A blade in the night? Must be good news.

Chapter 4

"What do you think happened here?" the girl asked.

"That's witch's work. No good news if you are still unsure. At least now we know where to go" answered Septimus. "And now it's time to show how fast can you be"

He quickly jumped on the horse and rode off. He knew that they were close. So he rode as fast as his horse could go without taking notice whether or not the girl was keeping up with him. It was hard for her to keep his pace but she succeeded. The road was getting darker and the trees along the road were nearly all either withered or burnt. Soon they approached a large dark castle. It looked like it was very familiar with large quantities of magic usage. Not far from it they dismounted.

"Looks like we're not the only ones interested in getting in" whispered Septimus and pointed towards the entrance. The girl saw a young man on the outside of the castle trying to take a look through a window. Septimus moved towards him while the girl ran to the other side of the entrance trying to find a less obvious way in. She noticed a hole in the wall that was probably meant to be a small window or some kind of fortification. It was a bit high but the wall was fit for climbing. The girl reached the hole and squeezed through it. She found herself in a kind of a gallery with large shelves which led towards a platform on which two witches were standing. The third was currently in a fight with Septimus. He was doing pretty well considering that his leather coat was on fire. The other guy was nowhere to be seen.

The girl started moving slowly towards the platform trying to make as little noise as possible.

She was halfway to the platform when Septimus killed the witch he was fighting with. The second witch produced something that looked like a wax doll. The girl made few more steps. The witch twisted the doll's arm and the girl saw Septimus's arm snap. She covered her mouth not to scream. She has seen a lot of brutality in her short life but somehow seeing a man being so totally in power of some ugly old woman with a doll was too horrible for her. She needed to move faster but she couldn't do it without the risk of being noticed too soon.

The witch broke man's leg in the same manner and hearing the bones being snapped made the girl feel sick. She was already nearly running. The platform was close, so close. She had to get there before that woman made something even worse. The girl reached the corner and stopped. She was close to panic. She started mentally talking to herself.

"Now, think, stupid cow. What is your goal? Not to let him get hurt..." the sound of cracking bones was still clear in her head "...more. And those two mad crones are just standing in my way. Take a deep breath" She indeed took a deep breath.

"Let's put out those flames, shall we?" said the witch.

At that moment the girl made a leap and striked the witch in the elbow just in the place where the nerve runs. In pain the witch pushed her hand forward and up and involuntarily unclenched the fist that was holding the doll. The doll made a long arc in the air and landed on the floor far from the stairs that led from the platform. In the next moment the third witch came from the girl's back and stabbed her. She felt a piercing pain in her side and only had time to think "Try it my way next time! You stupid son of a..." and then everything went black.