The Key to the Master's Heart - A Tale of the Kingdoms of Magical Beasts and Shapeshifters

ALESSA

"Kill her!"

The roar of the commanding guard echoed in my ears and I shut them as tightly as I could to lock it all away. There were screams all around me now and all I wanted was to close my eyes, open them and realize all these were not happening.

But they are happening!

As a matter of fact, my mother was next.

"No!" I screamed as the guards pulled her away from my group. She was screaming too as she grabbed my cloak so hard that it tore apart instantly. I had one hand across my chest now, holding the cloth to cover the last of my nakedness and the other was reaching out to her, the woman who birthed me, who clothed me, who fed me and now they have been doing to the rest and I couldn't stop them.

I didn't realize when I fell to the ground but it was when I fell I remembered my legs were chained. I lay on the ground, weeping. I couldn't stop them. I watched them drag her farther and farther away, her tearful eyes never leaving me. Even when they fixed the rope around her neck, she still looked at me, sobbing.

"Any last words, Bernada? What is your confession?"

A tiny looking man who called himself a priest asked her. He has been asking all the women and young girls killed earlier similar questions. We were all accused of witchcraft and black magic and it had just led to the slaughter of fifteen women and still counting. This was a very long story for another moment. At this point, I simply watched as my mother turned to me and looked me in the eye.

Suddenly, she was looking more confident than ever. She smiled and nodded to me. Then she whispered something. I could read her lips. She said: - 'Find the Master.'

The guards waited no more. I didn't even know when they pulled the lever and let her drop to her death. I screamed. She struggled and struggled but no help was coming. I got to my feet and tried to move again and to my greatest surprise, I realized my legs were free!

At this point, many things ran through me head. How did I suddenly break free? How can I help my mother? Though I felt like running straight to help her, I knew she was gone and nothing was ever going to hurt me like this moment. Still, I knew better than to risk dying also. I immediately turned the other way and ran for my life.

"Hey! Get her!" The guards all around were screaming. I didn't look back though I knew they were coming. I could hear their heavy boots pounding. I kept running, faster... faster...

IKARIS

When I saw the mother and daughter bond in the crowd, I couldn't deny the fact that I was hurt. I watched as they dragged the woman away and knew I could not save her. If I tried anything at this point, we were all going to die. It was then I thought of the best option – free the girl!

She didn't even notice when I used a hijack jinx to break the chains around her feet. She was too busy staring at her mother. The guards didn't notice me either. I was dressed as one of them. When my trick was played, I moved aside and watched as her mother was hung. It was at this moment she noticed she was somehow free and made the wisest decision of running away.

As the head guard and the others chased after her barking commands, I followed them. We ran for quite a long time. I never guessed she was so good at running but who wasn't good at running for their lives?

Just then, she ran into a dark alley and I knew she had made a big mistake. It was a dead end but I guessed she had no idea. I watched as she got to the magical sealed door and now turned to face us, weeping in despair. There were four of us, including me and we were all surrounding her.

"You can't run now..." One of the guards sang like a song as we drew closer. I knew she was scared but she took a posture, ready to fight us. It was then I came in for her.

I flung my spear and got the first man. That same second, my switchblades went for the second as I knocked the third out of consciousness.

I am a good fighter.

I looked up at her surprised face now and pulled off my mask. She stared at me strangely as if trying to place my face. I knew she didn't know me. We had never met.

"If you keep staring at me, we'll both die. The door gives you a riddle to solve. To cross through, we must solve the riddle. More men are coming behind and when they do, I can't hold them all back." I stated. She immediately came back to reality, knowing she could trust me.

There was no time!

We both turned to the glowing door now and read the waiting riddle: -

"I am what you should feel when you look at a face

But how I truly look like, no one knows

I can be your friend though every man is my foe

I bring two or more together to guide their pace"

I looked up at her now and we both stared at each other. It was then we realized it. We couldn't answer it!

The feet of more men were banging right behind us.

We were in trouble!

ALESSA

I knew I was going to die, but what was now more painful was having to take this innocent young man with me.

"You shouldn't have tried to save me. You shouldn't have interfered!" I yelled at him angrily.

"You're welcome!" He shot me a reply without even turning to look at me. He was so keen on cracking the riddle that he wasn't doing anything else.

