Cloudbreakers: White Fire - Prologue

Only darkness greeted young Elena's eyes as soon as she opened the door of her home in that small village. She came back from her book shopping with her neighbor's help and at the moment, she wanted to get to her room and read them.

Of course, she still had to help her mother with the house chores and also the ones related to their store. It was their business, after all. Not to mention, she and her mom could only rely on each other. It had been that way for as long as she could remember.

But this particular night felt different. It appeared that no one was inside the house when she entered, if she was to base it on the fact that the lights were off. Elena considered it weird since she knew her mother should have closed the store earlier than usual that day and would've been at home already.

"Mom?" she called out, thinking that her mom could be somewhere in the house, dozing off.

Or was she fooling herself? Her mother doesn't do such, especially when Elena hadn't arrived yet.

Once again, she called out to her mother. Only silence greeted her. As much as she hated it, that silence made her heart pound faster in her chest than they should. She kept clenching her fist as she roamed her eyes in frantic.

Where could her mother be?

With a ragged sigh, Elena ran towards the stairs leading to the second floor. Her mother could be in her room resting. But even if she was saying that to herself, her heart screamed that something was wrong.

It had been a while since she felt that way. Then again, it was a long time ago. And it was when she discovered something about herself that changed her for good.

"Come on, Lena. This is no time to be afraid." But even if she would continue to scold herself, she knew it couldn't be helped.

This was the first time that a foreboding feeling had invaded her. Something bad might happen if she didn't act now and save her mom from getting hurt.

So Elena hurried towards her mom's bedroom as fast as possible. When she reached the door, she took a deep breath before opening it. She knew better than anyone that when she was scared or uneasy, it often led to her making stupid decisions.

Her hands were slightly shaking but she managed to open the door without making any sound. With her heart beating so violently it almost seemed to make its way out of her rib cage, she slowly stepped forward until she saw her mother lying motionless on her bed.

Her skin was as pale as paper. Her clothes and even the apron she wore while working at the store were covered in blood, with it spilling had stained the bed.

"Mom... Mom!"

But a lump formed in Elena's throat after trying to call out her mother. She knew she shouldn't be there nor look at what lay next to her mother, but curiosity got the best of her and she turned towards her mother's body.

She gasped. The sight that met her eyes made her scream. A hand holding a knife fell beside her mother and now looked at her with a creepy grin.

"Well... what do we have here?" the man hissed and pulled the knife he plunged next to her mother. "I never thought Lady Mina has a beautiful daughter."

Elena's legs failed her and she collapsed to the ground, unable to breathe and stare in horror at the person standing before her.

He was a tall guy, probably not much older than twenty years old, and his facial features reminded her of those who had visited her grandfather in England when she was little.

"Now tell me... How should I kill you?" the stranger asked and crouched down in front of her. His face was twisted in a hideous smile. The knife he held between two fingers made Elena want to scream and flee, but she was too paralyzed. "Tell me!"

He raised the knife higher. 'He must be really hungry for blood,' Elena thought. But she mustn't falter or completely give in to her fear at this point. Her mother surely wouldn't want her to die.

She knew what her mother wanted. All this time... even when her father disappeared in their lives...

It didn't take long before she noticed the change in the stranger's look at her. His face soon contorted, as if grimacing.

'Then he must have noticed the change in my thoughts... and the things that I needed to do. I can't die here. I can't let him kill me,' Elena thought. 'My father wouldn't want me to sacrifice myself like that, as well... right?'

"Tell me how I should kill you," the man said as he stood up. He approached her, raising his knife above his head. "Do you want a nice, quick death or shall I put you through more suffering?"

'No. No, no.' As if she'd want that. But before she could even utter anything, her gaze fell on her hand. She frowned at the sight of it slightly glowing and... getting surrounded in small white fire.

'What in the world?' Elena wondered. Even if she couldn't see the light of the fire clearly, she could feel the heat from it.
The man stopped moving and stared at her. The smile disappeared from his face.

"You're a witch, aren't you?" He sounded uncertain.

Noticing his reaction made Elena relax just a bit. 'Of course. He didn't know my mother has me as a daughter, so he would never know about this, as well.'

With that thought, Elena stood up and the man somehow took a few steps back.

"What are you?" she heard him ask again. "A demon, perhaps?"

"You'll never find out that by looking at me," Elena replied quietly, not daring to let her voice shake.

The man laughed mockingly. "Don't you think I will try to kill you anyway? Maybe I'll torture you first and then end you! The same way I ended your wretched mother's life!"

"My mother is not wretched!" she screamed. And before she knew it, the small white fire on her hand intensified, indicating the anger that flared up even more for this man who badmouthed and killed her mother. "The wretched one here is you."

"How come I didn't know about this? No one told me that Lady Mina gave birth to a Power Caster."

For a moment, the man looked stunned. However, he quickly regained his composure and took a step forward. "I'm going to kill you right now. You won't survive it. If you surrender now, I'll spare your life."

Elena clenched her fists. She could feel a burning sensation traveling across her palm because of this strange power that flared up. She still couldn't understand why her mother was killed.

And he would even address her mother as Lady? Was there something that her mother wasn't telling her all this time? Even so, she did mention that she ran away from home... because of her father.

"No." She shook her head and took another step closer to him, her gaze fixated on him. She didn't care how dangerous it was to move this close to a powerful man like him, not now. Right now, the only thing that mattered was to protect herself... just as her now dead mother would want her to do.

The killer now showed her a creepy grin and laughed hysterically, as if he found her words and actions fascinating. Second later, he glared at her and brandished the bloodied knife that she knew now was used to kill her mother.

"Now you asked for it..." he growled and charged towards her.

His movement caught her by surprise, causing Elena to stumble backwards. But when he rushed past her, he suddenly stumbled, tripping over himself. He stumbled back, barely managing to regain balance, but by doing so left his back exposed to her.

That was her chance.

The white fire blazing on her hand intensified and with one move, she shoved her blazing hand on the back of the killer hard and pushed him hard. The fire then started spreading on the man's body fast, like he was covered in fuel. He fell on the ground with a loud thud, letting the knife fall to the floor.

"Stop..." he mumbled while clutching the pain. "Please stop."

Elena watched as he struggled to sit up, but to no avail. Soon, he stopped moving and laid still on the floor with his body twisted unnaturally. She gasped as she saw black smoke emerging from the burning body.

She saw that kind of smoke once before --- on the day her mother told her that she inherited her paternal relatives' hidden ability. The ability to possess and control white fire.

But the white fire that burnt the man... didn't seem to be the type that would create or leave any burnt smell around. Then again, she could tell. It was enough to burn the man who killed her mother. So this could only mean one thing: this fire she possessed was something else entirely.

As the realization sank into her mind, Elena took a few steps back and looked on wide eyed as the black smoke grew stronger. In only seconds, the smoke had grown so thick that she could no longer see the man or even the floor where he had been lying.

As she continued watching, the black smoke spread faster and thicker, turning into a thick black cloud which began to surround the room. After several seconds, the smoke dispersed completely leaving nothing behind except her mother's lifeless body.

When Elena looked at the body, she felt her heart clench and her stomach turn.

"Mom..." she whispered in agony as the realization sank in. Her mother was gone. She was left alone now. Without knowing what to do, she started crying, her tears rolling down her cheeks.

She sobbed harder and harder, feeling helpless. Now she realized that her mother had always known about this ability, even though she had tried to hide her condition from her ever since she learned of it.

"I'm sorry, Mom. I'm sorry... I couldn't protect you. I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." she uttered, still sobbing at the reality that no one would be there for her now.