Magicka

Most of my life I have lived in secret, I have watched the non magick folk kill my kind because of our power, they fear us as we now fear them. So in fear I have kept everything hidden about my magick abilities. For the most part I did live a fairly normal life. My husband stood tall at 6ft 7inches, thick dark hair that always seemed to never be tamed, his dark beard helped his shamrock eyes pop out, his smile was always warm and his embrace always felt like home. My eyes on the other hand were not as stunning as his mine were an olive green, my hair just a little past my shoulders was slightly wavy and a gingerbread brown, and I stood at just 5 feet. My name is Ruby after my birth stone, my husband is Demetre, and our eight month old is Topaz, she has most of her fathers features including that heart warming smile.

Our house was cozy, it was a little cottage just barely outside of town, I baked and owned a stand in the town square selling my baked goods, my husband fixed the houses of the residents in the area. It was a satisfying life just the three of us.

At least it was until the day came that the townspeople found out who we were…

I laid there peacefully in Demetre’s arms, I inhaled his musky scent, I could hear his heartbeat, I couldn’t sleep so I quietly tiptoed to Topaz’s crib, I watched her sleep peacefully, she looked like an angel. Walking back to bed I noticed something from the corner of my eye, a flicker of red. I ran to my bed and began shaking Demetre, I felt my heart racing.

“Demetre. Demetre!”

His sleepy eyes opened and looked at me in confusion, but he sat up, I began yanking at his arm trying to run.

“We need to run NOW Demetre!”

He looked out the window and his eyes widened.

“Go grab Topaz!”

I ran and tried to grab Topaz as best as I could without startling her, she looked at me and then nestled into my chest.

“I got her, let's go!”

Demetre wrote some symbols and began to cast the bubble of protection spell, but the townspeople began to kick the door down, Demetre quickly finished the spell but not before someone grabbed him, he tried shaking them off, I used my free hand to try to slap him off, but more people kept coming. Demetre looked at me saddened and pushed Topaz and I into the bubble.

“Demetre, get in here!!” I pounded on the bubbles walls.

“With this spell I cast protection and now I cast the will for it to take flight!” Demetre yelled as the bubble began to lift up and out of the cottage.

“DEMETRE!!!! NO!!” tears poured down my face, as I watched my husband be taken away and my cottage burn to the ground. I felt my heart breaking piece by piece. I held Topaz close as we rose to the sky and made our way to safety.

By the time we made it to safety the sun was beginning to rise, I wiped my tears away as the bubble made its descent into the community. It was an entire city with a wall built around it in dedication to keeping magick folk safe, the bubble set us down in the middle of town where we were welcomed by the chief of magick.

“You must have had quite the journey! Where is your husband?” I looked down at my feet and choked back a tear.

“He won’t be joining us, the non-magick folk got him.” My voice trembled.

There was silence for a moment.

“I’m sorry to hear that my condolences, we will do everything to keep you safe here. If you don’t mind following me, we can take you to your new house.” We walked down the street in awkward silence. “I wanted to ask if you could work for me, we are developing a team to work on spells to help protect the city.”

I took a deep breath and thought for a moment, “I’d like that.” The chief nodded, and we continued to walk, I got a chance to just take a moment to think of Demetre and how he would have loved all these shops, there were shops for swords and daggers to ale horns and anything else you could want.

………..

“Look at these! I’m going to buy this one for my collection!” Demetre’s shamrock eyes were sparked with excitement as he reached down to a small little dagger, “look at this symbol it’s got a seal that keeps it from breaking!” I rolled my eyes as he gawked over another dagger, I rubbed my belly and felt a sharp kick, I winced slightly in pain, “are you ok?” Demetre quickly came over and felt my stomach and reached his other arm around the small of my back, “feels like it’s almost time”.

“I don’t know if I’m ready though!” I winced again in pain.

“Doesn’t matter if you’re ready it’s if she’s ready”

“I’m scared though, she’s safer inside.”

