The End Of Basil Rian

Splatter!

With the cheer of the great crowd the head of the prisoner Maltik who shared my cell rolled off the platform until it touched my bare feet. His eyes were still open in an expression as if he was still saying, "Oi Basil you've got a way to get us out of 'ere right? You always fixin up a way to do strange things."

I told him with the magic suppressor chain around my neck our luck has run out, I wonder if he held unto hope till the end.

"A'ight now its yer turn!" The old executioner flicked his bloody cleaver clean and motioned me forward. "I've ben waiting fer yer kneck fer a good long while, fuckin apostate." He spat at my face as if he tasted something filthy.

The crowd jeered and cursed as two guards led me onto the small platform. Even as my eyes scanned the eager audience I knew I wouldn't see a familiar face. Anyone I've ever cared about was long dead. Anyone who ever cared about me was already just another bloody smear on this very stage.

A rotten fruit hit me in the face sending me staggering sideways. The guards on either side of me tightened their grip on my arms probably fearing some complex escape plot. I sneered at their vigilance, where could I go in this state? I had no magic and no strength.

Before I knew it, I was already pushed down into position. My neck placed into two damp and well-worn pieces of wood, all I could see was the dripping red pool that was once a part of my old friend Maltik.

Then two steel boots came splashing into my view distorting the pool and creating a wave of red ripples. My time had finally come. "In the name of the Holy Koltis we hereby charge Basil Rian thirty-five, for the crime of being an apostate sorcerer, for harboring multiple dangerous apostates, for the prohibited training of said apostates, for inciting rebellion against our Kingdom of Elgor, for the use of dark arts against the citizens of Elgor, for the auctioning of heinous acts against the lawful citizens of Elgor, for the murder of the family of the Earl of…"

All crimes I would have boasted about in the past before I got caught that is.

As he spoke I tried to call my magic forth. Nothing. Closing my eyes I tried one last time to summon Orthelm. Nothing. My powers never returned for the entire year I was imprisoned, why did I think it would work now?

As if. This is it. This is the end.

Suddenly, an urge began to well up inside me. I couldn't tell if it was tears or laughter, maybe a mixture of both.

"-il Rian...Basil Rian!" The announcer's voice brought me out of my inattention "The crown is kind enough to give you a chance to make an appeal before your sentence is carried out. Speak now or forevermore never speak again!"

The crowd which had been cheering quieted down in anticipation.

Can't they just get on with it? I wanted to make some sort of biting joke but my mouth moved before I could even properly get my thoughts into place.

"This was the only path we could walk on. If I had to do it all over again I would choose freedom." Hot tears began to stream down my face until the steel shoes became a blur. "And so I will walk this path until the end."

And then the executioner's arm came down.

Splatter!