{ARIA'S POV}
Mira didn't make a sound. She couldn't.
She sat frozen beside me, her trembling hand still locked in mine, her mouth parted but silent, as if the scream had turned to stone in her throat.
I couldn't look away.
The captain of The Purifiers stood tall at the center of the clearing, his polished armor gleaming silver in the moonlight. His face was hard, carved from cruelty.
His blade glinted as he raised it over his head, and in that moment I knew.
This was the end.
My mother knelt in the dirt, blood dripping from a gash on her forehead, her dress torn and soaked in dirt. Her eyes found my father's one last time, and the softest whisper cracked from her lips.
"I love you."
And then the sword came down.
A wet sound split the air. I felt it in my bones. I gasped, slapping a hand over Mira's mouth to muffle the scream rising in her throat.
My own heart stopped. It broke and shattered into a million pieces.
Mama jerked violently as the blade drove through her chest. Her body sagged, crumpling forward into the dirt. Blood spread slowly, like a flower blooming in silence.
Her fingers twitched once, then went still.
I didn't blink. I couldn't even cry.
She was gone.
The commander stepped forward, wiping her blood from his blade onto her dress like she was nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
My father's strangled roar came next. His body shook against the chains binding him, his face bruised and bloodied, gagged so he couldn't scream her name. But his eyes...
Gods, his eyes were wild with agony.
"You bastards!" he tried to shout. "You monsters! She was only protecting us, she meant no harm!"
The captain grabbed him by the collar, yanked him to his knees beside Mama's body. "She was no threat?" he repeated, his voice laced with mockery. "She was a witch. That's all the threat we need."
"You're not warriors," Papa spat, his voice hoarse and broken. "You're cowards! Murderers! You kill the ones you fear!"
Without a word, the captain struck my father across the jaw with the hilt of his blade, sending him crumpling to the dirt.
"Mind your tongue," he sneered. "You lay with a witch, fathered her filth, and hid her from the King's law. There's no mercy left for traitors like you."
Two of the hunters grabbed my father and forced him upright. He didn't fight anymore. He just looked at Mama, at the blood on the ground, the stillness in her limbs.
I knew that look.
It was the look of a man who had nothing left to lose.
"If I die," he rasped, "then let it be beside her. She died with more courage than any of you will ever have."
The commander gave a cruel smile. "Then so be it."
He raised the sword again and the m villagers cheered.
I tried to shut my eyes but I couldn't. My heart was breaking all over again and I couldn't take it anymore.
"Papa…" Mira whimpered beside me, barely audible.
The blade came down.
Papa collapsed beside Mama, their blood mingling on the dirt, soaking into the earth. My whole body locked up. I didn't feel human anymore.
Just cold and hollow.
And that's when Mira screamed.
A raw, piercing wail. It tore through the forest like lightning, and every head turned toward us.
"There!" one of them shouted.
My body moved before my mind caught up. I grabbed Mira and ran.
We tore through the trees, branches clawing at our skin. My lungs burned as we ran down the dark forest, our bare feet hurting as we stepped on sharp rocks. The night was loud with shouts and pounding hooves.
My heart wanted to give out. I was tired and breathing heavily. It took everything in me not to give up. So I kept running but then I heard Mira scream.
"Mira!" I yelled, turning around to see that she stumbled and fell on a stone, wounding herself.
I ran to her and helped her up. "Come on," I said, looking back to see the torchlight getting closer, "We have to keep going."
I helped Mira as we continued to run but she was limping now and because of that, it slowed us down. My heart beat faster in my chest as the thought that we weren't going to make it, creeped into my mind.
"They're too fast!" Mira cried as she limped further.
"Just keep up Mira!" I screamed, yanking her forward.
But the torchlight cut us off.
Horses burst through the trees, surrounding us. We were cornered, trapped in a ring of fire and iron.
A man with a jagged scar down his cheek stepped forward. His grin was the thing nightmares were made of. "Look at this. Two little witches. What a lovely find."
Mira tried to run in another direction but he caught her by the wrist. She cried out, clawing at his hand but he just laughed.
"She's got fight," he said. "That'll make it more fun."
"No!" I screamed, only to be seized from behind. I hit the ground hard, my face scraping dirt, knees stinging. Two soldiers pinned me down, forcing my arms behind my back.
"Mira!" I shrieked, straining against the weight crushing me.
She screamed as the hunters gathered around her, yanked her cloak off and tore at her dress.
"Stop it! STOP!" I kicked, twisted and clawed at them . My fingernails bent backward, my wrists tore open against their grip.
"Please…" Mira begged. "Please don't…"
The scarred man grinned as he shoved her down. Her dress ripped at the seams, baring her shoulders to the moonlight.
Tears poured down her cheeks.
She reached for me but I couldn't reach back.
"NO! TAKE ME INSTEAD!" I cried out, tears running down my cheeks. "PLEASE! LEAVE HER ALONE!"
They didn't listen.
They never listen.
She screamed. One of them slapped her so hard her head whipped sideways. Blood smeared her lips.
They descended on her like animals.
I was forced to watch them take turns. They ripped away her dignity, her innocence, her life.
"MIRA!!!" I sobbed, my voice cracking into pieces. "HELP!! SOMEBODY, PLEASE HELP US!!"
But no one came.
I begged. I screamed. I swore to the gods. I wanted to die right there, just to make it stop.
But it didn't.
When they were done, she was shaking. Barely breathing. Her eyes stared up at the sky, glassy and distant.
The scarred man glanced at her and scoffed.
"She's no fun anymore," he muttered and in a swift movement, he unsheathed his sword and drove it through her chest.
In that very moment, my whole world stopped. Just like that, my entire family, the only people I've ever loved and trusted were…
Gone.
The scream that left me wasn't mine. It was something else. Something wild, animalistic… and broken. I screamed until my throat split, until my ears rang, until my soul shattered.
She was gone.
My baby sister. Gone.
They turned toward me, laughing.
"Now, it's your turn," one of them said.
And that was when everything… changed.
Something deep inside me broke loose. All the fear. The grief. The pain. It twisted into something darker.
Hotter.
Rage.
Not the kind you shout about.
The kind that boils your blood.
The air around me grew heavy. The ground trembled. My skin began to glow.
"What the hell?" one of them muttered.
The world erupted.
Fire exploded from my body, white-hot and wild, swallowing everything. I heard them scream. I saw them burn. The forest lit up like the gods themselves had descended in fury.
The heat didn't touch me. It only fed me.
When it was over, I stood in the ashes.
Chains melted.
Hands scorched.
Breath gone.
And at my feet laid Mira's body. Bare. Broken. Burned.
I dropped to my knees and pulled her into my arms. Her skin was cold. Her eyes empty. My tears wouldn't stop.
"I'm sorry," I choked out. "I'm so, so sorry."
I rocked her, even as the ashes fell around us like snow. I held her like she might wake up.
But she didn't.
And I knew she never would.
My voice was gone, my body felt empty.
I failed my mother. I broke the promise I made to her.
I failed to protect Mira.
And as I sat there, cradling my sister's lifeless body, all I could do was say
"Sorry…" I cried. "I'm so, so sorry."