Luring Greece’s First Witch

Circe, the witch exiled by the gods, possessed a curse that could turn mortals into beasts.

She lived alone on the island of Aeaea, keeping company with moonlight and witchcraft, until

an injured huntress was brought by the waves to her shore.

Atalanta, a huntress who had turned her back on her people, was a rebel who rejected men's advances.

She should have died in a shipwreck, but fate led her to Circe.

"Kill me, or love me." She looked straight into those golden eyes. "Which will you choose?"

Olympus was furious.

Hermes delivered the divine decree, and Zeus's lightning loomed overhead. How could two women love each other?

Circe erased her lover's memories with her own hands and pushed her away. "Go. We were never meant to meet."

But even witchcraft could not erase Atalanta's love.

She defied the divine decree and returned to Aeaea with her bow and arrows.

"Listen, witch! Either we live together and fight the gods, or we die together."

(Still a short story, 10,000 words.)

Theme: Never surrender to fate.