Hundreds of grief-stricken souls gathered in the coliseum. The king was dead, slain in yesterday’s war with the Romans. His broad casket sat alone on an island of stone, surrounded by his mourning kingdom. Asphodel covered the tomb, the white petals creating a blanket of snow.
Each person held a single red candle. They circled around their king’s tomb, encompassing him in a shield of morose spirits. Some wept inconsolably, some stared emptily into the small flames. They were lost. With no remaining heirs to the Greek throne, the peoples’ hopes lie dead in the casket.

The incense of the candles created a hazy fog, engulfing the crowd. It smelled of the almond trees that prospered in their lands. Little drops of moisture came first. Then as if Zeus opened the floodgates above, streams of water fell from the heavens, swamping the earth and extinguishing the flames. Dark, angry storm clouds drooped lower to the ground, threatening to squash the people below.

Hushed whispers became murmurs, then scared voices, and finally terrified screams. “The flood is here!” the crowd sang in unison. Pandemonium broke loose. People fled in all different directions.

Women lay trampled on the gravel floor of the coliseum. Frightened children mulled around the chaos, calling for their mothers. Distraught husbands searched in fear for their families.

When the turmoil ceased, one could see the remnants of the funeral. A single red candle remained lit, leaning against the casket. Around it, broken bodies sprinkled the ground, tattered white robes and faces frozen in their last moments of terror.

A small dirty face appeared around a pillar. Bright green eyes shone through the soot-covered skin. Her hair was the color of the dandelions that grew in the Forbidden Forest, just like her fathers. Trembling, she stepped out from behind the pillar, her safe haven during the storm.
Thana, daughter of the fallen king, choked in fear. Her eyes flooded with tears as she took in the repulsive scene. A sea of blackened corpses lay before her. Soul-crushing reality set in. Thana had never felt so completely alone.

She broke from her frozen state and began to shuffle down to the courtyard. Crawling over the mangled bodies of her people, she made it to her father’s casket. Thana noticed the still-lit candle, gathered it in her shaking hands, and scrambled up onto the tomb. She made herself nest in the asphodel and began to weep. She wept for the mother she lost before walking age, she wept for her father that had just been ripped from her arms, and she wept for her kingdom that was lost to the storm. Thana prayed to the Gods to spare her from life ahead and strike her dead where she sat. They did not answer.

Her grief turned to anger. Shouting curse words she had heard her father use when his temper flared, she swept the flowers off the casket, white petals landing amongst the corpses. Thana banged her fists on the tomb’s wooden roof. In the midst of her tantrum, she lost her balance and stumbled to the floor; the candle flew from her grasp and skittered away.

She lay spread-eagled on the marble steps below. A cold dry hand touched her shoulder.

“Hello, child.”

Thana turned to face the voice. Before her was an elderly woman she had never seen in the village before. Her gray hair wrapped around her skinny ankles. She wore a moldy brown dress that reminded Thana of the rucksacks the villagers used to carry their wheat home from the market. The woman’s teeth were putrid yellow and crooked. Her eyes were like small black coals Thana had seen in the Greek mines.
Thana stood.

“Who are you?” she asked.

The old woman replied in her raspy voice, “I am Mageia, I have come to help you.” Thana was a stubborn child; her father said she shared the quality with her mother. “I do not need help.”

“Indeed, child, you do.”

Thana knew the woman was right, she looked shyly at her feet.

Mageia grabbed her hand, “Come girl.” Thana walked behind Mageia, noticing the way she limped with her right leg. As they came to the front gates of the coliseum, Thana turned around for one last look, took a deep breath, and continued through the gates.

Thana followed the woman for a long time. They walked from the coliseum down the old stone road, Thana remembered all the times she had rode down this street in a chariot alongside her father. She sighed in longing.

“You know, child, wishing for the past will only do you harm.” Thana looked at Mageia in shock, had she just read her mind? Before she could question the woman, they turned down a dirt road that led straight into the Forbidden Forest. Thana stopped.

“We are going in there?” she squeaked. That forest is dangerous. Last spring, Greek soldiers were sent there and they were never heard from or seen again. There were rumors that a dark force resided in the forest and fed on the despair of the living.

“Why yes, child. It’s where I live.” Mageia started forward down the path. Nervously, Thana followed and the two soon disappeared behind a wall of green. They marched through the brush, there was no path, but the old woman seemed to know where she was going. Soon they came upon a small shack.

“Here we are,” Mageia said with a toothy grin.

