Assassin's Creed: Fragments – The Witches of the Moors

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Assassin's Creed: Fragments – The Witches of the Moors (French: Assassin's Creed: Fragments – Les Sorcières des Landes) is a novel by Adrien Tomas. It was released in France on 20 January 2022, as the third and final entry in the Assassin's Creed: Fragments young adult series by 404 Éditions. The plot is set in 17th-century France during the Labourd witch-hunt of 1609, and follows sisters Margaux and Ermeline.

Official synopsis

The following content was translated from French by Soranin.

Dive into the Inquisition and witch hunt in the heart of the French Landes with Assassin's Creed! 1609. The Inquisition is raging in Europe, massacring thousands of men and women on charges of witchcraft. Raised in the Landes region of France, Margaux and Ermeline, 16 and 17 years old, are initiated into the practices of healers to follow in the footsteps of their adoptive mother, Catherine. While her youngest sister flourishes in this simple life, between hunting and apothecary, Ermeline dreams of something else, of settling in town, far from the forests of south-west France. This peaceful life comes to an end when Catherine, denounced for witchcraft by a patient, is taken to Bayonne with her eldest daughter to Pierre de Lancre, a master inquisitor and Templar in search of an artifact belonging to said witch. When she refuses to talk, the Templar burns her alive, in front of Margaux, who had managed to flee and hide, and in front of Ermeline, whom he keeps as a hostage and manages to coax. Margaux, distraught, is taken in by Nicodemus, an Assassin close to Catherine, who will secretly train her in the Creed, while the anger of the French people rumbles against the Inquisition. Separated, the two sisters will have to mourn their happy youth, but also make choices about which path to take and which destiny to join. Assassin or Templar? The path of blood, or the path of the heart?

Summary

Prologue

At Bayonne, running within the Château-Vieux, Judge Pierre de Lancre held his documents and settled in to escape the heat. Impatient, he waited inside the castle while going his directives for the day such as acquiring troops and studying the land where his task leads him. From the documents, he hopes to find what the courts may have overlooked from its testimonies and statements. However, most proved to be made of petty feuds and rivalries. Assessing them, he wants to interview the condemned at the castle's dungeons and to discern the true stories from the fake ones.

As judge, Pierre knows that his rule would be paramount due to his decisions on administering fatal judgments on the so-called "witches". He sees that anyone who strays from the traditions and law will need to disappear. While reading, he soon feels the hand of fellow judge Jean d'Espaignet, whom he despised for his two-faced demeanor. In public, d'Espaignet holds a firm grasp on the law, but in private, he was a drunk and idiotic in his profession. Jean's disregard for etiquette and chastisement leads Pierre to be enraged whilst in his proximity.

Tasked by King Henry IV, both Pierre and Jean were tasked to be inquisitors in Bayonne to settle these "ungodly" matters. The region of Labourd was their destination and noted to be mainly made of women, due to their men working overseas. However, Jean admits that he will not be able to go due to the king's order to have him mediate a situation with Spain. Elated, Pierre feigns congratulations and wishes Jean well. Jean states that he wished to stay but knows Pierre is more than capable to do the job.

After Jean bids him farewell, Pierre smiles and knows his fellow Templars' plan to stir conflict between Spain and France worked. Alone at the helm, he now has free rein over Labourd and its upcoming trials.

Chapter One

Ermeline looks at a flashy robe and wondering about her life away from here, but is placed back on track when Catherine tells her to ready to help a yelling woman. Ermeline is a young seventeen year-old girl who helps Catherine in her surgical sessions and provides a calm demeanor for the patients. In this situation, the patient is ten-months pregnant and the doctors told her to wait, causing her and her husband to seek Catherine's help.

Catherine works as the mid-wife in these situations and her stature and personality was on par with no one else. Her daughters knew all too well. Catherine decides to induce labor and has Ermeline help her ready the procedure. Ermeline wastes no time and finds the necessary equipment, knowing it by heart after five years daily. Retrieving boiling water and setting down the materials, Ermeline prepared the tea concoction and handed it to Catherine.

Catherine gives the tea to the pregnant woman, who spits it out. Catherine continues to give her the tea and soon the woman becomes calmer. She soon determines that they would have to perform surgery instead of natural birth. Preparing the linens, she mixes them with some essences. Thanking Ermeline, Catherine tells her to leave to rest and take care of the husband outside. Outside, a sad Ermeline takes a breath and goes to the husband. Beginning to reassure the man, the pregnant woman lets out a scream as Catherine makes the first incision. Ermeline stops the man and tries to convince him of how childbirth is usually painful.

