Vanya:
She ran as fast as her old feeble legs,could take her.
Dax and a squad of armored guards tore through the trees, the stomping of their horses crushing dead leaves, their torches flickering.
"Don't let her escape!" Dax barked, his deep voice echoing through the forest.
Vanya ran. Her breath came out ragged and uneven, her old lungs burning with every step. She stumbled over a root but didn't stop. The night wind whipped at her tangled gray hair, and her cloak snagged on a branch, tearing. She didn't care. Her only thought was run.
Her heart pounded, both from exhaustion and fury. That wretched king… she thought bitterly. I should have known he'd betray me the moment he got what he wanted.
Branches scratched her arms as she forced her body to keep moving. She could hear the guards getting closer.
If she'd been at full strength, she could have easily blown them away. But the Alchemy of Souls had drained her. The ritual had taken nearly everything she had left.
Her legs trembled. Her vision blurred.
A sharp whistle cut through the night.
Then,
Thwip!
An arrow ripped through the air and buried itself in her thigh.
"Ah!" Vanya gasped, stumbling forward. Pain flared hot, radiating up her leg. She clutched the wound,blood spilling between her fingers.She forced herself up and kept moving, dragging her leg through the dirt.
"Over there!" one of the guards shouted. "She's bleeding,she can't go far!"
Vanya's teeth clenched. Her breath came in harsh, shallow gasps. "Not yet," she muttered under her breath. "I can't die yet… not before I make him pay."
Her pace faltered. The shouts behind her grew louder.
Still, she didn't stop.
Her body betrayed her. Her strength, drained by the ritual, gave way.
She stumbled into a tree and slid down, gasping for breath. Her blood soaked into the leaves beneath her.
Her eyes darted through the darkness and that's when she saw movement. Someone else was there, crouched low behind a tree, shivering.
A girl.
Young. Frightened.
Vanya's dimming vision focused on her. The girl's eyes were wide, terrified,yet alive, full of something Vanya herself no longer had,youth.
Then a desperate idea hit her.
"Perfect…" she whispered.
**************
Soraya:
"Buy sweet corn! Buy your sweet corn here!" Soraya's voice strained over the chatter of merchants and buyers that night. She stood behind a shaky wooden stall, a few roasted ears of corn lined on a small tray. Her friend Rhea fanned the smoke from the firepit beside her, coughing as sparks flew.
"Two for three silvers!" Rhea called, trying to sound cheerful even though the crowd barely noticed them.
The night was cold and busy.
She was a young girl surviving the only way she knew how by hustling, shouting, and hoping the day would end with a good profit.
"hey!" A rough voice cut through the noise. The crowd parted slightly as a large man with a heavy jaw and anger in his eyes stomped toward them. His clothes reeked of ale and sweat. Behind him, two other men followed, all carrying the look of trouble.
Rhea froze. "Soraya… is that"
"Don't," Soraya whispered sharply. "Don't make a scene."
But it was already too late.
The man grabbed her by the arm and yanked her forward so roughly that her basket of corn fell to the ground. "Give me my money, you crazy wench!" he roared.
Soraya stumbled, her heart racing. "Let me go! You'll ruin my things!"
"You ruined my patience two months ago!" he snapped. "You think I forgot? You borrowed ten silvers and never paid a coin back!"
People turned to watch. Whispers spread like wildfire.
Rhea stepped forward, trembling. "Please, sir, she just needs more time"
"Stay out of this, girl!" he barked.
The man held her hand so tightly so she won't escape "I said I'll pay you! Just not now!"She plead.
"Not now?" He laughed bitterly. "You said that a dozen 'not nows' ago."
The crowd murmured louder. "Let her go," someone said. "You're hurting her!" another shouted.
A plump woman selling bread waddled closer. "She's just a child, for heaven's sake!"
The man sneered. "A child who steals, lies, and runs from her debts,you can't run again this time,cause am going to lock you up"
He signaled to his goons. "If you can't pay, maybe you can learn the hard way."
Soraya's heart dropped. The two men began to circle her. Panic surged in her chest.
Rhea's voice shook. "Soraya,run!"
Soraya didn't think. She ducked under the man's arm and bolted, pushing through the crowd. People yelled, some cheered for her to keep running, others cursed as she knocked over their baskets.
"Get her!" the man bellowed. "Don't just stand there, you useless dogs!"
The two goons chased after her, but she was faster. she sprinted down the narrow alleys, lungs burning, her breath coming in sharp gasps.
She turned into a darker path, one that led toward the woods at the edge of the city. She didn't care where it led,only that it led away.
Behind her, faint shouts echoed, but they grew fainter and fainter until all that remained was her pounding heartbeat.
She slowed only when she reached the treeline.
The forest was eerily quiet.only the sound of crickets and wind against branches was heard.
She leaned against a tree, chest heaving. "Damn it," she muttered. "I can't keep living like this."
Then she heard it,footsteps. But not from behind her. From deeper within the forest.
She froze.
A shadow emerged from the mist. It wasn't a man,it was a woman. Her robes were torn and bloodstained. She limped forward, clutching her arm.
Vanya.
The witch staggered, her breaths shallow. She'd been running for hours. Her body ached, her magic was unstable, and the arrow in her side pulsed with pain.
But she couldn't stop. Not yet.
"Fools," she hissed under her breath. "They think they can silence me?"
She stumbled, nearly collapsing, when she saw a faint movement behind a tree. Someone was there.
"Show yourself girl".
But before she could move, Vanya's legs buckled. She collapsed onto her knees, coughing blood.
Soraya rushed to her. "Hey! Hey, don't,don't die here!"
Vanya's hand shot out and gripped Soraya's wrist like a trap. "What… is your name?"
"S-Soraya."
The witch's lips curved into a trembling smile. "Soraya. How… fitting."
The forest air seemed to thicken. The moon dimmed behind a veil of clouds.
"Listen to me, Soraya," Vanya rasped, her eyes gleaming with faint blue light. "You will not understand what I am about to do… but forgive me."
Soraya tried to pull her hand free, but the witch's grip tightened. "Let me go! Please!"
"I cannot." Vanya's voice broke, a whisper of regret and resolve. "I have one chance left… I won't let him win."
The ground beneath them began to glow,a faint circle of light forming under the witch's hands. Symbols spiraled outward in intricate patterns, pulsing with blue fire.
Soraya gasped. "W-what is that!?"
"The Alchemy of Souls," Vanya whispered. "My salvation… and my curse."
A cold wind surged through the forest, rattling the trees. The glow intensified. Soraya tried to crawl back, but it was as if invisible threads were pulling her toward Vanya.
"Stop! Please stop!"
But Vanya's eyes had gone pure white. She began to chant.
"As above, so below, as within, so without, let the souls cross the veil, and find new form…"
Soraya screamed as the air around them burst into blinding light.
Her vision blurred,she saw her own hands turning translucent, her reflection shimmering in the witch's eyes. Vanya's blood mixed with the glow, her body trembling violently.
Their souls,two lights of different hues,lifted from their bodies. One golden, one blue.
They spun in the air, twisting, colliding,then merging.
The circle shattered. The light died.
When silence returned, two bodies lay on the forest floor.