The Blood Witch (The Blood Reign Chronicles Book 1) (46 page)

“You need to be careful old friend,” Luxarn was saying with a serious look on his face, “the city is in an uproar these days. Well not quite an uproar yet, but it’s most assuredly on the edge of it.”

“What do you mean?” Benjim asked, “It seems quiet enough to me. I did not notice anything unusual when we entered the city?”

“Quiet on the surface perhaps but there has always been underlying currents in the city, dissension and maneuvering between the guilds. But lately it has been much worse than usual. The fisherman’s guild has split in two, after heated arguments in the council meetings. I hear a few nights past they even pulled knives on one another at one of the meetings, and it nearly resulted in bloodshed. It’s unheard of.

There has always been one fisherman’s guild…..always. Yilavo City is founded on fishing. We cannot have the fishermen fighting among themselves. It would be very bad for everyone. The price of some things has already doubled on account of the bickering over who has the rights to fish where.”

“That is indeed strange behavior for guild heads at a council meeting,” Benjim said thoughtfully. “You might expect that sort of thing from deckhands in a squabble, but the guild heads have always been upright and respectable.”

“That’s not the worst of it,” Luxarn leaned close and lowered his voice to a loud whisper, “there have been dead bodies showing up in the river, and in the fisherman’s nets.

You know what a superstitious lot the fishermen are. Dead bodies in their nets are a very bad omen.

I hear that some of the fishermen are talking of not even going out again until something is done about it. I suppose that’s just talk right now. They do still have to make a living after all.”

Benjim exchanged a worried glance with Nicoldani.

Luxarn lowered his voice even further and glanced around to make sure no one else was close enough to hear, before continuing. “There’s talk that the Blood Witch is free, and maybe it’s her work, the dead bodies and all.”

“What do you think?” Benjim asked Luxarn cautiously.

“Don’t really know what to think,” Luxarn said with a perplexed look. “Things have been very unsettling and getting worse by the day. Don’t want to believe the witch is free. But something is going on and it isn’t right. I was born here and lived my whole life in Yilavo City. I’ve never seen things like this before.”

Benjim studied Luxarn for a long moment before finally asking, “Is there somewhere private we can talk?”

Luxarn looked a little taken aback at the suggestion, but after a moment took them to a private sitting room where they could talk without being disturbed or overheard. Luxarn had one of the serving girls fetch them a pitcher of water and glasses, then gave her strict instructions to not let anyone into the room. After closing the door behind him, Luxarn took a seat at the long table with the others. The innkeeper wore a wary look as he asked. “What is this really about Benjim? We have been friends for a long time. Is there something going on that you know about?”

Jak was uneasy about this whole thing. He didn’t know this man or whether he could be trusted completely. He had thought he could trust Mortikus until the little man held them captive and tried to sell them as food to the Vashi. He would just have to rely on Benjim’s judgment, since the old man had obviously known the innkeeper for quite some time.

“What if I told you the Blood Witch
has
been freed?” Benjim said somberly.

Luxarn let out a raucous laugh. “Is this some kind of joke? Are you trying to pull one over on me old friend?”

“I am deadly serious,” Benjim said with a flat look, “I would never jest about something this important. The witch was freed from her prison over a month ago. There was an attack on Gethseena which killed the priests of Ashteri, thereby severing the wards that held her captive and allowing the witch to break free.”

When Luxarn realized that Benjim was not kidding him, his face went pale and he stared in disbelief.

“That is not the whole of it,” Benjim continued staring intently at Luxarn, “not only is she free, but she is here in Yilavo City….at this very moment.”

The innkeeper’s face went even paler and he opened and closed his mouth several times but no words would come out. He reached for the pitcher of water with an unsteady hand and poured a glass, gulping it down carelessly and slopping some down the front of his shirt. After a moment he regained a little of his composure and said, “You mean to tell me the witch…..
The Blood Witch
is free, and in the city? Now? In my city? Here?”

“Unfortunately yes, she is” Benjim responded gravely. “We have been following her down from the north trying to catch up with her. We followed her here to Yilavo City. We know she is here.”

“How......Here.....Wh----What are we supposed to do against the Blood Witch?” Luxarn said as he slumped heavily back in his chair. “And why in heaven’s name are you following her? I would be running in the opposite direction.”

Benjim raised an eyebrow and shook his head before answering, “Fortunately for us, and the world, over the many, many years the witch was imprisoned, she has dwindled in power and is now only a pale reflection of the witch who dominated the world so long ago. She is nowhere near as strong as she once was. We should be able to stop or even destroy her. She has not obtained her Staff of Power yet. This I know for certain. But we must find her quickly and deal with her now, while we still can before it is too late.”

“But………The Blood Witch....... how can we stand against her?” Luxarn said as his head and shoulders slumped dejectedly.

“We can, and we will,” Benjim said confidently, “we have no other choice. We must do it.

But alas, we have lost much time. I fear since she has been here for more than a month, that she most certainly has gathered followers in that amount of time.

It is fair to say that she is behind much of the unrest and disturbances in the city. Most assuredly, she is responsible for the dead bodies turning up in the nets.

If she has gained too many followers or too much influence, it may come down to an all out pitched battle to root her out and capture her,” Benjim explained, seeming a little weary himself.

“Battle?” The innkeeper’s eyes went wide and his eyebrows climbed his forehead. “Here in the city? Do you really think she is capable of getting that many followers in that amount of time?

