Burn The Witch!

Through the forest of Dengek I ran as fast as my legs could carry me. Screaming all the way.

“Help! Help! Please some body help!” 

I turned back and saw they were almost closing in, on me. What will I do now? There is no hope and I might as well be at the end of my struggle to survive. 

“Surrender witch! Nobody is going to save you now. Take a look! You are outnumbered. There is very little you can do now. Hahahaha!” Came the voice of the huge tall one who is their leader.

 He is Bradly and we know him as the orphaned boy. A nicknamed he was given from childhood before, he disappeared from Muldoch long time ago, only to return home a different person. He had come back with people who share similar interest with him and also, he had incited the inhabitants of the city to wedge a holy war on the witches. Unfortunately, I was one of the victims. Many of my people have been burned alive while, the remaining ones cannot be accounted for. 

“You escaped before but surely this time, you will never get the chance to do that again,” said another voice from the mob.

“But I have done nothing wrong to deserve this?” I stopped running as I have been encircled by the fierce looking mob. I had nothing in mind again to do other than to surrender.

"I'm innocent. I have committed no crime. Please let me go. I seek no trouble with any of you."

“No witch is innocent!" Begins Bradly their leader. “And we are the ones seeking problems with you young witch. As long as you are alive, you are our problem. Today, you must die!” He stared at me wickedly, while the rest of the evil men with him went wild with laughter.

 

“I have nothing to do with that which you accuse me of.  All I seek is to live happily like every normal person in your town. “I tried to defend myself but his adamant and evil tone persisted.

“Bound her up at once!” He commanded. “We will burn her tonight at the stake. Right from there she will join others of her kind in hell. And oh, don't forget to tell them I said, ‘hello’ Witch!”

I swallowed a voluminous saliva like never before. My hands and feet were visibly shaking. My mind quickly flashed back to the ugly day lady Gia was burned at the stakes simply because she was a witch. I could remember watching her from my hiding as she screamed in horrible pains while getting burned.

“Oh no! Please don’t burn me. That’s a horrible way to die. Even if I’m going to be put to death please do that in another less painful method,’’ I pleaded.

He grinned wickedly at me. “Horrible? Witch, did you say horrible? That’s the ideal method of putting your kind to death. Yeah, it was specially designed for you and all the other witches.” 

Soon about five heavy men from the mob descended on me. They began binding my hands and feet in one of the final preparations to send me down to the pit of hell.

‘What an awful way to die. Death by any other means may not be good but, nothing is as scary as being tied to a stake and watch your whole body get consumed in the unmerciful fire. It is certainly the worst scenario of death to me,’ I told myself.

I let them drag my defenseless body through the forest floor to the stake about thirty meters away from where I was caught by then, I was gasping for last breaths. All I could hear now was the cheering angry mob. They were chanting different evil words against me. 

“Death to the wicked witch! Death to the Satan incarnate! Death to the evil one!’’ They chanted.

At that point in my life, I curse myself for being witch although it wasn’t my fault but, that of my mother who brought me into this world. She was a witch too and had taught me everything I knew about witchery and sorcery. It pained my poor soul to learn that she was nowhere close to save my ass from the merciless fire of the mob.

Worst of all, I have been caught off guard. I was not with my magic apparatus when I landed in their net and so did little to nothing in an attempt to escape their onslaught.

Just when the hefty five men began tying my hands and feet behind the pole, the voice of their leader could be heard again.

“What are you going to do now witch?’’ He taunted. “You see, I have promised myself to make all of you bleed. All of you! It doesn’t matter if you had a hand in what happened that night or not, my objective is to obliterate all of you from the face of the earth. Now it gladdens me a lot because I’m coming close to achieving my objective,’’ he snapped a finger in clear demonstration of what he was saying.

“Oh yeah! That makes you a tough guy then!’’ I yelled.

He drew closer and held me by the throat. “Listen bitch! Now you die,’’ he spat to my crying face and gave me a hot slap. “Bring the paraffin oil and light her up!”  He gave me another hot slap and heaved a heavier spat on me this time before, stepping back to pave way for two able-bodied men bringing a jar of paraffin oil to be used on me.

Meanwhile, the painful and abusive chants from the mob continued.  I cared less about the pain from the slaps I received. My priority is the fact that I will be spending my last days on earth with pains. While watching the men adjust the wood and the dry grasses closer below, I made one last effort to save my life.

“Please banish me from your city instead of this. I promise never to return. I have done nothing wrong to deserve this sir!”

My pleas fell on deaf ears again. I knew it was too late to change their minds no matter how hard I try.

“Burn her to ashes!’’ Was his response instead. “There is no atonements for you young witch. Others have gone through this path before and you shall surely meet the same fate.”

He had hardly finished speaking when I began sensing some cold liquid dripping on my body.

“Tear her cloths and make her naked so she could feel the fury of the fire,’’ echoed an unknown voice from the back where the mob was cheering to my own dismay but to their own excitement. 

“No! That will make her body uneasy to catch flame,’’ objected yet another voice from the same source. “I suggest we let her keep her cloth so she could have something to wear in hell when she gets down there!”

To this, the mob simply went wild with hysteria.

“Needless dumb ass1! She wouldn’t be needing any cloth down there. It’s always hot stupid,’’ said their leader while tuning back to me, as he finished scolding one of them. “Hey witch I can do you a favor. You see my comrades here wants you naked so you feel less pain when you are finally lighted up. But, I’m a good person and will not heed to their suggestion rather, I would like to hear from you. Consider what I’m doing right now for you a generous offer.” Wilder laughs followed.

While they were buried deeply in their laugh, a rare idea came to my mind. Yes! I have just remembered my free spell. It was a spell that needed no special apparatus to work on. I could have tried using that a long time ago but, I guess my mind was so obsessed with the horror of being killed. However, the sad news quickly came too. Such spell can only work when I point my right index finger to the direction of the north and speak. I pitied my poor self because, that’s never going to happen again as my two hands were strongly tied behind my back to the pole. It was an impossible mission.

I closed my eyes to horrible scene I’m about to witness as one of the men who tied and arranged me for death brings a fire torch closer to the already treated dry grasses. The paraffin oil on it made it easier to catch fire and in the twinkle of an eye, the fire began burning. My worst night had just set in with no one to save me tonight.

I began crying loudly even before the fire could get closer to me. Just when I thought all hope has been lost, there came a deep heavy voice from the opposite direction.

“Let her go!’’

I lifted up my face and opened my eyes sensing a glimpse of hope.

Everyone paused for a second in order to trace the source of the voice. Not long afterwards, all eyes were on the three tall, dark figures standing the opposite direction of the mob, in the dark with no intimidation. I felt disappointed when I discovered they were only three in number. From the look of things, they don’t stand a chance against the well-armed mob.

“Who the hell do you think you are to interfere in our business?’’ Asked Bradly with confidence and annoyance.

“Why don’t you wait and find out? Now do as I say, let her go!’’ Replied one of the three men. He is the one standing in-between the two other men.

“Tell me one reason why I shouldn’t kill you three right the way?’’

Meanwhile, as the intruders exchanged words with Revolutionists the fire was almost burning inches away from my foot. I could sense the terrible heat.