Chapter 61: Witch Trial

"Hold up!" I caught up with the masked man, who I found out was named Merlin. "You dragged me here, but I don't even know what I'm supposed to be doing here?"
            "Your job is simple really, you'll be working with Merinda disguised as one of the townsfolk, creating a riot at the appointed time and while making an escape. Simple is it not?" He pointed his hand behind me toward the woman I just talked with, she made a bewitching smile and waved her hand toward me, I waved back without thinking. "If that's all my job is then it wouldn't make a difference if I was here or not."
             "Not quite so, your job is actually a critical part of our plan, so as easy as it sounds, if you mess up then the whole plan will go down by your hand."
           "Thanks, you just gave me an unnecessary pressure."
            "You’re welcome" he said with a smile, "besides, our second main objective today is for you to understand how we work, that way it will save a lot of words to explain."
            "Boss, the portal is ready!" We turned toward the wall that acted as a barrier circling the town and a magic circle was drawn on it. The next thing happened after it began to light up, the wall distorted and what came into view was the other side of the wall. "Those who will disguise themselves as townsfolk should get in from here. The others will sneak in as planned. If we're lucky, we might save an extra life before the day starts." so he said as more than half of the others along with himself spread out into the darkness.
            "Come on let's go" Merinda locked her hands with mine and together, we went passed the distorted wall. There were others who came in pairs through it, but after getting passed they all disappeared from our side. "The portal connects to various spots in town, since the one who made it is a local here, making it isn't hard." she explained when she saw me looking dumbfounded. "I know of similar spells but I have never experienced this kind of spell before."
              Merinda smiled at me, her smile became more childish this time as she said "The people here are all unique so try not to be surprised too much with all the magic you've never imagined being able to see" She then touched the hem of my brown robe, she uttered a spell which then had the strings that make up the robe unstitch all at once, then the string began to entwine with one another, making up something that held on to my shoulders and down to my waist, it was after it was finished that I realized I was tugging a shoulder bag on my side. My robe that had been a knee length was cut off into chest length, but still it didn't make me look conspicuous. "Take it as a gift" she said with a wink.
             I blinked a few times with eyes beaming in awe, the spell itself was simple yet seeing a spell I had never seen before with such unique originality, really put a kick   to the 'geek' side inside me. "We should go now, looks like we're in time for the fireworks." her words sounded cheerful but her expression said otherwise. Her eyes turned sharp with anger, silently bringing fire to them. Her lips curled down, and she had the look of distaste. She held my hand and pulled me toward the middle of the town.
            What kind of fireworks did she mean I wonder?
             The answer came right after the scene changed before her, at first she was already dubious that the streets had people wandering toward the same direction at a time when the sun is still far from coming out. When she saw the large crowd gathering in a circle with torches in hand, if one had looked over the town from above, anyone would surely be able to see one part of the town giving off a bright light. Seeing such a thing, they would think the town's people were having a gathering, a festival, or some sort of ritual. However, in the 1600s, if one saw such a light, only one thought would come up to them.
            "KILL THE WITCH!"
            "BRING HER OUT!"
            "DEATH TO HERESY!"
            The scene she was witnessing was the rise of an angry mob. The night that had been so quiet before became ear wrenching. When me and Merinda began to smuggle ourselves into the midst of them. The circling hate and anger swirled in the atmosphere and I felt it on my back, I felt it oppressing me. I've known my whole life about this, but it was the first time I witnessed a witch’s execution.
           "I thought we could witness the trial, but it looks like the situation has long past from that." she said with clear distaste. Two heavy armored men came out from the building just ahead. They were dragging a woman up toward a stage, which led to a stake about twice my height that had wood and hay covering the ground below it. My attention switched toward the woman who was being called a witch. Her curled brown hair was in disorder, her face blacken from dirt and bruises that she looked barely recognizable. Her hands and feet had signs of being heavily burned and I might have been mistaken, but she seemed to have lost a finger or two. My eyes widened more when I realized that woman was far from being a witch, she was a normal person.
               "Didn't they say they were have a trial, they should have cleared the doubts of her identity, then?"
               Merinda laughed her hat off. She clutched her stomach and her eyes began to tear up just a little, if it weren't for the fact that the mob's angry voice covered her laughter, they would have started looking at her with strange gazes. "Honey, don't ever say that in front of the others or you'd be the laughing stock of the group, so let me tell you the fact about the witch trial is that they're just formality and a way for the church to show case their power. It doesn't matter if you're not a witch, once you're caught, you become one."
