I made it from the loreium to the south gate of Don Vivin so quickly that I hardly remembered the run.

The four gate guards had formed a line when they took note of my rapid approach. One with a golden stole, their commanding officer, shouted out to me. “Halt! You must present your card before you pass!”

“No time.” I growled. My card was in the inside pocket of my coat, hanging on the hook in Patience’s kitchen. Breaking Don Viven’s cardinal rule and disobeying the guards would cost me, but I would take it with my head held high if it meant I reached him in time.

The snow on the road had fallen that morning and had not been hard packed by boots and horses yet. I let my aura flow down into my feet and threw myself into a sideways skid, kicking up the loose white powder. When my sole touched the cold ground, I channeled my power and pushed it out of myself in a burst that ran the width of the road.

Tinted red like candy apples, my power sent every bit of red snow up and towards the guards in a sudden wave. They tried to shield themselves, but no mortal man could hope to stand against the force of nature that a sorceress could be if her heart was set on something.

Channeling what I had built in my back foot, I kicked off the ground and landed on the other side of the gate. A small mountain of snow flecked with red dust and a clean patch of road was all that was left in my wake.

If only I could fly like The Mother in Yellow, I would speed towards the inn and snatch what was mine from the ground like an eagle would a rabbit.

The inn lay around a bend several miles from the city, it would take me entirely too long to follow the road. With my aura worn around my feet to protect them, I broke through the wood line at an angle. The forests outside Don Vivin were not traveled often. Savage bandits and thieving beasts roamed them in the hopes of finding some young scholar to rob or eat. Where they were while I was breaking through the drifts of snow, I did not know. Maybe they could feel the danger that would befall them if they slowed me.

A fallen tree, laying at an arc on the other side of two standing trunks I slipped through, was concealed completely within the soft white powder. I did not realize this until my knee rammed into it and my momentum slammed my face into the ground.

Blood, from my busted lip and my knee, stained the white ground. When I managed to push myself up to my feet, I slipped in one of the slick red spots underneath me.

“I’m coming,” I grunted, spitting the blood that had welled in the crease of my lips away. “She’s probably charmed you.”

Yes, that must have been it. All the terrible things the man I loved had said to me the night before, all the things that I would kill to forget, that had not been true. The Mother in Red was powerful beyond belief. She had charmed my love against me and towards her because I had something precious that she wanted. I pushed myself forward, unable to rechannel my aura back around my feet. The pain and the loss from the working I had buried the guards with were too much. It would take more time than I had to regain my strength.

Later, I limped out of the snowy forest and laid my eyes on the inn. Farther up the road than I was, within spitting distance of the place I knew she was, I could see Patience walking with his absurdly large pack on his back.

“Hey!” I yelled and ran after him, ignoring the growing pain in my knee.

The man I loved did not turn around, but the sight of him alone was enough to bring my power back to me.

“Patience!” I yelled, kicking a flash of my power out from my uninjured leg and sending it streaking by him so he would know it was me calling after him.

He probably thinks I’m a bandit or one of the whisperers. Of course he didn’t turn around.

Patience did turn around. He turned around at the worst possible moment and my power hit him in his side. He dropped to the ground instantly and a plume of disturbed snow and red dust went up around him.

I dropped to the ground beside him so quickly, it almost felt like the space between us had never existed.

“Oh no, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to-”

“I’m okay, I know you did not mean to,” Patience groaned as he shrugged out of his pack and rolled onto his back. He looked up at me and his eyes were immediately filled with worry. “What happened to you?”

A drop of blood rolled off my lip and splattered against his cheek.

“I’ve come to save you. I know you would never leave me. She must have charmed you or is black mailing you. Fuck, I don’t care how strong she is, I’m going to save you.”

“Suri. . .” Patience trailed off. He cast his eyes away from me but made no move to wipe my blood away.

“This is unfortunate. I am sorry, child.” A new voice said.

I knew the voice.

She had arrived.

When facing an enemy you know to be stronger than you, swift and overwhelming violence can balance the scales. I had learned that at the school of The Mother in Red on my first day in Erosette. She had taught me that lesson herself.

I thought it fitting that I would use her own words against her.

“Suri, don’t, please.” Patience begged, holding on to my arms as if his life depended on it.

I leaned down and kissed him on his forehead. “Don’t worry. Her charm will dissipate once I am done with her and you will be free of her influence.”

Patience gripped me tighter. He was a scholar, but years of climbing ladders and hauling books around had left him plenty strong. I could not pull my arms from his grasp without hurting him.

I brought all of my power to my feet and streamed it through my soles in violent streams. Using his hold as a pivot point, the force of my aura spun my legs upwards and I twisted into a wild kick.

It would not be enough to kill her, but if I could wrap my legs around her throat, it would go a long way towards it.

Something caught my ankle and stopped my momentum dead. Patience’s strength was forceful enough to keep my arms in place. The strength that caught my attack was a force of nature.

