Estella Valehollow's Arc

Chapter 1 of 11

Estella climbed the frozen ridge and stopped at the broken gate. Wind cut through her cloak, but she did not shiver. Below her, the village had whispered of him. Above her, an empty stone keep waited, dark against the white sky. She set her bag down and looked up at the walls. This would be her workshop now. Here, she would grow the kind of power that ended things. She spent three days clearing the courtyard. Then she hauled flat stones into a wide ring and carved runes into each one. She lit the marks with her blood and a low word. The circle woke. Red light pulsed under the snow. Estella stepped inside and raised her hands. The air bent. A dead tree at the wall split clean in half. She lowered her arms and smiled. The keep was hers. The work had begun. That night, she climbed to the highest tower and looked down at the glowing ring. The coven had never let her try anything this large. Now no one watched. No one could stop her. She pressed her palm to the cold stone wall and made a promise to it. She would stay until her magic could break a man. Then she would go find him. Back in her chamber, she opened her bag and lifted out the carved wooden box. The lid creaked. The tiny figures inside still held each other, a dark-haired woman and a brown-haired man frozen mid-embrace. The melody started, slow and warped by cold. Estella set the box on the windowsill facing the ring of runes. She did not close it. She let it play. The song would remind her, every night, exactly what she was building this power to undo.