"i’m afraid to talk about what’s happening to me. it feels like if i turn around, everyone will disappear."
i say it quietly. the tall grass hides my gaze, aimed somewhere above, far beyond the clouds. i look, but i don’t see. i don’t know what i should be looking at - but definitely not at her.
she watches me as if i'm confessing a broken bone. in her blue eyes - a sad, stormy shimmer and a spark of care.
i don’t want to be cared for.
“do you want me to show you?” her voice is timid.
Aemora knows i’ve long wanted to see the shape of my soul. from a witch who could see beyond our masks, i expected something else entirely - but here it is.
she reaches out her hands to me. and I’m scared - if i touch her, i’ll learn something about myself i’d rather never know.
her fingers are cold and her skin is soft - a sharp contrast to my own: small cuts, roughened palms from working in the shop.
in an instant, azure light appears around us - flowing, curling, drifting like a ribbon fallen from the sky. magic slips into me, straight into my heart.
and then… a raven appears.
from the air, the outline of a bird shapes itself, sitting on my knees, staring far into the distance. only-
“he can’t fly,” the witch mouths quietly.
a joke from fate for a witch who will never leave this island.
muted silence breaks against the sound of waves crashing against the cliffs.