Trouble came from where he least expected. The villagers' terrified screams carried across the village.
He climbed onto the roof and saw dark female figures standing on the rooftops of the other houses. More dark female figures rose high above the houses, seizing panicked villagers thrashing their limbs, and hurled them to the ground with force, where their screams fell silent and they were crushed.
Behind him, several terrifying figures descended onto the roof. The foremost one was the tallest, wearing a black dress, her proud and arrogant expression etched on a beautiful white face.
"Well, well, what do we have here?" she said, her deep, commanding voice capable of enchanting—or leaving one soulless while still alive. "The Cursed? And why have you come here? To save these poor villagers, whose fate was sealed long ago, while we merely allowed them to live a few more years? And what has it gotten you, do you see? Their fate will be decided tonight. And my sisters and I will find a new village. Or even a city. Actually, no—the cities are already taken."
The Cursed glanced around. There was nowhere to run.
The Supreme Witch raised her hand, and he was lifted into the air above the roof. Only one move remained.
Time froze. A ringing silence descended from nowhere. Into the space of the Black Sabbath entered someone ancient, a name unknown on this earth. She appeared on the Magic Field. She was seated on a large raven-black horse with glowing red eyes. A slender woman in black light armor. Long pale hair caught the ghostly moonlight. Beautiful, audacious, untouchable.
All eyes fixed on her.
The Cursed saw her, and the hairs on his head rose in terror at the realization of what they now faced. Each night, the Curse escalated to a new, more terrifying level.
For now, only one thing spared them from inevitable horror: when she appeared, the stranger's head was turned aside, slightly lowered. Now she turned it toward the village—and stared at them.
Her mouth opened impossibly wide, forming a huge black void, from which poured streams of a terrible, all-piercing scream. Over the village rose a dark hurricane of dreadful force. It tore flesh from people and witches and shattered bones to pieces.
The Cursed fell onto a roof and slid down. He hit the ground, but a new power from a slain enemy strengthened his body and bones, keeping him from being crushed.
He lay among the dead and torn, bloodied remains. Red and black blood mixed, flowing together in a single stream down the street.
The monstrous scream of the ancient banshee ceased the instant he fell from the roof.
Now there was dead silence everywhere.
Amid it came solitary footsteps, approaching. Someone passed the pile of dead bodies and remains where the Cursed lay. As the walker moved on, he saw a figure with long white hair, clad in black armor. Oh horror! She was still alive. She stood, slowly scanning, as if searching for someone.
Suddenly, she sensed his presence, spun sharply, and thrust her hand forward. At the same time, he thrust his hand, and both were flung to either side of the street, their backs crashing into the stone walls of houses. With magic, they affected each other and held each other several feet above the ground.
The Cursed saw that the pale-haired woman's lower jaw was missing, as if ripped from her face by an inhuman force, leaving a gaping, bloodied wound. The banshee could no longer scream, and the witches had managed to cast their most dreadful spell.
They stared at each other, frozen. Human eyes locked on ancient banshee eyes.
A long dagger appeared in the Cursed's second hand. He hurled it with force into the banshee, and she froze, expiring, pinned to the wall by the dagger through her skull.
Without the banshee's magical force acting on him, the Cursed slowly slid down the wall to the ground.
Only a few villagers survived. The Fair-Haired was among them. She came out to see him off. The Warlock watched in horror, shaking his head.
He rode his horse forward, toward where he felt the Twilight Forest ended.
The small figure still waved goodbye as he glanced back at the village one last time.