Bound by Fire

The sun was high in the sky that day, and the weather was too perfect for what we were about to do.Me and Orion, walking side by side, heading to the church.
Behind us, the unforgiving, hideous look of the priest burned in our backs like a curse.
Orion couldn’t hide it — he was excited.For him, it was freedom. He was finally leaving his hell behind.
And then there was me.Same age.Different life.Different war.
As we walked through the streets, I could feel the rumors spreading like fire, people staring at us, whispering, spitting their curses like knives.
And yet, we kept walking.
Until we stood again in front of that church.
Same place.Same goal.
But somehow...The world around us felt nothing like it was a week ago.
As the carriage stopped, I stepped down and walked to the firm door I once had profaned.
In a single breath, I pushed it open — and entered, Orion right behind me.
We walked through the long alley, surrounded on both sides by guards, hunters, and members of the Red Maw.
They stared at us in disbelief.
They knew what it meant to be chosen as Holy Knights.They knew we didn’t belong.
But we kept walking.
Each step fueled our determination.
I met the burning glare of the Red Maw's leader, eye to eye —as if daring him to speak.
I was challenging their authority in this holy ground.
But this time, no one could stop me.I was walking a path they couldn’t follow.
We kneel in front of the hotel as the hate continue to spread.

I chose this path —but I swore to myself,never again would I kneel.
Not in front of a man.Not even in front of a god.
The high priest stepped forward, robes dragging the silence with him.
He began to recite the Oath.
The room stood still —frozen in time as his voice echoed between the pillars of this so-called holy place.
Darkness poured into the room,heavy, ancient…as if the unsaid was finally spoken.
As if the unthinkablewas being made real, again and again.
Until all that remainedwas us —the only light in this decaying church.
But darkness exists only if light is part of the show...

"Do you swear, upon your soul and your name,to uphold the sacred Law of the Blade —to strike with purpose, not pride —to protect, even when abandoned —and to bleed before ever kneeling again?"
"DO YOU swear to dedicate your life and your deathto the hunt of the unholy,to the pursuit of demons, both within and without,and to never let evil bloom unpunished on sacred ground?"
"DO YOU swear, when the world forgets your name,when the gods turn their back,when even the flame in your heart flickers —to stand,to burn,and to shine anyway?
THEN RISE.
Not as a man.Not as a child.But as a blade.As the flame in the dark.
A Holy Knight of the Last Light.”
Swear to burn your soul as kindling for the Eternal Flame,to offer your blood, your name, and your future to a fate not yours to choose?"
Swear to abandon honor if honor becomes weakness,and to betray peace if peace welcomes the heretic?"
Swear before the one and only god that you will seak,And rise, knight of no nation, no kind, no grave —Bearer of the oath profaned, child of fire, and servant of ash.
"DO YOU SWEAR TO BECOME THE CHILD OF ONE AND ONLY GOD—TO LET HIS WILL OVERRIDE YOUR OWN,TO WALK NOT BY DESIRE BUT BY COMMAND,TO RENAME YOURSELF IN HIS IMAGE,TO KILL WHEN HE WHISPERS, TO DIE WHEN HE CALLS?"
"DO YOU SWEAR TO BECOME HIS HAND AND HIS SILENCE,HIS JUDGEMENT AND HIS SHADOW,TO ABANDON YOUR PAST, YOUR NAME, YOUR FUTURE—SO THAT ONLY HIS PURPOSE REMAINS?"
"I swear upon my soul..."
"THEN CHOOSE.CHOOSE THE GOD WHO WILL OWN YOUR LIFE."
At that moment, silence fell heavier than steel.Only sadness filled the minds of the witnesses —a collective dread, a grief for a soul about to vanish into the unknown.
But my voice did not crumble.And as I rose, gathering the last fragments of my strength,I screamed with every ounce of will burning in my chest:
"I CHOOSE TO GIVE MY SWORD TO THE WARRIOR WITHOUT A THRONE—TO THE KING WITHOUT A KINGDOM—TO THE ASH KING"
"I SWEAR UPON MY LIFE, AND EVEN MORE, TO SERVE THE GOD WHO HAS NOT YET BEEN NAMED IN THIS CHURCH—THE ONE WHO WALKED THROUGH FIRE IN SILENCE,THE ONE WHO WAS NEVER WELCOMED IN THE LIGHT.I SWEAR TO THE EXILED. TO THE FORGOTTEN.TO THE GOD WHO DARES TO BLEED."The lamps placed before the Pope, all around the altar, and in the farthest corners of the church suddenly burst into flame.
A flame, redder than blood, more brutal than war, burst forth like an ancient cry.
And in that harsh light, no one dared speak.
Becoming a Holy Knight isn't simply brandishing a sword in the name of sacred justice.It's crueler. More absolute.It's erasing your own name. Surrendering your soul.It's swearing to follow a will that is not your own—to walk where a god commands you, to kill without question, to die without receiving answers.
But this only makes sense on one condition.That there is a god……and that he wants something different from you.