The Blade Witch

The world was burning. Tortured shadows danced through the stained-glass windows of the convent, casting wild shadows on the women huddled below. Their prayers to the Twelve Enlightened echoed through the high rafters, combining in a loud hum that failed to drown out the horrid screams cascading all around them. Estra knelt with her eyes clenched shut, reciting passages from The Exaid through a soot-choked throat.

Every breath she took brought more of the searing ash into her lungs, turning her vocals into coarse sand. Her knees were stiffened from the hard marble flooring and her fingers ached from clutching nervously at her twelve-pillar pendant. She was blind to her surroundings, but she could still hear the death wails of men meeting with the tormented cries of women just on the other side of the convent walls.

As the seconds passed she wondered when it would be her turn to suffer. Estra had never known fear like this. Her life had been a peaceful one, filled with piety and play at the small place of worship overlooking the city. Tonight, it seemed that all of hell’s darkness had been set loose upon her world as repayment for all the years she’d been allowed to live in blissful serenity.

The heretics had come out of nowhere to wreak havoc. The sisters had been conversing in the clifftop gardens overlooking the distant city of Wulfdonria, just like any other day, when fire had come raining down from the sky to scorch the ground and all who stood upon it. In the space of a few moments, Estra had seen the most profane things, the likes of which she’d thought herself forever sheltered from.

She’d watched those that she called friends flail around helplessly, with flames roaring at their backs while the guards rushed them back to the safety of the convent’s walls. Through the windows, Estra had watched as the men, women, and children who traveled to the convent for worship were cut down as if they were nothing more than livestock for the slaughter. The faces of the heretics had been too numerous to count, but she would never forget the emblem emblazoned on their coats. A broken pillar, embroidered in crimson, that she would come to know as the mark of heretics.

Estra looked around, taking in the conditions of the other nuns. All of them were distraught, some groaned from the injuries they’d sustained. Worst of it all was the body a girl she’d come to know well, splayed at the foot of the altar in a grotesque posture as if to signify the fall of the holy place.

The moment her eyes met the sight, Estra dropped the pendant, clasping her hands together as a familiar tingling sensation coursed through her palms. The pain came rushing into her head, speaking to her, whispering foreign words with no meaning. Estra struggled to calm the growing tremor in her mind, focusing solely on quieting the whirlwind of thoughts that plagued her. Something clutched at Estra’s thigh, causing her to pull away in fear before she looked over and saw her mother favoring her with a sad smile.

The Holy Mother was a beautiful woman with flowing blonde hair and ghost blue eyes that always seemed to shine with kindness. A stark contrast to Estra’s jet black tangles and hazel eyes. Every member of the convent referred to her as Mother, but only to Estra had she given birth. Growing up a bastard child in a religious community was never easy, but sadly, it was far from uncommon. It was all too often that sisters became victims when battles raged, only to suffer further when their bellies swelled in the following months. Estra wondered if that same fate might befall her soon.

“Estra,” her mother said, reaching for her hands. The other sisters continued praying with their heads bowed, but the Holy Mother’s attention was solely on her. The woman didn’t shake, nor did her stature falter, but there was something odd about the look in her eyes. They spoke of regret, an emotion Estra had never seen there before. “I’ve waited too long to-”

The Holy Mother’s words were cut off by the ear-splitting crack of shattering wood behind them. Women yelled and sprang to their feet as they turned to face the convent doors. Splits arose down the length of the hardwood barriers from the blow they’d sustained.

The last two guards took up their positions in front of the door as another shaking boom roared through the building. The noise seemed to carry an unseen force with it, causing each of them to stumble back. They all exchanged wide-eyed looks of horror with each other as another strike landed.

Splinters flew amidst the pews where they mingled with the grey clouds that flooded through the damaged doorway, forcing them to shield their eyes and sending up a flurry of ragged coughs. Estra reached out blindly towards her mother, looking for comfort in the same place that she had always found it.

“Estra, listen to me!” her mother yelled with a noticeable desperation pulling at her words. Estra struggled against the sting of the smoke to pry her eyes open. “Enlightened forgive me, I don’t have the time to explain more. No matter what happens, you will survive. When this is over, make your way to the Faith in Ridonus. Find a man in Holly Hold named Goffried and tell him what happened here. He’ll know what is to be done with you.”

Estra opened her mouth to express her confusion, but her words died beneath a defining thunderclap as the convent doors were torn from their hinges. Blood soaked terrors swarmed over the two guards, burying them in an avalanche steel. The sisters dispersed wildly, tripping over pews and trampling each other in a helpless panic.

