The Omniscrolls

As a princess and the only heir to the throne, I always lived a sheltered life, and the constraints around me only grew when my mother passed away during an epidemic when I was just twelve. I could barely walk the castle grounds without having guards following me every step of the way. He blamed it on my abilities, but it was too easy of an excuse. Once I was old enough, my father then began to look for suitors for me. I rejected his plans, but he wouldn’t listen. He said I should marry soon and make sure there is another heir, for his witch consultant, Ariska, said the disease that took my mother would surely return before five years pass. I told him there was no ensuring that any of us would be safe from it, but his mind was made. The evening we had that discussion, I sat on one of the benches on the castle grounds, watching the sunset, when I caught a shadow swiftly receding between two trees. It was no natural phenomenon. The guards around me approached the trees as I did, but it s...

I was on my usual evening beach walk after closing my veterinary clinic when I heard the whimpers of a creature by a corner. I went to inspect what it was and found a seal washed ashore; he was caught in a tattered net, and the wires had sunk into his skin, causing him to lose a lot of blood. I lived on the outskirts of the nearest town, so rather than go on a long trip, I decided to take him to my clinic and nurse him back to health. I named the seal Poseidon. He was patient with me and was back at full strength in a couple of weeks. When the time came to return him to the sea, though, I felt like I was losing a part of myself. I had grown too attached to Poseidon. Seals were always my favourite animal; my late grandma who was a marine biologist spoke a lot about them. She also told me fairy tales about them that always enthralled me—stories of unseen realms in the deep that only very few humans ever received the blessing to witness. All those memories flooded my mind as I watched Pos...

All witches and wizards in our community were able to summon a familiar of their choosing when they reached the age of fifteen, but that was not the case for my family. My maternal grandmother married a man born with no magical abilities, and it was said that her decision to do so was the cause of our misfortune. The majority of witches and wizards married only those bearing similar abilities because they believed that the mixing of the magical and non-magical genetics would create unpredictable mutations that could last for generations. A few even believed that it could bring about unspeakable chaos. In my family’s case, we were all stuck with weaker familiars that could barely help us with our work. While my father had a jaguar, my mother had a mouse and my elder sister was stuck with a gecko. I had yet to summon mine since my fifteenth birthday was months away. I dreaded what it could be. As the date drew nearer, the other children in my school of magic started to tease me, saying I...

I was woken up in the middle of the night to the shattering of a vase downstairs. I grabbed my bat and got behind the bedroom entrance, listening for movement. A minute passed. No other noise arose from outside the bedroom. I wish I hadn’t put my phone to charge overnight in my office; my husband, Matt, always said it was a dangerous habit. I had no other option but to move to the hallway. I opened the door and checked the corners before heading towards the staircase. As I reached it, however, I was hit in the back of my head with a club . I lost the grip of my bat and fell to the floor, gasping as my vision began to blur. “I told you your habit was a dangerous one, Bella.” The voice was fuzzy, but I recognised it—it was Matt. I couldn’t believe what was happening; he had lied about his business trip to hurt me. “Wh...” I struggled to muster any energy. “It’s because you listened to your father and signed that damn prenup!” His words were seething. “Now you’ll die like one of your char...

I never had a normal childhood growing up. In addition to being homeschooled, my parents never let me make friends or go anywhere alone—and this only worsened over time. By the time I was a teenager, they were hovering over me all the time, even when we were out together shopping for groceries or clothes. I asked them when I was much younger why they were treating me like a prisoner and they said that I was haemophilic. They said I nearly died when I was three, so they wouldn’t leave my safety to chance. I understood their concern, but I still longed for my freedom; were they to surveil me my entire life? We were shopping one day when I stopped to pet a puppy. My mother immediately pulled me away from it and told me never to do that again. I knew how concerned they were, but to call that an overreaction was an understatement. I wondered just how bad my previous injury was to make them so paranoid. Similar incidents happened in the coming months, with my parents pulling me away from pla...

I was sitting on my usual park bench on a Saturday evening when a pregnant woman in a hoodie rushed towards me from behind and sat by my side. She was covered in sweat and wheezing her lungs out. “Are you okay?” “Is there anyone coming this way?” she asked. “What?” I looked around and saw no one approaching us. “No one,” I said. The woman released a heavy sigh and wiped her face. “Thank god… I don’t have any energy left to run.” I was concerned. “Who’s chasing you?” “My husband. I’m running away from him.” My mind raced back to my childhood: my mom took me away from my abusive father when I was five. We travelled across the country and, thankfully, haven’t seen or heard from him since. I asked the woman when she was due; the date was just a week away, and she was going to have quadruplets, all girls. Relating to her and her children, I asked the woman if she had a place to go. She said she had no idea yet, and that she had no living relatives. I told her she could stay with me for as l...

Being the greatest thief on earth came at a heavy cost. I could no longer be in one place for long, I had to look over my shoulder every minute, and no matter how much I wanted to, I could never be with the people who raised me as their own. I wished I could tell them who I truly were, but no one would ever believe the story of my past beyond this mortal life. My friend and colleague, Danny, was the only one I could trust with this information, for he willfully relinquished his former life before I was forced to flee to the mortal realm. However, while he was content with being human, I still desired to reclaim what was stolen from me. I was lying in bed in a small motel when my phone rang. It was Danny; he was excited. “Masha, they’ve found it!” “The Elder Scythe?” “Yes. They’ll be moving it to the museum tonight.” I sprung from the bed and immediately noted down my plan. With the First Crown already secured and the Elder Scythe soon to be in my grasp, I was but a step away from my fi...