I came to with a start. The darkness was thick and the fire that had burnt vigorously at the shrine earlier on was dead. From the little that I could gather, the others were beginning to also wake up but my mother was still lifeless. My knees felt rubbery and it took me a few tries to finally get up from the ground. What was I going to do?

Everything that had happened rushed back to me, from the witches ambushing the river god and possibly ending his existence to the terrifying showcase of power. While I waited and shook my mother incessantly in efforts to get her to come back to life, I noticed that someone had stayed behind even when his partners in evil had gone away. Takunda was here to fulfil his promise.

I slowly got up from my mother's side so that I could get a clear look at him. My face was now icy cold and fear was now holding me hostage. My breathing had now also failed me as panic had gripped my neck and resulted in shallow hastened breaths. His boisterous laugh echoed through the night and almost shocked me into fit.

'I told you that you would pay, now is the time,' he said from beyond the field of unconscious bodies that were littering the ground on that terrible night.

The next thing I remember was running through the thick forest, abusing my still powerless legs. The lightning split the night into two as I ran and hoped for a painless death. I was never afraid of death until I saw the god of the waters being struck by unnatural lightning right in front of me and being smoked to oblivion. That moment terrified me enough to last me a thousand lifetimes. Blood was rushing to all the overworking organs of my body in an attempt to keep me alive as long as possible but after what I had witnessed tonight, I wasn't sure that it would be long enough to see another rising sun.

I heard shifting through the tree tops and trees falling behind me, but I didn't even dare look back, I wasn't sure I would survive whatever evil my eyes would encounter. What had started off as me fighting of an oppressor had ended up as me running for dear life in the dead of the night on the one day of the year that was supposed to be more blessed than others. If I survived the night, I would thank the gods or what remained of them. The power of the dark witches was undoubted now and the falling trees behind me was a great show of it. I only felt my chest burning when I stopped to catch a breath but the moment did not last as long as I desired. Takunda had finally caught up with me after a few falls and trips in the thick darkness had impeded my escape.

'Fighting is not going to do you any good, it's time for you to accept defeat, I would say never mess with witches again, but then again, you will not be alive to do so,' he broke off into more laughter as he moved closer.

I could feel my throat constricting as he moved closer and closer to me, I could feel my skin crawl, every hair on it suddenly becoming erect, the saliva in my mouth welled up as I was about to let out everything I had eaten that day. I was genuinely afraid of what Takunda, the son of a witch would do to me today, he had promised to make me pay, but it was the mystery that was keeping me on my toes, the mystery was making worry eat up at me, gobbling all my happiness and courage away. My knees were captured next and they fell and kissed the ground in forced surrender. I felt the stones dig into them but that pain was incomparable to the intense headache that had now attacked my temple.

I could feel my cheeks wetting, I could feel warm tears trickle down my eyes but I only felt the pain when tiny crimson droplets finally fell to the ground. Even when I was at my worst, when I was battered, I couldn't help but think about how I had gotten here in the first place. Takunda was now directly in front of me now and I could hear his mocking laughter vibrating through my neck as he finally physically choked me. It was finally over, I thought, I was done for. The ground started to steadily shake; I could feel it through the grip on my neck, gently at first, then a really strong tremor, in mere seconds, the vibrations had toppled us over, then I remembered that the last time the ground had been angry like this, a god had appeared to us.

When the vibrations finally stopped, my spine felt like it had been battered by a thousand warriors, I was slammed against a large rock and it took me a few moments to get used to the excruciating pain running through my spine, the terrible spiritually induced headache and the fact that my life was on the line. All efforts to get up were in vain, I couldn't do it, I was far too injured and the blood running down my eyes was blinding me. I embraced the earth's floor, embraced my doom and contemplated death. What was the point of fighting anymore?