MARANATHA: Forged by Blood

Chapter 1: The Face of Fire

If you know death, then you'd know me. If you've seen a shower of blood, then you've seen me. If you heard cries of pain, then you've heard me coming.

It was one job I was meant to fulfill—kill those who deserved their punishment. . .or that was what I thought.

It has been years since I became a Red Knight. I have stained my hands with blood. I have sent entire families to their demise. I have brought catastrophy to towns and villages.

There was no room for mercy nor guilt. There was only. . . Death.

I stood watch from the hilltop as flames danced with the wind and engulfed everything infront of my eyes. A shade of deep red and amber, the fire consumed everything in it's path. Clouds of smoke rose to the heavens from the blazing houses, causing a rain of black and grey ash. A rough shift of the midnight wind fed the burning heat, making the fire rose to the skies as if challenging the heavens to defeat it's might.

Brentsvale.

The name of the village echoed inside my head.

The once cheerful streets filled with lovely and merry people are now cachés of burnt wood and dead bodies. What used to be homes now became mere thatchs consumed by a raging flame. People swarmed and ran around, screaming like rodents chased by wicked felines.

Heat kissed my cheek. With the fiery wind undulating my crimson-hued cape, I stepped down the hill and into the village. Ear-piercing screams echoed and  filled my eardrums as I got closer. With every step, the heat and the cries of the villagers intensifies.

Thatched roof crackled ablaze as I walked passed the torn down church. Loud, incessant ringing reverberated from it's half-crumpled belltower, the only part that had remained of it and is likely going to collapse any second.

Yelling augmented behind me. With keen eyes, I slashed my sword backwards. I heard a grunt and a thug behind me. I didn't bother glancing back and just dragged my sword onwards.

"Aaah!"

Men came out from the corners and attacked me. Their swords glistened along the glow of the flames. I blocked and struck the men with quick slashes. Metals clanged on the ground. Bodies fell around me. Blood stain wet my boots.

The crackling of the fire intensified. The screams around me worsened.

A girl was standing on the edge of the street, facing a burning manor. Her ebony curly hair danced along the wind and her cape rippled. The sight of fresh, red blood trickling from her sword made me realize that she had been here for quite some time. She had burned the whole place up.

"Sophia," I called.

"What took you so long, Mara?" she asked me when I got behind her back.

"I had to run some errands," I replied, not turning to see her face in the glow of the fire. "Where are the others?" I noticed that she was alone. There were two others who must've been up for something detrimental.

"Finishing what needs to be finished." Sophia's voice was as hard as rock.

I knew what she meant, the other Red Knights are out leading Eossian soldiers in slaughtering the Brentsvale citizens. The thought did not surprise me. It was the very  reason why we came here. To put an end to this treacherous town. But I was here not for the people of Brentsvale. I was here for one person to whom I was looking forward to seeing.

"And the Lady?" I asked.

"She's inside." She pointed the tip of her bloody sword towards the house. "She tried to escape but the whole manor has been surrounded by fire. She has nowhere else to go," Sophia exclaimed.

That brought me into a nod. I was right on time after all. I left Sophia and went straight for the door of the manor. Flames had eaten up most of the entrance. Yet unlike most people who fear things like this, fire is something that never terrifies me.

The entrance crumpled into a cascade of bricks the moment I got inside the house. I continued advancing into the stairs. The upper floor of the house was the only place left for the lady to cower.   Burning wood fell from the ceiling and rumbled on the floor. Cracking and breaking glass echoed in the halls. Flames rained on me, some even landing on my cape but I headed onwards.

I found the lady inside a massive hall. It could have been a ballroom. She stood there facing a painting of the map of a vast land—the continent of Lagertha—the very land we are all in.

What is something so special about that painting anyway? It's just a piece of canvas with oil in it.

"Lady Chona Calderon," I called. The floor creaked under my boots as I stepped closer.

"So. . . they finally sent you," she said, not turning to face me. She chuckled. "The Hightable council. Have they really become so credulous of the reality of this world."

"You know exactly why I'm here," I told her. "You betrayed the Hightable and you  knew the price for this deed."

Lady Calderon turned to me. She did not appear threatened for my presence. With a graceful demeanor,  she smiled with confidence. "Of course I do. I was once one of them. They sent you to kill me."

She glanced sideways. "So this is what the Hightable wanted you to do. To bring me the face of justice which according to them I so deserved." She chuckled. "But tell me, Maranatha Gravendorf, the so-called saviour of Eos from all it's enemies . . Do all the tiny people in this wretched town deserves the wrath that you so gravely cast upon them?"

"They conspired against the Hightable by helping you escape," I replied. "Therefore they all need to die."

