1. Denial

…

“Come on Rowan!”

“Slow down!”, I say as I am being dragged along by an overenthusiastic girl through heaps of snow. Well, not just any girl I guess. It’s Hope, my childhood friend.

“We’re going to miss it!”

“Yeah, Yeah…”

 Apparently, we’re going to attend some kind of big announcement by the High Priest. My mind is so foggy this morning that I forgot what the announcement is even about…

“Hey uh, Hope? Why are we going to this event anyway?”

“Are you kidding?! Today is the day of the Prophecy!”

“Right…”

    Now I remembered. I’ve never been very keen on our religion, or any religion really, but even I know at least this much. In the Holy Book it’s mentioned that three thousand years after the book was written, Luxor, our God, would choose a worthy mortal, or the Chosen One as some like to call him, upon which he would bestow his blessing. It’s stated that he’ll embark upon a righteous journey throughout the world and beyond. Not that I know what that means, and nor do I care. I come from a family of blacksmiths. My dad is a blacksmith, my grandpa was a blacksmith, my great-grandpa was a blacksmith and so on. Naturally, I want to be a blacksmith too. I turned 18 this year, so now I’ll be able to compete in the Grand Blacksmithing competition! My father says I am still not ready but...

“We’re here!”

    My train of thought is interrupted by Hope. We had reached the church, which was surrounded by a very large group of people. So many in fact, that it was probably the entire town. Except for my old man, that is. Although my mother is from this town, my father came here at her request. Only caring about his work as a blacksmith, he never took an interest in the town’s religion. 

    Hope cuts a path through the heap of villagers who grunted as they were pushed aside. She finally stopped at a spot where we could easily see the entrance to the church. We didn’t have to wait long before a few individuals in white and gold robes came out. One of them stepped out. His clothing was definitely newer and better crafted.

“Welcome brothers! We have gathered here today in order to witness a divine event, a miracle bestowed upon us by our God Luxor!”

 He pauses for a second before continuing.

“As you may know, we are the last known town that worships Luxor, the God of Light. We are the last bastion of our faith, but our walls are slowly crumbling. We won’t last much longer under the pressure of more powerful and renowned cults and religions. However, this is the fated day that will change everything! It is foreseen in the Holy Book that 3000 years after it was written, our faith would be tested as our light will be dim. That day is today brothers! Our straying from the light was prophesied! But it is also on this day that Luxor will choose his champion, our champion, the Lightbringer! He shall spread the word of our God Luxor and bring him back to the former glory that he deserves!”

    People in the crowd were nodding and would’ve been ready to burst into cheering if they weren’t aware that they were at a holy convention. I shook my head in disbelief at this whole charade. I never believed in Luxor but this just proved to me how desperate our town was for any kind of attention. Hope must’ve noticed my disapproval as she gave me a nudge in the ribs which forced me to stand straight again.

“Let us pray, my brethren. Let us pray and let the Lord choose his champion!”

   Before I could even think of disobeying, Hope gave me a mean look. The message was loud and clear. I half-heartedly started saying the common prayer in my mind, the one we usually use when we pray and before we go to sleep. I am not sure how exactly I know this prayer. I never went to church and we never pray in the house. Perhaps it’s from my youth when my mother was still… I toss the thought aside and continue praying without really thinking too much about it. In this state devoid of thoughts, I focus on my feelings. Physical, not moral feelings. I feel warm in a weird way that reminded me of standing in front of the fireplace as a child listening to my mother’s stories. Such a weird feeling. Wait… warm? That’s not right. We’re in the middle of winter. And this warmth … I couldn’t quite explain it in words. It felt familiar, yet unnatural. I also felt something else. An eerie feeling, as though… I was being watched. Suddenly I realized I had finished my prayer so I opened my eyes. Something immediately seemed off. Everyone seemed to be looking my way. ‘Is something behind me?’, I think to myself. I look behind me but… those behind me are also looking my way! I look to Hope and she’s glaring at me. I peek at the High Priest and he’s got a satisfied smile on his face. Even though I still have that warm wholesome feeling, his cold eyes send a chill down my spine. My introverted self wants to tell me I am just imagining it all. But my gut … my gut tells me something is definitely wrong. 

“Rowan, you…”

“Huh?”

 Hearing a voice catches me off guard, especially since it’s Hope’s. But it’s not gentle, like usual, instead I feel worry in her tone.

“You … you’re glowing.”

“Wh-What?” 

I look at my hands, which are indeed glowing, just like the rest of my body. This should come as a complete shock, but deep within me, I knew something was going to happen the moment I felt weird. I should know by now that my gut is never wrong. “What is this? What is happening?”

“My child, the High Priest chimes in, don’t you see? You are the chosen one!”

“This can’t be happening, I say in shock, it must be a mistake!” 

The High Priest frowns.

“My child, you should be happy. Luxor has chosen you out of all that have gathered here. You should be proud.”

