2 The calling

Twisting and turning, not getting a wink of sleep. The night was too dark, the bed was too hard and the pain was too much. Everytime Eris closed her eyes she only saw faceless people grabbing onto her. No one was nearby to save her. She was all alone and she will always be. She sat up, her heart pounding her breathing was difficult.

"Granny…" No one answered. The bed beside her was empty like it has been for around 3 years now. She felt anger well up inside her and let her fist punch into the loads of fabric around her as tears were falling.

When will she learn that she isn't around anymore? When will she finally stop having dreams like this? Before getting out of control she took deep breaths until it felt normal again and that was when the anger and helplessness went away.

She got out of bed and went to her potions cabinet. She looked for the calming potions her Granny taught her to make when she couldn't sleep. It helped her a lot but she had to make a lot of it. She poured it into a cup and stepped outside her cottage and sat down on the stairs, looking at the lake not too far away.

She could see the crescent moon reflected in the surface of the lake. Her eyes closed and tried to listen to the calming sounds of the woods surrounding her and the calming scent of lavender from her drink.

When she opened her eyes to take a sip she saw a black butterfly on the edge of her cup. She tilted her head slightly, not seeing butterflies around this time. Especially a black one. She noticed that the wings reflected a bit of light.

It was hard to see. It was like the wings were decorated in gold glitter. Then it flew away towards the lake. Eris shook her head with a slight smile and took a sip. Her body relaxed, her shoulders dropped and her eyes were feeling heavier.

"Eris…" She thought she was dreaming but she could hear someone calling out to her. She stood up, thinking it's nothing but it got louder and it came from the direction the butterfly flew away to. Eris felt herself getting curious.

She should be afraid but it felt like something was calling out to her. Her intuition said she should follow. Her mind was in a fog, maybe from the drink itself , her body followed the voice and she was feeling light and relaxed as she did. The voice sounded slightly playful yet elegant and feminine.

Eris arrived at the lake and she saw the black butterfly again. It flew in front her and she heard a chuckle from it. It landed on the lake and a ring appeared around it then glowing golden light moved in circles as if it was fairy dust. A pair of insect legs appeared first then became more human the more the dust moved upwards. The body had beautiful curves with golden details popping from the rest of the dark color.

When the dust disappeared, a woman with large butterfly wings was infront of her. She was a mix between a butterfly and a human. Her hands were just as anyone else's but not her feet. She seemed off yet it was charming. Eris felt how she was holding her breath. Confidence was just shining from this creature.

"Like what you see?" She twirled and moved her hands through her hair and moved her wings so elegantly. Like she was some sort of goddess. Eris was speechless and slowly stepped backwards.

"I-I…" Her back was met by a tree and the creature chuckled. It was the same voice that called out to her. The same butterfly who rested on her cup.

"Who are you?" Her arms were hugging the tree behind her as if she was fearing she would be whisked away but this beautiful creature in front of her. The woman flew closer to her with a confident smile.

"Evodine. My name is Evodine. I am here to offer you a great gift Eris. Magic" Her eyes were glowing in the dark. It was beautiful yet dangerous at the same time.

"Magic?" Eris held her breath while Evodine moved even closer and moved Eris' hair out of her face. She was able to take a closer look at her face.

Where eyes are usually white for her it was black and her iris was yellow, almost gold. Her eyelashes were long but her skin wasn't like a humans. She couldn't put a finger on how it looked… Maybe similar to a bug.

"Yes, something that mages have. Wizards and witches. Summoning fire at your will or making things levitate. Anything you can think of, I can grant it. Don't you wish to become more powerful? Being able to fight back and protect yourself without him" Eris' eyes widened as Cashimir's face flashed by. Evodine chuckled and began to play with Eris' hair.

"He's a very handsome guy. With his dark skin and silver hair, it's such a nice contrast. And oh how he thinks of you~"

"Cashimir... " She let out her breath as she said his name and looked down feeling shame. She shook her head and moved to the side, away from Evodine. She hugged herself and pulled on her clothing.

"He is kind to everyone and thinks about everyone. I am not special… He follows the teachings of Theelia deeply. He is supposed to treat everyone with kindness and love. He is the only one who follows it right.." The creature placed her hand under Eris' chin and moved her to look at Evodine again.

"Nonsense…" Eris pulled away from her, anger was bubbling inside of her.

"I don't need anything from you. I don't need magic" Eris didn't look back, walking towards her cottage.

"So you choose to hate yourself, let others push you around and spit on you?" The door was slammed not too long after and Eris buried her face into her single pillow, forcing herself to fall asleep and forget everything. Just who does this creature think she is?