“Excuse me sir, I need you to move. The hour is late and everybody has gone home hours ago.” The library’s curator gently nudged the snoring wizard who had surrounded himself with stacks of books. “Sir!”, he said in a raised voice. The wizard waved his hand in front of him mumbling strange words, then suddenly opened his eyes. “Huh, what…” He looked around in confusion. “Oh sorry, I must have fallen asleep.” The curator looked slightly annoyed. “I guess so, it seems like a very good explanation indeed”, he mocked the wizard. The wizard looked at the piles of books around him. “Can you put these back for me? I should probably head home.” The curator sighed, “Yes, you probably should finally head home.” The wizard stood up, took his staff and wearily made his way to the door. “Goodnight Ryan, thanks for your patience”, the wizard mumbled. Ryan sarcastically responded, “Good morning to you too sir.”

The dark of night was already retreating from the cities commoners district and the palace’s majestic towers gleamed in the morning sunlight as the wizard walked home. “Good morning Graxar, care for some bread?” Graxar waved off the baker who was holding a freshly baked loaf of bread. He walked past the smithy straight to his home. His wife Arlinda was just coming down the stairs as he opened the front door.

“Did you find anything dear?”, she inquired. Graxar shrugged, “No, not tonight I’m afraid.” Arlinda lay her hand against his cheek. “You will find a way love, someday.” Graxar sat down in the living room disappointed with himself. Arlinda sat down next to him holding his hand. She felt like crying but held back her tears. “One day I will give you a child. I don’t know what is wrong with me, but I’m sure you will find a solution.” Graxar noticed her sadness and pulled her close. “There is nothing wrong with you. I also hope we will find a way love, it is my deepest wish to have a daughter or son of our own.” His words were kind, but could no longer comfort Arlinda. Too long she had tried to get pregnant, never had there been any result. She secretly had abandoned hope and was willing to try anything to fulfill Graxar’s deepest desire. “I will take matters into my own hands”, she thought while caressing Graxar’ hair. The next day Graxar came home from another fruitless search for a resolution. He was convinced he could not find one here in the Jewel of the North. Therefore he had decided to travel to Amala, the city of magic. He hated to be away from home for so long, but really saw no other option, and decided to tell Arlinda of his plan before the day was over.

That night as they were getting ready for bed, Graxar looked at his beautiful Arlinda undressing while he was sitting on the edge of their bed. Her long blond hair and blue eyes captivated him, still leaving him breathless after all these years they spent together. Arlinda turned around, facing the mirror as she let her dress flow down to the floor. Graxar observed her calm and controlled movements as she combed her hair. The light of the torch caressed her thighs and perfectly curved back. Arlinda saw him looking at her body in the mirror, then softly started singing and swaying her hips. She looked provocatively at Graxar over her shoulder, turning her torso just enough to reveal the curvature of her breast. She trailed her hand along her thigh to her breast, softly squeezing her nipple. Graxar couldn’t keep his eyes off of her as she slowly stepped towards him while playing with her boobs. “You are so beautiful”, Graxar said. “I know”, she teased noticing his erect manhood. Graxar lay down on the bed, his feet hanging over the side. She looked at his body, the small shadows that accentuated his abs and his well-developed pectorals were a lust to her eyes. His dark hair shone in the torchlight as he entranced her with a mysterious look. Graxar put his hands behind his head as his cock was pulsating in anticipation of what was about to happen. Arlinda slowly bent forward and let her soft breasts gently slide up his legs and along his cock as she crawled onto the bed towards her lover. She pushed herself against Graxar’ muscular body, and started kissing him passionately. Graxar shuddered as he felt her moist slit caress his cock. Arlinda moved up and down a few times and moaned softly as her clitoris rubbed against Graxar’ manhood. Graxar embraced her and angled his pelvis, gently sliding his rod inside her. Arlinda started moving up and down, letting his cock almost slide out, then slowly arched her back allowing him to penetrate her deeper with each stroke. They kissed as Graxar let his hands slide sensually along Arlinda’s soft skin, holding her by the waist. A gentle breeze from the open window flowed along Arlinda’s back intensifying Graxar’ caress. The rhythm of their movements increased as Arlinda put her hands on Graxar’ firm chest for purchase. Arlinda saw her lovers’ muscles tense each time she sank his cock inside her, Graxar bending his head back and his hands clutching the sheets in lust. He watched her breasts bouncing erotically in front of him as Arlinda threw back her steep blond hair moaning ever louder. Graxar pulled her body against his, lifting his hips up by putting his feet on the edge of the bed. He tensed his muscles as he thrust his dick faster and faster inside. Arlinda moaned heavily as she could sense her lover was almost ready to climax. She knew exactly how to push him over that edge and nibbled his earlobe. Graxar moaned in ecstasy as he could not hold back any longer. Arlinda felt his throbbing cock inside her ready to finish. She sat up and grabbed her breasts pinching her nipples pushing herself over the edge. She felt the muscles in her vagina contracting as she and Graxar climaxed together. Arlinda slowly kept moving up and down sending ripples through her entire body. They both shivered as the effects of their climax slowly faded. Graxar pulled the blanket over his love to keep her warm as they lay on top of each other, unwilling to end their intimate embrace.

