The Door opened with quiet creaking and a moment later it closed with a loud slam; a telltale sign of Dudley entering the house.

She checked the time on the hallway clock. It read one o'clock. Dudley came back from Piers' a whole hour earlier than usual. That wasn't good, at least for her. He always did that when he had something big planned.

When he waddled over to her with that stupid grin on his face, she knew there would be trouble. 'Give me that pretty necklace of yours!' he said.

She faced him with the nastiest glare she could make, holding onto the pendant that hung from her neck. 'It's mine. You can't have it!' she hissed. 'Why do you want it anyway?' she said.

'Give me the necklace!' he blustered.

Apparently, it was too important for her to know.

'Well you can't have it. It's mine!' she shouted. It was not a good idea, but she had no choice. Defying Dudley was a recipe for disaster, only this time she would have Aunt Petunia on her side. She would surely be angry if she found out he had been taking her things. She was trying to educate him about gentlemanly behaviour.

'Dad will make you give it to me!' he threatened. He either did not care or had simply forgotten about that particular detail.

That could work. Uncle Vernon hated her, although she did not know why. He also hated being disturbed during his nap time. Even worse, Aunt Petunia wouldn't help her if Uncle Vernon was mad and tired.

'Last warning. Give it here, or I'll tell dad!' He put his hand out expectantly.

This was not going well for her. The only thing she could do now is attract Uncle Vernon's attention and hope he believed her. An insult should do the trick. 'I'd never give anything pretty to a pig!'

Dudley flushed even harder and reached out to wrench the pendant of her neck. He was supposed to punch and shout, not take it by himself! Thinking quickly, she elbowed him unto the chin. While he was stunned she tried push him away.

He did more than that. With a black explosion he sailed through the air, straight through the hallway door and into the lone armchair. He slammed into that armchair with a soft crunch. She look at her hand; unmoving, not even blinking. The black light still glowed around it, but it was fading quickly.

Meanwhile, Uncle Vernon jumped from his napping position on the couch. The newspaper that had been covering his face scattered across the room. Aunt Petunia dropped the teapot she had been holding and screamed. Vernon took one look at Dudley and his face went from pale to red to purple. Then, he focused her like an angry dog. 'What did you do to him you damned girl!' he shouted. 'I knew you would be trouble the moment we took you in! You lot are all the same, no matter how old you are!' he shouted some more. He continued to rant and rave while stomping towards her, but she wasn't paying attention.

She was thinking about that flash of black light. It was like magic, but Uncle Vernon always said magic wasn't real. What else could it be though? She hadn't been in any irradiated places or chemical factories.

Turns out, her uncle wanted some answers too. He grabbed her by her shoulder and shook her furiously. 'Answer me you devil!' he yelled. Before she had a chance to respond Uncle Vernon slapped her across the face. It sent her flying back through the hallway and onto the carpet.

Pain. Pain magnitudes greater than anything Dudley could manage. Not something she could just shrug off. Lightbulbs exploded around the house and windows shattered. Various furniture, pictures, lamps and paintings flew around he house, enshrouded in darkness. One of the drawers hit Vernon in the head and knocked him unconscious.

Her aunt's hair paled. She aged forty years in a few seconds. Soon she started to shiver and convulse. For the first time it was her aunt that was looking at her in terror, and not the other way around.

Violet could neither see nor think. Her thoughts were clouded with pain and anger; her body levitated in place as a puppet on a string. Her eyes glowered at her shivering aunt. 'What's the matter auntie? Won't you berate me for being naughty?' she asked,

She lifted her hands again. They glowed again, but not with the black light that struck down Dudley. This time the light was red. She would strike her down. An eye for an eye. Pain for pain.

'Please don't hurt me Violet, I don't really mean all the things I say! I would certainly never harm my favourite niece.'

'You lie! Lies, Lies and lies, that is all you know!' A black tentacle grabbed her and flung her into a wall.

With that, her mind unclouded. The once pristine house lay demolished. The entirety of the hallway looked as if a hurricane tore through it. shattered shelves and broken pictures lay about and pieces of glass littered the floor.