The man says that her doctor mentioned her moods were the reason for her late delivery, much to Ermeline's chagrin. Ermeline tells him that it is neither his or his wife's fault but noticed that the doctors did not want to tell a wealthy merchant the truth and waited too late to act. Ermeline comforts the man and tells him that God is testing him and how he will react under his test. The man is shocked at her knowledge of the holy script but the women of Labourd have always held the same level of knowledge of the texts as the men. Yet, she does not care about his views and wishes him hell if he is against her.

An hour passes and Catherine exits the cottage to hand the baby to the father. Telling him that the wife needs to rest, Catherine and Ermeline leave him with the baby. However, Ermeline sees that the surgery did not go well as Catherine tells her to shut the door. She tells her that the woman has lost too much blood and will not survive. Catherine tells her to find the cloth but Ermeline asks to wait for Margaux. However, her mother tells her that she was out wandering, which Ermeline always disliked due to her working most of the times with their mother. Also, Ermeline was not fond of using the cloth but Catherine insisted to use to save the woman's life and what good is it without saving those who need it.

Taking the cloth out of its secret compartment, Ermeline placed it on the woman per Catherine's insistence. Soon, the scar on the belly began to heal but slower than usual. However instead of being scared, she lets the cloth work as it tried talking to her. Soon, the woman is fully healed while Ermeline hides the cloth quickly. With the woman awake, she asks how she does not feel any pain. Catherine explains that she is really good with sutures while Ermeline uses the best mixture of balms. Reminding the woman of the bandages, Catherine readies her while Ermeline knows that her mother will receive very little due to all she has does.

While Ermeline wants for them to live in the city and have their medicinal miracles make them wealthy, Catherine had put moot on that idea and wanted no part with jealous city people. Also, Margaux always sees herself outside and loves the fields and the woods while Ermeline condemns her immature behavior. She knows that Margaux also has the tendency to find herself in tremendous trouble.

Chapter Two

Margaux lies on top of Mathurin's sheepfold and seeks to enact justice. However, she notices how unwell the man's sheepfold was and how lazy he was in upkeeping his place. Once he left, she climbs down and is greeted by the sheep. Frozen, she looks around but Mathurin did not come back. Finding the goat Blanchette and her kid, she takes them quietly. Seeing how Mathurin tends to his herd, Margaux is tempted to take them all but knows Catherine will be lightly upset with just Blanchette and her kid. Yet, upon leaving, she realizes that this was payback for him stealing Blanchette and her kid in the first place. Back towards the forest, she finds her mother's special walking staff and continues back home.

While taking in the scenery, Margaux stops and feels uneased. With her vision, she spots two bandits in the distance. When she blinks, the vision goes away. She has had this gift for a while but she knows that if it becomes public, it would add more unwanted attention to all of them. Although she hides it from them, Margaux had continued to finesse her skill and understood the colors of grey, red, and gold held their own meanings. While walking forwards, she is confronted by the bandits, who threaten her for her money. Studying them, Margaux drops her staff and begs for them for mercy but they refuse. When one bandit goes closer, she immediately attacks and incapacitates him with her staff.

The other bandit, one-armed with a sword, attacks Margaux and grazes her. Fighting against him, she quickly opens a bladed metal point of the staff and manages to kill the bandit. Horrified, she quickly gathers the goats and leaves for home. Stopping herself and crying, she thinks about what to say to Catherine and Ermeline even though it was self-defense. With her dress ripped, all she could do is explain to them. Heartbroken over killing the bandit, Margaux continues her walk home with the goats.

Chapter Three

Pierre travels in a carriage to his next destination , but despises how hot it was and how uncomfortable the ride is. Despite his old age of sixty, he perseveres for the mission. Throughout all of July, he looks through all of the alleged cases of witchcraft, but had seen that they were all false or vengeful rumors from one neighbor or enemy. Although he has not found any proof of what he looked for, he still obliged with the pyres and made sure that the King would achieve results, one way or another.

While on his journey, Pierre remarks on how his Templar brothers have made sure that his inquisition will remain unbothered and how his team at the royal commission is made up of Templars, who will help him obtain the clue he needs. While dismissing another case of a madman raving, Pierre continues on the next parish until his horses stop. Lieutenant Jehan Sorhaindo tells him that the horses are tired and how there is an inn nearby. Annoyed but hungry, Pierre leaves the carriage and then enters the inn. Inside, his men rally together to eat while he eats alone while thinking of his disappointing results.

