Seraphina's POV
I tried to gather myself, the whispers were louder now. Murmurs of fear and suspicion surrounded me, their words like knives slicing through the haze of my barely-conscious mind.
I tried to sit up, but my limbs felt like lead. My body ached, my head throbbed, and the mark on my arm pulsed like a second heartbeat. I was lying on a rough, cold surfacestone, maybe. The air was thick with the scent of dampness and something else… something acrid, like smoldering embers.
Slowly, I forced my eyes open.
The people surrounding me were not servants, nor were they mere bystanders.
I was in the dungeons.
Fear coiled in my stomach like a living thing.
"She carries the mark," a voice said from the far end of the room. I didn't recognize the speaker, but he dressed like those High Priests from the movies. His cold, dark eyes swept over me. "The priestess confirmed it."
The mark. My fingers curled against my forearm.
A heavy silence followed before another voice sounded.
"She is a witch."
"No," the priest whispered, almost as if in warning. "She is worse. She is… something else."
"Then what do you propose we do?" a guard asked, his voice brittle. "If she is truly cursed, we cannot let her stay here. If she is a danger, we must act before it is too late."
They were talking about my fate as if I weren't even there. Where was Lorien? Did he know about this?
I forced myself to sit up, ignoring the dizziness that followed. My voice was hoarse, but I pushed through it.
"I am not a witch."
"You sought forbidden knowledge," the priest sneered. "You carry a mark tied to dark magic. And those men…?" He paused, as if the very thought unsettled him. "They were terrified of you. Something made them run."
"I didn't do anything to them."
The High Priest stepped forward. "Then tell me, child… what did?"
I opened my mouth but hesitated. What could I say? That I didn't know? That I had no control? That I had been cursed since the moment I was born? Or that I wasn't who they thought I was?
It didn't matter. They had already decided.
"Burn the witch."
The words came from a guard.
"She is dangerous."
"She must be cleansed."
"The flames will rid her of the darkness."
Panic shot through me. My breath hitched as the guards moved forward, their hands tightening around their weapons.
No. No, no, no.
I scrambled to my feet, but my body was still weak. My limbs trembled, my breath came in ragged gasps. I couldn't let them take me—I couldn't let them burn me alive.
A sharp pain flared in my chest, like something inside me was waking up.
Then—
"Does your alpha know about this?" I shouted.
"He doesn't have to know." The priest muttered.
The torches flared.
The flames surged, stretching unnaturally, twisting like living creatures. A gust of wind howled through the chamber, sending embers flying. The heat rose so fast, so intensely, that the nearest guards stumbled back, shielding their faces.
Screams rang through the dungeon.
My pulse thundered in my ears. I wasn't doing this… I didn't know how. But the fire, the power, it was responding to me.
The mark on my arm burned, and then I heard a voice.
Awaken.
The heat vanished.
The torches snuffed out all at once, plunging the room into darkness. A thick silence followed, broken only by the terrified gasps of those around me.
"How dare you take her without my permission?" I heard Lorien's voice.
I turned to see who it was, my breathing was uneven.
"I… I…" the High Priest seemed momentarily speechless.
"You disrespected me and you must be punished." The guards took him away leaving me alone with Lorien.
I never wanted this kind of a life, I only wanted freedom and now? I wasn't sure I'd ever have it.