CHAPTER X
I was grabbed under the arms by two knights in full armor who proceeded to drag me towards the town square. There a whole bunch of exactly similar tin cans was organizing a pyre, I swear, the looked as if they merrily came off the same assembly line. Their faces covered in full metal helms with narrow eye slits in the form of a cross.
Besides the squadron of knights with red-and-white capes draped across armored shoulders, the square was filling up with townsfolk. Word of my impending execution traveled swiftly across the small town.
A man in a rich suit of inquisitor-ish colors seemed to be knocking some sense into the mayor, whom I vaguely recognized by the face I myself banged up last night. The conversation sounded pretty heated.
The crowd was getting restless.
In a couple of minutes, I was dragged towards the pyre and matter-of-factly tied to a pole. The knights organized a perimeter. There were no less than fifty of them. Whom have I managed to cross this bad?
In the meantime, it looks like we were skipping introductions and were getting straight to the point.
'In the name of the Light! Heretic and servant of Darkness, Fidex Bringer of Chaos! For the crimes of having intercourse with abyss dwellers, cannibalism and casting curses in the Lands of Light you are hereby sentenced to death by fire. Repent, cursed one! And may the Light grant you mercy in your next life!'
Yeah, and let me shine your shoes there while I'm at it. I stared intently at the Inquisitor.
Odrik. LightBringer. High Inquisitor.
Lvl 90.
HP 15000.
A classic fair-haired hellcat.
Delicate chiseled, completely Ariyan facial features. A clean-shaven sharp chip. Icy-grey eyes. A red-and-white mantle with splashes of gold draped over a suit of chain mail armor loosely resembling a military uniform. And on top of it all a funny looking Napoleon hat of the same colors and covered in white fringe. On his left hip, he wore a fancy tooth. This isn't a commander, this is any sniper's walking dream. How isn't he sweating in that outfit? It's pretty warm outside. Hell? Even I am beginning to feel a little toasty. Ugh well, hang on to your nuts, you homeschooled preacher!
'Who are you callin' cursed, you pompous servant of Light?! Me? I was just fighting for my life! I tore out the heart of a spawn of Darkness with its OWN claws! I called forth creatures of the Abyss in the name of Vengeance! '
The pyre caught fire. The flames didn't give any smoke, which meant that there was no way I was gonna pass out. I was gonna burn slowly and feel every second of it. I'll get you for this, Odrik.
'If anyone here is cursed it's YOU! You vile hypocrite, who allows the Gorring family to live free and prosper, you wretched sneak, who drags victims to the pyre, afraid to soil your own hands with the blood of the accused. You are the one who lets necromancers stay free in their castles and perform their hideous rituals on children and curse the land with infertility and the people with misery. You incriminate Darkness in the hearts of those who try to fight it, You use your Light to purge the world of mercy and good! People! Is this a world you want to live in!? Would you willingly condemn your hearts and souls!? Overthrow the ego of the servants of Hellfire that they falsely call the Light! Don't let these bastards strangle the flames of the revolution! I may die, but my spirit will keep fighting alongside you, in your hearts! As long as the revolution lives, so do I! Libertad o Muerte! Freedom or Death!'
The pain is excruciating by now. My legs were almost entirely charred, and I double over in laughter. Desperate horrible laughter stronger than the pain itself rises from the depths of my soul. And the body that is not yet ready for death begins to transform.