The Blood Witch (The Blood Reign Chronicles Book 1) (9 page)

Gethseena was located in the mountains of Daggar, a half day ride from the city of Dallonburo which was the capital city of Odessia. Dallonburo was a large city by any standards, spanning many leagues, and it was where Nicoldani had been born. He received his first ten years of training and education in Dallonburo as well. Once his preliminary education was finished, he said his goodbyes to his parents, and took up residence at Gethseena to continue his training.

Gethseena had remained his home until he was eighteen years old. When the Tovani recruits reached eighteen years of age, they were required to take up service in the Queens army. This was their final test to prove their worthiness to become Tovani.

In the Queen’s army they would serve wherever the fighting was fiercest, which was usually along the Suchbaatar border to the north. Each Tovani warrior continued in service to the Queen until their twenty-seventh birthday. Only then, if they were still alive, would they return to Gethseena and accept the oaths which pledged their lives to the service of the Tovani. It was only then that they would bind their hair with their Kalna and take up their Kerpai. The Tovani were by far the best trained, fiercest, most respected warriors in all of Odessia

Nicoldani had removed his Kerpai from its scabbard many times on this journey to complete the death ritual and bring justice for his betrayal and cowardice that night at Gethseena. Always it was the small bit of hope that the old priest was right, and Nicoldani would find a way to stop this impending doom, that stayed his hand and spared his own life. It did nothing for his feelings of shame and bitterness at abandoning the fight, which he felt he should never have left. However, the priest’s words were law, and it had been the high priest himself who had all but ordered Nicoldani to leave and set out on the improbable search. It would have been a dereliction of Nicoldani’s duties to disobey the High Priest, which would have brought the same end; disgrace and death.

It had all happened so quickly that night when the temple at Gethseena had come under attack. No one, including Nicoldani had ever suspected anyone would attack from the outside and try to free her. How could any sane man want to free the Blood Witch on the world again? She had caused so much strife and destruction the first time she had come to power. Many men died, even cities were destroyed in an effort to capture and imprison her so many years ago.

According to the ancient writing in the archives, and from what Nicoldani had been taught by his instructors, it had been General Soteri with his armies, along with the twelve Arch-Mordji, that managed to destroy most of the witch’s minions and eventually capture the Blood Witch.

Unfortunately for everyone, as it turned out, destroying the Blood Witch was all but impossible. It seemed that she had somehow managed to rise beyond mortality. When her captors had attempted to destroy her body in an effort to kill her, ultimately the witch would somehow transfer to another body, taking control over the new body in almost a parasitic relationship, in which she would take over and all but destroy the will and soul of that person. The witch had almost escaped in this manner, so destroying the body the witch inhabited turned out not to be an option. General Soteri and the twelve Arch-Mordji were finally able to capture the Blood Witch and the mordji managed to shield her in some way to stop the spread of her infectious influence. Once captured, and safely shielded they brought the witch before the fabled King Erlandas.

King Erlandas had been the most revered and wisest king in history. When General Soteri and the mordji brought the Blood Witch before him, he held council for two weeks with all his trusted advisers along with the mordji, to decide what should be done with her. In the end, they came to an agreement to imprison the witch at Gethseena, which was as far away from civilization as was possible at the time. The monastery at Gethseena would be the place where she would be held forever, and vigilant guards would be placed on her prison to insure she would never escape. This great honor of keeping watch was bestowed upon the Priests of Ashteri and the Tovani Warriors.

The Tovani were a brotherhood of warriors dedicated and trained from infancy for the sole purpose of keeping watch over the witch’s prison cell at Gethseena. Their entire existence was dedicated to ensuring she could never break free. The Tovani’s duty was shared with the priests of Ashteri who would maintain the magical wards and locks on the witch’s prison cell. The priests were the actual jailors or wardens of the prison, with the Tovani being the guards.

Nicoldani had always thought that all the prison safeguards were a little excessive. From what he had been taught in his education and training, the cell had been crafted especially for the purpose of holding the witch. Nicoldani’s training had been extensive, not only in matters of war and battle, but also in history and literature. It had taught him that the cell where the witch was held captive was constructed with large steel plates four inches thick to line top, bottom, and all four sides of the holding cell. The chamber itself had been hewn from solid bedrock beneath the temple at Gethseena.

There was only a single pathway that led to or from the holding cell, the last fifty paces of which had been filled with brick and mortar after the witch was placed inside. At this point, there was a small tunnel through the bedrock completely encircling the cell in the center. Fifty paces of solid rock lay between the cell and any point in the encircling tunnel.

It was in this circular tunnel that the priests of Ashteri would sit vigil to maintain the magical wards which isolated and restrained the witch. No less than seven priests at a time would take up watch positions around the circle. The magical wards binding the Blood Witch required at least seven priests to maintain the balance.

The priest would remain vigil for seven days, not requiring food, water, or sleep during the entire time. The changing was on a rotation so that only one priest at a time would turn over his post. The transition would take several hours, with the priest who was holding the complex ward, slowly transferring control to the priest who was relieving them. The magical wards were so complex and powerful that releasing them abruptly would be disastrous.

From the vigil ring, an exclusive pathway led upwards to the first holding chamber where twenty of the Tovani stood guarding the iron bound door and gate leading below. No one was allowed to enter the first holding chamber from vigil circle without High Priest Tarnus and two other priests present to ensure that the ones coming from the vigil circle were ….. themselves. No one was allowed into the vigil circle except the priests. Not even the Tovani were allowed any further than the first holding chamber. This holding chamber was the closest the Tovani ever got to the cell where the Blood Witch was held.

