Season of the Witch

No, please! I beg you!

I beg you! Tell them the truth!

Tell them you know me! I'm not a witch.

My daughter! No! No!

No! No!

No! Please!

No!

You have all been found guilty of witchcraft

and consorting with the devil.

If you would save your souls from perdition,

repent now and confess your sins.

I confess. I confess.

I confess!

Go on, child. Did you sign a pact with Lucifer?

Yes, I signed a pact. I confess.

Please, I beg you!

- Have mercy on me! - I made ointments for a copper!

But it was just pig's fat, not witchcraft, I swear it!

Priest.

You're gonna burn in hell.

Do it.

No! No!

Please! No! No!

That's a witch!

Oh, wait! Wait! You said you would spare me!

Your soul, child. Your soul will be spared.

But the body must be consigned to God for absolution.

No, no, please! I beg you!

No!

Wait!

The bodies. They must be pulled up.

There are words which must be spoken from the Book of Solomon

to ensure they do not rise again.

They've been hung and drowned. That's dead enough for me.

Amen.

Today you are truly blessed.

Today you tight for God himself.

Today you are holy warriors, baptized in the blood of our unholy enemies.

Look at that rabble down there, Behmen.

Just waiting to meet the Lord.

I pity any man whose last face they see is yours, Felson.

...has fallen!

The only sin you will face this day is failure!

Whomever slays the most men drinks for free.

I'll take the 300 on the left, you take the 300 on the right.

But if we divide them evenly, who will buy tonight's drinks?

Oh, you're buying, my friend.

Prepare for battle!

Fine, I'll kill all 600 myself.

Draw your arms!

Charge!

I'm building up a powerful thirst, Behmen!

You're buying, my friend.

Let the sands turn red with the blood of heretics!

Strike down our unholy enemies!

Do not yield until every enemy of God has fallen!

You ever get the feeling God has too many enemies?

Being his friend is not so easy either.

They are godless people. Infidels!

They have sinned against God and against His only son, Jesus Christ.

They must be punished!

Do not fail Him! Strike down with His vengeance!

Let none survive!

A thousand lost souls for the fires of hell.

A glorious day for the Church.

You call this glorious? Murdering women and children?

Know your place, knight. You pledged your life to the cause.

For God. Not for this.

I am the herald of God in this world.

His voice rings ever in my ears.

Perhaps it is not His voice you hear.

How dare you! I am the voice of the Church.

Bathed in truth and blameless in the light of my Lord.

You are no more than a rogue with blood on his hands.

Who controls your insolent tongue, Behmen?

Let's get the hell out of here.

You cannot leave.

Who's going to stop us?

Sheep roaming free and no shepherd in sight.

- Did they jump the fence? - All of them?

We've been walking all day and haven't passed a soul.

Keep your souls, let me find a chicken.

Hello?

Is anyone here?

Hello?

What happened to them?

I don't know.

Seen much death, you and I.

Some deserved, some not.

But what does one do to deserve a death like that?

Nothing.

Finally. A town.

We might be recognized.

- We should go around, Behmen. - Go where?

These horses won't carry us. They're farm animals.

We need proper horses, food.

Provisions.

Blessings for the poor?

Please let them come to me! I beg you!

- Please, no more. - Take me with you.

Lord almighty, heavenly Father,

accept the pain and suffering we bestow upon ourselves.

Find it in your heart to free us from this terrible...

- What madness is this? Plague.

- Plague? - Like no other.

Pestilence over all the land.

- ls there no cure? - None.

How long has it been so?

Three years and a season.

- How many dead? - Some say as many as three in four.

With my own hands I have buried two children and the wife who bore them.

But how is it you don't know this?

We're travelers. We've only recently returned.

Here you are. Two of my finest.

Thank you.

Leave it!

Felson, this way. - What is it now?

They saw my sword's crest.

I told you we should have gone around.

You two! Stand fast.

Shit.

Fine.

Come with me.

Drop it!

Remove the hood and the mask.

Arrest these deserters.

Wait!

Let me see that.

This is yours?

Follow me.

I hope we're on our way to dinner.

What do you want with us, priest?

That is not for me to say.

Pardon me, Your Eminence.

What is it, Debelzaq?

This is the knight's sword.

Come closer.

Tell me your name.

I am Behmen of Bleibruk.

Behmen.

Yes. And your comrade, Felson.

Your names are known to me.

Your victories have become legend.

Yes, I am stricken.

- The plague is everywhere. - It is a curse called up from hell.

Brought upon us by the Black Witch.

The Black Witch?

I myself heard the confession.

The witch must be taken to the Abbey of Severac,

where the monks possess the last copy

of an ancient book of rituals

that will destroy the witch's powers,

and end the plague.

What has this to do with us?

Our ranks have been decimated.

You must deliver her.

My best knight, Eckhart, has already pledged his services,

as has our priest, Debelzaq.

I ask the same of you.

Will you serve the Church once more?

I cannot.

You swore an oath to God. Have you been released from this vow?

My vow is to God.

Not the men who murder in His name.

You know the penalty for desertion.

I ask you again...

...Behmen of Bleibruk.

Do you serve God and the Church?

I serve the Church no more.

In there. Both of you.

What do they do with deserters anyway?

Hang them?

Burn them?

- Probably both. - I don't know.

If I have any say in the matter, I'd prefer hanging.

- ls that the witch? - That is not what I see.

The priest said she confessed.

We both know the Church can be most persuasive.

I am sorry I put you into this, Felson.

No. As dungeons go, this one's not so bad.

We spent nights in much worse places than this.

At least I have. What is that smell?

That would be you.

"l serve the Church no more."

Did you see the priest's face?

Looked like someone pissed in his holy water.

They are godless people! Infidels!

They have sinned against God and against His only son, Jesus Christ!

They must be punished!

You want to speak with the cardinal?

Tell him we will deliver the girl to Severac on one condition:

that she is given a fair trial.

You cannot bargain with the Church.

This is not for your Church.

And we will need our weapons returned.

And all charges dismissed.

We are here. The abbey is here.

The distance is nearly 400 leagues. That's roughly six days' travel.

- As you can see, we charted a course. - You would lead us through here?

That is the most direct route, yes.