Death and Blood

1

The day had risen quickly, far too quickly for Elros who had not managed to close the eye of the night. He still couldn't believe that in a few hours, he would no longer be there, he still couldn't believe that life could be so cruel. He had first been taken from his father, then his mother was taken away from him, leaving him without a close family, forcing him to go and live with an aunt of whom he knew absolutely nothing and who obviously did not want him, not him, to finally snatch his life so young.

No matter how hard Elros tried to understand, he couldn't do it. No matter how hard he tried to find a reason why he was so unlucky, he couldn't find any. He was in this cell and nothing and no one would prevent him from suffering this sad fate. He was going to die in a few hours, in front of a whole crowd who would most certainly be happy to see life leave him slowly.

He was standing, leaning against the rusty bars and looking away. He did not know what time it was, but had no doubt that we would come to pick him up far too quickly for his taste. He didn't know how much time he had left, but he knew that it would be far too little.

"Mom..."

He raised his head to observe the sky, a tear rolled gently on his cheek.

"I'm coming soon... tell dad I'm coming soon..."

In a sense, he was happy to be able to see his parents again, the only people on this earth who had been able to bring him a little love. He was finally going to find them and this fact was enough to soothe a minimum the pain he could feel.

The smile on his lips in no way showed the fear he could feel, on the contrary, he was probably trying to make a mistake, to convince himself that everything was fine, but this was not the case. This was no longer the case.

~

Sitting on this uncomfortable bed and his eyes fixed on his hands, Elros at first did not see the guard approach a determined step of his cell, it is only the sound of a key that was introduced into a lock that took him out of his thoughts. He raised his head and sighed slightly, understanding that it was time, but his legs refused to make any movement.

"I'm going to ask you to follow me."

The teenager had never seen this man before and although he had a cold expression on his face, he did not seem to be very mean. He had spoken in a soft and calm voice.

"What time is it...?"

Elros' voice was slightly broken, as if he had spent the night screaming.

"Eleven hours."

"I was told that... it would be at noon..."

"Yes, it hasn't changed. Only, we need to prepare you before, so I was asked to pick you up an hour before."

The boy nodded without answering and without moving. The guard allowed himself to enter the cell and, while Elros thought he would lift him up violently, the latter did nothing about it. He sat next to him on the bed as hard as stone and took a deep breath before speaking.

"You know, I don't know anything about your story, I only know what you are accused of and... I don't approve of the way things were done, I don't approve of the fact that we can judge a kid without any concrete proof or the fact that we can judge him without him being present. If I had the power, I would cancel this decision and let you leave freely... if I did not risk being severely punished myself, I will leave this door open and look away until you are far enough that we do not find you. But unfortunately, I can't act like that... I'm sorry."

The teenager shook his head by smiling again, then decided to get up.

"Let's go, they will end up waiting for us"

The guard got up in turn, admiring the courage that the youngest seemed to show. He approached the boy to get him out of the cell by holding him by an arm.

After a few seconds, Elros noticed the presence of a few curious people, they were not many, but all looked at him as if he were a different being, all seemed to judge him, once again for something he had not done. No one seemed to want to look at him as they should have, everyone preferred to see him as a horrible criminal. We saw him as nothing more than a monster having worked hard on a poor young girl for no reason, no one knew the truth, but everyone had hastened to judge him.

They walked for long minutes before arriving in the public square where already, dozens of people were waiting. Elros felt his heart get carried away when his gaze fell on this object that would precipitate him to death. He had a backward movement but could not go very far, the guard held him tightly.

A dozen guards were in the square, all looking at Elros. And in the middle of the latter were these people whom the teenager considered responsible for the verdict. They were elegantly dressed, far too much to be just inhabitants. He felt nauseous when his gaze came into contact with that of a man with a strong body, who did nothing to hide the huge smile that had taken place on his lips, at the very moment he saw the now found guilty appear.

