Chapter 269 - Catatoskr (6) : The Saintess
This is an Extra Chapter sponsored by Jackov Grin!
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Hundreds of Grelod started screaming and shouting like savages… the town heard and all people woke up!
Something they never fathomed was going on… a thousand Grelod raging in Riften breaking and destroying stuff. The guards were at a loss of what to do.
"What evil sorcery is that?! Kill that witch!"
"This is Grelod the Kind!"
"From the Orphanage!"
"Oh, Gods! She is a witch!"
"Gods save us!"
"Kill the witch!"
The situation worsened in a flick of a second.
A 'Grelod Breakout' in the night after the Market's incident is the last thing the town needs.
"Kill that witch!"
The guards started fighting the Grelods and it was chaos.
The Old Women were unexpectedly strong, swords didn't cut them this easily. Of course Jon was supporting them with Magic but that was for a good reason.
In the middle of the confusion, Honorhall Orphanage was having a chaotic scene too. All the children woke up when three Grelods started roaming in the place like zombies.
The children screamed and ran from the scary Grelods but as soon as one Grelod was about to attack Constance, the assistance of Grelod, a figure appeared and stuck down the Feral Grelod.
It was a girl in a hood who hid her face with a mask. This was Jullanar.
"Hey, take this broom, it is blessed." She handed Constance a broom.
Constance was in a shock but she took the broom right away.
As soon as she did so, the other two Grelods attacked and Jullanar defeated one with and arrow. As soon as a Grelod was struck down, she turned into nothingness.
Constance was scared shitless but as soon as her broom touched the Grelod that was attacking her, that Feral Grelod disappeared right away.
"Wow, we defeated them… oh, more are coming." As soon as Jullanar said that, another seven Grelods were sent by Jon.
"Oh, no. That's too many." Constance was freaked out.
"Don't fear, I have more Blessed… Houseware."
Jullanar came with a name to the enchanted tools Jon told Alina to enchant. These were random items that were enchanted with Holy Magic which were very effective against the doubles made by the Skull of Corruptions.
"Oh Great Kyne, Mara, Dibella, Shor, Tsun… send us the, ehem… Blessed Houseware!"
With a slight pause (for Jon to catch his breath after he almost choked on from laughter), Nefertiti showed up with a lot of items from the shadow.
"Here are the Blessed Houseware, Hoomans! Use them well… I blessed them with my paws and fluff."
And she disappeared again.
A strange silence took over the room. Even Jullanar needed some time to keep up.
"... Oh! They are blessed by the Holy Cat! Let's do this… give some to the big kids." Jullanar said.
"But… they are kids…" Constance was still scared.
"Come on, kids. It's you against that dumb bitch Grelod. The time has come to Rise!" Jullanar realized that Constance is a coward and rallied the kids.
The kids responded well and took the frying pans and the brooms from the floor. Nothing was bladed or anything, just safe daily stuff.
"Beat those Grelods up!" Jullanar led the kids towards the seven Grelods who moved slowly and beat them all.
"Good, you are brave kids. Now, we can help the rest of the town until the Saint arrives. Follow me!" Jullanar pushed the orphanage's door open.
Jullanar led the orphans to the town and started going after the Grelods that swarmed the place.
Those Grelods who were giving the Guards a hard time were nothing in front of the Blessed Houseware.
"Look, the Orphans are defeating the Grelods. They are angels!"
"Assist them! Guards, assist the orphans!"
"Hurry up!"
The scene in outside the town was turning from a bizarre mess to a bit more bizarre mess. The Orphans were taking down the Grelods like a charm.
"Here she is, here comes the saint!" Jullanar, who was among the children, pointed at the Sky as someone was floating up there.
A girl in a white dress with a blue ice armor over it. She was holding a healing staff and wearing a white cloak, half of her face was covered with a silver mask but the other half was revealing that she is an otherworldly beauty. There was a strong aura of sparkle around her as she descended from the sky.
