Dreams that You Wish (Vengeful Tales #1)

Prologue

One-Hundred Years Ago

Golden sands sparkled with sunshine as a young witchling learned from her mother, Iris—one of the most famous witches on the continent, revered throughout the land, and often sought for her power.

Since little Ella was born, Iris made it a point of no longer involving herself with politics, no matter how much they pestered her.

The only thing that mattered in this world, was raising Ella to be strong.

To be someone who might live a less horrifying life as Iris had, as any would want for their child.

The bay was alive with activity. Massive ships with skull-adorned flags glided in, their dark sails billowing ominously, and ready to pay Iris fortunes for her spells.

Ella would never want for anything.

Vendors called out wares, children darted around, and music drifted from the nearby taverns. Despite this, Ella and her mother found solace in a secluded spot, their haven amidst the chaos.

Their life, though surrounded by the roughness of pirates and traders, was a life of comfort and safety.

Ella watched, eyes wide with awe, as her mother conjured water into dancing shapes that shimmered in the fading sunlight. The droplets catch the light, forming sparkling, fleeting constellations before splashing back into the sea.

Ella’s thoughts drifted to how her mother’s magic always seemed effortless, making her appear invincible. Though she never knew her father, Ella never felt lacking. Her mother’s strength was enough.

Golden sands turned sparkling black as the sun set for the night.

The sun dipped below the horizon, casting a warm golden glow that gradually deepened into purples and blues.

Torches lit up the beach as the people migrated further down to the livelier taverns, and Iris was almost ready to take Ella to bed.

Ella molded sand between her fingers, shaping little castles, while her mother looked up at the stars, a serene expression softening her features. Just them, the sea, and the sky.

A sudden chill made little Ella shiver as a sinister voice cut through the quiet. The waves, which moments ago playfully lapped at the shore, now seemed to whisper a warning too late.

Two figures approached. A woman with sharp, calculating eyes, and a smile that doesn’t reach them. She stood beside a man with a bored, detached demeanor.

The woman, clad in dark, flowing robes with intricate silver patterns, exuded both elegance and danger. Her smile was a mockery, twisted with hatred as she stared at Ella’s mother.

The man stood behind her, dressed in rugged leathers, his expression weary as though this task were beneath him.

The woman stepped forward, voice as sweet as poisoned honey. “I’m Vivienne. I believe you know my husband?”

A tremor betrayed the hardened resolve in Iris’s gaze, her eyes widening with a flash of maternal panic before steeling once more, fierce and protective. “What do you want?”

The woman looks at Ella, making her throat bob with fear.

“That child is coming with me.” Her tone laced with mock gratitude as she sneered, “You should consider yourself fortunate she’ll live, unlike yourself.”

Vivienne’s voice wove a dark spell, the chant resonating through the quiet dusk. “Terra vinculum.”

Iris whirled around, her eyes pinned on her daughter as she shouted, “Run, Ella!”

“Animae claudentur!” Vivienne intoned, each syllable wrapping the air in suffocating power. Shadowy tendrils shot from an amulet around Vivienne’s neck, binding Iris’s limbs. For a heartbeat, only the thundering of Ella’s pulse could be heard, and in that terrible silence, Vivienne stepped forward.

Ella’s mind screamed in silent terror. The cold tendrils of magic wrapped around her, suffocating hope.

Silence.

One heartbeat.

Two.

Her muscles trembled as the unseen magic bound her in place. Panic rises, her small frame trembling with the effort to break free of the spell and run.

Iris’s eyes widened with realization.

Time seemed to stretch as a thin, silver blade burst through Iris’s chest, crimson droplets scattering in the golden light like shattered rubies.

Ella’s mother’s eyes met Ella’s one last time, filled with an agonizing mixture of guilt and rage, mouthing for her to run.

Her body crumpled, knees hitting the sand before she collapsed entirely.

The light in her eyes dimmed, leaving Ella staring at the lifeless form of her once powerful, invincible mother.

Ella’s mind splintered, flashes of laughter with her mother stabbing through her shock like shards of ice. The scream lodged in her throat was a choked memory of warmth now lost. The world around her faded into a dull blur, the sound of the waves replaced by the deafening silence of her shock.

Vivienne’s feet sunk slightly into the sand as she stepped toward Ella, her smile shifting to something more cruel. Vivienne’s voice sliced through the thick silence, each word measured, drawn out with cold amusement. “What’s your name, child?”

Ella felt the force holding her loosen, and though her limbs were free, she remained mute, paralyzed by terror.

The sharp sting of Vivienne’s slap jolts Ella, her cheek blazing with pain. “Your name is Sin now,” Vivienne whispered, her voice as cold as death. “So you never forget exactly what it is that you are.”

Vivienne repeats the question, and this time, trembling Ella whispers, “Sin.”

Vivienne’s fingers closed around Ella’s small wrist, their touch searing. She yanked Ella forward, dragging her across the sand as Ella’s feet stumbled to keep up.

Ella’s mind fractured under the weight of grief. Each step away was a betrayal, each breath without her mother a crime.

Ella glanced down, eyes widening as a dark, twisting mark etched itself onto her wrist, the black tendrils burning her skin like fire.

A symbol of her new, terrifying reality as she was pulled into the unknown, her mother’s lifeless body left behind on the starlit shore.