The heretics ran throughout the hall, clutching at holy women, tearing clothes apart, and swinging their blades with reckless abandon. A muscle-bound brute of a man caught sight of Estra, his mouth spreading with a crooked-toothed grin before he made a mad dash towards her. Estra stood in front of her mother, turning to grab the first thing she could get a hand on. She found herself wielding a heavy-laden candelabrum just in time to wheel around and crush it into the side of the man’s head. The impact sent the heretic teetering to the side, crashing into a row of benches before he rolled to the ground.

Estra approached him, makeshift weapon raised once more, only to find him convulsing in a pool of blood. For a moment she stood over him, eyeing the gash she’d left in his crown with a blank stare. The world seemed to slow down as she realized what she’d done. In the space of a few moments, she’d forgotten her vows of pacifism. Her once pure hands would forever be stained in the eyes of the Enlightened. The bronze instrument fell from her shaking hands just as something struck her in the side, knocking the wind from her lungs.

She found herself facing the floor, one hand clutching at her side and the other reaching out to soften her fall. In her pain, the screams around her turned into a loud ringing that muddled the senses. She shook her head, trying to clear her blurred vision as her eyes took in the vague images of the disaster unfolding around her. Among all the atrocities taking place, all she could focus on was her mother, feet thrashing in the air as she was lifted from the ground by the hands of an incredibly gigantic man.

Estra reached out towards her mother only to receive another shattering blow that sent waves of searing pain through her body. This time she felt bone’s break as the unseen force passed through her. She felt something inside of her tear and breathing became an instant struggle when the agony of her broken ribs combined with the smoke that was already filling her lungs.

Her attacker approached with care, their footfalls slow and methodical as they took their time to appraise Estra before making themselves visible to her. The person standing in front of her was astoundingly out of place in the surrounding fray. Estra found herself staring up at the ominous figure of an oddly familiar woman donned in an unstained white cloak. Black veins stretched spider-like across the pale woman’s face, giving her a near spectral appearance. Looking into the woman’s ruby colored eyes, Estra knew without a doubt that she was in the presence of a demon.

The pale woman peered down at Estra, running a thin hand through her snow-white hair. She slowly raised her other hand, garnering a surprisingly immediate reaction from the heretics raiding the convent around her.

At the woman’s gesture, a sluggish sensation passed through Estra. As if by divine command, the heretics all stopped going about whatever gruesome task they were pursuing and promptly faced their leader in silence. Even the sisters of the Faith seemed to fall into a quiet daze of obedience.

The sounds of the atrocities taking place outside continued, but the convent had fallen into a hush deeper than even the most reverent of services. The pale woman circled Estra. Her footfalls clapped out an ominous rhythm, as if each step she took within the hallowed convent was a decree of desecration.

“Do I know you?” the woman asked. Her voice was no louder than a whisper, yet it slid into Estra’s ears like a snake hungry for its prey.

There was a long pause before Estra realized that the woman was waiting for an answer to come from her. Whatever the demon wanted to hear, Estra didn’t know how to give it. “Please, just let my mother go,” Estra’s voice came out in a whimper, but she was far beyond any sense of pride at the moment.

She knew that her pleading wasn’t the answer that the woman was looking for, but it was all she could think of as she watched her mother’s face grew redder by the moment in the hands of the bearded giant that held her.

“Hmm,” The woman turned to regard the holy mother for a moment before turning back to Estra. “I won’t be able to do that. But I am a bit pressed for time, so I’ll tell you what I am capable of. If you would be so kind as to answer my question truthfully, then I may just allow you to live. Is that satisfactory?”

Estra’s mouth hung open, at a loss for words. She ’d always heard stories that warned against the faults of making deals with devils, but in the face of true fear, Estra found that she was no less vulnerable than all the rest. “I don’t... No, we’ve never met before,” Estra said, stammering. “Please, my mother-”

“Thank you,” The red-eyed woman said, cutting off her words with nothing more than another hand gesture. The heretic leader turned towards the big man with a curt nod. He set the Holy Mother on the ground almost tentatively, allowing her to suck in a few deep breaths before he dug his thick fingers into her hair and dragged her over to his master.

“Much appreciated Dost,” the woman said, facing the holy mother. “This girl does not lie with her claims of knowing nothing, but surely you remember me, Jennah? I admit that my appearance may have changed quite a bit over the years,” The woman smiled, revealing twin rows of serrated teeth. “But surely you can’t have forgotten? Surely you recall what you and the others did?”

