"Miss Mara, your hair is beautiful," said a maid as she brushed a young woman's hair. Without a doubt, her waist-length, wavy, ash-blonde hair was absolutely beautiful, matching her skin, which was as pale as a sheet of paper, and of course, it all went very well with her beautiful face.
"Thank you," Mara replied sweetly.
"She's the most beautiful witch around, and she doesn't even use magic," said another maid with an almost forced smile, standing to one side.
"Thank you very much, girls."
"Looks like it's going to be a big storm," said a young woman suddenly, who seemed annoyed by the situation.
"Maybe today is the day," she said ironically.
"Leave us alone," Mara said authoritatively.
"Yes, miss," replied the two maids, leaving the room to retire.
"Eli, I will always protect you," Mara approached Eli and took her hands.
"I told you, you don't have to do that."
"Today is your first coven meeting after what happened, Eli."
"I know you don't like to talk about it, but it had to be this way."
"I couldn't bear to see you locked up again, so behave yourself." Mara hugged the young woman, who did not return the gesture.
"Even though it's going to rain, they fully intend to perform the initiation rite for the new members."
"Eli, I admit that if you weren't here with me on days like this, I don't know what I would do." Mara let go of her and, with a smile, took her by the hand and led her to the door.
"Sure." Eli lowered her gaze and followed her.
At the entrance to the mansion, several women and men had gathered, dressed in long black robes, waiting to leave.
"You know, I don't understand what the problem is with these people."
"Can't you see how it is tonight?" replied a woman at the entrance to the mansion.
"Matilde, calm down, today is the supermoon," replied a man.
"You know that on nights like this, the lord of fire is more present."
"Of course," replied the woman, when Eli and Mara appeared behind her.
"Oh, Miss Mara is here."
With her arms crossed and a sour look on her face, Matilde seemed uncomfortable with Eli's presence and looked her up and down.
"Hey, girl, why the long face? It looks like you don't want to be here," said Matilde, addressing Eli.
"Come on!" Mara interrupted cheerfully.
"Let's do this one more time."
"Let's begin our walk to Star Hill, where more witches and wizards are waiting for us to once again thank the lord of fire for all he has given our people."
Everyone seemed pleased with Mara's words, and together they walked into the forest surrounding the village.
Thunder in the sky lit up the night sky momentarily, but the rain had not yet fallen, and a line of men and women in black robes began to disappear into the forest, heading for the hill of the star where the great lord of fire awaited them.
Mara led the way, showing a rank far superior to those who accompanied her. Eli, of course, was one of her four maidens. She did not look ahead, but rather at the ground, as if she already knew the path by heart and simply did not want to be there. Memories came to her mind, mixing with reality, the place where everything happened, where everything changed for her. Then, as if someone had heard her wishes, lightning struck the bridge just a few meters from Eli, Mara, and their companions, causing the bridge to break and part of it to fall into the river. In an instant, Eli was left hanging from the bridge, held only by Mara's hand.
"Eli, don't let go!" Mara shouted as the others held her from behind so she wouldn't fall with Eli.
"Mara..." Eli began to slip slowly without trying to hold on to Mara.
It seemed that after all, Eli wanted to let go. This shocked Mara, who was trying to hold on to her and cursed herself for not being able to do more for Eli.
"I'm sorry..." Eli was strangely smiling despite the situation, looking at Mara with wide eyes.
"But what are you doing, Eli?" Mara felt her slowly slipping through her fingers.
Then it started to rain so hard that it was the last thing Mara needed to let go of Eli's hands, causing her to fall irretrievably from a great height into a river below. Immediately, a commotion arose around Mara, who was absorbed in watching the darkness and how it had swallowed Eli.
"We must tell the higher ranks that the young lady has fallen!" Mara shouted desperately.
"My lady!"
"Are you all right?" one of the maids shouted almost into Mara's ear, but she was completely lost.
No, Eli couldn't have died so easily, could she? As far as she knew, her best friend would never let herself die so easily. Then Mara's face changed. It was no longer shock and concern; her gaze hardened, and she thought that Eli must come back somehow.
Suddenly, fireballs hit the bridge. Even though it was raining, the fire did not go out. These were high-ranking witches who had arrived after learning what had happened.
"Miss, are you..." One of the witches who had just arrived approached, visibly concerned.
"Eli, bring her," Mara interrupted with a threatening look.
Meanwhile, under the cold water, Eli felt her body freezing and thought that perhaps her time had come. She had once tried to escape her fate a few years ago with Mara, but it had all gone so wrong. They had been discovered, and she had been unable to leave the mansion where she grew up for a long time. She had been told that her fate had been sealed since birth and could not be changed. However, now, under those cold waters, perhaps that was the only way to escape. She only regretted that Mara had stayed behind and that she would never see her again, because that would be her purpose from now on: never to return.