The Birth of Ignaius - (Part 2 of the Ignaius-Saga)

Epiphany

He was still a bit unfocussed when there was a noise at the door. He sat up, his heart suddenly beating in his throat. Nevala entered. Slowly Tanier got up. "Have you reconsidered?" was the only greeting that Nevala gave him.

"Indeed I have," he answered.

For just a moment Nevala was baffeled. "You will sign the paper?"

"I will." There was very little that Tanier had to say on the matter. He didn't really feel like making conversation.

Nevala ordered one of the guards to bring them a chair and minutes later Tanier sat down to sign the paper. Once more his eyes roamed the paper. It was a risk to sign it. It would create upheavel, but Nevala would still have to convince enough people that this signature was any good.

Tanier signed.

Nevala smiled. "Kill the boy," he ordered the guards and his smile got more evil as he watched Tanier closely. But his smile fell, when he could not see any change in the calm face of the king, who looked almost happy.

In fact Tanier was strangely removed from what happened. He watched things evolve as he had expected and watched them like it was someone else who was affected. Like someone else was about to loose his love and his life.

One of the guards picked up the leash and wound it around Variel's neck, while another guard held him. The first man pulled tight and the thin leather tightened around Variel's neck, strangling him.

As the leash tightened and cut off Variel's oxygen, the boy did not put up a fight. He barely noticed. He stayed still, making no attempt to reach up and tug the strap away. He just lay there for a short time until the light began to leave his eyes.

Tanier watched, still strangely detached. He didn't care about Nevala or the guards or what would happen next, he only had eyes for Variel. He was holding his breath, hoping it would be over soon.

Then Variel's lips moved. It didn't look like a muscle spasm. It didn't even look like a desperate plea. It looked deliberate, as though he was awake, calm, and merely speaking a word. No sound came out, and the men near him just sort of glanced at one another. It had been strange, but nothing that would stop them.

Variel's lips moved again, and though his air was completely cut off, a whisper pervaded the silence.

"Incendius."

For a brief moment, silent confusion lingered. Then, a sound like rumbling thunder began beneath their feet. It did not remain merely a sound for long, and the stone itself began to tremble, first the floor, then the walls and ceiling by extension. The guards began looking around with wide eyes, trying to discern what was happening. Quakes were uncommon, and this felt different.

When Tanier saw Variel's lips move, he cringed inside, afraid of what he may be going through in his dying moments. Then he noticed the irritations of the guards before he noticed anything else. At first he was not sure, if it was maybe just him, if maybe he was hallucinating, but when people started to scream in fear he dismissed the idea.

The rubmling suddenly became a tumultuous roar. Searing heat and blinding light instantly engulfed everything, followed closely by the ear-splitting shrieks of men in deathly agony. After the inital burst of light faded, a ring of flame blazed where Variel and those who had been ordered to kill him had once stood. The flames licked the ceiling of the cell and began expanding outward. Screams of terror were added to screams of pain and those who had not been caught in the inital blast began to flee.

They did not make it far.

Suddenly the world was ablaze. Tanier crouched down close to the wall. The exit was blocked and he was afraid the room may cave in, so he tried to protect his head with his arms and waited. He tried to see Variel, but couldn't see him. The flames drew closer to where he was crouching, an unbroken wall of flame filling the room. It had poured out into the corridor beyond, the shrieks of the fearful and dying all but drowned out by an unearthly bellow that seemed to come from every direction. Dust and small pebbles rained down from the ceiling, but it was all consumed. Tanier was surrounded by the flames. They touched the wall a hair's breadth from each of his sides, but they did not touch him. While the fire raged, Tanier simply waited to die.

The building heaved and shuddered, and then - as suddenly as it had all started - it stopped.

The heat, the light, and the fire died away. The earth stood still. The screams were a distant memory.

In the middle of the room lay Variel, naked and motionless. The leash and the collar were gone. The table, the chair, the signed paper, the rags, the basket, bread, and bottle: it was nothing but cinders. Ash littered the floor along with a few charred bones. The floor, walls, and ceiling were all scorched, the shackles and chains had all melted into indistinct puddles of iron cooling against the blackened stone, and the door to the cell was completely gone.

The carnage extended out into the corridor, and save for Tanier and Variel, there was nothing left in tact.

The silence was oppressive, broken only by the settling dust.

When the fire died and the many noises died, Tanier didn't understand, why he was still alive. He slowly stood up, looked around, and still could not believe what he saw. He wanted to console himself with the fact that he had seen stranger things, but actually he hadn't. He moved slowly, almost like in a trance, as he walked over to Variel, not sure, if the boy was dead or alive. As he approached, he became more and more convinced that he was alive. The body lacked the stillness of death, even if he was not sure, if his eye or his mind may be playing tricks on him, when he thought he saw the chest rise and fall ever so slightly. He knelt down at his side and tried to find a pulse. He had to search for a while, but finally he could feel the heartbeat under his fingers. He took off his shirt and wrapped it around Variel's shoulders, as he lifted him up and into his arms.

As he stood up, he was wondering what to do next. It was so silent that he was wondering at first, if everyone who lived here was dead now, but now that some time had elapsed and that he paid more attention to it, he could hear excited voices filtering through the windows. So he decided to take the same road they had come in: He followed the corridor until he reached the water, placed Variel in one of the boats that he found here, untied it and pushed out onto the stream.

As he didn't know how to sail anyway he used the canvass to cover Variel and used the rows to steer the vessel. When he came out of the covered channel and met the stream he could see that it was late afternoon. The sun was sinking already as they were gliding downstream. It was starting to get cold, but he was confident that he would find help soon.