Cyrus stared at the fire crackling before him with gloomy eyes, he stared as the orange flames clashed repeatedly against the red depths and tried to ignore the prickling on his skin. It was better like this, he decided, right where it was quiet and the only thing he could hear were his thoughts.
"Cyrus! We have been looking everywhere for you and this is where you hide?!" A loud voice yelled, pulling Cyrus from that peaceful place in his head that he was trying to find.
"I seek peace and quiet." Cyrus frowned as he stared into the clearly inebriated eyes of his brother in irritation.
"It is the full moon Cyrus, we are celebrating the goddess Lunaris and as the soon to be king you should be out there." A gravelly voice joined them in the darkness and Cyrus sighed again. It was a lost cause but he still tried.
"You both know how I feel about Lunaris." He murmured with a sigh. Things like duty and responsibility were what bound him to Lunaris, and the weight of these burdens were becoming too heavy to bear.
"Whatever brother," Rhoan, his younger brother, interjected again, "There is wine and beautiful women, what more do you need?!" He asked with a chuckle, throwing a heavy arm over Cyrus' shoulders and pressed the mouth of a keg of wine to his nose, and Cyrus sighed.
"Fuck it, give me that." Seizing the keg from the drunken grasp of his brother, he downed the remaining content in one gulp, causing his companions to cast looks of concern upon him.
"I might as well do this drunk," He laughed as he allowed himself to be pulled back into the full courtyard.
A chorus of shouts welcomed him back to the courtyard and he gave a tired smile as he looked up to the sky, and as expected, the full moon of Lunaris rose high above the walls of Vermaria, built by his father's fathers, and the fathers before them.
Laughter and music filled tales exalting Lunaris echoed through the streets, drowned out by the roar of the bonfires that repeatedly crackled as his people danced around it and fed it with their blood.
It was his least favorite part of the festivals, the barbarism that was about to occur.
"Out of the abundance of my blood I give to Lunaris, goddess of life and death, fertility and hope. Bless us this season." One after the other his people cried out in a frenzy as they dug knives into their skins and dug it even deeper, drunk with the smell of ambrosia that filled the air, and Cyrus was sick to his stomach.
The cries of children grew as parents cut into them more and more ruthlessly, and the sickly sweet smell of ambrosia mixed with blood filled the air, and among the cacophony of drums one stood out above the rest: the deep resounding beats of daouli rendered the air, signifying the presence of royalties, and Cyrus swallowed a sudden urge to retch back and moved forward to take his place beside the king.
"I have been looking for you all evening brother." The soft voice of his sister Cassandra sounded beside him and he turned to look at her, dressed in black and gold, and her eyes lined with black kohl, she indeed looked her part as the high priestess of Lunaris, and Cyrus shuddered involuntarily, unable to help himself.
The King stepped closer to the hungry flames and pressed a silver dagger into his palm before holding his open palm over the roaring fire, and Cyrus watched as it roared hungrily, bile flooding his throat as the flames drew more and more blood from his father, and the king stood, deathly pale, as his blood ran in rivulets into the fire.
"This has never happened before." Rhoan muttered uneasily as he gazed with horror at the flames slowly wrapping itself around the king, and Cyrus hand crept to the hilt of the sword trapped by his waist.
"Cassandra," Cyrus murmured through clenched teeth as he glared forward, steel coating his words.
"Do something or I will."
"No! Don't move!" Cassandra snapped as she stared forward with utter devotion in her eyes. Her eyes shined with an unholy light, and her lips curled in a fanatic grin.
"The hell?" Caius, Cyrus' trusted advisor and commander murmured through clenched teeth as he drew his sword out, battle ready, and Cyrus understood him, he might be a worshipper of Lunaris, but his duty was first to the royal family.
"He is fine!" Cassandra snapped again and Cyrus glanced at her in concern, she was never like this and it concerned him, but his father was more important right now.
"No!" Cassandra suddenly screamed as she stared into the flames and it reflected itself in her irises, and Rhoan jerked in surprise, almost falling over.
"No, what?" Cyrus demanded, "What's going on!"
"You must take father's place. Lunaris is not going to stop, and another royal must take his place least father dies." Cassandra murmured, her eyes glowing an unearthly light.
Cyrus bit back a curse as he listened, he knew it. Lunaris was fucking crazy, and the thought of going there caused his stomach to clench violently in protest.
"I will go." Rhoan's voice cut through his thought and he jerked his head up to see his brother hurriedly applying the customary sage oil on his body, and his hands shook even as his eyes were determined.
"No," Cyrus sighed, snatching the purification oil from his brother and moving forward before anyone could stop him.
Just as the silver dagger stained with his father's blood was about to sink into his flesh, a small whisper fluttered in his ears.
"No! Do not desecrate my temple!"
Cyrus gasped as he swirled around, searching for the owner of the voice, but there was nothing but the glazed eyes of people around him, the roaring fire and blazing winds, and his father lying pale and motionless on the floor as the flames released him.
"Now brother!" He heard Cassandra yell, her voice getting lost in the high winds. Shaking off the distraction from the voice, he returned to the task at hand and pressed the blood stained knife again into his palm, suddenly a distant roaring could be heard, and it sounded like the rushing of many waters.
Immediately, clouds of rain covered the once brilliant light of the moon, and thunder and lightning rained from the sky.
And it was the most terrifyingly beautiful thing Cyrus had ever seen. Lightning split the sky in jagged flashes of white-hot fury, illuminating the entire courtyard with a ghostly light.
With a deafening crack, one of the trees erupted into flames, sending showers of sparks cascading into the crowd. The once-joyful and fanatic cries turned to panicked screams as people scattered in a bid to escape the encroaching fire.
The fire of Lunaris was nowhere to be seen, the only visible thing was the leftover smoke and ashes that soon scattered into the wind.
"I am Elyon, and thou shalt not turn away from me."
"No!" A croaky voice crooned, and Cyrus spurned around to see Noggin The Drunk, the most famous drunk of Vermaria looking at the sky with absolute terror in his eyes.
"Esh Kadosh!" He cried, still looking at the sky around him with growing terror. "Holy fire."