*A long time ago, on the Southern island of Quildon*

“Ian! Ian it happened! It finally happened!” Fin whooped as his feet stumbled under him. He recovered quickly and continued to rush to reach the boy who was only a year younger. Ian Morrison stood throwing rocks at a target the two boys had painted only a fortnight ago, but was quickly jumping up and down in excitement.

Ian’s bright blue eyes were full of wonder, and the anticipation in the air became overwhelming.

“Really?! What is it? What can do you?”

Fin huffed as he skidded to a halt in front of his best friend.

“I can make lightning, so I’m probably a fire witch! I blasted my dad off the island!” He beamed proudly as Ian’s eyes widened to the size of saucers.

“Really? Wasn’t he mad?” Ian asked nervously.

“Don’t know! He hasn’t come back! Isn’t this amazing?” Fin could’ve cried he felt so elated.

Gone were the days of cowering in the corner of their cold cottage. He would never fear watching helplessly as his mother was hurt over and over again. He had his magic! So what if it had taken him two weeks to recover from using it?

Then to make matters all the more perfect, his tutor was supposed to arrive sometime that week from the Coven. He would surely grow to be an even more powerful witch!

It was the best time of Fin’s life.

*

“Hm. Strange.” Stanley Goss’ eyes were milky as he stared down at the lanky redheaded boy clad in dirty worn clothes. Fin gazed up at Mr. Goss with burning expectancy.

‘What a pity.’ The Coven tutor thought to himself idly as he felt a pit of dissatisfaction appear in his mind.

“You’re a deficient witch.” He announced blinking away the milky swirls. He was immediately regretting volunteering to be the boy’s instructor. The tutor had truly hoped when he had heard that the boy was the son of Aidan Helmer, that he would have had greater power.

It was a great loss that the fire witch that had once been considered for a position within the counsel of Wittica, had fallen into some extremist ideology.

“You will call me Mr. Goss.” Turning his back on the boy who looked a mix of hurt and disappointed, he began to stroll towards the cottage doorway where Fin’s mother stood wringing her hands. The little boy remained rooted to the spot while his tutor pointedly ignored the child staring up at his thin black ponytail.

“Mr.Goss?”

The witch turned and stared down through his small spectacles with his eerie gray eyes vacant of emotion down at the boy. His sallow complexion with his deep frown lines looked waxy in the damp early April air.

“What is it Mr. Helmer?” The tutor questioned shifting his bulging black bag under his arm.

“What is my power?”

The awkward lad was fidgeting with his hands, making Mr. Goss frown.

“I cannot say until we run further tests. Deficient witches aren’t as easily categorized. Come along.”

Fin felt crestfallen, but did his best to cheer himself up. His mother was considered quite valuable even as a deficient witch, so who knew? Perhaps he wasn’t completely useless as his father had always said deficient witches were.

***

“It is good you have a keen mind in your studies Mr. Helmer, as I fear you will be quite futile in the area of magic.”

Fin stared dejectedly down at the muddy soil beneath his feet. He had once again failed to replicate the shield he had created the night his powers had emerged. They had been trying unsuccessfully for an entire month following Mr. Goss’ arrival, and nothing had happened.

Every other aspect of Fin’s studies at been going well; math, reading, writing, science, but magic continued to be problematic.

He would begin his work with Mr. Goss from sun up, and would labor well into the night despite his mother’s faint protests. Fin hadn’t been able to help at all with keeping the small cottage clean, or even cooking as he normally did. It only added to his guilt of being hopeless and lacking with magic. To make matters even more complicated, his mother had begun healing regular humans again to help them earn money and food. This meant she was often on the mainland for days at a time, and when she would return she would be left with an absolutely filthy cottage to tend to. Even though she was already exhausted from healing and traveling she didn’t complain once, but Fin knew she needed help.

Mr. Goss on the other hand appeared to be indifferent to the mess, as well as to the idea that he should help clean up after himself.

If it weren’t for his mother being an eyewitness to the shield he had created, the tutor was inclined to think that Fin had made the entire event up. He had even cast one of the restricted spells that only the close members of the Coven, and the esteemed instructors knew. It was a spell that identified the brand that occurred when a witch burned a significant amount of their powers. It was usually a symbol marked on a nearby object, but he found nothing of the sort anywhere in or around the small cottage with its rickety fence.

“We will work on trying to see if you have any other abilities aside from the one you claim. For starters-”

“Mr. Goss!” Katherine Ashowan was strolling across the soggy lawn towards them, a pinched expression on her face that Fin had never seen before.

As she exited the gate of their property and made her way over to where they stood, Fin could see her fidgeting with her hands. There was something bothering her.

“Perhaps let Fin have some rest. It’s possible his mind is overtaxed. You have been working with him far longer and harder than most tutors-”

“Witch Ashowan.” Mr. Goss interjected straightening to his full height. “We have been working to ensure we know what he is capable of, which is a very serious matter indeed. I prefer to rediscover what it is he did before he forgets.”

