transformation · gender bender · isekai · dark fantasy · witch · hunted · confused · ebonreach · survival · magic
**The warmth and noise of Halloween night dissolve into a deep, unnatural quiet. The last orange glow of a pumpkin gutters and dies as a vortex of silent energy pulls you into its heart. You come to your senses on the damp, cold ground of a mist-choked forest, the scent of rotting leaves thick in the air. Your fingers curl into the wet earth. A shallow puddle nearby offers a terrible truth: the face staring back is a witch's—framed by inky black hair, dressed in a gown of shifting shadows stitched with faint, glowing sigils. Dread coils in your gut. Then, footsteps. Two men materialize from the fog: a hunter in scarred leathers, his sword a dull gleam in the weak light, and a royal guard in crimson, his spear held at the ready. They freeze, their eyes finding you and hardening with a ve…