"I'm going to have to leave you with them, my work stops there. My colleagues will take care of you. Don't show any resistance, they won't be as nice as me. Their work is almost all their lives and they don't think you're innocent, so they'll enjoy falling on you before you have to get on this gallows. ”

What difference could it make? Elros wondered and basically, he made fun of everything that could happen to him, he was going to die today anyway, nothing worse could happen.

A wide smile formed on his lips, while the other guards went towards him. Two of them allowed themselves to catch him in turn by the arm, in order to move him forward to the place where he would give his last breath, but Elros did not make the slightest movement in their company.

"Don't do anything, follow them. ”

The one who had accompanied him so far seemed to care about what could happen to him, but Elros didn't care.

"If you refuse to come with us, things will be worse for you. ”

Without losing his smile, he looked at these guards one by one, always without moving and having lost patience, a first guard allowed himself to hit the teenager at the level of his stomach, the pain forced him to bend in half. As he stood up, he received a blow in the face, before a rain of blows finally fell on him.

Far too busy abusing the poor teenager, no one noticed the presence of a man with particular gaits, a few meters from the large beach. He observed the scene without experiencing the slightest emotion, his arms crossed on his chest, he seemed to see nothing but the boy now on the ground.

The man was dressed in a long black cape that hid both his hands and feet, his face was the only visible part. He had a black and cold look, his cheeks were hollow, his skin was pale and smooth and strands of black hair fell on his face to his chin. A wide hood on his head completed his outfit. At first glance, the man had nothing reassuring, in normal times, everyone would have noticed him and everyone would make sure to get away from him as soon as possible, but today, no one paid attention to him, everyone was obsessed with the show offered by the guards and Elros in spite of him.

After being abused by these men, Elros was dragged to this immense instrument that would take his life, this time he no longer opposed any resistance, his body made him suffer too much for that. His face was covered with blood, they had not gone there with a dead hand with him and no one had seen fit to interpose between them and this poor child unable to defend himself against so many men. He had certainly been sentenced to death, someone should have taken into consideration that he remained a human, that he remained a teenager who said he was totally innocent.

Elros knew it, he did not deserve what happened to him, he did not deserve to be treated this way, he did not deserve all these people to leave their homes, for the sole purpose of seeing him die today. He deserved to be right now in his aunt's garden, reading a book under his tree, while addressing his mother from time to time, as if she were near him and was going to give him an answer that would make him smile. Elros knew it, they were all wrong about him, he knew it, that they were going to the bottom of them, all regretted it, he could not say why, or how it would happen, but all as much as they are, were going to regret having his life and accused of something he had not committed.

While the rope had just been passed through the teenager's neck, the man who had found him guilty of this horrible crime appeared, escorted by several other guards. He observed the crowd around him by addressing a few smiles to some people and politely greeting others as if the reason why all were united was not important. Arriving at the boy's height, the man took the time to observe him for a moment, before turning to this crowd.

"How sorry to see one of our children in this situation. So young... he could have had his whole life in front of him, but he decided otherwise. A wasted youth."

The crowd approved each of his words, while the man gave a brief look at the boy.

"Elros Flayne was sentenced to death for a very serious fact. Indeed, he assaulted and savagely murdered Massy, a little girl of only twelve years old. She was returning home after spending the day taking care of the youngest children in this village. She always returned at the same time, always took the same path that she knew by heart and which was known to be calm but safe. His parents and brother waited for him as usual in front of the house, but Massy never arrived... they immediately understood that something had happened and his brother went looking for him, while his parents came to ask for help. After a few hours, Massy's lifeless body was found. We will not reveal either the place of the crime or the state in which he was found at the request of the family. After collecting several testimonies and evidence, we were able to prove that the culprit was none other than Elros."

" Lies!! ”

Drawing on his few remaining forces, Elros had asserted his point of view on what the man was saying. Everyone had turned their eyes to him, wondering what he might have to say in his defense.

