The Witch Hunters, Book 1: The Prophet of Ash

Siegfried expected signs of pursuit any moment and kept looking over his shoulder, more than at the road ahead as they fled back to the palisade wall. Janus had to yell at the prince to keep his eyes ahead more than once during the frenetic ride.

“The last thing we need right now is an accident!” the runner barked.

Their horses were panting and lathered by the time they reached the gate. Their riders were only slightly less exhausted. Their papers go them past the guards, who looked at them all oddly.

“Nothing happened,” Kurt wheezed. “We’re fine.”

After they were through, and the gates closed behind them, Siegfried let out a sigh of true relief. With at least one barrier between them and the horror lurking out there in Alte Eichen’s corpse, he felt himself a little more in control of events again. He looked tiredly over to Janus, finally noticing the female runner that held him tightly.

“Who is that?” He asked.

“This is Biana. She worked here in Eichen. She guided us to the temple,” Janus explained. He jerked his head in Siegfried’s direction by way of introduction. “Biana, this is Prince Siegfried, the Uncrowned.”

If Biana was impressed by his title, she did a remarkable job of hiding it. Her arms were wrapped around Janus’ trim waist so tightly it looked to be making breathing difficult for him. Noticing that, the prince couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps it was fear staying her reaction. Siegfried nodded to her.

“Are you a hunter, too?” she asked him.

“Yes, lady Biana. I’m part of the Order of St. Heinrich, like Janus is.”

“I’m not a hunter any more!” Janus snapped, his nostrils flaring. “I quit!”

“What? Why?” asked Siegfried, turning to the runner with a look of real horror dawning on his face. “Oh god, what about the letter we gave you?”

“I paid someone to take it to the Palace,” Kurt said then. He was fighting to stay upright on his horse, taking desperate gasps of air as he swayed dangerously on his saddle. “It got there. The King knows whatever you wanted to tell him. Janus works for me, now.”

Siegfried closed his eyes for a second and took a deep, grateful breath. The letter had to have reached his uncle by now. The Capital would be on alert, measures taken for its protection. That one thing, at least, had gone right.

“Why’d you quit, Janus? Why are you working for Bauer?” Siegfried blinked then and looked at the farmer, confusion written on his features. In the escape from the temple, he really hadn’t had time to wonder at the farmer’s presence. “Bauer, what are you even doing here?”

“I’m here to find my son,” Kurt snarled, angry despite his exhaustion. “I’m here to stop you fuckers from killing him, or taking him away to die alone in your bloody prison!”

What could he say to that? Siegfried was exhausted. He owed this man his life, and he was quickly beginning to despise the line of work he was in.

“Did Janus tell you all this?” He asked.

“Did he lie?” Kurt countered.

The prince sighed. “No Kurt, he didn’t. There’s enough circumstantial evidence to suggest that your boy is a witch.”

Bauer’s expression was poison, his glare murderous. His hand slipped down to grasp the pommel of his sword. Janus reached over from his own mount to stop him.

“Maybe we should all talk about this inside?” the runner said. “We’re in the middle of the street, and I need a drink,” he continued, looking from the farmer to the prince. “Your Grace, we saved your life, so the least you can do is buy us some ale.”

*

They returned to the Totenkopf without another word. Siegfried called for ale and a bottle of something stiffer to be brought up to him. They retreated up the stairs then, locking themselves in his room.

“What the hell is going on here?” Biana asked once they had all taken a seat.

“We’re hunting witches,” said Janus, sitting down on the bed. He fixed Siegfried with a strange look, then. “Maybe each other, too.”

The prince ignored him. Once he had recovered his wits during their ride back, he had been turning over the little he knew in his head. It was not much, but it was enough to suggest a wider conspiracy at work within the Kingdom. He had no idea if the local authorities knew about the Ashen at the temple, or if they even cared. How bad was it further down the road at Anderswo?

“I need to get a letter to the King,” he said at length. “He needs to know the Ashen are here in force, and working with an outside party from the Dead Lands. There’s something larger going on here. He needs to send out more hunters, maybe even the militia and army. This whole place is rotten!”

“Don’t you try pulling rank on me, prince. I don’t work for you any more,” Janus warned, glaring at Siegfried.

“Do you still have your star, Janus?”

“I do, but I’m keeping it. Call it back pay, or whatever the term you humans use is.”

Siegfried stood up so fast, that he nearly he knocked his seat back. “You slimy bastard!” He roared.

“Enough of this!” Kurt yelled. He slammed his fist down on the Siegfried had placed his notes on so hard it bounced. The sudden impact and sent a jolt around the room. “Where are the rest of your bloody killers?”

“Out in the woods, tracking down the people who murdered everyone at your farm.”

“How many of them are there?” Janus asked.

“Thirty, perhaps?” Siegfried replied with a shrug. “Have you been tracking us?”

The runner nodded.

“You saw the house?”

