Arrival

"What do you say when a whore comes near you? Hoe? You're approaching me?"

(Not many will underSTAND this)

"Henry if ya open that dirty mouth of yours again I will fill it mud." Gary replied with a murderous intent.

It was not easy being a knight of the Divine Kingdom and a wisecrack at the same time. Life was a bit difficult ever since they were sent to capture a certain trouble making witch. Now after a few weeks of roaming Blackwood forest, they finally managed to catch the dirty old hag.

A dozen knights escorted the chained hag through the forest. Her presence was revolting. Some of the members had expressed their opinion that they should kill the witch and get out of here and claim that she attacked first. A majority supported this idea but their captain who was religious airhead dejected this. For him the witch should first be to trial before the gods and then should be burned at stake. Simply killing her now will save her from the real punishment.

"Captain! Its getting late. The sun has almost set. We should rest here for the night." Dorian, a senior knight notified his captain.

"Yes. We shall rest here for the night" proclaimed Sir Abel Fullbrooke in a proud manner.

The Divine Kingdom of Doronde was near the southern tip of the Inis landmass . It was ruled by nut-jobs who believed in human supremacy. They were strong but not much liked by the demi-human factions and some human factions. Only the Magocracy of Erenel allied with them.

So why would they send a team of their best knights to the Blackwood forest way up in the north? Simple, for power. The witch Elizabeth Platt used to live in the Divine Kingdom. That is until she was accused of killing an infant.

She had a good image and was respected for her knowledge but when she was accused, no one stood up for her and she ran away. She didn't know anything like spells or recipes but what she did know was the secret to the location of an object that belonged to the Grandmaster.

The Grandmaster Luke was one of the pillars of the kingdom and he was also a genocidal maniac. He even slaughtered cute little catgirls saying things like they are poison to the minds of good humans and burning demons at stake. So whatever item that he used could also help the Divine Kingdom in its quest for mass genocide. Surely she couldn't use it.

"Captain!" Jonathan addressed captain. "What shall we do with the witch?"

"Chain her to the tree." Abel ordered.

The reason why they were relaxed around her was because they had sealed her magic power with the help of enchanted shackles. Now she was harmless because she can't use magic and she isn't physically strong compared to the knights.

Henry pulled on a chain attached to her neck. "Come here you dirty whore"

She looked at him with her sunken eyes and wrinkled face. The dreadknots on her hair made it even more disgusting. Her rags and dirt filled and skin had many swellings.

"How dare you look at me!" Henry hit her in the face with his sheathed sword causing her to fall down.

"Don't kill her yet Henry." said Glenn, his senior. "She needs to last the whole journey."

"I just gave her her daily rations" Henry replied with a smile.

He then took out an iron peg and pushed it into a large tree next to him with his palm. The Divine Knights had exceptional physical strength. Combine that with excellent equipment resistant to magic, they were very formidable opponents. After that he connected the chain to the peg.

The others had finished pitching their tents and had made a small campfire. Ralf who was incharge of the food started to roast a large corpse of a pig over the fire. The men gathered around the fire, it was a lively atmosphere. They were enjoying their time in the forest rather than being afraid of it. Gary tossed the femur of the pig with a few scraps of meat towards the witch, she picked it up but didn't eat it.

"Here!" Abel took out a wine pouch which he had hidden inside his breastplate. "Don't drink too much."

It was now passed around the twelve men. All of them took a good sip and were in high spirits.

Gary now started to dance around the fire in drunken state. The others started cheering him. They all felt happy after a long day of navigating through the forest.

Then suddenly a portal appeared and creature that was shaped like a human but without a face and skin as dark as a moonless night stepped out of the portal. Its eyes were glowing like rubies and strange red markings over its body made it even more frightening.

"MONSTER!"

Abel screamed as he charged towards it with his sword.

***