Kara reached out for Raden’s hand. “What’s going on?” she asked.
Her touch broke him from his momentary shock. “I… I’m fine. Just as surprised as you guys.” He continued examining the patterns. “What… happened to you?” he asked.
The man began to sob. The pain was evident in his tears, and the memories too much for him to recount. The man dropped his head into his hands, sobbing uncontrollably.
“Pain! Searing, burning pain!” he cried out.
“Maybe he isn’t in any condition to talk about it now?” offered Gama.
“No, we need this information, and we need it now,” responded Kara.
“Kara’s right, Gama. We need him to talk.” And I need to know why he’s covered in those markings, thought Raden.
Raden didn’t like the notion of forcing this tortured soul to do their bidding, but he knew it had to be done. There were too many questions he needed answers to. He removed his own robe, knelt down and wrapped it around the man’s shivering body. He then reached into his bag for some food.
“We only need to know what happened to you. We’ll leave you in peace afterwards, I promise.” Raden handed him an apple. “Please, eat before you begin.”
The man snatched the apple out of Raden’s hand. He devoured it whole, consuming the stem and core as well. His sobbing began to dissipate; slowly he began to catch his breath until the tears had dried. He looked up at the strangers standing in front of him, and began his story.
“I was… part of a garrison of Pilgrims of Fate.” The man wiped his dirt-covered face with his forearm. “We were… assigned to the Kih Bayer district of the Vicedonian Kingdom. We were only assigned there for patrols… and security. The city, though, was relatively calm, no major instances of… rebellion or anything of the sort. We didn’t need many soldiers to watch over it. Until one day… we see a boy… coming down from the mountains. Walking real slow, kind of hobbling about, as if he was sleepwalking in a daze. The look on his face…” the man shook his head back and forth.
“He looked shocked. His eyes glued to the sky, mouth opened in awe. His hair disheveled and his clothes torn asunder. We recognized him as a local shepherd boy. No family in the city, really. Stayed at the local orphanage. People watched as he made his way through the center of town uttering the same words over and over again. ‘God is here… and death comes with him.’
Crowds began to form around him as he paraded around town. My garrison and I thought he was just a loony, but there was nothing else going on in town so we decided to investigate. I approached the boy, ordering him to halt, and he complied. I asked him what all of his ramblings were about, and said that he should quit it, because he was beginning to frighten the rest of the townsfolk. But nothing was getting through. He continued saying, ‘God is here… and death comes with him.’
When we had had enough of his nonsense, we took him in for questioning. And that’s when it started to get strange. We informed our captain of the situation, and he asked to see the child. He sat the boy down in a chair, still rambling the same line, ‘God is here…and death comes with him.’ The captain decided that more extreme measures needed to be taken. He grabbed the boy by the sides of his head, and shouted at him. ‘What happened to you, son?’ The boy’s eyes slowly rolled down and looked directly at the captain. ‘God is here… and death comes with him,’ he muttered again. That’s when the room began to shake. As if the earth had decided to rip itself apart. None of us could maintain our footing, and we collapsed to the ground, seeking the nearest shelter. Objects flew across the room. The bars of one of the cells ripped out of place, and pinned down some of my comrades. One by one, my garrison fell.
Next thing I knew, the back wall of the stone cells blew apart, burying a couple of us under a pile of rubble. I managed to find shelter beneath the bodies of some of my dead comrades. I watched as the boy grabbed the captain by his throat. The boy, not even ten years old by my estimation, lifted a grown man off his feet. ‘God is here… and death comes with him!’ he screamed again. The captain reached for his chest, clutching at his heart. He kicked furiously at the boy, trying to break free from his iron grasp, but it was for naught. The boy’s inhuman strength would not relent.
The boy stared at the captain, cocked his head to the side, and threw him across the room. The captain crashed into the stone wall, and slid to the ground. That’s when his heart exploded inside of him and a gush of blood escaped his mouth. By this time, I was the only one left alive in the room. My entire unit within the prison walls was dead. Twenty fully armed Pilgrims of Fate dead, by the hands of a small child. I thought if I continued to remain still and quiet, that the boy would think me dead, too. But he could still feel me. The dead bodies I was hiding under seemed to fly off of me one by one. As if they were nothing but rag dolls. He was staring right at me, looking into my soul. Making me ask the last questions of a dying man. I pleaded with him to let me live. Begged forgiveness for any wrongdoings I had ever committed. That I would make amends for them, if only for a second chance at life. The child placed his hand upon my forehead. ‘Speak to others of what you have witnessed today. Retribution has come.’ With that, I could feel his power emanating and pervading my body. It felt as if I was being burnt from the inside out. The pain was so excruciating that I passed out.
When I came to, the child was laying on the ground, right where he had once stood. I checked for any signs of life in him, but he was dead. Everyone in the room was dead, except me. I counted my blessings and thanked the Light for my second chance at life. I made my way outside to tell people of what I had witnessed, and that’s when the screams came. At first I did not understand why, but from their reactions, I knew something was wrong with me. I ran to the nearest fountain and stared at my reflection. I saw the burns on my face first. The skin peeled away. I raised my hands to touch my face, and noticed the backsides of my hands were also burned. I pulled off my armor and clothing, and finally saw the extent of which the boy had transformed me. I appeared as if I had been engulfed by fire, doused in the flames of the Light’s retribution.
I ran away from Kih Bayar and wandered the land, begging and scraping for food. Trying to conceal myself from everyone. I eventually made my way here to Pyteria City where I could blend in with the degenerates at Restaurant Alley. I seemed to be invisible, living a wretched life, but a life nonetheless. Perhaps this was my punishment for all that I had done wrong in my life, but I accepted it. That was until you three showed up and started asking for me. I tell you this, that child encountered God in the Voras Mountains, and God is angry… and death has come with him.”
Chapter 18