“I-... I don’t want it. I don’t want blessings. I don’t even believe in Gods.” As soon as I said it out loud I knew I messed up, but it’s not like I could take it back now. I watched the High Priest’s expression change from an even deeper frown to a calm, understanding look.

“Ah, I see. The Holy Book did mention that the Chosen One might be in denial at first. But that is of no big significance. That just means you’ll need a little … push toward the path of righteousness.”

“What are you… “

 He turns his attention from me to the crowd.

“Go back to your homes. He who is worthy has been chosen. His journey will begin soon. You will all be granted a mission by tonight in order to help him start this journey.”

“I am not going on any jour-...”

“Do not worry for now. Go home. You’ll see the light soon enough”

    The crowd scattered and the High Priest re-entered the church. I looked at my arms, but my body was no longer glowing.

“Rowan, let’s go…”

“Yeah, all right.”

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    We were both going in the same direction for now so we were just walking in silence. It was that kind of awkward silence that you don’t really know how to break without making it even more awkward.

“So uh, interesting event, right Hope?”

“Don’t say that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Rowan you were Chosen! Don’t you understand how important this is?”

“I-”

“I should be happy for you, I know, but I just don’t know how to react to this. You’re gonna go on some kind of journey now and…”

 I suddenly turn to Hope and take her hands into mine as I look her directly in the eyes.

“Hope, listen, I am not going to go anywhere. My destiny is to be a blacksmith, not some kind of … god chosen hero.”

 She looked away for a second but then she looked right back at me.

“But you have to! Our religion … it’s going to die if we don’t do anything about it!”

“Hope, this is stupid! I don’t care about our religion. Why was I even chosen in the first place? I don’t pray, I don’t go to church, I just don’t … UGH. I just don’t know what to say right now. Can we talk about this tomorrow?”

“Ok…”

“Sorry … It’s just that my thoughts are all over the place right now.”

“Yeah, I understand.”

    We take our goodbyes and part ways. I contemplate what happened at church on my way home but I can’t really come to peace with the fact that I’ve been chosen for who knows what.

    I open the door to the house and quietly enter. My dad should be in the forge right now but you can never know, maybe he went to sleep early. I am too tired to go check, so I head right to my dorm. I take off my day clothes and put on my sleeping ones. I jump in bed searching for some good sleep, but my head is trembling with questions. What really happened today? Why was I chosen, out of all people? What did the priest mean by a “little push”? Well, at least one thing is certain. I am not going to embark on some crazy quest in the name of Luxor. With this final thought in mind, I fall asleep.

2. Realization

    I wake up to the sound of screams. Screams and … smoke! I come to my senses and quickly get out of bed. I open my bedroom door and walk into the flaming hall. I make my way through the growing flames and smash through the half-burnt front door to the forge since that’s probably where my dad would be. But what I walked in on was pure horror. The red of flames was accompanied by the red of blood. Two corpses were on the floor, both dressed in priest clothes. And by the wall, behind a third priest, there was my dad … with a knife through his chest! I was completely in awe. But that awe turned into an annoyance. The annoyance turned into anger, and the anger turned into fury. I pick up one of the bigger blacksmithing hammers and smash in the head of the priest attacking my father. I feel another priest coming from behind so I quickly turn around and duck just at the right moment, only to smash his knees into bloody pieces a second later. He was screaming in pain, so I ended his suffering with a quick blow to the head. Even though it was my first time actually killing someone, I strangely felt no remorse. I turned towards my father and checked his pulse but to my terror, he was already dead. I didn’t know how to react. I wanted to scream but my body did not want to. Why couldn’t I cry? ‘Am I just in shock?’ I thought to myself. ‘What is happening to me?’

“Rowan!”

 My internal conflict (more like internal vs external conflict) is interrupted by a voice from outside the forge.

“Hope!” I cry out. She was being restrained by the High Priest holding a small sacrificial dagger to her neck. “Let her go!” 

The High Priest showed no signs of acknowledging what I just said. He just kept looking at me with a wicked grin and bloodshot eyes.

“Last act, second verse: And so the worthy shall be chosen, but he will deny my existence.”

“I said, let her GO!” 

Two priests came out of nowhere and jumped at me with daggers. I dodged the first one, but the second grazed my arm. I quickly turned around to crack the first priest’s ribs with a fast hammer blow. His wails of pain didn’t deter me.

“...To start his journey, he must know evil. Those who will enact this evil, will in truth be following my word, their deeds concluding in the ultimate good...”

The second priest charged me again, but this time I grabbed and broke his wrist, followed by a blow to the head. I then turned my attention to the babbling High Priest. His grin grew wider.

“To gain the will to smite evil, he must lose that which he loves.”

“Stop talking and let her-” 

And then he slit her throat. It didn’t click with me for a second. I thought it was a joke. A dream, a nightmare, a well-crafted illusion to make me falter. But then I saw her body fall to the floor, limp and lifeless. Once again my brain refused to believe what was happening. But my instinct was telling me otherwise.

“What have you done?!” 

