The Outskirts of Town
Naya pulled the dark hood of her cloak tighter over her head, glancing nervously over her shoulder as she approached the small, secluded hut. The moonlight barely illuminated the narrow dirt path she had been following, guided only by the cryptic directions the witch had given her.
She wore all black, blending into the shadows of the dense trees surrounding her. Her heart raced with each step, the eerie silence amplifying the sound of her own breathing.
If anyone finds out what I’m doing, she thought, her stomach twisting with fear, I’ll be banished, or worse, death.
Her hands trembled slightly as she came to a halt in front of the dilapidated hut. The place exuded an ominous energy, as though the very air around it had been corrupted by dark magic. The wooden wa
