The sounds of the trees bored into my soul like the whispering of a thousand demons laughing. Every thought running through my head consisted of the haunting sounds of the children screaming. Tears welled up in my eyes but I forced them down and kept running; the sounds of my bare feet pounding in synchronization with my racing heart. Hard, serrated rocks dug into the soft pads of my feet, sending sharp pains pulsating through me. My breathing grew ragged and every drag sent a knife stabbing into my lungs. It was there, on top of the moss covered boulder near the river that I collapsed from pure exhaustion.

I knew it was only a matter of time before the beasts caught up with me; running essentially got me nowhere. Their rough callused hands gripped my bare upper arms and they wrenched me to my feet. The sudden movement sent tremors through my body and I coughed up blood, getting the scarlet liquid on my white dress. They half dragged me back through the woods along the same path I just took, my body too weak to fight back. My head hung down as they dragged me, hot tears streaming down my dirty, ashen face.

A smoky haze filled the air as we approached the outskirts of town. Smoke and blood mixed together to form a cloud of perfume around the small village. They dragged me to the center of town where the altar was. The sacred altar did not give way as they dropped me on it and I felt a rib break on impact. A small scream escaped my lips followed by another round of blood and coughing. I could hear the wretched creatures laughing at me while one of them brought out an emerald studded knife. They were going to sacrifice me on this altar; it would be the ultimate form of blasphemy to my people. The dagger plunged into my stomach and searing pain rushed through my body and soul. Blood came flowing out of the wound, turning the twelve precious amethysts on the table like pedestal to garnets. I could feel the life draining from my body as a piercing white light enveloped me. As it slowly died away mounds of ash appeared where the demons once were. Everything was still and silent apart from the crackling of fire as I drifted into death.

My blood had mixed with the ancient spells in the stones to create a catalyst type effect that disintegrated everything with tainted blood. To this day it still vanquishes everything that means to do harm that comes within the city walls.