“She’ll be safe in your arms too.”

“What if I don’t know how to be a good mom?”

“You will.” Demetre cupped my face and kissed me.

…………..

“Here we are, your new home” we approached a small house, “if you need anything let me know, and can you start tomorrow?”

“Yes I can.”

“Great, see you tomorrow!” The chief of magick walked away, I opened the door to the house and stepped inside, it felt empty, it had furniture and everything we needed, but it just felt empty without Demetre here, I pictured him entering the house with us and laughing about how we can actually be ourselves now, smiling as he opened the pantry and sat down with something to eat, he would have marveled at the new house and cracked a few jokes. I sat down in a chair and let Topaz crawl around, I put my hands over my face and just cried. I don’t know if I will ever see him again, or if he is even alive, and him not being here hurts so much.

I ran my hands through my hair and stood up, “Topaz?” I heard her babble, I walked towards it into the next room, that looked just like our old bedroom, our bed and the crib looked exactly like the one Demetre built for her.

Topaz lifted herself up and stood at the crib “dad, dad, dada!” Another tear escaped down my cheek. I picked up my girl and held her close.

…………..

Weeks passed and I’ve been working on seal after seal to protect the city walls, each morning I make breakfast for Topaz and we walk over to the magick department, I work on each seal to protect and keep the wall stable and Topaz crawls around my workspace. Then we go on lunch at one of the nearby dinners, then we finish up on our seals and go home.

I haven’t really socialized with the other magick folks yet, I just keep to myself, Demetre was always the social one, I’m friendly but I don’t really make friends, I focus on my family more.

We walked into our house, I let dinner cook as I picked up the shawl I have been knitting, it’s knit with a magickal wool that will protect those wrapped in it. Topaz lifted herself up to watch me finish the last stitches of the shawl, I draped it around her and watched her roll herself into, I stood up and went to stir the soup. “Mom, Mom, MOMMY!” I turned to find she had got herself stuck in the shawl, she frowned and grunted, I helped her out and sat down with our soup.

………..

I finished up another seal and stretched out, three months have gone by I have no idea what has become of Demetre I just have our memories, I leaned back in my chair and looked out the window, it was a calm day the sky seemed more beautiful today than yesterday, there was no clouds and blue jays flew around, I watched a couple leaves blow around from the breeze, the smell of the refreshing air reminded me of a time before.

………..

We laid in the grass, my hair was longer then, I hadn’t cut it yet. Demetre laid beside me in the grass, we were looking up at the sky and conjuring small spells, I was casting flower spells to make them grow as he cast light spells, sparks of light danced in the sky as different kinds of flowers surrounded us, I turned on my side and looked at him, I enjoyed studying his features.

Demetre looked over and sat up slightly as he moved my hair out of my face, he cupped one cheek and kissed me, I felt the breeze against my face as I closed my eyes for another kiss, it never came so I opened them and looked to see Demetre holding a ring inside a flower, “I knew the moment I saw you that I loved you, will you marry me?”

I felt my heart flutter and tears streamed down my face “Of course!” We hugged and spent the rest of the day on that hill talking about our future.

……………..

I opened my eyes back up to hear sirens going, my heart dropped as I looked back out the window in terror to see planes in the sky and bombs dropping down on our newly beloved city, I grabbed Topaz as a bomb fell towards us, I pressed Topaz against my chest and had my back facing the window as I wrapped the shawl around us, I muttered a protection spell. Topaz looked up at me from inside the shawl, her worried eyes broke my heart, it broke my heart the life she has to live, I felt the heat from the bomb against my back it was an excruciating pain as if every molecule in my body had been lit on fire, it only lasted a second as the protection spell and shawl kept us from getting hurt, Topaz didn’t feel a thing luckily as I had her against my chest. We cowered there as the sounds of bombs and sirens filled our ears, it felt like an eternity.