Between the four domains, the human domain is known to be the most corrupt. The living circumstances there are, except for a select few, are nothing short of foul. A wall separates the inner city, where all the nobilities and royalties live. Where the knights and soldiers live and train. Where the priests of high rankings pray. But it's possible, though extremely rare, for a person of the middle class to be hired into a low-ranking job within the walls. It is rarer still for the church members to choose someone from outside the wall as an apprentice. And yet, you Loinard was picked as an apprentice in the main chapel, a position most of the citizens in the domain could never dream of.
Yet there he was, wearing long robes of pure white, made from the finest silk, a dragon of dark gold knitted on his back. His dark brown eyes trailed Priest Standford's dark blue robes.
He had never been in this part of the chapel. The building was large and split into different areas and only a handful of people had access to the main hall. Only a handful had ever seen the entrance.
This morning was quite chaotic. Loinard overslept, missing both prayers and magic practice, then forgot that today was a fast day in the middle of eating a piece of bread. So when he was summoned, he assumed it would be to discuss his behaviour and punishment. Even then I can't help but feel excited about being here. Just being able to see the main hall's entrance is a great honour indeed.
With every step I take, I am one step closer to the main hall's entrance. This was simple logic but it made his heart thump with excitement and anticipation.
"Calm your heart, youngun, else you will be denied entry." Priest Campbell's rough voice broke through the silence.
"What might you mean, sir?"
"There is a protective barrier around the main hall. It denies access to anyone who is unfaithful, and only accepts people whose hearts are calm." He chuckled," I remember when I was first summoned there, it took me 15 minutes to get past it. Speaking of which we are here."
The dark blue robe stopped moving as Campbell asked his apprentice to raise his head.
Loinard couldn't stop staring at the large door, more akin to the city wall's great gates. Its dark gold hinges matched the colour of the two handles, sparkling beautifully alongside the dark sliver frames. A beautiful pattern made from deep black gems interested Loinard far more though, as it is for most first-time visitors. The wood it was made of was special, resistant to magic and tougher than steel. To fit the theme, it looked like scorched oak.
He was focusing on resisting the urge to remove his golden hair from in front of his eyes and calming his heart down, both tasks proving difficult for him when he noticed that Priest Campbell holding a wooden amulet with a dragon's head drawn in the purest black ink he had ever seen.
"The key." He commented.
As Loinard put the amulet around his neck, he felt a calming sensation. His urge to remove the hair from his eyes was gone, and so was the excitement he felt just seconds ago.
"Go ahead." A rough voice he didn't recognize anymore said. He needed to obey.
The closer Loinard was to the door, the less transparent the barrier became. And when he was able to touch it was completely opaque. The smooth surface cold and blurry. The door behind it unseen.
As a hand from Loinard's right touched the barrier, it vanished completely. The surface of the black gates now clear. They opened on their own, revealing a circular room lit with candles and magic. A circle with a dragon's head identical to the one on the amulet Loinard was wearing was drawn with bright white paint on the blood-red floor. Three figures were standing around it. Loinard tried to identify them, but his vision was starting to become as blurry. His body now moved on its own, and he moved into the middle of the circle, Priest Standford following him until the edge of the ritual circle.
He heard voices but didn't comprehend what they were saying. As he was trying to decipher their conversation, the candles in the room started turning black, emitting less and less light with every passing second. The four figures all kneeled on one knee as the last of the candles changed colour, and Loinard fell unconscious...
The circular room under the church. The so-called Main Hall. To the outside, it doesn't exist. To the people joining the chapel, it is a myth. To people in a high position, it is a faraway dream, as well as a well-kept secret. To the people inside it, it is a shining ray of hope. To Loinard, it is a final resting place.
His body was now lifeless, his eye sockets empty. He was hanging in the air akin to a puppet hanging from its strings. Blood dripped from his face, blending in with the similarly coloured floor.
