This wasn't the first time I had seen a heretic, Arthur and me actually met in the Northern Forest. Back than, in that burning forest, it almost felt like hell had descended upon us. I had hoped I wouldn't have seen any of these sick people again, yet here I was.

  And he's strong.

  I could tell, from the his eyes, his demeanor and the pounding in my chest. I had fought them before, but never this close, never face to face like this.

  I struggled to hold my composure as I took a step back, my mind racing as I thought of a solution. But in my head, I couldn't think of anything. I cursed my ignorance in not thinking it could've been the heretics.

  The man at the door opened it slowly. As he walked in, I couldn't hear a breathe from me nor Mary. We both instinctively knew that we were much weaker than him. We had only just awakened our Pathways, and we weren't accustomed to even using it yet.

  As he came into full view, I could see the rest of him in plane sight. He wore a dark robe, which seemed awfully plain, yet it was quite clean compared to his appearance. What stood out, was an insignia on the robe, placed around the chest area. It was a black sun, that dimly glowed in the light of the room. I now knew exactly who he belonged to, as memories flooded into my mind.

  "Your a member of the Cult of the Black Sun, correct?"

  I tried to ask with confidence, yet I felt like every single inch of my being was being examined, as if I was an interesting test subject before a scientist. His eyes, still deranged, held a slight bit of curiosity in them as he looked at me.

  "Hmm, my little angel sure knows a lot. Yes, I am! You'll do good to remember that, it'll be your new home from now on."

  Before he could do anything, I continued to try and stall, while praying Mary was doing what I hoped she was doing. With a strained grin, I mocked the man.

  "The Nameless Ones were exterminated a year ago, are you here for revenge? I don't remember you heretics being anything close to fri-"

  Before I could finish my sentence, the mans hand quickly grabbed neck, and lifted me up at a speed where I couldn't even react. I felt no divine energy emanating off him, it seemed to be purely strength as I struggled to breathe.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  T-two times today? Are you s-serious.

  The man below me, slowly tilted his head until his rotting eye was the one focusing one me. With a now horrifying frown, he stared at me for a couple seconds before his voice gained a deep growl, which shook me.

  "I'd be careful about your words, my little angel. He who follows the false prophet is granted only one mercy in front of me."

  He continued to look at me, tightening his grip while I struggled to breathe. Instinctively, I tried to grip the hands holding my throat, but nothing worked as I struggled against fate.

  When I felt my conciseness start to slip, he finally dropped me to the ground. I immediately started to cough hysterically, struggling for breath as I came to, my mind struggling to think.

  "But I'll make an exception for you, my little angel! After all, you two are too precious to us."

  As he said this, he crouched down, stroking my hair lovingly, as if I was a small puppy. Despite his caring actions, his face still held the same deranged smile, and his eyes still reflected a milky black.

  He pulled me into a hug, and stroked my back lovingly. I could feel him staring at Mary, almost as if he wanted her to see if he was lying. Whispering in my ear, he uttered a sickly sentence that made me shiver.

  "Originally, I was here to burn and kill all the pigs in this place, but you too are worth more than this whole city. Who would have guessed her prophecy was correct!"

  Suddenly, the crazed man got up in a hurried fashion. Just before I thought he was going to target Mary, he grabbed her hands, and started dancing with her. Mary looked both shocked and terrified as she was forced to dance to his whims.

  "Ahhh I'm so happy, maybe we believers do work better together, despite our differences. Than again, the Nameless Ones were always a bit annoying, so I'm glad they didn't join us."

  Wait, working together? And what does he mean by 'her prophecy'?

  As sudden as before, he stopped dancing with Mary, and cupped her face with his hands and stared intently at her face.

  "Don't you think so too? Little An-"

  Before finishing his sentence, he looked at Marys face, which now had a bloody print on her right cheek, and looked at his hand, which now had blood on it.

  Shit.

  One thing he had failed to realize in time, was the fact both me and Mary had turned our eyes back to normal, and the fact that the bustling of the hall where Arthur was having his speech, was now awful quiet.

  I could see Mary, who looked on the verge of collapsing. The man stared at his hand for a second, before slowly turning his gaze back to Mary, in a face I could only describe as deformed.

  "Show me your hand."

  Any second now.

  Offering a prayer to whoever would listen, I waited as he gripped Marys hand. What he saw was a magic circle, glowing a bright golden, over the blood it was drawn with.

  Before the man could react, he suddenly...

  Vanished?