They feared me. My powers grew by the day, by the hour. But ancient legends said that there was only two ways to be rid of a witch. Fire, or drowning.

So naturally they concluded that the only way to be sure was drown me in fire. But not just any fire would do for me. No, they had to chuck me into the Ancient Heart, the God-Volcano, the lair of the Fire that Shapes the World.

Well, technically they did try the drowning thing with a regular lake once. It evaporated.

They never did try anything simple after that, no friendly bonfires, no burning at the stake. Not even a lesser volcano. Nope, escalating straight from ‘evaporated one lake’ to ‘chuck her in the Ancient Heart.’

I tried to tell them it was stupid. My power controlled fire.

Unfortunately, my attempts to save myself didn’t work. They may not have realized I was bluffing, but they did listen to their mythic Lore-Reader, and he said that no witch ever cast into Ancient Heart could survive its purifying flame. That no matter my power over lesser flame, nothing short of a goddess could twist the God-Volcano to her will.

In case you’re wondering, no, I’m not secretly a goddess. I wish. Then I could have overwhelmed their witch-hunter stupid shackles and unleashed fiery death on those who dared oppose my will.

They stood around and held a whole ceremony and everything. Lots of praying, lots of reading out my ‘crimes’ (hint, none were crimes, they were just ‘she lost control of her power and set fire to a bucket once’ or the like) and then the least ceremonious chucking of my person into a volcano that I’ve ever imagined.

Really. No walking me slowly to the edge, no holding me over their heads and hurling me far from them. Nope, just drop-shove, done.

I had a long way to fall, plenty of time to think up some dramatic comeback or last-breath curse. But I wasn’t a real witch, just someone who happened to be born with uncontrollable flame powers. I wouldn’t know a true curse from a bedtime story.

So I fell in silence, and if they all braced themselves for my death-curse, they waited in vain.

I landed in the magma with a faint splash, then sank slowly as the weight of the enchanted shackles dragged me down. I could see through it, faintly, like through murky water. Heat pressed against my arms and neck and legs, and I looked down to see the magewrought steel finally twisting and melting in the inexorable heat with a sort of detached curiosity. Then the chains were gone, as though they’d never been, just part of the endless pool now.

“Hey. Nice to finally have some company.”

I spun around. A middle-aged man swam toward me, his form vague and indistinct through the murky magma.

“Who are you?”

He said a word, or I think it was a word, maybe it was life itself, or the entirety of the universe.

“Oh,” I said, feeling rather faint. “Also, how are we talking? We’re underwater. . . er, undermagma?”

“Naturally. You can go up if you prefer, but it’s so cold out there. Before you leave, though, I had a proposal for you.”

“Oh?” I stopped trying to control the conversation. I was clearly out of my depth.

“Yes. I need someone to gather the Eight Ancient Blades and bring them to me. Can you spearhead the operation? I’ve been waiting rather a long time. You don’t need to rush or anything, but just make sure it happens sometime in the next eight generations or so.”

“Sure. No problem. Also, how am I alive?”

“Because I need you to gather the Eight Ancient Blades. I did just mention that.”

“Right. So, how do I get out?”

“There’s a service elevator over there. Goes right to the top. You’ll be behind the big purple-glowing stalagmite pillar in the entry chamber. Feel free to drop in if you need someplace to rest between blades.”

“I’ll. . . do that. Thanks.”

I dazedly swam over to the elevator, which turned out to be an upward-rising shaft of light and heat, which indeed deposited me exactly behind the sinister pillar in the entryway.

I walked out of the cave, clothed in flame, and was slightly disappointed to see that everyone was going home without me.

Wait, they wanted to kill me. That’s the whole reason we were out here. I can’t go home.

I considered for a long time. It might seem just to chase after them, give them a scare, maybe show off a bit, but I really wasn’t a witch. In the end, they were free of me, and I was free of them, so we had no further business with each other. My mother was dead, my cousins hated me. There was nothing for me there.

I turned and walked in the opposite direction down the other side of the volcano, playing with my unruly flames, taking the first steps in what would become a lifelong journey.