They lay side by side on the bed, gazing at the dancing shadows on the ceiling. Graxar took Arlinda’s hand. “I will travel to Amala tomorrow my love. I know I’m not welcome there, but if I explain I’m sure the council will understand. If there is a solution for your or my infertility, the best chance of finding it is in the great libraries of the magic city.” Arlinda rolled on her side, wrapping he arms around Graxar’ body and kissing him on the cheek. “Thank you dear, I know how you hate visiting that place. Will you be gone for long?” Graxar sighed, “At least two weeks, but maybe more. If I find anything useful I will return immediately.” Arlinda rolled on her back again. “I will surprise him when he gets back. The timing is perfect”, she thought, “They told me to make love the night before the treatment, so my womb would be more receptive.” She chuckled, “It will be my little secret, no one needs to know.”

The next morning Graxar left before first light, he had a boat to catch. He had kissed Arlinda goodbye while she was still in her bed. Arlinda got up at first light, some two hours after Graxar took off. She quickly put on her shoes and wrapped a long mink coat around her nightgown. She hastily walked down the stairs and left the house making her way to the Swift Foot Inn where she would meet her contact. The streets were still empty in this early hour, which pleased Arlinda because she didn’t want anyone to see her. She reached the inn, a large building made of big sleepers and walls of mud mixed with hay. A woman was leaning against the side of the building wearing a blue cloak with white hemlines. The woman approached Arlinda with a light tread. “Arlinda, I presume?” The woman’s face seemed friendly and her voice was gentle and sweet. “Come with me, I will take you to the Mistress. Are you sure you haven’t been followed?” Arlinda glanced over her shoulder. “I’m sure.” “Very good, now did you bring payment?” Arlinda took a coin purse from her coat. As she handed it to the woman she hesitated. “Are you sure this will work? I have been disappointed so many times.” The woman put her hand on Arlinda’s shoulder. “Absolutely, the Mistress always delivers. Don’t worry.” Arlinda handed the coin purse over and followed the woman who led her northward out of the city. They walked across the farmlands and headed northwest. Neither of the women spoke as the day went by. It was made very clear to Arlinda they were not to become acquainted. They camped for the night out in the open, and early next morning set off again. It was high noon when they finally stopped.

