The last witch
“You are a very cruel king who likes to play upon the intelligence of others simply for your selfish desires! You are wicked! And I do not regret to say that the time I spent waiting to see you has been the biggest waste of my life. You’re no king!” He spat. “You’re just a selfish arrogant bastard…”
“Enough you fool!” Krone then yanked out his sword, pointing it at Rabbi. “One more word from you and I will cut off your tongue. This is why we do not allow peasants in here, perhaps you were not schooled properly on how to talk to those of a much higher status than you, you will learn it here in this court, I’ll make sure you do.”
Rabbi was not moved by Krone’s words, instead he unsheathed his own sword and began battling the kings guard right there in the court. The king watched along with the court members, still dumbfounded by this boy’s boldness, of course King William was not used to being spoken to in such a manner. No one had ever dared to.
Rabbi might have been good with a sword, but he was no match for the chief guard, as a few minutes after the clinking of both swords, the sound of Krone’s blade piercing through Rabbi’s heart was heard. He died immediately, dropping to the ground with his sword in his hand. Krone then spat at the body of his opponent before ordering one of the guards to bring him a rag so he could clean Rabbi’s blood off his sword immediately, he’d never cleaned his sword right after a battle, but the mere thought of his blade in contact with the blood of such a worthless being irritated him right down to his marrow.
The king who had watched everything, after finding his voice then sent for his guards.
“Yes sire,” the two men ran into the court in response to the king’s call.
He pointed at Rabbi’s body. “Get the servants to clean it up and throw it into the lake of crocodiles. I want no remains of him left.” Then he turned to Krone, “thank you chief Krone, once again you have proven yourself as my worthy servant who is ready to lay down his life in order to protect my honor.”
“I would do much more than that for you Sire, my loyalty will forever remain yours,” Krone responded.
“I know you would, and tomorrow you would be proving your loyalty once more when we march with our armies down to the drawls tomorrow. I will be leading the men with you by my side. Killing the last witch will be the greatest gift I could give my father as he lies in his grave. He would have done anything to see those bloody witches perish.”
Krone bowed. “Your wish is my command Sire.”
“Ready the men, we leave at first light. And to all members of the court, you are all dismissed today, I will not be entertaining any more visitors.”
**********
“Susannah, wake up! We’re under attack!”
The sound of screaming and catapults throwing heavy firestones was what woke Susannah up rather than the panicking voice of her mother, the Bandarian soldiers also shot plenty arrows of fire at the small cottages where the witches lived. The sisters came out of their homes, trying to use their powers to defend themselves but the Bandarian army thought well ahead of the attack, the fire balls as well as the arrows they shot were all plated with silver. The silver killed them and rendered the ones who didn’t die powerless, nonetheless they still fought, returning some blows enough to kill a few army soldiers, while the witches died in their numbers, the humans outnumbered them greatly. It was a nightmare, and Susannah could only watch as the last of her people perished right before her very eyes, she was not used to any form of battle, this was her first, experienced Gabrielle and the other Virani leaders fought at the forefront while Susannah and the weaker ones remained behind, defending in any way they could.
The king and his army showed no mercy, going head on into battle with the witches as soon as they had thrown enough fire stones to render them defenseless with no place to hide. After the witches realized that this was a lost battle, they all surrendered.
Gabrielle ran out and stood in the battleline, right in front of King William and his army.
“Enough! I think you have made it clear to us of your superiority. We surrender, please, just stop the killings and take us in as your prisoners, enough of us have died already, have mercy,” she begged.
“Ha! ha! ha!” King William nearly fell from his horse in uncontrollable laughter. “Mercy? We do not show mercy to creatures like you, because we know that if the tables were turned, you would kill us all without even batting an eye.”
“But we have done nothing to you!”
“Go and tell that to my ancestors who suffered a great deal because they were not blessed with your kind of powers, humans used to live as slaves to you creatures before we found out we had the upper hand, before we found out about your weakness, precious silver,” he grinned evilly.
The remaining Virani sisters, about ten of them now, stood together along with Susannah, forming a small defense and holding onto each other for impact, they knew that this long-awaited time had come, the time when the witches would be no more.
Martha squeezed Gabrielle’s hand.
“Do not beg them anymore great one, for we have done our best. If they want to kill us, then we’ll know we died fighting to protect everything that belongs to us.”
“That’s exactly what I’m going to do!” King William spat. “I am going to kill every single one of you!!! Your leader will watch you all die, then I will kill her last. I will be the one to kill the last witch myself.”
The witches hugged each other for the last time, saying their goodbyes in assurance that a better life awaited them all on the other side. King William and his men watched the touching moment, a moment that didn’t seem to move their hearts. He then gave the order.
“Kill them!”
The guards marched forward and kicked the Virani sisters to their knees, and then one by one, brought out their silver-plated swords to begin slicing their heads off. Gabrielle reached for her daughter, burying weeping Susannah’s face in her chest, her soothing voice assuring her that death was not something to fear, the guards slaughtered until it remained Susannah and her mother. King William then gave another order when it was just two of them left.
“Kill the girl first, the leader belongs to me.”
Gabrielle hadn’t realized when the king first said he’ll kill her last, it meant that she was going to watch Susannah die. Of all the things a mother would hope for her child, seeing them die was not one of them, as she watched the guards separate her from Susannah, as she watched the guard unsheathe his sword ready to kill her daughter, she didn’t know the kind of remarkable strength that overwhelmed her as she broke free from her silver restraints, pushing away the guards that surrounded her and before the blade could touch Susannah’s neck, Gabrielle ran and pushed her away so the blade sliced her throat instead, she’d taken the place of Susannah, she’d died for her.