The Del Montague's continued bad luck did not take long to spread. A large number of the servants had fled the estate. One of the Duke's most trusted knights had immediately mounted his horse and ridden to the church to inform the Pope. Another had ridden to the palace.
Countless workers had gone underground and hidden in the cellars. They were convinced the danger was still active and refused to come out. No amount of persuasion could convince them. They too were eager to leave the estate, but were terrified of being in an open space with windows. What if the crows suddenly woke up? Or more showed up?
Amongst the frantic voices and terse conversations, the consensus was the same. The Del Montague family was cursed. And it would not stop until they were all dead.
Should we flee the Dukedom and seek employment elsewhere? Should we leave Elysium entirely? Will the curse follow us? What exactly has the witch condemned us with?
"She only cursed this empire when she was burning." One maid told another. "We will be safe once we leave."
The other girl nodded. "Let's collect our payment for this month and head to the north empire. Imperium is very cold, but I'll take my chances. A blizzard is better than sickness and demonic crows."
Many more such exchanges followed. Now nobody cursed at Lady Felicia. Their initial disgust and hate had been replaced with bone chilling fear. They were terrified that simply speaking ill of the witch would bring her wrath down upon their heads more than it already had.
Hours passed and the cleanup had not even started. There were too many injured to deal with. Too many deceased to tend to. Some of the guards had even fallen off the tower while trying to take shelter from the crows.
In total, thirty-seven people were dead. Majority had died outside. The rest had died inside. The sight of the crows, even dead continued to frighten them. Their strength and viciousness had been uncanny. It was unheard of for crows to unite and attack humans on such a large scale.
Most of the injured would be left with permanent scars and disfigurement. They had lost eyeballs, ears and fingers. Their noses had been shredded open. Their mouths were lipless. Helena had healed three individuals, but then threw up as the sight was simply too gruesome. After washing up and rinsing her mouth, she went to her mother. In tears and distraught with sudden misfortunes her family and household were facing, she was in desperate need of some comfort. Not bothering to knock, she entered.
The room was perfectly immaculate.
Except for the bed.
The curtains had been shredded to pieces and the dead woman lying on it didn't fare much better.
Both balcony doors were wide open. Feathers and dead crows littered the entire platform. It would appear the crows had been in the process of leaving the room when they had suddenly fallen dead.
In the chaos, nobody had come to check on the Duchess. All attention had been on securing the safety of the Duke.
Helena walked towards the bed in complete disbelief. Her legs trembled as she got closer and saw the state of her mother. One glance at the dead woman's face and she collapsed. No sound escaped her. Rather, her mind simply succumbed.
At the sound of a heavy thump, Maid Lee, who was carrying a large bottle of antiseptic halted her hurried pace and looked over her shoulder. Her eyes widened.
The Duchess! Goddess! In all the chaos, she had forgotten check on her lady. Surely, she was awake by now.
The door to the room was partially open and Lee hurried inside. Her eyes first landed on the open balcony and dead crows. Horror washed through her and she was too scared to look elsewhere. Slowly, ever so slowly, she followed the drops of blood on the carpet which led to the bed.
First she spotted Lady Helena, sprawled out and unconscious.
Then her head snapped up and she saw what was left of the Duchess...the bed was drenched with blood.
A gut wrenching scream erupted out of her. She took a step forward and reached out a hand. Then she took a step backwards and bit down on her fist. She stepped forward again knowing she had to help her masters, but tripped over Lady Helena and fell on the bed. Duchess Tyren's blood smeared her chest and face as she stared at the dead woman who was missing both her eyes. Lee screamed again and jumped back, just as footsteps sounded to her left.
"Oh no!"
"Oh Goddess!"
"Duchess! Lady Helena!"
One of the maids vomited. Another fainted. The rest kept waving their hands. Lee turned and ran out of the room as more servants and two knights entered. Increased cries followed her as she descended down the stairs, her gaze blurred.
She had to leave this place. Forget her duties! Forget her payments! Forget her friendships! The only thing that mattered now was preserving her own life!
Meanwhile, Duke Roelle was in his room receiving one bad news after another. His second wife was dead, Helena was unconscious, thirty seven workers had died from a crow attack, and countless others were grievously injured. His eyes and face, which had been completely devoid of emotion finally reflected some. And it was amusement.
Tinged with madness.
No longer could keep up the facade. No longer could he be stoic. There was nothing left. Moniqua was dead, Felicia was dead and Alex was dead. He did not care about Tyren. He did not care about Helena. He did not even care about his Dukedom. His world was already in flames. Why did he care if some crows ate up what was already dead?
Roelle grabbed a fistful of his own hair and gave a hard pull. Then he dragged his nails against his own arm, drawing blood.
"Hahahahahahahahahahahah!!!!"
His servants, butler, physician and head knight all looked at him in confusion and alarm.
The Duke had lost his mind.