"All this is just lies!! ”

While the man was indignant at the teenager's sudden speech, the latter made the decision to go to the end of what he considered a way to defend himself, something he had not been able to do during his judgment that he had not even witnessed.

"You came to this conclusion without even taking the time to question me!! You based yourself on evidence that I don't know!! I was at my aunt's house like every day, there are few times when you can see me outside her house!!"

"It's too late to try to defend yourself. Everything you can say will not change the outcome of this day."

Elros looked at the man in front of him and as he was going to open his mouth again, his gaze was on this funny character alone in a corner. The teenager frowned and was unable to detach his gaze from this mysterious man he was sure he had never seen before. The presence of this man made him forget for a moment the place he was in and for good reason, the latter's look seemed like hypnotizing him, Elros no longer felt master of his own body and after a while, he felt a cold running through him, before hearing a voice.

"They will eventually regret it, they always regret it."

Looking for where the voice could come from, he was forced to tear his gaze from that of the mysterious, but he was unable to find the owner.

"We hope that your parents will forgive you for having become so and we hope that Massy will be able to forgive you for the life you have deprived him of."

Elros looked again at this man for whom he felt nothing more than a deep hatred, but found nothing to answer him.

"They know that you are innocent, they needed a culprit and you had the perfect profile. They will regret."

Once again, he began to look for the owner of the voice without finding it. No one was close enough to talk to him like that and Elros knew it, he had not yet lost his mind to hear voices, no, it was something else.

"Is there anything you would like to say Elros? One last sentence that you would like to pronounce in front of everyone?"

Elros looked away to observe those in front of him. He took the time to look at them one by one, these faces that he had for the most part, used to see every morning since he was a child, these faces that had once belonged to his neighbors, the friends of his parents, the parents of his schoolmates, his classmates themselves, some people he had considered for a time as his friends. All of them were facing him today, probably waiting impatiently for the moment when he would give his last breath, all seemed to feel immense disgust for him now, to the point that they no longer wanted to see him alive. No one had opposed the decision that had been taken, that of taking his life in front of a whole crowd. Elros knew it, they would be relieved to see him die, they would be relieved the very moment the doctor will come and announce that his heart has stopped beating. They will feel no pain, no pity for this teenager.

"You don't want to say anything?"

"No."

If his parents were still alive, he would have addressed them without any hesitation, he would have spoken to them without any restraint, he would have told them how afraid he is to die, he would have told them how much he hates life, he would have entrusted them everything without any shame. But instead, despite his fear of dying, he was happy. Happy to soon find his mother, happy to soon find his father, the only ones who really counted for him, he finally did not ask for better.

"Good. In this case, we will remove the platform that holds you back and you will be hanged, until death follows!"

Elros raised his head and revealed a wide smile, refusing to appear weak during the last moments of his life, he refused to give satisfaction to all these people who had come to see him hoping to detect fear or any other feeling in his eyes.

Just before the platform under his feet was removed, Elros once again crossed the gaze of the man standing alone and away from everyone. He seemed to have suddenly recovered, as if he was looking forward to this moment. His hood no longer covered him, revealing long black hair cascading down his back, the teenager could not help but shiver thinking that this man looked straight out of hell. He gave off something not very reassuring, intimidating. He was tall and the features of his face were hard, perhaps that was the reason why no one dared to sit next to him, the teenager ignored him.

"They will soon regret it."

Once again, the voice had addressed him and Elros was seriously wondering what they could regret and above all, who "they" were.

He did not have time to ask himself more questions since without warning him, the platform under his feet had disappeared, so he was held back only by this rope around his neck that tightened him, preventing him from breathing properly. Although Elros used the forces he had left to swing his body, nothing was enough to soothe what he felt at the level of his throat. The air had trouble passing and reaching his lungs, his hands tied behind his back were useless, his feet tied to each other either. He knew it, it was useless to try to struggle, no one would come to save him, no one would help him. He was going to die here, in this square, in front of everyone and in suffering. It was a fate he didn't deserve, but no one wanted to understand it.

