Trigger warning.
(It will get a little violent.))
Suddenly, it felt like the carriage had been lifted off the ground with a strong force, then it was flung to a side, Belladonna and the now crying baby tumbling in the carriage.
It landed with a thud, the landing certainly hadn't been smooth. Belladonna pulled the baby closer to her, his cries filling her ears, assuring her that he was alive.
She had to protect this baby.
He was her responsibility now.
The carriage got flung around a couple more times, each landing worse than the last.
The baby's cries increasing as Belladonna tried to use her body to shield him no matter what side they were thrown to.
Her entire body was aching and in some parts, it felt like she was bleeding. She could smell the blood but she couldn't really feel the pain, so she hoped with everything in her heart, that the blood was hers.
This time when the carriage landed, her head slammed against something that sent her sight blurry.
Her hold on the baby wasn't as tight as it was before, her strength already failing her in the face of this trouble she should be strong against.
Tears choked her throat, tightening it.
She promised to protect him.
She had to.
She mumbled something underneath her breath, even she couldn't hear, asking for Alaris to save them, or whatever was out there that saved her in her dream. Whatever it was that had given her strength to fight against Fake Kestra and Eli and luckily defeat them.
She prayed that things would save her again.
She heard the carriage making a grumbling noise and she tensed up, preparing to be flung across the space once again, instead, a part of the carriage fell back and cold, wet air seeped into the space.
Goosebumps pebbled across her skin from the drizzle of rain that blew into the carriage.
There was blood and mud on the black boots in front of her, the shadow that loomed over her was nothing clear for her blurry sight, and the blood that was trickling down her forehead added an extra weight to her eyelashes as it thickened there.
She could barely see, everything was blurry.
Lightning struck and thunder clapped.
Fingers dug into her hair, pulling her out of the carriage, dragging her through the muddy ground, a burst of cynical laughter filling the air.
"Nahiri?" It was the most mocking voice she had ever heard. Voices of young and old, females and males, too many voices, it was much stronger than the cries of the child that was still in her hand, blasting into her ears.
A panging headache was crossing through her.
It was painful, the strands of her hair felt like they were being plucked out of her skull.
"Na.hi.ri?!" The Soul Witch said, tossing her to a side, after dragging her completely out of the carriage to the rain.
The wind was strong.
Everything was working against her.
Funny, she was about to die while being called a name that wasn't even hers.
"Is this your saviour? I expected more from someone who had been prophesied to be my death."
A whimper slipped through Belladonna's lips, as a boot was pressed firmly over her head.
Mud coating her face and sticking to her head from it, taking care of that part that hadn't been drowned in the mess through the drag already.
"Disappointing."
The words had no effect on her, but the fact that the baby was no longer crying made her worried.
Was he still alive?
She tried to pull away and check but her movement made the witch pull her by the neckline of her gown, making the baby drop from her, as she threw Belladonna further from the baby.
Her body crashed against the floor, but she paid that no mind, instead she started crawling through the mud to get to the baby that was now oddly still and the rain beating down on him.
Oh no, was he alive?
By Ignas, was he still alive?!
Or maybe it was just her eyes, they were too blurry.
She couldn't really see.
"Fight me!" The witch kicked her aside and she could taste the blood that filled her mouth at that. "Fight me, Nahiri. I have spent too much of my life looking for you. Fight me!"
Another kick.
"FIGHT ME!"
It was hard to breathe now.
Painful.
Much more painful now that the witch was pulling her hair and forcing her to be on her knees. The Soul Witch was behind her, crouching low as she taunted her with her words.
Something moved around the baby, red around the neck of the child that stared with teary eyes at her in the rain.
How could she be so cruel?
Why was she doing this to a child?
He must be so cold. The cloth on him was really wet.
She had to help him. He needed a healer--
There was a yank behind her, stopping her from her mindless struggle to get to the baby.
"I'm feeling nice. Shall I kill the baby and let you watch?" She giggled, the baby raising in the air.
Crying now.
"No, please!" Her voice shook with desperation.
"You can speak? That means you can do more, like fight me."
"Please, let him go! I'm not the one you are looking for. I'm not even a witch! You don't want us. Let us go!"
"You are Nahiri. Keres was only with you because you are Nahiri." The Soul witch took in a deep sniff of her. "You have a strange scent. Strange magic. You are the one I'm looking for."
"Please, let the baby go! I'll give you anything."
"I already have everything!" She declared, but her voice was a little low when she spoke again. "Everything."
Then a pained chuckle before her voice became maniacal again.
"Take it from me, the way tiny beings cry as death takes them away and they struggle is beautiful. Let's enjoy it together, Nahiri. You'll love it."