Disgruntled, Pierre wavers to remain optimistic and wants to prove his worth as a Templar. Yet, he knows that despite the shortcomings in Spain, Switzerland, and Bohemia, he knows that the more supernatural news in an area, the closer he is to an artifact. If not, he will continue to expand the Order's control. While eating, Pierre is interrupted by François Ascair, one of his sleuths, as he points his judge in the direction of a couple with their newborn. When the couple explains their miracle and the work of the expert midwife, Pierre takes their account under his discretion to investigate.

The woman details how her healer had delivered her baby and somehow returned her back to full health. Ascair insinuates that those who have been under the artifact's use are also guilty of those who used it. The woman then recalls a dream that the healer had used a worn but glowing fabric but believes it was her delirium. Pierre's hearts begins to pound harder as he has found evidence of an Isu shroud, like the one that revived Christ. From the Templars' account, there may be only five in the world. With this news, he readies his men, orders the couple for directions, and rides along the countryside towards the midwife's home.

Chapter Four

While Ermeline sews her torn dress, she barely pays attention to Margaux recounting her fight with the one-armed bandit. Ermeline reprimands her for not leaving the goats before hugging her and telling her she was scared for her. Margaux states that her training with the malika from her aided her in battle, but Ermeline still mentions that pride is a deadly sin. Looking at Margaux's dress, Ermeline offers to fix it. Margaux chides her skills before being told to go to sleep. Along, Ermeline continues her work in peace while the rest sleeps.

Ermeline becomes frustrated after finishing the dress as she has to do it on occasion instead of getting new clothes, but follows Catherine's directions nonetheless. She still wants to go to Bayonne to interact and have friends her own age. She relaxes reluctantly and goes to sleep. However, within hours, Ermeline wakes up to Margaux who tells her of men near their home. Catherine walks into the room, scared and her eyes twitching. Catherine tells them to ready themselves as she states the new mother slandered her as a witch. With two suitcases, Catherine rushes them again.

Catherine tells them to put on the wool clothes but not before hearing guards yelling to open the doors. Realizing it was a call of the guards from the king of Spain, Catherine gives them her savings and a canvas before demanding that they go to Bayonne. With guards calling again, Catherine tells them to go after giving them a hug and telling them that she has to stay due to her hurt ankle. Telling Ermeline to take care of Margaux, Catherine gives her the malika before they left. However, the guards break in, bypassing the midwife and goes for Ermeline, still at the window.

While Ermeline tries to escape, the man pulls her back inside. Margaux tries to pull her forward but the man succeeds and beats the girl down. Lieutenant Sorhaindo throws Catherine on the floor and puts his boot on her throat. However, an older bald man, wearing a red robe, pushes the lieutenant to let Catherine go. The man asks if they are alone, to which Sorhaindo nods yes. On the orders of the caped man, Ermeline and Catherine are tied up and caged into a coach. After having heard their home being thrashed, the caped man exits their home and interrogates Catherine on a man's location.

With Catherine being uncooperative, the caped man looks and tries to entice Ermeline with her freedom. He introduces himself as Judge Pierre de Lancre and asks her about where to find "it." Ermeline, realizing what he meant, remains quiet. Pierre then grabs her satchel and empties the contents onto the floor, only to find only their remedies. Angry, he commands to burn down their home. Set ablaze, their home burns quickly while Ermeline watches her home destroyed. Pierre then orders them to be taken back to the castle in Bayonne while some guards stayed to contain the fire. Quickly, Catherine and Ermeline are taken away from their home as it turned to ash.

Chapter Five

Hiding nearby, Margaux watches as her mother and Ermeline are taken away and her home burns down. Although a guard saves the goat, she sees that a lieutenant ordered his men to search for her. Fortunately, she escapes their eyes and hides within a thicket, which was one of her usual dens. Almost in tears, she regains her composure and plans how to save her family. She plans to wait for an opportunity for her to follow the guards back to Bayonne. Before she can act, she is instantly grabbed by the ankles as a soldier has found her. Grabbing her by the hair, she uses the malika and begins to hit him. Although the soldier still stands, Margaux then headbutts him in the face and knees him in the groin.

