The martyr awakes with mouthful of ash and ichor. Blood fills his maw, dribbles down his throat; with a violent fit of coughs, followed by a strained gasp, the man startles from where he'd been reborn.
What he remembers last, is his death. His ruin. The furling smoke of incense that shrouded where his human body had been tied upon planks. Chants and hymns from the monks that were quiet but somehow deafening. The rapid cadence that had been his heart, as a ritual blade was brandished.
He remembers every lash, every cut, every tear at his flesh. He remembers his screams of agony. They'd been dressed in robes of white, that had quickly become stained with his blood.
It was what he was born for. Death hadn't scared him; it was his right, to fall so a new world may be born from his ashes. It was the highest of honor, to die for his god.
His death had not been quick.
And his death had meant nothing.
This was no promised heaven. This, as he struggles to hold himself on four limbs that ache and scream, is hell. His god does not answer his cry. His god does not answer his feverish prayer.
His god is silent, and Lyander is in anguish.
What he remembers last, is his death. His ruin. The furling smoke of incense that shrouded where his human body had been tied upon planks. Chants and hymns from the monks that were quiet but somehow deafening. The rapid cadence that had been his heart, as a ritual blade was brandished.
He remembers every lash, every cut, every tear at his flesh. He remembers his screams of agony. They'd been dressed in robes of white, that had quickly become stained with his blood.
It was what he was born for. Death hadn't scared him; it was his right, to fall so a new world may be born from his ashes. It was the highest of honor, to die for his god.
His death had not been quick.
And his death had meant nothing.
This was no promised heaven. This, as he struggles to hold himself on four limbs that ache and scream, is hell. His god does not answer his cry. His god does not answer his feverish prayer.
His god is silent, and Lyander is in anguish.