The Burning Of Thoughts

The Burning of Thoughts Ch.1

Rain furiously drenched the earth saturating the atmosphere with melancholy. Some rain did not bring along with it a sad mood, but this rain soaked the day not just with water but with gloom. Allan looked at the window at the rain that was running down the glass. Allan’s mood and the mood of the atmosphere were mutual. He didn’t deserve to be sad, but he was anyway and at the moment there was nothing he could do about it.

Allan’s family had enough food, a nice house, and a fairly large amount of funds. His family was regarded with favor by the church (due to their donations). This meant a lot because due to Faunasva’s week government the church had almost complete control of the country. They even controlled the police. Allan wasn’t exactly sure why he was unhappy.

He thought about it as he sat in the church and listened to the priest go on and on about nothing in particular. Maybe that’s what made him unhappy. How religion was a task or burden rather than something that felt right to him. It made him feel deserted by god. There were so many things that the church did that seemed wrong some of their actions seemed almost despicable to him. However, whenever he had thoughts like these he forced himself to bury them with thoughts like:

“The church is the word and the actions of god so they must be right,” However, deep down he was not content with this.

The rain had ceased but the mood it brought on lingered, and the earth was still soaked. Faint dripping could be heard from drops of water falling from roofs and trees . Allan was walking through town on his way to get groceries. Hallanna’s streets were filled with all kinds of people. Travelers, traders, residents going about their shopping, Knights, and Church officials filled the streets. Although fairly small, Hallanna had a large shopping district. It received heavy traffic, for the largest road in all of Faunasva passed through it. This created a diverse cultural climate.

The town was attractive looking and one of the nicer towns in the kingdom. All of the buildings were finely constructed out of wood or stone. The forest surrounded the town and there were scattered trees and bushes throughout the town. The wide roads were made of stone smooth from ware but not yet cracked or weakened. A system of electricity ran through the town. Merchant stalls could be found throughout the town.

Allan walked with his head down. Cold rain dripped down his long light brown hair as he walked. Something hit Allan shoulder with tremendous force momentarily knocking him out of his sadness and almost making him fall.

“Hey watch were your goi-” Said the boy who had ran into him. He had short dirty blond, hair blue eyes, and a large nose. Allan spun around.

“Oh…Hi Allan. Follow me! There’s something going on in town square! You have to see it” Said Zahk who was one of Allan’s few friends. Allan ran after Zahk .

“What’s going on?” Asked Allan.

“You’ll see! Just hurry I want to get there before it starts.” Allan and Zahk ran through town narrowly evading collisions with people. They finally reached town square and laid their eyes upon the event Zahk wanted to observe. Many other came to observe as well.

A beautiful girl dressed in rags was marched onto town square by two church officials. Her hands were bound in chains. She had black waist length hair and a full attractive figure. She looked like she could be around Allan’s age (16) but he wasn’t sure. It was hard to make out any other features the girl possessed because of the distance Allan was away from her. Behind her and the two church officials who escorted her were more church officials. They carried a large jug with them. They reached the exact center of town marked by the flagpole that extended into the heavens. The flag pole towered over any town buildings. The gigantic and magnificent flag of Faunasva declared this land belonged to the Faunasvian king. The girl was tied to the pole with metal chains.

“This wicked servant of the devil is guilty of practicing black magic, invoking demons, and heresy. For her crimes she will be punished! The penalty for her actions is purification and death by fire. In the name of the king! In the name of god! In the name of Faunasva! BURN!” shouted the church official . The jug was brought forth and it’s liquid contents were poured onto the girl.

Allan watching in disgust as the church officials backed away from the girl and threw a match onto her. She burst up in flames and was consumed by fire. Even in her last moments she held her head up with pride and didn’t scream or squirm. It seemed impossible to Allan that a person could withstand such utter agony with such a collected expression. She met death with an angry but composed expression.

Allan’s eyes were locked onto the atrocity. He was finally able to disengage his eyes from the disgusting scene unfolding when he almost puked. His eyes went to the ground and stayed there for a few seconds. He heard Zahk yell with glee and excitement,

“Burn which! Burn and face god’s judgment!” Allan walked away slowly back to his house. Now his mood was even worse. He was alone for his parents were gone on a trip and would be gone for the rest of the week. He was glad to be away from people. Everyone was starting to disgust him more and more. He was revolted by the enjoyment people got from watching the flesh of the girl melt off her bones.

He was sure now what the church was doing was wrong. Too kill someone before they’re even an adult. To subject to such a pain saturated death. It was just wrong. Anger burned Allan like the fire that burnt the “witch”. The urge to stop the church from committing such crimes against decency overwhelmed him. As quickly as the anger possessed him it subsided and morphed into sadness. What could he do against the church? They had vast power. They controlled the masses with religion, basically governed the country, and had an army of “white wizards” (Wizards that were given permission to practice magic by the Church. Supervised by them of course) at their disposal. Allan no longer had a desire to pretend to be a part of this society, but what else could he do?