The Witches' Last Words
The lady was pushed to the hard floor of the training battlefield of Valoria. Her injured hands were already tied tightly by one of the worst iron chains Vampires used to weaken Witches of their power, and to rid them of any form of escape, because iron burns the skin of witches and makes them vulnerable.
The lady yelped in pain as her body collided with the hard floor of the battlefield, fresh bruises arriving at the lower of her left arm and her bare waist. She hissed in pain as she struggled to free her hands from the heavy metal bars binding her.
Serena could see that the more she tried to free herself from those iron bars, the more wounds appeared on her wrists. The lady was already pale, her body battered from the heavy beating she had received from the Vampires there at the borders of Valoria, before dragging her here to the palace to await the arrival of the king, the Duke of Valoria, her father and the Vampire Council.
“I think she should be burned immediately!” One of the vampire knights suggested as he gave the witch a kick on the waist causing her to cry in pain.
“Burned is way too easy, she should be tortured one by one until she begs for death!” The other knight stepped on her foot with his thick boots yielding a scream from her.
“This would serve as an example for others of her kind that think they can trespass into the borders of Valoria! We'll make sure we get them, and kill every single one of them! “ The other knight said as he brought out a small portion from his cloak.
“What is that Karl?”
“A witch bane salt.”He paused as he opened the cork of the potion , immediately pouring half of the content on the witch, ejecting an erie scream from her as smoke began forming around her.
The witch rumbled around the floor, violently trying to free her hand as she felt her whole body burning.
“Well done Karl! I heard that Salt is the witches worst enemy”
“It burns them, watch by the time she's done shaking violently, half of her face would be burnt!” Karl and the others laughed watching the witch struggle to free herself of the burning sensation.
“And what is going on here?!” Serena finally stepped forward, intervening as she could no longer stand the brutal treatment the Vampires were giving the witch.
None of the Vampires responded, as they all lowered their heads. Serena was the second in command to the warfare of the kingdom of Valoria, not just because her dad was the Duke of Valoria, but also because she was the best skilled man in the warforce.
“I asked a question! Who gave you all the authority to bully her when the king and the Vampire Council haven't yet arrived to decide her fate?” She paused as she glanced at each and every one of them
“You all want to join her right?” Serena cautioned them.
“No, Milady”
“We are sorry Milady” Their heads still lowered in respect.
Serena took a look at the witch, as she had finally stabilized. And true to Karl's words, half of her face had turned completely black, showing a little of flesh , along with her fingers.
“The king has arrived.” One of the knights announced, gently forcing the witch into a kneeling position.
Serena turned around to see the King, king Russiano, Duke Lauretto and the rest of the Vampire Council as well as some knights walking towards the high seat of the Valoria training battlefield. They all bowed their heads in respect.
“Lady Serena” King Russiano called out as he sat down on the high seat from which he could see anything happening on the battlefield.
“Yes Your Majesty” Serena still kept her head low, as did other knights.
“I must recommend your good leadership skills. The Valoria knights are doing very well in ensuring the safety of our people.” King Russiano commented, nodding his head a little in satisfaction.
“Thank you Your Majesty”
“That aside, the Duke informed me that the intruders were caught trespassing into our kingdom.” The king paused.
“Is that true Lady Serena?”
“Yes Your Majesty, a witch and a human. “ Serena paused, raising her head up.
“The human has been taken into the Blood Haven, and the knights brought the witch for judgement as earlier instructed by the Duke.”
“Hmm” The king hummed in response as he scanned the witch whose head was lowered, her long black hair fully covering her face.
“Witch. What was your aim of stepping into my kingdom?” King Russiano directed at the witch who neither raised her head nor responded.
“Is she deaf?”
“Make her talk” The Duke commanded.
Immediately Karl kicked the witch on her burned waist causing blood to spill a little on his boot and down her body.
“Talk witch!”
But the witch neither screamed in pain or responded. Karl gave her another pain wrecking kick again, but just like before no response.
“That's enough. “ King Russiano said, standing up from his seat.
“If she can't respond, there's no need to force her. “ He paused.
“Burn her alive, and see to it, that every part of her is completely burnt to ashes” The king finally said and then turned around to exit the battlefield, along with his knights.
The Duke and Vampire Council stayed to ensure effective execution of the order given. Some of the knights surrounded the witch ready to toss her into the fire, while some of the knights began setting the fire.
Serena glanced at the witch, and to her greatest surprise the witch was now staring back at her, her violet eye colour visible. Serena furrowed her brows in confusion, why was she suddenly staring at her?
“All set, Milady” Geoffrey, another vampire, called out to Serena's attention.
“Oh, okay,” Serena glanced at the blazing hot fire, then back at the witch who was still gazing at her without even a blink!. Chills ran through her spine.
“Take her” the command was direct.
Two vampires held her chain, while two more dragged her towards the fire. Before she was dragged past Serena, the witch mouthed something to her.
“You're a human.”
Serena's eyes widened in shock as she watched them drag her away and tossed her into the fire. The eerie scream from the witch was deafening as everyone was forced to cover their ears. The smoke coming out from the fire turned black with time.
How was she able to tell she was a human? Had the potion she usually takes to hide her blood scent as well as develop a fang began to wear off?. If that was the case she needed to rush back to Lady Moubrid to create the spell again, before everything she and her dad had worked for goes down the drain.
The fire burned more and more, until the witch's scream gradually died down.
But one thing still surprised her, if the witch knew she was human, why didn't she just expose her when she knew, witches and humans were prosecuted for stepping into Valoria? Why did she keep quiet? Serena gradually stepped back, aiming to leave there quietly.
