The Devil's Cursed Witch

The winged man ran his hands through his ash gray hair as he looked away and let out a loud exhale through his mouth. Once he felt calmer, he finally looked back at her, who was sitting quietly while bearing the cold.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“I am sorry too,” he sighed. “I should not have talked to you like this.”

She raised her head to look at him. “I should have listened to you as well. But if you tell me why can’t I touch it, then I won’t ever try to do it again.”

“Only my mate can touch my wings,” he said solemnly. “If you want to touch it, then be my mate. I will not stop you.”

“I-I won’t touch your wings again,” she said, looking guilty at what she had done out of her curiosity. “I’m sorry.”

Morpheus stood up and changed the subject. “I have been told to bring you back in an hour so we don’t have much time left.”

“Only an hour?” She looked displeased.

“Even a few minutes are enough for you to bring troubles for yourself so an hour is more than enough,” Morpheus commented. “That dimwit is actually being generous.”

She offered him a displeased glare as if she was being accused unfairly. “Troubles? When did I bring trouble?”

“You won’t even know,” he replied and then thought, ‘Only the person with you gets to know and have to suffer.’

Before she could say more, he offered her his hand so she could stand up. “Get up. We need to leave. I will show you something else.”

Trying to control the shivering of her body, she accepted his hand and slowly stood up. Morpheus could see she was still feeling cold. That’s why he decided to go somewhere where she wouldn’t freeze.

Though he had an option to take her back to the palace, there was still plenty of time left, and deep inside, he didn’t wish to let her go so soon. Spending time with her felt good though it was also troublesome due to the nature of this naive little female.

At least for now, he reminded himself to make sure she wouldn’t go near enough to touch his wing, nor would he volunteer using it to warm her up. Though he was someone who loved taking risks, this was one gamble he wouldn’t dare try.

Morpheus and Ember started walking on that flat surface sloped along the rocky peak. Ember didn’t feel any difficulty in walking along that uneven trail, but Morpheus continued to hold her hand as he worried more about her inherent clumsiness.

After walking for some time, they almost reached the other side of that circular trail. Ember couldn’t help but ask, “How long do we have to walk?”

“Almost there,” he replied and then faced the rocky wall on the side of the cliff. Ember followed his line of sight and saw there was something on that rocky wall.

“Is it that cave?” she asked.

“Hmm?”

“Is it yours?”

His expression looked nonchalant, but he gave off a sombre vibe. “Used to be my sister’s hiding place but now it belongs to me.”

It was the first time he mentioned his family member to her and she felt curious. “Your sister? You have a sister? Is she older? Younger?”

“Are you going to keep asking questions right here, or do you prefer to go inside so you won’t feel cold anymore?” he interrupted her.

She realized she was in fact going to freeze soon. “Ah, yes! Let’s go inside.” She hurried towards the cave while dragging him with her.

As they entered the mouth of the cave, there was a short dark passage that led to a large hall. Thanks to the holes on the ceiling, sunlight could enter to naturally brighten the place. It amazed Ember to see how huge and neat the place was.

“It’s really big compared to where I used to live, and it’s so clean and nice, almost like a palace room.”

Morpheus guided her towards the neatly-placed stack of hay which was covered by the animal skin hide. “Sit here.”

Ember could not stop looking around as she sat down. For her, this place gave her great comfort—as someone who grew up in a similar environment, she felt more at ease to be inside a cave than anywhere else.

The walls had many colourful drawings randomly engraved on the surface. There were sketches of flowers, sunset, sunrise, starry sky, hills and so on.

While Ember appreciated the interior of the cave, Morpheus walked towards the other side of the cave where there was a pile of neatly-arranged small wood blocks and thin dried twigs.

He arranged them within the firepit in the centre of the cave which was marked by a stack of small rocks arranged in a circle. As he arranged the wood to build a fire, Ember took her time observing his actions.

“Morph?”

“Hmm?”

“Did you draw all those on the walls?” she asked as she returned her attention to the wall drawings.

“My sister did,” he answered.

The mention of his sister brought her curiosity back. She pointedly looked at him. “You didn’t tell me about your sister. Will you introduce us? Can I meet her?”

Morpheus silently shook his head as he snapped his fingers to light the fire.

“Why?”

“She is no longer here anymore.”

Ember could sense that sadness in his voice. Though he was not looking at her, her intuition was telling her his eyes must be sad too.

“Where did she go?” she asked again in a low and careful voice.

“I don’t know. She just disappeared,” he replied. He looked at her, his somber gray eyes reflecting  the flames on the firepit. “You will feel warm soon.”

She stared deeply into his eyes  and asked, “Are you sad?”

He stared at her for a while. Her beautiful eyes searched for the answer to her question as she  patiently waited for his reply.

In the end, Morpheus looked away and he stood up to go to the stack of hides placed on one of the shelves fixed on the wall. “You are the first person I brought here. I don’t even know why but I sure didn’t expect to get asked so many questions.”

Ember understood his mood was quite grim so she no longer badgered him and kept quiet. She found Morpheus bringing one folded hide towards her. He opened it and wrapped it around her.

As she held onto the warm hide, she said in an apologetic tone, “I… I didn’t mean to offend you. Since you mentioned your sister, I just became curious about her. “

He sat next to her to see her cheerless face. “I don’t know where she is now. All I know is that this place is the only place that makes me feel that she is still around me.”

“You miss her?”

“Hmm!”