***

The child lifted her candle toward the low, hollowed out ceiling, streaked with my silvery weavings. Her eyes skimmed over them uninterestedly and I knew she thought they were cobwebs.

What she was interested in was the trapdoor high above her, a round hole trimmed neatly with moss and greenery, where a glimpse of aureate sky and a rosy cheeked cloud still remained, and the sun sank behind them, slowly, softly…She lept for the hole, grasping at empty air.

I looked into her eyes, turning her emotions like coins in my hands, for eyes paint a clear picture of the soul, do they not? Her emotions had a shine to them and fell apart like mist. It was as if her innocence had painted them, as if she’d never felt them to their full extent. Fear like centipedes, glittering faeries of curiosity, vibrations of confusion, smoldering embers of frustration, as well as a fleck of bravery as brittle as the wings of a butterfly.

Hmm. Not as helpful as my previous catch, which somehow escaped before I had my chance. I reached deeper, but her mind chased away my invisible fingers, sensing them. I laughed silently and reached again.

This time though, I clawed it out. The child’s breathing became faster as she sensed something being taken away from her. She shrieked once, her voice echoing through the entirety of the room–the trap.

Just as I had thought. Her frightened exterior hid strong roots of courage that steadied the labyrinth of her mind and kept the walls of it from crumbling. I broke the fibers of the roots into golden thread in my hands, as the child burst into tears, her only strength gone. For good measure, I reached into one of my weavings, pulling away a thread that crackled like lightning and thrusting fear as sharp as a knife, deep inside her.

I materialized inside the room as she clutched the dirt floor, shuddering. She looked up at me, petrified.

I threw the spindle at her. “Spin.” the child caught it hastily, dropping the candle which rolled on its rim like a turtle shell.

But I had no need to command her. Already I could see the essence of her soul unraveling now that nothing held it together, the web-like silk winding into the spindle onto the corner of the ceiling. It would take less than usual, I thought, since she was so little. First those emotions that had almost fooled me into letting her go, then the fear would encircle the weaving, and finally her life would unravel.

I could stand there all the day, watching the emotions of her human heart turn into sparkling jewel-like threads, watching the fear unraveling, watching her blood drain out of her face as she realized that she was wasting into silvery spiderwebs of magic…and then that last moment of life when nothing remained but silvery darts that would melt away.

And sometimes when I was terribly hungry, I wouldn’t bother with the tapestry, just took what the soul had to offer and left them robbed of their very being. Of course they remained alive, hiding the feeble remains of them where I couldn’t reach them, which is why I preferred the tapestry. It was far more thorough.

But today, I had no time at all. I slipped away, snatched a few threads of a tapestry to sustain me, and left the spindle to do its work.

The last I heard before I re-materialized outside of the trap, was a weak moan for help.

***

No.

The world swam in the light of the blue torches. The ghostly flames were shaped like cloaked figures rising into the stars, only to fall again. The shadows were long and deep and dark.

I understood now that I’d underestimated the people of the village. I should have read their minds more thoroughly, seen that they had…this hiding inside them.

Witch! Their thoughts were harsh, the knife of them whetted by fear and hatred, surprise and mistrust.

I wish they would get this over with, one said, impatiently. 

 Should I throw the torch at her? No, I daren’t. 

O Myra, what have you done? What have you become?

Mother. I searched the sea of blue lit faces for her black eyes, but they were blank, like the dark of the woods under the new, invisible moon. Nobody dared to show support for the witch, after what I’d done–after what they thought I’d done.

The crowd’s thoughts continued to babble restlessly.

I wonder how they’ll punish her.
Such a good little girl, previously, till she wasted her life. Tut tut tut.

Mercy me, they chose him to fight the witch?

I looked up at the him the crowd was talking about. He–the man doomed to fight me–was thin and tall, nervous and fearful, fidgety and impatient.

I stared blankly as the king, a tall man clothed in golden velvet and silks, gave some kind of announcement. I was only vaguely aware of it.

 The crowd applauded. The man gave the crowd a quarter of a shaky smile, then picked up the golden staff, with its bright lapis lazuli lamp atop it. Within the hollow lamp burned a flame, glowing blue. He talked for several minutes about this and that, but I could only hear his thoughts.

Over and over again. The witch will kill me, The witch will–

“Witch,” I heard the king’s voice, “Do you confess to openly trying to enchant my daughter?”

I felt the crowd waiting…waiting. A torch or two faltered and the purple tip at the end threatened to go out.

“No,” I said.

Silent thoughts bubbled through the crowd.