This was her doing. She had caused this. There was no telling what disasters she would cause next. She cleaned a patch floor with her dusty, old shoes and kneeled down, shoulders slumped over. Maybe it was a good thing her mum and dad died in that car crash. At least she couldn't hurt them

As the last of the black lights died, her Pendant started to buzz. She stared at it. Her aunt claimed that 'something so exotic' must have belonged to her mother. It consisted of a golden chain and a red gemstone shaped like a teardrop.

It started to shine very brightly. The light was getting brighter and bigger every second, but it didn't feel like her light. Her light was angry and strong. This light was peaceful and tranquil.

It was so blindingly bright now. She suddenly felt a new sensation. It was odd, like her insides were being twisted, bent and rearranged. The room started to spin, or was it her that was spinning? She couldn't tell. Eventually, it all stopped. The levitating, the glowing, the spinning. She landed back on the ground face-first.

The day had been exhausting and she was very tired. She wanted her blanket and mattress. She couldn't sleep now though; she needed to get help. She huffed in irritation and got back up. What she saw struck her like lightning on a sunny day. She wasn't in the house any more, nor anywhere she recognized for that matter. Instead of the ruined hallway there were tall grasses as far as the eye could see and a few large trees rising high into the sky. It all looked so unfamiliar though. She had never seen such bright pink flowers or leaves so green before. What really caught her eye though was the sky. It was bluish-green in colour and the clouds that dotted it were bright crimson. Was this a magical land of beautiful princesses and noble knights she was in? Or was it perhaps Eden, the garden of God? No matter, this couldn't be anywhere near her home. She decided to explore a little, just to sate her wanderlust. Maybe she would get lucky and find somebody else in odd plain.

She started to roam around, peeking over every rock and climbing on every hill she came across. The only interesting thing she saw was a lone mountain, far in the distance. From there she could decide which way to go.

She found the thick, tall and white trees quite beautiful. They branched out near the top, leaving the trunk balanced and strong. It was a metaphor waiting to be made. There were other beautiful things here, like bushes with oval, rouge berries. Those bushes grew around a small stream of pristinely clear water. A perfect place for a picnic! She had always wanted to have one of those, but her aunt and uncle never let her come.

After she devoured several bushed worth of berries and sated he thirst she continued with her journey. She continued to walk for several hours, seeing nothing but the same when she stumbled upon a road. Not a proper road like the ones that you drove your car on, but an old, stone one. It's white stones were cut without a flaw and were not dull from overuse. It was like it was built yesterday. This was exactly the sort of thing she needed! Roads meant people, and people meant civilisation! She sprinted towards the highest hill in the area, the soft ground squishing underneath her old, worn shoes. When she reached the top she looked around very, very carefully. Sadly, she couldn't see any trace of civilisation besides the road. She let out a quiet sigh of defeat and turned back with sunken shoulders; tears slowly trailing down her cheeks.

She was nearly back down when she heard a soft humming accompanied by several footsteps squeaking down the white road. She stopped dead in her tracks and crouched down. Luckily for her, they couldn't see her thanks to a large rock to her left. A slim, middle-aged man in long, white robes came into view. His hair was long and blonde and his eyes bright blue. A moment later he was followed by two other figures wearing the same long, white robes, their hoods hiding their faces perfectly, at least from this distance. The two of them were flanking a floating cart. How it was doing? Carts don't float.

It was long and sleek and swirling, golden lines decorated covered it's grey surface. Golden bars both enclosed it and covered all of it's edges. She though it gave it a nice, rounded look. The cargo it was carrying was no less impressive with the flair. There were exactly three boxes. The boxes were of similar design as the cart itself; a grey surface that was decorated with golden spirals. It was all a sight to behold, like something out of a fairytale.

She wasn't supposed to talk to strangers, but this was an extraordinary situation. She mustered courage and spoke up. 'Hello there! I am a bit lost. Could you tell me where I am?' she mumbled. They stopped in their tracks and the cart followed suit. Their heads jolted in her direction, eyes full of surprise. She could understand that. Children weren't supposed to be out and about alone.

They looked at each other and whispered a few words between themselves. Then, they turned back to her. 'And what are you doing in a place like this, child?' asked the blonde man with an expression devoid of emotion.

