It was a dark night. The forest was almost silent save for the chirping of birds and crickets. Owls hooted ominously. There was a young man making his way down a deserted path. He had been travelling for days, covering other forests like this, mountains, canyons, beaches, and he had passed through many strongholds along the way. His name was Loni. He was a treasure hunter, and he was very good at what he did. He’d encountered numerous perilous situations through his journeys; venturing into deep underground caves and making his way to the top of icy peaks to obtain the most deeply desired treasures in all of the realm. In fact, doing so for this long gave him a hint of arrogance. He almost felt like he was unstoppable, and would charge accordingly for his finds. Loni was making his way through the forest in the dead of night to drop off his latest find for a client. It was some kind of jewelled necklace, designed in the style of many generations past, and his client was a beautiful red-haired woman. If not for the fact that Loni wanted to maintain a professional boundary between himself and those he worked for, he might have just hit on the woman. She was deeply mysterious, and all that he knew about her was that her name was Trish Margonia.

Loni finally made his way to his destination, tired from his journey and hoping to enjoy a bit of hospitality. It was a large house in the middle of the forest; so deep in the wood that it was clear its occupant wanted to be far away from civilisation. It had at least 3 floors, was made of stone, and a smoking chimney on top promised a warm fireplace inside to take comfort by. Loni knocked on the door, exciting about both his pay and the chance to rest.

A woman opened the door. As he expected, it was Trish. She was wearing colorful shirt made of the finest leather, and her hair was down. It was as if Trish was out and about adventuring herself, rather than preparing for bed like Loni would have expected. Her shirt was quite open, revealing a decent look at Trish’ impressive cleavage. However, Loni took only the briefest of glances. Gotta stay professional, he thought to himself.

“Are you alone?” Trish asked sharply.

“No, it’s only me.”

“Are you certain you weren’t followed?” she asked.

“I’m positive. I’ve been walking through this forest for the past two hours, checking back and forth for spies. Carrying goods like this, I’m always careful.” Loni replied with a hint of arrogance in his voice.

“And nobody knows you’re here? You didn’t tell anybody you were coming to see me?”

Loni scoffed, almost as though Trish was expecting him to throw his common sense out the window. “Of course not. I don’t tell anybody about my travels. I don’t even use my real name when I’m in a strange place.”

“Excellent… most excellent, indeed” Trish said, her voice turning from anxious to calmly elevated. “Then I suppose it would be rude of me not to invite you inside? Come on in!” Trish opened the door wildly, raising her arm out to offer Loni the warmest of welcomes. It seemed that Trish was more happy to see him than he was to see her.

Loni walked inside. He had not seen the house before, but was taken by surprise how homely it looked inside. The exterior screamed cold and uninviting, but the interior was anything but. A fluffy rug by a warm fire, maple timber floorboards, a dining table with a bowl full of fruit on top, and many beautiful pieces of artwork all across the walls. If Trish’ beautiful appearance wasn’t a pleasure on its own, her home certainly was.

“There’s no time to waste, traveller. Come with me.” Trish said to him authoritatively, clearly she wasn’t about to waste time. She was a woman that conducted business first and played later.

“As you wish, miss,” Loni replied, making sure he denoted her power.

Loni followed Trish down a long corridor. It seemed to go nowhere. No doors to other rooms, no artworks. More than anything it just looked like a waste of space. At the end of the corridor, they stopped.

“Again, you’re absolutely certain that nobody knows you’re here?” Trish asked again.

“Cross my heart” Loni said with an enthusiastic smile

Trish smiled back at him. “Perfect.” She then pressed on one of the stones in the wall and it receded inwards, making a hole deep enough to fit her entire hand. Suddenly, the stone wall pulled away to the side, revealing a secret passageway. It was going downstairs and it was dark. Despite Loni making his way through various underground caves and dungeons and being used to it, this unnerved him. Why would a woman living so isolated from civilization need a hidden doorway? And where did those stairs lead to?