Fin was staring at the ground, his cheeks burning.

He didn’t need his mom coming to defend him- she’d only make it worse!

He didn’t see the facial expressions that passed between the adults, only heard his tutor sigh exasperatedly.

‘Dad would’ve just left me alone.’ Fin thought glumly.

Even if it meant he’d receive a more private beating, the boy knew he’d never face public humiliation that sullied his father’s name…

“Very well. You have thirty minutes until we resume.” Mr. Goss conceded with undisguised annoyance.

Fin was still embarrassed, but he held the tiniest bit of optimism that at the very least he could get to see and play with his best friend.

*

“Show us witch! C’mon! Ian says you can make lightning.” Liam Corway taunted as he kept shoving Fin’s best friend down to the ground and laughing. The slightly chubbier boy struggled to stand up over and over again to no avail.

“I can! Stop it!” Fin kept trying to help his friend, only Liam’s fraternal twin brother Wyatt was stopping him, and was pushing him further away.

The two brothers were amongst the twelve-child brood that was born between a Troivackian woman and the local Daxarian fisherman that had rescued her. Mrs. Corway had apparently been banished from her Kingdom, which involved being thrown overboard into the ocean on the border of Daxaria and Troivack.

It also meant that the mix-blooded children were prone to be larger than their peers. Their dark hair and eyes would watch gleefully over the ‘weaker’ Daxarian kind. Their mother was colorful in her description of her new nationality when their Papa was gone on his boat.

“Well let’s see it then! Unless you made it up.” Wyatt taunted as Fin tried ramming his shoulder into his opposition’s chest without success. It didn’t help that they were two years older to begin with.

“I didn’t!” Fin’s feet had begun slipping in the thick grass. It was then he saw one of the rock’s he and Ian had been using to throw at their target on the ground to his left. Without a second thought, he immediately ducked and picked it up. Wyatt immediately fell over at suddenly pushing against a being that was no longer there.

Fin threw the stone at the back of Liam’s head without any thought as to what would come afterwards, only knowing he wanted them to go away.

His aim was true, and the boy swung around looking thoroughly enraged and unaffected by the strike.

“RUN FIN!” The terror in Ian’s voice had the young witch sprinting away as fast as he legs would carry him.

The redhead dashed up the steep hill towards his cottage. He could hear the Corway brothers hot on his heels, but luckily he had the advantage over the boys who lived on the lower side of the island. Due to his legs being used to bracing against an incline, he had no trouble setting a respectable pace up the slope. Fin could hear them huffing as he ran higher and higher up towards his home, and sent a prayer to the Goddess that his tutor and mother were still standing in the front yard.

As he broke out over the peak of the hill, his heart sank when he saw that Mr. Goss and his mother were nowhere in sight.

With a final burst of speed, Fin barreled through the gate towards the front door of his house as tears began to rise in his eyes. The Corway brothers were catching up to him quickly now that the ground had leveled out.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this again…

Unbeknownst to him, Fin’s eyes had begun to glow.

“Just ‘cause you’re home doesn’t mean you’re safe!” Liam, the bigger of the twins grabbed Fin’s shoulder as he set his foot on the threshold.

As they swung him around, they laughed at the tears running down his face. They taunted him until Fin raised his eyes, and they saw the bright blue lightning that glowed there. The door behind the young witch opened, but he didn’t hear it.

“LEAVE ME ALONE!” Fin screamed, and suddenly the two boys saw nothing but a flash of blue light. Next thing they knew, they were winded on their backs beyond the gate of the small cottage.

“Finlay!”

The redhead remained stoic yet determined with his fists clenched and shaking at his sides. He slowly turned towards his mother in response to her call. Mr. Goss stood beside her with an unreadable expression.

Fin’s eyes had cleared of the lightning, and he suddenly felt quite tired.

“T-They started it. They kept pushing Ian a-and-”

“I will hear about this later. Go sleep.” His mother’s strict and firm tone startled him. He hadn’t ever seen his mother angry before, and he didn’t understand why he needed to sleep in the middle of the day…

Fin didn’t bother to argue. Seeing that there wasn’t any use in it, the young witch hunched his shoulders, and walked to his room.

Katherine rushed out to the two boys that lay gasping on their backs beyond the gate. She had been the one to deliver them ten years ago, and she did not want to be the one to tell their mother that Fin was the one to kill them.

Both boys seemed fine aside from having bruised backsides, which she fixed with a small pat of their shoulders.

‘At the very least that ruddy tutor better stop saying Fin is deficient.’ She thought bitterly to herself.

*

When Fin awoke, he groggily stepped out into the main room of his cottage to discover that he was in fact alone. The dirty dishes were stacked on the table, the floors covered in dust, the hearth cold.

There were pangs of hunger in his stomach, and no sign of Mr. Goss either.

Slowly, he reached for the broom with its bristles held together with red twine. His mother had finished it after his father had disappeared while sitting at her son’s bedside.

