Athol - Ashes

"This is the narrative version of the opening for the second volume of my story Athol. This is the only spoiler I can really post at the moment because the story is still very much in flux and I don't know for sure which scenes I'm going to use and which scenes I'm going to throw out.

I do wonder what this scene must look like to one who has not read the first volume." -Casey

Sorcha walked up to the edge of the police tape, her long hood drawn over her head. The frame of house was hardly standing anymore, just a broken wall with charred black posts lying across it. Nothing was recognizable. This mess didn’t look even remotely like the home Sorcha had left behind.

“Hey! You there!” a voice called from behind her. “I’ve been telling you kids to stay away from this place for two days now!”

Mrs. Clarke stomped over to the girl with leather suitcase tucked under her arm. “It’s the sight of a tragedy, not a magical spectacle!”

Sorcha drew her hood back and wiped a tear from her eye as she looked up at the woman. “Mrs. Clarke,” she managed to whisper.

The woman dropped her suitcase and ran forward to hug the girl. “Oh, Sorcha dear!” Mrs. Clarke gasped. “Child, where’ve you been? I’d have sworn that you’d died in the fire!”

“Mistress Fiona was supposed to call you,” Sorcha murmured.

“Fiona?” Mrs. Clarke spat. “That witch was here yesterday and she didn’t say a word about you or Ciar.”

Sorcha bit her bottom lip and turned her eyes to the ground sadly. Mrs. Clarke noticed the sudden change in the girl’s face and her own expression dropped. “Where is Ciar?”

“He…he was…” Sorcha squeaked.

“Sorcha, where is your brother?” the woman asked firmly, but kindly.

“He was kidnapped by the monster that burnt down our house,” Sorcha managed to say at last. She wiped her tears from her face once more, this time with more resolve in the action.

“Kidnapped?” the woman breathed.

Sorcha pulled away from Ms. Clarke’s grasp and then draped her hood over her face once again.

“The imp was probably smart enough to avoid reentering the woods here,” she assessed as she picked up her broom. “So, I’ll need to figure out where else he could have gone.”

Sorcha quickly mounted her ride and Ms. Clarke got to her feet once again to stand in the girl’s way.

“Sorcha, you need to stay here with me!”

“No can do,” she replied simply. “My brother needs me.”

With that, she rose into the air and zipped down the street again, leaving Ms. Clarke alone by the burnt out house calling after her.

As she gained altitude Sorcha glared back over the forest to the west. She had always wanted to become a sage so that imps and such creatures would never be able to hurt her. Now she would learn everything she could so that they’d never be able to hurt her or her brother again.

Characters and Story (C) SuperheroGeek13