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! 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 fight 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.
- Is 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.
- Is 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.
"I 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.
Across a river, through...
...300 leagues of heavy forest and a mountain pass.
This forest is called Wormwood.
It's not a place to be trifled with.
Men have lost their way there, never to be seen again.
Tell me, priest, have you ever made the journey yourself?
- No. - Naturally.
But these are the best maps in the land.
But we would do better to have a guide.
You know, someone who has traveled from here to there.
Tax collector perhaps, merchant.
There is someone, but...
Ah, visitors. What can I do for you gentlemen?
Perhaps you'd like to pelt me with fruit or kick me in the groin.
You're Hagamar? The swindler?
Yes... I mean, no!
I'm Hagamar, but I never swindled anyone.
I sold relics. Genuine relics.
Where did you sell your trinkets?
Everywhere. I have happy customers from here to Prague.
- And Severac? - Yes, the monks.
I sold them the tail of an ass ridden in the flight from Egypt.
At a bargain, I'm sure.
Then you know the way to the abbey.
Like the back of my hand.
I'd be happy to draw you a map, only...
The bailiff is prepared to pardon you.
On one condition:
you serve as our guide to Severac.
Condition accepted.
If I were to release you, however, and you attempt to flee...
Such thoughts are beneath you, sir.
I swear by all the saints, may they strike me dead, were I to lie.
They would have to get in line behind me.
Do we understand each other?
The witch is unconscious.
She was given a powerful sedative in her food last night.
Open the cell.
We'll be removing the witch for transport.
She's just a girl.
Don't be deceived.
Felson!
Hold her! Hold her!
The sooner we get her to Severac, the better!
Now she's sedated.
Who's that?
- The witch. - Witch?
Nobody said anything about a witch.
Why did you think we were going to Severac, to sell trinkets?
- God in heaven... - Kill the witch!
You gave us this affliction!
You brought the wrath of God upon us!
Take the witch out of our midsts, and take the plague with you!
She's watching me.
Put your mind on something else. She's trying to frighten you.
It's working.
How did you come upon this girl?
She was found just outside of Marburg, wandering.
Muttering strange things, words no one could understand.
This makes her a witch?
No, but it's a sign.
Within a fortnight of her arrival, the plague had swept over us.
It was the same for every town she passed.
There was no talk of such a girl passing through my village.
Yet, the plague came.
She's stronger than she looks.
Do you believe she's a witch?
You felt her strength. Would you say it was that of a girl?
I've seen girls destroy men without lifting a finger.
How many times do we need to go over this? We were in France, for God's sake.
The things she did in the bed chamber.
- She robbed you of a year's wages. - Yes, but...
...she gave me so much in return.
Look at us. Barely a month out of service to the Church and here we are...
...deserters in service to the Church.
You know we're being followed.
Let's give him a royal welcome.
Come off the horse.
Who are you? Why are you following us?
Hyah!
I asked you a question, boy.
He's an altar boy in service to the cardinal.
My name's Kay, and my father was a knight.
Jurand of Vollenbad, he also fought at Imbros, perhaps you've heard his name?
- What do you want? - I want to come with you to Severac.
Easy, boy.
To pledge myself to your service.
In exchange for which I ask your word
that you will vouch for me upon our return,
so that I may be knighted.
The services of an altar boy. I feel safer already.
I would have you know I've ridden in the lists twice.
And won flags for valor.
This isn't a tournament, boy. Go back to your mother.
This is a free road, old man.
And I don't need your permission to travel it.
Give the lad a chance to retract the remark.
My sincere apologies.
Not to me, to him.
That I cannot. He insulted me first.
I'm going to teach this one some manners.
Go easy, Felson. Use the other hand.
I don't want him dead. Just send him on his way.
- Be quick about it. - With pleasure.
Not bad for an altar boy.
What the devil was that?
Stand and fight like a man, you little jackrabbit.
Enough!
Perhaps you can be of service.
- I heard what the cardinal said. - About your heroism in the Crusades.
I would have gone too, but I was too young.
You're one of the lucky ones.
Well, tell me about it. Where did you enlist?
It was a priest who came to Felson's village.
He told us whoever went on Crusade would receive blessings from the Church.
Remission from sin.
It was the part about sin that perked young Felson's interest.
