The Northerlands book one: The Knight of the Order of The Reborn.

The House of the Witch

"Did you get a look at the rouge werewolf?"  The sheriff  said as Deville neighbors helped clear away the pieces  of "Joe" .

Deville didn't answer, she just kept staring at the blood and flesh that covered the grass in front of her.

"Miss" The sheriff  "I know this must be hard but I need you to answer the question."

"I'm sorry'" Deville said without taking her eyes off the red grass,  no  I didn't see anything, I was inside the entire time".

"I understand" the fiddly with his belt and sword hilt.  Then he moved on to talk to her neighbors.

"Are you ok?" Alex said coming up behind her .

"I will be."

"You want to talk about it?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Well"

"It not like I knew him very well, but him seemed like a very descent guy.  If we had gotten to know each other better will might have became friends, maybe some thing more, He was kind and funny,  he just didn't deserve to go out like, it just-"

"Not fair." 

Deville nodded 'yeah I guesses "

"Life isn't fare Deville" Alex stated

 "I already know that." Deville snapped, remembering back to her fathers death. That death hadn't been as blood as Joe's, but it hurt her much more.  "But knowing doesn't  make it any easier."
 

Alex only reply was silence. 

Finale it was Deville who spoke " It's strange that he was killed by a rouge."

"Not really, he said with a shrug. "Rouge werewolves happen, it not very common but it dose happen. It like being struck by lightning."  

"Yeah but, you see I had a dream last night about rouge werewolves. Actually I had the same dream for several night how."

Alex took a moment to think "That is strange, I once ran to a medium  who said that dreams were messages of future."

"My Mistress says all that stuff is superstation, she calls it story book magic.   She says that even if the soul continues to live after the body dies there is no form magic that can allow you to contact them, and that dreams or nothing but our own minds speaking back to us as we sleep.

Alex shrugged again "Wise old Ferula is probably right, but still it dose make you wonder. By the way shouldn't you be at Ferula?

"Considering what happened I was going to take the day off?"

"And Ferula was ok with that? She barley gave you any time off for Harmony day?

"I didn't ask Ferula"

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  After leaving the corpse of the man and his wolf, Merael was careful to take precautions.  She covered her wound in mud, not very good for preventing infection, but it would help to mask the sent of blood. She traveled through rivers and made false trails, and she prayed. He must of heard her because she find no more of giant wolves or their riders.

    But now she had other problems, the possibility of infection for one. She washed her wounds every day, but  she need a fresh  set of bandages.   She could also use some wine to wash her wounds.  It was then that she came upon a town.  

She snuck in  at night, she was sure she want to announce her presents yet. Not if she could avoided it at least.  She past a house of  with a  green serpent on the front of the door.

She paused,  "Physician in the southern lands paint a red serpent on their door. Perhaps physician in the northern lands use a green serpent." she thought.    She considered about knocking and ask for help but decide to remain hidden for as long as possible.  

  She found the door surprisingly unlocked, she went inside. She pass threw the living quarters find the door to the work room. There was no physician table, but there was a self of medical herbs and  in on one shelf fresh bandages  "Him be praised." She said under her breath 

She picked up the  bandages "A Knight must not steal" her inner voice said. She pulled out a few coins and left in the place of the bandages.

"What are you doing here?" a voice whispered behind her

Merael turned to find a elderly woman, the expression on her face reminded her of her mother when as a child she caught her with her hand in a apple jar.

"I-" was all she managed before a gust of wind threw her into shelf. She fell to the floor, she hit her head hard are the floor. Her head went dizzy but she didn't lose conscious, but she was smart enough to pretend that she had.

"Dear, didn't your parents tell you never to steal from a witch?" she said gloat over what she thought was a unconscious foe.

She turned to leave, but Merael caught her foot causing her to trip, using the witches body as leverage she forced herself to his feet.  She ran for the door, if this woman was a witch's house then she wanted to leave this house now. 

Another gust of wind threw her against one wall.

"Not so fast" she said a voice that inspires child fair tale monsters.

Merael pulled a picture from wall and through it at the witch. A gust of wind through it out aside.

"Do you really think that trick would work on me?"  She said seeming to grow taller. "I am witch of whirlwind, I stood before the-" that when Merael tackled her  voice came out   "whoop"  as the breath left her.  

  Merael got off her.  She real should kill the witch. If the fair tales her parent told her were true then witch would curse those victims that got away with madness.  But try as she might she was just too much of knight to kill an old woman.  She escaped into the night before the witch could recover.