"Shadow, don't move. I'm coming to you."
"Th..thhh.thank you."
"My sakes!! What happened to you? If I didn't know any better I would say you were scratched to death by a girl, and is that blood? I thought that..ohh nevermind. Put your arm around my shoulder and I'll help you to the front."
"Zeke, you wouldn't believe it even if I told you."
"Ohh boy. Whenever someone says that then you know you have to hear it. So hit me Shadow. How was your day and who did this awful thing to you?"
"It was a sorcereress. She commands all five elements and I tried my best but I couldn't stop her."
"Ha!! Haaa!! Haaaaa!!! There are no sorceresses here on this side of town. We've been over to the school of witchcraft and wizardry earlier today. There Mr. Doubter himself confirmed that they only teach LOW level magic. There are no sorcerers and sorceresses there even if they wanted to be. The board would kick them out and would never let there own students train that hard."
"Why do you not believe me? Zeke, you know I would never lie to you. Please put your faith in me."
"Okay Shadow but I'm taking your side only because my sister believes in you for some odd reason. She would never hurt you and as long as she is with you then I trust you would not hurt others without a valid reason. So may we implore who is this sorcereress and how has she been able to draw blood from Dragon himself."
"Funny you mention your sister, Zeke, for it was she who pierced me."
"Quiet, quiet, quiet!!! Calm yourselves and let Shadow explain himself. You best have a good reason why you think she is a sorceress."
"Listen!! There is no time to explain how she got her powers but I believe God gave it to her. I went out to talk to her like usual but she wanted nothing to do with me. She had other plans. I got angry and attacked. At first she dodged most of my attacks but although I was able to land a few; she evaded and was able to land even worse blows then mine. That is why I'm running to you in search of aid. She knows about your dual in three days at the Amphitheater so she has seeked out a village and is planning to gather an army from there to come here and rain chaos. You don't have to fully believe me but can you at least trust? Just like Jonah and Jesus; Jonah never trusted Jesus and had it go on record that he and everyone else wanted Nineveh destroyed and burned, but he still did his best to believe in Jesus. What I'm trying to say is Jonah didn't fully believe that Jesus' story that He would save, but Jonah still went along. While Jonah secretly had other intentions for why He wanted to 'warn' the Ninevites; he still went. So I ask that can all of you trust me on this and stop her before she hurts others?"
"What about all the lives that you took….Dra...gon!! Don't think we don't know it's you."
"Wait, wait, I can explain. Although Dragon and I are one we both have our own different minds and ways of doing stuff. I swear that I personally did not kill anybody and if I did then it was because Dragon influenced my body to commit those crimes. If you don't believe me then let me be baptized before all of you so you can be confident in where I stand."
"Shadow, no!!"
"No? Zeke, don't you want be saved? Or would you rather me burn?"
"I want you saved, Shadow; and I believe your story but…"
"But? What is it?"
"Let's just say water and fire don't mix. One, you still have a few open wounds. I've done my best to wash up the blood for there was a lot but the water could just as easily reopen them all. Second, once you get baptized; the Bible says the old is gone and you are henceforth a new creation. Now as I would have it; Dragon is inside you and your old/new self. If you get baptized then that means one side of you will remain behind and since you Shadow will be baptized then Dragon will stay behind as the old."
"I see where you are getting at. With no vessel for Dragon to come into then that means he is now his own man and can make his decisions on his own but you don't want that."
"Exactly!!"
"So if I can't get baptized and physically separate from Dragon then how do you suggest I show you that I'm on your side?"
"If my sister is indeed the sorcerer then the best way you can show that you're on our side is to try to save her and not kill her."
"Zeke, nothing I said resonated with you? She is more powerful than me or Dragon combined, meaning she has to be destroyed before she reaches her full potential."
"We heard you but we don't want any more killing. We rather see people saved than watch God punish and burn them."
" Saved? You can't go around saving everyone you want. Yes, I know saving is better than killing but sometimes in order to set an example then you have to do what needs to be done."
"This coming from the man who adored my sister's company. Why now do you want to kill her? Just because she may be more powerful than you gives you the right to seek vengeance on her soul."
"I don't want vengeance on her soul. I just want vengeance on her heart. If you let me stay with you then I'll tell you how to kill her. There is only one way to kill a witch and you have to do it precisely and in order or else they won't be phased."
"Say we go along with you. What….how do you propose we set about killing her?"
"Thank you for asking. First we need a witch bottle, stakes, and fire. In the witch bottle we need nine nails bent in a L-shape with the head of each nail tied in a knot. Next we need human hair of some kind. Third we need wool fibers and fourth we need thee greatest and most important element of this bottle…...urine!!"
"Urine?"
"Urine?"
"Are you sure you know what you're talking about?"
"Trust me. I've killed many witches in my day..uhh.. I mean Dragon has killed many witches and he has generously passed the information onto me. He hasn't lied to me once nor let me down so I see no need why he would not. We have to next put all of these ingredients into a bottle, cap it, and then bury it in the ground. Whoever walks over it and starts to become sick then that is the witch. If she walks over the bottle but doesn't become sick then we won't have to kill her and you can save her if that is what you desire. But if she does indeed get sick then we immediately have to snatch her and tie her to a stake in the ground. Then we have to burn her alive and tear out her heart. For fire we need heat, fuel, and oxygen. The reason we have to tear her heart out is if we don't then dark magic and forces can just heal her heart and keep bringing her back to life over and over and over and over again. Even if we successfully do all of this stuff though but the bottle doesn't explode signifying that she is dead then I fear there is no way to kill her. By then She is too far in the depths of dark magic that we can't rescue her."
"Umm, Shadow!! I have a question. Are there any I don't know...less painful ways of killing a witch?"
"Let me see here. You can kill a witch using poison, an enchanted weapon or with salt and iron, but all of those bring out a slow death and lots of pain. I don't think any of you want to watch her suffer and would rather just dispose of her as quickly as you can."
"Shadow, over here. What would you say embodies the characteristics of a witch?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I just mean do witches have to be top notch in dark magic in order to be classified or can they be an apprentice like a student starting out their journey of practicing? Could those witches and wizards potentially become sick under the bottles spell as well?"
"I see where you are getting at because you don't want more to die if they don't need to but I can't provide you an accurate answer. We'll just see when we see."
" See when we see? You really don't care who lives or dies do you? Unless it is someone you love then you could care less how they live their lives. I'm sure if we burned you at the stake then nothing would become of it because you have no heart nor a soul to bother with."
"That would be correct. They don't call me black for nothing."
"Shadow, if you know how to kill her then why didn't you kill her already yourself? Why bother using our help? Can't we just go down to the local hardware store and pick up these ingredients?"
"Ahh, young one. If it were really that easy then there would be no such thing as a witch for anybody would be able to kill them just as easily as combining ingredients together to make their homemade soups. Witches, wizards, and sorcerers all use potions that have to be brewed before use. Now everytime you read about witches do you ever say well then...all those ingredients they use are daily household goods?"
"No!!"
"Exactly. Neither are the elements we need to retrieve including the bottle and stake. Again, if witches used daily household items then anybody could not only become a witch but have at their disposal the necessities to kill any witch they don't like."
"Okay, okay! Fine, Shadow. You have us convinced. We will help you on your quest for vengeance but only because we too know what it's like to have our butts kicked by a girl!!! Ohh the humiliation!!``
"You laugh now but once that same girl starts kicking your guy's nuts then no one will be laughing. Why? You'll all be dead!!! Now let's go. We have no time to waste. We have three days before the dual and I'm sure Adalyn already has her army charging behind her.