The rain had already begun when Seren saw the first light.
Not the gentle glow of dawn — but the violent, trembling flash of mana fire.
Her heart seized.
The light came from home.
She didn't think. Her legs moved before her mind could catch up, sprinting across the drenched valley. The grass was wet and cold against her ankles, and each breath tore through her chest. Smoke curled up through the rain, twisting into the dark sky like a wounded spirit.
"Mother!" she cried. "Mother!"
The air answered with thunder.
When she reached the ridge, she froze. Their home — the quiet cottage at the edge of the elderwood — was half in ruins. Mana blasts tore through the soil, sending sparks flying. The hunters had arrived.
Three figures in white cloaks, their metal wands burning blue, circled the house. And in the center of it all, her mother stood barefoot in the mud, her white hair clinging to her face, her palms glowing gold.
Seren had never seen her mother use her power fully before.
It was terrifying — and beautiful.
Every time her mother lifted her hand, the earth itself rose. The rain hissed as it hit walls of fire and waves of soil that moved like water. The hunters fired in return — sharp beams of artificial mana that cracked through the air, unnatural and cold.
Seren's fear turned to anger.
They came for her.
They came for them.
She reached for the small wooden charm around her neck — a pendant shaped like a root, the first focus her mother had ever made her craft. She closed her eyes and whispered, "By root and rain, by breath and flame — guide me."
The ground trembled under her feet.
The mana inside her veins stirred awake.
When Seren opened her eyes, the world was alive.
She ran straight into the chaos. One of the hunters turned, aiming his wand — too slow. The earth beneath him burst open, swallowing his leg in mud. His spell fired wild, searing the air where she'd been a heartbeat before.
Her mother spun around, her eyes widening in shock.
"Seren?!"
The shout cracked through the storm, laced with terror.
"I told you to run! To find the Root!"
Seren stumbled closer, her breath ragged. "I couldn't leave you! You said the Root endures — that means us! You're my root, Mother!"
Her mother's expression flickered — anger, then pain, then fierce, wild love. "Foolish girl," she breathed, tears mixing with the rain. "You always were like the earth — stubborn and bound."
A blast of mana fire ripped through the air, interrupting her words. She turned, raising her arm. The soil surged up into a barrier of stone, sparks dancing across its surface.
"Stay behind me!" she ordered.
Seren clenched her fists. "No. You said witches protect. So let me protect you too!"
Her mother hesitated — just for a heartbeat — and in that pause, something ancient and powerful passed between them.
She nodded once. "Then listen."
They moved together. Her mother's hands traced patterns through the air, and Seren mirrored her. The rhythm was natural, like a song she'd always known but never sung aloud.
The rain thickened. The air pulsed. The storm bent to their will.
"Now," her mother whispered. "Call the wind."
Seren inhaled deeply, the air cold in her lungs. When she exhaled, the gust exploded outward, sweeping across the clearing and throwing two hunters off balance. Her mother's hands flared with light — and the soil beneath them erupted, roots snaring their arms, twisting tight.
Another hunter broke free, aiming at Seren.
Her mother shouted, "Stone shield!"
Seren slammed her palm to the earth — the ground answered.
A wall of rock rose before her just as the mana beam struck, deflecting it into the sky.
The blast echoed across the valley.
Seren's heart pounded wildly — fear, adrenaline, magic.
It felt right.
Her mother moved beside her, cloak torn, eyes fierce. "You feel it now, don't you?" she said. "The world isn't a tool, Seren. It's a friend. Ask — don't command."
Seren nodded, focusing on the rhythm she felt under her palms.
The heartbeat of the earth.
Another flash of blue light cut through the rain. Seren turned her hand — the water itself lifted from the puddles, swirling into a thin blade of shimmering liquid. It darted forward, slicing through the hunter's wand and sending it flying. The man cried out, his mana stone burning out in a burst of smoke.
Silence followed — except for the rain.
Only one hunter remained.
He stumbled back, face pale with disbelief. "You're supposed to be extinct," he hissed. "Witches can't—"
Her mother raised her hand. "You're wrong."
The ground split beneath him, and the earth swallowed him whole.
Then it was over.
Seren fell to her knees, shaking. The glow faded from her veins.
Her mother knelt beside her, brushing the wet hair from her face.
"Why, my foolish root, did you come back?" she whispered, voice trembling now that the danger had passed.
Seren's eyes filled with tears. "Because I couldn't find the Root without you."
Her mother smiled sadly and pressed her forehead to her daughter's.
"Then we'll find it together."
The rain softened.
The forest seemed to sigh in relief.
And as they walked away from the ruins of their home, the earth beneath them hummed — not with fear, but awakening.
The witches had survived.
And their story had just begun.