The Blood Witch (The Blood Reign Chronicles Book 1) (51 page)

They rolled him over on one side to get the chains underneath him. As they did so, Jak spotted Nicoldani standing to one side watching what was happening. The big man seemed to be injured, but that was not what troubled Jak. The look in Nicoldani’s eyes was one of regret and sadness. The big man peered at him for a moment before turning his back and walking away. There had been tense moments between Jak and the big man at times but Jak had thought they were friends.
Why was he turning his back on him now? Why was Nicoldani letting these men do this to him?

The men binding Jak and Brigette, rolled them onto the other side and Jak saw Benjim standing a few paces off. The kindly old man had a profound look of sadness on his face, but also resignation as he stared at Jak. The old man did not lower his eyes or turn away.

Benjim too? Why was no one helping him?
All Jak’s friends were just turning their back on him now. He couldn’t understand why none of the people he thought were his friends would help him or raise a hand to put a stop to this madness.

Suddenly through the crowd, Jak saw Gineara running down the street towards him with Mistress Inirae chasing after her. Benjim spotted Gin as she tried to force her way through the crowd and grabbed her before she could reach Jak. Jak could hear her calling for him as she stretched her tiny hand towards him. Tears streamed down her face and she was asking what they were doing to Jak and why. The old man spoke softly to her as she continued struggling, trying to break free to reach Jak. Gin continued to struggle against the old man’s grip for a few moments before finally burying her face in Benjim’s chest and beginning to sob. Her little body was heaving and shaking.

Jak struggled against his bonds but he still had no strength. Even if he did have strength, the chains were too large and too tight now for even him to break. His eyes filled with tears and he began to cry, not for himself but for Gin.
How was he supposed to protect his sister now? What would Gin do without him?
He was the only family she had left and he had promised to keep her safe. He hoped Benjim at least, would look out for her and take care of her.

A crowd began to form around the wagon and thankfully blocked Jak’s view of his baby sister crying. He could hear angry shouts and people began to throw things at him and Brigette. Rotten fruit and vegetables, even rocks pummeled him and Brigette from all sides. After a time, the wagon lurched and began to move forward. Armed men took up positions around the wagon and escorted it down the road. Shouts continued to be heard from the crowd, of ‘witch’ and ‘demon’. They continued to throw things as well, some of them striking Jak in the arms and face as he lay there helpless.

The wagon slowly made its way down the bumpy street. The sounds of the shouting crowd eventually faded off into distance, and after what seemed a very long time the wagon came to a jerky halt. Jak and Brigette were hoisted from the bed of the wagon by several men and carried for a distance. Jak caught a glimpse of a long plank up ahead that stretched the span between the docks and a ship.
Why were they at the docks? What were these men going to do with Brigette and him?
The men carried them up the ramp before dropping them hard on the deck of the ship.

There were people milling about in confusion on the ship not knowing what all the raucous was about. Zerran was ordering men about and trying to find the captain of the ship. Finally, a man stepped out of a door to the cabin and announced that he was the captain of the Flat Fish. Zerran spoke to the captain, giving him instructions on what he was going to do with his new cargo. The captain protested vehemently saying he did not want the Blood Witch on his ship. After much more arguing and shouting the captain finally, reluctantly agreed to carry out the man’s orders, but not before Zerran told him he would arrest him if he did not obey the orders. Zerran continued giving the captain strict instructions to take the witch and her demon, and dump them in the deepest part of the ocean he could find. The ship was to leave immediately and not fail to deliver the cargo to the bottom of the ocean no matter the cost.

Once again, Zerran and the other armed men approached the bound pair lying on the deck of the ship. Jak could see that the men carried a long wooden spike and large hammer. The men proceeded to roll the pair over with Jak facing down. Brigette’s weight on top of him forced his nose and mouth to be pressed hard on the wet smelly wood of the ship.

“Wait a moment,” Jak heard one of the armed men say.

Was someone finally going to put a stop to this? Were they finally going to let him free?

“Look what we have here,” the man said. “No use throwing this away too. I think I’ll take it for myself. A very fine piece of work it is.” Jak felt the man pull the dagger from behind his belt. It was the dagger Jak had found in the cave, the one that belonged to the Arch-Mordji who had taken the witch to the cave to be imprisoned. The dagger the Arch-Mordji had used to take his own life to protect his secret.

This man had no right to take it from Jak and the thought made him furious. But his fury was short lived and quickly turned to panic as he heard the dull thud of hammer on wood, and felt pressure on his back like someone punching him hard. Brigette screamed in agony.

Jak, realizing what was happening, struggled to break free and stop them but he had no strength and the chains were too strong. He was helpless against the men and could not stop them from hurting Brigette. He tried to cry out in anger and frustration but his face was pressed too hard against the dirty wooden deck, so all the came out was a muffled gurgling sound.
He would kill them for hurting Brigette. He would kill them all.

Another blow of the hammer and Jak felt the sharp pain of the spike entering his own back. Another and another blow of the hammer until the spike protruded from Jak’s chest, and pinned him to the deck. Blood trickled from his nose and mouth from the force of the blows. He labored to breathe but air came reluctantly and the pain was almost unbearable. Not only the pain of the spike driven through his entire body, but also the pain of knowing it had gone through Brigette before it entered him.

