Scarletta's old, rotted walls loomed above her as Calliope stood in the dark, grim room before her master. She spent most of her life in that room, cowering in the dark corners as Scarletta mixed some new potion together to inject her with. They grew stronger each time, but never strong enough to grant her the unlimited power she needed – or wanted in order to bring down Scarletta – and this was exactly her master's intent. Calliope forced her body to stand erect, feigning confidence, but the dark corners of the room called to her as they always did. She ignored the pull to hide in those corners; they did nothing to protect her. The memories that those corners held haunted her. She hated that room, but not nearly as much as she hated Scarletta.

"Calliope," Scarletta's said, her voice eerily cool and collected. "I thought we had come to an agreement?"

"I-I'm sorry," Calliope stammered. "I was ambushed."

Scarletta cocked her head to the side. "Ambushed? You're a witch, Calliope. How can mere mortals ambush a witch?"

Calliope's mind raced in a panic. "I was careless," she said. She hesitated. "I got caught up in the attack."

Scarletta smiled wickedly, raising an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

"Please," she started. "I can do this. Give me another chance." Calliope couldn't stand to find herself begging for life from this woman, but she couldn't bear to live life as Scarletta's puppet any longer. One more chance and she would be able to escape Scarletta's torture once and for all, if she could muster up the courage to do so.

Scarletta looked over her witch carefully. "Fortunately for you," she said slowly, "I'm not quite finished with my final spell. But this is your last chance, Calliope. I will not tolerate your carelessness any longer."

Calliope nodded, her heart racing in her chest. Each return to that room meant only one thing; the needle she grew to fear would soon pierce her skin and the magic would enter her veins, altering her powers. Each injection was more painful than the last; each potion more powerful. Calliope stood tall and waited for what she hoped would be the last time Scarletta would ever touch her.

#

Calliope stood outside Scarletta's castle, looking into the dark forest. King Sloan's castle stood nestled in the middle of the kingdom, overlooking the kingdom's capital, Alryn. Talmond, now black with ash, lay crippled in the west, just under the shadows of the mountains that marked the kingdom's north-western jagged borders. Smoke lingered from the attack, nearly suffocating the survivors as they examined the ash ridden remains of their town.

Halas was not much further from Talmond, resting almost due north of the kingdom, beyond Alryn. They, too, lay in a similar state as their neighbor. Calliope tried to envision the rest of the kingdom before her. A few smaller villages and towns remained scattered across the kingdom. The little village of Esmon stood quietly just outside the forest to the east, separated from the rest of the kingdom by the Caseitas River. She followed the river on the invisible map before her with her eyes until it brought her to the ocean, marking Librona's north-eastern boundary. Somewhere along the cost rested a tiny village inhabited by fishermen and sea merchants – surely a vital component to the kingdom's success. The name Vrien was scribbled on an old map in Scarletta's castle.

Librona relied on a prosperous kingdom just across the sea. Scarletta had a plan for that kingdom as well, and although Calliope knew why Scarletta sought revenge on Librona and Asmar, Scarletta kept her other plans a secret from her witches.

Calliope didn't know what land hid beyond the sea's horizon, or even much beyond the kingdoms of Librona and Asmar, only that Asmar rested on the other side of the mountains beyond Librona. The kingdom was a mystery to her. Calliope heard Scarletta speak of it only a few times during her short life, but usually only in passing. They were the kingdom that aided Librona over the years in their war against Scarletta. Calliope suspected that there was a bigger reason –  a secret that Scarletta kept – for Scarletta's plot against Asmar. Asmar would be their next target; Scarletta's next target. Her heart ached in her chest for the unsuspecting people.

Calliope sighed and sat on the brown grass, her legs crossed under her dress. She waved her hand over a patch of dead grass, bringing it back to life in seconds. Each blade stood tall and strong, reaching to embrace the warm sunlight. Memories of the previous attacks played through her head. She flinched at each strike, spell, and sword thrust, forcing back the tears that stung her eyes. It was wrong to feel sympathy for those people. They were cruel and heartless and selfish. They were murderous and vengeful to those they could not understand. She should not shed a tear for what those people had done to her and all the witches and wizards before her.

But something pulled inside her chest, as if to reassure her of her feelings; a comfort that told her that her feelings did not make her weak. The people of the kingdom were only defending themselves from her attacks, and they were right to do so, of course. Nonetheless, she could not feel pity for the people who wronged her queen so many years ago. Surly, should she be caught, they would subject her to the same torture as they had done to her master; death would only be a gift granted to her. And should she fail, Scarletta would not come back to help her. No; Calliope was only a tool in this war. Scarletta would not waste her time on a witch that could not do the job she was created to do.

Calliope shuddered and winced in an attempt to push the thought from her mind. She picked at the new grass she had just granted life to. She plucked the blades one by one, pulling them up from their earthy home.

She couldn't bear to attack the kingdom anymore and she couldn't stand doing Scarletta's dirty work, ending innocent lives. Scarletta would destroy her if she found out Calliope betrayed her, and if she didn't, the kingdom surely would. Obeying Scarletta's every wish was her duty, her reason for life; she knew nothing else. It was the very reason for her being.

Her will to leave Scarletta, however, was strong, and it grew stronger with each passing day and with every needle that pierced into her veins, pulsing that dark magic through her body. It was all that kept her alive, and she couldn't survive without that magic tormenting her. But after years of training and stronger and stronger magic, she couldn't take it anymore. She ignored the sickening feeling in her gut and she stood tall. She didn't know where she would go, but she couldn't live under Scarletta's tyranny any longer. She sucked in a deep breath and headed into the woods without looking back.