She never lied before…

She should at least admit to the deed!

There was no: Could she be telling the truth? Could she have been wrongfully accused?

“Then you would die, a liar?”

“No. I have never lied in my lifetime and I do not intend to do so now.”

All thoughts were silent except the man and his fearful chant. Anything but that.

“Do you confess?” the king demanded, “You must tell the truth!”

“I did confess,” I shouted, glaring at him and grinding the base of my heel into the ground. This was a dangerous thing to do, but what did that matter? I was already in danger, more of it wouldn’t hurt me. “I did not lay a finger on your daughter!”

“Impertinence,” my challenger trembled. He tapped once–timidly– with the staff. The world spun for a second, fracturing into kaleidoscopes of color. My heart stuttered weakly, then puttered back into rhythm, to my relief.

“One,” he said.

The crowd erupted into a standing ovation. I knelt on the floor and covered my face. After several seconds the tornado of colors stopped.

“Next question!” bellowed the king. I forced myself to my feet.

“Do you repent?” the man asked.

“No,” I said, “I cannot repent since I cannot confess to the deed.”

“Invalid!” cried the princess weakly, sounding as if her very soul had been taken from her, “We all saw her!” She looked far worse than the last time I had seen her, as pale as a cloud. Her eyes were strangely hollow.

“Two.”

The staff came down again. It was a light, hesitant touch, but the force of the magic in it knocked me to the floor. The world spiraled again. Blue of the lapis lazuli. Gold of the handle. Black of the sky. Chalky white of the dust on the floor…

The smoke of the blue and purple flames was thick in the air.

But just as my eyelids began to flutter closed, in exhaustion, a scream echoed from the woods.

“Leave her!” I heard the king call as if in a dream–or in a nightmare? “There is no way she can survive!”

There was the sound of hoofbeats and darkness overcame me.

Unfortunately, no Hawkstar/Samantha, I am still not any one of those four.. I'm rather inactive for my liking and don't participate in threads a lot. And my CB age is quite new too, so you can try guessing with that in mind.

No, no, no, no...aha! Yes.

I knew this alias wasn't going to last long with everyone rattling out names like that, oof. I am, indeed, Ultimatium! Congratulations. *claps hands* 

I had no idea that I would be this hard to guess though. I really need to be more active. Oh, and the only reason I'm not putting my name in the name box is because there isn't enough space to squeeze it in.

ooooh the station master maybe you are Blackfooted Bobcat?

An amused look passed over a face in the shadows, who slipped away in a faint wisp of smoke and ash. 

"So long, Princess" only a whisper was left behind.

No one's guessed me yet... I think. You have guessed that I am some of the others, but you haven't suggested me for me yet lol.

I'm not very up on recent CBers so I'm not guessing well. 

Mitzi, the dog lies on the couch with sweet, innocent eyes. Her left ear is flipped up and three tall tufts of fur near it stick up, forming a curve. The curve points the vertex toward Mitzi's right side. Her white, curly fur extends across her entire body. It is as smooth as cotton. Her right ear is pointed outwards halfway, and four tufts near it form a curve themselves, but the curve is in the opposite direction. These tufts are slightly sticking up. 

She is lying down in half-profile, with her front paws extending outward toward the edge of the brown, leather couch. She has a pink bone-shaped tag studded with transparent crystals. This tag is facing toward her left side. Also facing toward her left is a white circular tag. She has a pink collar adorned with daisies.

She has a black nose. Her entire left side is shaded, making her left nostril invisible. The eyes are brown, though at first glance they look completely black. 

The scene is quiet except for the gentle jingling of the dog’s tag and an unidentified, quiet, high-pitched noise coming from nowhere in particular. 

A gentle breeze blows across the room, wafting the smell of fresh, cool ear into every nook and cranny in the room. 

Sunset light was flooding the room, resting golden on the white walls until they seemed to have been overlaid with a thin coat of molten gold. He paused and looked at Roxana. She had not moved or spoken; her young face, that seemed flushed in the reddish light, looked more beautiful than ever, and yet there was a set immobility and hardness to it that struck him more than her beauty. All at once he saw her differently - not as a girl who had caught his fancy, but as a clever and admirable person who had beaten him at his own game.

"It's not every girl who can play fast and loose with me as you did," he found himself saying, and then he had turned on his heel and walked out the door.

------------------

@a sorceress, are you Jaybells, Tenebrous, or Lyric?

@a descriptive writer, the dog sounds adorable! Are you Wolfy, Lyric, or pangolin?

@:), are you Lyric, Silver Crystal, Hex, or Lupine?