Jewel Legacies: Scarlet Divide

Witches… they’ve been around for generations.  All are women that pass the witch gene through bloodline.  Witches have telekinetic powers and can manipulate objects and even reality.  They discover there powers at points of strong emotion.  The younger the witch discovers her powers… the stronger they are.  The King of Fabyla fears witches along with many people.  Most want then dead.



Chapter 1:  Beginning of a young witch          

         The sun shines brightly in the middle of the day.  This story is about loss and revenge.  The planet is called Fabyla.  Far from the grand city of Glincean there is a large meadow called the Golden Fields.  Living here in isolation Is an man and his sister trying to get by.

         “Beautiful day” says Faust (age 20) as he stares out the window.  He stares long enough to see his own reflection.  His white long hair that shines in the sun.  Even though he had little wealth he still managed to look good in his blue formal wear.  He looks over his shoulder “Isn’t it Lily?“ At the table the young girl sits wearing her pink dress (her favorite) it is dirty with stains and faded.  It shows the love of the dress that its been worn a lot.  Lily (age 12) nods as she eats her breakfast.  She hums to herself while rocking her legs back and forth.  “bother when are we gonna play outside again, I’m bored”  Faust says “today all I have to do is meet with the land owner” he looks at Lily “ then the whole day is free, now first you gotta finish your breakfast then do you’re your chores”  she crosses her arms “okay”. putting her plate in the sink she heads upstairs.

         There’s a knock at the door, the breeze outside stops almost instantly.  “must be him now” says Faust. He goes over to the door and talks to himself “the rents, all our money goes to it”. He looks over his shoulder once more at the stairs.  “I need to get Lily something special for her birthday but… we just don’t have enough”  He swings open the door and is surprised by a women wearing a red dress with black finger nails and in her right hand is a rod with a heart at the end.  The heart looks as its being impaled.  By her side two men (In less of formal wear and more military style) stand there silently.  Both men were wearing red masks.  One of the men punches Faust in the stomach, the wind is knocked out of him.  In pain and startled Faust falls to his knees.  The women says “I’m looking for something and I know its here.  The other man kicks Faust knocking him on his back. “wha…. What are y.. you talking about…. Who a.. are you?” with a last hit he goes unconscious.  “finish him and get going” the women in red says

         “get going” screams the women in the dress  the men start looking trough all the rooms downstairs.  Lily hears the noises and hides in a cupboard.  She closes the doors of the cupboard.  Its dark.. The only light is through the crack in the door.  She looks out as the men come upstairs.  Her heart races as she sees the men’s boots covered in blood.  She holds her breathe… the men exchange a few words.  “dammit where is it” says the first solder.  “she’s gonna be pissed” says the second solder. As they run back down stairs Lily takes a breathe again.  She grabs an object in the cupboard and starts to hug it.  it’s a red jewel.

         Noises are made as she can here the women screaming in anger.  They leave.  Slowly Lily opens the cupboard.  Everything in her room is trashed.  She slowly heads down stairs.  She sees her brother and run towards him.  “brother…. BROTHER…… WAKE UP!!!!” as she starts to cry she drops the jewel.  The jewel falls in the pool of blood.  Her brother is silent, still and cold.  In a panic she grabs the jewel again gets up and runs towards the door not to look back again.

         She runs outside tears flowing from her and just keep running in the field until she couldn’t anymore she stops heavy breathing and drops to her knees.  Looking down at the ground as the sky fills with clouds of black with a red glow between them

         Lily looks up in front of her is a scarecrow old and worn from countless storms.  Its straw hat with a chunk missing from it flows in the wind.  Lily’s eyes start to glow, in her hands the jewel dark red as the blood of her brother starts to vibrate and emit a soft sound.  The scarecrow twitches ever so slightly.  Lily starts to cry “I want my Brother” she puts her face in her hands as  tears pour down it. The scarecrow continues to look down at her… almost like it pities her.  The scarecrow appears to move…. But only for a moment then an ominous noise comes from it.  “I’m here”.  She looks up at the scarecrow and smiles. The last tear falls to the ground.  “I knew you would never leave”.





Chapter 2: A past come to present

         On the other side of the country of Fabyla in the small town of Horton several days later there lived a man.  His name was Samuel Delevon, and he is a 46 year old lumberjack.  He is strong, bold, persistent  and kind hearted.  Outside his little house he hacks away at a tree standing there as if to mock him.  The tree will not fall.  As he hacks harder the tree makes creaking noises.  Then “snap” the tree tumbles down crushing smaller trees it falls upon.  Samuel looks at his work with a serious face but deep down he smiles.

