Given and Taken Away

The flickering candlelight cast elongated shadows that seemed to move of their own accord, creeping along the wooden walls of the hut as if something unseen lurked just beyond the veil of perception. The air hung thick with the scent of melted wax and damp parchment, an oppressive stillness pressing down on the space between them.

Matias inhaled through his nose, steady and controlled, but the whispering presence that had slithered into the darkness lingered, watching. Waiting.

Selene's lips curved into a smile at his reaction, slow and deliberate. "The real lesson," she echoed, her voice rich with amusement. "Then let's not waste time."

She moved to the shelf once more, her fingers trailing idly over the spines of aged tomes, some cracked, others pristine despite the dust settling upon them. "You know, there is something peculiar about curses like the one your wife bears. They are rarely spontaneous. Rarely senseless."