“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

― Margaret Mead

Explosions shook the ground and bullets pinged off the surfaces of partially destroyed walls. The road had the dead and dying scattered all over it. High Priest Michael Ray cursed as one of his Morality Corps officers fell back landing flat on his back, with half his head missing. It only took one look for Michael to tell that the man was slain by a powerful fire spell, having used fire to kill the enemies of Romanto. He was an expert on the subject, but this was not good.

“Damn these heretics to the deepest darkest pit of hell! Captain! The rebels either have a fire caster with them or a full-on magic user!”

Michael was yelling in the ear of a church soldier; the man held an automatic rifle and wore tactical gear. The captain did not look very happy having someone screaming in his ear while bullets, explosions, and spells were flying all over the place.

“Yeah! What do you want me to do about it?!”

He demanded with borderline disrespect in his tone. Of course, he was in a high and intense situation. Having been ambushed and watching as some of his men were cut down by the enemy.

“We need to flank the enemy! Get some men up in that building!”

Michael pointed to an old office building a hundred yards away on the other side of the road.

“If they can get to the 7th floor, they’ll have the high ground and will be able to deal with the enemy from that vantage point!”

The captain shook his head vigorously.

“Are you insane High Priest!? That’s no man’s land! Anyone who leaves cover to try to get to that building will be dead in five seconds! Just look!”

Michael did look and he had to admit the captain had a point. The road was not only filled with bodies, but bullets and magic were crisscrossing in the air. Anyone crossing the road would have to avoid getting hit by both enemy and ally. Which was impossible, many would die trying to get to that building? Yet, Michael could see no other alternatives. How in the name of Romanto did it come to this? The answer came to Michael, it all began one month ago. At the time, it was nothing more than your typical execution. Nothing special about it and the girl was nothing special either.

Tabitha Elaine Pearson, Michael gritted his teeth at the mere thought of her name. She was supposed to be an example against all those who would defy the will of Romanto. Tabitha was a nobody, a nothing girl without family and fewer friends. She was to be burned to death just like her parents, but it did not go according to plan. Even to this day, Michael did not know how to explain the phenomenon of what had occurred on the girl’s execution date. His superiors did not like the explanation he had given them about what had transpired. For some reason no one could explain, the girl known as Tabitha became an element of fire.

It might have not been so bad if the girl had not just defied the Holy Church of Romanto before she was set ablaze. It was customary for the condemned to be allowed a few last words. Normally, they would plead for mercy or protest their innocence. But most of the time, the condemned would confess to their crimes in hopes of a lighter sentence or a quicker death. Tabitha did none of those, she defied the church just before the fire. And after the fire, well…it goes without saying that miracles were suppose to be conducted by the church. Not little girls who no one would miss, yet Tabitha not only caused a miracle. She vanished without a trace, all of this happened a month ago.

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The church could have swept this all under the rug, but unfortunately, Tabitha’s execution was streaming live video throughout the nation. Rebels have long since managed to hack into the church’s information network. Tabitha’s miracle went viral in a matter of hours. Overnight, her words of defiance became a rallying cry for new resistance. The next few weeks saw an alarming rise in insurgencies. Patrols were being ambushed by rebels, and bombings of church facilities were being carried out at an alarming rate. The recording of Tabitha’s execution soon reached the rest of the world. It was a nightmare, heretics and blasphemers sent messages of Tabitha’s words to the populous. Causing descent and rebellion to erupt throughout the Church Lands.

Unfortunately for Michael, the Archbishops blamed him for the current state of affairs. They made Michael a scapegoat seeing that he was the only one to survive. Everyone else was burned to death, those who were close turned to ashes. The others further away were charred to the bone. Michael only survived because he was able to erect a water barrier, and had enough magic to maintain it. Hence the reason he was here right now in a warzone. For weeks now, the rebels in this sector has been ambushing patrols, raiding supply depots, and assassinating prominent members of the church. Michael was given command of a regiment and ordered to root out the rebels. Make no mistake, this was not a reward, this was a punishment. For failure to anticipate something, no one could have predicted. Twenty minutes earlier, Michael was leading a patrol through the city. Despite being cautious about ambushes, they walked right into one. It was an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) on the side of the road which took out a troop carrier killing a dozen or more soldiers. Many more laid injured, and then chaos reigned.

“Captain, our only hope now is to get to that building and rain fire down on the enemy from higher ground! I need solutions captain and I need them now!”

The captain for his part did not respond right away, he looked across the battlefield. Analyzing the situation, and then finally the captain came up with a desperate plan.

“Okay, if we are going to do this! Then, I only see one way for our people to get across that killing field! One group provides covering fire, while another group tries to make it across the road to that building! I will say this High Priest! Even with all of that, we will lose a lot of people!”

“Do not worry captain! Those who die in the service of Romanto, will be rewarded in Romanhall!”

The captain nodded once in agreement, not trusting himself to answer without sounding sarcastic. The plan was quickly issued to the squadron leaders, and then five minutes later. Michael along with his fellow priests unleashed spells in the direction of where the enemy was shooting from. The captain in a coordinated maneuver with the rest of his soldiers that could still fire their weapons. Laid down a constant barrage of covering fire, and for a time it seems to have worked.

But before the captain could give out the order for the other group to make a run across the road. The captain yelled in both surprise and pain. Michael heard the man and looked at the captain as he fell over. A plume of blood spreading across his back, that is when it dawned on Michael. The man was shot from behind! They’re behind us!

“BEHIND US! THEY’VE FLANKED US FROM BEHIND!”

Michael whipped around just in time to receive a fire spell full in the face. There was a split second of pain and then nothing, all went black and silent. When Michael opened his eyes; it was to see a bright light. The intensity of the light forced him to shut his eyes, but slowly he reopened them. This time his eyes adjusted to the intensity of the light. It was then that Michael realized the light source was coming from a person…no, not a person an angel. As Michael’s sight began to pick out details, he recognized the angel. Even though the man had died sixty years ago, Michael had seen him on a video screen before. The honey-brown hair was unmistakable, those grey-green eyes seem to penetrate his soul, and his white and gold armor was pristine.

“Welcome Michael Ray, welcome to Romanhall faithful servant of Romanto.”

Saint Capri Oakwall said to the soul of High Priest Michael Ray.