- That's not true. - So he asks the priest,
"What sins would be forgiven?
Would they forgive adultery?"
The priest says, "Yes..."
"...for a two-year pledge."
"What about theft?"
"Yes... for a three-year pledge."
So Felson mulls it over and says to the priest,
"Better sign me up for ten."
Brought you some food.
And warmth.
You're not like the others.
You're kind.
Was it Debelzaq who hurt you?
This place you're taking me.
What will happen to me there?
Your innocence or guilt will be decided.
There was a girl in my village who was suspected of being a witch.
They put stones in her pockets and cast her into the lake.
If she drowned, they would have known she was human.
But she didn't.
She lived.
They called it proof of magic and burned her at the stake.
Nothing of the kind will happen to you.
You will be given a fair trial.
You have my word on that.
She say anything?
- Why do you ask? - I only mean to caution you.
The witch is a deceiver. She'll turn one man against another.
Who's to guard the wagon?
Guard the wagon? The girl is caged.
- And I'm tired. - I will go.
Perhaps someone else should take the first watch.
I'll go. I'll go. Don't worry, lad.
There will be plenty of time between here and Severac.
Eckhart, be watchful.
I came to relieve you.
You're not tired?
No, no.
I don't sleep much these days.
I was thinking about how much the girl reminds me of my own daughter.
I'm sorry for your loss. What was her name?
Mila. Her name was Mila.
Tell me, Father...
You say the cardinal has given his word that she will have a fair trial.
But has he not also given his word to end this plague?
What are you suggesting?
Can you imagine the reaction of the people
if she were not to be found guilty of witchcraft?
No, Father.
You know as well as I the Church cannot afford that. Not now.
No, no. Our responsibility is to deliver her for trial.
The monks will decide her fate.
Exactly.
The monks will decide her fate. And I will not be a party to this.
Nor will the others, hopefully, when they have heard what I have to say.
Wait! Please don't go!
- Please don't leave me alone with him. - You fear him.
- Listen to me. - Eckhart!
I'm not letting them...
Give me that key!
How did she escape?
She took the key from around my neck.
Which way did she go?
Maybe she followed this road to the village.
Kay and Eckhart, that way.
She's in the square!
There she is!
This is a grave. This is a mass grave.
Papa...
Wait here.
Papa!
- Mila? - Papa?
I'm here!
Eckhart!
- Mila? Mila. - Papa.
Papa, where are you?
- Mila. My child. - Papa, is that you?
- Don't run away! - Papa!
Mila!
- Papa. - Mila?
Eckhart. Eckhart.
Eckhart. Felson! Behmen!
Where are you?!
He came running out of nowhere.
Why didn't he stop? Why didn't he see me?
Oh, dear God, what have I done? What have I done?
He looked me in the eye, but he didn't see me.
He... He called me Mila.
Behmen!
I had to run. I had no choice. I...
I couldn't let him touch me again. I'm so sorry.
Please! Please don't take me back to him, please.
Please, I beg... please.
Heavenly Father, we pray thee.
Take thy servant Johann Eckhart unto the heavenly realm.
For he was a soldier of the Cross and fought in thy name.
And in the name of thy only son, Jesus Christ.
And thus did he die for the glory of God.
- Amen. - Amen.
Would anyone care to offer some words?
Let his sacrifice not be in vain.
Behmen!
Behmen, I must speak with you.
What is it now, priest?
You must warn the others to be careful in her presence,
not to discuss personal matters, things she might use against...
Listen to me! It was the witch killed Eckhart!
Now you heard what Kay said. His mind was not his own.
She overheard us talking of his daughter.
What exactly are you suggesting?
She sees the weakness that lies in our hearts.
And what she sees there she will use against us.
Crusader.
I'm truly grateful for your help. You're very brave.
A man like you could never stand to see a young girl come to any harm.
Debelzaq believes you are to blame for Eckhart's death.
And you believe him?
After what he did to me?
I had no reason to harm Eckhart. He was nothing but kind to me.
He told me I looked like his daughter.
I can see his death weighs heavy on your mind.
Allow me to ease your pain.
Some good deeds can be done even from behind bars.
Kay. Remember this. It was not your fault.
It was the witch, no one else.
He died by my sword.
It could just as easily been another's.