              The mob began to raise their voices further at the same time my insides were boiling up from anger knowing the unjust system that roamed this country. The woman had been tied to the stake. I began to wonder why she would let herself be treated this way, when she's not who others claim her to be. Rather, her eyes seemed to be dead and she looked like she had no strength left to live.
            "THEA!"
            The crowd's voice subsided, in the midst of all those angry people. A man, middle aged came running through the mobs, he was desperately trying to get in front. When I turned my gaze toward the woman, the life in her eyes came back and she had a disbelieving look on her as her mouth started gaping. That man is most likely her husband, he looked like he would have climbed up and embraced her, if the soldiers didn't halt him in his tracks. "Thea, what are you doing here, they should have made it clear, you're not a witch!" he said, ignoring the soldiers that held him back. The man began to point his finger at the church people, his expression was way past being outraged. "You people, aren't you supposed to clear up normal people from the witches! Why the hell are you trying to burn my wife?!"
            "With all due respect Sir, but your wife has already confessed herself as a witch including her crimes as one."
            "No, no way, I've known her since I was a child, we've been together for almost most of our lives and I've never witnessed her touching or doing anything related with witches, you're making this up, it's a conspiracy I tell you! Give us proof if she is what she is you claim or I'll announce that the trial is a hoax!" his voice had already begun to rise so that all of the crowd, was able to hear him and they began whispering with each other. The man must have been a man with influence if his words held weight toward the people. The woman in question began to tear up as her mouth was moving, probably calling out his name. Had she used up most of her voice? No sound came from it, which made me pity her, that she couldn't call up to the man she loved most.
            "SILENCE!"
             A heavy voice quieted down the mob, everyone turned towards the source of the voice. A man slowly came up to the stage, he was wearing a gold embroidered black linen shirt with an artichoke pattern and with deep cuffs. He had a wide lace collar, and an orange waistline along with black pants. He had a fine beard that fully hid his chin and had the same white color along with his curled shoulder length. His face was chubby and he was as fat as a bear that you could not see his neck at all. What I immediately hated about him was the look of his bright brown eyes that looked down on all the people that met his sight and the arrogant bearings he had just helped in putting him in a negative place within my eyes.
            "The Archbishop Kronberg is here!" said one person. My eyes might have bobbled out when I realized, he had the title that added reasons for me to hate him even more. "This is getting interesting, the man leading the trial himself came out." whispered Merinda. The Archbishop whispered to the guards and they let the man get up on the stage alongside him. "What seems to be a problem Mr. Mayor? You seem to have a complaint with our decision."
            "Are you taking me for a fool? What kind of husband will sit and wait like a sitting duck for his wife to get burned to death!"
            The Archbishop’s expression changed to a more sympathetic and sad look, "I'm so sorry to inform you, but as you know witchcraft is a blasphemy toward God, punishable by death. We may not have proof she is a witch because we've taken her according to an anonymous tip but you don't have proof that she is not either, besides, she has already confessed who she is and her crimes."
           The Mayor gritted his teeth as he clenched his fist tight, he had eyes that targeted the Archbishop with animosity, but it quickly subsided with the Archbishop next words. "However, God is merciful, if you are so sure that she is innocent, that she may be under the pretense of being forced to confess as a witch, then we will re-investigate this matter " seeing a light of hope in his words, the mayor's expression brightened and he began to tear up. However, there was an eerie feeling creeping in my heart, as if I knew instinctively things wouldn't end so smoothly.
           The Archbishop then headed toward the woman chained to the stake, her body shuddered and her face was horrified seeing him. "What do you want to do miss?" he said with his most soothing voice, "If you take back your confession, then we will have to continue our 'interrogation'"
            I noticed he put an emphasis on the word 'interrogation' and I noticed her face began to sink further as she shook her head. "Thea?" called out the mayor. With the last of her strength, the woman named Thea finally talked, "There's no need for that, I AM A WITCH!" the crowd that had been whispering was silent once more. It wasn't everyday someone would confess being a witch in front of so many people even when death crept near. It didn't escape my sight that the Archbishop smiled but then turned it into a grave look on his face. "Would you mind confessing what you told us in trial?"