'I don't know. I told you that I am lost,' she said. Why didn't he trust her? Was he an agent of a king on a secret mission? Maybe he was transporting some priceless artefacts in those boxes!

He turned around and nodded at his companions. They nodded back. 'Come closer, child,' he said.

She complied and walked over to him. Instead of asking some more questions though, he placed his hands on her temples and closed his eyes. In an attempt to get away, she jerked her head backwards. Unfortunately, his grip was too strong. A couple of moments later his eyes opened and he spoke to her. 'It is not often that we see strangers in our home, much less unexpected ones. Nevertheless, you are welcome to join us,' he said. This time he was smiling.

That sounded decidedly odd to her. What home? There was no house nor town here, but trees, bushes and land for miles around. It confused her, but she did not dare question him. After all, they saved her.

'There is no need to be frightened of us, child,' he said. 'You can tell us the truth.' His smile really was reassuring.

Looking down, she blushed shyly. 'It is a really weird story. You wouldn't believe me sir,' she quavered.'

That made them all smile. What was funny with that? 'I have seen and heard plenty things that others would call unbelievable. There is nothing weird or peculiar that I couldn't believe these days,' he said.

She smiled uncertainly, not particularly believing the man. After all, who could have possibly seen anything like the chaos she unleashed? Who saw something like she did on a regular basis? 'Well, my cousin tried to take my locket,' —she took the locket of her neck and showed it to him— ' but that made me mad so I punched him. He flew through the hallway like a rocket' She averted her eyes.

'And then, child? Did anything else happen?' he asked.

She nodded. 'My uncle got really angry and he slapped me really hard. It hurt so much and it made me really mad. Then, everything turned black and exploded!'

He frowned thoughtfully when she mentioned the black explosion. Perhaps he wasn't lying when he said had seen weird things.

'A black explosion you say?' He stroked his chin. 'Did it go away when you calmed down?'

Her jaw hit the floor. She was so excited that the only thing she managed to do was nod, repeatedly and quickly.

The man smiled at her again. 'I told you I was experienced with odd things, child.'

He stroked his chin a couple of times whilst staring at the sky before speaking again. 'Now, I would like to take you to someone who will be able to answer all your questions much better than I.' He crouched down and looked her in the eyes. 'What say you, child? Does that interest you?'

She had no idea what to say. Her instincts were screaming at her, telling her not to trust them. Adults have rarely, if ever, been nice to her. Virtually nobody offered her help so openly. On the other hand, she felt like this might be her only chance to not only learn more about herself, but to be finally free of her dreadful cousins, if she played her cards right. The fact that she hopelessly lost went without mention.

And so, with both doubt and hope in her mind Violet decided that she would go with these strange people. 'That's really nice of you. Thank you mister.' She bowed to the man. 'Where are we going sir?' she asked him.

The man chuckled. 'No need for that, we are friends now aren't we?' It took a lot of effort not to smile. 'I am Aderian, the leader of our small caravan. My two companions are called Izala and Edris.' He pointed to the two people behind him.

Now that she was up close, she could see the faces under the hoods quite clearly. Both of them were women, relatively young too. Izala had long black hair that was shining in the sunlight. Her long nose and chestnut eyes felt somewhat out of place on her olive skin. The other lady, Edris, had short, curly hair of a lovely pale ginger colour. Her skin was pale and her eyes sea green. That small, pointy nose of hers was rather cute.

'Hello, I'm Violet,' she told them, still bearing an uncertain smile.

'Hello, Violet!' said Edris cheerfully. Izala didn't speak, she merely smiled.

Aderian raised his hand and step forward; the cart floated along behind him. They resumed their journey and she trailed along besides him.

'We are going to the city called Azarath, named after this realm that is our home,' he started. 'The city of Azarath is where we all have lived in peace for many a century.'

She frowned. 'But there is no city for miles around. I checked from up there.' She pointed to hill on which she stood on not too long ago.

Aderian chuckled yet again. 'That was a clever idea,' he praised. 'However, the city is protected from outsiders by powerful defences. Our ancestors took measures to ensure our well-being against possible intruders.' She could sense an omitted truth in those last words. He tried to hide it of course, but he couldn't fool her.

