{AURORA'S POV}
My feet felt like they didn't belong to me anymore.
My entire body screamed in protest with every agonizing step I took. The sole of my feet was torn with raw blisters, blood crusting between my toes. The forest didn't care. It tore at me with brambles and jagged stone, indifferent to how much I bled. I didn't know how long I'd been walking. Hours? Days? Maybe I was already dead, wandering the edges of some godless place.
But when I stumbled into a small moss covered clearing, my legs buckled before I could stop them. I dropped to my knees. I couldn't even catch myself. I should've stood back up, but I didn't.
I couldn't.
Eventually night came and it got cold.
I was lost, afraid, tired, hungry and I had no idea where I was going.
That's when I heard it.
"Spread out! The witch couldn't have gotten far!"
I ducked low, my heart pounding against my ribs.
I dropped to the ground and crawled into a thick bush, pressing myself into the dirt. I covered my mouth with shaking hands.
"You think she's the one who did that to the others?"
"Does it matter? She's a witch. That's reason enough."
Boots crushed the soil nearby.
I squeezed my eyes shut and bit my tongue until I tasted blood.
It was silent for a moment before I heard one of them speak.
"Nothing here. Let's move on."
Only when their voices faded did I breathe again.
I crawled out slowly and ran as fast as I could without looking back. I ran and ran until the trees finally thinned and the forest opened into a clearing.
A crooked cottage stood at its center with smoke rising from the chimney.
I should've run. Should've turned and disappeared deeper into the woods but my legs were trembling. My throat hurt and my stomach was twisting in on itself.
I stepped toward the cottage and when I reached the door I stopped.
Should I knock? What if this is a trap? Why would a cottage even be here in the middle of nowhere?
Before I could decide, the door creaked open and I flinched back.
An older woman stood in the doorway, wrapped in black. Her grey streaked, brown hair shimmered in the dim light. Her amber eyes stared into mine.
"You're not very subtle, child," she said. "Come inside. You look like you're about to faint."
I hesitated. Can I really trust her?
"Who are you?" I asked, my voice hoarse.
"Someone who doesn't want to see you dead on her doorstep. Come inside. Now."
I followed. Mostly because I couldn't stand anymore.
The warmth hit me first, then the smell of herbs and simmering broth. Her home was cramped but tidy. Not a speck of dust in sight.
She handed me a cup.
"Drink."
I eyed her warily. "What is it?"
"Water, with a hint of sage and rosemary. It won't kill you."
I sniffed it. Then while watching her closely, I drank. It hit my throat like rain on dry soil. I drank it down so fast I choked.
She chuckled softly as I coughed. "Slow down, girl. It's okay, take your time."
I wiped my mouth. "Thank you," I muttered.
"No need," she said. "You've been through a lot."
My lip quivered. I hated how quickly the tears came.
"You have no idea…" I whispered.
She sat beside me, placing a hand lightly on my back. "What's your name, child? How old are you?"
"…Aurora," I said after a long pause. "I'm eighteen."
She smiled faintly. "Aurora. That's a beautiful name. I'm Rhea."
Her eyes flickered with power. I felt it, like a soft ripple in the air.
"You're a witch," I said.
"You say that like it's a curse."
"It feels like one," I snapped. "You don't know what I've done."
"I do," she said calmly. "I saw it all before it even happened."
My eyes widened with disbelief. "You what?!"
"I'm a clairvoyant witch. I saw you in my dream. I saw what happened to your family. I saw the chaos and destruction you rained down on your village.
I stared at her, anger starting to boil inside me. "Then why?! Why didn't you do anything to stop it?!"
"Because seeing and changing are not the same." Her voice didn't waver. "If I could save your sister and your parents… I would have."
Rage flared inside my chest. "So you just stood there and watched it happen?!" I screamed, tears blurring my gaze.
"I'm an old woman. I would've gotten myself killed. The threads of fate are cruel things, Aurora. Some things are just meant to happen, it's destiny. But something… something showed you to me in my dream. It called me out here for a reason."
"Don't talk to me about fate!" I hissed. "Fuck fate! I care that they're dead and I'm not! I care that my sister..." My voice broke and I turned away.
She waited, she didn't try to comfort me. Just let the silence stretch.
Finally, she said, "Your power is raw and untrained, but very strong. There's something blooming inside you. Something that can't be ignored."
"I never asked for any of this."
"None of us do," she said. "But you're not alone, Aurora. There's a sanctuary. A place for witches like us. We can help you control what's inside you. We can give you safety. A family."
"A family?" That word cracked something inside of me and I immediately shot up from my seat.
"Don't!" I warned, my voice shaking with every single word. "Don't ever say that word. I don't need a new family. I already had one and I liked them just fine before they were ripped away from me!"
Rhea stood too. "I'm not trying to replace them."
"Then stop acting like you are! I don't even know you and I am NOT going anywhere with you!"
Silence hung between us. We both sat down again.
