SIX

1568—The beginning of the witch hunt

“Push! Push!” The midwife barked at the pregnant woman, who has been in labor for several hours, suffering excruciating pain as she bleeds all over the sheets.

“I can’t,” The pregnant woman cried, “Tear me open and take my baby out of me; I don’t think I can go on any longer.” She wept; her body was frail, and she could barely breathe, panting profusely as the other midwives held her down.

It was transcendent—no one could understand the reason this woman has been in labor for close to a day and still there is no sign of the baby.

"Goodness, gracious woman, I need you to push!” The lead midwife shouted at her, paying no heed to the pregnant woman’s plight. “I am going to count, and you are going to push with all of your might at the call of three.”

“Mhm…” The pregnant woman nodded as the other women in the mud house with them surrounded her, holding her and ready to aid her. The pregnant woman took deep breaths, preparing herself for her final push before she threw hands.

“One!” The midwife called, “Two... three!" Push!”

The pregnant woman screams, breaking out of her lungs.

Meanwhile, the entirety of the whole earth had shifted, and the sky, which had formerly been pale blue, was covered by dark clouds, seemingly angry and ready for a heavy downpour. The locals had marveled at the sudden change in weather, as they had suffered through a bad harvest due to a lack of rain. They soon took to the ground to worship.

Even the trees were not left out as the forest in which they resided danced graciously, swirling and twirling around as their branches smashed against each other. A gentle gust of wind brewed heavier as it rose and rapidly dashed towards the riverbank, shaking the atmosphere as it surrounded the river.

Bubbling noises could be heard as the wind continuously ran around in a circle over the top of the river, raising the water level high above before shooting up to the sky and then falling off to make a big splash.

“Inyoka,” An eerie voice oozed out; it called out again as a purple mist formed out of the river and began traveling miles after miles towards the mud house where the pregnant woman was.

“You have given birth to a baby girl,” the midwife announced as she held the blood drenched baby in her arms before offering her to one of the midwives to clean.

The midwife soon returned and handed over the baby to the woman, who couldn’t be happier that she pulled the last push.

“She is so beautiful, isn’t she?” The midwife asked.

“She is,” The mother's tears dropped as she admired her baby, realizing something sooner: “Why isn’t she crying? Isn’t she supposed to cry?” The mother panicked.

“She—” The midwife tried saying as a strong breeze pushed open the mat covered door. “What was that?”

“Inyoka,” The eerie voice again spoke through the purple mist that now covered the room.

“What is going on?” The mother asked frantically as all of the midwives suddenly went dumbfounded and frozen.

She watched in horror as the mist entered each of the midwives noses as they all weakly fell to their knees to accept their fate. As the mist covered them, their entire body immediately became petrified and changed into molten lava bubbling on the surface of the ground before melting and forming a large hole in the room.

The mother, whose baby was now the new target for the mist, tried to carry her weak body on seeing the sight. “Inyoka!!!” The mist roared thunderously, and the sky, which had now turned completely pitch black, soon began to rain copiously. The locals had prayed and thanked the skies for their mercifulness, but little did they know.

“Please, whatever you are, take my life and let my child be, I beg.” The mother knelt before the mist, her body shivering as she held her baby tight with her.

The mist began to incite incantations as the room began to shake again. The mother struggled to pull away, but the hold of the mist was stronger. Like a pang, the baby in her hands began to cry to her mother’s surprise, as she hadn’t heard the sound of her baby since the moment she was born.

Slowly, the purple mist took its final form, the INYOKA.

The mother was alarmed at these strange activities; she tried to run away again, but her feet were not letting go. The large, venomous purple snake crawled towards her, and the mother freaked out as the snake climbed on her body, gliding its scaly self around her until it reached the baby.

The mother was helpless as she saw the snake relax on her baby’s arm, below shoulder level, as it burned on the baby’s skin and turned into a tattoo that glows. Despite the pain, the mother was shocked to see that her baby had immediately stopped crying as her black hair had turned white, her dark brown eyes were now translucent, and an amulet was adorned around her baby’s neck.

Seeing the end of her baby’s transformation, the mother had tried to pick herself up again, successfully this time around as she ran outside of the room. She was shocked to see the number of dead bodies that had flooded the streets who only wanted to worship the rain god, their bodies being battered by the rain.

The mother ran to safety for herself and her baby, which she treasured the most. She hid in a cave, where she found shelter from those who had been sent to attack her.

She was traumatized; everything she knew and saw worried her. No matter how to wipe away the tattoo marked by the Inyoka on her baby’s arms, it ends up burning her multiple times.

“I shall name you Acantha, for you have brought me nothing but misfortune.” The woman kissed the forehead of her baby as she held her tightly.