It started as a rumor. Soon enough the entire village was conversing back and forth about it. The witch living among them all. It wasn't long before the order was given, and the king's men were quick to march to obtain her. Sybil was asleep as the soldiers burst through their door without warning. Her mother was taken by force, the ground once more shaking all around. One soldier knocked the woman out with the hilt of his blade, as they then dragged her to the center of the village.
When the suspected witch awoke, it was daybreak. The sun's light barely gleamed over the distant mountains. She was tied to a pole and being burned alive, her daughter Sybil was forced against her will to watch, as she was chained to another pole not far away. The townsfolk all watched silently as the woman burned to ashes. The smell of her flesh disgusted most, as one by one they all left the scene.
"What about the girl?" asked one of the king's men, he was a burly fellow with a thick brown beard.
"No proof she's a witch, but the kingdom can not take that chance," the commander replied. He sat atop a black stallion as he spoke, but were he to step foot to the ground he would be considered very short. "When the prisoners show up, have her hanged with them. No need to burn another, the smell."
It would be noon when the ships carrying the prisoners came to port. For the entire time Sybil was left to be mocked and spit at. The people of the city under the king had no mercy for the malignant, no matter the age. They also had no remorse for thieves, as a bell chimed throughout for everyone to hear. All knew it meant a hanging was to be had, and these people could never resist the temptation of watching. With Sybil's mother's corpse still burning, a line up of prisoners was brought forward as the crowd thickened with the locals. Sybil was brought onto the platform, from chained to a pole to a rope around her neck. She was to be hung among the lowest of the lows, pirates.
"Dead men walking!" The crier led the four captive prisoners toward the town's gallows.
Dalious walked at the rear and was the only of the pirates to have his head up. He was looking at all the faces in the crowd for one specifically, the traitor dwarf that got him captured in the first place. One who was once called a loyal friend, though he was nowhere to be seen.
A rock flew by and cracked Dalious in the temple, causing him to drop to a knee. "Theives!" one older man yelled while raising an angry fist in the air. "Pirate scum!!" came another voice.
"Piss on you, you meesley vagrants!" Dalious spat, which welcomed a fist to his gut from one of the guards. Then he was tugged onto the platform and forced under a noose, just next to Sybil. He turned his head to see his comrades under the same fate. They were some of the newer members to his ship crew and probably the only ones that could have been trusted, though he found that little bit of information out a little to late. "An easy job he said. In and out, he said. That fat treacherous dwarf! If I ever see him ag--"
His words were muffled by a wool bag being placed over his head. Everything went dark and it became harder to breathe. He then remained silent, as he figured he would rather be hung with a bit of air than none at all.
The crier began to speak of their crimes to the ever angered mob of people, all waiting in anticipation for the ropes to let go. He would have completed the offenses, but the pirate's being sentenced to death kept edging him on to "GET ON WITH IT ALREADY!"
Suddenly, the first of the trap doors opened up, and the pirate fell quickly. The poor bastards neck snapped him dead near to immediately. As the crowd cheered, with a few surprising jeers, the next pirate got hung.
"Dalious," the man next to him said, finding the time to speak a few last words before he met his demise. "I want you to know, I had nothing to do with what happened. I want you..."
"It matters not, mate," Dalious calmly spoke through the bag. "Die well, I shall surely follow."
"We had some fun though," his commrade said with a slight laugh. "It was an honor to..."
All Dalious could hear was the floor slam as it gave way, then applause. Some of the people were sickened by the act and tried to leave, though curiosity led them to stay. With only few seconds left in this world, Dalious took a deep breath and gave one final attempt to pry open the locks binding his hands together. Not only was he a young pirate and thief, he was very skilled with slight of hand and a few magic tricks of his own. He had kept a pick on him at all times, this time he kept it under his tongue. It proved to work out, as he felt the chains click behind his back. A smile spread across his face.
"Today's your lucky day, mate," Dalious said as the hangman walked up to him and prepared to hang him. "You get to hang the famous, Dalious Durendail!"
"Never heard of you," was the reply. "Not your lucky day, pirate."
Dalious tossed away his chains and reached for the man's waist, where he pulled his own sword out and then stabbed him in the heart with it. He then let the body of the hangman fall into the crowd of people, as he quickly sliced the rope above Sybil's head and even quicker, picked her chains from her wrists. He did all of this before removing the bag from his head, thinking Sybil was one of his fellow comrades instead.
"Who the damned hell are you, lass?" he asked, though the question would have to wait. The soldiers had started to approach the gallows combat ready, but the commander had left his black stallion unattended. "Come on."
Dalious grabbed Sybil and forced her to run with him, and to jump onto the Stallion together. The horse only stirred once, then as if it were his own, sped off down the street and away from the mob of people. Arrows flew by as they gathered up speed, jumping the fence leading to the fields and out into the forests.
They rode the entire rest of the day, up to the night. The stallion was faster than any of the horses left behind, so they gathered a lot of space from the town. They would easily lose the king's men in the forest, as few dared to enter for any reason. It was like a maze, with no clear paths or remembered structures. Some say it was even haunted, and that the forest would move in the darkest of the night.
When they had a moment to breathe, Dalious stopped the horse and they made a small camp. The trees on every side of them covered view from almost all angles, so as long as they stayed quiet, they could stay safe from their pursuers. Dalious tried rubbing two sticks together to make a fire in the pit he created, but no luck would come to him just yet. He looked over at the girl he had just met, though neither of them spoke much at all since they were focused on escape.
"Why would the empire want to hang a young girl, less you be a witch?" He said. "But they already burned a witch, I believe. So who are you?"
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