She turned to me. "Alright. . .get on with it." She smirked, thinking that I did not notice the lamp she grabbed and tucked behind her back when she turned around. "One way or another, I will still die."

It's a good thing that you know

She continued talking. "What left me wondering though, is how will you be get out of this place alive when we will both burn!"

"Die!"

Lady Calderon threw the lamp on me. I could've slashed it before it hits me, but I decided to let it get smashed on me. The glass shattered on my chest. Oil and shards showered my body. Flames crawled on my cape and armor.

I stared at the lady with pity.

"You're mistaken, Lady Calderon," I said. My lips curved into a sly smile. "Fire cannot kill me. . . I feed on it. I am fire."

Lady Calderon's eyes widened, her nostrils flared.

I locked my eyes on her. I felt my entire body trembling with heat. Every pore, every vessel in my system ignited a frenetic burst of energy.  Fire erupted from every inch of my skin. I blasted the room with radiance. I became pure fire.

Flames shot out of my body and attacked the terrified lady. Lady Calderon screamed as the searing flames ate her entirety. Deafening, clamoring cry of pain and anguish.

"Aahhh! You are blind, Mara! Blind! The truth is right infront of you but you never see it!"

She screamed louder until her voice faded into the crackling heat. The ceiling of the house creaked and collapsed on top of her body, silencing her forever.

Slowly, my body cooled down. I returned to normal. I stared at the dead lady, the smell of burning flesh invaded my nose. I turned around and walked out of the manor. The entire house crumpled into a pile of ash and bricks the moment I arrived infront of Sophia.

Two figures emerged from the dark behind her. One was man, gangly and thin—Gil Ryland. The other was a splitting image of Sophia—Cara de Lanxi—her twin. Both were wearing the same red cape like Sophia and me.

"How's Lady Calderon?" Cara's manly voiced snapped at me like a c***k of a pine branch.

"Dead" I said without looking at her.

"What about the prisoners?" Gil squeaked. He may look like a cracking pole but one cannot underestimate the strength that lies behind his pale face.

I faced him with sharp eyes. He reluctantly turned to the people dragged by the soldiers into the village center right infront of the manor. Most of the survivors were mostly women and young children. Ash mixed with blood and dirt covered their bodies,  wrapped in torn and tattered clothes. Cries, begging, mourning and yelling rang in my ears. The sound that became our daily symphony for many years. I have gotten used to it.

"Silence!" Cara de Lanxi roared. "I will have your tongues cut off if you don't silence yourselves!"

Taken by Cara's warning, the villagers' wails lessened into  murmurs.

My business here was done. I stepped away so I could leave when a child grabbed the edge of my cape and trotted infront of me. She grabbed me by my foot and slumped herself on my boot. I tried to shake her off but the wretch clung tight on me like her life depended on my limb. . .because it did.

"Ellaine! Come back!"

A blond woman cried for the child. One of our soldeirs dragged her back into the pile of captives when she tried to ran for the child.

I turned down to see the little fellow. She looked like she's 5 years old or even younger. Half of her scalp had burned, producing a smell of burnt charcoal.

"Please don't kill my mummy. Please."

Tears journeyed down her face.

"Please. . ."

I stared at her. There was something in her eyes. Something I did not want to see or feel. It was like pincers clipping on my numb soul. I felt something heavy on my chest. Something I had not felt in years.

"Please. . ."

"You! Girl! Come back here!"

A soldier snatched the girl from my leg. She screamed and did not want to let go. "Please! Not my mummy! She has a baby inside her."

I was like dipped on the icy cold waters in the streams of Nerteros. The heaviness in my chest made it hard for me to breath.

"Mara!"

A hand tapped my shoulder, sucking me back into reality.

"We're leaving," Gil said.

"And the survivors?" Sophia asked with a smug smile.  Something is brewing behind the strands of her brunette head.  "Should we take them to the Red Castle?"

It should have been an easy question for me. The answer would always  be the same. But my melting chest was screaming something else.

I hurried to turn my gaze away from the survivors of the seige. I heaved a breath and kept my foot firm. 

I shouldn't feel this. It isn't right. Emotions make people weak. It makes us vulnerable. I must kill it before it drags me down.

"The Council has no interest in prisoners," I said. The coldness of my voice killed the sensation of warmth that crawled inside my chest.

I stared at the three pairs of eyes infront of me.

"Kill them all."

I walked away and did not wait for them to respond. I just have enough time to see the grin that formed on the lips of the twins.

I left. There is something in these people I did not wish to see. Something  that draws me back to the past.

A face of young girl. A young, weak innocent face.

A memory I have long buried into the depths of oblivion.