I was pulled up from the ground as my working fell down onto Patience in a flurry of red dust. At first, all I could see was her fur lined boots and the hem of her long red dress. She lifted me with one arm and turned me with the other. When she placed me on my feet, she held me by my shoulders between her hands and forced me to look at her.

“I am sorry, child. I wish that this was easier for you.” The Mother in Red said to me with sadness in her voice. Her clear blue eyes were brimming with tears. I had known her for so long, I knew she was not acting. I knew that she actually felt bad for me.

I narrowed my eyes and spit the blood from lips onto her face. “Fuck you.”

The Mother in Red did not so much as flinch. Her tears rolled down her cheeks, streaking the crimson splatter I had painted her with, and she sighed. “I am sorry, child. Rest now.”

Everything got blurry all at once. My head dropped to one side and I tried to fight off the sleep she was undoubtedly charming me with.

“No,” I muttered, only being able to force my eyes to flicker open for a moment at a time. “Patience, no.”

I remember the first time I had seen The Mother in Red, when she had asked me to come and study under her in Erosette.

If I had known. . .it would lead. . . to this. . .

Her charm was too strong, I looked into her eyes one last time and I felt myself fall.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

When I opened my eyes again, a pale blue star circled in the night sky high above me.

I lay on my back on mossy ground that was soft and cool to the touch. A man slept next to me. He had dark hair, almond shaped eyes, and was possibly the largest person I had ever seen. All around us were tall walls of overgrown leaves and vines. There was a stone bench not very far away that lay behind a pink marble statue.

I had seen it’s kind before, it was a statue of her.

“A dream then,” I said to myself as I climbed to my feet. “A memory. She has brought me back to Erosette.”

It made sense. She had kept me charmed and asleep all the way from Don Vivin. I had learned much about her in my time as one of her apprentices. I knew her name. I knew the names of all of her lovers. She knew that she had made an enemy out of me and that I was dangerous to her.

The pale blue star above me began to descend.

“Some kind of overseer?” I said, not intended to stay and find out. I did not know how I had broken her sleep charm, but I would not waste the opportunity.

I had awoken at the back of some kind of garden maze. When I was free of it, I entered the back door of the manor I had found in front of me. The inside was dark and there was no sign or sound of anyone. No guards, no sorceresses, no black haired brat to stop me.

“Arrogant.” I said under my breath as I crept towards the double doors at the front of the manor. She had been so convinced of the strength of her charm that she had not thought it necessary to station anyone in case I woke up.

I stepped out of the manor and laid my eyes on Erosette. Patience was there, probably still completely unaware that he had been charmed.

She was down there, and I would kill her to save the man I loved.

Patience would laugh about it eventually. Me, slaying the wicked sorceress to save him, the damsel in distress. After the thousands of books he had read, I bet he never thought he would be a part of a story so compelling.

“Little Aubrey?” A man’s gruff voice pulled me out of my pleasant thoughts.

Two city guards, each wearing one of her auraments at their hips, stared at me from where they stood around a campfire.

One had a sharp nose and looked so high strung that a slight breeze would be enough to set him off.

The other, the one that had spoken to me, wore a big dark beard and had kind eyes.

“Let me pass. I have no quarrel with you.” I told them, reaching for my aura. The big one with the beard would go down easy if I hit his legs. I couldn’t quite get a read on the other.

“We can’t do that, why don’t you go inside. Lady Aubrey wouldn’t want you to be out this late.” The bearded guard said, his voice low and quiet.

“Stop it, Woolie. She is not herself. Look at her posture. When have you ever seen her stand like she knew how to fight? It is as it was when she fought Bool and Schmit,” The sharp nose guard said to his partner as he stepped out into the road and squared himself off with me. “Prepare yourself.”

“Where is her cat? This is his job. I don’t want to hurt her.” The bearded guard said, taking up beside his partner.

I had given them a chance to let me go peacefully.

They had not taken it.

Fools.

With no warning, I shot towards the bearded guard and tried to push my power to my feet.

It wasn’t there.

All that was inside me was a pitiful glimmer of colorless aura that I couldn’t so much as charm myself with. Without being able to perform my working, my sudden attack failed.

What has she done to me? Is this what it feels like to be hollow?

“Here we go,” The bearded guard grunted. He locked his hands together around my arms and chest and held me off the ground like I weighed no more than a feather. “I’ve got you, little Aubrey.”

I did not struggle against his hold, my opportunity for escape would come soon enough.

“Let’s take her inside. I’ll go find Ugi. Maybe he will know where the cat is.” The sharp nosed guard said to his partner as he walked up to where I was being held.

Yes. One step closer.

He took it.

I brought my knees up to my chest and kicked my feet back against the guard that was restraining me. Just like when Patience had been clutching my arms in his charmed confusion, the guard's hold acted as a pivot point. I used the momentum of my kick and drove my heel up into the other guard's sharp nose.

“Ah! Damn it!” He screamed and stumbled backwards, covering his face with his hands.