'Really? What kind of protections?' she asked.

He looked her in the eyes. 'Why, our ancient sorceries are capable of all kinds of protections, like those that fool one's sight.'

So that was it then, magic and sorcery. That must be how he knew all that earlier. 'Can you teach me to do that?' she asked him, praying for affirmation.

'I can,' he said. 'But it remains to be seen if you will be permitted to learn. Your powers are unstable and mighty. I do not know if Elder Azar will allow it'

That sounded like an excuse for someone that was incapable; it is what Dudley often said. Surely a group of magicians, sorcerers and whoever else could handle whatever she could do. What was the worse that could happen?

Her new friends must have noticed that she wasn't trusting them too much because they were whispering something amongst each other.

'Elder Azar is our leader. She has guided us for decades and knows the most about the sorceries you wield,' said Edris. That couldn't be all there was to it. She just knew it.

'She must be really old,' she said. 'Old people always tell me things that sound important, but I rarely understand any of it. Does Elder Azar do that too?'

Edris chuckled. 'That is called wisdom; it comes with age and experience.'

She frowned. "I still don't understand. Is wisdom when someone speaks in riddles?' she asked.

'No. Not every riddle is wisdom, but all wisdom comes in a riddle,'

'There you go! You're doing it too!' she huffed.

Edris, as well as Aderian, laughed. 'You will understand when you are older,' she said.

That was fine; she could wait. 'It wasn't important anyway' she grumbled. A passing fancy, like Aunt Petunia would say.

Still though, Edris was at least honest, unilke Aderian. He unnerved her with his secretive responses and half-truths when she could tell that he knew a lot more than he was letting on. Izala, on the other hand, was just plain creepy. Whenever she looked at her she saw a thousand faces, all different yet the same, all floating over the road in serenity.

'I am not hiding anything from you, child. It is not my place to answer the most important questions. It is our way.'

There he goes again. Was he reading her mind as well?

'None of us hold positions that permit sharing our secrets with outsiders, only The Elders have that honour. That is why we are taking you to Elder Azar,' said Aderian. Izala and Edris affirmed his statement with a nod.

She still didn't believe a word of it. Maybe it was time to change the topic to something simpler. 'I'm exhausted. How much further do we have to go?' she asked.

Aderian pointed at the lone mountain that she saw earlier 'We are almost there,' he said. 'Do you see those structures under the mountain? That is our city, our home. The only refuge you will find around here.' Surprisingly, she did see them. They were tall and very bright. How did she manage to miss them earlier?

The city looked beautiful, even from afar. It was as white as the road and it stood out like a sore thumb. Every building, from the smallest shed to the biggest house shined in one place or another

'Breathtaking isn't it? No man has approached it and remained ignorant by it's beauty,' said Aderian, gazing at the city.

'Why is it so shiny?' she asked.

'The buildings are decorated with the purest form of gold. It, as well as marble, were used by ancient civilisations on Earth at their peak. It is a symbol of the prosperity that we can achieve in peace!' he cheered.

Aderian's enthusiasm had to be infectious because she couldn't stop smiling. 'How did you do all that?' she asked.

He turned to look at her, still smiling like it was his birthday. 'With a lot of cooperation, good will and a sprinkle of magic.' They stood there for a few moments in complete silence. 'Well, that is enough nostalgia for now, we have a delivery to finish.

She wanted to ask about the magic they used, but Aderian motioned for them to stop. 'Now, you two will continue along the main road as per usual,' he started, 'and I will take Violet to see Elder Azar.' The two women obeyed. Izala touched the floating cart and they went on their way, the cart now following Izala.

The decision seemed odd to her. 'Why do we have to split up?'

'Of the few outsiders that have come none have been children, and for a good reason. Nobody comes here by accident.' He spoke, his voice turning sombre. 'Your sudden appearance will cause quite a stir in the city. People will want answers that I do not have. It would be safest for you to remain unseen for now. The Elders will announce your arrival,' he said.

Aderian started walking to a massive rock encased in the roots of a tree that lay on the left of the road. She trailed right behind him. 'But how will we get in then?' she asked. 'Someone is bound to see us!'

'That is why we will be taking a more discreet entrance,' he said.

