When William awoke from his dream induced sleep, there was a massive downpour of rain around him. He didn’t struggle but remained there, pensive. Those dreams he was subjected to were ones he had long forgotten.

The warlock was broken out of his thoughts by the sight of Primrose sitting by the campfire. She was looking over a map, as steam rose from the boiling pot sitting above the fire.

The sweet scent of food filled his nostrils and his stomach growled. He ignored the warning calls his stomach sent and briefly wondered how they weren’t getting wet until he looked above him. The glowing mushroom he was tied too, it’s cap had expanded, forming an umbrella above them.

His blue eyes found the witch once more and he smiled. “I was bested by you, so will you release me, my Rose?” William frankly said.

Primrose looked up from the map and narrowed her eyes, sending him a displeased look. “Don’t call me that name.”

Her reaction made William’s smile wider. “Why does that name trigger such a reaction I wonder….” He said curiously.

He tested the strength of the vines the were binding him. Alarm bells rang in his mind and soon realized he lacked the strength to move. His magic was also moving sluggishly as if it were asleep inside his body.

“What did you do to me?” William asked his tone hard.

Primrose ignored him and returned to looking at the map. “This is impossible,” she mumbled in disbelief before glancing at the forest entrance she had camped by, “this forest isn't supposed to be there.”

William lost his patience. “What did you do to me, Rose?!” He asked once more, outraged by her lack of attention.

She folded her map neatly and looked at him. The witch stood up and walked towards him with a strange gleam in her eye, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

“Do you know where this forest came from?” She asked irreverently, pointing at the forest behind her.

William furrowed his brows and glared at her. “What are you talking about?” He looked at her like she was crazy. “This the Hallow Grove forest.”

Primrose felt dread creeping into her heart. When she first came upon this forest she was curious and wondered how such a huge forest could grow overnight. But when she went over her travel map several times, she could only conclude something was seriously wrong.

She unfolded the map and held it in front of William. “What do you think of this map?!” She urged.

William raised an eyebrow at her before looking at the map and with a quick glance he laughed. “Are you joking, Rose? That map is completely wrong.” He replied, looking at her with mirth in his eyes. “Were you swindled, my dear Rose?”

Primrose turned away from William and started pacing up and down. The dread in her heart was now a roaring beast as the theory she barely thought of became reality. For some inexplicable reason, she had woken up in another world or some alternate version of her own world. She had heard about powerful witches and warlocks being able to travel to different worlds and dimensions but such powerful magic always had a great price.

She had many more unanswered questions that she needed answering but there was one that truly played at the forefront of her mind.

What happened to the Primrose of this world?

“Are you done with your pacing, Rose?” William asked her, snapping her from her thoughts.

She turned to the blood warlock that was bound to her faerie mushroom. “Does the name Hespith Couver mean anything to you?”

William scoffed. “I’m not answering any more questions, Rose.” He looked down at the vines that bind him. “Release me, submit to me and I shall answer any question you desire, my fair Rose.” He implored.

“Disgusting,” Primrose said caustically and turned away from him.

“Your choice, milady,” William said a dignified tone with a smirk plastered on his face.

Primrose turned around, facing the warlock once more with a serene smile.

William’s eyes widen a fraction, his expression one of surprise and he immediately felt uneasy. Primrose took a step closer, leaning closer to his face, her eyes gleaming with mischievousness.

The warlock quickly schooled his expression with a teasing smile. “You’re finally ready to submit to me? I’ll only put you through various magical experiments...they won’t hurt...much.”

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Primrose brushed off his words and spoke. “Let’s make a deal,” she whispered, her tone whimsical.

Despite the downpour of rain, that brought in the coldness, he still shuddered when her hot breath caressed the skin on his face. The heat burning in his body was enough to wade off the cold.

His eyes darkened and he spoke in obsequious tone. “What…... kind of deal?”

“This deal is simple,” Primrose said pragmatically, her green eyes locking onto his lips, and slowly moving upwards to meet his intense blue eyes.

This act didn’t escape William’s notice and his nostrils flared as his breathing became uneven.

“You will not harm me in any kind of way or subject me...to your...experiments. You will join me on my journey and help me to best of your ability should danger arise. You will not kill senselessly and only in self-defense. You will not force me to do anything I don’t want to do. Do you agree?”

William chuckled. “There is no guarantee that I will follow through on this deal. Even the Vow Ritual is rarely used nowadays due to its glaring loopholes and unreliability. So using human means of a verbal contract is pretty...dumb, Rose.”

Primrose flinched, his words visibly affecting her. “Do you agree?” She repeated, glaring at the warlock.

