The Witch of Algan Bog

I did not sleep that night. Part of me wanted to forget everything that had happened. Part of me was convinced it had all been nothing but a dream. And part of me wanted to take Lori and all of my pets ,and flee. Somewhere far away. I had no idea what I had released, but part of me knew it was not over. 

I decided to scout the bogs, moving quietly with my swamp shoes so as not to sink into the hungry ground. I did not dare enter the village of my birth again and have the faces of strangers further spoil the few happy memories of my childhood that still whispered in my mind as I lay in bed at night. But I had to move closer. See what the spirit had done to the village. See if they would come seeking vengeance on the witch of Algan bog.

I could smell the smoke before I saw it rising above the high trees, like a great dark cloud growing from the earth. Then I felt the heat of the flames... the screams. The roars of anger. And I dared not walk any closer. 

I ran back home as fast as I could. I did not know what I would do yet. Run? Hide? Fortify myself in my home and have my pets protect me as long as possible? But I was not given a choice...

I had scarcely made it home for a few moments when I heard the screams... I peeked out the door to see a villager being ripped in half by one of my guardians, his still screaming torso slammed against a tree until it turned to pulp.

There was a dozen men around my guardian. Another dozen approached from the south, only to find themselves being torn apart by another of my pets. I do not know if they tracked my footprints that I had been too careless to cover... or they had followed the source of the flame. Either way, they had come to steal my new home, as they had my first.

I thought my guardians would be enough, until one of the villagers took a torch to it... the fire spread quickly. The smoke of the damp swamp wood that I had used to strengthen my child's bones filled the air as I watched him burn. The second soon followed.

Rage filled me. They would not throw me out! I was here first! That was all I could think. There was no mercy in my heart at that moment. If there ever had been.

I stepped out my door, yelling from the top of my lungs. "Kill the all, my pets! My children! Do not let them take what is ours! Show them fury! Show them wrath! 

I only held back Lori. Her and I would watch as my other pets emerged, from the hut, from the forest, some even from the very soil of the bog... dozens raining death on my attackers. Tearing them limb from limb. 

"Kill her! Burn the witch!" a desperate cry wrang from those trying to survive. Those who could fled towards me. Torches in hand. Aiming to burn my hut and me with it. And I retreated inside with Lori.

I am ashamed to this day. But I was no fighter. My pets are what kept me alive. I was cornered once more as they broke down the door. Started to set fire to my home. Lori tore one of their throats out. No pitchforks or axes managed to hold her down, as I jusy cowered in the corner...

Once more a  helpless child watching the enemy burn my home... And as tears streamed down my cheeks, I saw Lori fall, a torch jammed right in her heart. 

They approached and I sat, cowering, crying as the fire began to spread. It was all over. The cruel and unjust of the world had finally found me. Finally finished me. I would join Lori. Join my parents...

But as I saw Lori's blood seep into the floor... I stood up. I refused. 

"I refuse!" I screamed and yelled, "This is my home!"

I watched the tuskbeast bones of my hut come alive. Twist and turn and snake as the villagers backed up in shock. I stood defiant. If my home would collapse and burn, I would go with it. But I would not go alone. 

They tried to run, but the bones blocked the door. I watched as the ceiling collapsed on one. A tusk shoot from the wall and stab through the heart of another. A beam hit my shoulder, dislocating it. But still, I stood defiant. 

The smoke clouded my vision and threatend to choke the life from my lungs. I could no longer see the villagers as I heard their screams, the crunch of their breaking bones. But still I stood defiant.

Lori's final act. Her blood protecting me even as her body finally withered. Algan Bog was mine. No stranger would take it from me. 

But the love of Lori's soul was too great to allow me to perish... the bones tore a hole in the wall. They gripped my ankles and tore me out...

I slipped out of the hut like a baby pulled from the womb. I saw it collapse with a final scream from within. And then silence. 

There were no villagers left alive, save for a few bleeding and groaning on the ground. I left them to die slow, as my mother had. They deserved it...

I wiped the tears from my face. Lori was gone. My home was gone. I had nothing left. Truly nothing. I was all alone... Algan Bog was mine. But there was nothing left in it for me.

"You are free now," I said as I watched my surviving children wander aimlessly, "I have only one request... Kill anyone who would dare settle the land of my birth once more. Algan Bog will always be ours..."

And so I wandered off. I left Algan Bog behind. Covered in soot and blood, in rags, caked in dirt, I walked through the woods and did not stop. It began to rain. I did not mind. Eventually, I came upon a road. Roads led to the cities of the Conglomerate, so I always avoided them. But I no longer cared. I had no place anymore.

I walked the road alone, not knowing where it might lead. I was alright with that. I expected I would die soon anyway. I did not mind. But then I heard the beating of hooves, the squeaking of carriage wheels. 

A black coach stopped besides me. A large rough looking man in a long black coat at the front. "You sure you want to stop madam?" he shouted to the back, barely glancing at me as he brushed his greying long beard. "These bogs are said to be haunted..."

I found myself stunned as I just stared at him. I would have normally called for Lori to protect me. But Lori was gone. The door of wagon slowly opened, and a middle aged lady in a black and red dress and a small black hat looked out, her brown hair in a bun. There was a pale young man with short brown hair next to him. Both stared at me. With pity. 

"Oh you poor thing..." she said, ignoring the driver with a roll of her eyes. And still I just stared at her. I did not remember the last time I had spoken to another person. She offered her hand and I took it without thought. She guided me inside the coach, and I sat beside her. "What is your name, darling?"

"H... Hela," I answered.