Einar : The forsaken

She emerged from my shadow, her presence as silent as a ghost. Her whisper in my ear sent shivers down my spine. "Indeed, it is." The Witch of Shadows had finally revealed herself.

Her fair skin seemed almost translucent in the fading light, and her callimustian figure was draped in white robes that appeared to shimmer with an otherworldly essence. The irony wasn't lost on me – a witch who wielded shadows, yet wore robes as white as snow.

Her light blue eyes sparkled with malevolence as she gazed at me, her pretty face twisted into a cruel smile. "Tell me, boy... how did you figure out I was in your shadow? My mana was concealed," she said, her voice dripping with venom as she tossed aside the tea I had kindly made for her.

I finished my final sip, my mind racing with the implications of her presence. How did she manage to conceal her mana so effectively? And what did she want from me? I turned to her, my expression neutral. "It was merely a lucky guess."

Her eyes flashed with anger, and she attacked me with a shadow blade that seemed to materialize out of thin air. The blade sliced through the air, its edge whisper-thin and deadly. I barely dodged it, my heart racing with adrenaline.

"A guess! You figured me out with a lucky guess!" Her laughter sent shivers down my spine as she summoned more shadowy tendrils to attack me. I moved back, my daggers at the ready. I had to be careful – her powers were unlike anything I had ever seen.

She rose from her seat, her eyes blazing with power. Her mana surged, and the air around her seemed to ripple with dark energy. She wasn't an average witch; perhaps an A-rank witch, or even higher. "You're Nature's servant, yet you're attacking elves. Won't the spirits be angry with you?" I asked her, trying to stall for time.

Her laughter was like a cold wind, sending shivers down my spine. "I no longer serve the spirits of nature... I serve a much greater power," she said, her voice dripping with fanatical devotion. She instantly attacked me with shadow spikes that seemed to erupt from the ground itself.

I managed to evade them, but I had seen their power. One of the spikes had hit a nearby tree, and the threads of life began to dry up and die. I knew I had to end this fight quickly, before she could unleash more destruction.

No matter what, I couldn't let her shadows touch me. I ran in, my daggers flashing in the fading light. In terms of physical abilities, she had nothing on me. I attacked with a fireball, unleashing a blast of flame that should have incinerated her.

But she was no ordinary witch. A wave of dark energy instantly hit me, pushing me back with a massive force. As for the fire spell I had used, it had been absorbed and reduced to nothingness. "Don't you understand, boy... there's nothing you can do to hurt me," she said, laughing maniacally.

Her face twisted into a grotesque mask of madness as she began to chant in an ancient language known only to witches. From her shadow, two corpses emerged, their eyes glowing with an unnatural light. They were the corpses of two dead elves, their bodies still fresh and reeking of death.

She had abilities similar to those of a necromancer, controlling the dead and turning them into undead soldiers. The two elves attacked me, their movements swift and deadly. One held a sword twice his own size, yet swung it as though it were a mere twig. The other was an archer with a bow of steel, his arrows flying with deadly precision.

Their combination attacks were suffocating, pushing me to my limits. As I fought one off, the other would join in and attack. I knew I had to end this fight quickly, before they could wear me down.

Swiftly and silently, I killed off the first one, and then the second. But as soon as I tried reaching for the witch, the swordsman attacked me once more. "Of course, you can't kill the undead," I realized, gritting my teeth in frustration.

I was stuck. "Dammit!" I cried out, my mind racing with desperation. And then it hit me – mixing earth and water elementals, I created a dust cloud to conceal myself. I quickly ran through it, trapping the undead soldiers in an earth leg lock.

After that, I rushed to the witch, my heart pounding with excitement. I nearly had her head just before the dust settled. She avoided me and attacked with more shadow spikes, her eyes blazing with fury.

The witch fled into the royal castle, her shadows swirling around her like a dark cloak. I chased her, my senses on high alert. But the further she got, the more faint