“I call upon the coven, and I demand your presence by right of blood and fate.” - she yelled at the trees.

But the forest answered with silence.

“I know you’re here. Your presence is felt. I demand you talk to me!” - she continued.

“She has demands now. Do you hear this? She comes here to interrupt our bliss.” - a voice hissed.

“She demands, she demands. She treated us like blight, but now she comes here speaking of what’s right.” - another one continued.

Yaga was no longer alone, for two figures crawled out of the darkness. One was slender and tall, the other short and round. Under patched clothing, grey hair hid the faces of women who had been through unspeakable horrors. The tall one’s eyes were crudely sewn closed with thick black thread. The other one’s face was spared, but gangrenous hands appeared under her clothing.

“I come willingly to receive punishment for my sins.” - Yaga said.

The two women circled around her without replying to her request.

“I ask of you to lift the curse that has befallen my village. I am willing to atone for my wrongdoings. I have come to accept any fate in exchange for the lives in Tamno.” - Yaga continued.

“You knew what would happen if you left the coven.” - the tall hag said.

“Always three the sisters must be.” - the short one continued, hissing.

“You left us first and as a gift you were cursed.” - the first one continued.

“The rules we do not control and you must deal with the toll.” - the other said.

“I’ve seen the consequences of my actions, time and time again. I’ve seen deaths and smothered children drowning in their own blood. You owe me nothing. I don’t come here asking for favors. I’ve come to make things right.”

“One right doesn’t fix a wrong. Too late for your will to become strong.” - the tall one whispered in Yaga’s ear.

“People will suffer in your presence. That is now your life’s essence.” - the other told her gently, leaning to her face from the other side.

“Who will save us, dear sister? Our skin has long turned to blister.” - the first one continued again.

They wouldn’t waver. She could sit and beg and ask them all night, but they would not help her. They couldn’t help her. As one of the hags said, it’s not them that make the rules. Actions have consequences, and she brought her past to those she loved. Hope is strongest in the dying but in abundance in the living. Or maybe it was pride that led her to believe she could protect those around her. She thought that no harm could befall those she loved while she was around, curse or no curse.

She found herself wrong.

But the curse has rules, Yaga. It has to abide by them. She hoped her sisters would flail her, skin her and burn her alive. But the hags knew better. Death wasn’t the worst thing that could happen to someone. Living can be just as cruel, if not more.

“What if I leave? I will leave the village, and the curse will be lifted from them. They will no longer be in my presence.” - Yaga asked.

“My dear sister, that was the point all along. Without us, you will find no one to live among.” - the tall hag said mockingly.

“You will wander, destroying everything you own. Like us, you will become nothing but a crone.” - the other continued, laughing.

They told her she would find no peace when she left. They told her everything around her would die. She would find love, but she won’t be able to keep it. She left her sisters for a man she loved more than the destiny life had given her. She made a home. She had children, and her children had children. For decades she thought the curse of her sisters was nothing but a threat.

But her house of love was built on rotten wood. And her sisters waited for it to be finished before they kicked its foundation.

Yaga knew that taking a step back towards the village would mean more death. Another child’s chest filled with blood and mucus. A river of tears streamed from the families’ eyes. What if it was her grandson? How long could she fill him with herbs, lying to his mother that he was getting better? Would she have to greet Morana in her own home tomorrow and watch her as she holds his hand, stained with blood and spit in her spotless palms?

There was no way back, and deep inside, she knew it when she veered off the main road and walked here. So she stepped forward and followed the invisible path deeper into the forest to the sound of her sisters’ laughter.