Hell Fire

Pulchra Morte, Aka, Beautiful Death

The garden of flowers was enough to trick anyone of the invading plants true goal. One would think that these bright, baby blue, five petaled beauties would be harmless, that they wouldn't contaminate the water supply, or choke other plants, or even poison the natural animals. Some venturer found them in the demon realm of Etep, they thought they were beautiful and brought a seedling back and planted it. Only God knows what happened to that man, perhaps his house is now covered in them, or he died from the poisoning that the roots give off. Whatever it was, he left it to spread. People were ill, and they refuse to admit it is because of this.

I stood, wiping my hands on the skirt of my dress -- not a traditional dress mind you, it was torn on either side up to my lower thigh, allowing easy movement while keeping modesty present -- no one could guess what was harbored on the leaves or petals. I cocked my head and walked around one of the many bushes of the plant, I believe it was called a Pulchra Morte. From what I knew about it, it's scent was used to lure in demons in its natural habitat and once they touched it in any way they would die and their remains would be used as fertilizer for the weed. Of course, this was all from a book, I was not one of the -- oh, how did those dreamers put it -- I was not one of the gifted to be able to enter Etep and survive, I was not able to harness control of it's creatures, not that I had the desire to. I found them... well, to say the least, they were the bane of my existence.

And I seemed the only person to think so.

I left the plant to where I dropped the leather wrapped bundle of supplies I had. It had everything from a bow, to a Khopesh, to a broad sword, to a battle axe, a saber, several blunt objects -- honestly the list could go on, but these were the only ones with me. The rest were kept hidden in my current room at the cheapest tavern. Besides, the only thing of importance in the bundle was the torch, flint and steel. The only way to completely eradicate this was to burn it and dig up it's roots. Then it would take weeks, maybe more for the water to run clean.

It's easy enough to explain it in one's head, but the locals were stubborn as mules and didn't like to hear it. Their town healer was over run with sick people and would be until they would either listen to me or until it was cleared. But a few would probably be dead by then. I started striking the flint on the steel over the torch, hoping it would catch a spark. I was never good at lighting fires, in fact I never liked fires. So, all in all, this was a fifty-fifty shot, and if fire didn't work, I would take a shovel to it and dig it up, anything I had to do to kill it.

A spark ignited with no warning, causing me to scramble back, only for a second I showed fear before resolving myself and standing and picking up the torch, wasting no time and plunging it into the thicket of the bush, once it was lit I moved onto the next, and the next, until each and every one in the area was burning. The smoke was pearl white, blending in with the clouds as it rose. I threw the torch into the flames.

As far as my job description goes, this was the safest thing I've done. Starting a forest fire is the safest thing I've done in a long time. I stumbled back, keeping my eyes on the fire. One stray wind and it could lose control, and I would need to run. Forget about the actual forest. I lived day by day, I survived. It sounds selfish, but I kill to get save people, and if it came down to me and an innocent I would save myself. Again, not selfish, saving one and dying before I could save more is bad planning. Bad planning gets nothing done.

"Last area," I muttered wrapping up my mini arsenal. It was so quiet, all you could hear was the growing roar of a hungry creature. That fire seemed to live, like all fires. It had the characteristics for life. It grew through feeding, technically it reproduced, leaving coals or sending off sparks, it adapted to its environment so it could destroy as much as possible.

Though, I suppose, I must apologize to you for seeming so cynical. I never meant for you to see me this way. I just believe I should share my thoughts with you. It's the only way someone like me can be happy, or content rather. Happy is a bit of a stretch. Someone needs to know what happened, beginning to end. Someone needs to know I wasn't bad. I wasn't good, but I was never bad. It may seem like that to the majority of people, but I hope you only make your judgement after this story.

It took no less than a few hours for the plants to be gone, another few for me to douse the fire. All in all, the sky went from brilliant blue of early morning to a deep purple of fading twilight. Leaving behind coals, I left for town. It was an uphill hike, but it was short. The town was only illuminated by the stars above it. The production of it all started with the church, on the highest hill in the valley, so it would be closer to God. The name was Star's Peek, a horribly on the point name, but it gave them business. Everyone wanted to be closer to the heavens.

The town's story was strange though, they say it was the insect demon papilio cabrones that lead a preacher here after his town had been burned to the ground by thieves. He built the church and made a monument to the demon, leaving flowers and other sweets for it. This particular demon had a very significant sweet tooth. It was like a bee, drawn to anything with nectar or sugar. They said that the demon was pleased with the man's gratefulness and began to lead other survivors to this point, and the town flourished, and every year they have a festival for the demon that was long dead. It had been nearly 103 years since the town was built.

The stars seem to point to the steeple of the church, from every direction there was a thread of stars leading to the steeple. It looked like ribbons off a decorative pole. It was a small town to say the least, you could walk from one end to the other in an hour, you could see everything if you room was on the second floor of your home, or the tavern.

The tavern, World's End, was dark, illuminated by a two lanterns at the door and windows to let in the moonlight, tonight was a new moon though. It was darker than ever so the owner put out a few more lanterns at the bar. I gave a polite grunt to the wench behind the counter, the owner's daughter, who said hello as I passed on my way to the staircase. It creaked on every step and the railing practically wailed in protests to use. In contrast to all of that, the rooms were charming. Light wood walls and floor, actual beds with crimson blankets, a wash tub in the corner. Apparently that's why it took so long to check in, so they could fill the tub with fresh water. It was a pleasant town, not so much as a dagger on anyone. They were too nice, too cheery, for people whose ancestors were killed in a bonfire.

I glanced around the room, it was my last night and I wanted to get one last look at what was my home for a few days. I did that with nearly everyone I stayed in. I've never had a permanent home, so I appreciated the temporary ones. My eyes landed on the painting on the far wall. It was of the Papilio. Glossy black hornet-like body and large flamboyant wings, the wings a juvenile had. Adults had ash grey wings. It was hovering over the town like an angel. I scoffed quietly and turned away from it.

The town was quiet. There were no lit windows, well except for this one, it was like the entirety of it followed a schedule. I groaned, the last town was one loud noise that never ceased. It was like they took shifts keeping up chaos, and I honestly preferred that to the silence. "Might as well get to sleep, get an early go at it." I muttered. As usual, there was no answer, "You really are a terrible conversationalist," I snickered and sat on the bed, pulling off my dress. It was much more comfortable to sleep in just that, and the only way to get the corset and knickers off. I untied the cords with fingers that were clumsy with exhaustion and slid into my dress again, it was actually more of a night gown now.

I took one more look out the window. The town was full of abandoned decorations, the festival had to be canceled due to the epidemic. I'm sure it was going to be moved to the earliest date, once most of the town was healthy. I couldn't help but smile, I didn't support the demon worship, but I did like seeing town festivities and was slightly saddened that I had to move on before it started. Towns like this make a big fuss and go all out with performers and games. They arrange dances, and light bonfires. It's a magnificent sight, especially on holidays celebrated across the country.

I hummed and laid back, I sighed through my nose and turned to douse the lap on the bedside table, engulfing the room in darkness. For only a second did I hold my breath, waiting for something, anything to jump out of the shadows that grew quicker than the light did. A few beats of nothing past and I let out the breath, it came out in more of a yawn though. I wrapped my arms around the pillow and pulled it against my chest, hugging it close to me as I drifted off, my head against the mattress.