The roof was made of thick wooden branches from the almond trees. It was crafted beautifully, as if it was done by magic. The walls were an aging white stone with sickly green moss growing in the corners. There was one small circular window, like the portholes from the ships that docked in the harbor.

Mageia led Thana through the wooden thatch door. Thana’s jaw dropped. Animal hides of every kind and color lined one wall. Completed skeletons of fish and birds filled a row of shelves. There wasn’t a clear space in sight, every surface had something on display. Beads and ribbons hung from the rafters. The floor was covered by a black bear fur rug. Odd paintings of women with fish tails dotted another wall. The most disturbing sight to Thana was the large bookshelf at the back of the room. Each cubby held something slightly off-putting. There were vials of teeth, human and animal, cow tongues, lizard feet, geese eyes, and rattlers from the tails of snakes. There were crates labeled Dead Man’s Toe and Baby Skin. Thana looked at the old woman with uncertainty.

“Stay here,” Mageia said as she disappeared behind a dingy purple curtain. She came back with a large iron cauldron as black as night. Mageia lifted it up onto the table next to the shelves. She gathered a few things from the shelves that Thana couldn’t identify. When she was done, she spoke.

“Thana, daughter of fallen King Exusius, tell me what has burdened you.”

Thana shifted on her heels and stammered, “My dad is gone, and a storm killed the entire kingdom when they came to his funeral.” Mageia looked Thana in the eye, her dark black pupils chilled Thana to the bone.

“How did you survive the storm?” she asked.

Thana replied, “I hid behind the pillar.” Mageia looked amused.

Then she asked, “You are all alone now. What if I told you there was a way to make things right again?” Thana stood a little straighter.

“Mageia, tell me what you mean.”

She lifted her hands and said, “With your help, I can undo what has been done.” A spark lit in Thana’s heart. The thought of hugging her father again lifted her spirit.

“You can bring everyone back?” she asked excitedly.

“Yes,” replied Mageia. Thana giggled cheerfully.

Mageia smiled, “What I ask of you is not much. When I call upon you, come forth to my cauldron and give up what you value most.” Thana immediately touched the emerald she wore around her neck on a silver chain. Her mother had given it to her as an infant, and she hadn’t taken it off since. It was her prized possession. She would have to let it go, for her father and for her people.
“I will do what you ask.”

“Let us begin.” Mageia emptied the contents of her vials into the cauldron. She began to stir the potion while enchanting words Thana had never heard.

“Now, child.” Thana stepped closer and removed her necklace. She brought it to her lips for one last kiss, and threw it into the cauldron. A blue smoke erupted from the brew.

“It is done,” Mageia smiled wickedly, “Run back to the coliseum, you will see that all has been restored.” Thana thanked her and ran out of the shack. She ran through the forest and back down the dirt path. Breathing wildly, she turned on to the stone road and didn’t stop until she could see the coliseum in the distance. She could already feel her father’s smile warming her face. Out of breath and completely exhausted, Thana burst through the front gates. The old woman kept her word.

Her father stood, tall and proud, amongst his people, elated to be reunited with them again.

“Father! Father!” Thana sprinted through the crowd and embraced her father.

“Thana, my dear, I love you so much. How has this happened?”

Thana began to tell him the events that had taken place since his demise, “I was here and an old woman told me she could help. I went to her shack in the forest and put my necklace in her cauldron. She said she would undo what had been done.”

King Exusius’ smile faded. “My daughter, I feel that what you have done is most unwise. I know who you speak of. Mageia the Forest Witch. She has tricked you, my brave daughter. Yes, you brought us back, but you will pay the price.”

“Daddy’s right.”

Thana knew that voice. She turned to face the Forest Witch. “When you put your
necklace in the cauldron, you became my property. You sold your youthful soul to me, so I can become beautiful again. You are a foolish girl. I will take what is mine,” croaked Mageia.

Fear pierced Thana’s body, “Please, father. Don’t let her take me!”


King Exusius hugged her tightly, “I am sorry Thana. Her bond is solid as stone. I cannot save you.” Thana cried in pain and clung to her father’s side. King Exusius pulled his daughter into his arms. Mageia reached out to grab Thana, yanking her by the hair, pulling her away from her father.

She sucked Thana’s breath from her body, drinking it in. Thana became limp and fell forward. White light surrounded Mageia, lifting her above the ground and spinning her in circles. When it disappeared, a young beautiful woman emerged. When she spoke, it sounded as if multiple voices were coming out of her mouth saying the same words.

The woman said, “I am your new ruler, Thangeia.”