Heavy snow swirled around them in the grey, foggy atmosphere as they trudged through the forest. Aj-Sha hugged her coat closer to her as they followed an all to familiar path, her face holding an somber expression uncharacteristic to her. This way flooded her mind with memories of the past.
She bit her lip anxiously and tried to focus only on the sound of her crunching footsteps and ignore the faint feeling of blood on her hands and face. When Aj-Sha had left this shelter she had left her secret with it. Now that she was returning it was too. She shivered and took a deep breath, the hot air flowing a frosty white through her slightly parted lips.
She rolled her shoulders, readjusting her backpack full of her personal wares and looked up at her eight (in a way) siblings. Aj-Sha could remember clearly the day they were formed and given life. Child-sized and dumped in the middle of nowhere, naive and surging with immense power. They had no knowledge of how to control it and no one to teach them. She scowled under her breath as she remembered how they learned the hard way that mortals would give no help either, and they weren't to pleased with those who were different. She still flinched expecting the searing pain of licking flames whenever she heard the word "witch." They may be immortal but that didn't mean they didn't feel pain.
They were driven out by mobs and that's why they made this shelter. If no one was going to help them they were going to learn to survive themselves. And they did.
They all stopped outside the invisible barrier further hiding their home from the outside world. It was they only present they had received from their supposed father. Small, faint glows of their colors that only they could see marked its edge. Aj-Sha swallowed and gathered herself, knowing whaat was to come with crossing it. She reached out and pushed her hand through, wincing as she watched it turn from human to one that belonged to her true form. The barrier hid their home but they could not hide from themselves inside.
She clenched her jaw and took another deep breath through clenched teeth, closing her eyes, she moved the rest of herself inside. She gasped and coughed as power surged through her at a rapid rate. Her nails dug into the ground and her tail flicked back and forth as she waited out the pain. Her eyes flared and blue energy poured out of her mouth creating a pool around her. As well as taking away the power to change their form it also temporarily magnified their power beyond control instantly. And it was not fun. Such a sudden release of so much power would leave a lesser being dead. It felt like a bomb going of in every inch of her body.
After about 30 seconds the pain started to die and Aj-Sha's control returned. She panted heavily as she fought to regain her breath.
She looked at those around her, "You know dears, even when we did that every day I never got used to it."