The Blood Witch (The Blood Reign Chronicles Book 1)

by Nielsen, D. S.

  It wasn’t much of an inn, Jak thought to himself. There was no kitchen, no beds, just a large room with a few tables, and a large fireplace at one end, but no firewood.

  Seeming to read his thoughts, Cael spoke up. “It isn’t much. You see, we don’t really have much need of an inn all the way out here, begging your pardon. This is more of a meeting place for us, but you’re welcome to bed down here for the night, if it pleases you. At least you’ll have a roof over your head. If you like, we can bring some beds in for you. It won’t be any trouble at all.”

  Nicoldani forestalled the man by telling him the floor would be fine, it was much better than the hard ground. They didn’t really need to go to all that trouble of bringing beds in just for one night.

  “It is no trouble at all,” Jan insisted, “it would be our pleasure. We have plenty of extra beds. We won’t miss four of them for one night”

  Jak wondered what she meant when she said they had plenty of extra beds. Why did they have extra beds?

  Further protests from the big man were cut short when Cael promptly sent several of the men to bring beds back for the four of them.

  In the meantime, many of the village women had filed in bringing pots of hot food, loaves of hot fresh bread, and pitchers of mulled wine. The smell began to make Jak’s stomach grumble loudly. It smelled delicious and he was ravenously hungry since they hadn’t had a good full meal since leaving Kragston.

  Cael and Jan saw to the preparations of the food, and had some of the villagers set one of the tables with dishes. The food and drink was placed on the other table. Then Cael, Jan, Kalvan, and Jissera began to serve up the food to Jak and the other three.

  “Come, Come,” Jan beckoned, “you need to eat it while it’s hot. We apologize for not being better prepared for you, but we don’t get many visitors through here. We hope everything is to your liking.”

  Jak wondered what kind of reception they would have gotten if the villagers had known they were coming. It seemed to him as if this entire affair had been prepared well in advance. He wasn’t used to being waited on in this manner, even by Svenlag, the friendly innkeeper at Kragston.

  The meal was delicious and the best Jak had eaten in what seemed like a long time. The villagers even served mulled wine to drink, but Jak didn’t want any after his run-in with the ale at Kragston. He didn’t like the way it made his head feel, especially the next day. But the friendly villagers kept trying to pour it for him, particularly Jissera, who personally served Jak. She seemed to get extremely irritated when he wouldn’t have any of the wine.

  Then again, she might just be angry since Jak would not respond to her constant advances. They made him more than a little uncomfortable, and he tried his best to just ignore Jissera. Benjim and Nicoldani seemed to think it all very amusing. Jak was glad someone thought it was funny.

  The villagers however, seemed troubled by it, and kept giving Jak chastising glares. He wished Jissera would just stop before she got him in trouble with the town’s people. He wasn’t sure, but he thought Cael and Jan were Jissera’s parents and if so, he didn’t think they would like him paying that kind of attention to their daughter.

  Finally, dinner was finished and the villagers cleared the dishes and moved the tables off to one side of the large room. They moved the beds in the center of the room with persistent apologies about not having better accommodations.

  The villagers seemed a little on edge now, and nervous about something. They kept casting worried looks at Jak. What did they think he was going to do? Did they think he would sneak out in the night to try and find Jissera?

  After a time, and many inquiries as to whether they had everything they needed for the night, Cael, Jan, Kalvan, and thankfully Jissera left. Jissera gave Jak one final “you don’t know what you’re missing” look, before closing the door behind her with a frown.

  “Aren’t they nice people?” Gin asked merrily. “They are such nice people. I do especially like Kalvan. He is so … fun!”

  “I have to admit, they are not lacking in civility,” Benjim said, shaking his head in dismay. “But they are a little odd. I don’t think I’ve ever met village folk so….friendly.” His jaw cracked with a wide yawn as he spoke the last words.

  “Very strange indeed, I don’t trust them,” Nicoldani said with a suspicious look around the room, “they have no reason to be so accommodating. I think they want something from us.”

