[Aurora] First Memory

[tobluerafters]

Memory: Klarion's Execution
Warnings: threatening a child and a cat with death by fire, religious fanaticism, tying up of a cat, Mr. Melmoth being creepy af
Comic page link: here

The boy finds himself tied to a stake without any means to escape. No matter how he struggles he stands no chance to tug free of the ropes that bind him. Beside him an orange tabby cat hisses and spits, also struggling against its own ropes. Around them, several dozens of pale blue faces are glowing from the torches they bear closer and closer to the pyre. Most of the mob is made up of women, with only some children and some elderly gentlemen. Also animals, many, many small animals.

Glancing about, the boy tries frantically to appeal to their senses. "You're making a terrible mistake! There is no Witch-God!"

His words are practically drowned out by the cries from the mob: "CROATOAN ABIDES!"

The boy tries again, "--But only listen! I went beyond the Wicket Gate, I climbed to silver cities above! But I came back to warn you all! Please! Men from Blue Rafters are coming to Limbo Town!"

Still the crowds cry, "CROATOAN ABIDES!"

Glancing about, the boy finds a familiar face in the crowd. Someone he hopes he can reach despite their determined glares. "This is no time for hysteria, Mother!"

Still the crowds move in, their torches coming all the closer to their target. "Burn, Witchboy, burn!"

Again, he struggles against his bindings, his attention drawn once again to a familiar face. One that looks like his own but a little rounder, more mature, feminine. She leans even closer, her face just as cold and set as all the rest. She speaks, "And blessed be, Klarion. The Book of Shadows tells us there's naught but rock past Limbo Town! Ye shall become light, Brother."

Despite the heat from the almost a hundred torches, cold, damp sweat breaks out over the boy's--Klarion's--body. He struggles all the harder, voice jumping in fear. "Beuleh, you've gone mad! It's me! The book and its rules were made to keep us safe down here!"

His pleas only seem to rile the crowd further, and Beuleh, his sister, all the more. "BLESSED BE CROATOAN!"

And again, Klarion tried to reach them with his words, fearing what might happen if they didn't come to their senses. "Our ways are not the only ways! They have great engines--"

"Heretic!" another woman cried, more frenzied than before. "Blasphemer! The earth shudders when he speaks!"

And it was. Shuddering. Groaning. The Gate, only so many feet behind her, started to pitch along. Now that, that was able to gain the attention of the crazed crowd. They began to grow quiet, and now Klarion's words could reach them, so he spoke in what little time he had left.

"Can't I make you understand?" There wasn't any time left. "It's not me. It's Them."

They were here.

As if on cue, a giant drilling machine burst from the earth, wrecking the gate and sending the mob screaming away. Women, children, elderly, creatures, all clung together as the machine came to a clanging halt. A plated door began to slide back and a cruel, humor-filled voice echoed from inside.

"Now there's something you don't see every day." A man, bald, grinning, and that same pale blue as the crowd stepped forward, flanked by dozens of soldiers in strange armor. The man in the middle looked directly into Klarion's eyes and smirked.

When he spoke again, however, he addressed the whole of the people of Limbo Town. "Hello, everyone. Daddy's home."