Trish picked up a nearby candle and struck a match to light it. “You look nervous” she said. “Don’t worry, it’s just a… an additional security measure”

“Whatever you say, miss”

“Trish will be fine, traveller. Your name was Loni, right?”

“Yes, Loni.”

“Well, Loni, I’m paying a lot for this, and I’m very nervous. I want to make absolutely sure we’re not being watched. I have a many enemies that would love to get their hands on this jewel, and they have sent spies looking for me before”

Loni understood. He’d been pursued in the past by parties with opposing interests too. With the same warm demeanor she greeted him at the front door with, Trish motioned him to head down the dark staircase. She followed him with the candle, illuminating the path. The air in the corridor was stale and there was moistness in the air. Wherever this was leading, Trish did not make her way down here very often.

The staircase seemed to go down longer than Loni thought was possible. He had to guess it was at least the same height as the house from ground level to the roof, but instead going deep into the ground. This had to be specially constructed on Trish’ orders. They got to the room at the bottom and it was pitch black. Loni stood still.

“One moment,” Trish said, as she wandered into the dark and started lighting numerous candles, gradually illuminating the room, and giving Loni a sense of place. Loni had so far learned to expect the unexpected when it came to Trish, and this room was no exception. It was full of all kinds of treasures. Gems of all colors, golden goblets, scepters, coins pilled up to the ceiling, gold bricks, and some treasures he couldn’t even described. The value in this room would have equalled his career as a treasure hunter at least ten times over. He was astounded. How did such a young woman afford to collect all these materials? And who had helped her do it? Why did she want to hoard it like this? Trish could live like a queen with this fortune. Despite having so many questions, Loni was frozen in shock.

Trish approached him again. She pressed another stone in the wall, causing another sudden shift in the wall behind Loni and sealing them both inside. They were truly alone together; neither their voices or any other sound would escape this mysterious room. The thought actually gave Loni a slight chill.

“Now… down to business,” Trish sais mischievously. “Since you’re back here I’m going to assume that you have what I paid you to get? You know I can’t give you the rest of what I owe you until I see that you have what I want…” Trish snickered, barely able to contain her excitement. Whatever she asked for was, she placed a lot of value on it.

Loni smiled back at her assuredly. “I never come back to a client with empty hands. Oh yes, I have what you paid for, and I think you’re going to like it. A lot.”

A big smile stretched across Trish’ face. “Oh, I know I will. I know for a fact that I’m gonna love it. You have no idea what this means to me. You have no idea what you’ve done for me. You’ve… you’ve changed everything!”

“Why waste time?” Loni said, almost seeming as though he was flirting with Trish. “Do you wanna see it?”

Trish nodded her head, her excitement clearly becoming more intense. “Oh, I most definitely do!”

Without wanting to hold her up further, and expecting to receive the rest of an already large payment, Loni reached into his knapsack, digging around for it. He pulled out a small box with a lock on it. He was so careful that simply putting the treasure in his bag wasn’t enough. He had to add an extra layer of security; anything that would put off onlookers that might try to steal from him.

“It’s in here, locked away safe and ready for you to open.” Loni placed the box on the table, shifted it over to Trish, and handed her the key, looking deep into her eyes the whole time. For Trish, it was like receiving a birthday present, wrapped up and ready to make her happy.

Trish unlocked the box and opened it, revealing the gold-chained necklace that contained a glowing stone. Loni was happy to see that his client was pleased, but even he had to admit to himself that he’d never seen a stone glow like that before. It was like it was full of electricity. On top of that, Trish seemed to be acting more enthusiastic than any other client he’d ever had in his life. He couldn’t put a finger on why, but this is what really unnerved him to the core.

“You wanna know something, Loni?” Trish said, drawing his attention away from the stone in her hands and back up to her eyes. “I would never have been able to get my hands on this precious stone myself. Do you know why?”

Loni really felt nervous now. He’d hoped it was because Trish didn’t have experience going down into dungeons. At the same time he also wanted to know more about this mysterious woman and remained silent, not wanting to obstruct her from continuing. He just nodded at her.

