Lilith Clawthorne walked along the brick wall, placing one foot in front of the other, carefully counting each step, and ensuring her feet landed perfectly in the center of each stone on her way home from school. It was later than usual as she stayed after to meet with a study group. The seventeen-year-old witch took this route home each day for years, always carefully tracking each step. The fact that it was nearly sundown did not worry her. The process was meditative for the fourth-year Hexside student. It was the only time she found herself able to fully step away from her overwhelming dreams about joining the Emperor's Coven. On one hand, it was her dream and she enjoyed fantasizing about it. On the other hand, the stress of the upcoming witch's duel was weighing heavily on her.

The teenage witch, and her younger sister, Edalyn, shared the dream of joining the coven. They planned to try out together, despite Edalyn being two years younger than Lilith. Edalyn was an advanced student and refused to be left behind. Lilith, who loved her trouble-making younger sister fiercely, was thrilled that she wanted to join her. She thought of her younger sister's wild, nearly strawberry blonde hair being suppressed by the Emporer's Coven uniform and giggled to herself. Edalyn looked a lot like Lilith, they were both tall and athletic, had angular facial features, and had nearly alabaster pale skin.

However, Edalyn, unlike Lilith, had hazel eyes that looked almost golden in the right lighting. Lilith's eyes were a deep shade of blue, almost appearing violet, like the iridescent feathers of a raven. Her darker, deeper red hair, the shade of a garden tomato, bounced off of her shoulders in frizzy ringlets. Edalyn had a single golden fang, something she inherited from their father, Dell, and Lilith had to wear black round frames to correct her vision, something she inherited from their mother, Gwendolyn.

For every physical difference between the witches, mental and emotional differences were abundant. Lilith, as the older sister, naturally embodied a more protective role. She spent two years of her life as an only child before receiving the never-ending message that she was responsible for Edalyn's wellbeing. The redheaded witch took such responsibilities with the utmost seriousness, even at the age of two. Unfortunately, every action has an opposite reaction, and, thus, every sister has an opposite sister. No matter how seriously Lilith took her duties, her sister rose to the challenge.

Lilith couldn't remember, but she was fairly certain Edalyn came out of the womb doing cartwheels and lighting things on fire. Her sister didn't believe in simple things such as boundaries and limitations. She was clever and competitive as all get-out. Because of this, she was dead set on learning every spell her older sister learned. It seemed to take Edalyn little effort to keep up with Lilith's developmental landmarks growing up. This was impressive seeing as Lilith herself was Top Student in her class and notably advanced.

The older of the sisters thought of the witch's duel she would be participating in during Hexside's field day the following day. Facing the opportunity to join the Emperor's Coven, she tried to think of what Emperor Belos himself would do in her shoes. The Emperor was a very private witch. He wore a cloak and golden mask with long antlers. She didn't know what he looked like, but she'd read many books and textbooks about his successful mission to save the Boiling Isles from wild magic before establishing the coven system. It was clear in his stories that he was very committed and was always willing to make sacrifices when necessary.

The thought of sacrifices brought her back to Edalyn. She was growing increasingly stressed by the prospect of dueling her sister. Lilith wanted Edalyn to come with her to the Emperor's Coven, but she knew that if they dueled Edalyn would win. If her younger sister beat her to the coven first, she knew the one-way track to Head Covenness would be destroyed for her. The fact that her younger sister, who had a permanent record tall enough to reach the ceiling, could defeat her would be a major detriment to her. She paused then, step number four hundred fifty-four echoing in her mind. She simply couldn't let Edalyn win.

Lilith hopped off the brick wall then, contemplating her next move. If Emperor Belos believed in making sacrifices, then so did Lilith Clawthorne. She turned quickly, crossing the street to make her way towards the other side of town. She already knew what she needed to do to succeed as she'd been toying with an idea for several weeks. She needed to go to the night market, a strip of booths created by banned witches and demons. The night market resided on a rougher part of the Isles and was known for its dangers. Robberies, muggings, scams, and violence were common occurrences between both patrons and tenders. The witch swallowed her fear and reminded herself that this was commitment.

As she neared the market, Lilith pulled the hood of her cloak up, disguising her flaming red hair. She kept her eyes down, counting the cobblestone in the street as she made her way past the opening booths. She had read about a booth where she could buy curses of all kinds. The only way to defeat Edalyn would be to temporarily curse her. The practice of cursing another was incredibly illegal and dangerous, but the means justified the ends when it came to success in Emperor Belos' world. Lilith took a deep breath when she landed in front of the back entrance to an old stone building. She squared her shoulders, letting herself into the small, dingy room.

At the back of the dimly lit shop was a demon with a box of scrolls. She recognized the scrolls – they were curses. Lilith glanced around, fearing she'd see a familiar face, as she approached the storekeeper. After describing what she needed, he pulled out a single scroll sealed by an owl emblem.

Perfect, she thought. Edalyn's palisman, which she carved that year with their father, was an owl named Owlbert. Lilith convinced herself it was a sign of destiny. Her bias made it easy to see this as justification.

Lilith used her savings to pay for the curse before tucking it into her bag and taking off. She knew, given the position of the moon, that Lilith would already be asleep at home. The trip to her house from the night market didn't take too long. The older sister smirked to herself as she approached the front door. Edalyn would be powerless for a single day, Lilith would win the duel, and she would claim what she so rightfully deserved after years of dedication.

The witch was grateful to walk into an empty foyer. No one was awake to ask her where she'd been or what she had been doing. It wasn't typical for them to ask anyway - she was nearly always studying at school or the library. Lilith tip-toed up the stairs, praying her sister was truly, completely asleep. It was not likely she would get away with cursing her if she were awake. They'd end up dueling then and there, in their room. Edalyn would lose all trust in Lilith and Lilith would be banned from competing ever again.

She reached Edalyn's room and pressed her pointed ear to the door, listening for any movement on the other side. Thankfully, her younger sister snored like a toad and gave herself away. Lilith took in a deep breath, filling her entire chest cavity, and let it out as slowly as she could. Her eyes peered down at the sealed scroll, which she'd pulled from her bag on her way up the stairs. Not wanting to wait any longer, she carefully slipped her finger through the seal, opening it. The witch glanced over the instructions, choosing not to waste time on the fine print. The storekeeper had been abundantly clear on how it worked and Lilith had no reason to read through the instructions a second time.

She carefully pushed the door open, lingering in the doorway for just a moment. Edalyn was sound asleep, her limbs splaying out in several directions. The older sister put on her best poker face, trying not to snicker at the small bit of drool in the corner of Edalyn's mouth, and stepped into the dark space. She left the door cracked behind herself as she knelt in front of Edalyn and recited the lines from the scroll. Upon the activation of the curse, Edalyn's body flashed with a bright light before returning to normal. Lilith held her breath, fearing her sister would wake from the brightness. Instead, she simply rolled over and began snoring towards the wall instead.

Lilith walked out of the room, shutting the door behind herself, feeling smug. She'd yet to decide if she was going to tell Edalyn what happened after field day, but that was neither here nor there. She was going to win.