It was a day young Ryuma would forever burn into his memory, forever shaping him into the person he chose to be. The amount of people on both sides were many. The sky was bright, an unblocked. The sun burned on his forehead, and all the adults stood tall and somber around him. None dared look up, or directly during the march.
That day, Ryuma was too young to understand what was going on. He looked at his parents who stood silent for answers and got none.
"Mom. What's going on?" He asked.
His mother, refused to raise a voice. He didn't receive so much as a shush. Everyone was like that. Everyone taller than him. Those his age or close to it were equally as puzzled.
That's when he saw the reason for everybody's petrified expression. Down the roadside, there was a marching of the sentinels. Special members of the order, who's attire was always distinct from the other factions.
They marched tall and guarded, around one central figure. It was a boy, no higher an age than his own. His face wracked with fear, every step the kid took, even Ryuma could tell, was forced and unwilling. His hands shook in the chains he was clinked in. He kept whispering something Ryuma couldn't hear. Once he was close enough, it started to become clear, the words he kept repeating to himself.
"I'm innocent,"
Was he in trouble? What did he do?
"Mom what did he do?" Ryuma shook his mother, but she just let her body sway, almost lifeless.
The kid was close enough to hear him too. "I didn't do anything…" He looked over at Ryuma, and for a moment, he locked eyes with the kid and for that moment, he felt every bit of fear that kid was going through. The look of terror and hopelessness, for a split second, turned to desperation. The fact that someone would listen, even a kid as young as himself, was in the eyes of the boy.
"I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!"
At that moment, the kid had yanked his chain away and ran at Ryuma. The sentinels scrambled to get the kid under control after his break away.
He had made it to Ryuma, close enough to grab hold of him. "I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" He said, shaking him violently.
Some in the crowd gasped at the sudden attack. Ryuma didn't know what to do or how to react to that. "He just attacked a kid," Someone shouted.
"That kid's a demon," Another said.
Neither was the case. Even Ryuma could see that the kid was crying out for help, even from him. If he could see it, why couldn't any of the adults?
The boy had his chain violently yanked back. He fell and was dragged right back to his marching spot. The march of judgement.
"You pulling something like that won't make your judgement any better kid," One sentinel said.
"Alas, for one as young as you to fall into the heaviest of sins. This world truly is a pity," Another of the sentinel said.
"Sorry kid. Kinda hard to feel sorry for ya when you sign deals with demons. Makes our job a little harder fighting them,"
Is that what he did? He signed a contract with demons?
"I SWEAR I'M INNOCENT! YOU HAVE IT ALL WRONG! I JUST WANTED TO BE A MEMBER OF THE ORDER!" He shouted.
"So you admit to having signed with the Demons, just to gain soul force?" It was someone dressed completely different than the normal. Someone from the High Edict
"Sign with a demon? I didn't do anything like that," The kid pleaded.
"Nonsense. Somebody from the lower world possessing soul force only happens when they contract with demons. It's a well-known fact. Do not lie to me boy,"
The High Edict lowered himself and got closer to the kid's face. "Just admit that you did it, and we may be able to save your soul yet," He stood back up. "Now tell me again kid. Did you make a contract with the demons?"
It got silent again. Everyone listened intently to what the kid was going to say.
"I… I…" The kid struggled to get the words out of his mouth. "I… didn't make a contract with them. I swear I didn't. Please let me go. I'll be good, I swear it," The kid begged.
The High Edict's face dropped, and he sighed. "I'm sorry kid. It looks like you are beyond saving. So it is with a heavy heart, that we must purge this unworthy soul of the demonic energy that it has consumed, through the cleanse of fire,"
All the color drained from the kid's face.
"Tie him up now," The High Edict commanded. The sentinels on both sides grabbed him by the hands. The third one undid his shackles. They dragged him up to a long wooden post, surrounded by a pile of lumber and bark. "Bring the torch,"
There was an assistant on the side carrying a wooden staff with coal inside. The fourth sentinel brought out a sword and cloaked it in fire.
The High Edict turned to a large man who stood beside him. His eyes were closed, and his mind looked divorced from everything going on around him. "It's time we prepare him for judgement Vidon," The High Edict commanded.
Vidon nodded his head. He went and stood near the log post. Slamming his hand on the ground, chains were summoned and flew towards the kid with too much speed to react.
It wrapped itself around him, and pulled him up, effectively tying him to it. He struggled and strained against the steel to no avail.
It was at this point, that even little Ryuma had an idea what they were going to do to him. They were going to set all the wood under him on fire.
"Before we cleanse the soul of the tainted. Will there be any last words of confession and repentance? Surely, there may be some salvation the gods will allow,"
It got quiet as they waited anxiously for the words of the demon contractor.
"I… I… I DID IT! I CONTRACTED WITH A DEMON! PLEASE LET ME GO!" The kid screamed. Tears were flooding out in rivers. "I'M SORRY, I DIDN'T MEAN TO!"
The bystanders did an audible gasp and looked around. Whispers of 'I knew it, and he's from the lower world' could be heard all around. The gossip was spreading.
"Then by god's will, may he have mercy on your soul as we free you from your tainted bond. By the High Edict, Aiden Conwall, sentence one Erin Frost… to Death!"
Aiden lowered the head of the torch and lit all the bark on fire.
"I DON'T WANT TO DIE!" The kid screamed. The fire slowly making its way up. "I DON'T WANT TO DIE!" He kept screaming.
Ryuma's mother tried to hide his face, but it was the sounds that were getting through. The cackling of the fire as it got bigger, the pleas of Erin Frost.
"LET ME OUT, LET ME OUT! SOMEBODY PLEASE LET ME OUT!"
Ryuma was too shaken to do anything. He wished he could so desperately let the kid free, but nobody was doing anything. Soon the fire was raging to the point it was starting to drown out the sound of Erin's pleas
"I DON'T WANT TO DIE! SOMEBODY! ANYBODY! I'LL BE GOOD I SWEAR… ARRRGGGHHHHHH!"
It was the first sign that the fire had caught up to the kid. It was this moment in time that would haunt Ryuma for the rest of his life. The earsplitting scream that reached a pitch so high, it felt like the kid was right next to him. He could hear his body fighting against the fire so hard, the chain rattled.
Then there was the smell of burning flesh that started permeating the air.
"ARRRRGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
He kept going unable to keep still, body involuntarily fighting. After a while, the screaming stopped. It was just silence left.
That day was a particularly important day for him. For that day, he had learned who was really in charge of everyone in the Skylands.