“Are we there?”, Arlinda inquired. “Almost, from here I was instructed to make sure you could not see the way, to protect the Mistress and your own privacy. Do you mind?”, the woman asked as she took a burlap bag from her backpack. Arlinda shuddered and doubted herself for a second. The anticipation of making her husband intensely happy swayed her. “Go ahead, I understand this needs to be done.” The woman put the sack over her head and lead her by the arm. After about ten minutes they stopped. Arlinda heard knocking and a door open. She heard a creaking voice. “Is this her, and did she pay?” A moment of silence. “Good, now of you go. I will handle the wench from here.” Being called a wench startled Arlinda, making her feel uneasy. She was taken by the arm and led through a room. A door opened and she guided down a staircase leading to a smelly corridor. Arlinda started feeling uneasy at the rough way she was treated, but endured to complete her plan. “Move wench!”, the voice said pushing her from behind. “You won’t need that coat in here, or those shoes.” She was brusquely bereft of her garment and footwear leaving her dressed only in her nightgown. She was lead around a corner and down a narrow passage. They passed an opening to the right. Arlinda heard voices coming from there. They moved on for a few minutes as the corridor dived deeper down and the air became cold and humid, making Arlinda wonder if what she was doing was smart. “As long as I get what I came for I will tolerate this”, she encouraged herself.

Touching the cold and slimy walls of the narrow hallway sent shivers down Arlinda’s spine. She could only see vague outlines of her surroundings through the dirty burlap bag put over her head and tied around her neck with a crude piece of hemp rope. Voices screaming and moaning, some close others in the distance, echoed through the corridor. Arlinda felt the agony and despair of their pleas for mercy and salvation. To her right she felt cold metal bars and heard the sound of chains rattling. Suddenly a hand gripped her wrist. A hoarse voice cried out, “take me with you, end the pain”, Arlinda felt nails piercing her wrists’ skin followed by a warm slimy object rubbing the painful place. The sound of smacking followed by that voice again, “Oh the blood, it is warm and sweet, let me lick some more of it.” Arlinda heard a metallic sound behind her as she struggled to release her wrist from the hands’ grasp. A high pitched creaking voice shouted from close behind, “Back you filth, or I will feed you to the beast.” There was a clang of a blade against the bars, followed by an agonizing scream. The hand let go of Arlinda’s wrist, and Arlinda heard someone crawling over the floor wining, “No mistress, not the beast, I’m so sorry.” Arlinda felt a push in her back. “Move, wench”, the creaking voice commanded.

Arlinda was forced around several turns and bends. The ground beneath her bare feet was wet and slippery, and she more than once nearly lost her footing while being driven deeper into the catacombs. “Stop right here, on your knees”, the voice hissed. A hand on Arlinda’s shoulder brusquely pushed her to her knees. Arlinda was shivering with cold as she was only wearing her thin nightgown. ‘What have I done?’, she mumbled to herself in fear. She was pushed aside against the crude wall sending a wave of pain down her shoulder. The sound of heavy irregular breathing right next to her covered head raised the hairs in her neck. She heard ringing, followed by the sounds of several bolts unlocking. An eerie creaking sound of a door opening in front of her. A repulsive smell of burned meat mixed with sour sweat penetrated the bag over her head. A hand grabbed her arm and pushed her forward. Arlinda fell on her face in a puddle of liquid wetting the burlap bag. An acidic metallic taste forced itself upon her as the wet bag stuck to her face and mouth. “Here she is, Mistress”, the creaking voice said. Arlinda heard the figure walk away closing and bolting the door behind her.

She was trying to stand up when suddenly someone grabbed her arm ad dragged her across the floor. A long and vicious laughing caused Arlinda to freeze. She felt her ankles and wrists being tied down to the floor with force, almost stopping the blood reaching her fingers and toes. Her legs and arms were spread out across the slimy cold floor. She struggled briefly but in vein, she felt utterly helpless. She heard the sound of scissors between her feet and felt the cold metal crawl along her belly upwards to her bosom. Her nightgown was cut open and its halves violently pulled aside. She shivered in fear not knowing what would happen next. A long fingernail made its way from the side of her face slowly down her neck and across naked breast all the way to her lower belly. Arlinda trembled in anguish, while desperately trying to push her legs together.

