After killing the bunch of witch hunters, Damien and Penny made another round around the village before they came to the conclusion that these very people who were in their petrified state right now would be used as sacrificial people for the ritual that was going to take place tomorrow night. Time was scarce and they still had to find people in the list so that there would be less trouble being caused when the time came to stop the black witches from running the ritual to unlock the bound magic.
"We need to catch the next witch hunter to get some answers from them. We don't know where the binding is taking place until now only that this village is under the spell," said Damien to her while sitting on the tree while scouting the village from a distance to make sure they didn't miss any new visitor. By the looks of it, so far the village appeared to be isolated that made it an easier subject to be attacked by the black witches.
"What if there are other villages?" it worried Penny that there was more than one village in the land of Mythweald, "Why does it feel like somewhere in and around, there are officials who are helping the black witches."
"That is because they are," Damien said, moving his leg back and forth on the branch. Penny had taken herself to sit on the tree that reminded her of the time she had climbed the tree of Damien's order, "Creed was a councilman like any of us but he was a pureblooded vampire who had pretty good and decent connections around the lands so it wouldn't be surprising if you others being involved in this act."
"But why? I understand the woman who got executed. Humans always felt they were mistreated and were looked and frowned upon by the others," said Penny to him, "Why would a pureblooded vampire want to take part in it?" It was because if the black witches found power, they would come up in the hierarchy but they would also punish the pureblooded vampires along with the rest of the creatures who walked on these lands.
She saw Damien looking at a distance, his face facing the village whilst he stared at the little houses and a medium-sized tower,
"When the previous head council was killed by the witches and humans, they needed someone to replace and fill the position. The council members being eligible put their names and during that time, Councilman Creed was in a high standing position with enough credibility that could have given him an easy free pa.s.s to be the head council. It is many people's dream to be the head council, to be at the top, and to change things the way they want it to be."
"But he didn't get the position," Penny said, making the man smile. If he did, he would have been the head council now but he wasn't and not to forget he was dead, "What happened?" she asked Damien.
"Aunt Isabell happened," Damien chuckled, "It had been many years since Aunt Isabell and Uncle had been married, and Rueben who was her friend, and his name was recommended for the position."
It was obvious that Rueben was given the position as he was still doing a fairly decent job.
"Even though the man had credibility, it wasn't enough to secure his position in the council. I am guessing he turned spiteful over the matter, the rest is history as you know. Aunt Isabell's death and the rest of the events that followed through…" Damien's words trailed and he sighed, "People don't care at times on how their actions are going to impact in the future. They care about the momentary happiness and to finish and take what they can get. It is obvious he was going to be attacked by the black witches and maybe he had a plan or maybe he didn't but he is no more in the game. People you think who are important in the game as main players, in the end, turn out to be p.a.w.ns who were only being used."
That was true, thought Penny to herself. For a man who was a councilman had been taken out of this whole act while the black witches were still running the show wanting to end it on their terms.
She was looking around the village when something caught her eye and she pulled Damien's sleeve, "Look there. We have another visitor," she saw a woman who had walked into the village with the weapons that clearly shone under the sunlight right now.
"Time to get some information," said Damien jumping down from the tree graciously like he was used to doing this and helping Penny down.
They followed the witch hunter who was walking ahead of them as they followed her when she took a turn and followed her footsteps, they noticed the woman had suddenly disappeared. The witch hunter suddenly crept from behind and placed her crossbow on Damien's back.
"You think you can sneak up on me that easily?" she asked him and Penny turned around to meet the woman's eyes to see the slit eyes and her skin that had been turned. Under the rays of light, her skin shone in a particular way that reminded her of a snake. The woman had been either turned from a human to a black witch or the other way round, the bottom line being she was a black witch who was not on their side.
Damien raised both of his hands, "Drop your weapons," she said and he dropped it and on Damien's expression, Penny dropped her own crossbow that she had been carrying with her on the ground, "I didn't know we were going to have company, witch hunters," this meant she was a black witch.
"What happened to the village?" Damien asked her and when he tried to move, the witch pushed the sharp edge of the arrow at his back.
"Wouldn't you like to know. Where is the magistrate? I can't smell him," the black witch demanded, while she inhaled the air.
"Oh, him...apologies but the girl here killed him," Damien placed the blame on Penny that had her look at him in alarm.
Just before the black witch could pull and dislodge the arrow into Damien's back, he quickly turned around and pulled the crossbow breaking it into two halves and giving it back to the black witch, "What an impatient black witch, there you can use it now."
The black witch appeared surprised. Seeing the strength of the man, the black witch quickly jumped away and ran in the opposite direction in a haphazard fas.h.i.+on. She ran in haste throwing everything in her way at them before jumping on to her broom that she had parked against one of the walls.
"She's running away," Penny shouted while keeping up with Damien's speed as well as the black witch who had started to fly up in the air. Unlike them, Penny's stamina was still progressing and she would need months of training before she would be able to run that fast.