Chapter 24: Fort Salem: The birth of a coven

Cilia's POV 

As the moon rose and its light illuminated our way we made a break for it. I had the witch who had showered us with an early winter tucked on my back. Although young, she was quite the powerhouse. 

What was up with all that flamboyant act anyway? It was as if she had become a completely different person.

On my left, I have my old foe well not mine personally but yes an old foe, the infamous curse witch Victoria. While she looked like she has been through a lot, she hasn't aged a day since we last met. 

Hannah the chaos knight was on my right and two other witches were at my rear. Together we were running away from the clutches of the church...

"Weapons of war!!! Why do they want to do that to us anyway? Using enslavement on witches and doing all manner of things to us, don't they see we are human too?"

" As I have been telling you this is a tyrannical organisation. They preach salvation but all they want is control."

"Yeah, but why are they targeting witches?"

"I think you all know the answer to that."

"I mean just because we are a little more powerful than..."

"They are afraid of all that is born from darkness. Don't you know they are hunting demons too...

The old Bermone Monarch tried to stop this spread of hate but seems like the current one has other plans."

" They also covet your power and capabilities. I should know I have seen that greed up close"

"I think the best thing for us to do now is to flee the Holy capital as fast as we can."

"AGREED!!!"

"The first thing we need to do is to collect the supplies we need and head straight for the northern border."

"But that will take over 5-6 months on foot or maybe 2-3 months on horseback, Don't you think we should head south where it is much closer and easier to come back for the others?"

"You want us to head straight to the church's base of operation? You must have a death wish."

"But mustn't we try to come back for the others? I mean after witnessing the Horrors being done to our fellow kin shouldn't we try to..."

" And how are going to do that? I understand that you want to save your people. I too have someone dear that I want to save, but right now, we don't have the resources or the power to do that. We should at least try to recuperate and grow our strength. I don't know about you but I haven't been outside for over 5 years. I don't want to immediately lose the freedom I have just got once again."

"She is right, As to the myths of powerful witches that have been passed on to sternly warned people to stay clear of witches, you all seem weak in comparison. 

You should rebuild your strength if you want to have a chance at saving your kin."

"There I see a light. We should head in that direction and see if we can get some food and a place to rest."

"What if we are not welcomed?"

"Don't worry about that, If the owner refuses to show us some hospitality, I will make sure to show them a quick path to the grave."

"As bloodthirsty as ever Victoria. 

There is no need for that. If any problem arises, I can manipulate their blood flow making them pass out giving the owner or owners a good night's sleep."

"As you wish Queen of carnage."

"What about the little girl on your back, don't you think she needs a healer."

"Don't worry about her, I think after that glorious display of power she just needs to rest and regain her strength."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. That castle made of Ice was quite grand."

"I know right, The weather changed too. It is like she summoned winter itself. Quite the showoff."

"What was her name again?"

"I think she called herself Leviathan."

"Leviathan? What kind of name is that?"

"I don't know?"

"We are almost there, Queen of carnage can you tell us how many people are inside so that we are prepared beforehand"

"That is not my name!"

"Sorry, just tell us how many people are in there."

"I can sense two people one is at the front the other is a little bit at the back of the house."

"Ok."

Hannah proceeded to knock. A huge burly man opened the door.

"Who are all of you and want do you want."

"We are sorry for disturbing you sir. We are travellers and we seem to have lost our way in all this snow. We would like to request for a place where we could spend the night. You see all our belongings were swept in that surprising blizzard therefore we do not have money or anything else apart from the clothes we are wearing."

" I am sorry Ladies but unfortunately for you, we do not have the space to accommodate all of..."

"Gregory!!! Whose at the door?" 

"Nobody Ma, They were just..."

"Hello, young girls what can we do for you today?"

"We are sorry to disturb you Ma'am we are travellers who have gotten swept in by this surprise snowstorm. We have nothing on us and nowhere to sleep so we were requesting if you could please accommodate us."

" Oh, you poor dears Come in Come in."

"Thank you very much, ma'am"

"Seat anywhere you like. Oh, that little one doesn't look good she must be exhausted. Gregory!"

"Yes, mother."

"Take that little one to rest."

"But Ma!!"

"No buts, Can't you see the child is exhausted."

"Yes, Ma..."

"And prepare a place for the other five girls, Once you are done, come join us for dinner."

"Yeees Maa."

"Thank you very much Ma'am for your Hospitality."

"No need to thank Me, it is no trouble at all. I am sure any reasonable human being will help those in need and please stop calling me Ma'am. My name is Alice."

"Nice to meet your acquaintance Miss Alice. My name is Hannah."

"I am Delicia."

" I am Gracie."

"I am Cilia."

"And I Victoria."

"The little girl's name is Viola."

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"Those are beautiful names. Now, let us share this warm meal."

"Thank you very much ma- miss Alice"

"Tell me are you all from around here or are you just visiting."

"We are not from around here we are just visiting. We will be taking our leave tomorrow."

"Do you have a means of travel?"

"Not really..."

"Then why don't you stay some more until you get enough money to travel."

"That is very generous of you but we wouldn't want to impose?"