Again the vicious laughing followed by a vile and horrid voice. “So the filthy wench wants to trade with me. And does the filthy wench know what price she has to pay?” Arlinda replied with a trembling voice, “I do, please help me.” The voice whispered right next to her head, “Very well filthy wench, the pact is made. Let the ritual begin.” Arlinda could smell the foul breath of the mistress as she felt the rope around her neck being loosened. With a sudden tug the sack was removed from her head. “And so we begin wench, I look forward to seeing the agony in your eyes, and hear you scream for mercy.” Arlinda looked up at the ceiling of the poorly lit dungeon. All manner of rusty chains and wicked blades hung above her menacingly. She lifted her head and noticed the strange red markings written on the floor around her. The mistress placed black candles in a circle around her, their light revealing her ugly face covered in tattoos of strange symbols. One of her eyes was sown shut and a strand of her filthy gray hair was sticking to her face. She smiled crookedly at Arlinda revealing her mostly rotten teeth. Her bent back made her movements irregular, seemingly popping and locking her spine as she crept around Arlinda.

Arlinda heard the scraping sound of a heavy wooden chest next to her head. She looked up at the mistress who was standing just outside the circle of candles by her head holding a stick with a silvery sphere on top. The mistress raised her arms to the air and started slurring strange words. Arlinda felt the air around her moving towards the mistress quickly gaining momentum. The mistress’ robe violently rippled as the air seemed to twist around her broken body. The mistress’ speaking turned louder and louder while a black substance in the air around her seemed to penetrate her mouth. Suddenly she waved her arms down, smashing the vortex onto Arlinda’s naked body. Arlinda looked around in panic and noticed the candles were still burning despite the whirling wind.

The mistress took something from the chest behind her and held it close to Arlinda’s head. She shivered as she heard the hissing of a snake. Slowly the mistress moved around the candlelit circle, the snake crawling all over her wretched body. Her eyes had turned black as onyx and the object she was holding was dripping a dark fluid. The mistress stepped into the circle causing the snake to hiss violently. She stretched out her arm and boney finger towards Arlinda’s stomach. Her long black fingernail pushed against the soft skin slowly piercing it. Arlinda screamed in agony as the mistress scratched a five pointed star in her tender skin. Arlinda felt warm blood seeping down her hips and between her legs. The mistress stepped backwards and swung the ball-topped stick towards Arlinda spraying the vile liquid over her breast and defiled belly. The acidic liquid was biting in the fresh wound and Arlinda almost passed out from the intense pain. “Stay with me weakling”, the mistress said with a cruel smile on her face, visibly enjoying Arlinda’s pain.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Arlinda was squirming like mad, but the ties that bound here didn’t give way even the slightest bit. The mistress set aside the stick and grabbed a jagged dagger that was tied to her leg. She took the snake by its head and started whispering strange incantations to it, sending her black breath into the snake’s mouth and nostrils. The snake hissed and swung its tail back and forth obviously experiencing great pain. Suddenly the mistress threw the snake into the circle of candles. It landed at Arlinda’s feet. The mistress took the dagger and used it to cut a large wound in her own wrist. She walked around Arlinda mumbling another incantation, letting her blood flow down her hand and finger onto Arlinda’s naked sweating body. She stopped at Arlinda’s head crouching down pushing her bloodied finger between Arlinda’s lips who was fighting to keep them closed. The mistress let blood flow in until Arlinda gagged and swallowed.

Arlinda was desperately pleading to every God she knew to end the torment and relieve her of this suffering. None answered. The mistress rose and spoke a final incantation. Arlinda looked up and noticed the snake started moving. The mistress moved around Arlinda, taking pleasure in Arlinda’s terrified face, as the snake slowly crawled around Arlinda’s leg. Arlinda shuddered as she felt the body of the snake sliding along her inner thigh. She tried to desperately to close her legs, then panicked as she realized she was no longer able to control the movements of her body. The snake slowly tangled around her legs and rose its head focusing its black beady eyes at her crotch. Suddenly it lunged forward. Arlinda screamed in disgust as she felt the blood-covered animal penetrating her vagina wiggling its head towards her womb. Arlinda wished for her own death with every part of her being. At that moment the mistress jumped forward and pierced the snakes body with the dagger. Arlinda felt a sting inside her womb as the animal squirmed in agony. The mistress in a flash cut the snake in half killing it instantly. The front part of the animal hung motionless between Arlinda’s legs. Arlinda felt the control of her body returning and screamed in disgust as she felt the dead animal slowly slipping out of her vagina. The mistress observed her struggle with a great look of satisfaction on her face. Arlinda felt weak and violated. With the last bit of strength left in her hurting body she mumbled, “make it stop, I beg of you, please make…” As she slipped into unconsciousness she heard the mistress laugh. “It is done, a soul for a soul. Your wish is fulfilled.”

