"A dream... What I dream... is for a peaceful world... A world where there is no need for death, for wars... A world where everybody can live together, laugh together, smile together... That is my dream..."
'It's been... how long since water fell from the sky? Oh, right... It was called rain. The gods are merciful... when they want to. Why should we sacrifice... for their mercy... ?"
A girl runs inside the house, with a playful smile on her face. She spun around a few times, her skirt raising in the wind as she did.
"So, what do you think, Eze?" the girl asked with a happy smile, waving at him to catch his attention. "Heey, day-dreamer! I'm speaking to you!"
The boy got startled, his attention finally being caught by the girl.
"O... Oh? What do I think about what, Elena?"
"My new dress, of course! the girl responded with a playful pout. You wouldn't notice a boulder if it hit you in the head!"
The boy chuckled playfully.
"Of course I noticed your dress! I just didn't know what you were talking about!" he responded, playfully feigning a pout as well.
"Yeah, sure you were..."
"I think it's beautiful."
The girl's cheeks turned instantly red at his comment, not having expected him to be so blunt about it.
"You... Think so?" she asked, her rosy cheeks being brighter than before.
"Yes, I do," the boy responded with a soft smile. "It really suits you. It's beautiful... You're beautiful."
Without notice, the girl hugged him tightly, resting her head on his chest. Eze took her head in his palms, slowly moving it so that she was looking in his eyes.
"Let's leave this place... Let's leave everything... Let's run together!" he said, looking into her deep blue eyes.
"Eze... You know I can't... My parents would never..."
"Your parents are crazy. And so are mine... Everyone here is crazy! There is no place for us here... Let's leave, Elena... Please..."
The girl looked down at the ground, hesitantly. But then, she looked back up at him, speaking in a decided tone.
"Alright... Let's leave! Tomorrow, at dawn... Let's run away together!"
Eze's eyes widened, overjoyed with happiness. He hugged Elena tight at his chest, his heart pounding rapidly.
"Thank you, Elena… Tomorrow at dawn, then! Let's meet at the back of my house, and we'll leave… forever…"
"Yes…" Elena closed her eyes, happily resting in his embrace, feeling safe in his arms... And happy.
The next day, before the sun even got up, Eze left his bed. In a pouch, he took his few belongings. A small knife, an animal pelt, a bread and some water he took from the kitchen the night before. Along with them, he also got a small wooden cross of an unknown god, which belonged to his mother before she died, long ago.
Opening a window, he jumped outside, making sure not to make any noise. Then, he sat down on a small log from the back of his house, next to the firewood that was prepared for later.
Time passed, the sun began to rise, but Elena didn't come... A few people started to wake up in the village, getting outside their houses, getting ready for work. The sounds of horses and animals were starting to get louder as time passed, as Eze waited for her arrival...
Then, he felt something fall on his head. Something small and wet... Looking up at the sky, he could see a few drops of water falling from the darkened clouds... No, it wasn't his imagination. It was raining... The first time in months...
He excitedly got up, wanting to run inside the house and tell his father. But he stopped, remembering the plan... Today... At dawn...
The rain drops started to fall faster, slowly turning into a storm. Seeing that Elena wasn't coming, he decided to go to her house to check on her... Maybe she just hadn't woken up yet.
Taking a deep breath, he got away from the back of his house, walking inside the village. Elena's house was at the other side of the town, past the city center. Even so, the village was small enough, so it was only a few minutes from his house.
Walking... The steps started to land on the ground slower and slower, until he fell on his knees...
The boy stood and watched in horror, not being able to get a single word out of his mouth... His body was shaking, hit by the rain from above... The silence of the village was soon ended by the pained scream of the boy, seeing Elena's burned corpse on a log in the center of the city, still wearing her new dress, or what was left of it...
Small flames could be still seen around her blackened body, dying in the rain...
A few footsteps were heard behind him, as his father moved slowly towards him. He spoke slowly, looking at the ground.
"She had the Mark of Sacrifice..."
"No, she didn't!" Eze screamed, a wave of emotion flowing through him... horror, anger, pain, hate... "I met her yesterday! She didn't have any goddamn mark!"
The boy's father pointed his finger towards the corpse... Etched on her right arm, the Mark of Sacrifice... The boy stood silently, his mind blank...
"The gods are merciful..." the father spoke. "They gave us rain for the girl... She was bearing the mark for a long time already, but everyone kept it hidden... But, it was already too much... The gods made their decision clear from the beginning... They didn't give us rain for months... Who are we to question the gods? We all belong to them already... Our lives are meaningless anyway..."
Eze turned, taking out the knife and jumping at his father. The man caught the boy's hand, looking down at his pained expression with an emotionless one.
"Because of her, we can now live. It was a small price to pay for rain..."
But then, the father grew silent, as if he had seen a ghost... On the boy's wrist, a black mark appeared... The Mark of Sacrifice...
He took away the knife from the boy, before kicking him to the ground.
"I'm sorry..."
He slowly approached the boy, holding the knife. His expression was completely unreadable... Emotionless, but so full of pain...
Getting on top of his son, he pinned him to the ground, slowly bringing the dagger towards his heart.
But then, the man stopped, as he felt a warm sensation in his chest... Looking down, he saw the boy's hand holding a dagger, running it through his heart. He forgot that he himself had a dagger at his pelt... So that's what the boy used. He didn't notice when Eze took it from him...
"Eze..."
The man fell on the ground, in a pool of blood, motionless. Then, he took the dagger from his father's hands… A scream of pain engulfed the air as the boy cut off his arm with the dagger, getting rid of the mark. Blood was gushing out, looking down, shaking...
'Am I losing my sanity? Did I ever have any to lose in the first place...? Was there ever something sane that happened in this place...?'
With pained growls, he continuously stabbed his severed arm from the ground, impaling the symbol over and over again...
"The gods aren't merciful... The gods don't care..."
The drops of rain turned red, as blood started to fall from the sky.
"Am I dreaming?"
The blood was setting everything aflame... As it fell over his body, it burned, digging through his flesh...
"No, this isn't a dream..."
The terrified screams of the villagers were heard all around, as they were burning in their houses... It was deafening... All around him, people were dying, succumbing to the blood flames...
But he didn't care... He continued to stab the mark. Blood was spilling from inside, as well as fire... He couldn't feel his body anymore, but he continued to stab the mark...
"What is your dream...?"
The boy fell out of his trance... Or did he fall deeper inside? "Am I losing my mind...?"
"What is your dream?"
"Peace..."
"There will never be peace as long as there are gods. The gods don't care..."
"To achieve peace..."
"You will kill all of the gods... To bring peace. There can only be one..."
"A god of peace..."
"You must bring peace..."
"How... Could I ever bring peace...?"
"You must only say one word..."
"One word?"
"I sacrifice..."
"... everything."
The blood stopped falling from the sky... From deep within the clouds... Dark flames started to fall... Surrounded by gold... A god has died... Falling into nothingness...
"For the god of peace to be born, all the gods must die..."
It was silent. The silence was almost deafening... The sky of the day, no, a rupture in the sky... The stars were so beautiful, painted over the infinitely dark void of nothingness...
"Arise... Kosmos…"
The boy rose from the ground... His wounds were healed. There was no more pain. No, there won't be any more pain... ever again...