Banished

6

Willow

"Now, now, no need to panic. As long as no one attempts to escape or attack these precious colleagues of mine won't hurt a soul."

Her voice was a hiss and her eyes were in slits as she sent a thin smile out to the crowd. Willow had never seen a Serpent Soul before but now that she had she could see why they had all be Banished so long ago. Although, apparently, they weren't as Banished as previously thought.

"We're here for the Banished Seer and for the power. It was wrong for what you've done to my people, and it's time for a correction to that particular mar in history."

There was no interference in her words because the room was silent except for the his and movement of snakes surrounding them. Willow trembled at the sight of the snakes and their lifeless eyes that seemed to translate to human form if the woman on stage was any indication.

"You may not have the Seer! Your kind was Banished long ago, you have no power in this world!"

A younger male Fowl Soul shouted from his spot in the crowd and what he said seemed to displease  the woman because with a swift flick of her wrist the man was take down along with two who stood beside him by the snakes slithering through the crowd. Their cries were cut short as the poison coursed through their veins and the Boas constricted their throats.

Willow covered her mouth to cover a shocked cry as her eyes filled with tears. It pained her to see members of her flock be cut down so swiftly and painfully. Fear began to build in her stomach and she almost reached for Needle when she noticed the snakes that had slipped under her dress had begun to wrap their way around her ankles, so softly that if she hadn't noticed the movement beneath her gown she would have never known. From her years of studies she knew they were lethally poisonous and didn't dare move.

She glanced around at the feet of others to see snakes linking around them as well as slipping beneath gowns and had to still the shivers that threatened to spread over her body. She clenched her fists and looked back to the stage where the woman smiled.

"Does anyone else wish to defy me or may I continue?"

No one spoke and her smile grew as she glanced around before her gaze went to the back of the room, where the servant doors were carefully concealed and she nodded, signaling for a group of at least forty black hooded figures in long cloaks to begin weaving through the crowd with no resistance as many began to notice the snake chains containing them.

"Here's how this will work. Every single person in this room has at least two pairs of snakes around their ankles. I won't lie and say that every single snake is poisonous. There are a few of you who may not have one poisonous snake on your body. You can try to move if you would like, test your luck. It does not hurt me in any way. But for any of you who wish not to make such a foolish decision tell us where the Seer is and then we will be on our way. If no one fesses up I will kill you one by one until I find her."

Her words were lazy as her eyes scanned the crowd in a morbidly bored tone. She flicked a strand of oily black hair over her bony shoulder and took a moment to inspect her nails, waiting for someone to speak.

"Listen people if my first warning wasn't enough I will give another! I could care less about any of your lives just like you didn't care about my peoples! We want the Seer but the rest of you are, well, dispensable."

Her words chilled Willow and she was about to reveal herself when Needle sent her a look that stilled any words that could come out of her mouth and she immediately knew what he meant. If they were to get their hands on Willow's abilities then they would have all the power and have no reason to keep anyone in the room alive. Then they would have complete control, and would no doubt take out their anger over all the people.