Nurturing Humanity

Chapter 24

The Three Witches

“But there are more of these creatures closing in on us!” someone growled as he looked over to the far side of the black swamp. He could see that more of the big-eyed monsters with tentacles were approaching them.

These weak creatures were slowly crawling over with their slimy tentacles waving around as they approached.

Despite their ridiculously slow movements, their bizarre power was utterly terrifying. Once they were surrounded by these big-eyed monsters…

“Even if it costs me my life, I will kill one of them!”

Medea took the lead in raising her stone spear. She became the bravest warrior of the tribe and charged right ahead.

Boom!!!

A single blow dealt by her spear was accompanied by a piercing scream that sounded as sharp and hoarse as a baby’s cries. That huge yet vulnerable eyeball quickly exploded. An unpleasant, foul smell filled the air as the creature turned into a disgusting, viscous juice that splattered all over Medea’s face.

“Take it away!” She picked up the slimy tentacles of that corpse with one hand and quickly started to turn back, but she quickly found that she was already surrounded by seven or eight Evil Eyes. She could not help but turn pale.

“Follow me! We’ll kill our way out!”

It was a very brutal fight.

The tribe’s powerful hunting party of close to thirty men were basically all dead.

They clearly had had a chance to escape, but because they had delayed doing so, they had been surrounded by the terrifying creatures. In the end, only three survivors managed to escape from the evil and terrifying swamp that seemed to be cursed by death.

“All of them are dead.”

Despite being an extremely strong and intelligent woman, Medea could not help but weep.

She looked at the last two warriors remaining beside her and knew what this meant.

During all the years that passed, the brave men of the tribe had mostly died while searching for food and hunting huge beasts. Now, only a hundred strong males were left in the tribe that numbered nearly a thousand in total. The remaining nine hundred or so were all old, weak, sickly, or disabled. And now, they had lost a third of their remaining warriors.

It seemed clear what their fate would be. They were practically facing extinction.

“However, our race was going to die sooner or later. It’s just a matter of time, so we might as well just bet our all and give it a go.” Medea took a deep breath, looked at the corpse of the monster and said, “I hope that the huge price we have paid in exchange for the corpse of this creature will be worthwhile and that its evil blood will be useful…”

Over the years, countless men had attempted to mix the blood of all kinds of powerful huge beasts, hoping that the mixture could allow them to gain a power similar to that of the Hero King, Gilgamesh. Then, they would be able to protect their tribes.

But all had died, except for the creatures which had the “blood of power” granted by God. It seemed as if only the blood of special creatures could make what they hoped for possible.

“Perhaps, the blood of these especially filthy and evil creatures could become another blood of power…”

When Medea returned to her tribe with the few remaining men, her father was already on the verge of a complete breakdown.

“Are you out of your mind? Do you know what you’re doing!!!”

A burly and sturdy middle-aged man dressed in black animal hide was seated high up in his chair that was also covered with animal hide. He was gasping for breath.

“I’m not crazy.” In one of the tents within the tribal grounds, Medea was sitting and facing her father’s anger. She took a deep breath and said, “There’s no turning back for us. Instead of waiting for death, let’s just take the plunge. We need to see to the emergence of the next Gilgamesh, the Hero King, to lead our civilization to glory. This is the only way for our intelligent species to survive extinction!”

“That is impossible.”

The tribal leader shook his head slowly and said, with great bitterness, “Only the legendary blood bestowed by God, the blood of power, can bring us such great power. Moreover, this disgusting creature is so slimy, repulsive, and brutal. Even if we managed to acquire the loathsome power that it possessed, God would be sure to punish us…”

“Power is neither good nor evil.”

Medea’s voice grew low and hoarse as she looked at her aged father who was sitting high above her.

“He who had the brilliant and great blood of power could also head down the path of tyranny, where he wielded the holy sword of civilization and challenged the Almighty God… And even if what you have is a dark, terrifying power, you will still be able to protect the people, so long as you remain good at heart.”

“This monster is completely different from the other huge beasts! It’s weak, even weaker than us humans, and yet it has such inconceivable power. If we could have a power like it…”

“Medea, how dare you!!”

The tribal leader went silent. He breathed heavily as if he was contemplating this audacious idea.

His decision would affect an entire civilization, as well as the rise and fall of his entire race.

Huff! Huff! Huff!

He closed his eyes slightly and gasped for breath. This was going to be the most distressing decision he had to make. It was more important than his own death.

He suddenly bowed his head, looked down at his stubborn daughter, and began to wail in a low voice. Chokingly, he spoke in a hoarse voice. “But we don’t have enough people left to test the incorporation of new blood.”

Over the past two hundred years, if they had reproduced normally, then they might not be left with only these few forces. It had been generations of courageous, astute leaders unwilling to be subjected to a fate of tranquil extinction, thus allowing young people of the tribe to try and assimilate the blood of different kinds of huge beasts.

In each and every generation, there had been people who had bravely risked their lives and died, and they had died in endless agonizing pain.

These generations of martyrs were recorded in the history filled with bloody deaths. How they sacrifice themselves for the rise of their tribes was told. This was the reason why their tribes remained sparsely populated. However, up till now, their tribe had yet to rise.