  To Jak’s surprise, even the big man looked sleepy. He had never seen Nicoldani show signs of weariness or sleep before now. Come to think of it, he had never even seen him sleep for that matter. Nicoldani always went to bed after Jak did, and was always up before him. Maybe it was the long talks he was having with Benjim the past couple of nights. After all, everyone has to sleep eventually. Perhaps it had all finally caught up to Nicoldani.

  It wasn’t long before everyone else was fast asleep except for Jak. Benjim was snoring softly, but to Jak’s surprise, Nicoldani was snoring more loudly. It made Jak smile, he had never thought of the big man snoring, and for some reason it seemed funny to him. For all the big man’s stoic nature and proud persona, he still snored like a commonplace man.

  Jak wasn’t really that tired himself and was having trouble finding sleep. He let his mind wander and was surprised to find Jissera creep into his thoughts. He shoved her out of his head quickly, and felt a stab of guilt for even having such thoughts. He loved Brigette……well at least he thought he did….. if she was even still alive. What was he saying? Of course he loved Brigette, but he wasn’t sure if she loved him, or even if she was alive. That thought of Brigette being gone deeply saddened Jak.

  As he lay there, he noticed a sweet familiar smell wafting in the air. He supposed it was from dinner, but abruptly realized it was an even more familiar aroma than food. He sat up in bed and began to sniff the air furtively. After a moment of probing, he noticed that the smell seemed to be coming from the floor, more specifically from the odd stains on the floorboards.

  Abruptly, Jak’s heart leapt inside his chest and seemed to try to jump right out of his throat. Cold sweats ran down his back and chest, because he knew that smell all too well. It used to make him sick, but as of late, it was the most wonderful smell that he could imagine. It was fresh … it was sweet … it was blood ……human blood. He wasn’t sure how he knew it was human blood, but there was no doubt in his mind that is was.

  He sat there for a moment not knowing whether to wake the others, but if he did wake them, then what? The villagers had been nice enough up until now. Perhaps the blood had been from an accident or something like that. There was no sense in alarming the others over what was most likely nothing.

  Jak slowly lay back down on his bed and tried to relax but as his head touched the pillow, he heard a thumping noise at the door, not the sound of someone knocking, or even opening the door. It was more like a wood on wood scraping sound. He wasn’t sure but he thought maybe someone was trying to get in to the building, but the doors never did open.

  Without knowing what else to do, Jak shut his eyes pretending to be asleep. The noises at the door stopped after a few moments, and he began to breathe a little easier, until he heard one of the floorboards squeak inside the building.

  What could that be? The door had never opened, but the sound had come from off to his left, close to where Gin was sleeping. He ever so slowly, turned his head and opened his eyes just a bit, but shock froze him in place. There was a figure of a man stooping over Gin, just beginning to reach for her. Who? What? What was the man doing? The man’s back was to Jak so he couldn’t see his face, but Jak was sure it was Kalvan. He could smell him. In the darkness, his eyes caught the glint of steel in the Kalvan’s outstretched hand just above Gin’s chest.

  Rage and anger poured over Jak in torrent waves. Quicker than thought, he leapt across the room slamming into Kalvan and knocking him to the floor. Jak wrenched the knife free of Kalvan’s hand and almost ripped the man’s arm from its socket in
the process. He heard bones cracking and tendons tearing in the brutal effort. He then swung Kalvan around and smashed him face first into the wall with a loud crunch and squishing noise. The man slid down the wall to fall limply to the floor.

  Jak spun around, only to see many more of the villagers inside the room. It looked as if they all were here. But how had they gotten into the building?

  Nicoldani, Benjim, and Gin, remained sleeping soundly in their beds, not even stirring, despite all the noise. Why were they still asleep? How could they possibly sleep through all this racket. The wine, Jak thought, the villagers must have put something into the wine they served at dinner. Even Gin had taken a few sips, just wanting to taste it. Jak had seen her sneak a few more when she thought nobody was looking. Jak was the only one who hadn’t drank any.

