Late the following night
the wizened man could be found standing behind a rock deep in the forest. While holding the curious staff with one hand
the flesh colored top still dripping liquid that now had formed a puddle under his feet. It might have been a trick of the faint light
but the puddle appeared to be unexpectedly deep.

The man picked up a box from his pocket
and opened the lid. Inside were a collection of seeds or shards ordered in rows each gleaming in various colors and shapes. He chose one and picked it up with his dry wizened fingers and threw it into the puddle. The shard was not inert but had a pulsing movement
like the heart of a small animal. It rested on the surface only for a short moment before it disappeared under the surface of the pool by his feet.

Then the unthinkable happened
as if it had been tricked by a lure. A large fish appeared from the bottom of the pool of liquid. The back of the fish could be seen moving back and forth for moment
as it appeared to grow
and then the head of the huge fish appeared and opened its mouth. The mouth was surrounded by a row of teeth
but behind there were not any gums nor a tongue but cobblestone stairs leading down within.

The earth shook as the fish shook its head
the mouth now large enough to swallow a person whole
and when the tremble subsided
there were nothing left than an entrance to the underground where the puddle had been a moment ago.　The man stroked his staff gently
and a faint moan as from an excited woman escaped from the staff and was carried away by the wind. The man descended down the staircase that had formed
disappearing underground.

For some days the two Tree Guardians had sensed that something strange was afoot in the forbidden part of the forest. They suspected there were one or several strangers who frequently　entered the forbidden area.

But while the two women searched the entire area for a long time
they were unable to find any intruder. Eventually they realised there had been one small area behind a producing rock that they had missed to check properly. While they knew what this patch had used to be like
they were surprised to find that behind the rock there was now a staircase leading down into the underground. \"No way! No wonder we couldn\u0027t find this as it was hidden by the bushes.\" The two young women went into hiding nearby
keeping a lookout for guards or whoever might use this unexpected place.　But they were unable to spot anyone
the dimly lit entrance was quiet. The portal like entrance looked somewhat like the open gap of a large man-eating creature. In the dim light within
rocky stairs could be seen
leading down to unknown rooms or catacombs.

Those who study the dark arts and alchemy tend to seek out the underground. This since some of the earth magic forces are stronger underground
and it enable them to perform experiments or summonings that could not be done above. There were many such underground dwellings and labyrinths made for this purpose. But the two females had never heard anyone able to build a dungeon out of thin air in a few days. So even while not knowing how this had been accomplished
they knew they were not dealing with any regular magician or thaumaturge.

The two women were Tree Guardians for this part of the forest
were descendants of the people　who had decided to settle down in the forest in the distant past. Over time they had developed a quite different lifestyle from their ancestors.

Many of these forest people had developed unusual traits
even deformities that made some of them resemble plants and animals. Since the forest people lived far from the influence of the Sleeping Goddess in the capital
these changes was perhaps an influence from the little god of the green. Her hair resembled fine leaves
silver in color and somewhat transparent as thin ice.

She would always be seen wearing a bow and arrows
her name was Lillithira and while keeping her eyes on the strange entrance. \"Hmm Tona? What do you think about this? You spend a lot of time with the people in town. Have you heard anything that might explain this?\" Lillithira asked the therianthrope behind her
while she kept her bow at the ready. The second woman tilted her head as she tried to remember any important part of the gossip. \"Hmmm
come to think of it
did not Auntie say that a strange man had arrived?\" \"She said he had an unsettling look. But was polite and listened to people\u0027s talk
and gave the impression of being a decent person
despite an untoward appearance.\" She replied nonchalantly as she fiddled with a rugged hammer in her hand.

While the second woman had a face with a bit of the roundness of a child
under vibrantly wheat colored hair cut short. And an upper body like that of a mature human female
Tona\u0027s body was all horse from the waist down.　So Tona\u0027s legs were chestnut-haired horse legs. Since it was impossible to dress the horse like body in any human clothing
she did wear an apron around her waist to cover her lower abdomen and private parts. \"So so you consider the man suspicious or not?\" Lillithira asked
and then sighed at her partner who appeared so unconcerned over these recent events
while she continued to keep her eyes on the underground entrance. Had she been hiding among the vegetation in the deep forest. Lillithira would have felt entirely confident. She was very apt at sending arrows that would slip trough narrow gaps between the branches. Everyone who had seen the skills of her archery had been amazed on her technique
while her targets would be scared out of their wits by the unseen sniper.

