She sleeps in front of him. Amneal regrets lying to her once again. She was so against the death of another. These things came naturally to him.

  He felt no particular feelings behind this. To watch another collapse in front of him…lifeless…it did nothing to him. Amneal had done this for so long…being so young when he started…his magic had always been used for this…

  Thinking back to when he met Niavi, Amneal was five years younger. She was barely twenty at this time, leaving Amneal in his mid-twenties. But their meeting wasn’t all sunshine and flowers. No.

  ***

  {Amneal}

  It was nightfall. The moon was full in the sky. I was surrounded by other witches. A particular request was placed on me. This had been the third time this year that a faction of witches had come for me. Though this would be the final attempt. I had lived my life picking up odd jobs until this point. Drifting from region to region, as I had already made a bad name for myself amongst other witches.

  I was known as the Witch Of The Mist. I killed and vanished. Those were the odd jobs. I was just good at it. These guys thought they were better.

  I’m sorry. Four guys and two women. These women were sisters. I learned this during the encounter.

  The six of them each got an angle. They kept out of reaching range. The townsfolk remained in the house, ignoring the loud confrontation they heard outside. No one came out to help me. To vouch for me. And I didn’t need anyone to.

  According to the talkative one out the bunch, they had been following me for two villages. I didn’t care. Live or die, I asked him what took him so long to make a move. Why now? He had no answer for me.

  A simple grin is all he gave me. I shot him first. My reputation must have been something they tuned out. Or maybe they chose what they wanted to listen to. Maybe their so-called leader of the bunch overhyped them. He was the first one to go down. Or so I thought.

  On his way to the ground with a near instant bow and arrow summoning, their leader shot a simple energy ball at me. Or at least, it appeared as an energy ball. I relied on off pure instincts, refusing to take any chances.

  After dodging the last-minute attack, I leaped into the air, nearly flying at this point. I then shot another lightning arrow into his body. The first one was by accident towards his torso. This second shot came from above as he lied on his back, drilling straight through the center of his chest. I saw the reaction to death in his face. He was done.

  His team moved in right after this. And as I came back to the ground, there it was. The trap that their leader set out for me.

  The energy ball that I had already avoided, came back to haunt me already. The green ball of mana turned into a humanoid target. A shaping of a human man, with radiating green energy over its body. It bore wings and a shield. And a sword. It gave off a similar impression to the leader I had killed. Til this day, I still believe this was the leader. Like he had shed his skin somehow, knowing I was going to attempt to kill him.

  This had to be some sort of defense mechanism. My first attack was shown to be worthless, believing I had given myself a slight advantage.

  Magic skating backwards over the ground, I made sure to avoid the energy-based creature that was now focused on me. I kept out of its range, as it relentlessly rushed me, attempting to make contact with its sword. Every now and again, I would shoot a quickly fired arrow or two. His shield was the real deal. Not a single arrow got through.

  The allies of this thing took this time to attack me as well. Their attacks were coordinated.

  One of the men came in raining forward a series of spikes from his palms. I held the speed advantage, weaving in and out of most of them. I even swerved further out the way, jumping backwards into a strong leap. This only placed me in position of another target.

  Suddenly I couldn’t move. There was a cold numbing pain that rose from my shoulder, quickly spreading throughout the rest of my right side. I saw it. A cut along my shoulder – must’ve been from the spikes. I guess I hadn’t dodged them all like I figured.

  This cold numbness left me on a single knee. The other target charged me with an ally approaching along the other side. I quickly shifted an enormous amount of mana to the left side of my body, slowing down whatever magical paralysis that was going on from the cut I suffered. I was able to reverse it right after.

  All within this tiny window of time, I gained the feeling back in my left side. My left arm was the first thing able to properly move. Quickly, I slammed my palm into the ground. With a quick enchantment, an enormous shrift of blinding light erupted. This stopped everything around me. This bout me enough time.

  My mana overcame the effect of whatever was attacking my body from the inside, allowing me complete free roam again. I took this opportunity of my opponents not being able to see into consideration. No. More like I took complete advantage.

  I was faster than these guys. I showcased this. Moving at higher speeds than usual, I began to magic skate through the crowd. Making my way to the two opponents that were both charging at me, I pressed my palm against both of their chests. I released the same magical energy I would through my bow – summoning two strings of lightning that blew through both of their chest as their bodies now flew back. They were done.

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  I had to keep going. The light was quickly fading. And whatever that walking pile of physical manifestation of mana was, would surely be coming after me once the blinding enchantment was over. I gave further treatment to my enemies.

  Summoning my bow again, I magic skated out of the radius of the large spell, seeing the two women on the outside with their backs to me. I instantly shot one through the back, making a chunk of her spine the target as it winded up being her lower back that now had a hole in it. She managed a quick scream before she could no longer speak. The other woman screamed to the sound of her voice, referring to her as ‘sister.’

  The light began to vanish, and just as she turned around to look my way, with anger in vengeance in her eyes, a line of red lightning pierced through her forehead. She was gone before she could collapse. That was four down.

  Just as I predicted, the humanoid mana creation made its way to me. I magic skated backwards, attempting to keep out of its range as I shot shards of red lightning at it. What didn’t hit the ground, bounced off its shield and went elsewhere. It rode the air with its body barely away from the ground. Nothing of pureness came with this. This thing seemed relentless.

