The Taming of a Beast

Chapter 2

Woosh! Crack!

"Ahhh! It hurts!"

Pain flared upon her calves as the whip slashed down upon the tender flesh, leaving red marks upon the broken skin.

"No, please, Father, help!"

But even as she protested, the whip only slashed down again. Her younger brother cried out as he tried to help, but the servants held him back.

She cried out again as the blacksnake leather whip twitched down once more. Struggling to get free, she flailed out, only for the whip to lash out even harder. Her vision blurred as she seemed to lapsed into unconsciousness from the unbearable pain.

When the pain finally subdued, she managed to pick herself up. But she wasn't the only one lying on the floor.

"F-father?"

*************

Evelina gasped out as she woke up in a sweat. She was greeted not with the stone ceiling of her childhood bedroom but of the wooden ceiling in the cottage she currently resided in.

The witch sighed, brushing the long black hair out of her face. She had thought that time had passed enough for her nightmares to subside. Apparently not, Evelina wryly thought.

"Meowr?"

A black cat nimbly jumped onto the bed, looking at her questioningly.

"I'm alright, Eclipse. It was nothing. I probably stayed up a little too late last night."

The cat narrowed her amber eyes as they met Evelina's rosy-pink eyes, the signature trait of a witch. Eclipse clearly didn't believe the witch's words as her whiskers twitched. Witches' cats were knowledgeable like that, and Eclipse was prouder and more temperamental than most.

"Heh, nothing escapes your eyes." Evelina scratched the underside of Eclipse's chin. "But I'll be fine. I promise. Let's go and have breakfast, okay? We've got the whole day ahead of us."

Evelina soon started her day with straightening out the cottage. With a wave of her hand, the blanket and sheets straightened themselves on the bed while the pillows automatically plumped themselves up.

Unlike elemental mages who produced their own mana naturally, witches could only manipulate mana from a mana source. Such sources could be from the surrounding environment or a mana stone that could store mana. This was why Evelina chose to live in the Forest of Illusions.

The Forest of Illusions contained thin amounts of mana in the air, but was able to sustain many magical plants and creatures. The structure of the forest itself often changed, as sections of the forest moved by itself. Furthermore, as the name suggested, the magical forest produced many illusions due to its natural mana, often leading to the tragic death of any careless traveler that dared to venture inside. As a result, few people entered from the small villages scattered outside the borders of the forest, which was just what Evelina wanted.

Witches were not as revered as mages usually were, especially after the Great Magical War between the witches and the mages who had fought for dominance in the magical hierarchy three hundreds of years ago. While the war eventually ended in a draw, the number of witches had been so reduced, the mages quickly took prominence, especially in the royal courts who had supported the mages. Rumors about witches soon spread, such as they ate babies for eternal youth, seduced men before eating their hearts, and drank the blood of virgins for beauty which in turn stained witches' eyes pink.

And so to avoid persecution, the few witches left secluded themselves in areas that had sources of natural mana, and even those sources of mana were diminishing just like the Forest of Illusions was. Still, a few like Evelina managed to eke out a living, producing magical healing potions that were sold to villagers who were tolerant to witches or were desperate for cures.