Madrea dropped the emptied mug on the ground and rose to her feet. "I shall return to the forest at first crow tomorrow morning."
"Whatever you wish, great sorceress."
The sorceress of the forest was given the largest tent to sleep in and the feast was in her honour. She started to stagger as she retired for the night. She rubbed the side of her head. Her body felt light and things spun around her.
"That's some strong wine," she thought. It has been sometime since she was this euphoric.
It was midnight and the chirping of crickets could be heard loudly. The wind whistled past the camp and blew the bonfire lightly. Many of the villagers laid calmly on the ground outside. They had won the battle against their fellow men but lost the war to ale. Mostly children and women found their way back to their tents. With how much the men drank, they were bound wake with deathly headaches in morning.
Madrea turned on her mat, feeling restless. She felt a choking grip on her throat. Grabbing her neck, she struggled and coughed to get out whatever was inside but she could not. Her body stopped moving and her eyes suddenly opened. She rose to her feet and with her eyes glowing, Madrea fixed her gaze in one direction and started walking out of her tent.
-
Reshi finally halted from walking up and down the room. He vented by striking the wall with a clenched fist. "I fear, master Trathmir!" he said.
Master Reshi, the current head of the Labronkath, visited masters Trathmir and Kelluen - two of the oldest and wisest masters of the Labronkath - for their counsel.
Master Trathmir felt how flustered Reshi was. "What is it, Reshi?" he asked.
Reshi walked closer to the two masters and sat. "I fear that master Yoken might be right."
"About the boy?" master Kelluen asked.
"Yes, master Kelluen," Reshi hastily replied.
"You know, Reshi. I perceive the world differently from the way other men do. All around that child is absolute darkness and he stands there alone like a helpless prey surrounded by voracious beasts that wish to devour it."
Master Kelluen cleared his throat and continued, "However, I do not believe that Yoken is completely right. For within that darkness, is a tiny light seeking to be tendered and allowed to shine. That light, that little and fragile light comes from within that child."
Reshi leaned towards master Kelluen, "What do you mean, master Kelluen?"
Kelluen truly saw the world different from normal men. The master perceived the world with his heart and mind. Kelluen had the unusual ability to perceive the aura around people. Since he was born blind, this was his own special sense of vision.
"He means, and like I told you in the past, that child needs guidance lest he falls into a deep dark abyss. If that should happen, our world may fall with him," Trathmir added.
Reshi understood what the masters meant and then did he realize one thing. He had done his best for Nyne. He had guided Nyne to that point. That point where he could not do anything anymore for him. Nyne needed more than he could offer at this time, and Reshi accepted the obviosity of that fact.
"This guidance which you speak of... it's beyond the Labronkath, I suppose."
The masters nodded to Reshi's words. Nyne already learned nearly all there was to learn at the Labronkath.
"Then perhaps, the Capital?" Trathmir asked. Reshi recoiled his body to master Trathmir's suggestion. He shifted his gaze immediately to Kelluen, eager to see his reaction.
"Nyne is not ready for the Rite of Pruning!" he blasted at the master.
Kelluen rose his arm to Reshi. "Calm your nerves, Reshi".
In truth, the Rite of Pruning warranted Reshi's reaction. It was justified.
"He's only a year younger than the rest here. In skill and strength, he has done quite well for himself," Trathmir said, "He has proven himself to us."
Master Trathmir made sure to let his words sink deep into Reshi's mind. "That's your only choice, Reshi. That's if you wish to send him to the Capital. Am I wrong, master Kelluen?" he said, turning to the blind master.
Kelluen shook his head. Reshi already knew that was the only way but he chose not to accept that Nyne was ripe for pruning.
-
Madrea let out a loud cry.
An outburst that created a wave of energy, that tore through her tent. She stormed out of her tent, staring out into the open.
Like she did in the battle, trees erupted from the ground that pierced through the denizens of the village. Men, women and children, none were spared. Cries were heard and everyone started to run for lives with no sense of direction.
The warriors that could hold their own attacked Madrea. To get past her magicked branches was a daunting task for they were mere humans with no magic. Their weakly strife ended when the branches wrapped around them, creeping into their mouthes while they begged for mercy.
Dong! Dong! Dong!
The giant bell in the camp resounded with every strike it received. The warriors started to arrive in their numbers, armed to the teeth. The men who could not fight, along with children and women, ran for their dear lives.
Madrea turned her mindlessly gaze from a man, whose neck she had just snapped, to the warriors who arrived to fight her. She tossed the body to the side and ran towards her new group of victims.
The warrior that led the group stepped forward and pointed a large sword to Madrea. "Kill her even it costs you your life!" he commanded, charging his warriors.
One of the elders rushed out of his tent. "What's going on here?" he asked a young woman whom he stopped.
"M-m-mo-monster!" she stuttered, pointing in Madrea's direction with a terribly shaking hand. "She's a monster!" she yelled, running off.
"Fire!" the leader of all the warriors commanded, and at his command, a rain of arrows came down on her.
She defended against the rain of arrows but her eyes soon moved across her body seeing where she bled. A few of the arrows managed to get past to hit her, but it would take more than four arrows to tame the ravaging witch.
"Again!" he commanded.
Another batch of arrows came down on her. This time, it pushed her back as nearly everything hit.
The head warrior rubbed black ink under his eyes. "Now!" he yelled, charging at Madrea. Behind him was his small team of equally high ranked warriors.
They used the chance that was before them. Madrea was occupied by the streals that hit her that she was not aware that she had been surrounded by this group of men. They brandished their chains, curling them around Madrea.
The sorceress pulled on the chains, disarming as many as she could. She was bound and the warrior pulled on the chains, tightening them and cutting off the use of her arms. Madrea hobbled and struggled against her captors. The images before her eyes blurred and doubled. Her head ached as she started to lose balance. The effect of the poisoned arrows started to kick in.
The man who led this assault on Madrea buried his sword deep in the elf's belly. He pulled the blade out and blood gushed from her stomach. It was then that her glowing eyes dimmed and she fell to the ground, out cold.
Wailings replaced the laughter and joy from moments ago. In the night past, the air was filled with shouts of joy and merriment but the dawn was enshrouded in cries of pain and sorrows. Madrea massacred the people of this village in their numbers and she was yet to recognize what she had done.
Madrea's eyes fluttered open. Her vision was blurry at first but started to clear out. Blood dripped from her mouth. Madrea turned her head many times and pulled on the rope they used to bind her.
"What's the meaning of this!" she shouted, "Let me go!"
For a moment, Madrea's voice stopped. What she saw before her gave her a shudder.
"Wha...What happened?" she asked.
A stone struck her face when she asked the question. Many more stones soon followed. Madrea received bruises and cuts from these stones. Blood dripped from her face and tears rolled down her cheeks.
The witch was bound to a cross that stood on a pyre like a criminal awaiting judgement.
"Today is the die you die witch," the head warrior said, lifting a torch.