Raxten walked out onto the balcony, below which was a pit of fire. In front of that, was a courtyard with a crowd of soldiers numbering in the thousands. The flames in the pit were lapping hungrily at the air, the oil it was burning off of dwindling ever so slowly. His gold and purple robe trailed behind him, the end whipping in the air as the wind pulled at it.
He made it to the edge, only a small, two foot tall railing keeping him from toppling over into the pit. He smiled with confidence, looking at his people. It was time for his speech, directed at his military. It was in support of the war, of course. If they conquer kendrinaca, they will be able to cultivate the rich lands that would then belong to them. With that, they can economically dominate the rest of the world. It was so simple.
He stretched his arms out, beckoning to the army below him. This caused a clanging of swords against shields, and Spears shafts on ground.
“Soldiers of Amegrah, for too long the kendrians have taunted us with riches and land. They have lush forests and vast plains, but no army to hold them. They have survived off of bribes and begging behind closed doors, but in the light they stand tall, acting as if they are better than us.”
He shrugged, chuckling with confidence. his chest was puffed out and his chin raised slightly in the air.
“They are a schoolboy flashing his money around, showing it off to all who talk to him. However, he can't stop the poor working boy from taking it from him. His life has been rough and he is strong, but the rich kid has had it easy”
Raxten flashes the crowd a wicked smirk. “He is weak!”
A large round of applause, yelling, And more weapon-clanging. A moment, for it to quiet down. And then:
“For too long we have suffered and starved, barely scraping by with our dying lands and over population. We are in dire need of their lands, and yet, they refuse to even do trade with us. They are contemp with watching us starve to death so they can come in and take what is ours. I say no!”
Another set of applause before continuing the speech. “We will not be the ones cast into the fire. We will not be the ones to die. We will end their snobby and pitiful reign with force, your force.”
Raxten points down, motioning toward the pit of flames. “They think we will burn slowly, and fall into chaos. Well they are wrong, we will master our chaos. You cannot be cast into the fire if you are the fire, and we will be the inferno that engulfs kendrinaca.”
The crowd gave the loudest response yet, and Raxten’s confident and cocky smile only made them even more fired up. But it all died quickly as a nearly silent 'twang’ could be heard from the back of the crowd.
Raxten felt something warm on his chest, and looked down. As his eyes laid their gaze upon the wooden rod emerging from his chest, He thought to himself 'funny, I don't remember getting shot…’
He coughed into his arm, his purple and gold robe now stained with red on his wrist to match the blossoming crimson rose on his chest, which was growing from a wooden shaft in the center. He fell to his knees as the crowd was thrown into complete chaos, and not the controlled kind they were talking of. No, this was pure and untamed, with blame and panic thrown around like prayers in a temple.
Raxten chuckled as he lurched forward, his knees hitting the railing as he felt a boot connect with his back, forcing him forward and over the railing. He thought to himself before he fell in the pit of oil. ‘Ironic, that I would literally be cast into the fire as my army literally falls into chaos.’
he plunged into the pit, his life already drained from his chest before he could feel himself fall, Into The Fire.