"...what you see when you look at a face... bring two or more together..." He was murmuring words from the riddle we just read. In the middle of it all, I suddenly found myself staring closely at him, observing him more closely. He looked young but I could tell he was older than me, but within my age range. His hair was brown and rough, and it fell over his face in a naughty way. His face was stern, determined, probably from the efforts he was putting on the door. His eyes were dark but I couldn't tell if it was because the lights in the cave was dim.

Then I suddenly heard the boots of the bounding men coming closer and I woke up to reality. It was then I remembered we were just about to die.

"Think...think...." He was cursing at himself. It was a moment of utter frustration.

I read the lines again...

"I am what you should feel when you look at a face

But how I truly look like, no one knows

I can be your friend though every man is my foe

I bring two or more together to guide their pace"

I gasped as realization dawned on me and the answer washed over me.

"Love!" I cried. "Love it is!"

Suddenly, the stone groaned slightly and began to shift with an amazing magic that held us spellbound. We both shifted a little as the light of the outside world began to streak in, causing us to shield our eyes.

"Hey! Hey!" The men were right behind us.

"Run!"

We both took off, running as fast as our legs could carry us. We were descending a nasty hill and I felt my trembling legs unable to keep up with so much speed.

Still, the men were closing in on us!

I could hear their arrows and in no time, one swung past me, missing my neck with inches.

"Be careful!" He shouted. Grabbing me by the waist, we spun into a bend, hidden by the rocks. Behind us, arrows collided with stone and fell to the ground.

Instantly, he pulled me into a shade in the rocks and we stooped in silence. His moldy fingers was crossed over my lips and for the first minute, we just stared into each other's eyes, trying to regulate our breathing and stop the panting. We waited as we heard the men gather around the area.

"Follow that bend..." One of the men commanded and we heard the footsteps of the men fade away. They were gone. We remained still for another while before we slowly began to free ourselves. We could hear our breathing again.

Slowly, the boy raised his head and peeped from above the rock.

"We're clear!" he whispered. He turned to me and offered a hand. I hesitated, realizing he was a stranger. Then I remembered he had just saved my life multiple times and received his open arm. He helped me up and slowly led me out of the hiding place. We began taking the opposite route, realizing we were now in the woods. The sun was still high above us and I assumed it was well into the morning already.

My mother just died early this morning. I remembered her dangling from the ropes, struggling to live. I didn't even know when tears flooded my eyes.

"I'm sorry about her, but trust me, she'll be alright." The boy suddenly said to me and I realized he had seen the tears in my eyes. I felt embarrassed but was too engulfed in my grief to hold it back. I found myself crying even more. The boy didn't say a single thing anymore. It was like he understood my grief and knew it was just better if I cried.

"Where do we go now?" He asked me.

I turned to him in surprise. We? "You need to stop already. You've done enough, thank you very much. Now I need to run my way. Please..."

"No... no.... listen!" he turned me so that I looked into his eyes. "You don't need to go without me..."

"I don't know you!" I insisted.

"You will get to... I'm Ikaris, by the way...." He said. "And I don't have anywhere to go to or someone to be with as well so we'll travel together. The hunt for witches is widespread now. Believe it or not, you won't be safe if you move alone..."

"But I'm not one of the witches..."

"I know and you don't have to... they don't need you to prove yourself. They will just kill you as they wish... Now, let's..."

I shouted... screamed.... I could see something from behind him and Ikaris had no idea. The man behind had shot an arrow and it was coming straight for his neck.

They found us!

IKARIS

I was telling her the truth.

There were so many loopholes about my life, so many disasters I had faced, so many problems I was running from. But somehow, I knew I was being honest with her. There was a feeling I had about her, something that attracted me to her, a force I could not explain. Indeed, I knew I was giving her my assurance that I would be there for her and I knew what that promise will cost me. Still, I was ready to face whatever came my way to ensure she stayed safe. This was not a physical attraction... It was something more, something magical about the connection.

Suddenly, I could read an expression on her face, like she was shocked... her eyes widening. She wasn't looking at me, I realized. She was looking at something coming from behind!

Suddenly, she pushed me aside so fast, with so much strength that I could not believe she could muster and I lost my bearing and fell to the ground, turning instantly, getting on my feet, keeping my eyes on her.

