Sylvia Thornwood, an enchantress

The sun was beginning to set as Sylvia made her way down an overgrown forest path. An eerie silence had set in. She’d heard nothing but the dragging of her scarlet robes and the rattling of the lantern in her hand for the last hour. Her uneasiness grew as she pondered the caus of the abnormal silence. Her free hand rested on the ornate dagger at her side; the spoils of her most lucrative heist all week. As she trudged down the rugged path, she came to stop at a fork in the road. The bright glow of her lantern illuminated a sign on a post. The arrow to the left was marked Rosemead. The one to the right was marked Avacyn. She took her first step down the rightward path, then stopped in her tracks when she noticed a figure out of the corner of her eye. She held her lantern out to get a better look. There was a naked man tied to a tree on the side of the path. She looked around to see of they wee alone, then cautiously walked towards him. In the radiant glow of her lantern she could see his features better. The man had a scraggly unshaven beard. His face was abnormally pale. His face was bruised and his lip was bleeding. He man perked up as she approached.

“A-Are you real?” the man called out. His voice was hoarse and weak. She ignored him.

“Can you help me?” He called again.

Sylvia stopped a few paces away. “What’s in it for me?” she asked.

“I don’t have anything. Some bandits took everything and left me like this. Please, I have to get home to my family,” The man croaked.

‘So you have nothing?” She pressed, making no effort to mask the discontent in her voice.

“Please, I can pay you back when I get home. You’re going to Avacyn too, right?” The man wheezed.

“I’ve heard this story before. Told it a few times too,” She replied flatly. “But, if you want my trust I need you do something for me first.”

“I’ll do anything,” the man pleaded. Sylvia broke into a grin.

“Believe me, you will” she sneered. She took her hand off her dagger and procured a small vial from her cloak. With a gentle tug the cork popped off.

“Here, this will make you feel better. Drink it,” she instructed, pressing the open vial to his lips. He looked at her with a look of feer in his eyes, but drank the potion without hesitation. Immediately his body began to change. Sylvia looked away and tried her best to ignore his distorted shrieks. She reminisced about her first time drinking a transformation potion. When the screaming subsided, she turned back to look at the stranger. In the stranger’s place stood a beautiful woman with wavy brown hair, and a voluptuous figure.

“What have you done to me?!” The stranger shrieked. His voice sounded feminine. All signs of his earlier fatigue

“I set you free,” she quipped dismissively, gesturing at the ropes that had slid off her much smaller frame.

“You turned me into a woman! This is witchcraft!”

“Yes, very expensive witchcraft that I will reverse once I’ve been compensated. Now, keep quiet and follow me.”

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It was after midnight when the two of them reached the small city of Avacyn. Sylvia lay draped on her bed. The stranger sat at the foot of the bed.

“I truly appreciate your kindness. But I must get to my home. I have gold there I can repay you with,” the stranger said. It was the first time he’d spoken since they began their journey.

“It’s not your gold I’m after,” Sylvia replied. “I want everything. Your gold, your dignity, your name…”

“My...name?” The stranger asked. “It’s Byron.”

“Not anymore, Elanore”

“What? I don’t understand...I can pay you back tonight,” Byron stammered.

“Yes, you will Elanore. You will do it the way that will make me richer than you ever could.”

Sylvia sat up and gazed into his eyes. She pulled a ring from her pocket, took Byron’s hand, and gently slipped it on to his finger. The ring tightened around his finger, startling him.

“From this moment on, you will wear this ring at all times, obey my every command, and only speak when spoken to.”Sylvia continued. “ You will serve me until you have made me a fortune and placed one of these rings around your wife’s fingers.”

Byron’s jaw dropped. Sylvia flashed him a sadistic grin.

“Come on, get on your knees for me. You’ll be doing it a lot, so start getting used to it.”

Byron slowly got to his knees.

“Good girl. Now, we must…”

There was a knock at the door.

“That must be them,” Sylvia shouted. Byron shouted. She turned back to him.

“Listen closely. You are going to be a proper whore for them. You are Elanore from this moment on. You will give them the best sex of their pathetic lives and you will pretend to love it. Do you understand?”

Byron smiled enthusiastically. She smiled, pleased with herself, then went to open the door. Two burly men walked in the room.

“Another eager one, I see,” one man remarked, gesturing to Byron.

“For my best clients, always,” Sylvia smiled.

“Where do you find them?” The second man asked.

“I don’t know. Where do you find your gold?” Sylvia shot back. The first man pulled a sack of gold coins from his pouch and handed it to her. She shook it, then put it in her pocket.

“We found this on a lowly peasant on the way into town” He explained. She stared at him.

“So, we took ‘em off him, and his clothes. Threw those in the river.” the man continued.

“Well, he’ll have to work very hard to get some clothes again, I’m sure” Sylvia quipped.

“I doubt it,” The second man said. “We left him tied to a tree. He’ll be ravaged by wolves tonight.”

Sylvia smiled mischievously at Byron.

“I’m certain he will. I shall leave you three alone until sunrise. Enjoy yourselves. You have earned every moment of it.”