Shingami report of case number 3215097
December 3, 703 BC
Section 578889 Europe
Translated for operatives convenience
Controlled File
He'd slept well in the crook of his mothers bosom. The winter was cold and the nights were long and hellish. He clung to his family like frost on grass. It was not yet light enough to see anything definitely. Cynddylan woke with a start as he realized he'd forgotten to tie up the sheep. He rose quickly waking his mother as the moving blankets let in the cold.
By the time his feet stood on open ground it was already too late to avoid the huge beast standing to his side. The hideous fanged creature resembled a man but of a kind the young boy had never seen. He shook as he failed to find enough breathe to fill his lungs. A warm trickle of urine past down his thigh as the thing's head came to his ear. Before it could speak Cynddalyn's mother emerged from the cottage and screamed into the silent night. It's hand gripped her throat as her husband struggled to get around his wife and son to see what was happening. He yelled in the night but none of the villagers dared move from their houses. The boy still could not move as his own mother choked for breathe. And then it was off of her. And they were all gone.
His head moved on a swivel as he tried to figure if he had dreamed that monstrous thing. He spun twice before it appeared again before him this time not as before. He was on his knees now his head bowed to the ground, his thick rams horns pushed into the frozen mud. A huge man stood behind him wearing the fatigues of a soldier of Babylon. To his flank stood four other man of similar character all of them brandishing swords which they now held to the creature's neck. It looked up at him and then he saw what he had missed before. Blood, blood everywhere on his body like he'd been attacked by wild dogs. His eyes were pale and beautiful, the color of warm honey, he recognized them as his own color, a color which he'd never seen before in another soul. The man who held his arms now spoke in a deep accent-less voice.
"Demon of these black hills, nameless fiend of violence and death. You are found guilty of the charges of eating beyond your fill, revealing your form to unsanctioned beings, speeding famine, unleashing a pestilence of demon moths, and producing offspring of mixed blood. Have I made any mistakes?" The demon coughed as blood ran from his nose and mouth.
"There is no way to argue with shinigami procedure is there Lodovico? So I don't imagine my saying anything will protect me from your wrath." His captor smiled.
"I'm surprised Black Hill, I was expecting more of a fight out of you?" He pulled the demons arms removing them from their sockets. The demon flinched and moaned until the pain became so great he roared. Great black wings pushed through his leather adornments. The huge appendages fought viciously with the man called Lodovico to no avail. The other man quickly held down the wings. One of them produced a six foot scythe from seemingly nowhere, the blade was cut like the surface of water, Cynddylan had never seen anything like it. The assistant pulled the crook of the blade around the struggling demons wing-base then began to saw. The demon cried out.
"Don't shame me in front of my own flesh and blood, I will not fight my death!" He panted as the assistant looked to Lodovico for orders. Lodovico moved the blade away from his quarry with a slow movement of his hand. Black blood splattered as the blade parted from the flesh.
"I would not deny you your dignity in death, your crimes were serious but not worthy of shame." The demon let his face fall back to the upturned mud, hot fiery breathe poured from his mouth as the blood began to stop. The wounds Cynddylan had just seen on his face were already disappearing into ashy spots and then nothing. The demon's eyes fixed back onto the boy, still standing speechless before this scene of arrest. One of the assistants moved to speak to Lodovico over his shoulder quietly. Lodovico's eyes met the frightened boy's as he at last recognized his presences. He whispered to his associate and gestured for a moment. In one fast movement he removed his sword from it's sheath and pressed it to the demon's neck. "Have you any words to say?" The demon pulled away from the sword enough to free his neck for speaking. He turned his head back to face Cynddylan and he smiled.
"What ever they offer you, take it. Any alternative to the life you will live and the death it will bring is a welcome one. Take heart you were made of better stuff than these cynical bastards!" And he laughed as hard and as loud as he could even as hot tears burned against his skin. Lodovico raised his sword. The hand extended and the blade curled until the beautiful instrument resembled a much more delicate version of the first scythe the boy had seen. The scythe passed through the creature's neck like it was cutting through air. Strange parchment buzzed about the body as the head rolled to the side. Blank, black boxes covered the tape as it returned to the demon's chest.