         He then continues to break down the tree hacking it into sections.  Sweat rockets of off him with each swing.  He finishes in minutes head throbbing from the hacking of his axe.  He turns away from his great work and heads back into his house.  He walks upon the stone path leading from the backwoods to his house.

         Upon entering the house a women is in the kitchen.  Her name is Jesse (age 20) wearing a bright green shirt and blue jeans in tomboy clothing.  Her hair a bright blue color long.  She is Samuels daughter.  “what are you cooking” asked Samuel.  “oh” Jesse turns around partially startled “it was gonna be a surprise.  I’m making meat and potatoes”.  She looks down “you know how mom used to do it….”  Samuel frowns for a second then smiles again “thank you….. This might bring back memories”  Jesse looks back at the cooking.  “well” she laughs “the recipe won’t be exactly the same”

         Samuel sits at the table “I’m sure it will be great…..”  Jesse sits down at the table and serves the food.  The start the eat, remaining silent.  Outside the sun starts to set behind the trees making a silhouette with a raging fire of colors behind it.  As the night falls the moons shines bright in a crescent shape. Jesse and Samuel are in the training room (a barn beside Samuels house.  Jesse sits there with her legs crossed in a meditative stance her sword on her back, still sharp.  Suddenly out of the corner of her eye an bucket flies at her.  She reacts getting up quickly, hand on her sword, she turns around and swings downward.  The buckets splits and flies on either side of her.  Behind her two more rocket toward her.  She spins around horizontally slicing the buckets break to pieces wooden shrapnel flies all over the barn. 

         “if you get any better we won’t have any more buckets” Samuel laughs.  Jesse holsters her sword.  “where do you get all of them anyway?” she asks “get then” his eyes widen “I make em” He laughs.  Outside a sound of glass breaking pierces the night.  Samuel and Jesse both dart there eyes to the barn door which was already wide open letting moonlight shine through.  Samuel runs out with Jesse close behind.  They look towards there house burning from the inside out.  Samuel yells “NO” he runs towards the house “Jesse grab those buckets and get water from the lake”  Jesse responds only with a nod her eyes are wide she runs over and grabs two buckets and runs towards the lake not to far from the barn. 

         Samuel reaches the house the fire to big to permit access.  He  sees a women in a red dress standing there laughing.  In her hand a staff with a pierced heart at one end in the other hand she had an orb of extreme heat, fire floating there.  She was wearing a mask so Samuel could not see her face.  He grabbed his axe and charged “YOU BITCH” he screamed as he swung down.  Like a mirage she moved to the side and dodged it.  She swung her staff the metal nail that’s through the heart sliced Samuels cheek.  A drop of blood flies off his face as he tried to dodge it.

         From her hand she launch a flaming ball that struck the ground setting it ablaze.  Samuel lunges at her and swings this time he hits her.  He sliced her mask right of.  Beneath it was a face he hasn’t seen  in five years.  It was the face of the woman who murdered his wife.  He was so shocked he stumbled back not knowing what to do.  She laughs and does a back flip onto the roof of Samuels not charred house.  “we didn’t find what we were looking for but we know you have it.” she screams “where is it.”  “No matter what it is” Samuel starts to speak again then yells “I’d never give it to you”  He hears a scream in the woods of a girl in distress. “Jesse”.  He turns to go help her when the Lady in red unleashes a white light hitting Samuel in the back.  He lands face first on the ground and goes unconscious.  The last thing he hears is the footsteps of the women in a red dress.



Chapter 3: A twisted dream



         Samuel awakens pushing his body up with his now weak arms.  He looks up to see that he is in a room, a child’s room.  There are toys everywhere hanging on the wall, sitting on shelves,  and lying on the floor.  All the toys dusty and worn.  There are dolls, puppets and figurines everywhere.  Samuel coming to his senses even more notices the strange red lighting in the room but no light bulb or a switch.  He stands his senses back to full arms to his side.  He now notices a bed, a small one, with just a pillow, It looks well used. 

         “Where…where am I?”  Samuel talks to himself.  He sees a window and looks out it.  There is a loud drumming of raindrops hitting the window.  A raging storm is outside.  He cannot see very far.  The most he can see is a field with a strange silhouette of a “what he assumes” a bare tree.  The sky lights up once in a while with lightning that never touches the ground.

