Merlyn looked down on her hands. The tips of her fingers appeared black and a dark red mark circled her index finger.

It was her curse.

She no longer held anger towards it or her circumstances, yet there was regret.

She regretted chasing after a man who would toss her aside.

She regretted taking action against the woman he eventually ended up with.

But mostly, she regretted the grief she caused her family despite their attempts to advise and help her.

It seemed that it was too late now though.

After being cursed, she had flown into a rage, wrecking havoc on those in her village. Even now, she did not know how much of it had been the curse and how much of it had been her own emotions, but by the time she came to her senses, the damage was done.

Her father had laid on the ground with a wound to his abdomen, while her brother clutched his arm, the skin below his elbow black and decayed. They had not been the only casualties; several villagers around her held onto wounds, though theirs appeared less severe in comparison to her father and brother.

All had looked at her in horror, while her brother stared at her through his pain, his expression conveying his confusion, but rather than give answers, she had fled.

They wouldn't learn why she had gone into a frenzy, how she had acquired some form of dark magic, or how much she grieved her actions.

It had only been the start of her losing control though. Originally she had held the hope of returning to her village, but when she crossed a pair of travelers and nearly took their lives, she realized just how dangerous it would be for everyone else.

At first it seemed that her emotions were what lead her to attack others, yet even when she was rather calm, she would lose control and destroy anything within her range. By the time she realized it, she was surrounded by torn and decaying plants, trees, and any unfortunate lifeforms she managed to get ahold of.

Eventually, she reached a rather secluded area and remained there.

Merlyn had spent years there, building a small hut and creating a small field of blackened grass around it. She had discovered she could survive without food or water, which only caused her to further realize how permanent the punishment was.

It had been several years since then. While there had been a few travelers who strayed over to her new home, she was able to chase them away before she could harm them. Luckily, the kingdoms had long since stopped creating forces to fight against the more magical or she might not have managed to stay out of the way as she currently did.

Her thoughts were all she had now. She feared going near anything living, as its death only served to remind her of her curse. Of how wicked she had ended up becoming.

She yearned to know how the villagers had fared after she fled. How her family had fared.

Was her father alive?

Was her brother able to use his arm?

But she had ruined them all hadn't she? She did not deserve to know. She did not deserve to care.

She always toyed with the idea of them meeting, how they might act when they saw her. But she only had to look at her hands or see the dead field surrounding her hut to know.

Her inability to hold back her anger and jealousy had lead her here. She could only accept the price of her actions, for no tears nor regrets could possibly change her what she had become.

Merlyn sat against the wall of her hut, lost in her thoughts, but the sound of footsteps forced her into alertness. At what might have been 20 feet from the hut, she heard the several footsteps stop and a quick exchange of low murmurs.

Tensing, she prepared to make a run. Although her hut only had a door facing where the noises had come from, she could easily break through its weak walls if the need arose.

The only thing worse then the chance of being hunted, was the chance of her hurting or possibly killing whoever had come in a frenzy.

She prayed that she would be able to escape before the chance became reality.

After a period of silence, a crunch outside the door was heard and after a second, a knock. Merlyn stared at it in confusion.

Their current location was too out of the way and too ominous for her to not suspect them to come out with the intention of getting rid of her, so what were they expecting by knocking?

Could it be a trap? Were they just checking to see if she were in, or were they really clueless of who lived here?

But, there came another knock.