Young Writers Society

Frostvale, 1120 of The Year of Light.

Matthew slowly awoke from his slumber; upon awaking he found himself in a cabin. Matthew tried to move but he failed, he realized that he was restrained by tightly knotted ropes while sitting on the cold wooden floor. Abruptly the stench of rotten wood invaded his nostrils making him almost throw up. Where...am I; Matthew thought. Abruptly the door in Infront of him banged open. Two guards wearing blue cloths had barged in. Then one of them shouted:

"He is awake, call the Elder!" His shout was followed by footsteps of what Matthew guessed to be of the panicked townspeople, and Yellings. It was hard for Matthew to decipher what was happening, everything seemed blurry and groggy to him. The noises slowly calmed down and everyone shushed. Matthew then looked at the door to find the frail Elder standing outside.

"You unholy spawn of demon...you shall be punished for what you have done" The Elder said. Anger and confusion wailed up in Matthew's heart, he said:

"What have I done, just because i have different eye color than you people, you are treating me like a demon!" Matthew shouted at them. large bulging veins were apparent in the Elders face.

"How dare you say that your shameless demon, before your birth Most of us made out alive during the winter, but after your red-eyed...witch mother gave birth to you. Half of the people of the town died! Even my daughter my sweet daughter, died." The Elder shouted. His eyes were mad with anger and his veins looked as if they were going to pop out.

More anger started to build up inside of Matthew How dare they call my mother a Witch, just because my mother had red eyes they called her a witch; Matthew thought. Before Matthew could ponder more the Elder yelled out.

"You will be punished when the darkness harmonizes with the light, you foul demon’"The Elder said, he then accompanied that out by spitting on the floor, and a closed door.

Matthew was able to hear people outside shouting and yelling at him through the woods. After several minutes it had come down. Britting his teeth Matthew sat on the cold floor, the hearth was not lit. Which in turn made the whole room cold. He could feel his heart burning from rage, his stomach was hurting, and he really wanted to punch the Elder for saying such a heinous thing about his mother.

________

Matthew sat on the floor for who knows how long, he tried to sleep, but hunger was gnawing at him. Then finally when sleep was coming to him, he heard yelling and footsteps outside. The wooden door barged opened again, this time there were three guards instead of two, as soon as they saw Matthew awake, they picked him up and restrained his already immobile leg. All of the townspeople were making way for them, all of their faces painted with hatred and terror.

Matthew looked in the direction they were taking him, it was toward the flat rock where the Elder gave his speech. Matthew noticed the wooden pole in the middle then it hit him They are going to witch burn me; Matthew thought. Matthew was very familiar with this ritual; he once saw his father showing him a demonstration on how to burn a witch properly. When he was little, he thought that it was flamboyant, now it didn't seem so flamboyant.

The guards tied his hands, legs and his stomach to the pole. The ropes were so tight that Matthew felt like the ropes were digging into his skin.

Matthew noticed everyone surrounding him silently. Then he saw the Elder approaching him. He stood Infront of Matthew and said:

“The time has come for the punishment of you, you senile demon, today we will be free from your curse's” The Elder said. Matthew then heard rustling metal chains and horse hooves smacking on the snowy ground. He looked to his right to find a envoy. Why is there an envoy of the Holy Order here; Matthew thought. The envoys of the Holy Order or the Light Gurds, never get themselves in trouble with the people unless its order from the Holy Order or from the Light himself. Before Matthew could ponder any further the envoy yelled out:

“What is happening here Elder...you were ordered to send more people not to carry out a witch burn” The envoy said. He wore metal armor from head to toe, even his horse resembled him. Matthew stared at the left of his chest where the Magnus family symbol lay, it was a gorgeous symbol. The Magnus family symbol was composed of a crown decorated with four big rubies representing the four founding Nobel families then followed by 8 blue stones which represented the rest of the High Nobels. In the middle of the crown there was a huge beaming light which represented the King wearing the crown making him the Light.

The Elder upon noticing the envoy, respectfully said:

“Sir, this is necessary, if the demon is not delt with more people will die”

The envoy looked toward Matthew. Matthew felt as if he could see behind his metal helmet, he could see that annoying stare that everyone gave him.

“Well then finish it quickly” The envoy replied with a groan.

“As you order” The Elder replayed back.

The Elder reached out his hand. One of the guards brought in a burning stick. The Elder slowly came closer to Matthew. With each step Matthew felt the heat increasing as the flame got closer to him, he felt himself getting angrier and scared.

The burning torch was now Infront of him, burning brightly. Fear came into Matthew I dont want to die; Matthew thought, the flame was so close that he felt his eyes melt. Abruptly everything stopped frozen in place. Matthew averted his eyes downward at the shadow next to the Elder; he felt connected to it. Matthew reached out to it in desperation, and he grabbed it. He imagined a knife and the shadow turned to a knife; with a swift motion, the knife penetrated the side of the Elder.

Everything started to move again, everyone watched as the Elder collapsed on the floor bleeding out from his guts. Everyone went into a panic, people started to scream and run.

“The DEMON HE WILL KILL US ALL” the crowd started to yell in terror. People fluttered like clueless birds.

Matthew in that moment felt a strange sense of glee and peace, he was feeling the same feeling a farmer would after a bountiful harvest. He felt satisfied. A slow uncontrollable smile broke into his face. Matthew then tried to use the same power again. He tried to bring that feeling out again, but he couldn't feel it.

Abruptly, Matthew fell unconscious.