All this talk about safety and discretion wasn't comforting; it reminded her of the way everyone at school avoided her. Would it be the same here? 'Why? How scary could I possibly be?'

Aderian grimaced, then sighed. 'It isn't that they fear you, child. As I told you earlier, visitors from the outside world are rare. We even hold celebrations for those that join us. You are unannounced; it is as simple as that.'

Now he was straight up lying to her face; she could taste it. First omissions, then half-truths and now lies. Why, because of some traditions? She could respect that, but this was getting ridiculous!

Now that they were closer to the it she could vaguely make out some symbols carved into the rock. What they meant though, she had no idea. Aderian kneeled in front of it and took out what looked like a chisel from one of his pockets. Then, he started to carve something into the rock.

'Wouldn't it be easier if you used a hammer?'

'It would if this was an ordinary carving, but this job is far to important for me to risk damaging these delicate carvings,' he said.

'What do they mean,' she said, 'these symbols?'

Aderian stopped carving and pointed to a circular symbol resembling the sun. 'This one here means land and this one' —he pointed at an upside down triangle next to it—'represents protection. Both of them are ancient symbols of power which we use for more permanent spellwork. Sadly, the rocks in this area often get damaged by the weather. If that continues, we will have to find an alternative, lest we weaken our defences.'

So it was maintenance that he was doing, like when Uncle Vernon called the technician to fix the telly. Aderian didn't really look like a technician, but this was a rock and not a telly.

She watched him carve and scratch the rock with the chisel for at least a quarter of an hour before he was finally done. Little by little a symbol started to take shape. It was a fair bit more intricate than most others with it's snout, eyes and horns.

'It's just like the one before it,' she said, looking at the duplicate symbol.

He added a few finishing touches and stood up. 'You noticed that, have you? Yes, it's purpose is the same as it's brother's. That might seem useless, but I couldn't simply carve over the old one. It still functions, albeit not as strongly.'

'I was going to ask about it.'

'And I knew you would, so I thought we might as well get that out of the way now. The sooner we get moving, the better. Come.'

And so they continued skirting the edge of the city, looking for that discreet entrance. It gave her time to mull over the older of the twin symbols. It was damaged, that was true enough, but it didn't look like something rain could do. It looked like someone tried and failed to melt it off the rock.

Her musings were interrupted when they finally entered an alleyway, a surprisingly clean and well-maintained one. Little Whinging couldn't boast about something like that. Maybe spells were used for cleaning here? That sounded a bit excessive though.

The two of them walked down the alley in complete silence, turning left or right every few minutes. She tried to keep track of their path, in case she had to find her way back, but keeping track of all the twists and turns proved impossible. At one point she spotted the flat top of an enormous pyramid, towering above the dull red rooftops. It was decorated even better than the other buildings. Every edge of it's floors was framed with intricate, golden bars. The walls looked like they had pictures painted on them, but she couldn't be sure from this distance.

'Is that where we are going?' she whispered.

'Yes, child. That ziggurat is the Western Temple. Elder Azar usually spends her time at the Palace Square, but today she is studying some ancient scriptures at the temple's library,' he whispered back. 'We are getting quite close now. You should be quiet; we mustn't attract attention.'

He put a finger on his lips and beckoned. Then, they tiptoed over to an underpass. She marvelled at the many scenes portrayed on it's walls. One of them depicted a woman in white robes preaching to a crowd. The next one displayed the same woman leading other white-robed people away from a city. The third one simply pictured a massive construction site.

'This underpass here leads to the entrance of our burial grounds, but it also hides a passage to the Western Temple.' He pointed to a section of the wall portraying a large, circular door engraved with more of those symbols she didn't understand. 'I see you noticed the murals. They tell the story of our arrival. I am sure that Elder Azar will tell you all about it.'

He took out a piece of paper from his pocket, pointed his right hand towards the painted door and mumbled something. His fingertips glowed azure for a second or two and then, much to her surprise, the wall with the painted door faded away. She was well aware that she was gawking at it like Dudley at a maths problem, but she couldn't help it. Magic was just so awesome! What wondrous things will her powers let her do?

