Viridescent Shadows
By Daring D.D. Danger
I: The Virescent Catalyst
April 11th, 1645
"Look out, girls!" I pulled Mirabel aside as a few men rode by on horses.
"Sorry, sirs!" I yelled back. I turned her to face me. "Mirabel, you need to be more aware."
"How aware do you expect me to be, Christabella? I can barely hear." I guess I couldn't blame her. We continued down the path to our homes. We passed the bell tower, with the watchman on high alert. Everyone had been on edge since the trolls pushed through the wall last week. It was going to take a while to fix the wall. After all, Trolberg only had about 200 people. As we passed the church, Mirabel turned me to face her again.
"Are we still doing that thing tonight?" She asked.
"Are you sure you want to go into the Huldrawood? That's outside the walls."
"The walls aren't even working right now. They're full of holes."
"Fine, let's go." I begrudgingly said. Mirabel had heard a rumor about girls doing witchcraft around a green fire at night there. "Let's just try not to go too crazy with the witch thing. You know what's been happening in England."
"There's, like, 200 people here, Christabella. There won't be a mass panic. Besides, what if we find witches? The church says we have to turn them over."
"I feel like that stupid church has this town in a choke hold. They showed up, started teaching people about God, and before you know it, our own God's statue was rubble. They almost canceled the Raven Festival last year."
"Now, that kind of talk will get you in trouble." she laughed at me. "We've got to have fun before we get married. My mom tells me she's already picked a perfect husband!"
"Isn't it weird that we don't get to pick?"
"It seems normal to me."
"What if we could just choose who we marry? Or even, what if you and I could just not get married, and keep causing mischief forever?"
"Wouldn't it be weird for two girls to just spend their lives together though?" Mirabel had a more serious look on her face.
"Yeah, silly idea." I said. It wasn't the first time she'd ignored one of my thoughts about not wanting to be stuck with some man the rest of my life. The two of us finished our walk home, splitting off to return to our families.
I don't know what I'd do without my mother. She took care of both me and my father in a way that I could never do myself as a mother. Perhaps that's why I just couldn't see myself ever being one. I lacked a lot of proficiency a woman was expected to have, particularly in cooking. My parents often teased that I could burn water. My father worked under the mayor of Trolberg, specifically overseeing the continued maintenance of the wall, which kept our streets Troll free- hence, he would not return home this night. My mother and I ate supper by ourselves, prior to the time where Mirabel would pick me up.
I'd retired to my bed after eating, but before long I heard a voice and looked out of the window to see Mirabel's blue eyes peering at me.
"Have I ever told you I love your eyes, Mirabel?" I said jokingly as I got up and escaped my window.
"I'd still rather have your green eyes, Christabella." she quipped back. "Your hair is a mess though, let me fix it." Mirabel had a slight obsession with doing my hair. I sat against the house and let it happen, my hair being pulled every which way.
Mirabel led me through the village of Trolberg in the dark of night, and into the Huldrawood. A common belief in Trolberg was that it was haunted by the ghosts of those who fell victim to Trolls. It was nothing but trees and had absolutely no proper paths.
"This is an excellent place to die." I said sarcastically into Mirabel's ear. I doubt she heard however, she relies almost entirely on lip reading, and I couldn't even see my hands in front of me. She'd also said we couldn't bring torches, because the area was off limits, and heavily patrolled. We'd gone so far into the woods that Trolberg was no longer visible.
Suddenly a tree fell with a huge thud, knocking me onto my back. When I got up, Mirabel was gone. I sprinted through the Huldrawood aimlessly until I began seeing a light. I chased the source to an opening, illuminated by green light. When I saw multiple figures I stopped myself so fast I fell.
"Talk!" A girl I did not recognize was yelling at Mirabel as I peeked into the clearing.
"Are you scared of us?" Another girl teased. The two unknown girls were holding Mirabel by both of her arms. I was paralyzed as I watched the girls, holding Mirabel in front of their green bonfire.
"You don't just walk into a Marra gathering little girl, unless you want to become one of us." The girls began pushing Mirabel's head into the fire, before she suddenly screamed one word.
"Witch!" Time seemed to stand still in the moment as her scream echoed through the Huldrawood. The girls dropped Mirabel on her face.
"If you are going to play that game, you'll have to do some explaining." The older looking girl and her friend started levitating, before turning into glowing green wisps. The fire went out as the girls spiraled into the air. There was no way anyone was going to miss it. The two girls vanished into the sky, and the sound of the Trolberg bell tower filled the air. It wasn't long before several men on horses arrived for Mirabel, all while I stayed frozen in the shadows.