My head shot toward the source of the sound in the trees, and I felt disheartened when I saw nothing, especially when I recognized who the voice belonged to.

“I know you’re out there, Illthic!” I cried out, trying once more to cast my fire.

When nothing came, I felt an immediate regret for calling out to her, a fact she knew as well as the woods filled with laughter.

“Little witch, little witch; having problems, are we?” she cackled, her voice echoing throughout the woods as if we were in a cave.

“N-not in the slightest!” I replied.

On the inside, I could feel the seeds of panic sprouting, worming their way from my stomach to the tips of my fingers. My inability to cast magic made me feel as if I lost inches of height, and the towering trees around me grew dozens of feet. The one tool I brought into the forest vanished, and I didn’t have the slightest clue why.

Her tone told me she was responsible for my troubles, yet I did not understand how she sealed my magic. Memories of my mother accomplishing something similar came to mind, but this was different. She cut me off with magic of her own, interrupting my process of mana production. Here I could produce the mana; I just couldn’t do anything with it.

While I contemplated what impeded my efforts, an invisible force wrapped around my ankles, bringing my legs together and sweeping me off my feet and into the air. My blurred vision kept me from understanding what was happening for several seconds before I came to a halt.

Once I collected myself and grew to understand my surroundings, I realized I hung from a branch of a tree, but what I was hanging from was a mystery. There was no rope or anything else of that nature I could see, giving the impression I was floating in the air to any onlookers.

Because I lacked the body strength to pull myself up to my legs to see what I could do with my hands, I could do nothing more than hang in place, wiggling what little I could.

Illthic found amusement in my powerless state, and more of her laughter rang throughout the trees.

“It doesn’t look that way. Are you sure?” she teased.

“How about you come out and show yourself?” I shot back.

“Okay. Merthic, be a dear and help our guest out of her conundrum. She is oh so tied up at the moment.”

Out of nowhere, the other woman from the village materialized in front of me, and I could not control a shout of surprise. Merthic took pleasure in my fear, giving a toothless grin as she raised both of her hands toward my feet. A myriad of colors lit up around my feet in the shape of a band before warping out of existence. As the light dissipated, so did the force holding me up, and I would have crashed into the ground had the woman not caught me.

Merthic took no effort to spin me right side up, carrying me by my ankles in the direction I came from. For a moment, I thought she wanted to mess with me, believing she would turn around to show I was on the right track. But she never did. I could do nothing to prevent my face from going red as I realized what it meant.

“Surprised, little witch?” she asked, wearing an expression I didn’t need to look up to know what it was.

I had to restrain myself from hitting her in the shins. While I might have believed I could have taken them in, I was not stupid enough to think angering someone who had me in their grasp was a good idea.

It did not take long for our destination to come into view, and the sight bewildered me. In the middle of a clearing of trees I knew I walked past was a cabin.

A glance was all it took to know that magic infested the logs. The most obvious clue was the two inches of snow covering everything from the roof to the roots of the surrounding trees. More impressive was the fact it existed without the temperature dropping to accommodate it. The spring air was chilly, but nowhere near cold enough to keep it from melting.

A closer glance told a deeper story as the grain of the wood moved like waves, tossing the knots among themselves. Were it not for the circumstances or my inability to do so, I would have stopped to admire it.

On the inside, I could see a fire, yet there was no smoke billowing from the chimney. Through the same window I saw the fire, I saw Illthic staring me down.

Using the same mocking tone she spoke to me with, she waved, causing anger to flare up in a quantity intense enough to overpower my ability to control myself. My insides boiled further as my attempts to strike Merthic’s shins failed to accomplish anything.

Finding amusement in my tantrum, the younger woman chuckled as the door to the cabin opened itself and she let herself in.

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Dropping me on my head, I scrambled to my feet, my eyes darting for anything in the cabin I could use as a weapon. My magic might have failed me, but a heavy object wouldn’t.

It did not take long for my eyes to settle on a knife stabbed into a loaf of bread, and I threw myself at it. Neither Merthic nor Illthic attempted to stop me, restoring some of the confidence I had lost from missing the cabin.

“Listen here, Winter Witch—Witches. You are going to come back to the manor with me. Do you understand?” I threatened, brandishing the blade at the two.

The older woman raised an eyebrow at my demand, while her counterpart chuckled in amusement.

“I don’t think there is a need for this,” Illthic suggested, raising her hand to get me to put the weapon down.