I relaxed my shoulders and slipped down in the bearded guard's grip far enough that I could curl my back and throw my legs around the back of his head. Top heavy as I had thought he would be, the shift in my weight made him lose his balance and he fell onto his back.

I needed to get to Patience more than they needed to stop me.

By the time either of them recovered enough to yell at me, I had run far away from them down the road that would lead me to Erosette.

They would pursue me, I had no doubt, but I had always been quick and I was not wearing armor.

There had been no sign of them by the time I rounded a corner and saw two more guards standing on my side of the bridge. For a brief moment, I thought about ducking into the ocean of roses to my right. I could muss my hair, stumble out of them, and scream in distress about a demon or some other trouble. As the good natured men of honor they were bound to be, they would come to help me and I could push them into the river before they ever knew what happened.

All that would take time, time I was not willing to waste.

My only option without my aura was to fight or flee. I hoped my speed would be enough to confuse them.

“Autumn!” Someone shouted from behind me.

At the sound of the shout, the guards snapped their heads up the hill towards me and drew the aura laden swords hanging off their hips. Both of them stepped inward, directly blocking my way onto the bridge.

“Autumn!” The shout came again.

Autumn never came to Erosette. There was only a never ending summer that would lull you into obedience if you stayed too long.

“Little Aubrey! Slow down!” The guard on the right called out to me. He was the younger of the two and looked much weaker than the man next to him.

It was almost too easy, the younger guard didn’t so much as raise his sword to defend himself.

I threw myself into a slide and drove the sole of the boot I was wearing into his ankle, throwing his foot out from under him.

I pulled at the sword belt around his hips and tipped him head first into the dirt.

Without letting a second pass, I threw a savage uppercut into the crotch of the older guard as I rolled onto my knees.

The bones in my hand crunched and broke.

White pain flashed in my eyes.

“Fuck!” I screamed.

“I’m sorry, little Aubrey. I do not believe in making the same mistakes twice.” The older guard said, looking down at me and placing a hand on my shoulder.

I slapped his hand away and through my shoulder into his thigh. Driving forward until I tipped up onto my toes, I stood and pulled his boot off the ground. The man had not made any move to defend himself and I had all the leverage. All it took was two staggering steps forward for me to push him backwards off his free foot. He fell and began to slide down the slope of the river bank, struggling all the way.

I turned and ran, knowing that once I got into the city, none of the guards would ever be able to find me.

Before I made it halfway across the cobblestone bridge, something slammed into my back and knocked me to the ground.

“Hey, you’re not you right now, but I’m gonna help you get back okay?”

The dark haired man who had been sleeping next to me in the garden rolled me onto my back and tried to pin my arms underneath his knees.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I struggled against him, flailing my arms wildly to avoid his attempt to restrain me.

“Your name is Autumn Aubrey. Uhm, you like milk. You're a sore loser,” I slipped my hand through his grip and clawed my nails into his forearm before he managed to grab it again. “Damn it! I should have paid more attention. Uhm, I’m pretty sure you are in love with my sister. Her name is Anna, do you remember Anna?”

“My name is Suri and I will end your life if you do not release me!” I yelled. The dark haired man was strong, strong in the way she had been when she had lifted me off the ground. I could not resist him for much longer and without my aura, I would be caught.

The four bloody gashes my nails had dug in his arm began to glow with pale blue light. Slowly, the blood ceased to flow and his skin began to close.

I ceased my struggling and opened my eyes wide in shock. “What. . .what are you?”

“I am Arthur, your friend. You’ve seen my guts. We held hands-”

He had relaxed when I stopped struggling.

Fool.

I did not wish to kill him. Despite the nonsense coming out of his mouth, I did not know the man.

I did not wish to kill him, but I had to save Patience.

As quickly as I could, I slipped my arms from under his knees and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. I jerked him down and sunk my teeth into his throat, ripping back and tearing at his veins.

His eyes went wide and warm blood ran into my mouth and splattered down onto my face. When his hands went to his wound and his weight shifted backwards, I bucked my hips and pushed myself out from under him.

I climbed to my feet panting. My whole body was weak, too weak. I had trained for years to be able to fight, run, and use my aura for hours on end. How was it that I felt like I was going to collapse?

Thunder boomed in the dark sky above.

It never rains in Erosette. I thought, whipping some of the blood from my face with my unbroken hand.

It truly was a story out of one of Patience’s books.

I turned to cross the rest of the bridge.

Bright yellow lightning arced down from the cloudless sky and struck the bridge in an explosion of broken stone crackling energy.

“Mother fucker, what is it now?” I yelled, shielding my eyes from the blinding light.

When it ended and the following thunder shook the bridge underneath my feet, a demon stood before me.

As tall as my knees, some sort of blue furred feline arched its back and stared at me with haunting blue eyes. Yellow streaks of lighting ran around its body in frenetic loops and white fangs peaked out of its closed mouth like small sabers.

When it spoke, I felt its subterranean voice in my chest like the thunder from above.

“What is your name?”