8: Karmina

She practiced. Day and night. Most days go by without a single ounce of food. Yet, she continued as if death couldn't touch her. She was aware of the stares, though. The narrowed, judgemental gazes of her fellow brothers and sisters. There were murmurs among them. Tainted words that lingered in the back of her mind. They would echo. Bounce from one side of her mind to the other. On those days, she would disappear to her makeshift shack in the forest. Her haven.

The scent of damp grass filled the small space. The early morning rain finally ceased and the grey clouds gave way to the first rays of morning light. However, the forest was silent. Eerily so. No birds sang their morning tunes. No rustle under the brush from rabbits, or the scurry of squirrels up trees. The forest was still.

Karmina took a dagger and rested the tip of the blade into the small flame of a candle. She watched as the heat warmed the steel little by little until the edge gave off an orange hue. She pressed the b