Элюард

Elward was not like most vultures from the Inquisition sniffing out heretics. He was made a sacred Oracle not for being an ardent follower of the goddess's teachings, but for his innate talent. When he pronounced the verdict, divine light flashed over his head. Being the most devoted son of the church, Elward knew all the sacred texts to the smallest detail. He constantly re-read them, considering each a great treasure. Tirelessly, he wrote out and memorized dogmas, and then, after drinking tea, he explained them to other children who could not learn the material. Intelligent, pious, kind and tolerant of other people's shortcomings, Elward stood out from his peers. Every Sunday, he and other children from the choir wore ivory robes, burgundy bow ties and round hats, stood at the organ and sang praise to the divine light. Naturally, The Elward AFC Arena was always among them first – no one doubted when the Divine Light would choose. However, this does not seem to have been destined to come true. Fate had a cruel joke in store for Elward. Not everyone is given to hear the gods, but thanks to a long study, all the children of the sanctuary began to understand the Divine Light. Everyone except Eleward. When Elward was very young, everyone around him was telling him about patience and other great virtues. The divine light, the embodiment of the power of the gods, descended upon each of his companions and showed them their place in life. One by one, they left the sanctuaries and the choir to travel to different ends of the light-bearer kingdom, where they served the gods, protected and instructed the people. Only one boy remained in place. He grew and gradually turned into a young man. Sympathetic advice was replaced by an angry whisper – everyone in the temple of light carriers knew that the Divine Light descended only on those who were truly devoted to it. The light never casts determination, steadfast and pious. That's how the roar of divine grace around Elward began to fade. A great future no longer awaited him and from a brilliant child he became a pathetic outcast. No one else believed in his devotion to the gods. Despite the fact that the divine light never spoke to him, Eleward wanted to continue to serve the gods in whom he naturally believed. However, just as the damned cannot lift their spell, Elward could not force the Divine Light to admit that his faith was sincere. His sermons attracted few listeners, but still he did not give up. He traveled to the darkest towns of his native diocese and the most remote and inaccessible corners of the kingdom, where, according to rumors, heresy and evil flourished. He conducted services simply, without unnecessary pomp and presented the teachings of the gods and the legend of the divine light in such a way that even children understood everything. One day, Elward was preaching a sermon in a small roadside church in the town of M'Arji, on the southern border. He has been in this place for 4 days. After reading The Chronicles of Mohen without a single stop, Elward's voice hoarse, his throat dry, so he decided to take a break. A few sleepy peasants got up and walked out, not knowing what else to do and soon the rest followed them. The church was empty. It was very tiny, it had no icons, no vaulted ceiling, only a single stained glass window and a sacrificial altar behind Elward's back. He watched as a bright light enveloped the peasants leaving the church - not a single shadow was visible anywhere. At that very moment, a girl walked inside with a jug of full water. In addition, she brought a few palm tree leaves growing outside. She was waist-high and he hurried to help her. Picking up the jug, he saw her bright clear eyes. "They thought you were just like the others who wear this cassock. You talk about grace and that's it, you know? And today is day 4. They're not coming back." Saying this, the girl decorated the altar with palm leaves. "I don't care," Elward sipped water from a jug brought by a girl, "Truth will defeat lies. The priest is a messenger of divine light, there must be a Goddess in his heart and he must love the truth and all believers." "Truth?" "Yeah. An unshakable, eternal truth written in sacred teaching. She helps the lost find the Goddess and beg her for compassion." The girl listened silently for a while and absentmindedly placed the palm leaves in a jug standing on the red cover of the altar. Elward felt her heart doubt. Like a nun who soothed him by placing her palm on his head, he reached out to touch the girl. She suddenly recoiled and elward saw terror in her eyes. The girl lit the altar and ran away from the Church. It all started on the evening of the fourth day. Elward went for a swim, as he had done all three days before. When he returned to the church, he found that the villagers had hung an effigy of palm leaves under the stained glass window. The sun set and the moon came out into the sky. Someone put a pair of trident-like candelabras at the stained glass window, and those who were at the sermon in the morning had already gathered in front of the altar. They parted in front of a long trembling shadow and fell. A girl walked down the aisle to the altar and the villagers put their hands on her to touch her. What he saw amazed Elward. He had never seen anything like it before, and he had a premonition of something very good in his chest. However, this feeling was quickly dispelled when the villagers began to recite prayers, quite the same as in the sacred teaching. In the Kingdom of Light Carriers, only a priest is allowed to