Aderian folded the piece of paper and put it back into his pocket. 'Now then, stay close to me at all times; these tunnels aren't very well maintained,' he said and picked up an old miner's torch that was hanging from a tunnel wall. That was the first piece of technology she had seen in this place thus far.

She nodded and they stepped into the tunnel, one after the other. She could see now why Aderian warned her to stay close. The tunnel was grimy and big cobwebs were everywhere. It's mossy walls and cracked bricks were a shocking change from the shiny, clean city. It's appearance, though, did not make it any less confusing to navigate. It was as much of a labyrinth as the narrow alleyways they had just walked through.

And it stank pretty bad too. It was almost as bad as her cupboard. 'Why is it so dark down here? Was it so hard to put up some lights?'

Aderian responded with a hearty chuckle. 'I could not tell you for certain,' he started, 'but it is seldom used. Besides, this torch does the job just as fine as anything else. Waste not, want not I say.'

After navigating the tunnel for a good five minutes they seemingly reached their goal. In front of them lay an identical picture of a circular door to the one on the entrance. Aderian pushed a button on the centre of it.

The wall rumbled, unlike the other one. When it was quite done, she was greeted by a small but luxurious bedroom. It's walls were pristine white with various creatures and flowers painted on them in many shades of blue and yellow. There was not much furniture, but the little of it was beautiful. A small bed with thick, white sheets took up the entire outer wall, right bellow a small window. Next to it stood a bright brown night stand. On the opposite side of the room, just left of the door was a big, brown wardrobe. Everything looked like it came from a manor.

The only person in the room was to her right. It was a woman with long, grey hair. She was sitting in front of a vanity mirror, calmly brushing her hair. That must be Elder Azar. She certainly looked elderly. With all the magic that was used here one would think she could make herself look youthful, but it wasn't so.

Aderian and herself continued to stand there, in complete silence, while Elder Azar was finishing up with her brushing. This was just like what Aunt Petunia taught her to do when she was younger; wait while she was doing who knows what. Proper behaviour, that was what she called it. It looked more like something Dudley did with his band of followers than proper behaviour or good manners.

'I must say, dear, that I expected you to come much earlier than this. However, even I make mistakes from time to time, but this time I am glad to be wrong.' Elder Azar stood up, her chair creaking against the stone floor.

'What do you mean madam?'

'Oh my, I haven't been called a madam in quite some time. How nice of you,' she said.

She blushed; she wasn't very used to compliments. 'You're welcome.'

Azar smiled. 'Although you won't remember me, I have known you since you were a newborn baby. You see, I met your parents in their most troubled of times. In fact, that is why you are here.'

Time stopped. Light stood still, sounds vanished and nothing moved besides the thoughts in her head. Her parents? Her poor mum and dad who died in a car crash. The no good drunks who were a waste of space. They knew someone as great as Elder Azar, the woman who addressed a whole city's worth of magical people?

'Oh, really?'

'It is the truth. I sensed your great power and the many dangers it would lead you to, so I made that for you,' she said and pointed at her precious pendant.

'You made my pendant?'

She waited for the confirmation, her world starting to crumble.

'Yes.'

And with that one word it was gone. What she thought was her heritage, gone in an instant. The only thing that brought her closure every night, that connected her to the two people that she would never know.

'I thought it was my mum's,' she whispered. The dam started to crack, but she wouldn't cry. She was stronger than that. The window cracked.

Azar grabbed her by the shoulders. 'Do not cry, dear. Your parents loved you very much and nothing will ever change that,' she said. And with that final strike, her dam broke. With tears in her eyes she hugged her, looking for comfort. The window exploded, shattered by her dark power.

'There there.' Azar kept patting her on the back. It felt nice, being comforted by someone. This must be how other kids felt when their parents hugged them.

After crying out enough tears to form a small stream and damaging some furniture, she managed to put herself back together. It wasn't as bad this time, the damage. It must be because Elder Azar was making sure that she was OK.

'Thank you for caring, Elder Azar.'

'It is Azar for you, dear. Now give me your best smile,' she said, smiling herself.

And so she did. Funny, she never smiled for someone else before. She only frowned.

'Good,' she started, 'now let me take you to your room. You have had an exhausting day.'