  Many of the villages began to crowd around Jak, encircling him in an attempt to separate him from the others. Their faces were not the same as before, now they burned with fervor and anticipation, and they looked like wild animals on the prowl, eager for killing.

  “She wants you,” Jissera said, in a virulent voice, “the others,” she said, motioning to the sleeping forms, “she didn’t even say they would be coming this way.”

  “Allysix will be pleased with us if we deliver you to her,” Cael said in a frantic tone. “She will be pleased by the sacrifice of the others as well. We will sacrifice them to her to show our loyalty, and she will be pleased with us. She promised us great rewards.”

  Had they all gone mad? What were they saying? Who was this Allysix and why did she want him? Jak thought he knew all too well what they meant by sacrificing the others, but he would never let that happen.

  The encircling fanatics, armed with knives, pitchforks, and axes, were closing in on him, when Jak noticed across the room, more men moving towards his friends and Gin, who lay helpless in their beds. There was a man standing right over Nicoldani with axe raised overhead ready for the killing blow.

  Jak darted between two of the villagers, feeling a pain in his chest as he forced his way through, knocking the villagers sprawling across the room in the process. But he didn’t have time for whatever the source of the pain was right now, he must reach Nicoldani.

  Time seemed to slow and almost stop for Jak. He could see the axe descending, ever so slowly towards Nicoldani’s head, as if it was moving through thick jelly.

  Everything else in the room seemed to be moving so slowly that it almost appeared to be frozen in time, except for Jak. Even the club he had knocked from one of the villager’s hands as he barreled his way through seemed to be hanging in midair, drifting ever so slowly, like a feather caught in a wind current towards the floor.

  “Nooo!!” Jak cried, as he slammed into the man swinging the axe. The tremendous force of the collision with the assailant caused the axe to swing backwards over Jak’s shoulder and catch him in his back. It was only a glancing blow and the pain from the axe seemed to be far away and unimportant.

  They crashed into the wall with a loud crunch of bones and cartilage. Jak stepped back, and the man with the axe slid languorously….lifelessly to the floor.

  Turning, he saw a second man lowering a knife towards Benjim’s throat. Jak kicked Nicoldani’s bed over, tossing the big man several feet through the air to land hard on the floor.

  Almost in the same instant as Nicoldani hit the floor, Jak reached the man over Benjim and knocked him sprawling to the floor. He placed his hands on each side of the man’s head, twisting savagely and wrenching it around with a crunch to face the wrong way.

  The scene made him think back to that night in Elsdon, and his sister Dalla, lying the same way on his parent’s floor with her head facing the wrong direction. It almost made him want to cry, but he forced the feeling down with effort. He didn’t have time for that right now, Gin and the others were in danger and he had to stop these people from hurting them.

  As Jak stood, he glanced back, and thankfully saw Nicoldani struggling groggily to his feet. The big man was slow in getting up, but at least he was awake now.

  The other villagers were just now reacting and turned back on Jak, with fear and rabid hatred in their eyes. One of the nearby chairs served as a bludgeon to eliminate several of the oncoming villagers. He swung it with such force that it splintered into many pieces as it struck bodies and tore flesh.

  Discarding the useless remains of the chair, he picked up one of the tables with ease and heaved it into the villagers, taking out several more of them with a cracking of bones and skulls.

  From the corner of his eye, Jak could see Nicoldani, sword in hand, facing two more of the fanatics. Jak was confident the big man could handle both of them, even in his current state.

  Instinct took over, and Jak raged through the remaining villagers, ripping and tearing flesh as well as bone with his bare hands. Blood spattered over him, drenching his shirt and dripping down his face, making its way over his lips….. Blood, sweet blood, the taste in his mouth, the life…… it was more than he could withstand.

  Jak spared a glance to see Nicoldani trying to wake Benjim, and then he turned to find himself facing the only remaining person standing in the room besides himself and Nicoldani. It was Jissera. She had a burning in her eyes of a mad person, but she was cowering away from Jak as if he were a poisonous viper. He walked slowly to her across the blood-drenched floor.

