The Corvin's hand looked nothing less than a broken branch of a tree, where the tips slowly started to wither to dust. Julie felt panic in her mind. She had witnessed her father die in a similar way, and much quicker, that made her wonder how much time Cillian had before he would completely disintegrate into a pile of dust.

  "How do we stop it?" asked Julie, but the Corvin only stared at her.

  "There's no way to stop a Corvin's death," Cillian dropped his hand to his side. "Death is inevitable even to the ones who appear to be immortal."

  "But life can be preserved," said Julie, and she stood up. Seeing how Cillian could not apparate from one place to another or to move, she said, "Don't die yet, Cillian. Let me go and get the book of spells. There should be a way to stop your body from withering."

  She quickly ran out of the house, across the deserted town and through the wooden bridge. Making her way to her Dormitorium, Julie quickly fetched the book from her dorm in her bag and headed out. Right outside the girl's Dormitorium, she met Mr. Evans.

  "I need to talk to you about something, Ms. Winters," stated Mr. Evans.

  "Can we speak later? I have something important to do," replied Julie, who looked out of breath and in a hurry.

  "I guess it can wait. It is about checking your soul energy," and the counsellor then asked, "Where are you hurrying to?" questioned Mr. Evans.

  Julie waited for the students to walk past them and said, "Cillian is in trouble. His body is disappearing."

  "Is it time already for him to leave?" Mr. Evans asked in a thoughtful tone, and Julie shook her head.

  "No, it is related to something that took place last night in the forest. It affected Roman and me, and it even affected Cillian. He was nowhere near the forest, I don't know why it's happening to him."

  "Maybe whatever curse or spell that was placed in here, it was supposed to affect the nearby entities who fall under supernatural beings," Mr. Evans came to a conclusion. He decided to accompany her because he could tell that Julie was being reckless when it came to using her soul energy. Ready to help anyone in need, he needed to make sure that she knew when to stop.

  On their way to Willow Creek, he said,

  "While I was looking for something, during my stay here. Many years ago, before your mother's time, there used to be a powerful witch, the first witch. No one knows what happened to her or where she went. She was also the person who successfully was able to provide abilities to the vampires through the stones. I wonder if she has something to do with what happened. Her name had come up, when I was brushing through some stuff in Veteris."

  "You think she's the one who cursed the lands?" asked Julie, her feet quickly moving on the forest ground to catch up to where Cillian was.

  Mr. Evans, who kept up with Julie, replied to her, "Curse would be a far fetched term. From what I gathered, the woman tried to help her sick child, who was in poor health. She tried to restore the child's health, but was unsuccessful. The child passed away, and it was during the same time, she tried to tap into the dark magic. Which is also where some of the witches were able to get the potions to make stones that the vampires use."

  "Do you think the Elders know about her?" inquired Julie, but the counsellor shrugged his shoulders.

  "Considering she existed far before your mother's time, I don't know, I don't have much information about it," answered Mr. Evans. He continued with his theory, "She was one of the oldest residents of Veteris town and while working through to restore and bring back her son to life, I think it affected the lands around. Dark magic isn't something one would often think to touch, because it has side effects. Not everything comes pretty."

  Then that must be it, thought Julie in her mind. Once they stepped inside Willow Creek, they quickly walked to the house where Cillian was resting.

  Sullivan Evans slightly paused his footsteps, and he murmured, "This is Cillian's house."

  Julie stepped inside the house, where the light in the lanterns continued to glow. The Corvin had his back leaned against the wall, sitting in the corner. She pulled the bag that she had been carrying behind her back, bringing it forward and pulling it out one by one. First came the book, and then came the potions. She flipped through the pages, reading the lines before the book spoke of placing her hand on the Corvin's ribs to check how much life force was still left in him.

  When she raised her hand towards the Corvin, the Corvin used its other hand to hold her wrist, where it had lost three fingers, and only its thumb and index finger was still intact.

  "Don't," warned the Corvin. "Doing that, you will be putting your body and soul through something you have no idea about."

  "I am going to make use of the potions," Julie replied to him, pulling his hand away from her wrist. She placed it on his lap. She then turned to look at Mr. Evans, glad that she had found him on her way. "Do you know what mother used when she brought father back to his human self?"

  The vampire's eyes subtly widened, and seeing his unwillingness, Julie asked him, "Do you know it, Sullivan?"

  Mr. Evans pursed his lips and then replied, "I wouldn't recommend you to go with it. Did I fail to mention to you earlier that your mother's health was affected because of it?"

  Cillian growled as if he was in pain, and he then said to Julie, "You shouldn't worry about me."

  But Julie refused to leave Cillian in this condition and let him die. They had a book of spells, and she was the great witch, Opaline's daughter. She wasn't going to give up on someone who had been there for her, and even though Cillian was going to die for the second time, she wasn't going to leave him like she had done the last time.

  Cillian then said, "You will not be able to time travel to the past. Once dark magic touches you, it will remove that ability. Are you fine with it?"

  This had Julie pause and think about it. Not travelling to the past meant that she wouldn't be able to see her mother again. She stared at the Corvin.

  "We will think about it later. Can you please help me, Sullivan," Julie pleaded Sullivan, and the vampire, who often was full of smiles, looked slightly torn on the girl's request.

  "If I sense your soul is leaving your body, I will stop the process without blinking my eyes. Anything that affects you, will be removed, and you are my top priority," stated Sullivan, with a serious look on his face.

  Julie immediately nodded her head, "Deal."

  With one look at the Corvin, whose shoulder suddenly made a crackling sound before it dropped down unevenly, Sullivan finally gave her a nod and said, "I will fetch the ingredients, while you can prepare the other things that are in the book. You will find two markings on page number six and nine. Take the first half of page six and continue the spell from the second half of page nine."

  "They will work?" asked Julie, and Sullivan gave her a nod.

  "It should. The book is not straightforward with a few clues missing. It has more depth. The more time you spend with it like a puzzle, the more you will learn and find out," explained Mr. Evans, and he stepped out of the house to fetch the things.

  Julie stared at Cillian, who had been unwilling to give that little information or had conveniently forgotten to tell it to her so that she wouldn't try helping him.

  "What you are going to perform is dark magic…something a witch should not sully herself with," the Corvin was finding it hard to speak, and he barely moved from his place…… Unlike her father, who had disappeared like stardust within two seconds, Cillian's body was taking time, elongating the agony. "Do you know what happens to them?"