William smirked, her reaction pleasing to him. “What do I get in return?”

“I will offer knowledge that only I possess on Aerilinth,” She whispered with a troubled expression, “knowledge of Faeries and Fae Witches.”

William grinned, showing his perfectly straight white teeth. “That’s rather tempting, Rose.”

Primrose breathed in, holding it before breathing out. “Do you agree?”

“Yes.”

Primrose smiled cruelly. “Faerie Deal,” she whispered and her eyes eerily glowed green for a moment before returning to normal.

“What did you-” William started but doubled over in pain.

The vines that bonded him snapped and he fell to his knees. He started clawing at his chest, grunting in pain. It was as if something was squeezing his heart.

He looked up at Primrose with a dark expression and bared his teeth. “What did you do to me?" He spat, before tapping his chest with his left hand. 

Primrose looked down at him with an icy expression. “I just fulfilled part of the deal. You’ve just learned that Fae Witches can perform Faerie Deals as actual Faeries do.”

William cursed. “I’ll kill you!” William roared as he shot to his feet, raising his hand to cut it but Primrose stopped him with her words.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Primrose told him in a patronizing tone, “If you break a faerie deal...the consequences can be devastating….even worse than death.”

William gnashed his teeth and lowered his hand. “How can I be of service to you, milady?” William said, his nostrils flaring in anger.

Not much was known about faeries but their deals were well known. It was next to impossible to go against a faerie deal because the magic would compel you to fulfill the deal no matter what. He knew it would be useless to refuse to help her but he couldn’t help but resist even if only a little bit.

“Tell me where I can find Hespith Couver.” Primrose crossed her arms, staring at William with her usual cold expression.

“You can find her in Lush Valley in the village; Lostmere.” William forcefully said, as if he was fighting the deal, “She’s the leader…..of The Twilight Haven magical community hidden in Lostmere.”

The village was a place she was familiar with but she had no clue about Lush Valley. “How do we get there?” Primrose asked curiously.

William remained silent, sweat forming on his forehead.

Primrose was indignant.“How do we get there?” She repeated, glaring at the warlock.

William held out for a few more seconds before the faerie deal made him spill everything. “To get there we have to go through Hallow Grove to reach the main city of Bluc Crein, Gloomgarde and from there we travel to Snowwich. Then from Snowwich we travel through Lush Valley and we’ll reach Lostmere.”

“How long will this take us?”

William raised his head and looked at the cloudy sky with his blue eyes filled with anger.“If the rain continues to fall...maybe two weeks on foot and one week by carriage.” He bit out, lowering his head and glaring at her.

Primrose was thoughtful, thinking about what William told her.

“If we’re planning to travel through Hallow Grove then I suggest we be extremely careful.” William angrily said and walked closer to Primrose before stopping in front of her.

He was enraged that he was caught up in a Faerie Deal that severely crippled him. He looked down at her with a cruel smile. He so wished he could wrap his hands around her pretty neck and watch the life disappear from her eyes. However, his curiosity about her was stronger and he would follow her to learn more of her secrets.

“The veil between this world and the underworld is at its weakest in this forest,” He lowered his head, bringing his face closer to hers, “demons inhabit this forest. I don’t know what will happen if you die.”

Primrose remained unaffected by his closeness and narrowed her eyes at him. “That’s why you’re here, remember?” She said icily.

The warlock raised his head, a mysterious smile etched on his face. “You’re quite lucky to have me in your presence.” He drawled, running a hand through his black hair.

“Really?” Primrose icily said.

“Of course, Rose,” William said ardently.

“Don’t. Call. Me. That.” Primrose said, indignantly.

She turned away from the warlock and sat back by the campfire. She grabbed a bowl and started to scoop out the contents of the pot into the bowl. She thrust the bowl in William’s direction.

“Eat.” She said, grimly. “We’ll leave as soon as the rain stops.”

William chuckled, took the bowl from her and sat on the opposite side of the campfire. “Did you put some weird faerie ingredient in this to poison me?” He asked in a disparaging tone.

Primrose ignored him and made her own bowl before eating earnestly.

Her thoughts lingered on what she would say if she met her ex-mentor; Hespith, again. Though she hated Hespith, she had many connections with famous witches and warlocks so her information could be valuable.

But she still couldn’t get over when Hespith betrayed her and had her almost killed for no reason. She was one the one who taught her about magic The one who taught her many useful spells. Yet, she was betrayed and discarded like garbage.

Then it hit her.

If Hespith managed to kill the Primrose of this world then…

Primrose’s lips turned up into a cruel smile.

She could only repay it ten-fold.