         He turns to look away from the storm.  He can think nothing or say nothing, just confusion.  He looks to see if he has his axe.  He grabs for his back (which is where he holsters it) and grabs for air.  “damn” he says to himself.  Then out of the corner of his eye he sees a glint of light.  Looking he sees a puppet on the table just siding there.  It doesn’t look like any of the others it was brand new and the others were old and worn.  It was made of wood, eyes slightly slanted and half closed,  arms and legs were scrawny.  Its head hangs low as if it were sad.

         The puppet then looks up quickly at Samuel.  Samuel takes a step back his eyes wide.  As if invisible strings moved the puppet his arm lifted and his finger pointed at Samuel.  Fear fills him from his feet to his head “Wha…?”  The puppet stands up like its being dangled over the edge.  Samuel stands there almost paralyzed.  Suddenly it lunges towards him, Samuel punches it out of midair.  The puppet slams against the wall arms and legs breaking off and part of its wooden face cracks.  The glint from eyes gone.  “what the hell is going on!”  Samuel yells “is anyone here!”  Just silence.

         He moves towards the door watching the broken puppet.  He grabs the handle and throws the door open the door handle on the other side slams the wall.  He darts into the hallway and slams the door behind him.  Sweat is dripping off his face.  He starts to walk down creaky steps one step at a time.  *Thud* *thud* his feet make loud noises that are drowned out only by the strong rain.  When he reaches down stares he looks around the room.  Nothing is on the walls… no furniture just a rug in the room.  He hers a child’s laughter behind him.  The swings around “whose there!?”  he only sees the stairs that he just came down.  He slowly turns back around this time he sees a child on the rug, sitting with head on her knees arms crossed noises of crying emit from her. 

         Samuel takes one step towards her arm out then he stops and whispers to himself “no it’s a trick….or….something.”  He then immediately charges for the door almost breaking it off its hinges he goes outside.  He runs rain drenching him soaking wet.  *thud* he runs into the supposed tree to see that it is not.  it’s a cross where scarecrows are tied to.  Instantly he panics and looks up but the cross is bare.  Behind him he hears a sinister laugh and a glint.  it’s a scarecrow with a scythe in his hands hanging it over his head.  In a flash he swings down as the scarecrow speaks in a terrible voice  “waaake uuup.”



Chapter 4: A broken family

         Samuel awakes the next day, the sun is high up in the sky.  In a daze he looks around.  He picks up his axe and his throwing hatchets and gets up.  Then he realizes “JESSE!!! She was kidnapped.”  His blood boils as the sight of his house just adds salt to the wounds.  He puts his face in his hands and starts to cry.  “this family…. Its almost gone from me.”  He stops crying and he walks towards the ruins of his house checking to see what’s left.  All his furniture, walls, and even the windows were destroyed in the fire.  The only thing he sees amongst the ashes is a red glint.  He steps over the rubble to see what it is.  Its his late wife’s necklace.  He dusts it off and wears it.  “Jesse and this memento is all I have left”

         He goes toward the lake hoping to find her there gathering water.  As he walks there deep down he knows he will find nothing.  He sees buckets on the ground and obvious signs of struggle.  “she’s a fighter… I know she’s still alive.”  Near the waters edge he finds her sword.  The water made it glisten.  He bends over and picks it up holding it as if it where the live force of his daughter.  He wrapped cloth around it and put it in his holster along with his axe.

         He decided to head to town, Horton, and look for anyone one that wears the symbolizing red that is the women he hates.  It didn’t take him long to reach town as he walked along the road that cut through the woods.  There were a handful  of houses along the path.  As he passed them he noticed that they all look very similar.  Almost dirty rotting homes.  He finally made it to the outskirts of the town and walked into the modestly size town  .As he reaches the center of town where the merchants sell there products and the simple townsfolk chat he sees a crowd surrounding a man who was yelling.

         “The mayor says all witches must go to Valpré,  as ordered by the king”  Yells the man “and anyone that doesn‘t cooperate in handing over there witches will be sent there as well.”  Samuel joins the crowd slipping his way in.  To his right was a young women about Jesse’s age.  The sight of her reminded him of Jesse.  To his right was an elderly man about 70.  The man in the center speaks up once more to answer questions.  “look don’t ask me why these orders are directly from the king.”  Samuel looks at the old man beside him.  “What’s Valpré?” Samuel asks.  “hmm” the old man was hard of hearing “well it’s a concentration camp” murmurs the old man not even facing Samuel.  “didn’t you hear the king wants to separate all witches from the people, good riddance too.”

         Not very many people liked witches so it was common to discriminate.  But the only people who could tell the difference between witches and regular people were those that have been with a witch a long time.  Samuel was one of those people.  He could feel one nearby…. Wait to the mans right… was a young girl.  He could feel her aura she was a witch. 