Fin began sweeping. Once he had deposited the dirt outside, he grabbed the pail used for cleaning dishes, and headed out to the overly full rain barrell.

Once the pail was heavy with water, he returned and faced the catastrophic dishes and table. He lifted a stack of plates, and was about to lower them into the water, when a small instinct told him to stop.

A strange new tiny voice in him, told him to boil the water first.

Glancing at the tiny bit of soap left atop the hearth, Fin tried to ignore the voice, but when he did his stomach tightened into knots.

With a long sigh, he turned to the cold hearth. He couldn’t seem to find the flint anywhere.

Glancing around the room, he finally spotted it atop a blanket his mother had been mending on her rocking chair. Fin began to walk towards the chair, his hand reaching for the stone, when it flew into his hand.

He blinked.

Had he imagined it?

Shaking his head and dismissing what he thought he saw, Fin turned to the hearth. He walked over, placed the dry kindling atop the ashes, then one of the last split logs of pine they had. He struck the flint once, only it didn’t spark.

He let out a frustrated sigh. He felt achy, chilled, hungry… he just wanted the stupid fire to start!

The log burst into flames.

Leaping back startled, Fin watched as the fireplace crackled merrily with wide eyes.

Cautiously, he turned to the pail of water and dumped it into the empty cauldron that hung over the flames

Glancing around the room, his mind was still sluggish from sleep, but a slow unmistakable feeling was growing within him. Some kind of bond between everything in his home...

Every item seemed to understand and want to please him, even though they were just…. Objects. He could feel their entities shiver as he grew aware of them and their relationship.

‘This feels weird. But maybe…’

Fin pointed at the blanket on the rocking chair.

The heavy cream wool immediately obeyed his silent order, rising into the air and folding itself messily. It landed in its new form on the seat of the chair just as the witch had willed it to.

Fin was trembling fiercely as he walked over and inspected the blanket.

It was folded the exact same way he would’ve done it.

A small spark of hope rose in him. He had been essentially unconscious the two weeks after his powers came forward. Then his tutor had come and he hadn’t had any time alone, or much time in the cottage at all.

Perhaps he needed to recharge away from people?

He began to fidget as he cast a new eye around his home.

Turning around, Fin eyes rested on the faded green curtains that were partially drawn over the window. With a small jerk of his head, they all spread apart and allowed the faint cloudy light of day pour in.

The boy grinned.

Looking over his shoulder at his open bedroom door, he saw his messy bed. Fin threw up his arm, pointed his finger, and cheered. The blankets had sprang into action immediately, tucking and pulling themselves until his bed was perfectly made.

It was then that his tutor walked through the door with his mother, both carrying armloads of firewood.

“I have magic!” Fin was beside himself with excitement as tears of joy threatened to spill over. Mr. Goss began to open his mouth, when the boy cut him off.

“Look!”

Fin pointed at the plates on the table, and had one of the piles float over to the cauldron. The dishes carefully eased their way into the slowly warming water one by one until some of the water spilled over into the flames that hissed in response.

“Mr. Helmer we-” Mr. Goss began, his tone its usual level of bland. Fin once again cut him off, and had the firewood the two adults carried drift out of their arms. The logs levitated over to its designated spot beside the hearth, where they neatly stacked themselves.

When it was finished, Fin turned proudly with his hands on his hips to stare at his audience.

“Well Mr. Helmer, I think I might have an idea as to what your abilities are.” Mr. Goss sighed. “I have only heard about this kind of deficient witchcraft once before. Given what I have just witnessed however, I think you may be a house witch.”

The unenthused response made Fin’s smile dim as he looked to his mother who was staring daggers at the tutor.

“W-what… What is a house witch?”

“You are capable of performing magic around the home, and only around the home. You are completely useless outside of your property. Given that we have always been outside of the gate when practicing magic, it would explain why you have failed every test.”

Fin felt his newfound hope sink through his stomach down through the floor. The fire in the hearth suddenly fizzled out, and he felt his throat constricting as he tried not to cry from disappointment.

“Mr. Goss, there is no need to describe my son as ‘useless’, in any circumstance. Even if he isn’t able to use his abilities outside of our home, he is still a smart, kind, courageous boy.” Kate had her hands on her hips as she tried to hide her shaking over her newfound gumption.

“Forgive me Mrs. Ashowan, I merely meant on a magical level he is redundant outside of this home. It is dangerous to give him a false sense of confidence in that regard. Should Mr. Helmer attempt to bite of more than he could chew, it could have dangerous consequences. Like today for instance, with those two Neanderthal boys.”

The tutor turned to Fin as his mother’s cheeks burned.

“I’m sure you will be an upstanding citizen. You could become the head of housekeeping for a wealthy Lord, or perhaps a wonderful kitchen aide.”

Fin didn’t want to hear more, he was already wiping away tears when he ran to his room, his bedroom door slamming shut behind him on its own accord.

Suffice it to say, the first year of Mr. Goss’ tutelage buried a sharp thorn in Fin’s heart. The following ten years weren’t much better.