"Just as I suspected, not even enough of a soul for a cinematic record." He walked forward as his assistants moved the body into Cynddalyn's hut. Once he was tucked inside they lit it on fire to dispose of the body. One of the out stretched hands turned to dust as the wind graced it's side. The man named Lodovico now stood before him. The boy could hardly speak.
"Wat happen to meh parents?"
"They were dead before we arrived, just by a few seconds. Let them be no more concern to you. You have a bigger problem. That creature was your true father and because of that you are a contaminant in the population of human's. By death god law I have to kill you." The boy stared at the fire burning his modest home, three parents now engulfed in flame all laying tangled together in death. He could only speculate what there lives had really been like. He never knew any of them truly. "Do you understand me, I've just told you, you have to die!" Lodovico seemed unnerved by the poise the child possessed. He continued to stare at the fire as he formulated his answer.
"When?"
Morganna awoke to the sound of screaming. She sat up and looked around confused about where the sound had originated from. Her sisters still slept, the sound again, it was coming from outside. Without hesitation she ran out of the house and into the night. A bonfire had been set in the middle of the street and there were many people around it chanting and screaming. The heat was hot enough to warm the steps of the house. Little red embers burst out of the flames as starving men lifted huge logs onto the thresh. They were shouting about plague and witches and the underworld. Their screams were concentrated around an old woman whom Morganna had seen in a shop a few days before. The old woman screamed and pleaded with the crowd as they pulled on her shackles, they were pulling her into the fire. She wept and scratched for her freedom, long arthritic fingers broke in their efforts to avoid the searing flames. The crowd had no remorse for their work. Morganna stood confused, she'd never seen a burning before. They yelled such slurs at the old woman. She was innocent to her crimes. Morganna pushed through the crowd until she was close enough to the witches captors to be heard, she screamed at them and pulled back on the chains to try and slow them. Her screams were not audible amongst the frey, her mouth only moved as the men dragged the witch closer to the flames. A big man swatted Morganna over the face, she flopped to the ground but did not stop. She wrapped her little body around the chain and continued to scream feebly against the roar of the oncoming flames.
Lilith came soaring out of the house screaming for her little sister. Morganna yelled for her in the cacophony but she barely made a sound in the roar. Lilith ran into the crowd fighting back against the presence of bodies in her path. She found Morganna finally in the midst of the mob. She yelled and smacked people as she grabbed onto her sister. Lilith kicked the men who were dragging the witch and her sister. The man yelped and raised a threshing scythe to show he would harm her. Lilith spit into the man's face and screamed at the crowd viscously. Finally they grew quite enough for Lilith and Morganna to be heard.
"Stop it that's my sister!" The men looked amongst each other confused at the little ones actions. The women in the crowd muttered amongst themselves until one middle aged woman pointed a starved finger at the girls.
" WITCHES! WITCHES! They show SYMPATHY for the plague bringer, they do it they do it! BURN THEM ALL!" Lilith screamed and cried to silence the cheers from the crowd, tears fell down Lilith's cheeks as she held onto Morganna. The little girl continued to hold onto the chain even as Lilith crushed her in her arms. Morganna could feel her sisters hands shake as she yelled back at them curses and protests. The old witch noticed the change in the crowd. She croaked before she spoke.
" IT WAS THEM THEY'VE BROUGHT IT!" The crowd listened to the condemned as she pleaded for her life. " I AM AN OLD FOOLISH WOMAN, THEY ARE THE DAUGHTERS OF A PROSTETUTE! They are unclean they are witches both of them, they haunt me soooooo!" For what ever reason the crowd seemed to sympathize with the pathetic old hag, maybe it was desperation and hunger, or maybe it was the loathing they felt for the two well dressed little girls who'd known no trouble through plague times. Or maybe it was something about the way they looked that made the two girls eerie. They grew silent as they thought of the injustices of a lowly prostitute feeding her children well, while their own children starved. The hungry eyes of the mob turned on Lilith and Morganna for blood, the group began to howl again as the same men who'd been ready to burn the old witch seized Lilith. Morganna let go of the chains in disbelief at her betrayal. She clung now to her sister and her sister only. The men seized Lilith by the arms. The leader of the group emerged, he grabbed Lilith by the hair as he inspected her for signs of witchcraft.
