Shepherd of Fire

suggested song: Shepherd of Fire by Avenged Sevenfold 

Long ago in a kingdom far, far away, there lived a fair maiden named Lilliana, she was the most beautiful woman that has ever lived within the kingdom. Within the castle walls, lived the heir to the throne; his name was Prince Carter, who happened to be the most handsome man. The prince wished nothing more than to marry the fairest maiden- his heart had been blinded at the sight of her beauty, they were bound to marry. You might as well say that this is the perfect place, but the kingdom has its share of darkness as it has light: there is a legend that says if you descended into the forbidden forests that surrounded the kingdom, a demon would appear to you, and curse you with the most vile and inhumane acts. Or you die. It has also been said that the gypsies of the early kingdom preformed evil rituals to please their pagan gods, as a result, the gods cursed the forests that surrounded the kingdom.

Lilliana--being highly intelligent—opposed this. It is but a legend, she told herself, no one truly knows if it is true or not. So one day, Lilliana ventured into the forbidden to draw, sketchbook in one hand and a pencil in the other. After aimless wandering, she sat herself upon a dull looking rock in the heart of the woods and began to draw. After a few hours, she left the woods and returned home; she was fine, nothing appeared to her. “It’s just a story to keep foolish children out of the woods.” She reasoned with herself.

Days turned to weeks after she entered the forest, her once joyous heart turned to stone- the light in her eyes vanished. She had become a walking skeleton. Then, one night as she slept, a figure entered her mind- dark, tall, and evil, its presence terrified her. It moved slowly towards her, staring at her through a thin, blood soaked black veil, mumbling in a deep impassive voice- foreign words to her. She tried to scream, but noting came out; the being held out a bloody hand to her, slowly choking her with invisible fingers.

“10 days.” The being whispered, its voice was unnaturally deep.

She struggled for breath; her hands at her throat, as if she was trying to pry to invisible hands off her.

“10 days.. you have 10 days to sacrifice your loved ones in cold blood, or you will be the one to pay.” Her mind suddenly went black.

She awoke in a scream, bolting upright and throwing her hands to throat, it was bruised and tender, as if someone’s hands really had been choking her. Realizing it was just a dream she pushed off her blankets and swung her legs over the side of her bed, and picked up a candle from her nightstand before making her way into the bathroom. She held it up, the darkness scattered away from the light. She placed the light on the edge of the sink and stared into her reflection, dark shadows under her eyes and around her nose showed nothing but exhaustion. She splashed water on her face from the bowl below the mirror and glanced up, flying backwards from the mirror. On it, written in blood, she read “stab fifty times, rip the heart out.” The blood dripped down from the mirror, beside it- on the wall- was another message, it too was written in blood. “Know me by name, Shepherd of Fire. 10 days, or you will die.”

Eight days passed; she remained alone and silent in her room without leaving, her sketchbook was filled with countless black figures of the Shepherd of Fire, as well as bodies bleeding out onto the floors. She couldn’t do it. She can’t kill anyone.

A soft knock on her door surprised her, breaking away from her thoughts, the entity had been in her dreams every night, each time it choked her awake while whispering ’10 days’ over and over again. Each night, she woke in a scream. She began to look dead. She threw her sketchbook onto the floor and covered herself with the blanket, under her pillow, she clutched a dagger. Suicide had crossed her mind many times, and whenever she tried to attempt to kill herself, the entity would bring her back. There is no escape, and she began to lose hope. The door opened slowly.

“Lilliana?” The soft voice of her five year old sister, Caroline, sent chills down her spine. No, she can’t do it.

“Yes, Caroline?” She croaked. “Come here, come see sister.” The cold handle of the dagger was clutched in her hand, she had to do it. 

Caroline appeared by her side. Her dark brown hair fell in soft ringed curls around her waist, her big green eyes showed sorrow for her sister. Lilliana reached with her free hand out to her, Caroline took it in both of her small hands. “What is it, Lilliana?”

She breathed heavily. “You know sister loves you, right? Forever and always,” she gripped the dagger harder, an almost familiar feeling.

“Of course, sister, I love you with all of my heart.”

Lilliana felt her heart break.

“You know that sister would be sorry for all pain that comes to you, right?”

“Yes, sister.”

She closed her eyes and breathed, opening them to look at her sister for the last time.

“I’m sorry.”

She dug the dagger into her baby sister’s chest. Caroline bled out and fell towards her. She sobbed uncontrollably at what she had done and held the body of her sister,

“I’m sorry baby, I’m so sorry,” she whispered into her ear.

A few days pass, the prince grew weary of the absence of his soon to be wife, he left the palace and paid a visit to her home. He entered through the front door; blood covered the walls, and written were strange markings. This worried him, so he ran up the stairs and burst through the door in Lilliana’s room, he stepped back in horror. On her bed, laid both Lilliana and Caroline, their chests were ripped apart and their faces were covered with a black veil. On the wall were more strange markings in blood and on the floor laid Lilliana’s sketchbook; He opened and flipped through the pages rapidly, his heart stopped. One page, written in blood, was a drawing of a veiled figure,

“10 days, Carter, 10 days or you’re next.”