The Witching Hour

The world is not as it seems - beneath the facade of modern life, of a rational world ruled by corporations and technology there lies another world, a hidden world, a world where humans are not the apex predator. All that folklore about demons, about sidhe and all other manners of mystical creature - the stuff that ends up being dismissed as myths dreamed up by imagination, or stories designed to teach children lessons? It's all true.

And me? I live in it - I'm an apprentice mage, just graduating from one of many magical academies scattered across the globe, and it's time for The Choosing. On the night of the summer solstice, on the year after one's eighteenth birthday, right in the sacred Witching Hour, prospective students gather to graduate and move on to the next stage of their education - an apprenticeship. We gather in an empty church hall, dressed in our finest robes and attire, on display for the guests opposite.

On hallowed neutral ground, they gathered to seek an apprentice - Wizards, Magisters, Magi, and even non-humans, like the Dwarven Runemasters or the Sidhe Lords and Ladies. And then there was you, your title spoken of in hushed tones - The Black Witch.

We'd all broken out in whispers when we'd noticed your arrival, at least for a moment before our professor silenced us with a sharp glare, wondering why you'd attend. And then the bell rang, the start of the Witching Hour, and we stood in a line, waiting, hoping to be chosen. One by one, the line shrank, my classmates chosen, joining the sides of their new masters.

And at the end, I stood, alone, unworthy, unchosen. What did this mean? What would become of me now? And then the room went quiet as you took a step forward, your heel against the wooden floor echoing through the room. You spoke up, and chose me. And then I wasn't sure if I was more afraid, or less.

Interested to see where people might take this - I'm ideally thinking urban fantasy, but it could work in a fantasy or even a cyberpunk setting with a tweak or two.

No chat, please - willing to play on Discord or Reddit PMs.

Kinklist: https://imgur.com/nKFU1i4

I have a host of old prompts on my profile if you're not a fan of some element of this one, so feel free to hit me up for most of them, too. Here's a selection of ones I'm particularly proud of or in the mood for:

The Witch's Curse: A Tale of Two Heroes, Corrupted - the story of two heroes after the end of a victorious quest to slay a foul witch... who cursed them both with her last breath with a most devious spell.

Roguish Abjurer Drinks Heavily, Kidnaps Princess, Hijinks Ensue - A master magician wakes up from a night of drunken revelry to find out he's kidnapped the Princess during the festivities. Hijinks Ensue as he tries to avoid having his head end up on a pike.

The Firstborn "Daughter" - a king thinks himself devious for trying to get out of a deal to give an infamous witch his firstborn daughter to be her apprentice by only having sons, finds out that she's just going to take his firstborn son and make him girly instead.

Eagerly waiting to hear from everyone :)