The whole public square was silent, the only noise that could be heard was the sound caused by the moans of Elros who, despite the fact that he knew he was going to die, could not help but struggle in the hope of regaining a stable breathing. Unfortunately for him, the more seconds passed and the more difficult it was for him to inspire, his chest began to make him suffer, his head began to turn more and more, he felt that he could lose consciousness at any time, but he struggled for this not to happen.

"The best thing would be for you to stop fighting Elros, you can't escape this decision that has been taken, it's already too late. Accept this punishment and everything will be over very quickly."

The teenager didn't want to hear anything. He was obviously aware of all this, but his body and mind refused to give up, they would fight until they were no longer able to do so.

"Your rebirth is about to arrive, they will regret it. You have been chosen."

This time, Elros no longer sought to know who this voice belonged to, far too busy fighting for his own life, he was no longer able to pay attention to what was happening around him.

~

Elros' body swayed slowly at the light pace of the wind. He had stopped struggling recently, which testified to his loss of consciousness, a few minutes had passed since then and it was only at this time that the doctor appeared, accompanied by two guards. He approached the body still hanging and asked one of the guards to hold it to prevent it from moving, while he took out his equipment.

"Elros stopped struggling a few minutes ago already, the doctor will be able to confirm his death or not. Then, the body of the accused will be buried in the woods."

A person accused of a crime as serious as Elros had no place in the village cemetery, he found himself buried in the woods and his grave was only visible thanks to the presence of pieces of wood that signaled him. No flower, no religious sign, no proof of affection could be seen on the latter, under penalty of a conviction that could be serious.

The doctor scraped his throat before getting a little closer to the teenager's body, he did not waste time listening to his heart and after a few seconds, he moved away from it, took the boy's pulse and turned to the crowd, slowly shaking his head. The man who had stood by his side until the end smiled and took a deep breath before addressing the villagers in a relaxed tone, as if he were announcing good news.

"Elros Flayne, sixteen years old and responsible for the murder of little Massy, made his last breath on this square on this day. It is with sadness that we face the bite of one of the children in the village, but with relief that we announce the suppression of a young man representing a danger for our younger children and probably women as well. The village has now become a safe place again. Elros' body will be unhooked and buried in the next hour, you can of course attend the funeral and you can then gather on the grave. Take advantage of it, this fact will no longer be allowed to you without a valid reason after today."

The man looked at the crowd and noted with satisfaction that most of the people present were beginning to move away while the guards were in charge of detaching the teenager's body.

It was at this moment that the sky darkened and the rain began to fall, first in light drops, then after a few seconds, it was a violent rain that fell on the village. Everyone started running to take shelter, everyone except this man fully dressed in a cape, he had not moved a centimeter, he was still looking at Elros' now lifeless body, the rain did not seem to disturb him, quite the contrary. He did not pay attention to the many people who hit him hard when he wanted to get warm, he did not even pay attention to the few people who advised him to go shelter somewhere, he seemed to be an empty shell, his body was there, but impossible to know where his mind was.

Quickly, there was no one left in the square, Elros' body had also been taken to the shelter. The mysterious man was now completely alone and soaked and while the storm rumbled, a wide smile settled on his lips before his mouth opened.

"They chose him, he's coming back."

Elros' body was placed on the ground, in the hall of the village's main building, guards watched over it until the time outside allowed them to go and bury it as it deserved. The one who had taken care of bringing the teenager to the square was now looking at the latter's lifeless body, the look full of emotions. He couldn't help but think of this violently and brutally torn life. Obviously, he felt sorry for this young girl who had been found dead, he felt sorry for this family who remained in the suffering of the loss of a loved one, but the pain he felt for this boy was even greater. This boy had died alone, no member of his family was there to mourn him, he had no one who would feel the grief of his disappearance, no one had bothered to accompany him in his last moments of life and, the guard could not help but think so, what if the boy was really innocent? What if he had never been guilty of what he was accused of? What if they had made a mistake? What if they were all aware that there was nothing to do with this matter? Would it be possible that they accused someone for the simple purpose of filing this case? Would it be possible that they accused Elros for the simple purpose of making people believe that they had put their hands on the culprit? The whole village knew that no one would come to defend this boy, the whole village knew that her aunt hated him, she had never hidden him, although she was her only family, she felt no affection for him and did not hide it, the proof, she had not even gone to this square to try to defend him, or anything.

