The inquisition

The Screaming Valley

Throughout history, people have associated many strange matters with magic, sorcery, and curses, as well as possession by demons. Perhaps they were truthful in some of it, for the world is not an open book before us, and supernatural phenomena can indeed occur at times. However, for such metaphysical explanations to dominate most unexplainable cases without even a hint of scientific interpretation is a form of monocausal and barren thinking, which characterized the Middle Ages and some prehistoric times.

(The Western mindset believes that witches ascend to heaven on brooms.)

In a dark corner of an ancient forest, where no sound could be heard except the wailing of the cold wind, two witches met. They shared the same features, like a mirror, but their hearts were drowned in darkness. Behind them, images of a great fire loomed behind them, reminiscent of what happened on the edges of the world in other times, when witches pyres did not distinguish between crime and innocence.

The First Witch (in a hushed voice, her whispers almost melt the space):

"Do you remember those days when wood was thrown into the fire in cold blood, when our souls were ripped from our bodies in silence?"

Second Witch(she smiles a cold smile, her eyes widening in the darkness):

"Yes, those days were full of regret. But do you think we will remain in this darkness? Will we remain captive to these fires? Or have times changed?"

The First Witch(standing still, her gaze as sharp as knives):

"Change? Nothing changes, you know that. The pyre is not just a fire that consumes flesh, it’s a fire in the heart. It almost burns down to the soul, and we still see it burning in the eyes of those who think they have survived."

Second Witch (breathing deeply, taking slow steps towards her, trying to understand what’s behind the words):

"But we lived, and we are here. Do you think that fire will swallow us again?"

The First Witch(she turns away, moving as if she knows what will happen in the future, her eyes filled with bitter sadness):

"You don t understand. We survived, but we didn’t get out unscathed. Every ray of light that touches us brings us back to that moment, every breath of air reminds us of how the world was burning around us. The fire doesn’t forget, and there are those who still watch it, waiting for the moment when it will return."

Second Witch(smiles sarcastically, then answers defiantly):

"Oh, so what do you suggest? Do we hide in the shadows forever? Do we live in constant fear of the h*******t that will never end?"

The First Witch (in a hushed voice, she takes another step closer, her hands waving in the air as if painting a spectrum):

"No, we are not hiding. But we know, the price of living in this world is to pay with the blood of our souls. They don’t forget. We are still a target, and we will be until the day of reckoning."

Second Witch(her eyes widen with a look of horror):

"You mean... Those courts? Those ruthless ones?"

The First Witch (smiling grimly):

"Yes, they are. But the courts are not just those set up by humans. There are courts in the shadows, where everyone is judged. And if death means nothing, there are always things worse than death. The fire that will burn us is not always visible."

Second Witch (retreats with hesitant steps, her eyes filled with panic):

"You... You mean the fire will take us in the end, no matter what we do, no matter how much we run away?"

The First Witch (shakes her head calmly, but her eyes glow like a blazing fire):

"There is no escape. But there is another kind of power in the shadows. If you want to be more than a fleeting memory in the wind, you have to do something no one expects. But be careful... This path is not for the pure."

There is a long moment of silence between them, filled with the smell of fear in the air. A distant fire flickers on the horizon, while the ground remains full of shadow, waiting for the next one...

chapter 1

The Screaming Valley

The 9th century AD in some parts of Europe

Now the clock shows one in the morning; Anna opens her bedroom window after insomnia deprived her of sleep. She was going through a tough time after her parents' death and was thinking about how hard life is without them and how much she missed and needed them; for they loved her sincerely, without a doubt, from the depth of motherhood and fatherhood, and because she was a good girl who respected them greatly. While standing by the window, at that very moment, Anna saw a faint light from a lamp at the edge of the village and heard a scream coming from the same direction as the faint light. However, the scream was not loud, so she thought she was just imagining it due to the distress she was experiencing. Her grandfather's house, where she lived, was located geographically on the outskirts of the village and considered the last house in it, with surrounding farmland and an isolated valley, where she would find nothing but dogs, especially at that time of night. But the screaming sound began to rise gradually from the direction of that valley, so she realized that this thing was real and happening. Naturally, Anna felt afraid that something strange was happening, and by her innate instinct, she felt that she should go and see what was happening—after all, Anna was a very curious girl. In the meantime, most of the lights in the village houses began to turn on, as the scream had become louder. Anna’s grandfather also woke up and rushed to his granddaughter’s room to find her awake, and they began to inquire about what was happening. This was the case for most of the village residents, who all left their homes and started whispering and discussing what was occurring, as this event was the first of its kind in the village, especially in its modern age. Here, Robert decided to put an end to those speculations. Robert was a man in his fifties with a tidy, thick beard, dignified and wise features, and he was an industrious farmer who worked hard on his vast fields on the outskirts of the village. The villagers respected him greatly and sought wisdom from his words. He decided to take some men with him to go to the valley to see what was exactly happening because panic had begun to creep into the hearts of the villagers living near the valley, especially since a rumor had started circulating that there was a ghost wandering at night resembling Martin. Some villagers claimed to have seen him, and Martin was a young man who had lived in the village for fifteen years but was killed by the order of the village leaders and the church priests back then, after they accused him of immorality after finding him engaged in illicit s****l relations in a stable with one of the village girls named Jean. In that time period of the village and Europe, and according to customs and traditions, it was prohibited for anyone, male or female, to engage in s****l relations without a legal bond. s*x was considered temptation and a great evil, and their philosophers and scholars advocated not engaging in s*x except through a marriage contract aimed at procreation, as children are the only important fruit of s****l activity, which is a natural means of reproduction. Any other s****l activity was considered a vice and against the will of God. Overall, in these dark ages, sexuality succumbed to theological debate and ecclesiastical judgment, and the only permitted sexuality was that occurring within a marriage contract. This explains the joy and grand celebration accompanying marriage ceremonies in that village. These traditions were strict, and the villagers and their leaders would not be lenient about them at all. They imposed a penalty for anyone committing such a crime: death for the man, with a reserved punishment for the woman, who would typically be socially ostracized, becoming an outcast confined at home or forced to work on the village farms and external fields without payment, only given food, and her family would be committed, visit or seeing her until the period of atonement for her sin was completed, which duration was determined by the council responsible for such matters—a council composed of religious figures and influential villagers.