Believe me, when I say that of all children I was the kindest and most religious, never in my life I had done evil to an animal much less to a person, always just and honest, never had I told a lie in my life, always royal to others and myself, always good and striving to create a better world, I was the simplest of guy, I was the nicest of guy, born of a good family, in love with a girl, Camilla, the most beautiful girl in the world obliviously, and I studied hard for when I will inherit my father fief.

Maybe is for this reasons that some entity or destiny had me found the mask, whatever the case one day I found a mask, a mask made of dark gloomy wood, it was finely worked, beautiful to the eye and hands, it was love at first glance, neither my family nor my friends could convince me otherwise, never I understood their opinion that it was horrible and badly made, I loved the mask with all my heart, as one loves only once, maybe more than Camilla, it was the only thing that I really felt like mine and mine alone.

Strange dreams started appearing in my sleep, dreams of vast deserts home to ancient beings, sunless lands down in the sky where the gods once lived, dreams of vast wastelands where death reigns and green fires pierce the cloud and the sky; And nightmares, horrible nightmares that pierce in one's soul and never leave.

I began waking up in strange places, in a mine depths, a mountain peak far from home, nearly drowned in a lake, sometimes near my church and house, and many, many times in the depths of the forest, the same forest that was dear to me as a child but I had long since abandoned for other things, more worldly pursuits, I kept awakening there as if some part of me desperately desire to return to those trees, to older days when imagination carry me higher than heaven, happier days, days where I dreamed of cities inside mountains and ancient cults beneath the moon.

Returning from the forest, one day, I saw a house burned, reduce to ashes and dust, several people burnt alive, their corpse in agony. That was my house. “An unfortunate incident,” Camilla told me” you must have faith, I am sure that if someone burned your house now he is burning in hell, trust God, he will take care, he always take care.”

Something broke inside me, something had died.

I know who they were, they envied me and my family, but I could not prove it, so I did the only thing that I could do, I trust.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

I trust myself to God with all my heart, I even considered taking vows at one point, to show my supreme and utter devotion to him.

And my trust was good place, as trust in God always is, because, one after another, they died of the strangest conditions and diseases; They were evil, they deserved it, they are in hell burning; If they were good and had nothing to do with plotting and scheming now they are in God grace, who is to decide? God, the infallible, kind and always just God, how beautiful life is sometimes.

People started talking about some strange beast and rituals; Hunter returned empty-handed or dead. Houses started burning with people inside, the atmosphere quickly became grim, people started accusing one another of that or that, executions and burnings became commonplace.

But not all hope was lost, soon the holy inquisition arrived, their words were full of hope, full of faith and desire for justice, people, for a brief moment, really believed in God with all their heart, except a few, a few who had already guessed the future: A few more corpses in the forest.

The inquisitors entered the forest followed by a mob of valiants, nothing was heard of them for days, only when a brave hunter entered into the deeps of the forest they were found: tortured, crucify, without eyes, without heart, with runes and symbols all over their body. It was a horrible sight. After that people lost all hope.

The atmosphere only became worse, heresy and superstitions became common, merchants stop arriving believing the city was cursed by some evil, markets close, poverty spread, the beast changed too, it became bigger, stronger, faster, mystical, demonic, it was no more a beast, it was a divine Flagel upon mankind, a god-like beast that cannot be killed, the rituals in the forest only increased as people give to desperation.

Cammila was still there, somehow, she survived and kept faith in God, the only motive of her life. it was only a question of time before he realized what I was doing.

"You don't have to do this" Cammila said "don't you see? That mask has changed you, you are not like this! You are a good person, I know it for sure, throw the mask away, please! Don't you see, it made you a killer, a cultist, devil, a beast, you are still in time, hear me please, take God hand!"

I stood there silent and Apatethic for some moments, I toggle the mask from my face, I touched it, and I throw it away, never to wear it again.

Camilla hugged me with all his strength, "you have finally returned! You are no more a beast, I am so happy, now we can think...” I looked her in the eyes, she stopped, I left the hug, I had knife her to the abdomen, "why? Why? You had retuned... the devil was gone," she said agonising, hearing those words I could no more restrain myself, I reduced her body to pieces, one of the cultists saw me,

"master?" he asked in a trembling voice,

I started speaking without looking at him, "she was a good person, but she surrendered his will to God and divine justice, now she may have the reward and justice in which she believed,” I stood up and look at him, he saw my face for the first time, I smile for the first time in a long time, “I and I alone did this, nor evil nor mask nor God, I.” I picked the mask from the ground and I touch it. “ you served me well, but now I don't need to hide anymore, now I can be who truly I am.”

A sacred mask signed my fate

For forever rule

Among others and outsiders

But never over myself

For forever see

Truth and ideals upon the heavens

And lies and deceits on earth