20: Patriarch
“I have come to you in your hour of need,” said the booming voice from the balcony, “For too long have the people of Torsten suffered while heresy spreads its foul stench across their land, but that suffering ends today!
“Before us we see proof that a man among your population has been stealing your children and corrupting them for his own purpose. With his co-conspirators, he has plotted to rise against your beliefs and tear them apart. But he has underestimated the resolve of our Faith. So desperate is he to destroy us, that he would send children primed with explosives to force us into submission!
“But his machinations are at an end. Tonight we gather his corrupted spawn before us and cleanse their spirits with Holy Fire. Let these innocent souls be freed from their pain as the fire burns away their sin. And then, before the fires are extinguished, we shall march upon the heretics and send them into Hell!”
The crowds broke their time-freeze and cheered, like revellers at a music festival about to see their favourite band take the stage. Phoenie finally understood what was going on and why they’d all been covered in such a foul, flammable substance. As the panic rose up inside her she struggled to break free from the chafing ropes, but the more she tried the more the crowed cheered. She wanted to scream at them, at the Patriarch, but she held it back, not wanting to give them the satisfaction. Joel, however, was not so inclined and shouted a stream of profanities at any one who looked his way. Doyle and Lyra were quick to join, though Lyra soon realised what Phoenie had already and quietened down.
But with each passing moment, it became increasingly difficult for Phoenie to restrain her emotions. She felt like a trapped animal and needed to strike out, even if it was just verbally. Then she realised something. Something that filled her with hope: Theseus, John and Andromeda hadn’t been captured; Amanda was still incognito in the ranks of Godhand; Katrina and Phantasia were nowhere to be seen; and even Elone, Dante and Chris were around somewhere! There was still hope!
Clank-clank-clank.
Phoenie felt hope begin to drift away as the overconfident tones of the Patriarch continued.
“Tonight, you shall finally be rid of that corrupting thorn in your side, and it is all thanks to the efforts of one young girl. One who saw through the charade of her school, the lies of her teachers, and the false friends she thought she had made. She has embraced our teaching and stands with us now as an equal!”
The knights parted the crowd to reveal a hooded girl standing alone before the captives. Was this the girl who’d brought this entire calamity down upon them? The one who, somehow, convinced Godhand that Phantasia and the others were guilty of ‘heresy’? She was too short to be Astrid – who was cowering under the glare of the knights alongside her similarly petrified companions, Elizabeth and Vespa – but who else could it be?
“Come, Amanda Hartell, show us the glory of redemption!”
No.
Just the same name.
A coincidence.
It couldn’t be possible.
“Show your friends your true face!”
The hood came down.
Short, dark hair held back with a simple pin.
The pin Theseus has given Amanda.
Her Amanda.
Their Amanda.
Phoenie cried out. She couldn’t hold it back. Her self-control was shattered. All those lessons from Mr Haan about resisting pain now void. All those meditation techniques and emotion control exercises wasted. Phoenie screamed loud. It didn’t matter what the crowd thought.
“Listen to the cries of a demon! Listen to her scream words of deception!”
It can’t be. She wouldn’t do it. She couldn’t do it. We’re friends! We’re all friends! We’re best friends!
She heard Joel struggle. “I’m gonna…fucking…kill you…” he cried, though who it was directed at she didn’t know.
“Shut the feck up, Gibson!”
“Why don’t YOU shut it?”
“Stop fucking arguing, you two!”
“Joel…I-I can’t get free…I don’t wanna die…”
“I guess I was a demon after all…
Amanda…why?
“Now, Amanda, show your worth as a child of Godhand. Cleanse them.”
A knight passed her a flaming torch and she stepped forward, the power of death held in her trembling, treacherous hands.
~ Forced to execute her closest friend! Is this the true horror of Godhand?! ~
~ Next: An unexpected intrusion! ~