            Thea nodded readily, "My witch name is Ravynne and I killed that man's wife and impersonated her so I could live in this town. You might not know, but I've been putting illusion on you so you wouldn't notice me as any different with your old wife. Since arriving in town I've been summoning demons in the name of the Great Satan and would regularly make sacrifices, usually with a goat's entrails."
            People were shocked at her bold statement and soon began to raise slander to her. Some even started to pick up pebbles and stones. The mayor looked dumbfounded and didn't even know what to say as his knees sank down to the ground. "You heard her, we will now begin the persecution, START THE FIRE!"
            My mind that had been frozen from the bold statement that was obviously a lie to me was brought back, when they began to make preparation for her death. Her confession was even ludicrous, since we don't worship demons or make sacrifices in our spare time. "This is outrageous, she's not even a witch so why would she lie like that?"
            "All I have is speculation, from what I know when someone enters the witch prison, they will be interrogated until they confess that they're a witch. But what I mean by interrogation is torture. Most people end up confessing to being a witch even if they're not, so that they wouldn't have to go through with the suffering anymore. They made up the worst lie of their life, their bond, even their faith to be free from their suffering." said Merinda with a clear hint of sadness and pity in her voice. Her eyes looked distant as she watch the event on the stage.
            One of the soldiers began to come over here with a torch in hand, the mob began to raise their voice in excitement, chanting for her to die. It made me sick to the stomach. "When are we going over with the plan?"
            "You'll know the signal when you see it, it should be a few more minutes"
            "What was our job again, creating a ruckus was it?"
            "Yes but....Claudia what are you planning?"
            Without paying heed to her, I raised my voice as loud as I could until it might have echoed the whole town (of course that's not possible without using my mana). "DID YOU FIND THE MARK OF THE WITCH?!" everyone took heed of my words, the crowds, the soldiers, and the Archbishop himself. While everyone was silent, he was the one to ask me. "What do you mean the Mark of the Witch?"
             Great, he took the bait.
             "When one decided to take upon themselves with witchcraft, a mark will start to appear in one part of their body. A mark of heresy you might say that God himself put to those who denounce Him. Yes, something like this." I raised my hand and tuck in my sleeve, revealing a magic circle place just below my wrist. Everyone started to back off from me, knowing that admitting I have the Mark of the Witch concludes I am a witch. In reality, all that was made up, but it's not like they know that.
            I began to chuckle and soon started a loud laughter that gave goose bumps to all around me. "I must say, thank you so much for providing great entertainment. It's getting hard to get good entertainment these days." Merinda decided to come up behind me and whispers in a very worried tone, "What are you doing?"
            I wanted to ask that to myself as well, but this is the only way to save her right now. "What do you mean by that?" asked the Mayor after he got a hold of himself. "Exactly as I say, to think I only brainwash her a little to make her think she's a witch and look what it made you all do. It's been a while since I'm doing it and none of you even stop to realize, it was very comical having you burn all those innocent people with your own hand." I could feel the crowd was mixed with various emotion. Most were anger and confusion. I didn't like how their eyes were glued to me, I lived my life out in the sticks half of my life, you couldn't blame for having a little stage fright.
            "Are you claiming you brainwashed people as your so called entertainment?" the Archbishop affirming my words.
            "YOU WITCH!" the mayor roared in fury as he ran toward me, ready to choke me to death I bet. I made an obvious sigh and made a spell that had him float in the sky. Everyone was taken aback and ran when one of them thinks I was going to kill them all. Well for starters, I decided to play around with the mayor a little and have him twirl around in the sky, my mind was then caught off guard by the sudden owl passing by my side, causing the mayor to fall down to stage with a loud thud.
            Sorry Mayor, that was an accident, really.
            I turned my sight toward the owl, while nothing looked unusual other than the hazel eyes it had. A pair of human eyes. Is this the sign that Merinda talked about?
            Not to my surprise, the soldiers began to line up and the circle around the plaza. Right after, people in blue robes appeared and began to attack the soldiers from behind, one started blasting a catchy spell, similar to fireworks as if trying to get all their attention to this place. More soldier came, more spell were used, and one word could describe the plaza right now.
             Chaos.
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Btw, the same fan made another fan work, this time of Claudia with her two sisters. If you're curious you could check it out on http://forum.novelupdates.com/threads/witch-life-fan-art.845/