“What do you want to do with your magic?”

  “I will do magic to get whatever I want,” said Ivaan

  “That’s wonderful,” she said, “so you want good things for yourself by doing magic?”

  “I guess that is exactly what I want,” he said

  “But here’s the catch…”

  “What’s the catch?”

  “The catch is the magic attracts both good and bad things.”

  “How’s that, when I will do the magic with the intention of attracting good things for myself, then why will bad things come?”

  “Aren’t you working with supernatural forces while doing the magic?”

  “Yes, I am.”

  “So, in the spiritual world, both things exist, good and bad.”

  “Yes, I know that.”

  “It's nice to know that you are aware, but are you fully aware?” she asked. She picked up a stone and threw it in the nearby pond. “What happened when I threw the stone in the pond?”

  He looked at the ripples caused by the stone, “It's caused a disturbance in the water.”

  “That’s exactly my point,” she said, “when something powerful happens in the spiritual world, it creates a disturbance in the spiritual world just like the stone caused a disturbance in the water.”

  “Even if you cast a spell for something good for yourself, then somewhere someone will notice this and they will come for you, and that is why we use protection spells in magic”.

  “But mother, I have a doubt,” he said with hesitation

  “Don’t hesitate at all. If you have a doubt, that means you are listening to me. What is it?”

  “Mother, if we do something, then only…the bad people or energies come for us, then why did I used to have consistent nightmares and visions that you explained are because of negative energies around me, and I can sense them?”

  “That’s a really good question, Ivaan I’m impressed.”

  “Thank you, mother…”

  “But sweetheart… the answer to your question is in your question itself”.

  “How mother?”

  “You already know within yourself,” she said with a smile, “you have something magical in you since you were born, and when something magical is present in our surroundings, then it generates unique and high frequencies around it which are obviously noticeable by other energies in the spiritual world.”

  “The answer is in your question, is that you are able to sense these energies because there is something magical present in you, since your birth.”

  “What is it, mother?” he asked, “I want to know”.

  “I don’t know, my son,” she said, “but I’m sure that there is something within you which is even beyond my reach and understanding”.

  Lord of Krimisha was on the round until the sinner who mocked him came towards him.

  “What is it?” the lord asked.

  “Lord, there have been so many days, and you haven’t given us the direction in which we have to work, so…” the sinner stopped in between.

  “So what?” asked the lord

  “So, all the souls were curious that there is still a deal or…” asked the sinner.

  “Before answering that…” said the lord, “tell me something, from the day when the deal was made, has any of you been punished for the sins they have committed?”.

  “No, lord.”

  “Is it something which happens in hell?”

  “Not at all, lord.”

  “Then what did you understand by that?”

  “You are not punishing us because the deal still stands.”

  “Then you have your answer,” said the lord, “now you can go”.

  “But I have to ask something…lord,” the sinner said with hesitation

  “Then…ask”

  “Shouldn’t you be punishing the souls until the arrangements are done, so that lord Yama will not be doubtful of your intentions?”

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  “Are you missing the torture?” asked the lord, “If you want, then I can fulfil your need”.

  “Don’t get me wrong, lord,” said the sinner, “but I thought it would ensure the safety of our deal”.

  “I have considered that much before,” said the lord, “Lord Yama will never know about this, so you don’t need to worry. We just need a little more time to complete our arrangements, and after that, we will be ready for our quest”.

  “Ok, lord, we will wait”.

  “This is the book in which I have written all of my spells,” said the witch while handing Ivaan an old book, “keep it safe, this is only for you”.

  “Thank you for believing in me, mother,” he said, “and I promise, I will keep this book safe”.

  “I’ve never doubted you, my son,” said the witch, “I didn’t give you this before because you were not ready, but now you are a grown man and you are ready”.

  “So, can you allow me to do the spell that you were going to do today?” he asked

  “No son, this spell is dangerous and any mistake can cause havoc.”

  “But mother…”

  “Your time will come, believe me,” said the witch by holding his face, and then she kissed him on the forehead.

  “As you say, mother.”

  She handed him a piece of paper by picking it up from the table.

  “What is this, mother?”

  “These are the ingredients which are required in the spell,” said the witch, “get these things from the market and make sure that nobody notices you.”

  “Nobody will, mother,” he said, “I’m quite stealthy”.

  “I know, go fast.”

  Ivaan reached the market by crossing the farms after the forest. He looked around, and there was a huge crowd in the market filled with traders and customers,

  “How can I forget, today is the day when traders from other cities come to our city to trade,” he said while hiding behind a haystack.

  I need to be more careful now; I should have remembered this day. I shouldn’t be wasting time right now. He was slowly coming out from behind the haystack until someone whispered in his right ear from behind, “Hey, Ivaan,” and he fell into the haystack.