“The reason I couldn’t go and get the stone myself is because it’s magical. You see Loni, this stone was locked away in the deepest underground cavern in the realm because it held far too much power for anyone to wield, and it couldn’t be destroyed. The only thing that those who hid it could hope for was that it would never be found… ever. So that’s where you came into this story, my friend. I had to hire nobody but the best treasure hunter in the realm. You were either going to get the stone for me, or die trying.”

A sick feeling started to build up in Loni’s stomach. He really wasn’t liking where this was going. “Well, I’m glad to help. If I could get my payment, I’ll be on my way.”

“Oh, please, Loni! You haven’t let me finish yet! You’ll get your payment, and so much more, don’t worry about that! I haven’t even gotten to the best part yet.”

Loni remained silent, taking notice of his rapidly rising heart rate.

“I am a witch Loni. I know I might look young, but I am actually over 50 years old. Witches like me age much slower than our human counterparts. Now, the reason I needed you to go get it is because there was a very powerful magic surrounding it. Those that hid it wanted to make sure that a witch would never be able to get it because… well… let’s just say it wouldn’t be good news for the realm in the hands of the wrong kind of witch.”

“What are you going to do with it now that you have it?”

“I’m gonna get to that. In fact, you’re going to see some of that. You see, Loni, you should never have given this stone to me. Before I was a powerful witch, if you’ll allow me to flatter myself a little, but now? Now my power is absolutely unlimited! I can do whatever I want now! I’m going to make the most powerful lord in the realm look like an ant in comparison! And it’s all because of you!”

Loni’s anxiety started to turn into a full-blown panic. He didn’t want to imagine what Trish was going to do with that kind of power. He actually hoped that she was playing some kind of sick joke on him, and that it was just an ordinary necklace, but that glow was definitely telling him otherwise. He started to back away towards the door, his petrified eyes still glued on Trish.

Trish put the necklace on. The green stone started to glow even brighter than before. Then the energy emanating from the jewel seemed to be spreading out, deep inside Trish’s body. Loni could see neon green lines appearing across Trish’ arms and in her neck as if the power was literally flowing through her veins. Then he saw Trish’ eyes turn bright lime green. This really scared Loni. From his perspective, Trish was effectively turning into a monster.

Loni continued to back away, almost tripping over his own feet along the way. This really was not good. He had to get out right now. He slammed his back against the stone wall and started waving his arms around against it frantically looking for the panel that would open the door. He started to hyperventilate, not being able to find it.

Trish watched him do this as the power continued to build up inside of her. She started to laugh maniacally. To Loni, it reminded him of the villainesses that he conjured up in his imagination when his father would read him fantasy story books at bedtime. But it was worse. This was all too real and there was no going to sleep to escape it. Trish’ skin started to glow a vibrant green tinge, illuminating the dim room like it was daylight. The power coursing through her even made her hair gently flow about in the air as if a light breeze was coming off the ground. It made the hair on the back of Loni’s neck stand up.

Loni could not find the switch. He was trapped in the room with Trish Margonia. Trapped with a witch; a witch he had just unknowingly made the most powerful being in the realm. Trish walked up to him, her previously delightful smile now a demonic grin. Loni continued pounding on the wall in a panic, desperate to escape and run out in the forest. He swore to himself that he’d give up treasure hunting and thievery if he ever got out of this. He’d get an honest job. He could farm, he could open a butchery, her could sweep the floors at small town taverns. Just let him out and he’ll make all the changes he was promising happen.

But it was no use. Trish walked up close to him, cornering him like a bear traps a helpless deer.

“Just because I’m the most powerful witch there ever was doesn’t mean I’m no longer an honest woman,” Trish said. “I said I was going to pay you. I intend to keep that promise.”

Despite the horror of everything that had happened so far, this gave Loni a slight glimmer of hope.

“But before I do that, I want to demonstrate to you just how powerful I really am. How powerful you made me.”