When you were only 5 years old, the rebellion was in full swing. Your father and I worked endlessly to try to expel Liriel's influence from the kingdom. We liberated city after city, reveling in the glory of our triumphs. With the leaders of some of the biggest cities on our side, as well as the power to Shift, we felt like we were unstoppable.

This prideful notion was not the case.

There was a particularly small village that guarded the border between the eastern and western portions of the land. The Noir Mountains are what split the country, and that village lay right at the only pass large enough for our army to pass through. Though we considered simply flying over, we had too many soldiers who were relegated to the ground, such as centaur and merfolk, as well as cartloads of supplies. We needed to cross the border in order to reach the Capitol in the far west, the final destination before freedom. Thus, we decided to pass through the village.

It was a very diminutive place. Surely, we thought, the people there would not be able to put up a fight. Many were simple miners, extracting coal and gems from the mountains reaching high on either side of their homes. Your father warned us to be careful, since the place would be perfect for an ambush. I agreed. Thus, your father, my sister Fer-

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"Aunt Fera?" Gerel interrupted. "She was with you?"

"Kotuya," Delku admonished. "Please, let your mother finish."

Gerel sat down, now even more invested in the tale than before. Beveri gave a ghost of a smile and continued.

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-my sister, Fera and I went to scout ahead alone. We warily marched through the town, eyes darting between miners bolting their doors and dark excavation tunnels boring into solid stone.

The sky was an ashy grey, clouds heavy with rain as if waiting for the perfect time to let it out in a downpour. I sniffed at the humid wind as a nervous twitch ran through my wings. The unmistakeable lavender smell of a witch was laced through the air.

I halted my husband, motioning a signal of danger. Delku smelled it as well, tensing and raising his head. My sister was no longer beside me. I glanced around, looking for her.

Shrouded by frothing mist, a lone figure, reeking of lavender, stood silently before us.

"You there! Reveal yourself!" I demanded.

The figure stepped forward. It was Fera. Her eyes were shining a brilliant yellow, while her bear-skin coat had turned a sickening shade of gold.

"Fera?" I asked, bewildered. "What is going on?"

Delku raised his sword, unsure of how to proceed.

Fera only giggled in response, an excessively large grin spreading across her bleached face.

My first instinct was that she was simply a magical projection from a witch nearby. This was a commonly used tactic at the time, used to trick the enemy. I also considered that it might have simply been a witch who was somehow able to transform herself into my sister's lookalike. In any case, I readied myself for battle, looking around for where my true sister may have been.

"Surrender, witch!" I cried. "What did you do with my sister?"

The fake Fera giggled again. She clapped her hands in a repeating pattern over her head. In response, the ground beneath her rumbled. Her pupils contracted to tiny dots as her giggle turned into a loud, deranged laugh.

Delku and I glanced at each other, communicating our mix of confusion and fear. I quickly Shifted to human form, readying my support stance. I projected a shield between us and her, as well as sending a steady stream of healing magic into Delku. He in turn raised his katana, brushing it with his fingers to coat the blade in magic flame.

Fera suddenly screamed and grasped at her head with claw-like hands, almost tearing hair out. A long, thin piece of metal slowly protruded from the rumbling ground before her. It was a golden spear, inlaid with uncut amethysts. Her scream melted back into a laugh as she picked it up, hands shaking as she touched the rough, twisted metal.

"Could she be possessed?" I asked hesitantly, my concern for my sister's safety growing.

"Demons possessions aren't like this at all. I think it's possible...that she has betrayed us." Delku looked away from me, his grip on the katana tightening.

My heart skipped beats as the thought ripped through my mind. It wasn't possible, I told myself. Fera had always been trustworthy,; always my best friend. Delku had to be wrong. This was just a witch's trickery.

"Where is the real Fera! Tell me at once!" I cried.

The crazed woman leapt forward, smashing her spear into my shield and breaking it in two, slashing her weapon forward at Delku. He deftly dodged, slamming his flaming katana against it, sending her flying sideways. I raised another shield, surprised at how quickly she had gotten through the first.

Delku sent balls of flame towards her. She spun her spear before her as she got back to her feet, dispersing them as they came. She lunged for me this time, sprinting around the shield and stabbing at me with her spear. I blocked her frenzied attacks as Delku came at her from behind, slicing through the back of her bear-skin coat while she deftly juked away. Blood stained the golden fur as she backed off, calculating her next attack.

"Where is she!?" I screamed, my hand sweeping upward as sword-like rocks jutted from the ground beneath her at my command. She leapt into the air upon seeing them, rolling into a landing on the dirt nearby. She glanced back at me, a familiar taunting twinkle in her eyes.

"I am here. Do you not recognize me?" she said through cracked lips. Her crazed smile became a pouting frown. "Is this really all that hard to accept?" She cocked her head unnaturally, a little snapping sound causing a shiver down my spine.

Delku swung his sword at her with a lethal stroke. It clashed against the golden shaft, and with a series of swift motions, the two took part in a dance of death. As fresh wounds graced their bodies, I focused my attention on continuing to heal my husband, the lacerations disappearing almost as soon as they were made. Despite multiple injuries, Fera never seemed to slow down. Her manic gaze was trained on me the whole time.

"You are not Fera," I said through clenched teeth.