  “You cannot stand against Allysix,” Jissera spat. “Allysix will devour you.”

  Without thought, Jak reached out and drew the young woman to him, pressing his body against hers. She writhed and squirmed trying to get free of his grasp. He wound his arms around her in an embrace and pulled her tighter.

  After a moment, Jissera stopped squirming and looked up at him hesitantly. The fear drained from her eyes and was replaced with pleasure and expectation, at what she surely thought to be her victory. Jissera reached up caressingly, to place her arms around Jak’s neck and draw his face down towards hers. He bent slightly towards her, as if to kiss her. Jissera closed her eyes and turned her lips up awaiting his kiss…..

  Jissera’s eyes snapped wide in horror and comprehension as Jak’s teeth sunk deep into her neck. The hot blood streamed between Jak’s lips, across his tongue, pulsing into his mouth and surge inside him. The feeling of invigoration, satisfaction, and pure life that he had felt briefly at his grandparent’s house in Kragston returned to him ten fold. It was like a candle compared with a raging bonfire. It was wonderful, it was ecstasy….his thirst was finally satisfied at last, as he drank deeply of Jissera’s life blood.

  Distant pleading voices, that seemed infinitely far away cried out to Jak, saying “NO! You must not, NO!” But the voices seemed so far away that he wasn’t even sure if it was his own, or someone else’s voice.

  Caught up in the splendor and euphoria, he ignored them, as the life slowly drained from Jissera’s eyes and she slumped limply in his arms. He savored the last few drops of her blood, his head thrown back allowing the blood to trickle down his throat.

  Abruptly, Jak felt hands on his shoulders struggling with him, pulling at him. He released his hold on the young woman and spun around, grabbing the man in front of him by the throat and lifting him off the ground. The man’s feet remained only a few inches off the ground, considering that was as high as Jak’s arm could reach. The man was extremely large and tall, and a distant thought in the back of Jak’s mind made him wonder how he could even lift this giant of a man. Another thought asked him, why he was holding his friend by the throat, crushing the life out of him.

  Jak suddenly felt...something…entwining his legs, then around his chest, and finally his arms. He realized that an unseen force was holding him tightly, and he could not move at all. He thought that it must be something the old man was doing to bind him. The only thing he could do was release his grip, and let the big man fall the short distance to the floor. When Jak did, he immediately found a sword point at his throat as the big man regained his footing.

&n
bsp; “NO! Nicoldani,” Benjim shouted across the room.

  Jak could feel the point of the sword at his throat digging in to his skin. Consciousness and realization began to return for Jak, and as it did, the atrocity of what he had just done came crashing down onto him. At that moment, if he would have been able to move he would have thrown himself on the sword. Regrettably, Nicoldani lowered it to his side. Moments later, Benjim released whatever it was that was holding him, and Jak slumped to the floor.

  Jak wondered what was wrong with him. What had he done? What had he become? He actually drank…… The thought made his stomach heave and he emptied it noisily on the floor in front of him in a black-red pool, oozing across the floor and dripping between the floorboards. But instantly, a part of him wanted it back, and he struggle fiercely against the urge to bend down and lick it up. That part of him wanted the blood more than anything else.

  After several moments, the old man came to Jak’s side to help him to his feet. Jak noticed for the first time, the handle of a large knife protruding from his own chest. He looked down in wonder at the handle of the knife. It looked similar to one of his mother’s large butcher knives. He grasped hold of it without thinking and wrenched it free. The feeling of the cold steel blade sliding out of his body was ….peculiar.

  “No, stop..…” Benjim started to say, reaching for Jak’s hand, but it was too late. Jak had already pulled the large knife free from his chest and dropped it on the floor. Benjim rushed to him and quickly unlaced Jak’s blood soaked shirt. To the old man’s shock, the wound was only bleeding a little, instead of gushing like it should be from such an injury. Most of the blood drenching Jak’s shirt was what had spattered and sprayed from the villagers he had killed. Benjim stared blankly, transfixed by the wound for several moments before finally saying, “Let me get a poultice to put on the wound to keep the infection away.”