But it wasn't.
It was mine. I killed him.
Why are we stopped?
You call that a bridge?
Last time I saw it, it was eight or nine years ago.
I remember it differently.
It's our reward for taking a swindler as our guide.
I told you, I'm not a swindler.
You're not much of a guide either, are you?
How are we supposed to get across this rotting timber?
You're blaming me for the bridge?
You're the one who led us to it.
You're the one who...
Behmen.
Behmen!
Take everything off the wagon. Bring the horses across one by one.
It will be on my count of three.
One... Two... Three!
My hands!
Can't hold on much longer!
Help!
Hagamar! Hitch a rope to the horses and we'll use them to pull the wagon.
If you let me out, it will be lighter.
Please! I can help!
- It won't hold! - It will! Push!
Push!
We won't make it! Let me out!
- Come on! - Push!
Hold it!
That was a little too close.
I've saved your ass a hundred times. Have a little faith.
Kay, bring me a fresh wrap for the priest's hand.
It would be a shame if he bled to death.
Thank you.
Felson!
The flask.
Really?
What is this place?
Hagamar. Where are we?
Wormwood Forest.
- Damn fog. - Like a veil before my eyes.
We haven't strayed from the path, have we?
I can barely see my own hand in front of my face.
The only reason you're around is because you claimed you knew the way.
I know the way, I just can't see the way.
Maybe you'd like to try leading the way then, huh?
Enough! Both of you!
We'll camp here on the road. Wait for the fog to pass.
Kay told me what happened on the bridge.
He says you saved his life. With one hand.
Hard to believe.
We believe what we want to believe.
Do you believe I'm a witch, Behmen?
You're not afraid of me, are you?
Mm...
Trouble sleeping?
Myself as well.
Not sure if it's the fog, the altitude...
It's unsettling.
Even for a knight.
Let alone a spineless scoundrel like myself?
That is not what I meant.
No?
Behmen, how many more are going to die before we reach Severac?
- None if I can help it. - And if you can't? Well, then what?
Forgive me if I seem reluctant to put my life in your hands.
But I have a better solution.
We kill the bitch. Here and now and be done with it.
We tell those back in Marburg she tried to escape. She meant us harm.
What could we do? We had no choice.
And who would be the wiser?
I, for one.
Did you hear that?
- What is it? What's happening? - Listen. Be quiet.
Wolves.
What do we do?
Kill as many as you can.
- Oh, no. - Get the horses. I'll take the wagon.
Go!
Hyah!
Behmen!
It's too late. We can't help him.
Behmen? What are you doing?
Behmen, what are you doing?
He's doing what comes naturally. Killing the innocent.
- You cannot do this! - Step aside.
- Two lives have already been lost. - No one grieves for that more than I!
Then step aside or this arrow will be yours.
If we falter now those lives will have been lost in vain.
All will not be lost. Four lives will be spared.
What are four lives compared with the thousands more that will be lost
if this plague is not ended? I know!
There may be no room in your heart for God, Behmen.
But in my heart, I know He would not abandon us!
In God's name.
No man has spilled more blood in God's name than I.
A benevolent God would not ask such things of men!
But if you kill her, you will not have God to blame.
Only yourself.
The end is in sight.
Look.
Severac.
We've come a long way, Behmen. Across oceans, deserts.
Seen things few men have seen.
When this is over I think I'd like to see the valley where I was born.
And you?
I have no such yearnings for home.
Oh, well, then come with me. I will show you my home.
And we will sit in the hall where my forefathers sat and drink ale.
- Tell tales few men have lived to tell. - And fewer still will believe.
But we will know the truth, my friend.
We will know.
Hello?
Is anyone there?
- Where are the monks? - Chapel.
At this time they should be in vespers.
My brothers, forgive the intrusion, but we have traveled far...
It cannot be.
He would not abandon us.
God would not abandon us.
We must go. There is no hope here. Only the plague.
Go where?
These men were our hope.
We are in God's hands now.
Prayer is our only salvation.
Our Lord in heaven,
- hallowed be thy name. - Debelzaq!
- Thy kingdom come, thy will be done... - Debelzaq!
...On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses...
- Get up. - ...as we forgive those...
...who trespass against us. - Get up!
- And lead us not into temptation! - But deliver us from evil.