"Do we have proof that he was really guilty of this girl's death?"

The guard was looking one by one at the people present.

"What do you mean?"

"I ask if we have proof that it was the culprit."

"Of course it was the culprit and anyway, it's too late now to worry about it."

The guard looked up at the one who had answered him.

"However, he didn't look like..."

It was cut by the door that opened in a big crash, causing all the guards present to prepare for a possible attack. The person responsible for this agitation was none other than this strange man with the cape, his gaze was fixed on the teenager's body, while two guards approached him.

"Sir, you can't enter here, I have to ask you to go out."

The man did not answer and even allowed himself to move forward a little further, getting closer to the boy lying on the cold ground.

"Sir! You have to go out now!"

But the man was not listening, he seemed as if hypnotized by Elros' lifeless lying body. Once he was close enough, a smile appeared on his damaged lips. His gaze did not leave the teenager, he did not even pay attention to those around him and who approached him with a threatening air.

"Sir, you..."

"He has been chosen and he is about to come back, you will soon regret your act."

Everyone looked at each other without understanding what the strange man meant. Thinking that he was delirious, one of the guards approached him and did not hesitate to catch him by the arm, in order to get him out. However, he was struck by this man's coldness. Despite the fact that his arms were covered, the guard could feel the icy contact of the latter's skin and he had time to wonder how he did not tremble, how could it be so cold, before the intruder spoke again.

"No matter how much you run, you won't be able to escape."

Following this sentence, the thunder began to scold even louder, making almost everyone around startle. A strong wind began to blow as the rain intensified.

The guards did not waste more time before approaching the unknown in turn, they were aware that it was a person of a certain age, they were certainly cold beings, but they did not plan to be violent with him, they just wanted to get him out of the building and be sure that he would not set foot there. Against all odds, the man in the cape dodged any attempt at a grip and pointed a finger towards the lifeless body.

"He's here, he's coming back."

As soon as he had pronounced this sentence, one of the strangest things happened, forcing everyone to turn their heads towards the alleged lifeless body of the teenager. At first glance, nothing seemed to go wrong, the body was still lying in the place where it was left, nothing seemed normal. However, a noise seemed to come from the exact place where he was, a noise that would have been impossible for him in normal times, since his body was no longer supposed to contain any ounce of life.

For a moment, the guards looked for the look from which this noise came from without daring to approach the corpse and during this time, the man did not detach his gaze from the boy, a smile had even settled on his lips.

It took the guards a few minutes to find the origin of the noise. It was in a start that one of them noticed this strange phenomenon. He pointed a finger at Elros' arm without further delay, or more precisely, at his hand. All noticed the slow and clumsy movement of his fingers whose nails seemed to scratch the ground with force.

"He... he moves... he... he's dead... he's not supposed to move..."

The doctor who had made the observation of his death a little earlier took his courage with both hands and took a careful step towards him, while the others held their breath.

"This may only be a simple reflex..."

Or at least, that was what he was trying to persuade himself of because he knew it, this movement was anything but a natural movement of the body. He knew it, Elros necessarily had to be conscious to make this gesture tirelessly and at a precise pace. But how was this possible? He had been able to hear the last beats of his heart, without care, life had slowly left him, he was convinced of it, the teenager could never have returned to himself.

Once in front of him, he dared to push the young man's leg with the tip of his foot, who suddenly opened his eyes.