Then I saw something I would never believe... something I never thought was real. She raised her hands against the coming arrow as if she would have caught it if possible. In that split second, I was scared out of my wits, just imagining that the arrow will strike and kill her.

"No!"

Then suddenly, there was a dazzling blue light, so I bright, I had to shield my eyes a little but I could still see what was going on very clearly. I watched the arrow go back so quickly, like she was the one who shot it. Instantly, it struck the man on the other side and he fell to the ground with a groan.

There was silence and a moment of confusion. What the hell had just happened?

But I knew the answer. It was magic! She was a witch!

I watched her as she slowly turned to me and could swear that I saw the surprise drawn all over her face. It was then I realized that even she had no idea what she had in her. She was just as surprised and confused as I was, or maybe she was even more confused as she looked from her hand, to the man and to me again as if waiting for me to explain something.

Still, I knew that now was not the perfect time.

"If that man shot at us, then they're around us!" I said as I stood immediately. "We must run!" She still looked as confused as ever but she nodded and followed me as we ran through the woods. I chose not to ask anything about what we had just seen, at least, not until we had gotten to somewhere safe where we could talk and think.

We ended up running in silence through the woods for more than two hours before we could ascertain that we were safe and the men were no longer behind us. We were just slowing down when my ears caught the sound of something very relieving, something we needed the most.

"There is a river nearby. I can hear it." I exclaimed. She seemed to perceive the fresh water breeze as well and we found ourselves moving through the woods with our noses in the air, searching for the river until we found it in no time.

Tired and exhausted, we fell at the riverbank and drank to our fill before we began washing our faces, hands and legs. Then we collapsed on the sand beside each other in the cool afternoon and watched the clear skies. We were still yet to have a proper conversation.

"Thank you for saving me." She suddenly said. I had not expected it. In fact, I was really surprised that I had to look at her to make sure she was really conscious. Then I nodded even though she wasn't looking at me. I was lost in my own thinking, wondering how I'll bring up the matter of the magic we both witnessed.

"What happened back there?" She was the one who started the topic, surprisingly. I wanted to keep the conversation going but wasn't sure of what to say.

"It's evident you have magic in you." I replied dryly, going straight to the point. As a matter of fact, that was the only explanation.

I watched her from the corner of my eyes as she stared out, watching the river. "It was dangerous! Whatever it was..." She stated. She had a point, though.

"You just have to master it." I assured her. "Was this the first time?"

She turned to look at me now. "I've never seen myself do such before."

I knew that wasn't a good idea. Magic that was yet to be controlled was highly dangerous to the bearer and those around. "You're a witch..." I stated blankly. She suddenly looked pale and white as if she was scared to realize it. "And everyone is out there, hunting for people like you. We have to get you to somewhere safe."

She seemed to fully understand what I just said but was quiet because she needed time to think about it carefully. "That was why they hung my mother and the other women... because they were witches too..."

"The kingdom of Alga and every other kingdom on their side are simply full of insane people. Many of those women are not witches but they have become bloodthirsty, killing both normal people, even more than they kill witches. They don't care. Many of the women you saw being hung were not witches at all..."

"And they all died because of people like me..."

"Hey!" I felt bad hearing her say something like that. "You don't have to blame yourself. It's not your fault." I replied.

"Where do we go now?" she asked me as tiny tears flooded her eyes.

"For now, we need to rest. Then we will travel to the Land of Caravan. I know an elder there who could help us and teach you what you need to know..."

"A witch too?"

"Grenga is not a witch..." I mentioned his name. "he's just a very wise man."

"My mother's last words were 'find the Master'. She wanted me to find someone that was referred to as the master."

From the way she said it, I knew she was trying to know if I had an idea of who he was. Sadly, I didn't.

"There are many people that bear that title so I can't say. When we get to Caravan, we will ask Grenga. He might know something." I replied honestly. "Rest now..."

She smiled warmly at me and folded herself on the cool sand for a nap while I sat looking over the horizons when I suddenly remembered something I forgot.

"What's your name?" I asked. She smiled, as if she realized that till now, I was yet to know her name.

"Alessa..." She replied before shutting her eyes again for a nap.

I looked into the horizons again, admiring the name.

Alessa, the name of a beautiful witch...