Further up the single corridor from the first holding chamber was another in the series of safeguards. Many large metal spikes hung suspended inside the roof of the corridor. If the lever was tripped, the spikes would instantly descend, trapping or killing anyone inside the twenty foot long corridor or at the very least making the tunnel impassable.

The second holding chamber had more bound doors and gates with Tovani standing guard. The only way out from here was a wooden ladder that extended forty feet to the small portal above. A honeycomb of small fist sized holes dotted the sheer walls and made this section almost look like a giant cylindrical well.

From the second holding chamber, a cord ran the rest of the way to the main floor of the temple and was attached to an alarm bell. If all else failed the alarm would be sounded, the ladder would be raised, and a giant stone boulder would be rolled over the opening sealing anyone or anything below. The entire chamber would then be flooded with water. It would be the last resort if the witch somehow managed to break free of her holding cell.

The regiment was clear and everyone had their places and assigned tasks. Twenty Tovani stood guard at the opening with long pry bars awaiting the alarm. If the alarm sounded…
ever
… the spikes would descend and the Tovani guards would lever the boulder into position and flood the chamber with water.

In the many generations since the Blood Witch’s imprisonment, there had never been a need for
any
of the safeguards. Many even believed that the witch was long dead by now, and her flesh rotted away so that only her bones remain in the cell. Or perhaps even her bones had turned to dust after such a long time. Time seemed to dull peoples memories, but pledges older than memory required the vigil to be kept. The world depended on it, because the risk was too great.

All of the safeguards had been designed for one thing, to keep the witch
in
. No one had ever expected the threat to come from outside the walls. That night had been a surprise to everyone at Gethseena. Eight thousand of the lunatic followers had converged on the gates with their faces painted red, and being clad all in black. They seemed to ooze out of the night and stormed the gates before anyone knew what had happened. The gates at Gethseena were not well guarded, considering they were never meant to keep people out.

Before that fateful night, Gethseena would on occasion receive reports from Dallonburo of minor uprisings of followers of the witch. Usually they were small, only a few hundred or less and easily put down. The uprisings had been few and far between with only three in Nicoldani’s lifetime. He as the high commander of the Tovani had led all three attacks to suppress the rebellions. This time, however, it was not just a few hundred lunatics; there were thousands of well-organized soldiers.

The Tovani were fabled warriors of renowned strength and courage and had held the gates valiantly, but they numbered only five hundred in total. The Tovani Warriors had fought valiantly, killing many of the fanatics, but in the end, sheer numbers overpowered them.

Nicoldani had been on watch in the first holding chamber at the time of the fateful attack when he received a summons from the High Priest. He was reluctant to leave his post but he could not ignore a summons from the High Priest. As he was emerging from the ladder the high priest met Nicoldani and pulled him aside into a private room, closing and locking the door behind him. The story the old man told, rocked Nicoldani to his very core. It was an astonishing tale he could scarcely believe.

The old priest unfolded a story that was sworn to be kept secret from all, only handed down from one High Priest to his successor. No one else, not even the other priests of Ashteri even knew the truth.

“What I’m about to tell you,” High Priest Tarnus began hesitantly, “is of utmost urgency, and is told only because there is no other recourse left. It is a secret know only to me, and passed down from the time of imprisonment. It would be passed to my successor, and no one else, if circumstance permitted.” The old priest paused and seemed to be listening to someone else, or perhaps a voice inside his own head.

After a moment the old priest began speaking again, “However, under the present circumstances I must tell….. someone. Nicoldani you must swear on your life that you will not divulge this information to anyone.”

The old man seemed more than his considerable age as he continued with his discourse. “However I think it has all been in vain,” Tarnus said wearily. “There may not be a need to keep it confidential for long if the witch does break free.”

To Nicoldani’s dismay, it was revealed that the Blood Witch had never been imprisoned at Gethseena. King Erlandas in his wisdom feared that followers might rise up to break her free. In her day, the witch’s followers had always been rabid, maniacal, and more than willing to die for her. If they didn’t know where she was imprisoned then they could not set her free. Hence an elaborate ruse was crafted.

“It was decided,” Tarnus continued, “that once the mordji separated the witch from her staff they would bring the staff here to Gethseena, under the premise that it was the witch herself. The witch was tied in a way to the staff, so it would give the mordji the focal point they needed for the warding. Even though she would be leagues away in an unknown location, the mordji could still maintain the ward on her. At the same time, it would keep the staff far from the witch’s grasp.”

Tarnus paused to catch his breath, but his breathing was ragged and labored, and it was apparent that this was a great strain on the old man. “It was decided that the witch would be taken by one of the Arch-Mordji to her real prison cell. With the remaining Arch-Mordji maintaining the ward, and the absence of her staff, the chosen mordji would easily be able to control the witch. In this manner, only he would know the true location. Not even the King would know the final imprisoning place. The Arch-Mordji who had been chosen for the task would take the witch to the location only he knew, and then sit vigil until the remaining mordji and the staff were safely at Gethseena. Then as a last sacrifice the Arch-Mordji would take his own life, ensuring no one would ever discover where she was being held.” The old man finished and slumped heavily back in the chair, seemingly drained of his strength.

As it turned out, over time the remaining mordji slowly died out, taking with them many of their secrets. However, they passed on the knowledge of the warding and the witch to the ones that would become the priests of Ashteri. Generations had passed, and many of the details of the story had been lost. The location of King Erlandas’ great castle Bethvain had even been lost in the many years that had lapsed. The old priest didn’t even know the location where the great castle had once stood. He only suspected it was far off to the northeast, somewhere near the forsaken lands.