Chapter One: The Curse of the Black Witch

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It was 11 PM in China and almost every light in town has been diminished. The people are closing up their stores and gates and getting ready for bed. Well, almost everyone. A lone man sat on a bench beside a lamppost, gazing at the half-empty street. His eyes showed no signs of tiredness as he scrutinized every passerby. He had long legs that were stretched out onto the sidewalk and his long arms were resting behind his head. He had crudely cut dirty blonde hair and a face that made kids cry and others shut up.

He goes by the nickname Kris.

He scoffed. ‘Why are all these people packing up?’ he thought. Out loud he said, “Nighttime is when everything comes to life.”

“Oh, is it?”

Kris turned his head sharply and almost jumped out of his seat. To his right stood a woman dressed in black. She had a veil over her face and a wonky, huge, and strange hat on her head. Her lips and nails looked like they’ve been dipped and stained with blood because of the richness of their red color. Her black velvet dress covered her arms until the wrists and flowed all the way down past her ankles. He could see her hands, which were very pale and looked frost-bitten. Her eyes glinted with evil and mystery.

“Who are you?” demanded Kris.

“Isn’t it obvious?” said the lady. “I am the Black Witch.”

“Oh right,” muttered Kris. “It explains the black outfit.”

“Aren’t you a smart-mouth,” sneered the witch.

“Well, what do you want?” said Kris. The Black Witch didn’t scare him, if that was her purpose of appearing. He turned his gaze back on the street. There passed a couple with a little kid between them. The kid looked at Kris with curiosity, and he scowled at him in return. It was strange that none of them could make out the witch beside him.

“Yes, they couldn’t see me,” said the Witch suddenly, as if reading his thoughts. “Only you could.”

Kris rolled his eyes. “Oh, so does that mean I’m special?”

“To what I’m about to do to you, yes, I think it would make feel....special,” said the Witch mysteriously. Then she looked out into the street. “What do you think of the people here?”

Kris frowned at her and looked in front of him. “I don’t really care. It’s none of my business.”

The Witch frowned deeply at him. “It is because of people like you that world is so screwed. You don’t care what other people feel as long as you’re ok!”

Kris scowled and stood up. He was at least a foot taller than the witch. But the Witch didn’t back down.

“Who are you to talk to me like this?” growled Kris. “You don’t know me.”

“I know you and others like you well enough,” retorted the Witch. “I’ve been around longer than your grandparents. I know many things you would never understand.”

“Yeah, so? You know many things, but you haven’t known me,” said Kris. It was probably dangerous of him to speak like this to a supernatural being, but he didn’t care at that moment.

“You proud fool,” sneered the Witch. “You will be sorry you crossed me.”

Kris backed away as black smoke and light came out of the witch’s mouth and swirled all around her. The lampposts flickered until they blew their fuses. The witch looked skyward and her eyes turned into infinite darkness. She raised her arms and lightning connected with them, but she didn’t even flinch. Kris felt something constricting him. He tried to run, but he couldn’t even move his arms. They were plastered to his sides.

“Hey! Let go of me!” he yelled, but as the winds picked up, his voice got carried away. He struggled against the invisible , but nothing happened.

“Curse you, indifferent mortal,” bellowed the black witch. Despite the howling winds, he could hear her words echo through his head.

“The sun shall bring terror upon you. When the morning dawns you will be an eagle feared by those who see you. As long as the sun is up, so shall the feathers covering your body be. When the night falls and the moon takes its place in the sky, you shall resume human form, only to wake as an eagle again. You have crossed the Black Witch, Wu Fan, and this is your punishment for eternity.”

The Black Witch cackled with laughter, and in a blink, she was gone. Kris felt the grip on his body disappear and he sank to the ground on his knees. He was panting hard.

“Crazy woman,” he muttered. Suddenly he saw light coming from the east. The sun had started to rise, and thus he felt a sudden change in his body.

He felt something creeping over his entire body and coating him with it. He looked at his arms and they were being colored bronze. He looked down at his feet and they were stretching out. His hands were lengthening themselves and extending as well. He felt his eyes change too. He tossed his head back and golden light exploded all around him. When the light died down, he didn’t feel like himself anymore. He extended his arms, which felt tons heavier than they were before, and saw a pair of bronze wings on either side of him. Instead of feet, he had bronze claws.

“AAAAAHHH!!! EAGLE!!!”

He looked to his right and people were looking at him curiously. When he took a step toward them, they cowered in fear. Without thinking much about it, Kris took off into the sky. He flew over hills and mountains, cliffs and falls. His eyes were a lot brighter than they used to be, but he never wanted this. Like a baby bird still new to its wings, he stumbled and fell a thousand times before he could fly steadily. When midmorning rolled in, he stopped by a wide lake; or rather, fell right into it.

‘Look at you, Kris,’ he thought. ‘What happened to you?’

He gazed at his reflection. He wasn’t human anymore. Not a trace of familiarity from his old body could be seen, except for his eyes; they still had that judging, sharp look about them, but other than that, he was unrecognizable.

He stretched his wings and they glinted in the sun; they were bronze, but not as heavy as the metal. His feet were sharp talons. On his head were tufts of feathers the same color as the hair he used to have.

“What did I do to deserve this?” he whispered.

“Actually, nothing.”