Prologue

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Prologue – The Holy Flame Festival [Revised]

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A man had been burned.

In the center of the piled up firewood, the man was attached onto a log with iron chains. Death by burning. It was a capital punishment. The flames crackled as the heat increased. The body was burnt. His life was taken away.

The onlookers were boiling in excitement. Both men and women, young and old, the rich and the poor were wide-eyed and gaped mouth. The event climax. In the midst of the scene, only 3 people were feeling different from the others.

“Oh..the flames rises! This is purification in true form! The flames of purification!”

Among them, a plump middle-aged priest wearing lavish clothing stood upright near the balcony. He looked around at the people as his resonating, hoarse voice echoed across.

“Our gracious sacred hero had been maliciously plotted and murdered by this man! Truly an act of the devil, this is proof he had been possessed by an evil spirit! Our sorrow is God’s sorrow! Our anger is God’s anger! This is justice!”

The priest scattered sweat and saliva due to the intensity of his hand gestures. However, the words did not stop coming from his mouth. He poured oil onto the people. Fanning the flames, the people even began to scream. It was a crazy festival. If devils truly exist, then the gatherings would exactly be like this.

The girl looked over with a pale face. She was one of the three people. On a building near the square, she trembled on the special seat which was the most suitable to be watching from the second floor. She wore the finest dress which neatly wrapped her body. The accessories which she wore was the same. She was surrounded by her knight escorts.

“God watches over us! He granted us a blessing! The princess had uncovered the plot of this man, giving us the honor of subduing him! The wise princess! She had lost her beloved hero, but was enlightened!!”

All the boiling excitement was directed to the window, the girl lightly jumped. She was attacked by an intense fear. Her white eyes both widened to a perfect circle, her lips were tightly shut with a tinge of purple.

“…T-this…is all my fault”

She murmured silently. Her sweat did not even drop before it dried off due to the heat.

“I-it’s all my fault…no…why…”

Her voice was not heard both times. Her feeble breath was barely on her tongue as she edged back and without knowing, she plopped down.

“This…is such a terrible feeling…”

If her last word reached one of the three people, that person may have died from indignation. Near the blazing fire, the soldiers had pinned down a women who tried to look up while her cheeks were being pressed against to the stone pavement. She was dressed like a village girl, but she was too muscular for a novice. A well-used sword was dropped nearby.

The woman’s wide-opened eyes were bloodshot. The whites of her eyes were not clearly visible, her back tooth were grinded as she snarled. Her face turned ugly like a demon. Her silver hair reflected against the color of the fire. It seems she was from a minority racial origin.

She was the only person in this place who was trying to save the man from the fire.

And this was the result. It wasn’t possible to move, she can only simple gaze. The scene burned into her soul as the excited onlookers began to dance creating loud footsteps.

At the center of the orange sky… the burning smoke which looked like a black pillar finally lost shape and left. The crowd shouted with joy. Many stomping footsteps were heard. Her body trembled. The crowd had cruelly enjoyed the death of a person. The woman did not utter a single word.

” O’! The judgement had been passed down! By our flames, the devil had perished now!”

As if mimicking an orchestra, the priest acted like a conductor. He manipulated the people’s excitement with his hand and mouth.

“From now on, this day will be a glorious anniversary! God had reached out during our hardships! We should sing and celebrate! This day is already a thing of the past! Come, let’s toast together!”

Many people dressed in white robes distributed a wine cup to the people around. They seem to have brought in many wine barrels beforehand. It transformed totally into a festival. Cheerful orchestral musics filled the background after the fires became quiet. A song was sung. The people danced. The heat dwell in their mind and body throughout the night….

One man’s death. A grand party before and after the death.

The entire city watched the bonfire and raised a victory song toward the night sky.

During the city’s whole affair, several black lines extended to the outside from the city. It was the waterways with dirty water. The waterways merged into one single stream. The stream flowed gently. The stream spread nourishment around, but on the other hand, it also gathers nourishment from the surroundings. The stream will eventually arrive at the ocean.

The gloomy starry sky casted a shadow underneath the water’s surface… other than the sky’s shadow… a dark-colored fish was chewing over and over again. Over here and there, the fish was eating countlessly while swimming. The fish is eating charcoal-color thing of various sizes. Amongst the city’s thrown garbage, there was the figure of a man.

The fish picked at the gathered lumps. The fish stuffed his cheeks as the water current dispersed every broken pieces. That’s very polite. The fish cherished and ate all the good things inside the body until the end… during the night, the fish began to walk.

The fish walked. Under the water the fish grew legs one after the other, revealing it’s appearance. The fish had two awkward looking legs attached to it’s body. The fish went up the shore with unsteady steps, wading through the grass. The rate quickened the further he went away from the river. At first, the figure was like a poorly made half fish-man, then the shape gradually change, the fish began to sprint resembling a mouse.

The moon shined as the fish appeared like a gust of wind, passing through the plain and over the hills. It’s appearance was filled with countless charcoal dusts, the fish rushed in the forest. The fish did not mind the squirming animals presences. Running at full speed, the fish arrived at a suspicious looking cavern. The fish rushed in. There were lights flickering in the back of the cavern. The fish ran in. The fish rushed in without making any sounds… the dark speck jumped and went inside a pot on a cooking stove.

In a husky voice, someone began to chant.

“His spirit was so strong to be burned this long… I am shocked even though he passed away…”

There was a man of short stature appearing from the shadows, wearing his hood low over his eyes. He stooped low to the pot on the cooking stove, and started a emerald green fire.

“Blood knowledge…a red curse…jealousy and favor…detestable fate…”

The color of the fire turned from green to blue, blue to violet, and then changed into a glaring yellow from purple. The shadow inside the pot was boiling. However, the pot was not hot. It was not a regular fire made from ordinary materials.

This is magic.

Before long, the pot began to crack as the chant ended, the colorful flames were wasted. A gooey liquid was produced. The man resealed it into a small bottle.

The story’s curtain began to unfold, as the world went on like usual.

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[Index] []

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