The Devil's Cursed Witch

Warm sunlight leisurely had spread across the grassy field, causing the tall stalks of grass swaying along with the gentle wind to shine with a golden tinge, making the flatland give out a pleasant, surreal atmosphere.

A woman with beautiful mahogany hair was walking slowly in the middle of the field, her long hair braided with threads of real gold slowly moving along with the warm breeze. She was clad in a simple white dress that perfectly fitted her delicate-looking body, its long flowy skirt brushing along the ground with each step she took. Not just the field, even the woman herself shone like gold under the rays of the sun, making her look like a divine angel

The slender body dressed in white turned around and stopped in place. Lips the natural colour of rose, emerald green eyes that sparkled like gems, a small delicate face framed by locks of wavy mahogany hair falling on either side of her face, she looked like the most beautiful woman in existence.

Despite standing in the middle of the field, faintly glowing red runes surrounded her body, floating like halos of light, as if they were part of her existence. One could not deny the sacredness the woman seemed to emit despite her modest attire. 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝒆𝘸𝚎𝙗𝒏oν𝙚𝘭.𝐜𝒐m

However, rather than the dignity, one should expect from someone like her, her emerald green eyes brightened with child-like happiness as she saw someone she was waiting for.

“Raven!”

She called the name of the one she was looking at and then turned around to keep walking forward, expecting that person to come follow after her.

After walking a few steps, the wind picked up in strength and messed up her long hair. She used her hands and held her long hair at the back of her neck, moving them to one side in front of her left shoulder, and afterwards, she continued her leisurely walk.

There was a strange glowing mark on the back of her neck, seemingly neither a birthmark nor an inked tattoo. It was orange in colour with a tinge of red, resembling the symbol of fire. It was obviously not an ordinary mark, as with each passing second, the brightness of that mark flickered as if it would soon turn into a real fire.

An ominous atmosphere suddenly descended, causing the bright day to darken and turn gloomy. Thick dark clouds covered the sun and the rest of the sky, and the wind blew wildly as if a huge thunderstorm was brewing. From a distance, flashes of lightning fell from the sky.

It was as if the scene of paradise turned into hell.

The woman turned around once more to look at the person behind her, but this time, the beautiful smile on her face was gone. Tears were streaming down her face, her expression filled with heart-wrenching sadness. Her trembling lips once again called that name.

“Raven—”

Before she could say the rest of her words, the fire from that mark on the back of her neck engulfed her entirety, and as if awaiting that spark, the world burned after. Everything disappeared into nothingness, and there were only roaring flames covering the land and the sky.

Draven woke up from his sleep in fright. He sat up in bed, breathing heavily as if he himself could still taste the smoke from that fire. He tried to swallow but felt his throat was dry. As he put his hand over his racing heart, he realized that his entire body was covered in a cold sweat.

‘What is this dream?’

He moved his hands through his damp hair. ‘I never had this dream before. It was the same woman. This time, I saw her clearly. But what is the meaning of this dream?’

Sighing helplessly, Draven stepped out of the bed. He knew nothing about this dream and could not predict anything. He walked towards the window of his room and stared at the dark sky outside. The night sky was filled with stars, and somehow, he was able to calm himself after staring at them for a while. He reached out his hand towards something from his right and a glass filled with water flew towards his hand, something that was taken by his power from the wooden table nearby.

He had a sip of water and thought, ‘Who is Raven? I didn’t hear it wrong. She clearly said Raven. Who was the one she was looking at?’

He emptied the glass of water.

‘That mark on the back of her neck, why does it feel so familiar? It’s like I have seen it before. It’s like I had touched it before. A mark that resembles fire…’

So many questions but no answers. However, he felt that although he was still grasping at straws, he had found a new lead now. In this dream, he had seen those eyes when they carried happiness as well as sadness. He recalled how vivid those green eyes were, and he could not be mistaken.

‘Those are the same eyes as that human creature’s.’

Draven remembered the human girl’s eyes. When she was interacting with those elf kids, he witnessed how her eyes carried a tinge of happiness, and after he saved her from falling down the cliff, he remembered how those teary eyes looked back when he was stitching her wound close. His intuition was telling him that it was no coincidence that the woman in his dream and this human girl had the same eyes.

As if everything changed but the eyes remained the same.

‘If there is any relationship between these two, is it possible that this human also had that mark of fire on her body? I need to verify it.’

All this time, the long hair of that girl was covering her nape and he never got to see it.

‘I should go and personally verify its existence myself. Anyways, it’s been a week since I visited there. There is no news from Leeora; it means that thing is still alive. I wonder if she is dying or managed to recover well even without the potion. Such a tough soul.’

He looked at the sky and it was almost dawn. The sun would be out soon, and most elves wake up as soon as the sun rises, believing it’s a blessing to greet the first rays of the sun every day. Since the city would be bustling with life soon, it was not the best time to go to that human.

Due to the issue of her stay, the council members had unanimously requested an urgent meeting in the palace. It was scheduled to be held on the next day, and he knew how things would probably proceed. Before that, he needed to make a decision to keep that human.