"Jared, pray do not be so harsh on him. He was merely trying to help." Trisha said reconcilingly. Her hand began to glow with blue light as she cast a spell to tend to the party's wounds.
"Tis a pity that his assistance did more harm than good!" Jared retorted. "Such reckless and savage behavior is unbecoming of a Templar!"
Sol, heart still pounding from the heat of battle, spoke out in protest.
"But the witch was going to attack you, I had to do something-"
"I was well aware of the danger. Your intervention was unnecessary." Jared quickly cut him off, running his hands through his smooth, slicked-back hair before letting out a sigh of frustration. "First you broke formation, you endangered our entire squad, you let a rampaging witch loose on the town, and to top it all off, you even managed to lose your sword in the process!"
Sol hung his head. It had just occurred to him, but sure enough, as Jared had said, his sword remained lodged firmly in the escaped witch's torso. Back at the Training Grounds, a misplaced weapon was a serious offense, meriting harsh punishment.
"You may have earned your title as an E Rank witcher, but someone as incompetent as you will never be able to stand against the witches!" Jared burst out, glaring at Sol with contempt.
Feelings of indignation rose up in Sol's chest. He had worked tirelessly at his witcher training, and had scored well above average in every stage of the Promotion Exam. Jared was only a D Rank, one rank above him. Who was he to lecture Sol on how to do things?
Sol's anger neared its boiling point, and he was about to lash out at Jared when Trisha's voice brought him back to his senses.
"Hey, look here! Perhaps Sol's efforts were not all in vain after all."
Trisha gestured to the area near the broken window from which the spider had made her escape. An obvious trail of blood snaked across the ground, over the window, and into the streets outside.
"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Jared started towards the door. "Let's go hunt ourselves a witch."
The three Templars rushed out the main entrance to pursue their target. An obvious trail of witch's blood led them through a series of winding streets, eventually stopping in front of a rundown house in the eastern district.
Jared and Trisha glanced at each other and nodded. Jared drew his sword as he approached the entrance, Trisha following close behind. He inhaled sharply as he lifted his leg and delivered a powerful kick to the wooden door, rushing into the house with his weapon at the ready.
"No! Don't come any closer!" A girl's voice rang out across the room. Jared peered in the direction of the voice and could hardly believe his eyes.
Huddled in a corner was the witch, heaving with exhaustion and blood still seeping from her severed legs. Standing in front of the witch, with a pained expression, was a little girl with red hair.
"I won't let you hurt Mommy anymore!" Anna yelled. Her feet were planted firmly on the ground and her arms outspread, as if shielding the witch.
"Little girl, what is your name?" Jared kept his guard up as he questioned the girl.
"Anna," she answered curtly, eyes darting nervously between the three armor-clad figures before her.
"Anna, I ask you to hand your mother over, in the name of the Knights Templar." Jared took a few tentative steps forward as he spoke. "She is a witch, and she must be dealt with accordingly."
"No! I won't hand Mommy over to anyone!" Anna shouted.
"Then I am afraid you leave me no choice," Jared said as he began to rapidly weave spell signs with his hands.
"Incarcerem!"
A cube-shaped cell, glowing blue, began to solidify around Anna. She reached her hands out to push against the cube, only to find that she was completely trapped within the magical prison. She banged on the walls, screaming loudly, but the cube was completely soundproof, and her cries of desperation were left unheard.
The witch, watching this unfold, mustered the last of her strength to lift her tired body. She dashed forward, putting herself in between Anna and the Templars. She hissed menacingly, determined not to let anyone near Anna.
"She's protecting her." Trisha gasped in surprise. She had crossed paths with several witches in the past, but most of them were only capable of mindless destruction.
"Stay back, rookie." Jared addressed Sol as he lifted his blade, not once turning away from the witch. "You won't be of much help without a weapon."
Sol silently obliged, retreating to a far corner of the room.
Like an arrow in the wind, Trisha dashed towards the witch, thrusting her sword forward in a powerful lunge. The witch scuttled sideways to avoid the attack, but the point of Trisha's blade caught her in the side. She shrieked in pain, crashing into an armchair.
Almost immediately Jared was upon her, leaping towards her as he swung his sword down in a wide arc. The witch rolled out of the way, barely avoiding the strike. As she scrambled to right herself, she retaliated by spraying a large jet of webbing from her mouth. Jared quickly stepped to the side, but his shield got caught on the sticky thread.
A small tug-of-war ensued, with the witch trying to yank Jared's shield out of his arms, and Jared holding on for dear life. With a sudden burst of Herculean strength, the witch pulled Jared along with his shield, sent him flying across the room, and slammed him headlong into a large chest of drawers. He fell to the ground, unconscious.
Trisha resumed the assault, flanking the witch from the right side. The witch tried again to spray her web at Trisha, but Trisha was faster and more agile than Jared, and none of the witch's shots landed their mark.
Trisha ran circles around the witch, slashing her sword and leaving multiple cuts across the witch's body. The witch shrieked in frustration as she tried in vain to pin down the nimble Templar girl.
Soon enough, Trisha began to tire, and the witch managed to catch her with one of its legs, leaving a wide gash in Trisha's side.
Trisha yelped in pain as her knees buckled and she collapsed to the ground. The witch began to close in on her, but was interrupted by a calm voice from across the room.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you."
The witch turned around to see Sol restraining Anna in a chokehold, holding a kitchen knife to her throat.
"Mommy, help me, please…" Anna's voice trembled as she began to cry.
"Leave the others alone, and I'll release your daughter." It was taking everything Sol had to keep his hands from shaking, but this was the only way he could think of to save his squadmates.
A look of panic and fear washed over the witch's face, but it looked to Sol liked she had gotten the message. She hissed menacingly and slowly backed away from the wounded Trisha.
At that moment, Jared leapt out from behind a nearby table, sword in hand. The witch, caught by surprise, was too late to parry his attack. Shouting madly, he stabbed his sword straight into the witch's torso as far as it could go. Letting out a cry, the witch collapsed to the ground, body heaving as she drew her final breaths.
A hysterical Anna struggled against Sol's loosened grip, eventually breaking free from his grasp. Sobbing uncontrollably, she rushed over to the witch, wrapping the grotesque spider-like beast in her embrace.
"Mommy… please, don't leave me! I don't want to be all alone!"
The witch looked up at Anna weakly, tears welling up in her crimson eyes.
"Anna… I'm sorry…" The witch's raspy voice came out in an almost inaudible whisper. Her eyelids drooped as strength left her body, and she fell lifeless in Anna's arms.
Anna continued to hold her mother, wailing loudly as tears cascaded freely down her face.
"Why… Why did you take Mommy away?!" Anna shouted, her face a mess of snot and tears. "Mommy only became a witch to stop Daddy from hurting me. She didn't do anything wrong!"
Anna turned to the Jared and Trisha, anger and hatred burning in her eyes.
"You killed Mommy… Even though she was only trying to protect me. You all are the real monsters!" Anna sobbed.
The two Templars could only watch on sadly. Such situations were not unfamiliar to them; every member of the Knights Templar had witnessed similar scenes before, having all been victims of witch attacks. They knew that nothing they said to Anna could bring her mother back, and so they could only bear the brunt of her accusations in silence.
As for Sol, Anna's desperate cries did not reach him. All he could hear was an unbearably loud ringing in his ears as he fell to all fours and began to throw up violently across the cold wooden floor.
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