Wolves of War

Cursed Witches

Even though the minor temple and the main temple were right next to each other, they were not connected. The minor temple I believe use to be the main temple, the underground tunnels is enough proof. The main temple was built, I assume, to house the portal, the portal that Terra used to send the witches and her nephew away to live a new life in another world. The minor and major temples share a courtyard between them that's about half a block from door to door.

Ramune takes the lead and guides us to the door that leads to the courtyard. He opens the door a smidge and looks through the opening. From over his shoulder I could see that the courtyard had no lighting. The shrubbery, trees and seating areas look like black shadows under the half-moon sky. Any dark object could be a cursed witch or an infected citizen and you wouldn’t know it until it moved. Ramune quietly closed the door and turned around to face us.

“Well, the bright side is that the walkways are stone and not gravel. Walk quickly and quietly, keep an eye out and stay within arms' reach of each other.” Ramune whispers to us.

Thea and I nod our heads. I calm my nerves and my breathing and focus on the energy around me. Even though we cannot see them, I can feel them the same way that they can feel me. The curse and the infected may no longer be alive, but they still release energy when they move about. If I concentrate hard enough, I can use my magic to either shield the group or bind the attacker.

“Ramune”

The Wolf Prince paused and looked down at me.

“You absolutely cannot get any bodily fluids from the infected or the curse into your eyes, ears, nose or mouth. You will become one of them and there is no cure. The same goes for you, Thea.”

“Then how are we supposed to take them down?”

“Thea you cannot let them bite you and you cannot bite them. The best you can do is use your speed and strength to your advantage. I drew the strength booster on her shoulder just as a precaution. I want you to focus on the cursed witches use your claws to disrupt the pattern in between their breasts. The infected citizens I want you to stay away from.”

Thea nods her head in understanding

I turned to Ramune and drew the strength booster on his back. “Ramune, if you can use some sort of sharp weapon to pierce the skull of the infected.”

“I will serve as back up. I need to reserve as much of my power as I can to defeat the Queen.”

I have an inkling of who the Queen Zombie might be and I am really hoping that it’s not who I think it is. I remember my dad telling me that he took a team to purify Serberus. I have to assume he brought with him four witches to stand on each point. The fifth witch would have led the ceremony and be strong enough to not only weave her own energy but also the energies of the others. Each witch will most likely have an understudy, someone to replace them in case something were to happen. Beside the two that are known to be deceased, there are at least 7 other witches roaming about and infecting other people.

Ramune nods his head.

My heart raced as Ramune opened the door. The courtyard is quiet, very, very quiet. Not a bird chirped and not a branch rustled. The air seemed to be warmer than usual but I quickly realized it was because there were fires raging somewhere unseen. I followed behind Ramune. Thea brought up the rear. We walked quickly and quietly through the courtyard. I did not feel any disturbance in energy around us. The commotion in the streets probably drew the attention of any curses or infected away from the area, which saves us some time and energy. We reached the other side of the courtyard with no issues.

Before Ramune could open the door, I stopped him.

“I should lead from here”. I said “The temple is my domain. I’ll be at an advantage.”

Ramune nodded in agreement and moved to take up the rear. Just as I did earlier, I felt the energy of the room beyond the door. Immediately, I am able to pin point multiple disturbances. For a moment, I got very nervous. Having to fight our way to the basement is risky. Thea and Ramune could become infected and or the Queen could decide to jump ship and run. Just as I was about to have a mini heart attack, I recognized one of the disturbances as a light source. I forgot that something as minor as a light source still gives off energy and therefore would still cause a ripple in the energies around it. I calmed my racing heart and one by one eliminated all of the disturbances until I found the two that I needed to focus on.

They already know that I am here but they aren’t moving. I’m probably dealing with higher-ranking witches. The ones smart enough to form a plan and follow it through. The element of surprise is not an option anymore. We need to go in with a plan of attack. I stepped back and away from the door.

“What did you see?” Ramune asked.

“Two witches guard the entrance to the basement stairs.” I said, “But we first have to gain control of the entrances of the Temple. We need to seal off every exit, including the windows, to ensure that the Queen stays put.”

“How do you propose we do that?” Ramune asked. "This temple has a bunch of windows. How are we going to seal everyone?”

I thought for a moment, trying to come up with a plan and keeping tabs on the witches who were also keeping tabs on me.

“I’m all for sitting in the problem but we now have company” Thea said after a few moments of me muttering to myself.

I looked up from my musings to see several shadows creep into the courtyard. They didn’t exude any magic potential, so that meant they were infected citizens. A simple bind will incapacitate them.

I lifted my hand to begin the spell but Ramune stopped me. “Thea and I will handle this. You think of a way to seal the temple.”

“But…”

“We will be fine” Thea said. “You have a bigger job to worry about.”

She is right. They are right. I can’t worry about them and have to be able to depend on them. I nod and trust that they will be okay. I turned back to the temple and closed my eyes. I need a seal or spell that’s big enough to cover the temple. I need it to trap everything inside and alert me if something or someone is trying to come in or go out.

Like a spider's web, an intricate design of interlocking threads wove together. The magic in each thread is pure and concentrated yet soft and flexible. The web drapes over the temple, covering it, encasing it. My chest began to burn, my hand flew to the seal and found it warm to the touch.

“What is a web?” Ramune asked.

I smiled at him and removed my hand from my chest. “Sometimes your answer lies within nature.”

I sensed the panic of the witches and concentrated my attention on them. Where there were two witches, now there are three.

“Will this keep the queen inside?” Ramune asks. He picks up a thread of the web and twirls it around his finger. “I don’t think its working.”

“It's meant to keep them in, not you” I noted. “Won’t be all too smart to trap ourselves in there now, would it?”

Ramune chuckled and let the web threads fall from his fingers.

“This won’t hold the Queen for very long though,” I said, “but it will give me enough time to stop her if she tries to escape.”

Ramune nods, then opens the door. He rushes in, pushing the first two witches back. Thea ran in next, tackling the third witch into a nearby altar. I closed the side door behind me just as another group of shadows entered the courtyard.

Thea seems to be handling her own. The witch she is fighting has little magic power that does not have any effect on her. Ramune, on the other hand, seemed to be caught in the middle of two zombie witches with more power between them. One had Ramune pinned to the floor while the other circled him hungrily. With a quick swish of my hands, I had both witches on the floor in a binding spell. The seal on my chest burned the more power I used, but I can not dwell on that now. They both struggled something fierce and poured more and more energy into my bind to keep them put. Just as I thought I couldn’t hold them anymore, Thea jumped in to help dispatch the remaining two witches. She tore the tops from their chests, located the reanimation seal, and disrupted the pattern. The witches stopped struggling and passed on.

I ran over to examine Ramune. He was coughing and shaking his head around.

“Your hurt anywhere?” I asked, concerned

“I’m okay. They were a lot stronger than I expected,” he answered.

I nodded my head. “Let’s keep moving.”