Witch - Prologue

It was the crack of dawn. People were awakened from their dreams by the loud rhythmic drumbeats. They knew what it meant. The workers, who worked through the night, were now putting their final touches at the stake. People gathered around to watch the Burning of the Witches. Five women dressed in black were brought into the village centre in carts; five women – all beautiful, none ugly – with high crimes in their names. They were pulled out of the cart one by one. With chains jangling from their wrists and ankles, they were led towards the stake. People near them took a step backwards fearing that their Dark Magic would rub onto them.

From afar, five women dressed in white arrived. Their heads were covered with a hood that even covered their faces. They silently joined the crowd. The leader of the five prisoners looked at the crowd and noticed the new arrivals and smirked. Their attendance was expected. Men grabbed the Women in Black with their trembling hands and tied them to the stake. The village head stood at the edge – as far from the women as possible – of the stake and announced the reasons of these five women’s burning. He droned for ten minutes reading the acts committed by these five women from a scroll but no one understood what he said. All they could understand was the last sentence, “… and the most important reason is that these women practice witchcraft, they are witches.”

The torch bearers came forward and brought forth the flames. The witches did not show signs of struggle and awaited their doom. Not a flinch, nor a twitch; they were calm in the face of fire. The flames licked the haystack under the wooden stake and then engulfed it. Suddenly there was a loud cackle in the air. The leader of the Black Witches cackled. There was loud humming and the crowd took a few fearful steps backwards. Only the Women in White did not move.

The other four began to chant something not understood by the ordinary village folk, in a trance. And the leader translated the language of witchcraft in a loud deep voice, “There is no redemption for what you have done to us; you shall all pay. Our spirits will leave these bodies and reincarnate for revenge another day. My sisters and I will return; we will return with powers unknown to any Man. You shall all pay!””

It was a curse, a curse of reincarnation, a promise to return for revenge. The village folk watched in fear. The fire burnt for the entire day, the ashes were put into a jar and buried far away in a cave. But the fear of their return did not leave until many centuries to come. The village folk wondered, “Even with the witches gone, could we not live in peace?”

The Women in White left after only an hour of the show. They went to their home; a little cave in the mountains where others just like them stayed for sanction. Their teacher waited for news. “Tell me White Witches, what news have you brought from the Burning of the Black Witches?” he said.

The White Witches retold the situation that occurred at the Burning of the Witches. They told him of the Curse of Reincarnation. The old wizard looked worried. This was what he was afraid of. “It seems our work will never be complete until we can stop those Black Witches. They have caused great trouble, and I have allowed all this to happen,” he sighed. “Even in death they will now torment us.”

The leader of the five White Witches came closer and put her hand on his, “Father, we will not stop our mission. We will stop these witches from reincarnating.”

The wizard put his hand on her head, “My dear daughter, it is not possible to stop the reincarnation. We have to let them come back and fight.”

“Then we will teach our daughters,” she said. A little girl ran towards her and wrapped her arms around her waist.

“This is all we can hope for,” the old man said slowly. “Come, we should inform the others of this news.”

These were the five White Witches who helped apprehend, anonymously, the five Black Witches. Just as they had thought their work was complete they realized that they still have a lot of work to do. They have to await the advent of the Black Witches’ reincarnated forms and there was no telling when they would return.

Author notes

again, only part of the story...
need more? just contact me

A contest entry

Please tell me what you think

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    Comment Suggestion: What is your your first impression?
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Comments

1 - 7 of 7

  • Marisalyn13
    July 2
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    This was a good story. Good luck in my contest!


  • Rosemary silver member
    September 27, 2007

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    Good story

    Good luck with the contest. Don't forget to put the results of reincarnationstation in the author's notes.

  • Baba Jojo
    September 1, 2007
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    dont like beginning much, me...but this was good. Nice job!


  • ladynigritude
    August 22, 2007

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    Notes:

    "People were awoken from their dreams" - This sounds awkward...Perhaps it should be "were awakened"?

    "Five women dressed in black were brought into the village centre in carts; five women – all beautiful none ugly – with high crimes in their names." - I think there should be a comma or something between "beautiful" and "none"

    "The Women in White left only an hour of the show." - Should be "left AFTER only an hour"

    "They went to their home. A little cave in the mountains where others just like them stayed for sanction." - This should be either "They went to their home, a little cave..." or "They went to their home. It was a little cave..."

    "Just as they had thought their work was complete they realize that they still have a lot of work to do. " - Should be "realizED" and "that they still HAD". This story was written in the past tense, but "realize" and "have" are present tense. You have to keep your tenses the same...

    "They have to await the advent of the Black Witches’ reincarnated forms" - Should be "They HAD to await"


    Anyway, other than that, this was well-written and fairly interesting...Though I wish you would have posted the entire story for my contest, because with only having the first part of this story, I feel that I cannot judge it fairly against the others.... But anyway, thank you for entering!


  • Taylor Renee
    July 18, 2007

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    Ooooh this is a pretty cool beginning.
    First about the writing style:
    I liike the way you wrote it, I love your vocabulary. But it did get a little confusing, I revommend rereadiong it pretending you've never seen it before. That helps me. Just a suggestion! It wasn't bad
    Now. The plot. The fun part
    This is an awesome idea. You should definately continue, and sure I'd love to read it! I think it's a great plot and you carried it out well
    Good job, good luck and thanks soooo much for entering my contest!
    xoxo
    Tay


  • Shiny
    July 16, 2007

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    Wooh, a witch battle. Now that's somehting I haven't had yet. Very original and kinda cool, actually. Thanks for the cool enrty and hope to read more from you.

    Love Shiny


  • Aaez
    July 2, 2007

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    i think it's really awesome..the start is pretty interesting....!!
    and i think you should write the rest of it and really put it here! good job!!

1 - 7 of 7