         The crowd breaks up as a man in red (now known as a crimson) and two guards on either side of him he grabs the little girls hands.  “she is a witch” yells the crimsons.  Samuel thought to himself…how did he know this…..  The old man beside him yells “my granddaughter is not a witch.” with that he slams his palm against the face of one the guards.  Surprisingly he knock him out cold.  The other reacts quickly slicing at the old man with his sword.  He cuts him…. Not deep enough to kill though.  “ahhhhhh” the old man falls Samuel catches him and sets him down.

         The crimson was gone and the little girl too.  “my…..my grand…daugh..ter” the old man now spoke in a raspy voice.  “out of the way”  a cleric came to the mans aid.  Clerics were spiritual men who knew healing magic.  He used his staff which was now glowing and flowed it over the mans wounds.  “I’ll let him take over” Samuel says to himself.  He starts to walk away when his left leg was stopped.  The old man had grabbed him… “please help me…. Please sir…you are strong…I am weak…I’ll give anything…if…you…save…her………” he goes unconscious.  Samuel could not forgive himself if he could not help.  “where is Valpré?”  a middle aged women steps from the now dispersing crowd.  “its four miles east of here.” 



Chapter 5: Welcome to Valpré: part 1



         From the town Samuel kept walking for about an hour until he arrived finally at Valpré.  I was the most horrible sight he had ever seen there was a razor wire fence surrounding a large area and in the middle was a small building.  There where women in chains everywhere in grey and brown old cloths of clothing.  The had chains on there hands and feet.  There were guards everywhere all of then were crimsons. Each one had there own weapon at hand.  The witches where pushed into this tiny cabin. 

         Samuel continued to look until he saw the little girl.  She was chained to two other women and she was crying.  Samuel grabbed his axe and walk toward the front gate.  Standing on either side of it were two crimsons.  “Halt” screamed the left one “state your business here or you will be shot.”  Up high on towers arches were sitting.  “If your not here to turn in witches then you  are violating the 52nd law.” the other one spoke but not as loud.  Samuel thought quickly “I did have a witch with me but you see she escaped into the north woods”  Samuel pointed his axe towards the woods. 

          Both the men looked at each other and exchanged looks.  Then they looked back at Samuel.  “you have to…..”  Samuel vanished.  “where the hell did he go?” said the left one.  He looked at the right  as an axe flew at his chest hitting him and killing him.  The left one drew his sword as another axe flew at him and hit him in the head killing him as well.  Samuel ran from behind a tree and charged toward the gate. 

         An alarm was sound.  All crimsons reacted and started to look around.  “there’s an invader “ yelled a voice.  When Samuel reached the gate he swung down hard with his axe breaking the lock on the gate.  Then he kicked it open.  The archers above shot down.  The arrows flew like rain an Samuel.  He rolled out of the way just before the arrows dotted the ground.  Samuel then ran towards one of the tents that surrounded the building and hid in it as guards passed.  Nobody saw him run into it the archers were too busy reloading there arrows.

         The tent was kind of dark.  The only light was coming from outside.  Suddenly Samuel’s head hurt and he hit the ground.  He was on his hands and knees when something sharp touched his neck.  “move and die crimsons”  said the voice behind him.  Samuel grabbed the arm of the one with the knife and smashed it on the wall in front of him the hand dropped it.  Then Samuel turned  around and kicked the person who crashed into a table in the tent breaking it.  Samuel was shocked to find out it was an old women.

         She was now unconscious, she must have been an escaped prisoner.  Samuel now realized he was risking to many live be coming here.  It was starting to get dark.  He grabbed the women and threw her over his shoulder then  he ran out of the tent towards a small hole the in the fence.  Only one crimson saw him but Samuel dealt with him quickly.  The swung his axe as he ran tossing it and crashing into the whole making it bigger.  He leapt through still holding on to the women and grabbed his axe as he passed by.  He disappeared into the woods to make a plan.



Chapter 6: Goal of the Crimsons



         The women awoke and looked around.  She seemed to be in a small home made of freshly cut wood.  She saw the man she tried to attack sitting on a chair looking at something on the table.  “your finally up” said Samuel not even looking at her.  She spoke softly “your not a crimson then who are you?”  “My name is Samuel”  “you….saved me even after I tried to kill you.”  “I’m trying to shut down Valpré”  the women looked surprised “why….don’t you hate witches like everyone else?”  Samuel turned around in his chair “no.”

