The TwiceBorn

Alone Among The Ruins

Tonight, my friends, and I can hear you out there, sitting alone, like me, in your chairs, your beds, driving down an empty street with no one but me to listen to your weeping; tonight, I'm going to bring you Armageddon."--Charles Grant

Stairs. Endless stairs. Islinn was dragged, prodded, shoved, and pushed up what felt like innumerable steps, all dimly lit by iron lanterns, smoking and flickering as she was rushed by. A thunder of feet accompanied her, and her tired mind latched onto this, and she wondered, not without humor, why all of the brothers had to go with her to wherever they were taking her?

Because they'd been told to.

JoHan had somehow moved himself up through the herd and was one of the poking prodding hands assisting her as she ascended the crumbling steps.

"Islin...you have to renounce..." He panted in her ear. "You have no idea...what can happen to you if you don't. Please...renounce."

His voice took on a begging tone which she found horrifying.

"Please...please..." He mumbled and repeated as they reached a level hallway lined with wooden doors. One of the brothers pulled a key from somewhere in his robes and opened one of the thick doors and Islinn felt herself shoved through. She fell on slimy stone and quickly tried to get  up so her back was not to the brothers but failed. Slipping again, she gave up and turned her head to watch as they filled the doorway of the small stone area, she'd been tossed in. None of them spoke, not even JoHan.

She glanced around and took in the dirty hay in one corner and the window that had been cut to allow for air.

Casted

She'd heard vague mumbled stories of Sentinels that had been cast but had never heard how it all ended. The complete term was "cast out" but in the whispered stories, it was always "They cast him!" which she'd never completely understood. JoHan had tried to explain it to her once.

"Crimes against Brede, Islinn. Demons and devils...those are banished or killed, if possible. Nothing else to do with scourge like that, they're animals...or some form of them. Casting out is for people. People who preach against Brede, those who openly denounce him...those are the ones cast. And they are given the chance to repent because Brede is a merciful god, and he loves his followers. If they choose not to.... then they meet the same fate as the scourge we fight."

She'd never given much thought to it. Vaguely disturbing but something that was so far from herself, it was not in her to worry about it. And now here she was.

Her heartbeat trebled and she was suddenly grateful for the slimy stone because she didn't feel as though her legs would hold her up even if she could stand. Terror engulfed her. She looked at all the faces crowded in the doorway until she found JoHan's.

"I just...love her. Why is that so wrong?" She asked. Her voice was no longer strong. It was now as weak and afraid as the rest of her was.

"It's wrong...because of what you are." He quietly replied. He slipped past the brothers crowding in the doorway and came and knelt beside her.