The Devil's Cursed Witch

Inside the city of the Wood Elf Clan,  High Elder Leeora was carefully wrapping a bundle of herbs, about to set out for the Netherfields. She was clad in a rare dignified brown robe, her white hair braided with tendrils and leaves, holding onto a long wooden staff with the symbol of 'Wood' in ancient elvish language written on the head.

Since the moment she woke up—no, in fact, since the moment she realized danger was about to befall someone she cherished, the elf had been worried about the arrival of this day.

Her vision, that ominous vision, she knew it would unfold on the day of mourning. She feared to see what was going to happen.

A vision of death, coming from a person of her level, never went wrong.

Who were they going to lose this time?

Was it truly Draven, the King of Agartha? Ember, was she going to—

Just like the High Elder of the Wood Elves, the Head of the Witches Cornelia Grimm was in a similar conflicted situation. She could not sleep for the past few nights, fearing what was to come.

Exhaustion could be seen on her face. Since the night she had that vision, every moment was dedicated to looking into divining the future, attempting to get more clues to prevent the disaster from striking.

She wore a long white dress which showed the identity of White Witches, her long red hair brushed back with the frontal part of her hair  pinned at the back of her head with the simple but elegant white jade hairpin.

Her apprentices, Silvia and Talia, stepped away to admire their master's appearance.

Seeing her immersed in her thoughts, Silvia could not help but ask, "Are you worried due to that vision, my lady?"

Though she was standing in front of the mirror, Cornelia was not taking note of her appearance. She was lost in her thoughts, her eyes simply staring blankly ahead without seeing anything.

She closed her eyes after hearing Silvia speak.

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"I hope today will come to pass without any strange occurrence, but given what I saw, I believe this is an impossible wish. Be prepared to respond for even the tiniest abnormalities. Report anything you notice to me."

"We will do our best. We have alerted the other sisters to keep watch," Silvia replied.

"The Seniors from the Spirit Circle are aware as well," Talia said, "Please be at ease, my lady."

Cornelia simply nodded. The two apprentice witches were also wearing elegant white dresses. In fact, the entire Honeyharbor Coven were going to be in white attire.

Inside the Spirit Circle.

"Maria, have you seen where that ill-tempered sister of yours is?" Glinda asked. "I knew there was a problem when she didn't join us for breakfast."

The two old women were ready to leave for the Netherfields, but Thala was nowhere to be found.

Maria shook her head. "I just went to her room to call her but she was not there. I searched everywhere, but I could not find her."

"This Thala…since the day Commander Morpheus visited her, she had been acting suspiciously. They are surely up to something," Glinda sighed. "Didn't I tell you to keep watch on your sister?"

"I…I was keeping an eye on her, but she managed to slip under my watch. You know it well how capable she is. Even though she had lost a big part of her powers, she's the type to look for alternative means as long in order to reach her goal."

"Did you find any clue in her workroom? Do you have an idea what the Commander commissioned her to do?"

"She left no traces at all."

"I understand," Glinda sighed once more. She felt like with each sigh, she was aging. "Oh, well. You are twins and you can connect to each other. Try using that to find where she is hiding. Don't tell me she locked herself behind—"

Maria looked helpless. "I already tried that as well, Glinda. That was the first thing I did but…"

"But what?"

"She had used an enchanted item to separate our connection…and…if she went to great lengths to block me from reaching her, that means that sister of mine is up to no good."

"We need to find her. Inform Cornelia, that child, to help out as well."

"Let's leave first. The coven must already have left for the Netherfield. We will meet Cornelia there and alert her."

In Millow Circle, the village of the Black Witches, Ursula entered their head's cottage where she found the old witch sitting quietly in her chair.

"Sister Zelda, it's time to leave," Ursula informed politely. "The villagers are waiting."

Zelda, who looked like a frozen statue, moved her head slowly up to peer at her subordinate with cloudy eyes. "Is it already time?"

Her gray eyes held sadness in them. She looked like a lost person who was not aware of what was going on, like she was inside a dream and didn't want to wake up.

It worried Ursula. "Sister Zelda, what happened? Why do you…?"

Zelda slowly stood up from her chair. Ursula felt like she had not seen their leader like this for many decades. For some reason, her heart ached just seeing the pain in her eyes.

"We should not be late," Zelda said as she dragged her aged body towards the door. The cane in her hand made tapping sounds on the wooden floor, causing Ursula to break away from her thoughts.

"A-Are you alright Sister Zelda?" Ursula followed behind her. "If you do not feel well, then I think others will understand if you opt out from attending the ritual."

"I am fine," she heard Zelda say in her usual hoarse voice, and the two were met by the rest of the villagers in front of the cottage.

Just like the other residents of Agartha, this small Black Witch village was also going to pay respect to the ones they had lost, fighting against their fellow sisters who chose to side with the enemies. It was the only day in the year the despised Black Witches could stand next to other clans and races, though their reputation was almost as bad as humans, thanks to the betrayal of the Black Witches in the past.