Chương 95: Better

"They're just jealous because she's beautiful and they're ugly," Gertruda said. That sort of made sense to Bernard. While the inquisitors he had seen were not particularly ugly—actually they were mostly average or above average looking—but Hecate was… well she was so beautiful she might as well have been a goddess. No disrespect meant to Stvora, of course. No mortal woman he'd ever seen came even close to her. Not even Gertruda in her youth, and she had turned plenty of heads.

He was a little confused why Gertruda mentioned that over the complete abandonment of their protective duties, though. Someone in the back shouted, "ARE YOU SAYING YOU HATE BABIES?" The lead inquisitor angrily shouted something Bernard couldn't hear over the cries of the crowd. He only caught the last part, which was "hate babies!" and gasped. Hecate shook her head in disgust.

"They said the only good baby is a dead baby." Gertruda pulled on Bernard's ear again.

"See, Bernie! See! He just went and said it! They hate babies!" Hecate dropped to her knees and slammed her fist into the sand, demanding to know why the Church was killing their babies. Bernard felt tears well up in his eyes.

"YEAH! EXPLAIN YOURSELF!" he yelled, overcome with emotion, no longer caring what would happen to him.

"You ol' dirty bastard!" Gertruda yelled at the inquisitor. Hecate went into another monologue, gesturing wildly, then pointed at the inquisitor who was missing a tooth.

"He's missing a tooth! Probably from all the baby-hating! Maybe he broke it trying to EAT one."

"I knew it!" Gertruda said.

"Everyone in the Church eats babies! My mother warned me about this! I'm glad someone is finally standing up to them." Bernard was even angrier now. The Church eats babies? If they ate babies, there probably was no limit to their depravities. He felt bile rise up his throat. All this time they had been forced to pay most of what little they made to this organization that unrepentantly ate babies?! Was that the real reason the Church kept them poor?

So they would be powerless to do anything about it when they found out? Or did they keep them poor just because they could? Maybe the Swamp Devil never even existed and it was the Church stealing all those kids in the night.

"ENOUGH." the inquisitor said, voice booming so unnaturally loud Bernard physically felt it in his skull. The crowd went silent and it was as if everyone was holding their breath. Hecate appeared to be the only one unaffected. She stood up slowly, confidently.

"Yes, Bogumir. Enough. Your reign of terror ends today." The inquisitors got in attack formation and the people started backing up. No one wanted to get caught in the crossfire of obviously powerful magic users. Some people retreated back into their homes. Bernard and Gertruda took shelter behind a house, peeking around the corner, not willing to miss what was about to happen. A small crowd remained in the street, though now with some distance between them and the spectacle.

Bogumir started walking towards Hecate, and as he did, so did his arm. Gertruda gasped.

"Are you seeing this, Bernie?"

"He's a devil!" Bernard whispered. Right after he said that one of the other inquisitors shot a projectile at a child. Hecate managed to stop the projectile with one of her own, though Bernard did not see where hers had come from. Then another inquisitor hurled a flaming boulder at the child, and horrified gasps and shouts were heard all around. Hecate pushed the kid away just in time, saving it again.

"They're going after the children!" Gertruda said.

"Someone save the children!"

"You're not going to convince the people here you don't hate babies if you keep trying to kill them," Bernard heard Hecate say.

"Don't believe her lies," Bogumir said.

"We do not hate babies. She's a witch with a one million gold bounty on her. She will say anything to stay alive. They always do. She's extremely dangerous, which is why the bounty is so high. Think of what you would be able to buy with all that gold. Anyone who kills her will be rich beyond belief. You would be rich enough to become a Mozhnovwatsa." A one million gold bounty? Bernard did not believe it. Why would he? These people ate babies and were trying to kill children right in front of their mother's eyes.

Poor innocent children. Even if the bounty were true, becoming a Mozhnovwatsa was not worth losing your soul helping these murderers. Aiding these demons would be no different from being one yourself. Bernard would rather be poor and good, than rich and evil. All he needed in life were his Gertruda, his vodka, and of course his good boy, Kajtek, the best dog in the world. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

To his horror the people started murmuring, and some men even stepped forward to join the inquisitors. Oskar was one of them. Gertruda pulled on Bernard's shirt.

"I always knew that Oskar was up to no good! The man has soulless eyes. I hope that lady gives him what he deserves."

"You know," Hecate said.

"One million gold might sound good, but it's hard to spend when you're dead. And I can assure you, anyone who steps against me will die. In fact, anyone who even has thoughts about harming me—maybe you're thinking about stabbing me in the back, in a moment when I appear weak—will die. Just a warning. If you have those thoughts and you don't want to burn, you better get far away from me." A couple of them hesitated. Some people left the crowd.

"Last chance," Hecate said.

"Anyone who is against me will die."

"She's trying to scare you," Bogumir said.

"She can't read your minds, and she can't burn you. She's no fire mage."

"Oh yeah? I can't read minds? Then how come I know you're thinking about wearing women's underwear right now?" More scandalized gasps from the crowd.

