Yuki is the Evil Witch, a woman who can only curse, never heal. But when a young girl is kidnapped and no one will help, Yuki is forced to become the Hero. But can her dark magic really help?

  Prologue

  Yuki was going to die in just a few days after her 18th birthday.

  Her feet were tied to a big heavy metal ball that was dragging her into an old well. It was a form of ritualistic sacrifice, they had said. The many thorns in the rose field were cutting open her skin, causing her to bleed all over the grass.

  She was literally dying from a thousand cuts and even if she survived the blood loss, the fall into the deep well would kill her. Yuki fought to control her tears, fought to free herself, but the heavy ball was dragging her down to her death.

  Her magic was useless. She had been foolish enough to show her captors what her powers were and so they had made sure she couldn't use them now. Her hands were tied with thick, heavy metal chains, and she tried to hold on to something, but the only thing around was the many thorned rose bushes.

  She felt her ankles go over the top of the well, and knew she had seconds before she died. So she grabbed one of the thorn bushes, even though the pain of a dozen thorns pushing into her soft palm caused her to cry out in pain. But she held on. Her body knew that she was dead anyway, and was trying anything it could to keep her alive for a few more seconds.

  She tried to think of any spell or curse that could help her, but nothing came to mind. Who could she curse? The flowers?

  The roses, red and pink and yellow, and a dozen other colours, were in full bloom. They smelled not only of rose, but jasmine and elderflower and sandalwood. And a dozen other fragrances she couldn't quite place. These were magical roses after all.

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  Roses didn't grow by the thousands in the middle of a field like this, and the thorns on them weren't this sharp. Even as she looked, she saw one of the rose bushes' thorny vines wrap around her wrist and forearm, digging in like a vampire drinking her blood.

  She saw with a morbid curiosity how the rose bush slowly lapped up her blood. She could feel no pain in that hand anymore, and knew that the hand was most likely already gone.

  She would die in this lonely field, and nobody would even know.

  That's when she felt a shadow come and stand in front of her.

  “Help me,” she said. “Get me out of here, please,” she said.

  But then she looked at the face of the man who had come to help her and cried in anguish.

  He would let her die. He had told her this before.

  “So, Snow White,” he said, “Bleeding to death in an empty field surrounded by hundreds of roses.”

  “I am not Snow White. From what angle do I look like a Snow White to you?” she said with some anger.

  “Do you know, in many darker versions of the story Snow White, she actually dies in the field covered by snow? Snow White isn’t always a happy ending story. Tell me, Snow White, are you going to die in this field too?”

  “Shut up and help me. Please help me. I'm being pulled down.”

  “You know I can't help you, Yuki. You know the rules. I told them to you the first time we met. Though you didn't listen and you didn't believe me.”

  “I believe you. Please help me. I don't want to die.”

  “Stop being pathetic and cowardly. If you expect sympathy or mercy, you will find none here. I have no mercy, I cannot give you any and I certainly won't help you.”

  He brought his mouth closer to her ear and said, “Yuki, oh Yuki. Tell us a story, will you?”

  They weren’t just words. They were a magical chant. This was the only help he would give her. Help her escape for an interesting story.

  “Fine. You want a story? I'll tell you a story. There was once a young girl called Yuki. When she was born, the angels came to bless her. She was destined to be the greatest healer who ever lived. But then everything went wrong. Instead of a healer, she became an evil witch.”

  “That's nice Yuki, but a story needs adventure. Where is the adventure in this story?”

  “I’m getting to it. On her 18th birthday, a man tried to kill Yuki and that’s when her world shattered.”