         “where are we even” asked the old lady.  “a small cabin I made just a mile of Valpré”  The women look at him with glaring eyes “there are no cabins near Valpré.”  Samuel turned back around “your right….I made it”  The old lady was once again surprised “how did you make this place so quickly?”  Samuel stared at the table “I’m a lumberjack.  What’s your name?”  “oh my name is Dawn…I am a witch…you know there gonna kill you if they find us.” 

         Samuel took of his torn shirt throwing it in a corner.  Around his neck the jewel from his wife shined in the light.  Dawn stared at it “where did you get that!!”  “It was my wife’s…why does it matter?”  “You have no idea what danger you are in now with the scarlet jewel around your neck.”  “what!!”  “that’s what the crimsons are looking for.  That jewel contains great powers from generations of witches who have worn it how did you get it!?”  “My wife was a witch”  “Did you kill your wife after you found out”  Samuels blood boiled “I loved my wife!!!!! She was murdered!!!”

         Silence filled the air.  Dawn spoke softly “I’m so sorry I just thought you hated witches like everyone else.”  “Well I don’t… why do they want this thing anyway” He touches the jewel softly  “there are 3 of the scarlet jewels and whoever has all three will have the powers to manipulate all reality.  The king wants to have them for himself because he wants to eliminate all witches.  They are using the camps to find these jewels and also to capture witches for…. experiments.  There are two other camps the crimsons have, both much bigger than Valpré.”  Samuel spoke quietly “how do you know all this”  “I’m not just a witch I am the leader of The National Witch Alliance (NWA).  We are a resistance group trying to stop the king and to grant freedom and equality between humans and witches.”

         “powerful why don’t all you witches just use you power and escape the camp.”  “There is a machine that stops us from doing that”  “so if we destroy this machine then we can set everyone free.”  As he said this Samuel thought of the little girl and his daughter.  “we need a plan then we can go to Valpré where is this machine?”



Chapter 7: Welcome to Valpré: part 2

         Dawn had used her witch powers to create a red cloak for Samuel so the crimsons could not recognize him.  In the middle of the night when the moon was bright they travel toward Valpré.  Dawn had chains around her hands that had been loosened .  Samuel now wearing the cloak had throwing hatchets and his beloved axe.  The reached the gate seeing the two sleepy guards.  Flame lit torches and the moon were all that lit up the gate.  “stop!!” one of the guards yelled.  He put his hand on his holstered sword.  The other guard aimed his arrow at Samuel.

         Samuel spoke, his face not visible “I found this escaped witch.  I demand an award for this action.”  The guard with the sword walked towards Samuel.  “He walked up toward Dawn who was looking at the ground.  He grabbed her chin and examined her face.  “She is a witch!  Where did you find her?”  “out in the northern woods” said Samuel boldly.  “Very well” the crimson smirked “here’s your reward.  The other guard pulled back on the string of his bow and launched an arrow.  Samuel grabbed the guard close to him and used him as a human shield.  The arrow pierced his skull. 

         He threw him to the side and took of his cloak throwing it into the sky.  “it’s the invader from before!”  Samuel tossed a hatchet at him.  It hit him in the chest and killed him.  Dawn broke from the chains and both ran into the camp.  “I’ll distract the guards” said Samuel then he knocked over a torch and the ground set ablaze.  “you destroy the machine.”  Dawn nodded and ran further into the camp passing by all the tents.  Crimsons surrounded Samuel but he took two out throwing hatchets on either side of him.

         Two more attack him Samuel drew his axe and swung hitting one ion the chest and the other he took his head off.  Meanwhile Dawn was running around the camp passing by and avoiding all of the crimsons.  She made it to the tent with the machine.  It looked very complex with random cords attach to the spiral structure.  She look around and bent down to pick up a rock.  Lifting it over her head she tossed it downward crushing the machine.  The noise was heard by two crimsons.

         They walk in the tent.  “hehehe you think your gonna live old lady?”  one said with an evil grin.  Dawns eyes started to glow and she lifted her hand pointing at the other guard.  His body lifted up and shot across the room smashing into the remains of the machine killing him.  The other guard was shocked and took a step back..  “young man I think I’m gonna do just fine” Dawn said with a smirk.  A sphere of energy flow around  Dawns hand and she threw it hard hitting the guard.  His body rag dolled and slid on the ground. 

