Echoes of a Broken Crown

Asteria has been living in shadows until that one fateful day that will inevitably change her life forever.

A flash of lightning illuminates through the dark sky. A clap of thunder reverberates through her body, the harsh wind billowing her hair, and heavy raindrops obscuring her vision. The surface of accumulated water ripples as each drop reaches the surface of the earth.

This can't be happening.

How did the king found her?

Had he found the others as well?

Never did she remember sprinting for miles in her entire life. The adrenaline in her body works on its way through her senses. She looks back. Her feet unable to stop. Desperate for her prayer to be answered, she almost rejoiced as the silhouette of the man pursuing her disappeared.

A feint.

Witches like her knew better that the devil is not an easy one to be outrun. Devils know how to lure their prey. She can't lose her guard. No, she won't let herself, not until she could finally make sure to get through this until dawn. If it weren't for her knowledge of the landscape of the woods, her blood would have pooled underneath the king's shoes by now, watching her insignificant body slowly being leached out of color and life.

With every step of her foot, the fatigue made her body significantly heavier that she had to drag herself up with sheer willpower. However, she already reached her limit. She could not hold herself up for any longer. Asteria came to a halt when she found a huge oak tree. The place where she used to spend most her time with. Asteria hides herself with it.

Funny how serene her life is spending her mornings and afternoons in the very same tree. And now at the same spot, she is hiding and cowering with fear, seeking for a temporary solace from her nightmare. She catches her breath, calming the erratic beat of her heart. This time, she gives herself to think numerous thoughts that have been trying to resurface in her mind relentlessly.

Unlike other witches, she was born without powers, only with a peculiar blood she innately had. If she had been blessed to have one other than her quirk, she would have used it well against the king. However, she wasn't born and trained to fight, but only to hide as what fate demanded.

Witches are born to hide their identity and never to show entrails of their body that could provoke the king towards finding everyone of them.

But what had gone wrong? Had the king caught someone of their own and coerced to tell him their locations?

Asteria closes her eyes for the thought itself is maddening. She could not help herself but feel betrayed. On the other hand, she couldn't blame if that person did. The witch must have been in distress in finding her own survival just like she is.

But, knowing the king, even if the witch had spoken out the truth with her life at stake, there would be no guarantee that the king would leave her unscathed. It's a mistake she had overlooked, and that single mistake will lead them to their own demise. To their annihilation.

If she were to speculate if truly one or a few of them spoken out of, it wouldn't just be their location she had confessed, but the secret that witches had sworn to protect until death. Her heart starts beating in an unnatural speed as terror creeps in just by knowing that the king may have known their secret all this time.

It is true indeed that she has no powers and can easily be beaten to death with just by a mere flick of magic, but her blood is the very reason that the witches had been able to hide themselves for years, and had learn to blend in with the mages as disguise. This way, they were able to live in a discreet way that they had fully accepted, in exchange of their survival.

Being in the currrent dire situation she is in right now, hiding from the king, the possibility that he knew their secret is highly probable. That's why he's after her.

The cold breeze of air grazing her skin painfully that she could not help but shudder. It only sinked in to her that her body was just barely covered with her undergarments. She hugged herself hoping that her freezing body would cease from shaking too violently.

Her Aunt.

The sudden burst of fear transcended, knowing that her aunt might have been caught too. Her eyes glistened at the thought of her aunt's life been put up in danger or worse, had already been killed. Overwhelmed with the whole ordeal, a tear started to form through her eyes. Asteria felt frustrated and disappointed to herself.

If only she had obeyed her aunt's warnings that had always shrugged off, fate might have been kinder to her than it ever was.