The holy mother’s face twisted in disgust as the demon leaned in closer to her. She tried to pull away, only to scream in pain as the big man wrenched her neck back in place. “Helena, there’s no reason for you to do this,” the holy mother cried out, her voice seeping with desperation. “I tried to stop them. You know I did.”

A chill ran through Estra as she listened to the exchange between the two women. She didn’t understand how her mother could know such a person. Estra’s mind reeled at the thought of her mother and this vile creature having some sort of history together. It immediately became apparent that there was something deeper between the two of them than Estra couldn’t comprehend.

“Yes, you did try, didn’t you?” Helena said with a cackle that sounded like the clicking of a beetle’s legs in a glass jar. “You tried, and you failed. That alone I could excuse you for, but remind me how it is that I ended up a victim in the first place,” Helena spread her arms wide, allowing the dark veins that crawled from her eyes to spread down her clenched neck and crawl their way up her wrists. “Please, for the sake of all these devout followers of the Enlightened, speak aloud how a desperate girl was tricked into sacrificing what was most precious to her and then discarded as if she were nothing more than pig shit.”

Estra’s mother stood with her mouth agape, incapable of finding her words. The holy mother’s gaze shifted from the monstrous figure in front of her to her daughter. There was a silent plea in her mother’s eyes. It bespoke of a guilt that could have only been born of the most grievous sins.

“I’m so sorry Estra,” her mother whimpered with a stream of tears rolling down her face.

“Oh no, don’t be mournful. Be proud of yourself Jennah.” Helena reached towards the Holy Mother. The veins lining her palm pulsated with an arcane darkness that devoured what little light remained in the room. “It is because of your deeds that I saw the other side. I have spoken with gods that your faith would seek to call demons, I have given up my very soul to take my vengeance, and I have become truly powerful. Revel before the monstrosity that you created.”

Helena’s hand sprang forward, clutching her mother’s face. The skin beneath the woman’s palm steamed, raking screams from the holy mother’s mouth. The sorceress smiled as Estra’s mother thrashed about helplessly, watching as skin bubbled and peeled away from the bone.

“Stop! Enlightened please!” Estra cried out, her vision blurred with stinging tears. “She’s all I have!”

Estra struggled to her feet and lurched towards the sorceress. A blow from the giant man’s free fist caught her on the side of the head, sending her sprawling on the floor once again. She clutched at the pain tearing through her side, half-way conscious, watching powerlessly as the gruesome scene unfolded. The horrid stench of melting flesh wafted through the room, mingling with the scent of wood smoke and death. Estra watched in muted silence as the sorceress stole away all that had once made her mother human.

When there was nothing more for her to take, the sorceress snatched her hand away, letting the lifeless body of the Holy Mother crumple to the ground. Estra crawled on hands and knees, heedless of the pain burning through her broken ribs. She took her mother’s smoldering head in her lap, shaking her in the hopes of getting some response.

“I’ve decided to let you live girl. Consider it a kindness for the suffering I’ve caused you,” Helena said standing over her. “However, the man that you killed was Dost’s brother, and I would be remiss in my duties if allowed this to go unpunished.”

The sorceress turned her red eyes to her giant servant. “He is justified to give you a thorough beating and nothing more,” she said pointedly. The brutish man gave a solemn nod in response before Helena returned her attention to Estra. “Though you may not believe me, I’d like you to know that I find no great pleasure in my deeds. I’m simply doing what must be done for the good of us all. I won’t go as far as to ask for your forgiveness, but before I take my leave, allow me to share a bit of wisdom with you child.”

The sorceress leaned in close enough for Estra to feel the heat of her breath against her cheek. The woman spoke so low that she was nearly inaudible, but there was a strangely earnest tinge in her tone, “All that you have been led to believe is a lie. Your gods are a fallacy and your religion is a delusion. Today you are blinded by the false light that the Faith seeks to veil itself with. If you live long enough you will inevitably come to learn the truth. The darkest shadows hide beneath the brightest of lights.”

Estra didn’t hear the sorceress’s words at all. In the face of realizing that the person who’d raised her with unconditional love was now dead, the world around her had lost its meaning. She was deaf to her own cries of anguish that filled the halls of the convent. Overcome by her suffering, Estra saw nothing that occurred around her as Helena gave the order for her followers to continue going about their pillaging. It was only when Helena departed and the huge man clutched Estra by her neck, that anything seemed to matter. That night became nothing but anguish for Estra. A moment in her life that would forever torment her.