God Has Left This Room

The journey back to the village was a parade of cruelty.

Silver rode the black horse, holding a rope. The other end was tied securely in a slipknot around Renji’s neck. The Sorcerer was dragged face-down over the cobblestones of the town, choking and gasping unconsciously, and then over the rough, gravel-strewn dirt road of the countryside. 

Unable to kill him with his own hands, this was the only way Silver could satiate his wrath.

The rope tightened with every bump, strangling Renji just enough to keep him on the edge of death without granting him the release of it. Silver didn't look back. He didn't slow down. He simply rode.

By the time they reached the village church, it was nearing the break of dawn.  Silver helped Vanessa and the child dismount the horse before making his way towards Renji, a bloody mess by this point.

Inside the church, Sachi and Akiko had gathered everyone. Anxiety lingered in the air as they waited for Silver's return.

“Do you think they’re alright?” Kenji asked, pacing the floor.

“We’re talking about Silver here!” Akiko snapped, though she clutched her shawl tightly. “THE Silver! He’s a man of many talents... and many angles that I would like to explore with my bod—AHEM. He won't fail! I believe in him!”

“Me too” Sachi whispered, staring at the entrance, refusing to let the flame of hope die. “He’ll bring back my son. I know it.”

Just at that moment, the heavy oak doors creaked open.

“MAMA!!!”

Sachi's boy scrambled out of Vanessa's arms and ran down the aisle, flying straight into his mothers arms. She let out a relieved shriek that broke the silence in the church, falling to her knees to embrace her son.

The villagers  watched their reunion happily as the families of the other boys kept their eyes focused on the entrance , hoping for the same relief. Instead, they found Silver walking in behind Vanessa, deepening their worries.

He hauled on the rope, dragging Renji's bloody, battered body down the center aisle.

The wizard walked through all the way as the villagers looked on, stopping before the altar, right beneath the feet of the crucified Jesus. With a sneer of disgust, Silver whipped the rope, throwing Renji’s body onto the floor like a bag of wet garbage.

“This...” Silver announced, his voice echoing off the stone walls “...is the man who killed your children.”

He looked at the families of the deceased, but couldnt meet their gaze for long, observing the exact moment hope died in their eyes. He saw their stares shift from Sachi’s reunion to the man on the floor, ushering them to take charge as he threw the rope in their direction. It wasn't sadness that filled the room anymore. It was a collective, murderous intent.

Renji groaned, his eyes fluttering open to see the villagers standing over him, their shadows long and distorted in the candlelight

“Let’s go” Silver muttered to Vanessa. “God has left this room.”

A short while later, near the graveyard at the edge of the village, a large wooden stake had been driven into the earth.

Renji, who had regained his senses, was screaming, thrashing against the ropes that bound him to the wood.

“What are you doing?! You filthy peasants! Let me go this instant!” he shrieked, spittle flying from his bloody mouth. “Do you have any idea who buys my product?! Who I am affiliated with?!”

The villagers said nothing. They simply doused the wood and his robes in gasoline. The pungent fumes filled the night air.

Renji’s eyes bulged with desperation. “The Queen! I supply the Queen herself! Her youth flows from my vials! I am a protected asset of the Crown! If you touch me, she will burn this village to the ground! You hear me?! THE QUEEN WON'T FORGIVE YOU FOR THIS!”

Sachi stood before him. She held a lit match. Her face was a mask of stone, unmoved by kings or queens.

“This is for our children”

She dropped the match.

The fumes caught instantly. A wall of orange fire roared up, encircling Renji.

Silver sat on the steps of a mausoleum nearby, leaning back with his eyes closed, resting. Vanessa stood next to him, watching the flames rise.

“You know” Silver said quietly, his voice barely carrying over the initial screams. “The Church used to do this to people like you. Or people they thought were like you. Witches. Heretics. Burned alive to ‘save their souls.’”

Vanessa flinched. She didn't look at him. Her eyes were locked on the fire.

“Hypocritical” Silver murmured, shifting to get comfortable against the cold stone. “That the flock of God resorts to fire. But in that guy's case... I find I don't mind the irony.”

“NO! STOP!! IT BURNS!! PLEASE GOD!!” Renji’s scream cut through the night, a sound of pure, stripped-down terror.

Vanessa didn't answer Silver. Drawn by something dark and magnetic, she walked away from him, moving closer to the mob. She stood just behind the circle of villagers, the heat flushing her face.

The flames licked Renji’s flesh, consuming the tattered robes and searing the skin beneath. It wasn't quick. The sound of his skin crackling and popping mixed with the roar of the fire. His arrogant threats about the Queen dissolved into animalistic shrieks. He thrashed against the ropes, the movement only peeling his charred skin away from the bone.

The villagers stood like an audience at a concert, watching. The firelight danced in their eyes, but there was no joy there. No celebration. Just a grim, heavy witness. They watched the man who had stolen their future be reduced to ash and Vanessa joined them, unable to look away

Suddenly, she wasn't in the village anymore. She was back in the deep woods of her homeland. The smell was the same. She could hear the final prayers of her coven sisters turning into shrieks as the humans threw torches onto the pyres. She felt the phantom heat on her face, the crushing shame of running away while they burned at the stake, persecuted by men who claimed to be righteous.

Renji’s voice finally broke. His throat fused shut. His body went rigid, then slumped against the stake, a blackened, smoking ruin.

Then, and only then, the heavens opened.

The storm that had been looming over the valley finally broke. A torrent of rain hammered the earth, hissing as it hit the fire. Steam rose in thick, white clouds, smelling of sulfur and wet charcoal. The flames sputtered and died, leaving the darkness to reclaim the graveyard.

The villagers stood there for a long time, soaked to the bone. They knew their children would never return, but as the rain washed the ashes into the mud, they felt the faintest shimmer of peace.

One by one, they turned away.

First the neighbors, then Kenji and Akiko. Finally, Sachi and the grieving families turned and walked back toward their homes, their justice served.

Only Vanessa remained.

She stood alone in the downpour, staring at the wet, blackened corpse tied to the stake. The water plastered her hair to her face, but she didn't feel it. She looked at Renji, but she didn't see the maniac anymore.

She saw herself.

She saw her own body charred and black, tied to a stake by the Queen's men. She saw the inevitable future. The panic rose in her throat like bile, choking her. The trauma of her past collided with the reality of the present, fracturing her composure.

I’m next.

A scream built in her chest, but it came out as power.

Violet energy exploded from her body. It shot upward, a jagged bolt of pure magic that pierced the storm clouds.

CRACK!

The sky split open. The clouds were torn apart by the sheer force of her emotions. The rain ceased instantly, cut off as if a tap had been turned.

Silver, who had been dozing against the mausoleum, jolted up. He stared at the sky, then at the trembling elf standing amidst the steam and smoke. His eyes widened in genuine shock.

He stood up, his coat heavy with dampness, and walked over to her, placing a steady hand on her shoulder to ground her in the present.

“It’s over” he spoke softly “Let's get outta here.”

The wind picked up, carrying away the last traces of smoke, mingling it with the heavy, wet scent of the earth. In harmony with the silence was the beautiful, deep smell of petrichor that lingered for miles around, and with it, the souls of the children who would finally rest in peace.