Chapter 1 - The Bloody Witches Must Die!

Early 14^th century, Vermont Province, the central region of Astasia was in a major uproar. The once peaceful and prosperous capital that was famous for its inventive minds, intricate architecture, coupled with its noble bloodlines and largest cattle form was currently under siege by a devoted group of armed crusaders who were deployed from the cardinal Cathedral in south Verbeck.

The city was being pilfered for silver and other scraps as these saintly crusaders, clad in white vestments decorated with the holy cross, went from door to door with their oppressive mien demanding various cooperation from the citizens who were deep in fright.

The Commanding Knight of the lead squadron that was currently roaming the commoner’s residential district was reading from a special papyrus scroll while being closely guarded by his fellow devotees.

“Citizens of Vermont this is a royal decree from his holiness of Verbeck Cathedral, Ezeus Teppesh! The Grand Inquisitor has commenced a nationwide manhunt for witches, Lycans, wizards, alchemist and all who is in league with these hateful evil doers! If you know anyone suspicious of doing spell work or dabbling in sorcery I suggest you fess up now or get burned to death with the others!”

The Commanding Knight’s abrasive voice traversed the residential district and entered the abodes of all citizens in the surrounding area. Many troubled faces were cringing behind dark doors because they were either guilty of working sorcery or at least being an affiliate with a witch. Those who didn’t fall in this category were simply scared of the sudden invasion, however, they were often mistaken as accomplices and were brutally murdered.

It was an undeniable fact that most of Vermont City’s mechanical advancement, gemstones and fancy jewellery were procured elsewhere by the use of magic or either crafted using magic or alchemy. Either way, anyone who own these objects was classified as a pagan conspirator.  

“Hmm…?”

A devotee of the cause noticed something worth mentioning during his scout of the region and came over to inform his Commanding Knight. “Commander Dreylude! That thatched house over there is oddly boarded up.” He pointed to a 2-storey housing that had the windows and doors barricaded, even some patches in the walls were being concealed behind thick pieces of wood.

“Do you think they may be hiding something inside?”

“Hm, go check it out.” Commander Dreylude didn’t take long to issue an order to his soldiers for he was on an active mission from his holiness to eradicate all manner of devilry from Astasia.

“Men, with me!” The loyal devotee took a handful of men who were well equipped with weapons for their cause and went over to the suspicious housing. “Who’s inside there? Open up!” He banged on the door a couple of times but nobody answered.

“I said open up in the name of the Lord!”

No matter how hard the crusaders shouted, the only response they received from the secured dwelling was an eerie vibe of silence. This prompted them to take drastic action by commenced knocking down the door.

“Over here!”

They call over reinforcement to help break down the doors with a battering ram. ‘Boom!’ As soon as the front door collapsed, the crusaders saw a blurry figure bursting through the ceiling.

“It’s a witch!” The soldiers stationed outside got a clear view of a woman garbed in squalid clothing soaring through the air with the aid of emerald magic.

“Don’t let her escape!”

The crusaders came prepared in the event that the witches sought refuge via the air. A handful of them who were stationed in that area and saw the witch flying away equipped their crossbows that had ropes attached to the load and began firing unceasingly until one of the arrows penetrated her right leg.

“I got her! I caught the bloody witch!” The lucky marksman was keeping a firm hold on the rope while trying to reel it in. “I need some help over here! She’s begging to flip like a fish!”

“We’re coming!” A group of crusaders came over quickly and lent their strength by pulling on the rope. “She’s ours now! Somebody put another hole in that witch while we drag her down!”

“I’m on it!”

“Huh!” The witch who was struggling to free her leg from the pulling tether saw when another group of archers were getting into position to put her out of her misery once and for good with their pointy arrows.

“No, I can’t let them kill me here. I have to escape to go warn the others.”

Wanting desperately to put a large distance between her and the holy crusaders, the wounded witch decided to conjure flames to burn away the rope from her leg, however, for her to do this, she had to dispel her flight spell because she wasn’t a dual magic caster as many of her adept sisters were. Hence, she fell below within the sticky mud pit, completely exposed to the tyranny of her adversaries.

“The witch is down! Hurry and put an arrow between her evil breasts!”

At the behest of their Commanding Knight, the crusaders quickly gathered around the witch with their fast-shooting crossbows and silver blade swords aimed at her with killing intent.

“Put her out of her misery!”

“No!” The witch became burdened with fear because she couldn’t conjure the flame spell in time to free her impaled leg before being surrounded. As a result, she was brought to the precipice of death and was forced to resolve to a drastic measure.

She sent a strange vibration throughout the earth and shouted, “Ignoto! I release you from your collar! Now come to my aid!” The witch hollered in the muddy grime for help. Just as she spoke these words, a loud rumble came rushing from within the thatched house that she flew out of earlier.

