MANDATES OF DIVINITY

The heart is infinite, deep and unending If left to it, would consume the entire universe.A master of the heart can tame eternity…-The godling. Third great crusade. **************************************** “Burn, you spawn of the unclean!!!” “This is divine Judgment upon the unclean.” “Away with the damned.” A harsh voice pierced through the midst of the uproar, one could hardly make out what anyone was saying, everyone clamoured in anger. You could feel so much hatred and fear in the air, the yelling steadily increased and it was altogether a very confusing sight. Little Athion was puzzled, this wasn’t the first execution he would witness, but this was different. The tension was enormous and this time, the entire city was present. It was like this fallen was special. “Here comes the convict!” An inhumanly loud voice announced and the entire square went dead silent. It was like everyone had their vocal cords ripped out, panic quickly dethroned the noise. Whoever this was, the people of the city feared him. Athion gazed anxiously in the same direction as everyone, two priests led the company and they were followed keenly by four knights. In between the knights was a man bound in chains, he was dressed in rags and went barefooted too. The man could barely walk, he merely dragged his feet on the ground and the knights behind him would occasionally whip him. Wherever he turned, people avoided him like a plague, they would spread out as he approached and then cave in behind him. He slowly made his way to the centre led by the priests. Athion wanted a good look, so he made his way through the crowd to the centre of the square. He struggled till he made his way to the very centre and right before him were three stakes. The convict was bounded to the middle stake, on an elevated platform where everyone could see. “This execution is to be overseen by a saint”. The same dominating voice announced, you could vividly tell it was being enhanced. “Drastic measures have to be taken to clear up evil of such density, we have received a minister particularly skilled in these occasions.” The crowd murmured in agreement as the voice added. A man clad in a red robe made his way to the centre, the crowd parted as he made his way through. He went up to the elevated platform, his movements were swift and graceful, he gently took off his hood and he glared coIdly at the figure bound to the stake. “There are times when men desperately in search of power forge deals with the fallen and they fall far below the reach of the creator’s beloved grace. Never to be redeemed.” His lips barely moved, but his voice was crystal clear at every end. “This ignorant fellow is such a man, descending to despicable depths to acquire strength. If we are to ensure the safety of our homes and future of our unborn children, we have to cleanse these blemishes with the golden flames.” His voice came with a powerful soothing effect, he was void of expression and to little Athion, he was like a moving mannequin. “His crimes include and are not limited to colluding with the fallen, blasphemy…” The saint was relentless. Athion neglected the crowd and the priests, his gaze fixed on the convict before him. He found the convict strange, this man stood unmoving with his eyes closed, not even flinching. It was like nothing happened around him. He kept on mumbling, Athion could see his lips moving and desperately tried to decipher what he said. The more he concentrated, something strange happened. Athion felt like he was being enclosed in a box, the sounds around him gradually drowned into the strange tranquil engulfing him, then everything became dead silent. Like a leak, a whisper slowly found its way into Athion’s ears. It became louder and louder and louder, till it finally resonated with the convict’s actions. The whispers came from the convict! Athion tried desperately but couldn’t break his concentration, it was like he was bounded in place. The convict suddenly opened his eyes and locked gazes with Athion, the whispers became words. “The only thing I am guilty of is being born. His allegations I know nothing of.” The voice was broken, it bore endless despair. “We are all lost, all men fallen. We need a savior.” Athion was confused, he had no understanding of what the convict had said. Like he was hit with a bucket of cold water, the trance ceased suddenly and everything returned to normal. Little Athion was drenched in sweat, his insides turned and he was seized by an overwhelming feeling of nausea. With a nudge from behind, Athion fell flat on his face. He had a searing headache and his sight went blurry. “The creator is just and I as a messenger on earth must eradicate all traces of rebellion…” No one noticed any irregularities; it was like nothing happened. “With the golden flames!!!” The voice of the saint finally rose, it jolted Athion awake and he weakly rose to his knees. The saint raised his right hand and a bright spark appeared right above it, it busted into a golden flame that burned with brilliance. It burnt so bright; the saint became a shadow beneath its radiance. “So this is the extent of his gifts, Incredible.” “Is he an immortal?” “Nothing can survive that.” The people couldn’t contain their excitement and shock. “The brightest golden flames I ever encountered.” A priest standing nearby couldn’t contain his shock. “This is a saint!” With a gesture of the flaming palm, a greater surge of the golden flames raged towards the bound convict, it poured out of the palm like storm and it went straight for the stake. “The sage must live!!!” A shout suddenly came from within the crowd, a figure moved out from within the multitude with an inhuman speed, appearing between the flame and the convict. The flames engulfed the figure, it gave an outcry of agony and reduced to ashes at an abnormal rate. Not even a trace of bone, just a heap of coal dust. Everyone drew cold breaths, the consuming power of the flames was just too terrifying. Two more figures appeared on the platform in the same manner, they were dressed in red robes and they had their faces covered. The observing crowd panicked and everyone ran, more knights and priests approached the scene. One of the figures began to chant, a strange smoke began to emit from the heap of ash before them and it engulfed the two. “Siphoning energy from the death of your fellow damned, so he was a sacrifice.” The saint was taken aback, the pressure the duo before him exuded made his skin crawl. “People like you should not exist, die!” He was like a completely different person, his former demeanor had become ruptured. Lifting his palm, the saint conjured another golden flame, it burnt even more brightly. Again he sent the flames at the masked duo, the flame took the shape of an enormous eagle and crashed towards the duo. “Golden flames: there came an eagle.” The saint gently chanted before the flames made contact. “Bang!!!” There was impact, the explosion was brighter than the flames, the magnificence caught every eye. Athion who was much closer was dazzled, not by the blast, by something else. As grand as the explosion was, the masked duo and the bounded sage were unhurt, it was like the flames never hit. Their bodies vigorously exuded the same smoke they conjured, they were totally immune to the flames. “There is so much you don’t know you self-righteous scum, one is that you can’t kill the dead.” One of the figures retorted with rage. The saint couldn’t conceal his shock, his body shook with fury. One of the figures chanted and a whirlwind arose, it ravaged everything in its path and travelled straight at the saint. The saint quickly unveiled what resembled a tiny gem and crushed it, a tiny wing formed behind him, attaching itself to his right back and the saint levitated, pulling far away from the whirlwind. Everyone in the vicinity was blasted backwards, everyone except little Athion who laid flat on the floor. He witnessed the masked duo unbound the sage using spells. The sage once again glanced in Athion’s direction, they made eye contact and all Athion saw was resentment and contempt. The three chanted in unison and gradually turned into dust, vanishing along with the whirlwind, without a trace. “Are you okay?” As soon as the saint landed, a priest called out from behind. He had observed the entire exchange from a distance, the heights of powers he witnessed was nothing short of immortality. “Father Bayo, how did we miss that? They were right under our noses and we couldn’t tell.” No matter what he thought, there was no reasonable explanation. “How was it even possible?” He turned towards the priest behind him. “We are baffled as well, they must have devised a method of hiding their presence.” The priest bowed his head in shame. “Our detectors picked up nothing.” Saint Patra sighed, he couldn’t blame the priest, they were all incompetent. He turned in a direction and his sights fell on a little boy who was being attended to by a priest. He had observed earlier that the boy stood by and witnessed the unfolding of events. “That is Athion sir, he is one of the four.” Father Bayo quickly demystified the little one. “Oh. I see.” A glint of light flashed in his eyes and he smiled. He glanced deeply at the little boy before making his way down the platform, his fists clenched. “That sage will not escape me again.”