CHAPTER 3

Nora woke up covered in a sweat. She couldn't help but let out a sharp groan from her lips as she ran her hand over her face. She squinted her eyes as she looked around the room and tried to adjust her vision.

She cursed slightly under her breath when she was quick to come to the realization that she had only managed to sleep for a few hours. She sighed as she slowly sat up in the lumpy mattress. She clicked her fingers and watched as the red glowing light in her hut came alive. She glared at it in irritation as it seemed theee faus that it almost constantly showed her emotions of distress.

She made her way out of bed as she realized that it was as good a time as any for her to get up and start working on some of her spells. It helped her avoid the other coven witches and she was able to train without being ridiculed.

Freak

Orphan scum

Weirdo

Treason’s daughter

The names went on. Only the tip of the iceberg of the names that she seemed to be called. And yet she still refused to believe that her father could have been the one they claimed. The witch that they whispered about in the corridors, the one that had gone mad and had tried to take over the coven.

There had been a time that Nora had wanted to believe the rumors; it would have allowed her to feel anger or even slightly upset with him but she knew her father would never do that to himself.

He would never do that to her.

And yet now even in his death they wouldn't allow her to rest. Even still they gave her the stares and glared at her as she walked down the halls. To them she might as well have been a monster too.

And now her father was gone. It had been almost a year since he had taken his last breath and left her with his parting words. She shouldn't have been the one to give up so easily. She had spent months looking for the crystal orb and yet like a coward she was forced to hand it over in exchange for her protection.

Zoran was a man of his words and he had agreed to spare her life but there had still been multiple occasions when she had been brought to the brink of death by his men as well as the rest of the coven. Her hut had been moved to the very edge of the kand and she knew all too well that any sane person would have accepted their fate but she knew something wasn't right.

Zoran had claimed that her father had tried to poison and kill him in order to take over the coven and bring it under his rule. Nora had laughed weakly when he had made the announcement. She didn't see why anyone would believe that. He was a powerful man no doubt but he had never acted in offense. And yet Zoran seemed to have everyone around him convinced otherwise.

She knew deep down that it had been a lie entirely but there had been a moment when even she had faltered. But if he had been able to go as far as to frame her father of w crime he had not committed and go as far as to soil his name even in his death it made her wonder what else he was hiding.

She knew she had to be discreet about it and that she was constantly under the watchful eye of Zoran and his men. That was why she had made the decision to keep to her side of the land. 

She needed to get back the crystal, ever since she had surrendered it she had felt an unsettling deep in her stomach she wasn't entirely sure what it meant but it was as though it was calling out to her.

She had thought that she would be able to push it away and shrug it off at first but then she started getting nightmares. They tended to take on different forms but in the end the ending was always the same. It ended with chaos and destruction and at the very heart of it all was the orb. 

Once again it was the thong that had woken her up but for some reason today had felt different. The incessant need for her to find the orb and have it back in her possession was even stronger than before. She found herself walking out of her camp and heading towards the largest tent that was located in the center of the coven.

She gulped as she tried to find the right amount of courage for her to go through with what she had to do. She didn't know where it was but a part of her told her that it would be down in the cellars. The cellars was the codename given to the largest store of books in the coven.

It wasn't heavily guarded as Zoran liked to use it in order for him to finally be able to boost his ego. He didn't think that there was anyone that would have been stupud to dare try and mess with him.

And yet here she was risking it all as she began to pass by his tent. She had almost walked past the tent when she froze as she heard her name being called from inside.

“What are we going to do about her.” She heard the second ask. “What do you mean? She is nothing more than a pesky child. We took care of her father. That is the most important thing.” Zoran said firmly and she felt her chest rumble at the way he mentioned her father.

“What if she finds out what you had planned and that it was you that had him killed,” she felt her body freeze as it felt like cold water had been poured over her. She had her suspicions at first but she had tried to convince herself that it wasn't true.

She had wanted to live in bliss for just a few moments longer. She didn't know what to think at that moment but the first thoughts that came out of her mind was why. Why would he be so cruel and wicked so much so that he would go ro such a great length as to dispose of him.

“She is not to worry about. He may be strong but she is also just as foolish as her father.” He spat and she felt as her body trembled as a sense of anger came over her.  They talked so lowly of him and in such callous tone as they regarded bety little of him. The very thought angered him and she knew now more than ever what she needed to do was to get revenge.

She stayed there for a moment longer as she heard them converse and she heard them make mention  of the upcoming coven seremont it was a even that the whole coven was ordered to participate in. It ensured the continued cycling of the powers within the community and it was considered to be one of the greatest events for the people. She would have to participate this year. The only reason that she was given an excuse the previous read was because of what had happened.

It was then that a plan had started to formulate in her head. She now needed to find the location of the orb more than ever. She wouldn't allow this man to take over her life and get away with it anymore she knew she would have to take the right action against him and now was as good a time for her to do that as any.

She is pulled out of her thoughts as she feels a tug on her heart and she spotted a blue glowing light in the distance. It was only then that she felt a sense of triumph come over her.

It was her time to show them who was the real monster.