"Now," Elian said, turning back to the crying children, his smile returning, sickeningly gentle. "Let the purification begin."
He lifted his hands, and brilliant, golden light began to gather around them, swirling into searing intensity.
"NO!" Lila screamed, struggling against the guards holding her.
"You monster!" Sherry snarled, spitting defiance even as she was forced to her knees.
Lysaria watched, helpless, tears streaming down her face as the faith she had dedicated her life to was twisted into an instrument of horrific cruelty.
Elian chanted, his voice resonating with power. "Flames of judgment! Light of purity! Cleanse this taint! Burn away the shadow!"
He thrust his hands forward. A wave of incandescent golden fire surged from him, engulfing the posts and the children tied to them. Their screams were horrifyingly brief, swallowed instantly by the roaring flames. The heat washed over the square, forcing the onlookers to shield their eyes.
The fire burned with unnatural intensity for a long, agonizing moment. When it finally subsided, there was nothing left. No ashes, no scorch marks on the posts, not even the ropes remained. The children were simply… gone. Erased by the "holy" flames.
A deathly silence fell over the square. Even the guards looked shaken.
Lila crumpled to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably. Sherry stared at the empty posts, her face a mask of utter desolation and cold rage. Lysaria stood frozen, her world shattered, the golden light she revered now feeling like poison on her skin.
"It is done," Elian announced, his voice ringing with false piety. "The curse is lifted. Vintross is safe." He turned to the guards holding the three women. "Take these heretics to the cells."
As the guards moved to drag them away, and despair threatened to consume them entirely—
The sky above the temple suddenly exploded. Not with thunder, but with light. A dazzling, blinding white light, far more intense than Elian's golden flames, washed over the entire city, erasing shadows, silencing sound, and freezing everyone in place.
A soundless rupture.
Elian looked up. "What…?"
The light from the heavens washed over the plaza in waves — not blinding, but warm and all-consuming, as though the world had never known real light until now.
And in the midst of it, three figures floated gently down, each suspended on a stream of radiance that parted the clouds like silk.
"Who.. who are they?"
The crowd started murmuring, already kneeling to the infinite holy aura in front of them.
Lysaria, who saw the three figures, felt her heart freeze for a moment.
The three figures descended slowly, their presence silencing the square more effectively than any command. Each radiated an aura so potent, so overwhelmingly pure, that mortals instinctively averted their eyes or dropped to their knees.
One of them was bathed in soft gold and white, and bore the familiar, gentle grace that Lysaria recognized with a choked gasp – Axia, Maiden of Resurrection.
Beside her floated another figure shrouded in calming blues and greens, her presence emanating a palpable sense of peace and vitality. Though Lysaria had never seen her in reality, she had definitely seen enough depictions to recognize who it was.
Thymia, Maiden of Hope.
But even she was not the one who gave her the most chills. The third figure, who was in the center of the other two maidens was the one who had the most profound impression.
His appearance was stern, unlike the two other maidens, and was clad in shimmering silver armor that seemed forged from starlight. He held a staff that crackled with righteous energy that looked like it could burst forth at any moment
Duriel, Herald of Judgment.
"Divine Maidens… and the Herald…" someone whispered from the kneeling crowd.
"The heavens have answered!" another cried, tears streaming down their face.
Elian stared upward, his composure finally cracking, disbelief warring with terror on his face. "Impossible… Why now…?"
Axia, the Maiden of Resurrection, drifted towards the empty posts. She lifted a hand, fingers outstretched. Wordlessly, shimmering motes of golden light gathered where the children had been consumed. The light coalesced, swirling, reforming.
"Look!" a townsman gasped. "The children…!"
From the light, the forms of the six children reappeared – whole, unharmed, blinking as if waking from a confusing dream. The ropes fell away like dust. They looked around, bewildered but no longer terrified.
"They're alive!" "A true miracle!" "The Maiden has saved them!"
The murmurs swelled, a tide of awe washing over the square.
Next, Thymia, Maiden of Hope, brought her hands together and a golden flute appeared. Soon, a soft and ethereal melody began to play.
As the music swelled, a wave of soft, emerald light flowed outwards from her, washing over the entire city in time with the tune. It passed through walls, seeped into shuttered homes, touched every corner of Vintross.
Across the city, coughs subsided. A collective sigh of relief seemed to rise from the very stones as the soothing music reached them. People felt strength returning to weakened limbs, clarity chasing away the fog of illness.
Even Master Elms, miles away in his sickbed, felt the deep chill within him recede, replaced by a soothing warmth as the melody reached his ears. The plague Elian had seeded was undone in an instant.
"I… I feel better!" someone cried from the crowd.
"The sickness… it's gone!" another exclaimed, helping a neighbor stand straighter.
Soon, Thymia stopped playing her flute, and with a gentle smile, went back behind Duriel.
Finally, Duriel, Herald of Judgment, came forward with a stern expression on his face, his silver staff tapping once against the stone dais where Elian stood frozen. The sound echoed like thunder, though the sky was clear.
His voice, when he spoke, was not loud, but carried an undeniable weight, resonating in the soul of everyone present.
"Verstach Elian of the Church of Light. You stand accused."
Elian flinched as if struck.
"You wielded holy power to inflict suffering, not solace," Duriel continued, his eyes like chips of ice. "You twisted fear into justification for murder. You seeded plague under the guise of healing. You silenced truth and elevated falsehood in the name of the Light you claim to serve."
"You murdered kids in the name of righteousness."
With each accusation, Elian seemed to shrink, his countenance flickering.
Finally, Duriel waved his wand.
"Your authority is forfeit. Your connection, severed."
"Nooooo."