Winds Of Storm

How long does it take for a tightened rope to break?

It was an unwritten rule since ancient times, that you must never question gods, because everything they do leads to something better.

Somewhere in time, certain humans began to see themselves as these sacred entities. They called themselves the messenger of gods but acted as if they were god themselves.

The priests naturally gained immense power and respect from people because of their divine connection. Their words were written in stones and followed by everyone.

Perhaps it was these sacred powers that corrupted them, or perhaps it was they who corrupted those sacred powers.

But gradually, the definitions of good and evil blurred in time. The line separating the two worlds disappeared and things were not as simple as before.

Malcolm caught the whip with his hand, it burned through his flesh and out of habit he could not even lift his eyes at the holy knight. Nevertheless, he held his ground.

He wasn't the only one.

It was considered sin to interrupt a holy punishment.

But once Malcolm came forward, Hanbel helped the unconscious wounded man. When the holy knight tried to stop her, the villagers shielded them.

The priest gazed at the village darkly.

Nesrin had read about how deeply rooted the obedience for the council was. It overwhelmed her to see the people stand up against something that they once had complete faith in.

It's easier to fight what seems wrong, but to fight something which is often shown in the right light is completely different.

"How...shameless..." the priest enunciated both words slowly.

"Your grace," Hanbel curtsied to him, "Past ten years have brought only sickness and misery to the village. We are not fit for wars, please try to understand,"

"It's a holy war, those that are worthy won't be harmed in any way," he insisted.

"As a leader, I can not send my people there,"

"You must-"

"Since when was holy war mandatory?" Nesrin interrupted.

"It's mandatory for Merah,"

"Aren't all men created equal?" Nesrin recalled the first sacred commandment of the holy council.

At this, the priest sighed as if he was tired of dealing with some children. 

"All men are created equal, but sinners, faithless, and those that defy gods are not men. They are damned," his voice turned cold, "If you continue to resist, then I would be forced to handle this with the laws. I am giving everyone a chance to repent, don't make me do something harsh,"

The words resonated across the silent village.

No one moved, but as the weight of the situation sank inside their hearts, their resolve and firmness began to waver.

There were some nervous exchanged glances before a woman, a young boy and two men stepped forward.

"We will enlist in war," the woman said with her head hung low and tears running down her cheeks.

"Why..." Nesrin whispered in disbelief.

What can be more cruel and unpredictable than war? The soldiers of the military are trained for day and knight and yet many of them die fighting. How can some villagers survive?

It was not a war of humans alone, but a war that would include mages and beasts.

One by one, more and more people came forward.

"Your highness," Hanbel caught Nesrin's hand when she tried to stop them, "maybe they are right....don't put yourself at risk, you should meet with his majesty and leave immediately. It is not safe here,"

"I don't understand..." 

"The faithless are turned into slaves. Their lives are seldom good, if Merah is turned into a slave village, we would be stripped of our remaining pride and denied human decency. The war is inevitable..."

The priest smiled knowingly, it was a peaceful beautiful smile that only seemed eerie to Nesrin 

Within a few minutes, the villagers were divided in two. Most of them have decided with the war, but a few were still resilient.

"Your highness," Hanbel said sternly, "You must leave. Now!"

"There must be something we can do," Nesrin shook her head, "L-let's just wait for Izekiel. He will help us for sure,"

"Your highness-"

The priest gave one last look at the villagers before turning his horse away, his knights, however, stayed behind and removed their swords.

Nesrin's blood ran cold as she saw them kill the villagers without a second thought. 

The cries and pleadings made her heart shake, the amount of blood she saw twisted her stomach.

Everyone who refused the war was being killed, those that obeyed them were now petrified with fear as they saw their family and friends being murdered.

They tried to fight but compared to the knights, the villagers had no strength.

Nesrin shut her eyes.

-system, how can I use the splintered grace?

[Splintered Grace is a shattered piece of the legendary crystal ball, Divine Grace. They can establish an empathy with wildlife. The user of the crystal can ask the target to do their bidding. The effectiveness of the empathy depends on the magical skills of the user.]