         Samuel finished off the remaining guards and started running towards the center prison.  As he reached the door the adrenaline allowed him to break it down.  He saw all the witches chained together and clustered into one small cell.  They were all dirty and starving much too weak to fight physically.  He ran up and hacked the lock off the door.  Witches pushed there way out of the cell in groups.  “your all free now and the machine stopping your powers is gone.”  then he saw who he came for.  The little girl holding the hands of an older witch.  He knelt down and put his hand on her shoulder.  “your safe now little one” he said softly.  She grabbed on to him hugging him and he lifted her up and held her in his arms.

         As he walked out of the prison with the young girl in his arms the witches he released use there powers to set tents on fire shooting flaming orbs.  Crimsons had given up fighting and started running.  A paper flowed through the wind and stuck to Samuels leg.  He grabbed the paper and looked at it.  It was a list of  names of all the women captured in the 3 camps.  “hmm” Samuel thought.  He looked through the list.  First Valpré then a list for witches at Darclove and finally the list for Jardark.  His eyes widened as he saw the words that struck his heart ‘Delevon, Jessica’.



Chapter 8: Hatred of the king



         A day later in the city of Glincean the king Oran was sitting at his thrown he was wearing a large gold colored cape.  He was an older man with wrinkles in his face.  He was around 60 years old and he had no queen for she died a while ago.  He was sitting there listening with rage and was being told the news of Valpré by the messenger.  “Then while the camp was set ablaze an man with an axe broke the locks of the cells and let all of the witches out.  They slaughtered everyone.”  said the messenger.  “this is treason!” shouted the king “I want a bounty on this mans head and send the info across all of Fabyla.” he paused “that if anyone tries to even assist this man they will be tortured and killed.”  “yes king Oren” said the messenger then he left the castle.  He than looked down and rubbed his temple with his hand.  “I’m going to the tower.”

         The king got up from his throne and walked toward the door.  He ascended the spiral stairs and reached the top.  In the room it looked like a office.  Random papers and files where everywhere.  Oh his desk was one of the scarlet jewels sitting on a pedestal.  The light from the window behind the desk made it shimmer.  He looked out the big window and grabbed the jewel.  He tossed it up and down as if it were a ball.  He glared at the sun.  “Soon the time will come.” he spoke to himself “when the age of witches will fall and I will rule forever.  Even if I have to keep one alive.”

         There was a bang on the door a voice called out partially muffled “father I have something to discuss!”  “Come in Collin” he boomed.  His son walked through the door wearing  majestic clothing like a true prince does.  His face was filled with youth unlike his fathers.  His hair was golden in the son.  “Father why are you setting up camps for witches.  Your doing this without the councils consent.”  “this is where your wrong son.  They gave me the consent to do it.”  the prince looked conserved “why didn’t you tell me”  The king set the jewel back on its pedestal “because I knew you wouldn’t approve.”

         Now the prince was a person of peace and did not want to harm witches.  He preferred to make peace with them and have everyone equal.  He is not well liked among most people and he doesn’t have the strong leadership skills of his father.  “Why do we have to keep killing the innocent just because they are witches!?  Where all human we should be joining together and fighting monsters like man was supposed to since the dark age.”  “Don’t give me a history lesson and don’t compare witches to humans.  The council has agreed in the separation of witches and the camps are already set up.  I can’t stop then even if I wanted too.”

         With out saying a word Collin rushed out of the room in rage.  He slammed the door and could be heard stopping down the stone staircase echoing.  Oren turned back toward the window and grabbed the jewel.  He continued to play with it.  “Finally some peace.”  He looked over the city he ruled.  He could see children play in the town square.  They had toy swords and were play fighting.  The mothers of the children were at the side chatting about any of the town gossip.  On the other side of the city the men were in the factories making weapons and metals.  All the while many people were out shopping at the local merchants.

         The sight filled the king with pride.  There was another knock at the door “who is it?!” he called out a little annoyed.  “Tis I” a woman voice cried out.  “hmm well come in Lexi.  The door opened and a women in the red dress walked through the door.  She was holding her pierce heart staff.  “What business  do you bring?”  Lexi spoke “as the leader of the crimsons we need to make a plan to help defend against witch attacks.”  she said with a smile.  “I’m working on it” said the king.  Valpré was bound to fall sooner or later.  We had idiots working there and it was not a total loss for there was no jewel found amongst the witches.”

         “That may be so” said Lexi “but the NWA was freed because of that and they are certain to retaliate and destroy the other camps.”  The king spoke once more “the closest camp to Valpré’s ruins is Jardark and that is hundreds of miles away.  They won’t make it in time before we find the final two jewels and destroy all witches.”  Lexi’s normally cruel look became a worried face.  “not all of the witches.  I’m the reason you have the first jewel.”  The scarlet Jewel in Oren’s hands floated from his grasp and went into Lexi’s.  “of course you will be spared.” said Oren.  The jewel glows faintly in her hands as the sun starts to set.





