17/02/2020 – The Witch Comes (4)
Preparing for Attack
They discuss who will have been alerted by the shriek and assume it will be Agnes and her daughter. So, should they stay here and defend themselves or leave and fight on better ground? Æthelwyn points out they somehow need to save the people who are on the floor.
Leofric suggests that Æthelwyn, who knows the way, should leave and go back to Welburn to get help to take the people in the cave back to the village. Alexis says it depends who is coming, as her bow may be needed if there is to be a fight.
Alexis suggests that Eadbehrt and Leofric stay in the cave while he and Æthelwyn go to the entrance and see if anyone is coming. If all is clear, Alexis will stay and Æthelwyn can go for help.
Evil Power Returning
They leave Leofric and Eadbehrt to look after the victims in the cave, who are awakening and starting to ask questions. Leofric speaks to them and tends to their wounds.
Eadbehrt does some divination magic and determines that the power in the cave, while reduced, is building up again to do something. There is some sort of spirit, probably inhabiting the skull in the blood in the bronze bowl, and it is drawing power to perform some sort of magic.
Eadbehrt then draws as big a magic circle as he can, surrounding it by salt and helps Leofric start to move the victims into the circle.
Maethild is Coming
Alexis puts the door back mostly covering the entrance to the cave, then he follows Æthelwyn to the entrance they came in through. Æthelwyn takes out her bow and makes her way up to higher ground, while Alexis stands, sword drawn, in front of the secret entrance to the mine.
They wait and look out for a while. Æthelwyn sees a figure moving towards them on the trail. It is Maethild, moving fast and oddly smoothly. She alerts Alexis.
Maethild slows down when she sees Alexis and looks oddly at him. She tries to seduce him again, slowly approaching him. Alexis is initially affected by her as before, but as she gets nearer he sees that her face seems somehow darker. Rather than seductive, she appears disturbing and sinister.
Witch Transformation
He raises his sword and tells her to stop as she comes within a few feet of him. He asks what she is doing here. She tells him she was called, she had to come. She moves close to him and he slaps her.
She suddenly seems to change, her face becoming twisted and wrinkled, snarling in anger while her eyes roll back into her head and her nails grow into inch long claws. Alexis stabs her, his sword impaling her through the ribs. She does not seem affected by this and she slaps him in the face, drawing blood and knocking him over.
The Witch, who is now floating a few inches off the ground, then makes to move into the cave. Æthelwyn shoots her with an arrow in the arm and the Witch turns round, snarling and cursing up at her.
Defeating the Witch
Alexis takes the opportunity of the Witch turning her back on him to shoulder barge her, while pulling his sword out of her. He is dismayed to see the “blood” on it is black rather than red and only a small amount of black dribbles out of the wound.
The Witch attacks him again, but his armour protects him. There is a pause while she stares at Alexis. Æthelwyn shoots her in the back and then Alexis slashes out at her throat.
She doubles over and collapses after this attack. Alexis sees someone approach but decides to finish off the Witch first, stabling her in the back of the neck down into her body. This time red blood erupts from her and she collapses.
Agnes Reveals Her Involvement
The approaching figure is Agnes and she sees that her daughter is lying mortally wounded on the floor. She is grief stricken and shouts at Alexis, calling him a murderer. He says she attacked him, but Agnes says he did not have to kill her.
Agnes then says that “they” did this to her. She had been trying to undo that they did, but “they” are powerful. Alexis asks who “they” are and she tells him it was “The Spider Worshippers.”
They came over a year ago and set up the Shrine in the mines. One of their victims had died on the journey here and they had to find a replacement. They found a local boy in the village and took him instead. They put a spirit in Maethild as a means of making sure Agnes did what they wanted.
The Shrine’s Power Grows
Alexis tries to ask more questions, but Agnes is too upset that her daughter is dead. She ignores him, clutching her daughter and singing a pagan eulogy song.
Alexis and Æthelwyn return to the cave, where Joric has recovered enough to be helping Leofric. The boy also says to Eadbehrt that he recognises him from a dream.
Alexis and Æthelwyn explain what has happened outside and about the Spider Worshipers. Eadbehrt says he has heard of a group known as Arachne, who are a cult who worship spiders. He also warns that the evil power in the cave is growing stronger.
Leofric examines the skull in the bronze bowl filled with blood. He has a feeling that the skull is slowly growing from the blood, although this is a long process.
Leaving the Shrine
Alexis has them move the victims out the cave, through the mines and outside, a frustrating and awkward endeavour that takes a while. Joric helps them as best he can. Once outside, they take shelter in the nearby empty cave mouth. They see that Agnes is taking the body of Maethild back to her house.
Alexis tells Æthelwyn and Leofric to go back to Welburn, with Joric and summon help, while he and Eadbehrt stay behind to look after the victims.
Father and Son Reunited
Æthelwyn and Leofric depart and walk all the way back to Welburn. The journey is uneventful, but once they get back one of the villagers quickly notices Joric and goes to tell Aelric.
The Miller staggers out of the house he is staying in, clearly a bit drunk and Joric runs over to him. Aelric is very pleased to see his son alive and well. These events are noticed by Doerwine, who comes out to greet them.