The Brotherhood

[bluntpencil2001]

The cave was lit only by candles as the young boy entered, calling 'Capitan! Capitan! I bring the supplies for the...'

The man with the mechanical left arm rose quickly, harshly ordering him,

'Get outside my son! Keep it away from naked flames!'

The child froze in panic for a moment, then fled outside in terror as his Capitan knelt amongst his circle of followers, hands folded in front of him. They looked mortally afraid.

'My brothers, you need not fear. Though the devil's grass now grows on our beloved Crete, our next attack will cleanse a large number of our Outcast cousins with righteous fire.'

They didn't look convinced. There were mumbled phrases of assent from around him, 'Yes, Padre Jovem', 'Lord will it', but they were deathly afraid, their spirits not yet steeled for the trials to come.

'You have doubt, my children,' he smiled knowingly before explaining, 'yes, the plan will involve loss of life, but that is insignificant in the long run, is it not?'

The conspirators around him looked around, eyes wide with terror. Noone wanted to admit that they were scared, yet Padre Jovem could almost smell the terror.

'In burning the Outcasts from the face of our planet, we save our immortal souls! Only blind courage and devotion to the Lord will see you enter Paradise!'

There was a palpable sense of guilt from Jovem's disciples in the cave, yet he continued.

'I shall show you the power of faith! The power to defeat any odds! The Outcasts can't match God's chosen!'

With that, the young priest thrust his good hand into the flaming brazier which lit the circle in which they were kneeling. He grimaced, but made not a sound. Pain was nothing to him. He would gladly die a martyr and have his men do the same. Now the smell of fear was replaced by cooking flesh, a stark reminder of the Ventru martyrs of centuries previous, how they had become the body of the Saviour as they sacrificed themselves.

His apostles eyes' grew bright with hope, whispering in awe; 'God is great!', 'The heathens shall burn!'.

Padre Adrian o Jovem's crusade was about to either crash and burn, or engulf Crete like a great forest fire. Only God could decide.

---