Oddly enough, right then Jak thought back to the words Benjim had spoken to him when he was lying helpless on the floor in the magistrate’s manor. The old man had said, that he thought Jak was strong enough to resist.
What had the old man meant by that? Had he finally given in to the thirst and become a monster himself?
But kissing Brigette had been so……..exquisite
. It had been a kiss hadn’t it?
It seemed like an incredibly wonderful kiss to him at the time.
How could anything that good be bad? Had he actually fed on her blood instead?
He wasn’t entirely sure anymore.

Since that night in the cave, he wasn’t sure of anything.
Was Brigette in fact the Blood Witch like everyone said she was?
Did he actually feed on the blood of the witch?
The thought made his blood run even colder than it already felt. If he had drunk her blood….did that make him a witch too? He had never heard of a male witch before and the thought seemed absurd. Perhaps he was just a demon or monster instead, like the villagers had said. Maybe this was to be his punishment for what he had become, and for all the people he had killed.

Jak’s entire life had been turned upside down that fateful night in the cave in the mountains of Hlifglynn. His entire family, except for Gin had been ripped from him and been slaughtered by the Blood Witch. But now even Gin was gone. Jak’s home and everything he had was gone. All he had ever wanted to do was find Brigette whom he loved, just to be with her again.
Why was this happening to him? It wasn’t fair. He wasn’t a monster.

Was he now in-fact chained together with the Blood Witch, the woman who had butchered his family and turned him into this monster that everyone thought he was.
It couldn’t be.
Jak would not believe it. Benjim had said that the witch was clever. She had somehow fooled all of the people into thinking Brigette was the witch. Now he and Brigette were suffering because of the Blood Witch’s evil.

Jak wondered if he had gone mad.
If he were mad, would he actually know it? Would he care if he were mad?
The problem was he did care. He cared what happened to Gin his baby sister. He cared that these men were hurting Brigette. He
had
cared about Benjim and Nicoldani since they had been his closest friends, almost family to him. But they had turned their backs on him, and allowed this to happen without even trying to stop it.
Why?

Bitterness and anger welled up inside Jak and began to fester and grow.
He would make them all pay for what they had done to Brigette and him. Everyone would pay!

The armed men pried the pair loose from the deck where the spike had pinned them. Rolling them partially over they started to lift them when the man who had taken Jak’s dagger spoke again, “On second thought, I want nothing that belongs to this witch’s spawn. It is probably tainted with their evil.”

With those words, the man returned the dagger to Jak. But instead of placing behind it his belt where it had been, the man thrust it into Jak’s chest next to the protruding wooden spike. Oddly, the steel blade felt cool and almost soothing in contrast to the agony of the wooden spike.

Finally, the armed men hoisted the pair, which were bound together with chains and linked together with the wooden spike, and dropped them roughly into a large iron box that was in the center of the ship. The pair landed with Jak facing up, on top of Brigette.

What strength he had left was fading and his vision was becoming dim. The last thing Jak saw was the large iron lid being placed over the box sealing them inside. The only comfort Jak had before darkness overcame him was that at least he was going to die with Brigette.

Epilogue

Rumors flew far and wide as if on wings, north to Kragston and south to Varna, many eventually even making their way far to the west, where they would be dismissed as just rumors carried by travelers. Some said that the Blood Witch was free and wreaking havoc somewhere in the east, possibly in Varna, or Yilavo City. They said that she had killed all the leaders and taken control of the city and the people of the city were being sacrificed in offering to the witch to satiate her evil desires.

Some rumors said the witch had never been freed and probably never even existed in the first place. People that told stories of her, or believed in her were all fools. The witch was nothing more than a legend or myth used to frighten children into obeying their parents. There were no such things as witches and monsters.

Others said that the devil had freed the Blood Witch and taken her as his lover. Together they had killed everyone in their path that opposed them. Thousands were flocking to support them to keep from being exterminated. The witch had gathered a great army in the east and was preparing to conquer the whole world. But even the people that spread this rumor didn’t really believe it.

Still others mourned the loss of their Great Mistress. They had dedicated their whole lives to her in hope of her inevitable return someday. Once she was finally freed and did return she was taken from them again. But those that did mourn the witch, mourned in secret. They would watch and wait for her eventual return, as they had for so long before.

Many agreed that a great and powerful Arch-Mordji from ancient days returned to save them and bind the Blood Witch, once more saving the world from her terrible reign. The Arch-Mordji had laid waste to Yilavo City in the great struggle. He had called lighting and fire from the sky destroying everything. Now there was nothing left of the city. Or perhaps it was Varna or Hellstone that had been destroyed.

Some in Yilavo City thought they knew the truth. The witch had been freed and managed to almost take control over their city by murdering the magistrate. She had spread discord and chaos turning people against one another. In the end, an old man and a great warrior had overcome and captured her. They had captured her, along with her lover, a young man who had posed as their friend, but in the end had betrayed them in favor of the witch. Now he would share her fate for his betrayal.

But a small girl knew the truth. Gin sat atop Hofsi looking back over Yilavo City from the edge of the Lihali Plateau. Her heart was heavy and tears rimmed her eyes. She knew that her big brother had sacrificed himself for the world. The reason didn’t matter. She knew Jak loved Brigette and thought it had been her instead of the witch. Maybe there was a part of Brigette that was in the witch. But no matter what the reason, her big brother, the only family she had left, had sacrificed himself to save everyone.

The small odd party, an old man, a huge warrior, and a tiny girl, turned and set off towards the north. With tears streaming down her face, Gin vowed she would never forget her brother Jak.

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Coming Soon, Book 2 of The Blood Reign Chronicles

D. S Nielsen, The Blood Reign Chronicles

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