  There was the laughter of a woman, Ivaan removed the hay covering him, and there was a woman standing in front of him. She wore a dark maroon sleeveless tunic, tight at the waist and free around her arms, paired with black trousers.

  “Are you following me everywhere?” he asked in frustration

  “No, I’m not,” she said, “that’s a terrible allegation for any woman. I don’t need to follow any man besides all the other men follow me, and what about you? Are you the one who is following me everywhere?”.

  “Follow you!” he said, “Someone must be crazy to follow you”.

  “How did you dare to say that?” she said, “Well, anyways, I forgive you after all, I’m a kind, generous woman”.

  “I know,” he said with a fake smile, “so please be kind and leave me alone,” and he started approaching the market.

  “How can you leave the conversation in the middle?” she said and started following him.

  “The same way I did much before,” he said while cautiously approaching the shop.

  “Where are you going?” she said, “If you are talking to me, then you can’t leave in the middle of the conversation”.

  “I don’t care, and stop following me around,” he said while continuously moving towards the shop.

  “You cannot order me, I’m a free woman,” she said while trying to match his pace.

  His eyes fell on a man standing in front of the shop, and he instantly hid behind a house near the shop. He was the same man who found him stealing something last time and chased him for a mile.

  This man will easily recognize me and will not let me go easily, so I shouldn’t get in front of him, but then how will I get the item from the shop with him being constantly around?

  The woman was still coming after him, and as she approached him, he grabbed both of her hands and slammed her body against the wall of the house while holding both of her hands above her.

  “Listen, woman…” said Ivaan, moving his face closer to hers, “I will not say this again, I have no interest in you, so keep away”.

  “If you wanted to come closer to me…” she whispered while breathing air on his face, “…then you could have asked for it, I wouldn’t have refused”.

  He instantly released her and moved away.

  “You should admit it that you love and desire me…” she said while trying to get closer to him.

  “Why are you doing this?” he asked

  “You know already…” she said while moving her finger on the side of his face, Ivaan grabbed her hand, “you know…I love you… and you also desire me…then what is keeping you away from me…” she came very close to him moving her lips around his lips as they were touching slightly.

  He moved his face away while she forcefully turned him around and leaned on him as her breasts pressed on his chest, “You cannot keep running away from me like that”.

  “Please understand, I am only a slave, there is a person whom I am working for, and he asks me to steal the items he needs”. He said with tearful eyes, “Now please leave, I have to steal another item for him, and if I didn’t, then he will torture me.”

  “You’re a thief and a slave?!” she said while moving away from him.

  “Now you understand why I don’t come near to you because I am not a free man,” he said tearfully with a shaking voice.

  “Oh…I’m so sorry,” and she hugged him tightly, she held his face with her hands, “tell me who he is and I will make sure he gets arrested and you’ll be a free man again”.

  “No, I don’t need any of that, he’s my master and I won’t betray him,” he said and removed her hands.

  “I don’t care if you are a slave, I love you,” she said, crying, and tried to hug him, but he pushed her away.

  “You don’t even like that I am a thief, then how can you love me?” he said

  “I don’t care, I still love you,”

  “Then prove it,”

  “How can I prove?” she asked tearfully

  “Steal that hand size flask of green liquid from that shop,” he said while pointing at a shop from hiding behind the house.

  “Then you will believe that I love you?” she asked

  “Yes, I will,”

  “Ok, then,” and she walked away.

  Will it be good to involve her in this plan? Anyways, I can’t go there because the person near the shop knows me, she will be perfect for this job because she foolishly loves me, and she is a woman, people tend to forgive women more than men.

  As she came closer to the shop, she blended in with the crowd and approached the items placed in front of the shop. She quickly glanced at the flask and picked it up with a sleight of hand and disappeared into the crowd.

  Where did she go? Is she going to get caught? He searched all over the place, but he didn’t find her anywhere. She would have definitely run away, and now she will inform everyone about me. Mother told me to never trust a woman.

  Someone patted his shoulder from behind, and he turned around cautiously, but there was no one. When he looked in front, “Surprise!!!” she shouted, and Ivaan moved back in fear.

  “I didn’t know that thieves also get afraid,” she threw the flask at him.

  He caught it and put it in the pouch tied around his waist belt, “Why, thieves are not humans?”.

  “Definitely not, after looking at you,” she said with a smile, “Do you believe now that I love you?”.

  “Yes, I do, but now I also know that you are also a thief,” he said by pointing a finger at her, “only thieves can do that”.

  “It’s so ridiculous of you to think that I am a thief,” she said, “my father used to perform magic tricks and he taught me a few, so I used them to get that item for you”.

  “Magic tricks!!!” he laughed loudly.