Set free and the soldier on his knees, Margaux swings her malika and crushes the soldier's skull, killing the guard instantly. While horrified of how young he was, she looks around, using her gift, and sees soldiers in the distance. She then hides with the body in the thicket but knows to move away and to find a way to her mother and sister. Realizing she is covered in blood, she looks within her bag and through the concoctions her mother made.

Margaux then finds the special cloth her mother Catherine had used and heals her small wounds, to avoid any small infection. Using her vision, she makes sure that she is not being tracked while follows the coach's trail. However, the trail was muddled with other tracks and there was no other way to follow them. Then, Margaux recalls that a man named "Nicodemus" informed Catherine of their arrival in Bayonne. Thus, she planned to locate Nicodemus when she arrives in Bayonne.

Chapter Six

Pierre arrives back at the castle, eased at being back at his work. Inside, he decompresses while he orders the prisoners to the dungeons. After taking a nice, cold bath, he starts to work on his report, which happened to be his first invalid writing, to ensure their capture was just to his king. After some hours, he ordered Sorhaindo to take the women into the interrogation room, hoping that the device would strike terror into their hearts. Having chained Catherine and Ermeline to the wall, the judge sees the girl scared while the woman remains brave. When he tells the general to leave, Sorhaindo responded to asking to stay again. Knowing the general and his family's resume, de Lancre bides his time with him until he can frame his family with any of the perceived witches he has locked up.

While Pierre explains that it is a pre-eliminatory, Sorhaindo remains skeptical to his procedure and implores the judge to stay in the room. However, the judge orders him away while he conducts the interrogation. The lieutenant tries to respond but leaves while noticing de Lancre's demeanor change. When Catherine makes a slight remark of his authority, the judge begins to choke the woman while Ermeline screams for him to stop. The judge tells them that they will address him accordingly or they will suffer the same act or worse, to which both women agree. He then asks about the Shroud's location. Catherine whispers and tells him that it is where the Sun does not shine and then laughs aet him. The judge begins to slap her repeatedly but Catherine does not break. He then pushes his finger into her eye, causing Catherine to scream and Ermeline to yell at him.

Pierre then turns to Ermeline and tries to convince her to talk. Catherine dissuades her not to do so but Pierre gags her. He asks her about the shroud's location while Catherine shakes her head in disagreement. Ermeline states that she does not know what he wants. Done with them, he leaves them and opens the door, only to find Sorhaindo waiting. Telling the general to take them to the dungeon again, he leaves but is left bewildered at Catherine's strength. He begins to sign Catherine's execution order.

Chapter Seven

Margaux fortunately makes her way easily to Bayonne, which she is astounded by due to the comparison of the countryside of Labourd. Using the survival skills taught by Catherine, she made sure to find all the wild herbs, such as mugwort and wormwood, but grows emotional as she reminds herself that she is alone. After three days, she comes upon the gate within Bayonne but starts to wonder how to enter. Coincidentally, rain starts to pour, providing an opportunity to blend in with her hood among the locals. Inside the city, she feels out of sorts and is knocked down multiple times by strangers moving out of the rain.

While passing through the city's taverns, Margaux stays by the sea and takes in the water for the first time. However, a port worker tells her to move which causes her to go back into the city. Hungry, she looks around as she does not know how the city-life works and only sees large, black rats as a reluctant option. A more pressing issue of money comes to play and she begins to think to sell her malika. Fortunately, she finds an apothecary, where she may be able to sell her herbs, and goes inside the building. However, the owner gives her few copper coins due to the small amounts of each herb she had.

However, Margaux then unloads the bottles, which the owner smells and then offers her more money. With this, she soon asks the man about where they keep witches. The man frowns and states that Judge Lancre keeps at them at the castle if not burning the poor instead. Yet, he stops the conversation before more can be said, to which Margaux concurs. Before leaving, she asks if he knew about Nicodemus, to which the man turns pale. He rushes her out and tells her not to return. Confused, she leaves the shop but still looks around for food as her belly begins to growl.

Chapter Eight

A week has passed while Ermeline has been kept in the castle, a cell away from her mother. Ermeline prays for her sister while she overhears that other prisoners were claimed to be witches or working with the Devil. She speaks with Catherine about possibly trading the magical cloth for their freedom, but her mother rebuffs the idea. However, Ermeline believes the judge to be rational, despite his violent tendencies. At the end of the week, she wakes up after hearing Catherine wheezing uncontrollably. Worried for her mother, Ermeline calls for help but is reluctant to deal with the lieutenant.