Arlinda woke up immediately checking her stomach, still feeling pain at the place where the markings on her stomach were made, but did not see any wound or scar. She looked around and realized she was in her own bedroom again. Her head spun and she burst into tears replaying in her mind what had happened to her. She looked at herself in the mirror, expecting to be covered in blood, slime and mud. Much to her amazement she was clean. Her neatly folded mink coat and shoes had been placed on a chair, and besides her painful stomach and womb there was no evidence of what she had lived through. She inspected her abdomen looking for evidence of the symbol the Mistress had scratched into her, then carefully checked the inside of her vagina. No trace of a snake or anything else out of the ordinary. Leaning her arms on the dresser she looked herself closely in the eye, organizing her thoughts by talking to her reflection.

“My god, what were you thinking. You could have been killed”, she reprimanded herself. “They didn’t mention how they would impregnate me, it was an act of pure evil.” Arlinda looked at the reflection of her stomach. “I hope that whatever they did to me has not ruined my chances at giving Graxar a child.” She shuddered at the thought and struggled to push the images of her ordeal to the back of her mind. “No one can ever know of this, you hear me Arlinda”, she firmly told her reflection in the mirror. “I doubt the gruesome experience will have done anything for me, but no one must ever find out.

” Several weeks passed and they were a struggle for Arlinda. The pain had faded away for a while now, but the horrible memory of what she had been through kept haunting her. She doubted if she could ever come to terms with what she had brought upon herself. As Arlinda set down for breakfast still awaiting Graxar’s return, she suddenly realized her period was overdue. Instinctively she placed her hands on her womb. “Could it be? It’s impossible to tell”, she thought. “Either the ritual or Graxar impregnated me, or maybe…” Her mind raced with all sorts of strange thoughts and inconclusive explanations. “I have to go see Father Peter, he can at least tell me if I’m really pregnant.” In a hurry she gobbled up her breakfast and sped to the church. When she was halfway there she stopped. “But what if he can tell? What if he finds out about the ritual, I can’t risk it!” She turned around and walked back home. “Calm down Arlinda, think this through. In the worst case my period stopped because that beast damaged my womb.” She pinched herself to stop thinking about that. “Maybe I am pregnant, in which case I choose to believe it was my husband who did that, not some foul witch and her horrific ritual.”

A few days later Arlinda was sitting by the hearth, dreaming of her future with a little baby boy or girl, when she heard the front door open. She jumped up and raced to the hallway. It was Graxar. He looked tired and sad, but smiled when he saw his love running towards him. “I’m sorry dear, I haven’t…” Arlinda flung her arms around his neck and didn’t let him finish his sentence. “All that matters is that you are home, I have missed you so much.” She kissed him and held him very tight. “I have missed you too my dear. I’m afraid I have bad news. Let me sit down and I will explain.” She looked into his eyes as tears welled up in her own. “I am pregnant my love.” Graxar wanted to continue. “I have searched the entire library and.” Suddenly Arlinda’s words penetrated his weary mind. “You are what?”, he replied in disbelief. Arlinda smiled and cried at the same time. “I am pregnant, the night before you left…” Graxar saw she was serious and felt his knees trembling. He tried to stay upright but couldn’t and fell to his knees. He put his arms around Arlinda’s waist and rested his head against her stomach. He couldn’t speak and just sat there crying and laughing, feeling like an innocent prisoner who was finally set free after years of incarceration. Arlinda gently turned his head to face hers and through her tears and sobs repeated herself. “I am pregnant, we are going to be parents.” She bent forward kissing Graxar, who stood up and lifted his love from the ground spinning her around. “I’m going to be a father.” He put Arlinda back down, turned around and opened the front door. From the top of his lungs he shouted, “I’m going to be a father!” A few people looked up at him. Several cheers were muttered and Graxar felt on top of the world.