Medea took a deep breath and said, “Yes, our Babylonian tribe no longer has enough strong men for the experiment. We still need them to protect us. But we have enough old and weak, women, and children. For years, it has always been the men protecting the women. This time, it’s the women’s turn to step forth and try this blood.”

Medea was silent for a moment, then said again in a low voice, “And, if a large number of women die, we will have less of a burden. It might not be that impossible to reduce the size of our race… This time, let the women of our tribe die.”

Swish!!

Instantly, the tent was deadly silent.

Half a day later, standing high above her people where blazing torches were burning away, Medea assembled the entire tribe

“If we do not wish to become extinct!”

“If we wish to restore the glory of the Sumerians!”

“If we wish for the next Hero King to appear and lead our civilization of intelligent species!”

“Death cannot crush our foundation, nor can it destroy the backbone of our tribe! The great Hero King, Gilgamesh, once said that the history of mankind’s struggle against nature is one of courage and hymns. This was the reason why he instructed a historian to record all events that happened… And today, let history record the courage we show on this day!”

Medea’s rugged breathing was deep and heavy. Standing on the high platform, she looked down at the old and weak, women, and children, who were standing below her, and addressed them in a low, growling voice.

“Tomorrow, early in the morning, we hope that you will come out for the tribe! The hymn of mankind is a song of praise of courage!”

The women below, who were holding their children in their arms, were silent.

It was clear to everyone that basically, there was no chance of survival at all.

On this night, after silently bidding farewell to their husbands and children, countless women in the tribe had a good cry and eventually made a resolute choice to take part in the experiment.

They had already had enough of everything they suffered through the countless days and months that had passed. Their husbands were dead, their fathers were dead, and in the future, even their sons would die. What more were they left with?

They only had themselves left.

There was no longer anyone left to protect them; they were the only ones who could protect themselves.

This fateful day was destined to be tainted with blood and cruelty.

Countless women had stepped out with great resolution. They wanted to give assimilating the blood of the Evil Eye a shot. There were corpses of as many as over four hundred women strewn all over the field. Corpses of women who died in horrible pain were piling up everywhere.

The creature’s blood was incompatible with their blood. But in the end, three women survived, including Medea. The two other women were named Circe and Cassandra.

The names of the three were then etched onto the ancient stone walls for eternity.

On the picture engraved within the Babylonian fresco, countless women were writhing in agony as they lay in a sea of blood. Amidst them, only three strong women who were drenched in blood stood atop the countless corpses. The three of them surrounded a huge burning torch that was blazing away as they held it high up together.

This scene was carved into the Babylonian historical frescoes, and later generations named this sacred fresco of ancient times, “The Three Witches”.

The fire of civilization was passed on to them.

History was engraved in the frescoes on the stone walls, depicting the history of the rise of civilization of human tribes, and the great courage they displayed in resisting nature and wild beasts!

After a painful death came rebirth, and in the days that followed, these three great and tenacious women began to lead the tribe and started to progress towards civilization. They started to gain a kind of extraordinary psychic power. Their mental minds became strong and sharp, and they became mysterious and evil, just like Evil Eye.

They slowly gained the ability to resist the giant beasts, albeit barely. They would stay in the rear and use their psychic powers to interfere with the mental thoughts of the giant beasts, allowing the warriors to fight in the forefront with stone axes in hand.

However, because of their extremely strong psychic power, they were often unable to control their own mental fluctuations. When they were engaging in pleasure with a man and got highly excited, they would unintentionally kill the other party by shattering his mind with the impact caused by their psychic force.

Therefore, they were chaste women.

They were lonely, arrogant, and even unapproachable.

Medea had a strong sense of honor and duty. She led the tribe in waging war. With a wooden staff in hand, she fought against giant beasts and went out hunting for food.

Cassandra was easy-going and gentle. She preferred peace and quiet, and enjoyed leading the women in herding the cattle, growing herbs, healing and saving people, as well as fighting against diseases.

Circe was the exception.

In the tribe, men began to die in mysterious circumstances, and very frequently.

The people were secretly cursing Circe, and that caused Circe to harbor a silent grudge in her heart. She began to secretly make use of her psychic force to curse the men who had rebelled against her, causing them to suffer splitting headaches. Their eyes would turn black, and their hair would start thinning.

The name of Circe, the witch, became synonymous in the tribe with evil and terror.

The other two witches could not dissuade her from her ways, nor could they join forces to kill her, for her power was needed to protect the tribe.

As a result of Circe’s tyrannical rule, the status of women was gradually elevated. The brave warriors of the tribe slowly came to fear the three of them, and henceforth, the people of the tribe acknowledged them as witches who symbolized power, evil, mystery, the unknown, fear, and omnipotence.

From this day on, the tribe entered the Age of Witches where women took the reins as the highest rulers.

“Spear of the Thriving Witch” thus recorded:

The Babylonian tribe, being plagued by attacks of great beasts, had only a few men left. The women sacrificed themselves and drank the blood of the Evil Eye. This led to the rise of three great witches, namely the Witch of War, Medea, who had full jurisdiction over disorderly battles and glory; the Witch of Devastation, Circe, who had full control over chaos and curses, and the Witch of Spring, Cassandra, who took charge over the development of occult medicine and herding.