Although Sorhaindo admits that a doctor will not visit, Ermeline harshly requests for herbs from an apothecary to help her mother. He explains that he cannot allow any visitors while Ermeline asks why he is here then. He then admits that Lancre has signed for Catherine's execution this afternoon, much to Ermeline's shock. Sorhaindo offers his condolences but Ermeline rejects his words. He admits that he does not agree with Lancre's decision but it falls on deaf ears. He explains that the judge has forged documents and statements of Catherine involving herself into witchcraft and multiple counts of assaults.

While Ermeline is shocked at this, Catherine just rebuffs the new information while Sorhaindo admits that the truth will show if she is innocent. However, Catherine asks if he believes that God will intervene. Sorhaindo asks one last time if they have something new to offer him to spare Bayonne more of this violence. When Catherine mentions the Creed, the lieutenant becomes confused but Catherine retracts her mention. Catherine yells at the man to leave and waits for her and Ermeline to be left alone. Catherine then tells her that the garment she received was from Margaux's mother and how she adopted her and Ermeline. Shocked, Ermeline listens as Catherine explains her past studying under a master of the apothecary.

Catherine explains that it was there that she met Nicodemus but saw him only wanting to know antidotes and poisons. After time, they became close friends while telling Ermeline that despite her intelligence, her sex and dark skin always made people look at her with such hatred. Only besides him, she felt somewhat safe from their animosity. After their master died, Catherine moved to Bordeaux as Nicodemus aided her in fixing the place up. After he left, it had been years. Then, he came back with a pregnant friend, Florine, who gave birth to Margaux. Ermeline asks who her mother was while Catherine explains that she was the result of a local woman impregnated and left alone. After she was born, her mother died in childbirth.

Moving the story along, Catherine then tells her that Nicodemus and Florine belonged to an order that protected hidden relics like the cloth they used. When Florine and Nicodemus found out she was pregnant, they moved quickly as Florine nearly died in childbirth. Fortunately, Nicodemus used the cloth to save her. Afterwards, Nicodemus and Florine handed Catherine the cloth and Margaux to keep safe while they left. Before long, they did not see each other but Nicodemus sent her a pigeon informing her of the judge's visit but it was too late. Catherine apologizes for not keeping Ermeline away from her last moments before death.

Catherine tells her that she will die out of loyalty to Nicodemus but Ermeline pleads for her to tell the judge. Catherine tells her that the judge belongs to a group of people who seek to control all and will abuse the cloth's power for their own gain. She tells Ermeline to keep her secret away from the judge and his men. Overwhelmed, Ermeline promises her mom to keep their secret.

Chapter Nine

Margaux has spent days observing the layout of the castle and the guards' routines. However, with limited resources and the castle housing multiple servants and militiamen, she begins to see the men who took her mother and sister away from her. She learns the man in red was Judge Pierre de Rosteguy de Lancre and the bearded man was Lieutenant Jehan Sorhaindo, tasked to protect the judge. While the judge stays inside the castle, Jehan left the castle to rest or loiter elsewhere. She figures that she cannot face Jehan and his troupe alone and has failed gaining a job inside the castle. She also sees that yelling out for their release would lead to her being jailed. Although too risky, she decides to infiltrate the castle at night. Using the last of her money, she buys a small meal to gain energy to sneak inside the castle.

While inside a inn, Margaux notices the people celebrating but then learns that public execution of a witch will occur. She asks why they are celebrating but the patrons look at her weirdly while continuing their festivities. However, she comes upon a table of disgruntled citizens who remark on the increase of prisoners, those who are not even guilty but chosen due to their opposition to Lancre and how at this point, their city will soon be made of ashes. Overwhelmed, she leaves the inn to breathe. Yet, she comes across a commotion and a midwife prisoner is being escorted out from the prison. Closer, she realizes that it is Catherine.

While Catherine is pelted by veggies, Margaux follows her trail. Angry, she pushes through the crowd until she is stopped by a hooded man. While she tries to move away, he introduces himself as Nicodemus. He explains that they have to leave but forces her to stop. In pain, she is ordered to use her vision. Resistant at first, she finally uses it and sees nearly all in front of her as enemies. When she looks at him, all she sees is a golden aura. While he tries to have her leave, she catches sight of Catherine gagged as the pyre is lit. It is too late as Catherine burns alive. She is then pulled back and struggles against Nicodemus, who places something over her face. Before she can move, she starts to lose consciousness and begins to dream of the scarlet fire.

Chapter Ten

TBC

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