Chapter 9: The will of a child



         The sun was high in the air in the golden fields near the Beledore cabin.  Lily was out side dancing in the meadow having a merry good time.  The scarecrow (now called Faust) was by her side floating there in a meditative position.  “I’m glad you didn’t leave brother because now we can play all we want”  Her haired flowed in the wind.  Faust looked at her “yes I would never truly leave you.”  “I know” said Lily “We can play a game of royalty.  You can be the king and I can be the princess.  Oh I have an idea my toys can be  our servants.”  With that she ran through the golden grass blades and headed toward there cabin.

         Faust followed behind her with the scythe set upon his back  tied on by a rope.  Two hooks where attached to the scythe and his golden grass hair blowing in the wind almost knocking his straw hat of.  His face was all black and only his sinister eyes could be seen.  His hands and feet appeared to be made of a solid but flexible straw.  Lily reached the house and pushed the door wide open as she ran upstairs in a hurry.  Faust followed behind.  “Be careful Lily you could trip and fall and get hurt.”  She slowed “alright” she crossed her arms.  They went in her room filled with dolls and toys.  “these can be our servants.”  Some of the puppets started to shake and move and one grew to be the size of Lily.  Her eyes were glowing deep red.  More puppets started to glow and grow.  Soon all of the puppets were the size of Lily. 

         Lily’s eyes widened “how did I do that.”  “you have great power little sister.  You created a body for me and you can do much more.  You could be a real princess if you wanted”  He pulled the scarlet jewel from inside his cloth.  “All you can do is because you’re a witch.”  Lily’s eyes widened once more and her mouth opened in a smile “me a witch?  Like in the stories we were read when we were young?”  “Even better and stronger than the story witches.  But I’m afraid… I can’t be with you forever.”  Lily ran up and hugged Faust’s body and started to cry.  “No!!!  I won’t let you leave big bro.  You have to stay with me forever.”  Faust spoke softly “we can be together forever…we need to gather two other jewels like this one.”  He held it out.

         She grabbed it and its started to glow.  Balls of light were growing out thin air, red light.  Energy prickled her skin.  Suddenly on of the puppets became taller.  Its arms became longer and its eyes were wide open.  On its back a wooden cross appeared.  Strings dangled from it.  It stood completely still.  “you have created something new Lily” spoke Faust.  “We shall call him the puppeteer and his followers the puppets.  They are at your command and will do whatever you say.  This is all for you just give the command.”

         Lily stood with her hands on her hips “ok men” she said in a demanding voice “the princess wants you to find these jewels.  You much search everywhere.  Understand?”  The puppets all nodded and then vanished with a red flash.  “I won’t let you leave big brother”  She looked up at him “I love you.”  “I love you too.” said the scarecrow.



Chapter 10: The Long Road



         As Samuel walked away from the ashes that was once the can’t he felt a little redeemed from the destruction of his long lived home.  The smoke rose over the trees as the walked through the northern woods heading toward Horton.  A few embers still burn through the air.  With the child beside him they walked into the town of Horton.  It was silent at the time.  The wind blew some trash around in the center of the road.  Samuel walked towards a building where he heard the old man lived and knocked on the door.  The young girl was by the fountain at the time playing with the water.

         Samuel knocked….no answer.  He knocked again and the door creaked open and a man in a white suit was there.  He looked sad.  “I’m looking for an older man who lives here.  Over there is his granddaughter.”  Samuel points at the girl who is splashing  water on the ground.  “The man you speak of….I’m sorry to say….died.  He had a bad wound that clerics could not heal it.”  Samuel went quiet and walked away from the door that shut behind him.

         The girl was done playing with the water and walked over to Samuel.  “Where’s my grandfather?” she asked.  Samuel was still, thinking of something say.  “He had to go away for a little bit.  He says that he’ll miss you and to go with the ladies to be taken to a safe place.”  He looked over at the group of witches that were all preparing for there journey.  Dawn was talking aloud amongst them about the direction they head and how long it will take.

         The girl spoke again as Samuel looked back at her “when can I come back and see my grandfather?”  “Once everything here is safe then we can come back and see him.”  She nodded and ran over to the group of witches hugging one of them.  Samuel had to lie he couldn’t bare to tell her the truth.  He took his daughters sword of his back and examined it.  It was dirty from all the fights but still in one piece.  He took out a rag and wiped it clean.  I shined in the light, the blade was a blue color.  He put it back on his back and made sure it was tight in his holster.