A strong magic gushed from her as if Light mixed with Wind and Frost. It healed whoever it touched and made all the Grelods disappear.
In truth, she was just casting a large scale healing spell with some background effects of Wind and Frost Magics while Jon was cancelling the [Walking Nightmare] power of the Skull of Corruption.
The effect of this act on the people was… amazing.
People started falling to the ground crying and worshipping. Even Jon was in awe of Alina's skill in acting but it was actually not acting, she was the [Favored Child of Kyne] and her Sybil, practically the leader of the cult of Kyne who was granted higher powers.
As all the Grelods were smote down by Alina Magic, she landed on the ground gracefully. Her long black hair flowed on her shoulders and back and her red eyes gleamed behind the Mask of the Fire Keeper. The people cleared a square for her and she walked gracefully to the middle.
Jullanar was close and she rallied the orphans to stand among Alina.
"Saintess! You are the Chosen of Kyne, please guide us and reveal where the evil witch hides." Jullanar kept with her theatrical act.
Alina wanted to slap her face and she glared at Jon who was floating high in the air. As she she looked up to glare at Jon, the people were in awe and kneeled even more thinking that she is reaching to the Higher Powers.
"She is hiding over there in the alleyway. Bring her quietly." Alina gave up and decided to join the act.
Noise erupted as the people started to look in the alleyway, indeed, they found an old woman trying to hide herself and they arrested her mercilessly.
"Leave me! Release me! I am innocent! It's him! It's him! The witch's boy!" Grelod was screaming and freaking out but she was dragged in front of the people and she was put in front of Alina and the orphans.
"Holy lady, what do you think we should do?" The people asked Alina. The people were still in shock and needed guidance.
"Silence! The Saintess of Kyne will speak." Jullanar raised her hand to calm the people.
The people quietened down and looked at Alina whose appearance was dignified even more. Alina looked at the orphans around her and spoke.
"Children, how did that witch treat you?"
Fear appeared on the eyes of the children but seeing Grelod all beaten up in front of them, courage rose in their hearts.
"She… she beats us up!" A child spoke.
"She locks us in the dungeon!"
"She doesn't feed us!"
The children spoke one after the other… they turned from terrified to ugly and spoke of all the unbelievable things Grelod put them through. The townsfolk couldn't believe what they heard at first but seeing the angry children, they all understood how these kids suffered.
Jon didn't just kidnap Grelod and kill her for a reason, he wanted the whole town to experience how evil that woman is. He was angry and didn't want the woman to have a good reputation after death. In the game, after the player kills Grelod, the guards will say something like how they feel sad for an orphanage headmistress and how they thought the kids will be devastated while it was the complete opposite.
In the game, that quest's name was called [Innocence Lost] and it starts by a kid hiring an evil cult of assassins to kill Grelod after he escaped from the orphanage. It is really not something normal for a kid to do but it gets worse. When the player kills Grelod, the orphanage kids will actually celebrate Grelod's death over her corpse, no one can understand what kind of monstrosity that would turn innocent kids into such heartless beings. Jon himself didn't understand it until he lived it and finally, he managed to plan the downfall of the hag.
Now, in front of they eyes of Gods and Men, Alina is going to judge Grelod but she was still the merciful saint.
"Who will be taking care of the children then?" She asked.
"Constance will, she is our older sister." A kid replied right away.
"Where is she?"
"I am here, Holy Lady." Constance appeared in front of Alina and almost kneeled.
"No reason for you to kneel. Please, take the kids home, it is not appropriate for them to see what is going to happen next. I am no lord of this place but take care of them as the Headmistress."
"Yes yes, Holy Lady. It will be my honor."
Constance, led the kids back to the orphanage even though they wanted to see Grelod get punished but Alina's aura made them listen.
As the kids went away, Alina stared at Grelod.
She used Telekinesis and held Grelod up in the air then pushed her on a pole and a rope came from thin air and tied itself around Grelod.
"Burn the Witch!"