The burning he-goat made one last desperate attempt to escape its carefully-arranged sacrificial pyre. But alas, the bloody slit tendons of its back legs obliterated that idea and were a testament to the thoughtfulness of the town’s new self-appointed high priest. It was a horrifying spectacle, a circle of cheering onlookers formed around the blazing pyre centred in the main little plaza in front of the church. All gathered to watch the animal being consumed alive by hungry flames. In the moonlight, Olazábal licked his lips at the sight of the twitching living ball of fire, his newly-healed left hand proudly grasping Ramuntxo’s shoulder. The agonising screaming-bleating finally ceased as the roaring fire licked the flesh off its charring bones, reducing the pyre’s dry hay to ashes. The hea
