Seeds of a Glowing Ember - 12
#13 of Seeds of a Glowing Ember
There had been very little pain when the blade was thrust through his abdomen, but the soldier knew a fatal blow when he was exposed to it. For years he had witnessed men die from injuries such as this ... and now, he too would go the way of so many others. It was ridiculous; he knew that men would treat each other in such a fashion. It was unfortunate that it often took fatalistic realization for the mind to arrive securely on the answer to a long life was through peace and understanding ... but there it was.
The ultimate realization was his ... along with a wound which had drawn the strength from his body. It would have taken hours for the stomach wound to kill him, but the woman he loved pushed him ... and he was caught by the arms of a most terrible enemy. In moments his body was torn asunder and from his soul emitted an agonizing wail for the failure it had wrought.
A terrified scream burst from Friar William's lungs and thrust him from his dreaming. For several agonizing moments he drank the cool air that was around him and trembled in a way which told him that his limbs were still attached. When at last his senses were able to focus on what was around him, the young friar realized he was outside and sprawled upon the ground with a blanket draped over him. His gaze traveled across weathered ritual stones until settling upon the praying form of the maid who has brought him here.
Rising lethargically to his feet, William crossed the mossy Earth to where the maiden knelt. When he was an arm's length away, he stopped and shifted in an uncertain manner.
"Was it a nightmare?" she asked without breaking the pressing of her hands together or opening her eyes.
"I dreamed my good friend was killed," the younger man said with a shudder.
"Was it real?" the maid asked.
"It was vivid," he admitted. "It shook me."
"I see," Marion said with a sigh of terrible sadness. "With as close as we are ... I doubt it was a dream."
"But ..." William started with his heart in his throat.
"I am sorry, William," she said without the emotions he would normally have expected from one such as she. "Righteous blood has fed the hunger of a devil. I fear we are quickly running out of time."
"What are-" The words died in William's mouth when he noticed a light from above. Somehow, the sky was clear and the white part of the moon was pouring forward like cream across a saucer. There was too much brilliance in the glowing face to be natural. Then, as if confirming his suspicions, a focused beam descended and a heavenly creature floated Earthward until the friar beheld a woman of more beauty than he had ever witnessed.
Nothing was natural about her. Glowing white skin contrasted raven black hair. The eyes were yellow and vertically slit like a cat, and a pair of bat-like wings grew out of her back.
"Mother," Marion said with a reverent bow.
"Guinevere," the elegant creature said gently, her cat-like eyes showing pride in a job well done.
"This is William," the praying girl told her mother. "He was a Templar but is now a friar instead."
"The Templar are dying," the cat-eyed goddess said with a terrible sadness, then her golden eyed flicked up to capture William, and in an instant he knew he could not move. "Does he know all?"
"He does not," the girl said without looking up.
"Then I will show him," said the woman in the moon beam, and a sudden flash caused the world to fade around him.