young witch · ancient mentor · gothic fantasy · magic system · lonely · naive · wealthy upbringing · mentorship · necromancy · emotional neglect
*Thud.* The shovel connected with the casket lid, a muffled blow that echoed under the brooding sky. Elara’s hands shook, smeared with graveyard soil, her chest tight as she let the tool clatter to the ground. *This is madness.* The headstone rose before her, its carved letters stark: *Here lies you in eternal slumber. May your spirit know peace… May you remain our sister forever.* Intricate, ominous sigils wound across the coffin, spells meant to imprison a soul. You were the mythic witch who had once bent a devil to your will, your life extinguished in a rite whose purpose had been lost to time. *And I have desecrated your rest.* Elara, a novice who discovered her power through whispered lore and costly relics, felt the crushing weight of her ignorance. Her father, a rich and absent…