" Are you a witch? The witch that has caused this pestilence?" Lilith did not speak, she bit her lip as she looked this man in the eye and saw no hope of escape. The man stopped as he noticed he slits behind her ears, her gills flapped in panic as she tried to seem strong for her sister. The man's mouth fell open as he looked on at her. Morganna could bare it no longer.
" YES WE ARE WITCHES! WE DIDN"T MEAN FOR THE PLAUGE TO HURT THIS LAND I SWEAR!" Lilith glanced down at Morganna slowly, she mouthed her name as the men pulled Lilith away from Morganna, the little girl screamed as they pulled her to a log, they bound her to it with rope. Morganna fought and cried as she tried to reach her sister. She managed to pull a few feet closer the fire was so hot she broke out into sweat two meters away. The leader spoke again.
" Thank you for your confession little one for your words you will be spared." Morganna screamed out as they lifted Lilith and the beam above their shoulders. Lilith wept. Blisters formed on her face and her tears sizzled.
" LOOK AWAY MORGANNA!" She screamed as she was thrown onto the fire. Morganna sobbed and struggled to keep her eyes open, she still fought to get to her sister, Lilith screamed and writhed as her flesh blistered and popped then blacked. Her lungs burned as she screamed. She died as her blood boiled. Morganna fought to no avail as she watched the last bits of life escape her sister.
The crowd cleared quickly after the burning. The old woman lay on the ground in chains. The fire went out after two hours. Without it's light the world was nothing but blackness and soft grey ash reflecting the light of the moon. Morganna sat in front of the blackened logs, bits of black flesh still clung to her sisters charcoal bones. Little piles of ash lay in the palms of her hands. Her fingers now numb from the cold and her struggle. The old witch crawled away finally. Morganna heard the chains clink together.
" I thought you wanted to die...?" The old woman did not turn to her she did not respond she pulled herself away with her finger tips until she disappeared into her shop. Esmeralda approached the scene slowly, she understood running was useless, still she flinched once she was close enough to touch the bones on the fire. She inhaled sharply as she extended a hand to touch the bones, she retracted it half as fast and looked away. She faced away from the body as she stood next to Morganna.
" What happened?" Morganna choked as she tried to respond.
" They burned her, we tried to help, but they burned her... I, I confessed but they took her..." Emeralda seized Morganna by her hair and yanked her to her feet. She held her up on the tips of her toes. Morganna cried for Lilith not the pain. Emeralda shook her furiously.
" YOU KILLED YOUR OWN SISTER!" Morganna sobbed knowing it was true. Esmeralda snarled and grabbed her daughter by the jaw. She examined the pretty little teeth in her mouth. She dragged her daughter up the stairs into the house. The other girls were all awake, they clung together in the corner. Esmeralda faced them with more rage than she had with Morganna.
" GET OUT YOU MISERABLE WAIFS! YOU STOOD BY AND LET YOUR SISTER BURN!" She swatted them violently." GET OUT, GET OUT!" The girls ran for the door, they hid outside as Esmeralda turned to Morganna. Esmeralda's voice quivered as she held up a chisel. " I must do what I have to do make you never forget, you damned your own sister to hell. This is the punishment of traitors." Esmeralda seized her daughter's head and hammered away at her mouth.
Morganna whimpered through a bloody mutilated mouth. Her own mother had chiseled her teeth to points, every one of them now dug into her mouth as her gums ran bloody and ruined. Morganna held onto herself as Lilith had as she lay on the floor. She was cold and in pain, but as she cried silently to herself she thought only of her sister forever bathed in boiling oil.