I charge the High Priest but he doesn’t fight back. I tackle him to the floor and raise my hammer with a wave of anger I’d never felt before.

“...and when they die, he shall strike down their killers with righteous fury, for the spark will have igni-” CRACK

3. Desperation

    Hope was dead. Just like my father. The realization of my situation hit me. I was surrounded by warm corpses. My emotions came back to me and I fell down on my knees, a river of tears finally escaping my eyes. What had I done? How could I have felt no remorse? Just the thought horrified me. Was it the adrenaline? Or was it something else? In my state of shock, I completely forgot about my father. I threw a hopeless look towards the forge but the flames had already devoured him. The death of Hope and my father dawned upon me once more. I wanted to fall back onto the blood-stained mud and drown in my endless sorrow, but I had the duty of burying Hope. I am sure that’s what she would’ve wanted. I get up and realize that the shovels were in the forge. That meant I had to ask someone from the village to lend me one. I’d probably pass off as a little suspicious considering our house was burning and I was half drenched in blood and snow.

    And then I saw a flame coming from the village. And then another. And to my horror, they kept multiplying. And with the fire came the screams. Piercing wails of fear and pain. ‘Those bastards!’, I thought to myself as I clenched my teeth. I ran towards the main path only to find that there were no priests in sight. Were they all inside the houses?

    I was taken aback as flames rose from the house next to me, followed by screams from inside the house. And then I realized that all of the screams around me seemed off. It took me a few seconds of concentration but then it hit me. All of the screams were children’s screams. And yet nobody was coming in or out of the houses. I entered the flaming building that just caught on fire next to me and looked inside. A sobbing little girl was standing behind a wall of flames as a tall man was lighting matches.

“What are you doing?!”, I ask.

 He turns to me with a surprised look on his face that quickly turns into a grateful smile.

“What must be done”

“Burning the village? Your own daughter?”

Surprisingly, he looked saddened.

“You must start your journey.”

“What does that have to do with burning the village?”

“You must spread my name Lightbringer. This is a necessary step to your growth. Don’t fight it. Please.”

    It almost seemed like a genuine request. However, I quickly realized that it wasn’t the man speaking to me anymore. Or, well, he was, but it was not truly him. He spoke in another voice, as though possessed.

“I am using the last of my power to do this.”

“Who are you?”

 He smiled sadly.

“Luxor.”

    Two things happened at that moment. Firstly, the man lit another match and set himself on fire. Secondly, the little girl screamed as the flames took over her. Everything happened so fast that I didn’t realize it until it was too late. I was so focused on the possessed man that I forgot about the little girl. I failed to save yet another person.

    I spent the rest of the night running around, hopelessly trying to save the children as they seemed to be the only ones who weren’t affected by Luxor’s frenzy. The other men and women weren’t possessed, but they were convinced that what they are doing is for the greater good, even if it means sacrificing the entire village, even the children. 

    At some point, I gave up. I just caved in to the exhaustion and the mental toll that the events had taken on me. I simply fell down, sobbing and in denial as my entire life burned around me. Before I knew it, the rhythmic sounds of the fire and the dancing lights dragged me into a deep, dreamless sleep in the cold snow.

4. A New Dawn

    I woke up with a blank mind. Where was I? What happened? Why was I outside? And then I remembered last night. Was it not just a dream? I looked around me and all I could see was ash and charcoal. So it was not. I got up and looked around. There were no signs of life anywhere. I went back to the forge to look for Hope’s body, but when I got there, it was burnt to a crisp, and next to it all of the other bodies of the priests were burnt as well. One of the villagers must have come here to “Purify” what remained. 

I went inside the forge and looked around. It was like my childhood was erased. I’d spent most of my life here. I’ve been forging ever since I was old enough to remember. And then there was my father, laying limp to the wall, charred to a deep black and red. It was a gruesome sight and it pained me greatly to see him like this. I can’t say he was the best father, however. He always overworked me and was always busy in the forge. He never made the effort to spend some “Quality time” with me and even when we were together he was cold and harsh. To be honest I never truly wanted to be a blacksmith, it's more like I was forced into it. Even so, forging was now an important part of me that I treasured deeply. I looked back outside and noticed my blacksmithing hammer on the ground. That’s right, I used it as a weapon and forgot it outside of the forge so it didn’t burn. I quickly picked it up and was relieved to have it back in my hand. It just felt natural.

I returned to Hope and kneeled next to her.

“I am sorry Hope… In the end, I couldn’t save you…”

The truth is that Hope was dead. But for some reason, it didn’t affect me that much. I guess I’d seen so much death last night that even a friend’s death didn’t affect me to the extent I’d like it to. I got back up on my feet and looked in the distance. The sun was just coming up. It was a new dawn. The happy little rays of light danced around me as though Luxor was mocking me with a presumably happy new start. He expected me to start a crusade in his name and return him to glory. But that was not the case. Not even in his wildest dreams. I wasn’t going to let things go his way. Not after last night. And the only crusade that I was going to start … was against him.