Curse of the Rift

Chapter 1

There was once an incident at a school of magick that ended in one person's death and another's
disappearance. In a vast and misty wood not far from the city in which the school stood,
an unknown creature forges a path toward a ruin nestled deep among the trees.
There, it finds a single mirror standing sentinel within the wood.
Wishing to conceal the disgusting visage it sees reflected in the mirror, it dons a white cloth,
but its loathsome appearance lingers in the mirror. The shape in the mirror changes to a shadow,
which laughs at the creature.
The shadow named the creature a "werebeast"—a thing beyond comprehension—and
offers the beast a proposition.
"If you but fulfill my desires, I will make your every wish come true."
In response, the werebeast replied:
"I will do anything to become human. Anything."

Chapter 2

Having made a deal with the shadow, the werebeast heads to the city where magick users live.
The night is dark. The silence full. The people sleep easily in the protection of their homes.
As the werebeast takes in the sight, an indescribable feelings well up in its chest.
When it gazes into a dusty window, it sees the shadow staring back.
"You know what you must do, yes?" the shadow asks.
In response, the werebeast starts destroying everything in its vicinity.
Benches, barrels, windows... The shadow revels in the destruction caused by the werebeast,
for it is an existence that thrives on anger, sadness, and hatred. Woken up by the commotion,
the townsfolk emerge from the homes and loose howls of rage.
Frightened, the werebeast fled and made its way back to the wood.
The werebeast pleads the shadow to turn it human, and the shadow makes a final demand:
"Before I make you human, you must snuff out the lives of one hundred magick users."

Chapter 3

The air in the wood hands strangely ominous.
The werebeast trundles along, dragging a large and heavy sack behind it.
The sack contained a corpse—the 99th magick user killed as a sacrifice for the shadow.
As the shadow raises its voice in utter glee and delight,
animosity and rage seep out from the mirror and coat the werebeast in its sheen.
Memories race through the creature's mind. Memories of people it loved.
Memories of people it hated. Memories of regret, rejection, and pain...
When the werebeast regains consciousness, it finds a young witch standing before itself.
The shadow demands its 100th sacrifice, but the werebeast refuses,
for the witch was the wavy-haired girl the werebeast loved back when she was human.
The werebeast expresses her feelings, and when the witch heard the beast's voice,
she realized it was who she had been looking for—her bespectacled friend.

Chapter 4

The wavy-haired girl and the werebeast exchange words, and it comes to
light that the bespectacled girl was responsible for the death of their mutual best friend.
It is also revealed that she only killed the boy because his actions left her no choice.
However, even after hearing the werebeast's explanation,
the wavy-haired could not bring herself to forgive.
The wavy-haired girl brandishes her staff and attacks the werebeast.
The werebeast emerges triumphant,
and manages to reclaim her senses before finishing off the wavy-haired girl,
instead opting to extend a hand to her fallen opponent. The wavy-haired girl,
overcome with regret and blaming herself for everything that transpired, commits suicide by
plunging her staff into her own chest. The beast cries out in despair and clings to the mirror,
begging it to save her friend.
But the shadow does not appear, and the glass remains silent.
There had never been a shadow, much less one that could grant wishes.
It was never anything more than an illusion the werebeast conjured up to
justify its hatred and desire for revenge. But with her path to revenge at its end,
she discovered that it led...to nothing.