The months passed quickly as the couple prepared for the coming of their child. It was a time of great happiness, but also of worry. Graxar was mostly worried about Arlinda, fearing misfortune around every corner. He made her life as easy as possible, anything not to have her strain herself or come to harm. He did all that was needed to run a proper household. Groceries, cooking, cleaning, laundry and even dusting, which he hated with a passion. Arlinda wasn’t complaining about this luxury. But when Graxar insisted on her not using knives for dinner anymore, she drew a line.

Arlinda of course worried about her child’s health, as every mother would. But she also feared someone, especially Graxar, would find out about the ritual she had undergone. As the life within her grew larger, the pain in her womb started to come back now and then. She managed to hide this from her husband very well, not wanting to give him a reason to call for Father Peter. On a few occasions she pretended to have a headache, or she would explain the pain as just part of a regular pregnancy. And though she chose to believe her pregnancy was the result of her intimacies with her husband, the thought of it being the result of an unholy ritual never fully subsided.

Still they really enjoyed this time. Thinking up lists of names, debating the child’s gender. They made long walks on sunny evenings, holding hands and feeling more in love than ever before. The laughter about Arlinda’s silly cravings, the first time Graxar felt their child move. They were memories that would stay with them all their lives. Graxar even sat by the bed reading stories to his wife and their unborn child. During the pregnancy they felt like they had been chosen, and nothing in the world was stronger than their bond. They were looking forward to the day when Krazar or Zanira would be born. Those were the names they had decided upon. And as always the day of birth came unexpectedly, even though it had been expected for nine months.

On a crisp spring morning, Arlinda was in her bedroom, brushing her hair while Graxar was cleaning the breakfast table. As Arlinda stood up to get dressed, she felt a fierce pain in her abdomen. She instinctively knew what was going on, and yelled for her husband while sitting back down. “It’s starting love, it’s starting!” Graxar was balancing their breakfast porcelain on a platter when he heard his wife’s call. He jumped at the message, letting the platter fall to the floor, breaking most of the fragile cups and plates on it. He couldn’t care less and ran upstairs. “It is starting”, Arlinda said while holding her swollen belly. “Lay down on the bed dear, just breathe and relax. We thought this through, I will get the midwife right away.”

Graxar sprinted down the stairs so fast, he couldn’t stop in time and crashed into the coat rack bruising his arm. He didn’t notice, grabbed a coat and ran outside while putting it on. He looked left and right deciding on the shortest route, then sped off towards the church. He almost ran over a child as he turned the corner onto the main road leading north to the church. He didn’t notice any of the people laughing at his strange appearance, wearing a woman’s mink coat and running barefoot through the district. He ran up to the church doors and swung them open. “Where is the midwife?”, he shouted. The people attending a service from Father Peter turned around and looked startled at this strange appearance. Father Peter saw the panic in Graxar’s eyes and quickly walked towards him. “Calm down good sir.” Graxar looked at Father Peter, “I am calm, I am the midwife, my child is giving birth to my wife, please hurry.” Father Peter laughed at the epiphany of calmness before him. “I take it you seek the midwife because your wife has gone into labor, I will get her right away.” A minute passed before the midwife came in. She walked over to Graxar and introduced herself. “Good day sir, I’m Erona, at your…” Graxar took her by the hand and basically dragged her outside. “Please hurry, I’m going to be a father.” They paced back into the commons Erona struggling to keep up with Graxar. “Is it your first? “, she asked, “It is, please don’t let anything happen to the baby. Do you need anything? Medicine, water, milk, towels, I will get it right away.” Erona laughed, “For now just take me to your wife and we will take it from there.”

