The Familiars of the Lost Witch (ONC 2024)

Prologue

The clock struck midnight as she appeared before him.

Never trust a witch. Don't anger her. Never give her a reason to curse you.  This was as much a rule as it was a warning.
A lesson learned through a price paid by his great-grandfather passed down to his grandfather and father to him.

This warning was now echoing in his head when he realised what she was or rather who. A witch. The towns witch he swore himself to avoid at all cost. What kind of curse would she put on him for what he did? Which curse could be worse than the one resting on his shoulders because his ancestor got on the wrong side of a witch?

"I have a job for you." His pulse was beating so loud in his ears and his thoughts racing, he couldn't hear her clearly. At least there was no way she had said what he thought. After a moment of silence she repeated the question more slowly. He didn't mishear.

Since realizing who she was, he didn't dare look at here and only stared blindly at the cobblestones of the streets beneath their feet. But now curiosity got the better of him, again, and he lifted his head to look properly at her. The moonlight illuminated her face and her eyes seemed to shine like a cat's. A shiver ran down his spine.

He was sure she was waiting for an answer, but not knowing how to respond he just kept staring at her. After some time, it could have been the blink of an eye or an eternity, the witch added: "Of course I'm not asking you to do it for free. If you want money I can pay you a fair amount. I can even lift a curse if you want that."

Like lightning her words struck his very core and his breath got stuck in his throat. Lift a curse. Does she know?  There was a chance she wouldn't even remember him after turning his back to her, like everyone else, but there was also a chance that she...

He didn't even dare finish the thought, refusing to get his hopes up. However, hope was a cruel thing, always crawling back up, never quite dying. Still, could he even refuse her request, even if he wanted to? Refusing would surely anger her and she could curse him right there and then.

There was only one possible answer to give. "What do I have to do?"

- - - 

A few hours ago

The evening sun was casting long shadows on the marketplace. People were shoving each other, street vendors praising their goods and coins wandering from one hand to another.

Hidden in the shadows of a building leaned a boy observing the crowd and waiting for a chance. A chance to fill his grumbling stomach. With only the streets of Jericho to call his home and no family to care for him, he had to take care of himself.

It had been days since he had a proper meal, but today he would feast like a king, he thought to himself. Because today the biggest market of the month took place and it was his lucky day.

In hindsight he wouldn't think of it as luck, more like a cruel joke made by fate that lead to their first encounter. However, it wasn't bad luck either, he had to admit, at least he wouldn't be hungry for awhile.

His eye caught a woman carelessly letting go of her wallet and putting it on a table to count coins in her hand. Not missing this perfect opportunity he sneaked up on her like a living shadow and snatched it away before someone could realise what was happening.

Running as fast as the wind and vanishing like a ghost in a dark alleyway, he stopped only when he couldn't hear the bustling of the market anymore. No one was following him, as always.

His heartbeat was racing from the run and the anticipation of opening the heavy wallet. He let himself slide to the ground leaning against a wall and dreaming about the things he could buy with the money. Of course he could simply steal whatever he pleased, but some things weren't as easy to get his hands on and it felt better to buy something like everyone else.

Carefully opening the wallet like a treasure chest, he saw... nothing. At second glance it wasn't entirely empty, but not a single coin was in it. Only a little piece of paper.

That was why the woman was counting her coins and left her wallet alone, it was all the money she had. Frustrated he tossed the wallet away and covered his face with his hands. At the time he thought to himself, that he had the worst luck ever.

Still, he couldn't just leave the wallet there and so he picked it back up. It was light. Wasn't it heavy before or was that his imagination? He looked inside again, but there was only the piece of paper.

Following a strange pull he took the paper out. In the last light of the sun he could see something written on it. It took him some attempts to decipher it, reading had never been his strong point and living on the streets he seldom needed to. But something told him that this was important.

Meet me at the clock tower at midnight. I have a ... interested in. Bring my wallet with you.

He wasn't sure what the middle part meant or if this note was left for him - she couldn't have known he would steal it, right? - but curiosity let his skin prickle. 

---

Unbeknownst to him she had observed him for some time now. The boy who was more like a young man, tall but not very strong build.

She was sure he would be the right choice as he ran away with her wallet. They would meet again very soon.

___

word count chapter/in total: 1007 words

Finally, the beginning is out! It took me long enough to write that. x'D

So here you have a few infos about the "mysterious boy", what do you think about him?

If you see any grammatical erros or wrong spelling, please comment it! I'm not perfect and only want to improve myself. ; )

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it! ^^