The priests were now on their feet, chanting a song in some foreign language no one else in all three domains would understand.
Load cracking could be heard even in the corridor leading to the Main Hall, although it was empty of course. Loinards bones were being crushed into powder, his flesh melted along with his guts and brain, his skin fell onto the floor and his blood clotted. The amulet was now shining so brightly that it lit up the entire room, blinding anyone who wasn't its servant.
The liquefied corpse was now circling the bright amulet. Engulfing it slowly and compressing.
It stopped compressing when it had reached the size of a grape. The room still full of light. The priests moved around, extinguishing the black flames of the candles. With every dark flame snuffed out, the light dimmed, ever so slightly. And as the final of the black flames went out, the ball that had brought light into the room was now invisible to the naked eye. It was tiny but dense, actively sucking in everything around it. Growing.
She was growing ever so slightly. She grew by taking the magic energy around her, and the energy offered by her servants. She continued to grow at her own pace. Never slowing down. Never speeding up.
She was only satisfied once she hit the borders of the spell circle. Growing any more would kill her pure servants.
But she was still hungry. It wasn't easy but she decided to try and maintain this shape while eating, maybe even shrink a tad bit.
The ball maintained its form for two hours. The priests never stopped pouring their magic energy into the dark matter. Yet they didn't look tired in the slightest, their faces were calm and composed.
A little after the two hours the ball was starting to feel stressed. It was getting harder and harder to maintain this form, she didn't know how long she will be able to last. She felt for her poor servants that have been giving their whole for so long.
crack
It was crumbling. The dense interior of the giant sphere was damaged. A pink scar-like crack was opened. The dark ball panicked. She wanted to stay alive, to stay conscious.
But the feelings of pity for her poor servants were stronger, she wanted to protect them. It continued to maintain its size, even managing to drink a little...crack.
crack. crack .crack.
It only worsened her situation.
More cracks appeared on her core, many many more. Some glowed. Some brighter than others. Some were so bright the priests were able to see them. And when they did see them, a face of relief washed over them, and they stopped supplying the ball with magic energy.
She felt betrayed and angry, but mostly she felt pain. With each new crack, she felt her magic power become less and less. And with each bit of magic energy lost, a bit of her consciousness was also lost.
"I can't believe it was your guy that activated the ritual!" Laughed the priests in a purple cloak.
"He truly lacked faith." breathed the red-cloaked priest.
"Spare me the berating brothers. Although I do agree that he had close to no faith."
"Stop the banter, you three!" ordered the one in grey
The rest of his "companions" listened. They were suddenly more refined.
Scary as always, though he is a little less handsome than last time, thought Stanford.
"What do you think it'll be?" whispered the purple-robed priest.
"Perhaps another eight-legged creature, it tasted quite good grilled." replied the priest in dark red.
"Silence! It is starting."
The priests rushed to get into a kneeling position. All of them were on their knees with their heads bowed low. All except the grey-cloaked priest, who was standing with his hands held high, shouting something in a language only he understood.
The black ball was now vibrating intensely. The pink scars were shining brighter than ever. They were growing from the inside of the ball at an incredibly fast rate. Eventually, the pink scars took over the inside and covered the surface. A gust of air filled the completely deprived room, followed by a mush of sounds.
The priests were now used to it and knew what each of the noises was.
The loud "cars", the awkward-to-use "phones", the weird music, and the bustling crowd. They felt disgusted by that world, but they needed fighting power. They always do.
Stanford covered his eyes right before the ball compressed. It was infinitely smaller now.
The room began to shake violently, the air from another world swirled around the dot in space. White shadows shot out of the minuscule ball, then joined the swirl of air. Dozens of thousands of shadows.
A light bright enough to blind a person shone from no apparent source. And a moment later something was laying on the bloody red floor.
A girl.
A young girl in alien clothing, her hair a bright yellow.
Her eyes used to be a beautiful green.