The Night She Was Stolen
1004 Words
The night Elantra was born, the moon disappeared.
Not behind clouds.
It simply vanished.
The village elders would later argue about what happened that night. Some blamed the storm. Others claimed they had seen strange lights moving between the trees.
But everyone agreed on one thing.
Something was wrong.
At the very edge of the village, a young woman screamed inside a small wooden house.
“Please... I can't do this anymore.”
Her husband held her hand tightly.
“You can. Just breathe.”
“I can't.”
“You can.”
Another scream tore through the room.
The midwife hurried toward the bed.
“Push!”
The woman cried out, gripping her husband's hand so hard that her fingernails dug into his skin.
Then—
A baby's cry filled the room.
Everyone froze.
The storm outside seemed to stop.
The midwife slowly lifted the newborn into her arms.
For several seconds, she simply stared.
The baby's eyes were open.
Wide.
Unusually calm.
The midwife swallowed.
“What is it?” the father asked.
She quickly looked away.
“Nothing.”
He frowned.
“You're frightened.”
“I said it's nothing.”
The baby began crying again.
The mother immediately reached out.
“Give her to me.”
The midwife hesitated before placing the child into her arms.
The woman pulled her daughter against her chest.
“My baby.”
Her husband sat beside her, tears gathering in his eyes.
“She’s beautiful.”
The mother smiled weakly.
“What should we call her?”
He looked at his wife.
“You choose.”
She looked down at the tiny face sleeping against her chest.
“Elantra.”
The moment she spoke the name, the candle beside the bed went out.
Then another.
Then another.
The room fell into darkness.
The father stood.
“Did you feel that?”
“Feel what?”
A cold wind slipped through the room.
The baby suddenly stopped crying.
The mother looked toward the window.
Someone was standing outside.
She could see the silhouette through the curtains.
A tall figure.
Watching them.
Her breathing stopped.
“Someone is outside.”
Her husband turned.
“What?”
“Don't open the door.”
Three knocks echoed through the house.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
The father stared at the door.
Nobody spoke.
Then came another three knocks.
The midwife stepped backward.
“We need to leave.”
The father looked at her.
“Why?”
The woman didn't answer.
Instead, she looked at the baby.
And that was when the mother understood.
“They came for her.”
Her husband turned pale.
“Who?”
Before she could answer, the door burst open.
Several figures stood outside.
They wore long dark robes, their faces hidden beneath deep hoods.
The father grabbed a nearby wooden chair.
“Stay away from my family.”
One of the figures stepped forward.
“We aren't here to hurt you.”
“Then leave.”
The stranger looked past him.
Straight at the baby.
“We only came for the child.”
The mother's arms tightened around Elantra.
“No.”
The stranger sighed.
“We were hoping you would make this easier.”
The father lunged forward.
The room erupted into chaos.
The mother screamed.
The midwife ran.
And the candles suddenly burst back to life.
For one brief second, the entire room was illuminated.
The mother saw the symbol carved into the stranger's cloak.
A black circle surrounded by three curved lines.
She had seen that symbol once before.
In an old book her grandmother had hidden beneath the floorboards.
Her blood ran cold.
The coven.
“No...” she whispered.
The stranger reached toward the baby.
The mother turned away, protecting Elantra with her body.
“Please.”
The stranger stopped.
“You don't understand.”
“She's my daughter.”
“I know.”
“Then leave her alone!”
The stranger's expression changed.
Almost sadly.
“She was never meant to remain here.”
The mother stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
But the stranger said nothing.
A sharp pain suddenly struck the mother's head.
The room blurred.
The last thing she saw was her husband falling to the floor.
Then darkness.
When she opened her eyes again, morning had arrived.
The storm was gone.
The house was silent.
Too silent.
She tried to sit up.
“Where is my husband?”
No answer.
Her heart began racing.
“Elantra?”
Nothing.
She looked toward the crib.
Empty.
“No.”
She stumbled out of bed.
“Elantra!”
She searched the room.
Nothing.
She ran outside.
Her bare feet hit the cold ground as she screamed her daughter's name.
“Elantra!”
Only the trees answered.
Far beyond the village, deep inside the forest, a woman walked along a narrow path.
A baby was sleeping peacefully in her arms.
Elantra.
The woman looked down at her.
“You're safe now.”
The baby opened her eyes.
The woman smiled.
“Your old life is over.”
Behind her, several cloaked figures followed silently.
One of them asked,
“Does she know who the child is?”
“No.”
“When will you tell her?”
The woman looked at the baby for a long moment.
“When she's old enough.”
“And if she asks about her parents?”
The woman continued walking.
“Then we give her the only answer she needs.”
“What answer?”
The woman smiled.
“That they abandoned her.”
The forest swallowed them.
And somewhere behind them, a mother was still searching for the daughter who had been stolen from her.
She didn't know where Elantra was.
She didn't know why the coven wanted her.
And she certainly didn't know that the child she had just lost would one day become one of the most feared witches in the world.
But for now, Elantra was only a baby.
And her real story had just begun.
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