  I had one more thing that I could consider. One more move that I could have in mind. Though it was obvious that it was simply a distraction for its remaining ally who had slithered around somewhere undetected. I had something for him as well.

  Closing my eyes to concentrate my mana, I suddenly stopped in mid skate. As expected, the mana humanoid struck through me with its blade. Or so it thought it did.

  My spell worked, replacing myself with a clone as I quickly shed completely out of the clone’s back. The fake me quickly transformed into a series of chained that acted on their own, aggressively wrapping themselves around the attacker. A perfect trap if I didn’t so say myself.

  The brute was now trapped in place, its entire body wrapped up as the ends of the chain nailed themselves to the ground. He was stuck in an upright position.

  The creature struggled for it to be released. These chains proved themselves for the time being. Though I knew my window was short, I took aim and concentrated as much as I could. This drew out the hidden opponent.

  He was coming at rapid speed – maybe to save the one I had captured. He hadn’t known that this was also part of my plan.

  As anticipated, he unveiled himself, erupting from underneath the ground behind me. He knew not to place himself in front of my bow.

  Just as he believed he had me, I had him. The lightning I had been concentrating, struck from above. I faked him out with the bow being aimed at his partner.

  This lightning attack was fierce, slamming into him hard enough to knock him against the ground as he suffered the wrath of the electricity itself. This attack was ruthless, cracking the ground from the amount of pressure the lightning bestowed upon him. This attack wasn’t about piercing, like my other attacks had been.

  The man fried behind me, with me now stepping out of the way as a strong surge jolted from the body of the surprise attacker, and into the chained target in front of me. But unlike his ally, it didn’t strike his entire body. It shot straight for his face, with pressure that exerted that of a supernatural water hose. This damn thing was gonna die, even if I had to…

  The attack stopped. The creature dispersed into particles. The entire platoon had been wiped out. I was beyond exhausted at this point, as I remained at the center of the deceased bodies. I was through.

  No. I couldn’t be. I quickly shifted around to the feeling of another witches’ presence. My bow in hand, I took aim. There she was.

  I knew nothing of Niavi at the time, therefore, I was ready to kill her. She looked stunning in the moonlight’s glow, bringing hesitation in my thought process. I began to overthink.

  It was clear she was a witch – she held no look of fear in her eyes as she stared me down with this emotionless face. To shut my brain up, I asked her if she was with the ‘others.’ The ones that laid rest around us. She assured me she wasn’t, adding that I killed so carelessly. I corrected her.

  I her that I killed with precision, and that out of all of them, only one of them made me have to shoot them more than once. She rolls her eyes to this.

  Niavi tells me that she didn’t mean it like that, but referring more so that I killed without a care for those opposing factors’ lives. I lowered my bow and asked her who she was. Niavi almost doesn’t do it but gives up her name.

  ***

  Back to the present day, Amneal kisses the back of Niavi’s head as usual. Soon afterward, he is seen going to sleep.

  ***

  The morning comes shortly after. Amneal’s eyes already start to flicker. He can account for about three hours of sleep. This was a partner for him, as he didn’t want to allow his mana to ease too much while he is asleep, depriving Niavi of the constant supply of mana she needed to be functional, or better yet, slow down the curse.

  His eyes reveal an empty space in front of him, where his wife once laid. However, none of the lights in their cabin are on. Not the kitchen. Not the front room. And not the bathroom.

  Even with the sunlight breaking through the blinds in their home, Niavi held a habit of turning on lights wherever she went. Something was certainly wrong.

  A noise alerts Amneal, raising his body up as he looks further over the bed. He sees her. Niavi is struggling to get off their bedroom floor, as if she had fallen, trying to get out of bed. But why hadn’t he heard her? Had he slept that hard that the whereabouts of his wife was diminished to his mind and ears?

  Amneal often woke the moment he felt Niavi move too many times in bed. This was unsettling to him.

  He rushes out of their bed, hurrying to the floor with her. The first words that come out of his mouth take the form of a question, asking her what happened. She tells him that she is unsure. One moment she was on her way to the bathroom and the next she suddenly lost the strength within her legs.

  Amneal asks her if she remembers having any symptoms occur. She tells him no. This brings nothing short of confusion to him.

  Further examining her, Niavi doesn’t have a cough, and she doesn’t look pale. She looks like her normal self. Amneal lifts her off the floor, carrying her to the bathroom.

  While she is on the other side of the bathroom door, Amneal focuses on the one thing he can do…give her more mana. Instead of fifty-fifty, he cranks it up to forty-seventy, making sure Niavi comes out on top. Still unsure how, Amneal feels like the curse somehow has something to do with this. He feeds it more.

  Upon hearing the toilet flush, he hears the sink cut on. This seems to do the trick.

  Niavi opens the bathroom door shortly after, showing that she is once again standing on her own. He’s fixed her for the time being.

  Amneal informs her that she scared him, going in for a hug as he says these words. But just as he takes his own step forward, a sudden weakness overcomes him. A serious wave of fatigue, forcing everything to run black to the center of his vision before…he passes out.