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Chapter 1
My short hair flew in the wind behind me as I ran back to the hut as knew I was going to be late for supper again. My name is Candace, and I'm your average twelve year old girl - with two strange perks. I have light blue hair and I know magic. Yes, it might sound ridiculous, but that's how my life is and I actually really enjoy it. I acquired bright green eyes from my mother and I have natural curls that come down the front of my body, like the ripples in the sand. Although my face has more of a round-shape to it, it goes fairly well with the rest of my body and my hair style. My family is quite small; it's just my older sister, Maya, my mom and I. Maya has bright blue eyes like the color was taken from the ocean itself and she has straight, but beautiful brown hair. I opened the door to the hut, as it squeaked open, announcing my presence to my family.

"There you are, Candace! Where have you been?" Maya scolded at my face.

"You know where. Out practicing." I replied, rolling my eyes.

"Right. You were singing again, weren't you?" she smiled knowingly.

"Um.. no?" I smiled back at her as she ruffled my hair, laughing the sound of bell-chimes. (you can fix it back if you want)

"Well, your dinner is on the table. Mom and I already ate." She nodded as she went back to her room.

"Okay. Thanks!" I called to her now closed door, skipping to the dining table.

I picked up the spoon, sticking it into the mush that was supposedly my dinner. I can't say it looked too delicious, but I put the 'food' into my mouth, tasting all the herbs and berries that my mom put into it as she made it. I quickly devoured the plate in a matter of minutes, looking out the window to realize that the sun was just about to begin to set. I smiled, putting the plate into the sink and skipped to my bedroom window, shutting the door behind me. Dusk has got to be my favorite time of day. It's when the sun goes down into the distant mountains, making the sky turn all different shades of pink, orange and sometimes even purples. I saw my butterfly dance in the sun's rays, as she landed softly on the windowsill. I don't know why she's so attached to me, but she's always been around with me since I found her in the forest and I gave her the rightful name of Nevaeh, or Neva for short. It's a fairly simple name, but seemed very suiting. Neva was a small blue-crystal winged butterfly and with each flap she took silver dust fell off her wings, leaving little dust trails behind her.

The sun soon finished setting, as the days were slowly getting shorter from the quick approaching winter. I giggled as Neva landed on my nose as I stood up and she started flapping her dust onto my face. I softly lifted her off my nose as I cupped both my hands together, her fragile body sitting in it. I faintly blew on her wings as she flapped them repeatedly trying to get rid of the breeze and I burst out in a giggle fit. Mom opened the door to my room, leaning on the door frame with a kind smile on her face.

"Common sweetie. Put Neva down and hop into your bed." she spoke with her strong, yet compassionate voice.

"Okay mom!" I obeyed as I literally hoped into my bed, Neva now on her own custom-made bed of leaves. Mom chuckled as she came to tuck me in, kissing my forehead.

"Good night, my love." She whispered with care in her voice.

"Night mom." I mumbled back, blissfully happy.


x o x o x o

"Girls! Lets go!" Mom cried as I sprinted out of the house, grabbing as many things as I thought I'd need and putting them into my little knitted purse.

"Mom! What's going on?!" Maya cried back.

"It doesn't matter! Just run!" She yelled as she grabbed our hands, pulling us with her as we sprinted out of the village and now into the forest.

I turned my head around, looking past Neva to see that the village was burning behind us, dark red smoke clouds emitted into the sky as I could hear faint cries of the people - the villagers.

"Mom! What about everyone else? We can't just leave them!" I shouted, worried for all the friends that I had made from the few months of living there.

Maya, Mom and I had to move around constantly because villagers accused mom and even sometimes Maya and I, that we were witches and it would always end up that they would try to kill us in ways most of you couldn't imagine. But this village was different. Everyone here really accepted us and didn't judge us for what we looked like, even if we did sometimes look suspicious. I was even able to make friends with the girls whom lived near us for the first time.

"Don't worry about them, everyone will be fine!" Mom shouted back at me as I took another glace at the now distant village.

Was everyone going to be alright?

I looked forward once again concentrating on running. I was always better at dancing or skipping than I was at running. I jumped up as I heard loud thumping noises not far behind us, as mom shot her head around, her green eyes going wide. Maya and I simultaneously looked behind us, to only see three rather large men chasing after us. We both looked at each other, eyes just as wide as mom's.
We began to run faster as I suddenly tripped on a rock, causing my family to stop and shriek.

"Candace! Stand up!" Maya yelled as I picked myself up as quickly as I could - but it was too late.

The men were merely a few feet away as I was about to run away. One of the men picked me up, holding me captive in a strong arm-lock. I glanced around my family, seeing that they were all held captive too. I began to struggle to get out of this thug's arms, but he quickly tightened his grip and it felt like my bones were about to be crushed. I looked down at my purse to see that Neva flew into it, staying safe from the danger that lay in front of us. How lucky of her..

"LET THEM GO!" Mom yelled at the three men dressed in black cloths and cloaks just laughed at her, tightening their grip even more on the three of us.

"Bolly. Tim. Lets go." The thug that held mom captive commanded and they began walking back to... where ever they came from.

We walked in silence though the forest as it became darker and darker with each step, the guilt running heavily through my body. Maya tried to catch my glace, but I kept my head down, ashamed. Did I always have to trip? We finally came to a stop at a campground that seemed to be the base of where the three thugs came from. Everyone turned to look at us as if we were some sort of creatures from another planet. We were suddenly pushed into a tent, Maya tripping on the way in, but mom caught her and quickly balanced her back on her feet.

"I brought them, Sir." The thug who kept mom hostage stated, and the three of them left the area.

I heard a loud burst of laughter come from someone in front of us, and I shot my head to up to see a rather fat man sitting in a chair with an evil grin spread on his face.

"My! Ina! I see you've returned! And you brought little lambs with you!" He cried cheerfully in a way that made a shiver run down my spine.

"You will not touch my children." Mom spoke firmly as she pushed us behind her back.

"Oh? Won't I?" He threatened with a weird smile as he grabbed Maya out from mom's back causing Maya to flinch from the contact. He was about to walk away with Maya, but mom quickly recited one of her spells, a blast of strong air hitting the fat man's stomach throwing him to the ground. Before Maya could fall down with him, mom grabbed her back from his now weak grasp and she told us to run.

We ran out of the tent in a hurry, running past some people who were carrying large boxes inside the campground. "Supplies." I thought silently to myself and we sprinted past them in a rush. Just as we were about to run out of the exit, three other thugs caught us, dragging us back into the campground. This time though, in another direction than the tent where we were before. We came to a dead stop in front of another tent, one you would maybe keep a prisoner in and we were shoved inside, only to be met by the evil fat man again.

"Thought you could get away, hm?" he asked disapprovingly, yet with that evil grin still spread across his face. Mom glowered back at him, but refrained from saying anything else.

I looked around the tent and saw a man sitting in the furthest corner away from us, a dirty white cloak covering his head and body. He looked like he wanted to wish himself out of there, to a better place. The fat man walked over to the man in the corner of the tent, whispering something into his ear and glancing over at us every couple seconds. The lonely man's eyes suddenly widened, and then he showed a face of pity or guilt, though I couldn't really tell with the dim light of the tent. I watched as the fat man walk behind us, smiling sinfully as the lonely man slowly walked over to us. He then began to chant some words, but the only word I could pick up from his chant was "mythica."

"MAYA! CANDACE!" I heard mom scream our names, as my world suddenly turned black.