Again, Janus nodded. “I saw the trees, too. And the dead grass.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Kurt said, looking lost and enraged. “I saw those too, what’s the big deal?”

“There was magic used at the house, Mr. Bauer,” Siegfried explained, turning quickly to face him. “We encountered a witch there.”

“You mean they’re real?”

Biana’s voice took Siegfried off guard. He had almost forgotten that she was here. He briefly wondered what the protocol was for discussing such information with unsanctioned individuals. Just as quickly as the question occurred to him, it melted away. He was past caring. He turned to look at the female runner, who was standing in the far corner, away from the rest of them.

“Yes, Biana. They’re real,” Siegfried said. “We killed one, just a couple of days back. Some more seem to be gathering together. There are some in the woods, and maybe some more out in the Dead Lands.”

“I can’t stay here anymore,” the female replied, pressed her back against the wall. A tremor ran up her frame. She hugged herself, as if freezing. “Janus, I can’t stay here. Some of those men outside the temple recognised me. I’ll be killed if I don’t leave. I’m sorry.”

“That’s alright, Biana. We didn’t free you just to make you follow us around,” Janus said, moving over to comfort her. “I’ll give you some money. Get a horse and some food, and get out of here. Go back to your home. It’ll be safer there.”

“Wait,” Siegfried said quickly. He turned to the wolf-woman then and took a slow step towards her. “Would you be willing to ride to the Capital? Would you be willing to take a message for me to the King?”

“I…I don’t know. I want to go home. I haven’t seen my cubs since they were small.”

“She was a slave, bought and sold to serve your people,” Janus snarled, rounding to glare at him. “Why the hell would she want to help your kind now that she’s finally free of you?”

Kurt interrupted before Siegfried could respond. “I had minotaurs working for me,” he said. He slumped down into a nearby chair, staring at the floor. “I had humans, and dwarves, and a family of scaled. My boy grew up with the children of my workers. If any runners had asked me for a job, I’d have found a place, but there’s next to none of your people in Gozer. You were at my farm, Janus. Did that monster care at all about what he was killing?”

That silenced the male, for now. Siegfried turned his attention back to Biana.

“This is extremely important, my lady,” he said, choosing his words very carefully. “I don’t know any of the garrison here, so I don’t know if I can trust them.”

“But how do you know you can trust me?”

“If Janus and Kurt vouch for you, then I know I can.”

“She can be trusted,” Janus all but snarled. Kurt nodded.

The female was quiet for a moment. She leaned against the wall, rubbing her arms. Siegfried stood before her, trying not to fret. He vaguely remembered hearing somewhere that runners could sniff the emotions other species gave off if they were close enough. Was that true? How must he appear to her, if that was the case? Would knowing how afraid and desperate he was help right now?

“Okay. I’ll do it.”

Siegfried let go of a breath he had not known he had been holding. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Kurt look away. Janus snarled at him.

“Thank you, my Lady. You may have saved the Kingdom.”

“I’m not doing it for your Kingdom, prince,” she snapped. “I’m doing it for the cubs those monsters killed. They won’t be at peace until they are avenged. Write your letter, and I’ll take it to the King as swiftly as I can.”

Siegfried took her hand and kissed it gratefully. Biana’s ears went visibly red. Janus glared impotently at him. The Prince ignored the wolf-man and hurried over to his desk to begin writing. There was little time, and he could not linger here.

“Are you supposed to meet up with the rest of your friends out in the woods?” Kurt asked.

“No, I’m to go to Anderswo and see what’s happening there. They’ll meet me there so we can resupply, assuming they don’t try and stop the bastards before then.”

“What chance would they have, if they’re outnumbered six to one like you said, human?” Janus griped. “You should have let me come along in the first place.”

“If he did, wouldn’t he be dead?” Biana asked, stroking Janus’ cheek. “Wouldn’t I still be a slave, then?”

That shut Janus up.

“We’re going with you to Anderswo,” Kurt said. He eyes Siegfried coldly, as if daring the smaller man to deny him. Siegfried could only nod in agreement.

“I was fine with you coming with us in the first place.”

“Well, I am now.”

Siegfried set out some paper, but hesitated before setting pen to it. He was as concerned about getting his thoughts collected as he was about stilling his shaking hand. Several minutes in silence passed before the quill touched the paper. Siegfried began writing down the day’s discoveries and his own educated guesses about what it might all mean. The prince was rather pleased to find that his penmanship wasn’t suffering too badly from the shock he had just survived.

“Do you really think your people will attack that many bandits, or whatever they are?” Kurt asked him. He sounded afraid as he spoke. Siegfried could not blame him. The worry for his son hung over the man like a dark cloud. “Will they kill any of them they get their hands on?”

“I don’t know, Kurt,” Siegfried sighed. There was no point in lying to the man, when he had so much at stake. “If anyone could do it, and succeed, then it would be Eisengrim. He won’t kill your boy, I promise you that.”

The prince was only certain of one of those things. He went back to his work, while his companions waited around him.