[Caution: Splintered Grace is a defective instrument. It's effects can be random and harmful at times.]

-I want to use it.

[Splintered Grace Activated]

Nesrin felt a rush of mana surge within her veins as a hard glowing crystal appeared in her hand. 

[Initiate empathy?]

[yes/no]

-yes.

[Searching for potential targets....]

[Error: No targets found.]

[Retry?]

[yes/no]

-yes!

Nesrin's eyes were lined with tears as she desperately prayed inside her heart. Her feet shook as broken sobs, endless cries and ruthless blades suffocated her.

"Your highness!" Hanbel hissed and brought her out of her thoughts.

A knight was striding towards them, his sword was engulfed in golden light as he raised it, ready to strike down.

[Empathy establishment: Success!]

Nesrin dropped on her knees.

Her heart was racing wildly, it was as if fire was raging in her veins and burning her from inside. She placed a shaky hand on her temples, her vision overlapped with something dark.

There was a loud echoing rumble that resonated across the whole town.

Her mind was no more in the village, all the pain she had felt disappeared and Nesrin found herself in a dark water. 

A pair of large crimson serpent eyes glared at her.

"Nesrin!"

Everything disappeared.

[Empathy interrupted.]

Izekiel was kneeling in front of her, his hand cupping her cheeks as if he had tried to bring her out of her mind for a long time.

Nesrin blinked her eyes in confusion.

"You seem worried..." she whispered, watching him wipe blood from her mouth. Then her eyes widened in realization.

"I am not worried," Izekiel said with a strained fake smile.

"What happened?"

Nesrin noticed that the sky was completely shrouded with thunderous clouds, engulfing the village in darkness. It looked as if a storm had passed, leaving the place in silence and destruction.

There was no sign of the holy knights, a few dead bodies were lying on the ground but the rest of the villagers seemed to be fine. Just stunned from something.

Her eyes met Malcolm who looked back coldly as he helped his mother get up. Her head was bleeding.

"Your majesty..." Nesrin glanced at him, "What happened?"

He brought her fisted hand to him and opened it.

"Where is the crystal?" he demanded.

"I...I don't know..." Nesrin knew it would have been stored inside the system, but something in the way Izekiel spoke made her uncertain about his intentions.

The splintered grace was the only power Nesrin had. She couldn't give that to him if she wanted to survive in this world...

His eyes hardened.

"Do not do that again," Izekiel warned her coldly.

Nesrin did not like that he refused to explain to her, she averted her gaze and silently stood up.

Izekiel looked at her for a moment too long as if he wanted to say something, but no words were spoken between them.

They left soon after.

The knights Jeremiah had brought followed them from shadows in order to not attract any attention.

He left first to make sure that the path ahead was clear.

"Hold on tight," Izekiel told Nesrin as Jeremiah helped her mount the horse.

"I can ride by myself," she repeated.

"It would be safe with me,"

"Is the situation that bad?"

"No official declaration had been made, but the council had made it clear that their intention is for war and they want us dead,"

Nesrin pulled her hood, and held on to him.

They rode over the small road, on one side there was the village, on the other side there was a small steep hill. Amidst the darkness from clouds, and the debris, there was a glimpse of the flag of holy council

She wanted to ask about the knights and priests but she concluded that everything must have worked out in the end. Izekiel probably handled it all.

Nesrin was exhausted from using the splintered grace and she soon fell asleep while leaning against him.

"I can not trust her highness now," Malcolm muttered while fixing the door of their house.

Hanbel was being treated by a lady when she shook her head slowly.

"This can turn out well..."

"or it can go downhill," he insisted.

Malcolm paused as they heard a faint echo coming from the sea. The clouds roared as the lightning flashed, and winds started to run as if being unshackled from timeless bounds.

A large shadow of a beast appeared over the sea, a faint crimson light flickered in his eyes, before the thunderclap cleaved the skies again and the shadow disappeared.