         Dawn then approached Samuel “everyone’s ready to go.  We must leave now before the sun goes down and monsters come out.”  Samuel crossed his arms and spoke “I don’t think any monster are gonna beat a group of at least twenty witches.  Especially since it includes members of the NWA.”  She blushed lighting up her normally pale face.  “I suppose your right.  Lets move!”  The began to walk.  The group was ahead of Samuel.  He walked looking at the group then he stopped and turned around taking a last look at the town he once grew up by.  Then he turned and never looked back.

         They started along a rocky road at a constant pace traveling north.  Everyone was very eager to reach the hideout.  For three days the traveled and every night they made a fire.  Stories were told of the glory days of witches.  This is one story Dawn told.  “A long time ago there were 3 witches of great power.  They could of ruled the kingdom with there combined power.  The king feared this very much so he sent fighters day after day to search for them.  The three witches fought back but eventually lost and were captured.  The king wanted to force them to use there powers for His own gain.  To prevent this a forth witch went to the prison where the three were held.  She used all her energy and turned them into something the king couldn’t use.  She turned each witch into a jewel of red color.  Then she took them and gave them to three families of witch decent to hide them forever.”

         Dawn spoke again “history seems to repeat itself as the king now is searching for these long lost jewels.”  She pointed at Samuel “we have one of the jewels…the king has another and the third remains lost.”  As she spoke this everyone around the fire was listening patiently.  “We have to find the third jewel and stop the murders of witches.  We in the NWA want only peace not war.”  After her story everyone went to sleep except Samuel.  He sat by the fire and examined the jewel over and over.  “All my sorrow and my loss is over this thing!”  He grabbed it and prepared to throw it in the fire.  Then he stopped himself and held it close to his body.  “No I can’t destroy it.”  He looked over at the sleeping young girl he saved.  “We’ve come this far already.”



Chapter 11:  The Witch Hunt



         Two more days past and everyone was tired from walking day after day.  Many were weak and some needed medical care.  Dawn was still leading the way the one cloudy day.  One of the witches spoke “We are tired and hungry and the young ones need rest can we stop.”  “We could rest now” spoke Dawn “or we could continue and reach the next town before sundown.  The village of Rower is not to far off and……” Her sentence cut short as she saw five men sitting by the road all with weapons in hands.  They bore the sign of what witches fear most.  A blue crescent moon sown on to there clothing.  It was the sign of witch hunters.

         They continued walking trying to remain quiet even though the hunters have already stopped them.  One of the hunters, a husky fellow, jumped of the stump he was sitting on and walked in front of Samuel.  “What are you doing with all these women mate?”  “These women are my protection”  Samuel said with a sharp tongue.  “Protection!?  From what exactly.”  “Monster of course.  I heard there are a lot of Kredel in this part of the country.”  The hunter looked past the  Samuel and examined all the women.  “How are they gonna protect you?  I think that this is a group of witches you got.  We don’t like there kind around here.”  The men grabbed for there weapons and got up along side there fellow hunter.

         “Worth a shot. Oh well.” Samuel said to himself.  The lead hunter took a swing at him.  Samuel ducked it and struck his stomach with his fist.  The other hunters charged the group of women.  One of the women’s eyes glowed and shot fire from her hands with a trusting motion.  It crashed into one of the men and scorched his whole body.  He fell to the ground burnt.

         The hunters stopped and saw there friend die.  There were twenty witches and only five guys (now four after that last shot.)  The leader was clenching his stomach as he spoke.  “Ther…there’s to many of them…run!” them men all scattered into the woods on either side of the road.  Some of the witches got a few more shots of fire off before they were all gone.  The shots missed but did intimidate them.

         “Is everyone alright”  Dawn shouted and looked into the group.  Everyone appeared alright.  Samuel smiled to see this until he saw a puddle beneath his feet.  Dark red and growing.  He grabbed his shoulder to feel the metal that pierced it.  Not shedding a tear or flinching he pulled the knife out of him,  More blood covered the ground.  He was losing to much.  His vision got blurry and his body swayed but no one saw him yet. 

         Dawn finally turned toward him.  “I guess we could….”  She saw his shoulder.  “We need help!  Samuel’s hurt!”  She rushed toward him and put pressure on the wound.  Samuel dropped the knife and it stuck into the ground.  Two more witches ran up one was tearing a piece of fabric from her dress.  They tied it tight against his shoulder.  Samuel fell to his knees and passed out from the blood loss.  The last words he heard were Dawns but they were muffled and deep.