“The witch has never had a very difficult time finding those fanatical enough to follow her. Yilavo City is no different. I’m sure she has gained a following in the time she has been here, quite possibly people in positions of some power and influence. Since much of the time those are the ones who’s hearts are most receptive to the evil and its promises of power.”

I haven’t heard anything about that in the city, other than just the rumors and the dead bodi…….” Luxarn trailed off and his mouth gaped open when the realization came over him.

“Can’t we go to the City Watch or the Magistrate and tell them of this?” The innkeeper asked hopefully. “Can’t they deal with it more effectively?”

“No!” Benjim said emphatically. “We cannot risk that before we know the full extent of the witch’s influence here. If she has people in positions of power then all it would serve to do, is to get us arrested, or worse.”

Silence stretched for several moments as everyone at the table contemplated the options. “Do you know people you can trust completely?” Benjim asked the innkeeper after several moments.

“Yes, certainly I know many people I can trust,” Luxarn said with a frown. “Why? What is it that you are suggesting?”

“If you were to discretely start bringing those people into your confidence. You can tell them of the events that have unfolded, then it might be possible to gain enough support to oppose the witch even if she has obtained many followers. But only choose people you trust with your life. If things go badly, it may be your life, so choose wisely,” Benjim cautioned.

“Once we have gathered enough support, then even if she has influential people in her employ we will stand a better chance against her. Prepare the people to stand at a moments ready. They will need to be able to act without much forewarning. But we must act as quickly as possible. We cannot afford to let the witch continue unchecked.”

Luxarn agreed that he would start spreading the word, discretely of course. Jak and Nicoldani were going to start searching in the city to try and find where the witch was located. They knew it was an extremely slim chance that they would just stumble upon her in this way. But perhaps they might be able to learn something of value that could help lead them to her.

Benjim was going to see if he could learn how far the witch had spread her influence in the city, and who might be supporting her.

Gin wanted to go along and help with the searching, but the others agreed that it would be safer for her if she stayed at the inn. Luxarn set Mistress Inirae, the kindly woman who had showed them their rooms the night before to watch over Gin while the others were out in the city. Gin was not happy about being left behind, but Inirae was a pleasant woman and soon had Gin laughing and forgetting all about it.

The three set out to search in opposite directions. They decided they could be more productive, and they could cover more ground if they split up. Jak gave the best description he could of Brigette to the other two men so they would recognize who they were looking for if they saw her. He still didn’t want to admit that Brigette was the Blood Witch, but he figured if they found one they would hopefully find the other as well.

In either case, it didn’t really matter, because it was Brigette that Jak sought. He didn’t really care about the witch, and didn’t really want to find her. He just wanted to find Brigette safe and unharmed. After that, then he didn’t care what the others did about the witch.

Jak spent all day walking the streets, back and forth and up and down, with no luck. He enjoyed it however since he was able to explore the big new city with all its wondrous sights. As it turned out, it was actually kind of fun for him.

When the end of the day came, he returned back to the Sailors Delight Inn to see if the other two men had better luck than he was having. His stomach was grumbling from lack of food and his feet were sore from walking the cobblestone streets all day. After a full day of searching, it seemed the two older men had no luck either in their plight. They ate their evening meal in relative silence, and afterwards retired to their beds for the night.

The following morning when Jak came down for breakfast, the common room was all a buzz. The urgent news on everyone’s tongue was that the Magistrate had died during the night. There were rumors running rampant in the city of foul play, but according to the official word, Magistrate Jaren had died naturally in his sleep.

Some of the people were not convinced however, and were sure the Magistrate had been murdered. There were many angry people who wanted someone to do something about it to bring the guilty party to justice. The only problem was that no one knew exactly who might have done it, or if in fact anyone had actually murdered the magistrate.

Other’s still maintained that the magistrate had in fact died naturally in his sleep. Needless to say, the city was beginning to heat up over the issue and it seemed inevitable that before long it would be boiling.

That day they continued combing the streets for clues or some sort of information. However, Jak had to turn in early from this day of searching since the tensions in the city had risen to dangerous levels because of the death of the magistrate. Many of the people on the streets were angry, with either the City Watch, or the guild heads, Jak wasn’t really sure which.

Several times he saw angry groups of people arguing vehemently with each other, and in some cases the altercations were even escalating into all out brawls. All the disturbances and unrest made him decide to make his way back to the inn before he accidentally got caught up in one of the frays.

He was hurrying back towards the part of town where the Sailor’s Delight Inn was located, when he rounded a corner and nearly knocked a woman down. Stepping back hastily, Jak began to apologize to the woman whom he almost bowled over when the words froze on his tongue.

A very familiar face framed in flame red hair glared back at him in anger. Abruptly recognition dawned in the woman’s eyes, which quickly turned to surprise and uncertainty. Then suddenly she darted forward, “Jak, it
is
you!” Brigette said as she flung her arms around his neck and pulled him close.

“Brigette? Is it really you? Are you alright? What happened to you? I was so worried. I thought you might be….dead. Where have you been? Why are you here?” Jak had so many questions they all poured out in a rush.

“I’m fine now that you are here Jak. I missed you so much,” Brigette said as she continued to hold him closely. Jak found that his own arms were around Brigette’s waist squeezing her tightly against him. She felt so good in his arms that he didn’t ever want to let her go. It had been so long since he had seen her, it seemed like forever. He was overjoyed that he had found her safe at last.

“How did you get here?” he asked.

Brigette pulled back slightly but kept her hands on his shoulders. Jak reluctantly let her pull away that much, but he already missed the feel of her body against his.