try to hide my fear.
“But that means…”
“It means that we get to use magic.” He cut me off.
“But…I don’t have…”
“You don’t have any magic.” he sneered, “A fact known by everyone.”
I looked at him and saw the malice and contempt in his eyes. I always knew that he didn’t like me but wasn’t this going too far? I looked around hoping that someone would come to my rescue but no one did. As always, I was on my own.
“That’s not fair…”
“We are training for war,” he said, “And war isn’t fair!”
“What if something goes wrong?” I whispered.
He gives me a wicked grin. “Good riddance!”
I felt like the air had been knocked out of my lungs and I wrapped my hands around my stomach. I was going to be sick. As if sensing that I wanted to leave, Karl said, “Lock the doors!”
I fought back the tears that were filling my eyes. I would not let them see me cry. I would fight even if only by my defiance. I turned my back on Karl and walked to the field with my head held high.
Karl decided that he would make things even more unbalanced by putting four archers and one thrower against me. I trembled, as they all got ready to aim.
I closed my eyes and held my breath as time slowed down. I heard the noisy chatter coming from the stands, it sounded like it was coming from far away. The noise grew more and more distant as Karl’s voice filled the air.
“Ready…fire!”
There was no hiding the excitement in his voice. I knew he was only expressing what the others felt. I was a Charistule with no magic. Some even doubted if I was a Charistule at all. As an orphan found at the Charistulian border, I had no use, no purpose. I always hoped they’d overlook my deficiencies and accept me but it seemed that wishful thinking was my first mistake. Sticking around was my second.
I heard the swish of arrows set in motion and the grunt of the thrower as he set his knife on course. I felt vines creep up from beneath my feet, grounding me in place and my mind coerced into submission.
I moved from home to home of unwelcoming foster parents for ten years. Andrew Potter, the principal, had adopted me six years ago. He gave me his name and a home. He insisted on the use of shields during training to protect me. He knew I didn’t have magic but he never shunned me for it. I longed to hear his voice as I felt my end getting closer.
The arrows lodged one at a time as searing pain shot through my body. Someone used mind control to keep me silent and from the way the arrows pierced right through me, I knew someone had directed them through telekinesis.
Tears flowed freely. I gasped as the knife pierced through my chest. I fell to the ground as the bonds of magic that bound me loosened. Darkness pulled at me and I was more than willing to give in to it. I wanted to go to sleep and never wake up.
“Goodnight Potter…” I heard Karl’s voice trailing off, then there was nothing but black.
I don’t know how long I slept but I remember being woken up by a surge of electricity, then another. The singeing pain made the arrows lodged in my body feel like child’s play. I felt like my cells were on fire and every bone in my body was breaking. I let out a nerve-wracking scream.
Everything began to shake. It was small at first, like a tremor and then it grew. Everyone began to scream and run. I wanted to go with them but I couldn’t move. After what felt like an eternity, everything stopped.
The teachers ran into the gym trying to calm the students down and assess the damage. They all gasped when they saw me. They looked at me as if I was the culprit. Even my dad seemed scared of me. My head felt heavy and everything was blurry.
“Dad…what happened?”
“She did this! She did this!” Karl yelled frantically. In his eyes, I saw something I had never seen before, fear.
The memories came flashing and I remembered something. I had a vision, I saw something or rather someone…
“What do you remember sweetie?” my dad asked as he wiped the gravel off me. That was when he noticed the blood on my clothes. He began to look for wounds, “Are you hurt?”
The wounds were gone and the arrows were scattered all over the ground.
“I’m okay dad.” I figured I’d tell him about Karl’s transgressions later. “I need to tell you something.”
“What is it?” he asked, concern etched into the frown lines on his forehead.
“I saw…I saw the rogue King,” everyone gasped.
“At last the mystery has been solved.” Azura, the head of the Charistulian council said as she walked into the gym. There was hatred in her eyes and the determination in her stride startled me. “She is Eldritch’s daughter!”
My head began to spin. If what she was saying was true, that meant that I was the rogue King’s daughter. That made me the enemy's spawn. It also meant certain death.
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2 comments
Amazing piece here🙌🙌❣❣
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Awww...thanks Conslate! It means a lot...🙂
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