They went straight upstairs and as Graxar opened the bedroom door Erona took his arm. “I think it’s best if you stay downstairs. This might take a while and I can’t have you stressing around me the whole time. I will call for you when you are needed.” He nodded and went downstairs, sitting with trembling legs on the bottom step of the staircase. Erona introduced herself to Arlinda. “When did the contractions start?”, she asked. “About thirty minutes ago.” “How many did you have?” Arlinda moaned as another contraction stopped her from answering. “That was the seventh”, she replied as the pain subsided. “That is unnaturally fast, It appears someone is eager to see the world. I will be right back”, Erona said. The word unnatural made Arlinda shudder. Graxar jumped up as he heard the bedroom door opening. He ran up the stairs but Erona told him to stop. “I need hot water and towels up here, and a soft clean blanket.” “Right away”, He replied.

Time crept forward as Graxar sat in the living room closely listening to the sounds upstairs. It had been several hours already, and his nerves were killing him. Upstairs Erona and Arlinda were in the final stages of labor. “Push!”, Erona commanded. Arlinda strained the muscles in her abdomen. She felt a stinging pain in the exact same place where the snake had hurt her in the ritual. The skin of her stomach was burning and sweat trickled down her forehead. “Again”, Erona said, “I can see the head.” Arlinda pushed hard and felt lightheaded as she tried to fight the pain inside her. “Breathe in, try again.” Arlinda screamed and pushed with all her might, forcing the child’s head out. As she did she felt hazy, almost as if she was passing out. “One final push, you can do it.” Arlinda suddenly recognized Erona’s voice. Panic took hold of her as she realized it was the same voice she heard nine months ago, in that dark forlorn dungeon. She lifted her head looking at who was standing between her legs. Her heart froze in terror as she saw the ugly face with one blue eye, the other sown shut. The Mistress smiled , “Yes filthy wench, what did you expect.” Arlinda screamed as her body forced her to push her child from her womb, Krazar was born. Arlinda felt her body weaken and her head was spinning as the Mistress lifted the child into the air. Arlinda looked at the boy, whose eyes were wide open. The child was staring lifelessly at her with one green and one blue eye. The umbilical cord looked like the skin of a snake and was pulsating and squirming madly. It was too much for Arlinda, her heart almost stopped and she clawed at her bedsheets in agony. She lifted her head again and saw the Mistress whispering something to the child. Her sown eyelid started to tremble and slowly opened, as the stitching tore through the eyelids’ flesh. With a green lidless eye and a blue eye the Mistress gazed at Arlinda, who felt the life being drained from her through the serpentine umbilical cord. In that moment of absolute terror, Arlinda’s dying moment, she saw the treachery of the Mistress. She and the child were both odd-eyed, and Arlinda realized she wasn’t the child’s mother. In a burst of despair Arlinda tried to grab the child wishing it to be dead. But she was too late. A slash of a dagger, the same that was used before by the Mistress, severed the umbilical cord. Arlinda felt reality around her falling apart and she screamed, but no sound came out. Her vision turned black as she heard the child cry. She felt the last bit of life leaving her through the pulsating umbilical cord, and died.

The Mistress cast a final incantation on the child turning his green eye to blue and wrapped the boy in a blanket. She checked herself in the mirror to see if her illusion spell was still holding up. She loathed the sight of Erona in the mirror, with those kind eyes and friendly smile. She chuckled, satisfied with the completion of her devious plan, then walked downstairs while putting on a very serious face.

Graxar jumped up from his chair when Erona entered the living room. “It’s a boy”, she said. Graxar smiled in delight, then noticed the troubled expression on Erona’s face. “What is wrong?”, he asked as his heart skipped a beat. “It’s the mother, it was too much”, she replied. Graxar panicked and ran up to their bedroom. An agonizing scream penetrated the walls of the house stopping people outside in their tracks. Erona chuckled softly as she went upstairs herself. Graxar sat on his knees next to Arlinda, holding her lifeless hand while tears rolled down his face. Erona almost felt sorry for him, almost. She walked towards him and put his child in his arms. She left the room without saying anything, leaving Graxar to himself with the child. She sat down in the living room very pleased with what she had accomplished. In her mind she was looking forward to seeing this child grow up. “We will see what this child will show me when he grows up.” She laughed viciously and whispered to herself. “My secret boy, lead me to my vengeance.”