In response, I stabbed at it as a warning, but misjudged the distance, allowing the blade to make its mark. Instead of blood pouring from the wound, the metal bent away without leaving so much as an indent.

“See, there’s no need for that,” she repeated as she plucked the handle out of my hands and returned it back to the bread, once more regaining its rigid nature.

Only then did it strike me how much trouble I was in. Not only did I not tell anyone where I went, but the two women I sought after, both of whom had shown a willingness to kill, trapped in a cabin with them. As the realization dawned on me, I could not help but swallow dry spit as blood drained from my face.

“There’s no need for fear, little witch,” Illthic said, noticing my impression of a vampire. “I know your impression of me is…less than stellar, but you must believe me when I say we wish no harm to you or your family. All we want is to talk.”

“You killed Andreaki!” I shouted, hoping to mask my fear with bravado.

“Yes, yes. An unfortunate necessity. Please believe that it was not a decision we took lightly,” Merthic apologized, her tone stale and unwavering.

“Why? Why did she have to die?” I demanded.

“She was a dragon, well, a dragonoid, and so she had to go,” Illthic answered.

“Just because of that? Just because she’s a dragon? Why did she have to die just because of that?” I seethed.

The two witches exchanged glances, each smiling with different emotions behind their lips. Illthic wore one of pity, as if saddened by the fact I was confused. Merthic was sadistic, like she relished the fact I was in the dark.

“Why am I not surprised that the Medvedevs would not teach their daughter the truth? Though I suppose it’s not the kind of thing children think about, nor the thing The Nest would allow,” the older woman lamented.

“Don’t you find it strange that humans are the only ones who were removed from the magical world? What did we do for magic to be deemed something we don’t deserve?” Merthic asked.

“I don’t know why humans were removed. It was never explained to me,” I answered.

The fear that had once gripped me, preventing little thought besides how to get out, gave pause, allowing me to realize it was a question I had never asked. To me, it was a simple fact of life—nothing more, nothing less.

“Your parents really didn’t teach you anything. Take a seat, little witch. Let us tell you a story,” Merthic said, her words coaxing a chair to push itself under my legs.

“Magic is something we humans have had access to for millions of years, and in fact, dragons were the ones to teach us how to use it in the first place. Hold no illusion—we were far from the best or most talented at it, but we weren’t weak either. Against anything below a demigod, the average human could hold their own in a fight.

Where we truly shone, however, was in our champions. Such individuals who could be called such were few, with hundreds upon thousands of years in between each, but when they rose, they would achieve great things. Twice have humans ripped open the gates of the heavens above, and twice have humans occupied the hells below. Can you imagine the pride such feats inspire?” Illthic explained.

“But as great deed after great deed piled up, the labors of those we looked up to inspired hubris. People wishing to emulate their heroes looked for shortcuts to power. Some found it in the gods, and others in demons. A select few, however, looked for it in themselves. Those who did pushed the bounds of taboos, encroaching on grounds never meant to be touched upon.

Eventually, this culminated in an organization pushing too far, and their experiments ripped a hole in reality itself. A combined effort of dragons, deities, and demons was needed to repair the damage. Once the dust settled, it was decided by the dragons, by The Nest, that humans could no longer be trusted with magic. If they pushed the bounds of magic far enough to break the universe once, it was only a matter of time before they would do so again. I believe you know the rest.”

Illthic gave her story time to settle in and for the confusion that came with it to take hold.

“That makes sense,” I noted.

“I agree, or I would if that story held any truth to it,” Merthic replied.

“What?”

“It’s a little strange that the ones responsible for such a monumental event lack a name. They’re merely known as an organization. Strange, isn’t it?

And if safety was what The Nest truly worried about, then shouldn't everyone have been barred from magic? Humans aren’t anything special when it comes to magic, remember? If they could do it, why couldn’t some other species?” she elaborated.

“Then why?” I asked.

“Because they are afraid of us. Dragons saw what we were capable of and wanted to prevent us from reaching such heights again. But we’re not going to let them, and we are not alone,” Merthic explained.

Of all her revelations, her last one gave me the most pause. The idea, let alone the fact, that there were others who were willing to kill dragons despite all the fury such an action would bring made me fearful of what else they would do.

“And we would love for you to join us, little witch,” Illthic began. “We would love for your family to join us as well, but right now, I don’t believe they are willing to take that step. I don’t blame them. The chains dragons put on people are never easy to cast off, but if you take this step for them, I am sure they will come-”