For him to live, a witch must die.
Driven out of his village for the curse he possesses, Tavor is alone. With nowhere else to go, he must venture into the Eylderfell to hunt down the witch who cursed him.
But the forest is dangerous, wild with magic...
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The sun had sunk beneath the horizons now, and their shadows were flung long and dark across the broken floor. Tavor braced himself for her fury.
The cat stepped forward. "Master," she mewed. She rubbed her head warmly against Nestani's legs. "It's so good to see you again!"
Nestani rubbed the cat's head, and for the first time, Tavor saw her smile.
"This is Tavor, from the village," the cat said. "We've brought him here to talk to you."
She looked up at Tavor and nodded encouragingly. Tavor glanced at Nestani, still worried she might take exception to his outburst. But she merely gazed back at him, as if waiting for him to speak.
He took a deep breath. "I...I want you to lift the curse you put on me."
She frowned. "You are mistaken. I don't deal in curses."
Her indifferent tone brought up a quick flash of anger. After all that, and she was just going to lie to his face? Pretend his suffering hadn't happened? Again, he was reminded how little people like him mattered to her.
"You seemed happy enough to create one for the Elder," he said.
"Yes. This was a special case. It was created to fulfil the terms of the contract. The Elder would give up its power for the period of ten years, in exchange for a piece of magic strong enough to break past the wards of the village. But that is the only curse I have done."
Tavor shook his head. "Seven years ago," he said. "I was playing in the fields outside the village. You were coming home and I bumped into you." He remembered the scene clear as day, even after all this time. "It was just an accident, but you got angry."
Nestani closed her eyes and nodded slowly. "Yes. I remember now. It was many years ago." A look of sadness crossed her face, just for a moment. "I made a mistake. You were just a child, but I lost my temper and reacted out of turn. I regret that. But it was just a spark of magic, to frighten you into leaving. There was no curse."
Tavor's fists clenched in frustration. "There was! Ever since then, I've had to deal with it. It comes up and I can't control it, and then I destroy things and hurt people—"
"Interesting." Nestani regarded him with an even look, no trace of emotion behind her eyes. Tavor looked back at her, unbelieving. Was that truly all she had to say?
Nestani reached a hand forward. Tavor jerked away from her touch, knife glinting in the dying sunlight.
"Don't touch me—"
She took his chin and tilted his head up to look her in the eyes. He felt cold magic thrum against his skin. Fear ran wild through his veins; not blind terror, as before, but enough to make his heart flutter and breaths race.
"I see," she said finally. "You are a mageling."
The crow nodded in quiet triumph. "Hm."
"I..." Tavor backed away, rubbing his chin. "W-what?"
