Fitting In

My mouth was dry and my heart beat so hard I thought it would burst from my chest. I put my back up against a tree and tried to regulate my breathing. My dark hair was damp with sweat and it was hanging loosely around my face, making me hotter. I listened closely, afraid of being caught.

Why would someone want to kill a healer? My powers are for good; I can’t use them for personal gain - it’s against the rules. I’m beginning to wish I hadn’t healed Alexandria. This exposure … was it worth it? What am I saying? Of course it was - that poor girl would be dead if it weren’t for me. Unfortunately, no one else can accept my magic.

My breathing slowed down and I decided to start moving again. I’ve been running for hours, but I can’t stop; otherwise the Empire will capture me.

On any other day, I would have enjoyed walking through the forest, but today the scenery passed in a blur.

I saw something black dart out of the corner of my eye. Thinking it was just a bird, I didn’t stop. Suddenly, my legs were jerked back and I fell flat on my face. On my way down I hit my head on a rock. The last thing I remember before blacking out were a pair of black boots and the end of a black robe.

Several hours later, though it was no time to me, I woke up. I was in a cell, lying on an old, moulding mattress, surrounded by four blank walls. I attempted to sit upright but my head throbbed. Groaning, I lay back down slowly. Putting my hand up to my head, I found it bandaged. Tears started to fall from the pain, terror and loneliness.

I must have been waiting hours when a man entered my cell.

“You’re to be brought before the courts,” he said.

I was led through a maze of dank passages before arriving at a set of fine, ornate doors. Several minutes later, I was seated in the centre of the courtroom.

I wondered about my sentence. The likely punishment for practicing witchcraft would probably be death. Hoping this wasn’t so, I still began to feel slightly nauseous as I thought about what I was facing. No, I thought. They wouldn’t kill me. We came to this land to escape the wars on Earth. We are a peaceful nation. How could they even think about killing someone?

I listened to them debate, sweat beginning to form on the palms of my hands. They were close to making their final verdict when Alexandria burst into the room and approached the Elders.

“Please!” she begged. “Don’t kill Belinda. She saved my life. I am not one to condone witchcraft but she doesn’t deserve your punishment. Send her back to Earth instead. That way you will feel like you have punished her and no one will need to worry about her magic.”

The Elders looked at her and then turned back to talk quietly as they reconsidered.

The agreed with Alexandria. As I heard their words, relief flooded over me as I’d never felt it before. I was safe. I was glad Alexandria was so grateful to me, and I was grateful that she had stood up.

They opened up the portal for me to travel back to Earth. It took some time to readjust but now, after several months, I finally feel happy in a place where I belong.