She only giggled. After a final block, she disappeared into a golden mist. Delku looked around in surprise. His eyes widened as they met mine, then looked behind me. Before he could say anything, he suddenly froze entirely. Every muscle was unmoving, his pose held perfectly as if he was a painting. A paralysis spell.

"I am indeed she," said a voice as it whispered into my ear. I made a quick strike behind, but was interrupted by a spear's side slamming into my chest, sending me flying into a pile of freshly-unearthed coal. The breath was knocked out of me. Instinctively, I bubbled myself in a shield as I recovered.

Fera brushed her hand along Delku's cheek, gazing longingly at him. "Hmm. I've always wanted a husband like yours. Two beautiful little children, too. Ho hum. I suppose taking yours will do nicely enough." She bent her head back at me. "I'll take good care of them." She laughed.

A kindling of rage burned in my heart as I caught my breath. "Get away from him!" I screamed, leaping towards her as I Shifted. Claws slashed at empty air. She was behind me again.

"So, you still care about him more than me, huh? Pfft. Typical. Don't know what I was expecting. Cainen, at least, is loyal to his kin." A spear dug through my thigh, scratching bone.

I twisted around, breathing flame at the attacker. Fera laughed as her flesh seared. She stumbled away, hands grasping at her head. Tears fell across her burning face.

I swiftly ripped the spear out of my thigh, turning human to effectively heal my wound.

The spear throbbed in my hand. I had never held a wand-weapon before. It was perhaps one of the strangest things I had beheld. The rough material pulsed as if alive. I could have sworn I saw veins of gold writhing under the surface. I turned my attention back to Fera. I readied the spear as I took up a fighting stance before my silent husband.

I still could not process it. Why had Fera turned against me? Surely this had never been her true intention. How could she have been so jealous all these years and never said a word? It didn't feel real.

"If it truly is you, why did you become a witch? Why did you side with Cainen!? Why are you trying to kill us!? Tell me in truth! Have you always felt this way?" I took in my breaths unsteadily. Rage continued to burn within me. The wand's pulsing fell in tandem with that of my heart.

The witch's seared face was an unnatural mix of sheer terror and uncanny joy. "I w-wanted to live!" She screamed at the sky before a shudder rippled through her body and she locked her eyes on me again. "I've always hated you. The witches are my family now." She giggled, tapping the nose of the large bear head atop her own. "How does that make you feel? I became a witch because I hated you so much!" She belted out a guffaw.

Before I knew what I was doing, I rushed at her. I grasped the spear as if it were my own. I prayed for magic, for a spell to kill her.

...But my heart did not reach for Auria. Instead, I channeled my own energy through Cainen's spear. Bubbling purple acid ran down its length. I stabbed it at my sister, but she disappeared. Now she was before Delku. I turned and slashed the spear in an arc, large globules of the acid flying in the air towards her. She disappeared again, leaving it to splash into my husband's eyes.

I screamed in a mix of rage and horror. Fera laughed from behind me, her chuckles sending her into a fit on the ground.

I spun and dug my spear into her flesh, connecting it with the ground beneath her.

She writhed there, hugging her burned cloak to herself as she clawed at her pierced shoulder. Her crazed eyes burned into my own. The smell of the acid broiling her flesh invigorated my lust for the slaughter.

A muffled voice rang through my head. I could tell it was Auria. She told me not to kill the witch, for things were not as they seemed. Her soft voice gave me that command.

I didn't listen.

I ripped the spear back out, then thrust it into her chest.

Her infernal laughing ended. Her face softened, taking on the expression of my true sister, the one I had known all my life. Her eyes lost their golden sheen, returning back to their normal brown. She attempted to breath in, but instead coughed out acid-laced blood. All traces of a witch seemed to shed themselves from her.

Yet still I took up the spear once again, letting it pierce with a cracking thud her beating heart.

A swath of golden mist rose from within her as the life drained from her eyes, forming into a twisted figure over her head. It gave the same horrible laugh as she had before screaming as it faded into nothingness.

She had been possessed. I could have saved her. Somehow, a witch's soul had taken ahold of her, and had searched her memories to use them to taunt me.

I had killed her in cold blood, even when commanded not to.

I collapsed to my knees, shaking uncontrollably. I threw the spear away from me in terrified disgust, my hands feeling as if they were burning.

The sound of my husband's screams woke me from my trance. I rushed to him, the spell upon him broken. He grasped at his eyes, giving a relieved gasp as he felt my hands against his shoulders. He tried to speak, but was so wracked with pain nothing came out but strained gurgles.

Panicked, I placed a hand over his face, calling upon Auria to lend me her power. Perhaps it wasn't too late. Perhaps I could still save his sight.

Nothing happened. No words of power or swaths of heavenly energy filled my body. I had been claimed by Cainen, and could not call upon my goddess's magic.

I hugged my husband and wept. I told him it was too late, that his eyes were too fargone.

I had lied. I knew it was because of me that he had been blinded. While he had been frozen, he had also lost consciousness. If I never told him, he would never know. That's how I convinced myself to keep it a secret.

When I had helped him walk the long way back to the rest of our army, I faced our shocked followers, tearfully declaring that a witch had attacked us, blinding my husband and killing my sister.

This was the first event that led to the rebellion's downfall.

It wasn't until years later, after long amounts of prayer as well as telling my husband the truth, that I was able to use Auria's magic again.

...

I'm sorry, Kotuya. I'm so sorry.