Tona on the other hand
relied on brute force. She would come leaping over fallen trunks and roots
mace in hand. She was nimble enough to run up aslope even with her childhood friend Lilithira on her back
and could run noiselessly between narrow trees when needed. On top of this
she had an unusual ability to blend in with plants and trees. They had combined their strengths and become a terrifying force for any enemy that would try to oppose them. But both were unsuited for fighting in narrow underground passages. \u0027\u0027So
some time after that drifter turned up
the Silverhorn gang disappeared somewhere
right?\" \"Yes I\u0027ve heard talk about that also.\" The Silverhorn gang was a nickname Lillithira had given to a gang of troublemakers that attempted to slip into the forbidden part of the forest whenever they had a chance. The leader of the gang had one odd silver horn growing on the side of his forehead. It was rumoured that the silver horn was an ornament or piercing that the gang leader had obtained when he was young. It seemed to be an odd idea to the girls that anyone would deliberately change their appearance in such a manner
but they had heard that people in the city was fascinated by the idea of looking different. And they were uncertain if the rumour was true
as it appeared that he was unable to take it off.

Before arriving at this spot they had spent considerable time looking for the gang
any corpse or even a ripped off piece of their clothing. But found nothing. Given the circumstances
and the timing of the other events
they found it reasonable to assume that the stranger and the underground staircase in front of them had something in common.

\"It might be dangerous
but we simply have to go investigate this.\" Lillithira said
as she put the bow on her back and pulled out a dagger.

As a Tree Guardian for this district
Lillithira considered herself responsible for people who disappeared. And she didn\u0027t like the thought of having to consider what faith they might have met
either if it had been a horrible death or being captured to become the subject of horrible experiments at the hand of any dark sorcerer. Tona
who had noted the serious look on Lillithira\u0027s face
and tried to lighten her mood. \"Now don\u0027t put on such a face my friend
\" said Tona. \"It\u0027s not that we know if they have ended up in trouble yet. Perhaps they just got invited to dinner by someone and found it best to stay at their host.\" \"Yes it might be so. Yet these people are not anything that could be compared to you or your aunt. But if they all are safe and sound
there\u0027s nothing better than that.\" Tona\u0027s lighthearted attitude might actually be right Lillithira thought. Their opponent need not necessarily be good at combat
if things would come to that. Even if a craftsman is a master in making armor
he need not be a master of martial arts
and a sorcerer who is absorbed in studies of twisted conjuring is not necessarily strong in battle with dark sorcery. \"So to be on the safe side
should we trigger it already now? It\u0027s good to have done
isn\u0027t it?\" The two looked at each other and whispered quietly.

Then
both took a slow breath and put their hands to their abdomens. There hidden from prying eyes both had a mark on their skin
right below the navel. The mark provided a conduit to a small bud inside their womb
the size of a walnut that is the source of the witch\u0027s power. It is a gateway to the magical realm and comes with many names depending on your opinion on witches: \u0027The cursed egg
the Devils bud or the Divine fruit.\u0027 In the ancient past
the spore for this bud was added to the womb of the human female at a whim by gods of the abyss.

They focused their minds
while their fingers traced the lines of the mark on their lower belly. This made the seed inside them awaken
and it opened small petal. With a pulsing movement it started to send out waves of heat
as if they had a second heart in the womb. Breathing heavily
their senses sharpened. Time appeared to slow down
as they started to see strange visions. Strange peculiar words flowed trough their blood when the gate to the other realm was opened to the witch power that is called hexcraft. Now the two of them was still young
and their powers limited.

A skilled witch can obtain strong powers and then live for hundreds of years
but this will also change her in peculiar ways setting her apart from ordinary persons. Eventually
they will meet their end. The power attracts calamity
and they will meet an unfortunate end. While some witches might catch the eye of the queen of the Divine City and taken to the underground prisons. Others might be catching the attention of the Witch eater who follows their smell to devour them. There\u0027s also others who are attracted to the power of this heresy. Now with their power awakened
the two young witches went forward to the portal and started to decent down the stairs that led to the unknown dungeon below. They had no way of knowing of the obscene and humiliating manner in which they would be transformed when they would be allowed to come back up again.

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