"Disgusting degenerate," Gertruda spat. That sick bastard! Thinking about wearing women's underwear while attacking children? Bernard thought. Their perversion knows no bounds! Hecate disappeared, then reappeared behind the inquisitor who had fired the small projectile at the child. He turned around, laughing, only to instantly erupt into flames.

"Punish the baby-eaters!" Bernard said. Oskar also caught flame, followed by someone in the crowd, and people started crying and screaming.

"Strike down the impure of heart!" someone yelled.

"Stvora has sent her to protect us from evil!" Hecate threw herself on top of the burning inquisitor as he fell, ignoring the flames. Bernard heard two thunderous cracks echo through the air. A moment later she was on fire as well, and the crowd erupted in fresh screams. Unlike the others, Hecate did not scream. She calmly got up, fully ablaze now, and breathed a cone of fire from side to side as if she were a dragon.

"Impossible," Gertruda whispered.

"She's a saint!" Someone shouted.

"Stvora has blessed her!"

"The inquisitors lied!" Someone said. Despite evidence that Hecate was on their side, and that she was clearly blessed by Stvora, someone fired an arrow at her. Confused shouts followed. Hecate didn't even bother dodging and the arrow harmlessly bounced off her.

"She's immortal!"

"She's divine!" Still, a second arrow shot at her from somewhere Bernard couldn't see. This time, another loud bang was heard and the arrow simply fell out of the air. The crowd gasped in unison, but Hecate seemed unimpressed and unbothered. Flames were still licking her skin, but she didn't care. It looked like the fire belonged to her. Now she was talking to one of the villagers who had stepped up to claim the one million gold bounty.

Perhaps she was trying to convince him not to throw his life away, showing patience and mercy even to this man who did not deserve it, so willing to sell his soul just to kill her for money. Bernard's mind struggled to comprehend what he was witnessing, but he knew it was something of great importance. She was someone of great importance. His heart told him that things were about to change in Silesia, that she was about to change everything.

It made him feel small, unworthy to be in the presence of this blazing avatar of justice. This saint. This Hecate of the Flame.

"The fire obeys her," Gertruda whispered. She must have convinced the man and saved his soul, for the inquisitor who had thrown a boulder at the child now hurled one at the man, smashing him into a house. Hecate screamed at the inquisitor in anger, and a pistol materialized in her hand. She fired off two shots and the inquisitor managed to pull up a wall of rock just in time. Two shots? Pistols can only fire one. That's impossible. The next moment Hecate appeared to be in multiple places at once.

A blast of flame caught the inquisitor. Another shot was fired, and his head landed a few paces away before his body even hit the ground. It all happened so fast Bernard barely saw it. Bogumir's lower half had cowardly snuck up on her and kicked her in the side, sending her crashing through the door of The Tail End. Despite a chunk of the wall, and now the door missing, it was difficult to see clearly what was going on inside. Bernard heard the sound of wood shattering, and more shots being fired.

He wanted to see what was going on and tried to crawl closer, but Gertruda pulled him back.

"Are you insane?" she said. He could see fire starting to spread inside the inn. His favorite inn. Damn those inquisitors and damn the Church, he thought. First they come for our babies, now they come for our drink. Is nothing sacred to these devils? Must they take everything from us? He leaned in a bit to get a better look, and a sudden flash of bright white light blinded him. The voices of a thousand angels erupted in a divine chorus that pressed the air from his lungs.

Bernard let out a strangled sound, his knees buckling, as Gertruda clawed at his arm and shrieked. The light was too pure. Too bright. In that moment he felt naked, all his sins and secrets laid bare. He had tried to see her clearly, to comprehend her divine form, and the heavens had punished him for his arrogance. Of course they had. What right did a commoner like him have to gaze upon a saint? He was nothing. Less than nothing.

A drunk who filtered vodka through his wife's undergarments, and he had dared to look directly at her. As he blinked the spots out of his eyes and the world slowly came back into view, he noticed tiny motes of blessed light lazily drifting down in front of the inn. Hecate, still ablaze, calmly walked out, and everyone went silent once more. She raised her arms.

"The children are safe. You can all go back to your lives now." The first clap was hesitant, then more followed. People collapsed to their knees, sobbing openly. Gertruda grabbed Bernard so hard her nails drew blood, but he didn't feel it.

"She saved us," she wept against his chest.

"She saved us all." Bernard held his wife in his arms, his eyes fixed on the woman bathed in holy fire. She smiled with such gentle mercy even he started to weep. Kindness and purity radiated off her, every flame a promise of a better future for all of them, unworthy as they may be. He had never seen a saint before, and he wasn't sure what they had done to deserve being rescued by one. But here she stood—proof that Stvora had not abandoned them. That He still cared enough to send them a saint.

He did not deserve salvation. He did not deserve to witness this. He swore on whatever remained of his worthless soul that he would spend the rest of his life becoming someone who did.

"I will be better," he whispered to Gertruda.

"I will do better." Thank you, Saint Hecate of the Flame.