The ground started quaking with an increasing terror, unseen yet formidable to shake the bones of the crusader. “What in God’s name is causing that ruckus?” They became so concerned with the source of the tremor that they temporarily forgot that their number one nemesis; the core of their crusade was directly below them situated in the restrictive caress of mud.

‘Rumble!’

The thatched house began to gradually crumble as the quaking became fiercer. By now, over 12 crusaders were gathered with fixated eyes and trembling hands facing the fearful abode.

“What manner of sorcery is causing that quaking? Is this another one of the witch's attempts to distract us?”

The curious crusaders soon found out the origin of the terrifying tremors. After the last bit of wood that supported the ceiling collapsed, a dreadful creature emerged out of the rubble covered in midnight furs bristled as an agitated dog; sporting bloodthirsty eyes; disproportionate muscularity and razor-sharp claws complementary to its elongated fangs that could tear through a willow tree like butter.

“ROOOAAAAR!” This malignant 15-foot tall beast released a mighty howl that spooked not only the crusaders who were in the vicinity but also the residents who were hiding indoors along with their restless steeds.

“Holy mother of joseph! It’s a werewolf!” Shouted a scared crusader who was clinging tightly to the hilt of his blessed sword.

“That is a monster created by the witches' abominable curse!” Said Commander Dreylude, staring intensely at the humungous creature.

Another devotee voiced his opinion, “I’ve heard of this Lycanthropy curse back at Verbeck, but this is my first time seeing a werewolf up close.”

“Commander Dreylude! How can this creature transform in the middle of the day? I thought that the curse could only activate on the night of the full moon.”

With his brows furrowed in anger, Commander Dreylude assumed, “Obviously that is a lie postulated by those accursed witches. This monster before us is proof enough of their treachery! Well, what are you men standing around for?  Go and cleave that beast apart with your blessed swords! Your blades are coated with pure silver! That is the creature’s bane!” His gallant war cry aroused the crusaders’ battle spirit. Many of them began shouting fiercely,

“Kill it!”

“Kill it!”

“Kill it!”

While the majority of the crusaders were busy trying their hardest to subdue the monstrous werewolf, the witch who had fallen in the mud pit, burnt away the rope from her leg and started flying away again. Looking back at the werewolf she shouted, “Hold them off as long as you can, Ignoto!”

The beasts roared in response to her command. Her swift ascent was too obtrusive for the ground troops not to have noticed.

“The witch is escaping! Stop her!”

The crusaders stationed on the rooftops fired their arrows at the flying witch but they all missed their target by a hairsbreadth.

“Dammit, she’s getting away!” This generated great turmoil among the pursuing troops. They automatically assumed that everyone living in that particular residential district was guilty of harbouring a witch along with a cursed creature and started slaughtering them indiscriminately.

Commander Dreylude wasn’t pleased with the flying witch escaping. Hence he got on horseback and commanded a squadron of riders to follow him. “We’re chasing after that damn witch! The rest of you put down that man-wolf and wipe this city clean of unholy influence!”

“You can count on us, Commander Dreylude! This stinking dog won’t last very long against us!” The crusaders who were currently engaged in gruesome combat with the werewolf were having their fair share of casualties, however, due to their numbers and versatile weaponry, they were gradually wearing down the werewolf by dealing it a considerable amount of damage.

“Keep it up, crusaders! The blessed silver is doing its job! All that unholy beast needs right now is a stab through the heart to finish him off!”

“Roar!” The werewolf wasn’t going to go down that easily. It pulled out a few blooded arrows that were stuck in its limbs, moreover, bit off the arm of an unlucky devotee. Afterwards, it jumped onto the rooftop and began chasing after the squadron that was leaving the city by horseback.

“Huh!” Hearing unusually loud thudding noises creeping up behind him, a man who was riding horseback glanced behind him and spotted the werewolf hopping from rooftop to rooftop.

“Commander Dreylude, I think that monster is chasing after us. It probably doesn’t want us to catch up with the witch.”

“What?” Commander Dreylude noticed the werewolf's presence and commanded his steed to go faster. “Full speed ahead! We’re not stopping for anything until we’ve caught up with that damn witch! Yaw! Yaw!”

The horseback riders sped up their steeds, however, the crusader at the rear of the gang wasn’t so lucky. He was wildly pounced on by the werewolf. Both he and his horse got ripped apart limb from limb. It was a brutal display of dismemberment, one that most of the crusaders couldn’t bear to stomach.

“Get that demonic Shapeshifter!”

“Avenge our fallen comrade!”

The angry crusaders penetrated the werewolf with multiple silver tip arrows which wounded it beyond its fatal limitations. Together with their lust for vengeance, they cut open the beast’s chest and pulled out its beating heart. The heart was so heavy that it required extra pair of hands to toss it into the pyre along with the rest of its corpse after they sliced it into smaller pieces for easier transport.

“Burn to ash you demonic freak!”

“Go back to hell where you came from!”

“I honour my pledge to wipe all manner of abomination from the face of the earth!”

“Burn! Burn! Burn!”