Amen.
Debelzaq.
The key of Solomon. The book of which the cardinal spoke.
Within these pages are said to be all the rituals, prayers,
and incantations used by holy men throughout the ages
to defend against the forces of evil.
Can... you perform the ritual?
What have we here?
Is this the fair trial you promised me, Behmen?
You sealed your own fate.
Let it be known to all here present and before God himself
that this woman stands accused of witchcraft!
That she has admitted to calling up a plague against all mankind.
I'm flattered. But I must confess...
...I have deceived you.
You think you can save yourself by recanting, but you're wrong.
- Speak the truth now before God! - The truth?
Do not speak to me of the truth, you hypocrite!
For centuries you and your ilk have been burning, hanging,
crucifying anyone who stood in their way!
In truth, I should thank you.
The Church has sent more souls to perdition than all the wars,
famines, and pestilences put together.
- That is a lie, witch! - Debelzaq! The ritual.
And you, Behmen! All you needed was a child to save.
Someone to ease your pitiful guilt.
Did you truly think that saving one ragged waif would change anything?
Come, Behmen. Your sins are legion.
How many innocent have fallen beneath that very blade?
They are godless people. Infidels!
They have sinned against God and against his only son, Jesus Christ.
They must be punished!
How could you know?
This is no witch.
Do not utter those words!
We're gonna need more holy water.
Here!
Tell me, Behmen.
Are we going in there to defeat the demon...
...or to save the girl?
Both.
Huh.
- I found more holy water. - You've done well.
- This is as far as you go, Kay. - I don't understand.
This is not your battle.
I took a vow to join your cause.
I release you from your vow. There is no shame in it.
Honor is not a thing to be dismissed or forgotten!
A vow must be fulfilled, else it is no vow at all.
- Even at the cost of your life? - Even then.
Kneel, Kay.
Speak after me.
- Grant me courage, O Lord. - Grant me courage, O Lord.
- For I am thy servant. - For I am thy servant.
- And gird me with strength unto battle. - And gird me with strength unto battle.
- That I may crush thine enemies. - That I may crush thine enemies.
As dust before the wind.
Amen.
- Amen. - Amen.
Rise a knight.
- Felson. - What is it?
I know in my heart I have not earned this.
You will.
The demon could have escaped anytime.
Why did it wait until we reached Severac?
Perhaps escape wasn't its purpose.
It wants to be here.
Debelzaq, you said Eckhart tried to free her.
And I will not be a party to this.
- Papa. - Mila!
And he killed him. And Hagamar too.
He stood in its way.
We kill the bitch! Here and now and be done with it.
He wanted to come here from the very beginning.
My God.
The sooner we get her to Severac, the better!
He's right. Everything it's done has led us here.
Over here.
Why would a dying monk do this to himself?
Why would he tie himself to a desk?
It's a passage from the Book of Solomon.
There are more over here.
And more!
They were copying it.
To spread the wisdom of Solomon to all the corners of the earth,
that the pious might be armed.
It wants the book.
That's why the demon deceived us into believing the girl was a witch.
It knew that a witch would be brought to those
who possessed the Book of Solomon.
You've seen what this plague has done.
If the book were to fall into the demon's hands...
...we would face an endless darkness.
It's our last defense.
I should thank all of you.
You sacrificed so much to deliver me here.
And now you've brought me the book.
Debelzaq.
Silence!
- Watch out! - Behmen!
Where are they?
- Who? - The monks.
You can weaken it! You have to keep reading.
The head, cut off the head!
They're like cockroaches.
Felson!
You have no idea how that accursed book has tormented me over the centuries.
I destroyed the others. This is the last one.
You'll be buying tonight, my friend.
Felson!
Finish it!
Amen!
Behmen.
What can I do?
Keep her safe.
God be with you, Felson.
It's strange.
To owe so much to someone I never even knew.
I don't know what to say.
Say what is in your heart.
My name is Anna.
I owe you my life.
God keep you.
Will you tell me about them?
I want to know them.
So the plague passed and life returned to the land.
There are many who say the plague
was nothing but a pestilence that finally broke,
like the passing of a fever.
They don't know the darkness that almost was.
The sacrifices made. The heroes lost.
I will tell their story. I was there.
I know.