read such texts, so Eleward was very concerned about this scene. He knew you couldn't do that. Heresy. Elward was stunned to realize this fact. The villagers sang: "Thank you, sacrifice!" But on the altar rested not the sacrificial lamb, but the girl. It seemed as if she was there of her own free will. It was clear that it was not divine light that awaited heretics, but an eerie shadow. Elward hurried to stop the unfolding madness until it was too late. None of the singers noticed him until he accidentally stepped on the elongated shadow. The villagers screamed in disarray. Elward grabbed the girl in his arms and pulled her off the altar to protect her. To his surprise, she began to voice with the others, as if a visiting priest was doing something obscene. In a voice full of sarcasm, someone declared that the villagers should punish this "verun" for interrupting their sacred sacrifice and give him to the gods. Everyone began to look around, no one dared to take the initiative in their own hands. In the ensuing hitch, Elward noticed a long shadow curled up in a ball next to one of the heretics. He suddenly jumped to his feet and shouted something about punishing blasphemers. After him, Eleward rushed and everyone else. A woman standing next to the altar grabbed a silver dagger intended for the ritual and began to wave it like a madwoman, trying to impress the one who stole their victim. That's when Elward saw the Divine Light. Until that very moment, the light did not accept him, but here he was passing through the body of the priest and giving him protection, which he had asked for a thousand times. Time seemed to slow down and the Divine Light rained down on the heretics, mercilessly punishing everyone and everything. The Church has always preached compassion and universal love for the Goddess. Elward did not know how to subdue the Divine Light and could not stop it. He watched in horror as his fault the divine power created the most terrible of sins. He turned to the rescued girl and was horrified to see that she had raised a dagger and began to pray to her deity with tears in her eyes. Without a shadow of a doubt, she plunged the blade into her chest. What was supposed to happen on the altar that evening happened. When the inquisitors finally arrived at M'Arji, they found Elward sitting on the floor hugging the girl's cold body. The candles burned out. The moon hung high in the night sky. An effigy of palm leaves cast eerie shadows on the corpse-strewn floor. The Inquisitors examined them and concluded that they were all heretics. Eluard was brought to the temple late at night and only an old monk who guarded the sacred texts came out to greet him. Seeing Elward's pale gray face, the old man, as was usually the case, took pity on him. This old priest knew firsthand what contempt and loneliness were, and yet he gave a lot to the light. Of course, the monk was ready to take care of him. Deciding that Elward, like other young priests, was disheartened by the burdens that had fallen upon him, the old monk took a white consecrated candle and allowed Elward to light it as an offering. The monk hoped that her light would comfort the young man. He said, "The divine light keeps you, my child. Truth conquers lies, love is stronger than hatred, and Divine light transcends all the forces of evil. Rejoice and the Divine Light will comfort you, even if persecution awaits you on your way." Elward obediently took the candle, lit it, and bowed his head in prayer. He wanted to say something, but he couldn't find the right words. Eventually, he covered his face with his palms. Realizing that Elward was trying to hold back tears, the old monk took the candle and placed it on the altar. He left to give Elguard time to be alone with the gods, but his instinct told him to hide next to each other and he heard Elward confess his sins. "I longed for the Divine light to calm those unfortunate souls so that they might recognize the truth, but until their bodies cooled, until it perished. There was nothing I could do." "O merciful mother whom I serve, reveal unto me..." The old monk sighed, recalling once again the tale of wolves and deer in the forest, which Elaard had heard countless times. Pitying the deer, people exterminated the wolves and there were no more enemies left. Now they could freely multiply and there were so many of them that it turned into a disaster for the forest. Previously, God's plan, in which each thing had its place, was a source of comfort for Elward. Now, he understood it in a new way. He used to feel like a deer in the woods, but now he's suddenly a wolf. Elward knelt before the icon and prayed silently. That night seemed endless to him. No one knows what happened between him and the divine light, but the monks and nuns who went to the service early in the morning will never forget the moment when the brightest Divine light descended on the most pious of believers. The light was so powerful that it was felt even outside the capital. Elguard, as before, faithfully served the gods and accepted their plan, but his own position in this plan changed. He once walked from the sanctuary to the Temple of the Ascension, but this time he walked through a long, candlelit corridor non-stop and headed straight for the most secret of the temple services: the Inquisition. With his arrival, the fighters with heretics got the most outstanding Oracle in their history. Wearing a golden mask that hides all emotions, Eluard became the embodiment of divine justice. He who does not follow the light plunges himself into darkness.