She shifted closer and placed a hand on mine. Her amber eyes searched my face.
"I know you think I can't possibly understand. But I do," she said softly. "I've lost everything too, Aurora. My husband, my child… all slaughtered because I couldn't protect them."
Her voice wavered for the first time. "If I had known then what I know now—if I had learned how to truly wield my gift, maybe I could have kept them safe. Maybe I could have stopped it."
My throat tightened.
Rhea gave my hand a gentle squeeze. "You've already seen what your power can do, raw and uncontrolled. But imagine if you could harness it, sharpen it, make it your weapon instead of your curse. No witch hunter would ever make you feel powerless again."
Her words burrowed into me, deep and sharp, the way truth does when you don't want to hear it.
"You don't have to replace the family you lost," she whispered. "But you can learn to fight for their memory. You can make sure what happened to them never happens to you again."
I swallowed hard. My heart hammered against my ribs as the silence stretched. Slowly, I nodded.
"…Alright," I whispered. "I'll go."
Rhea smiled faintly, not triumphant, but relieved. She squeezed my hand once more, then reached forward, brushing a strand of my blonde hair from my cheek.
"Good," she said. "Get some sleep, Aurora. We leave at dawn."
—
Morning came faster than I expected.
I stood outside the cottage, hugging Mira's locket to my chest, fingers tightening around its edges. Rhea was a few steps ahead, arms stretched out before her, palms to the sky. Her lips moved like a whisper against the wind.
"Helio Magic–ka Mir'rua."
The cottage shivered. The air around it seemed to ripple like water disturbed, and then… it vanished.
"Wha—" My mouth dropped open. "How did you… Where did it go?"
Rhea smiled. "It's still there. Just hidden beyond our senses. Sight, scent, even touch."
I turned in a slow circle, eyes wide, trying to make sense of the spot where the cottage stood just seconds ago. Nothing but moss, dirt, and the gentle sway of morning mist remained.
"Hidden," I echoed, still staring at the empty space. "Not gone."
She glanced over her shoulder. "You'll learn tricks like this soon enough. It's saved witches like us more times than I can count."
Rhea stepped closer and extended her hand toward me. "Let's go," she said. "We have a long journey ahead of us."
I hesitated for a moment, staring at her hand.
"A place filled with people like me," I thought to myself. "Witches… survivors… outcasts."
I don't know what waited for me there, but I knew what I'd left behind, and I couldn't stay frozen in it anymore.
So I reached out and took her hand and we started our journey down the path together.
Towards hope.
Towards a sanctuary for witches.
{THORNE RHAEGOR'S POV}
I reined in my mount at the edge of the glade, my black warhorse snorting as it pawed at the earth.
"Hold," I commanded.
The rest of my unit, twelve men cloaked in the obsidian armor of The Severance, halted behind me in perfect formation. Their mounts shifted uneasily, reacting to the unnatural stillness that hung over the forest like a held breath.
I scanned the clearing. At first glance, there was nothing. Just trees, grass, and morning fog curling low along the ground. But beneath that stillness…
Something was wrong. I could feel it.
"Dismount," I ordered.
They obeyed without hesitation, boots crunching softly against the forest floor.
I dismounted last, landing silently.
I unsheathed my sword, drawing out the long obsidian blade, etched with faint red runes that pulsed like a heartbeat. The moment the blade cleared its sheath, the air around it shimmered.
The Null Blade.
Forged from arcanium and sensitive to magic. Hungrier than any sword I'd ever carried. It hummed in my grip, alive in its own right.
I moved forward slowly, careful with every step I took. The blade pulsed once, then again, faster this time. The rhythm matched my own heart.
Then the glade began to distort, like heat warping air above a flame. Trees twisted, shadows stretched, and the world bent.
And then it broke.
The illusion snapped with a sound like cracking glass. A cottage shimmered into view at the center of the glade. Its timbers crooked, shutters closed tight, smoke still curling from the chimney.
"Wards," I muttered. "She cloaked the entire structure."
One of my men stepped forward, his voice hushed with awe. "She was just here."
"Commander." Another soldier dropped to one knee near the front step. "Footprints."
I approached and crouched beside him, eyes fixed on the dirt.
I touched the edge of the disturbed earth. There were two sets of prints.
"Fresh," I said. "She hasn't been gone too long."
My hand hovered over the larger set. "Another witch."
I stood, sliding the Null Blade back into its sheath.
"She's not alone anymore."
Another soldier stepped closer, nodding toward the line of trees. "Tracks lead east. No attempt to cover them."
"Good," I said, narrowing my eyes. "They're tired. Desperate."
I turned sharply. "Mount up, now."
My men scrambled into motion. I swung back onto my steed last, my cloak snapping behind me as I settled into the saddle.
Raising a clenched fist, I drove my heels into the beast's side.
"Ride!" I commanded.
The forest trembled beneath us as we vanished into the trees, riding towards these cursed beings.