The Scythe-Bearer

The calm midnight sky is tarnished by suffocating black smoke rising from orange whips of fire that had engulfed the peaceful farming village. Yesterday it had been filled with shouts of laughter and celebration of a successful harvest, every street corner had the smiles of villagers and the games of children now the only laughter that is heard is the grotesque sounds that comes from the ones who spread the waves of fire. Their irrational laughter mixes with the screams and pleas of the villagers caught within the unforgiving flames. The hooded figures surround the village and chant with their voices rising with every Latin word "Igne canbures non mentiar! Tabescet caro et sanguis eorum, et coques! Facere cinis ossa eorum, et implens ulucatibus auras. Ure ignis!" Their words are carried upon the wind, echoing through the night air, it seemed to enrage the flames which began to grow taller with its gnarled limbs reaching towards the starry sky. Amongst this chaos upon a hilltop nearby, a woman with hair as fierce in colour as the fire below and blue summer sky eyes stands in anguish and horror at the scene unfolding before her. She makes a step towards the inferno but something stops her, she knows cannot help the villagers not anymore. She forcibly tears her eyes away and mentally blocks their pleas of mercy; she hears a tiny voice amongst the roars of the fire that catches her attention. "Mama?" She looks up to see her own blue eyes staring up at her, eyes free of sin and untarnished by the cruel world that lay in front of them. The young boy, barely three years of age and hair dark as the midnight sky above, stumbles in the path towards her. She knelt down on the muddy grass. "Falce, come here sweet child of mine." She outstretches her arms. He walks, mostly stumbles, towards her grabbing her arms with ferocity as if she might just disappear from his sight. As she embraces him with equal strength her smoldering tears that she promised not to shed, over spilled her eye lids. "Mama, what's going on? Where is Papa? Why is the village burning?" She says nothing, only gently picks him up and carries him into the cottage. His question tugs at her heart, she places him on a wooden stool and kneels down to look into his eyes. "Falce, I want you to listen to me very carefully. Okay?" He nods and bites his lip with worry, a trait he got from his father. "I am going out for a bit but don’t worry Mama is going to come back soon, okay? I want you to wait for me okay? Don’t open the door for anyone except me. Okay?” His eyes brimmed with tears but nods all the same, putting on a brave face. She smiles, "Definitely like his father" She stands up and clasps an emerald hooded cape on, she watched Falce wipe the wetness from his cheeks then she turned to walk out the door, when she felt him collide into her and snake his arms around her tightly. She blinks back the tears, her chest feels tight and it is getting hard to breathe. She gently unwinds his arms from her and walks out the cottage without looking at him because if she did, she knows she won’t be able to leave. As she closes the door behind her she hears the silent sound of sniffles and cries. She leans her head against the wood, hot tears fully running, the pain in her chest is unbearable but she walks away from the cottage in the direction of the unforgiving fire. She made it to the ridge before the darkened hooded figures surrounded her with silver long swords glinting in the moonlight. "There is nowhere to run now, Witch! Burn for your sins and let the world be rid of your presence!" She put up no resistance against their capture, knowing this was the only way she can protect Falce. Until a familiar face appeared in the torchlight, one that sent impulses of fear and anger down her spine. Judge Harristall's commanding voice boomed through the night air disturbing the chaos and caused everything to slow down much like the calm before the storm. “Well, look what the fire's driven out? Elizabeth Herba, the sinful witch that started this witch hunt of ours. If it wasn't for your existence on this very Earth, these innocent people wouldn't have died." Elizabeth fought the urge to drive her fist into his face, "This is his entire fault, everything!" He laughed an ugly sound of a choking Hyena, causing her to recoil slightly at his demeanor. "Where is the woman that defended that devil in the face of the church!? Anyways it matter what you say or don't say because..." He leaned towards her and whispered in her ear "..I am going to enjoy watching you burn." His breath against her skin made her nauseous but she showed no weakness to his threat. This angered him and he backhanded her across the face, she tasted blood. "Repent! Then maybe I won't burn your conceived abomination along with you!" Her heart pounded and dread filled her limbs, “How does he know?” Seeing her distress, Judge Harristall smiled smugly, showing bits of his yellowed teeth. "You thought I wouldn't find out, you stupid naive woman! Now just for that, I will bring the disgusting thing out to watch his sinful mother die! Burn her!" Elizabeth struggled against the figures; she watched the judge and two men disband from the crowd and head for the cottage. "No! Falce!" "No! Stop! Falce, run away! No!" She kicked and pulled with all her strength against the figures that dragged her closer to the burn site, but one of them struck her head. She saw stars clouding her vision and after she regained her sense of stability, the flames were already licking at her body. She smelt her own flesh burning but felt nothing but numbness. "Falce..." She looked to the cottage and only found it engulfed with hot enraged fire. Her chest pained from the smoke and from the loss of the only person she loved more than Lapis. She closed her eyes, the ones she shared with her son, and let the melting embrace of the fire cover her. "Lapis...I am sorry..."