"Nonsense, Stay as long as you need. This snow looks like it is here to stay for a while. I wouldn't want you to die out there in the cold."

"Thank you very much miss Alice. We will get back to you once We discuss your offer as sisters."

" Sure thing dear, For Now, let us enjoy this warm hearty meal."

After the meal, we were allocated two rooms. Three of us were to sleep in one room while the other three slept in the other room. 

We met together to decide the sleeping arrangements and discuss the old woman's offer. After a long discussion, we agreed to stay with the woman for a week before making ourselves scarce. After the discussion, we all went to sleep. I was to sleep in the same room as the Ice witch, whom Hannah revealed is called Viola and Hannah herself.

Now that I was alone with Hannah I couldn't help but ask her about all that was disturbing me."

"Hannah, you seem to know a lot about the church seeing as you are a former Paladin."

"I don't know that much about the church. I was just a pawn for them to control."

"Even so, you were once a very high-ranking Paladin. I wanted to ask if they gave you something that completely changed you?"

"What do you think?"

"No, I didn't mean like that. I meant like something that made you not yourself."

"Ohhh, I see. Is this about Jocelyn?"

"Maybe...I mean she didn't seem herself when she attacked us."

"That is because she is under the church's control."

"I know, but this time unlike the other times was different. Usually, we have a game of tag as we fight. Nothing serious as to try and kill one another. Just a friendly exchange of fists. But this time it was like she was truly trying to kill me."

"That is because she was."

"What! I don't believe you."

"You and Jocelyn must go way back if you are going to react that way."

"Yeah we do, I have known her my whole life."

"Well she was trying to kill you but that is not her fault. She was being manipulated by a specialist I presume."

"A specialist?"

"Yeah...Jocelyn has a berserk skill."

"I know, so?"

"As a human having a berserk skill is a very amazing feat. Usually, berserk skills are skills only possessed by Beast people but for some reason she has it. On top of that, her berserk skill is special. It is not like the others. Usually, a berserk skill gives you a boost of power and that's it but hers is different. Her berserk skill moulds her into the worst match-up for her opponent as they continue to fight.

Nobody knows how but it happens, that is why she is the highest-ranking paladin I suppose. She is the church's secret weapon"

"I understand all that but how does it relate to the church manipulating her."

"You see Jocelyn is a formidable opponent with a very formidable will to protect. Usually taking control of her mind would be quite hard but not when she is in her Berserker state."

"Because the state usually takes away her rational thought."

"Exactly"

"I see, so they control her when she is in that state."

"Yeah, to pull off that they need a specialist"

"I understand. I can't let her continue to be the church's attack dog. I will save her from their grasp once I am strong enough."

"It is not a matter of your strength it is a matter of your numbers. You can't save her alone you need allies. Same to me. That is the reason why I came to the capital in the first place. I learned the hard way that I cannot defeat them alone."

We went to sleep till dawn. When morning came we gave miss Alice our decision and she welcomed us. To not look like freeloaders we decided to help her with her everyday chores. 

This went on for three days. During these three days, we exchanged chores with each other while secretly obtaining the necessary supply for our journey. This was also done in shifts. Today was my day to go to town and sell miss Alice's produce. She promised to give us a cut of the profits what a big heart she has.

It then happened, The church Knights arrived. They posted drawings of all six of us on the town's bulletin boards and then went on further to curse our names blaming us for this eternal winter on us. They were not wrong but the way they were propagating their hate for witches was entirely absurd and the worst thing was it was seeming to work. 

Many of the townspeople's livelihood seemed to have been stalled by this winter and people were barely making any profit. Their use of this chance to spread hate for witches was beyond low.

Looking at the drawings they weren't well done but if one looked long enough am pretty sure they would have noticed the resemblance. 

Unfortunately for me and the others Gregory had already had a lengthy look and had noticed it. Seeing as we were comprised our move had to be swift and ahead of schedule.

I ran to the other witches to ready them for our leave.

When I got there I found Gregory had beaten me to the punch by ratting us out to his mother. The attitude of the old woman towards us completely changed. She became cold, distant and very afraid. Immediately, she requested for us to leave and as she requested we did.

"This is not fair. Just because we are witches?"

"Well, she was nice to us for the time we spent there."

"Yeah, Plus she didn't give us up to the church."

"I suppose she is a good woman for the most part. The church stigmatization is the one responsible for spreading this fear."

"This will keep happening to you people unless you decide to act."

"How?"

"There is strength in numbers. If you create a place where your kind can live without worry of this hatred then you can have a chance to fight this tyranny."

"You mean a place only for witches?"

"Yeah, something like that. Many of you have had your families stripped from you because of your witchiness. But it doesn't have to be that way. You can be your own family. You can be sisters."

"Yeah, I have enjoyed living with you all these past few days. It's the first time I have felt so safe and free."

"Me, too."

"There was once a word I heard from a foreigner. Salem, that was the word. I think it meant safe and peaceful. 

What if we create such a place for our kind, A Fort Salem if you will. A place where witches are peaceful and free to be themselves and protected from the outside hate."

"Yes, let us do that."

After that, we embarked on our journey to the north where we would establish our Fort Salem. From that day we vowed to be sister witches or more like a coven of witches.

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