Diamondeye
So Happy I Could Die
Once again: Good job
PS: BUMP
PS: BUMP
Unbound
- Thread starter Unbound
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I sit amongst the burning torches, serene and alone and inaccessible.
A god in repose.
The doors beyond open and two leather-clad warriors enter with a grunge-covered young man splayed between them as they walk.
They bring him before me and throw him down to the hard stone.
"My lord, here is the man who has spoken against you in the Andaman province."
I rise and step toward him. His eyes flash up with contempt--though he does not stir the courage to rise in my presence.
"Is this true?"
He looks at me with all his anger, and yet does not speak.
"Your god has asked you a question!" the guard shouts and jabs the man's exposed flank with a fierce blow from the blunt end of his spear.
"He is not my god!" the young man shouted.
The guards both swung their spear points toward him, ready to run him through.
Calmly, slowly, with gentleness I raised my palm.
I bent down to the young man, and touched the underside of his arm to draw him to his feet. The guards' eyes widened like great, featureless moons.
"You are a farmer, yes?"
Confused, the man nods nervously.
"Wife? Children?"
He nods again.
"How many?"
He pauses, afraid to answer. I smile, urging him on. "Four," he says meekly.
"I see." I leave him standing between the guards and ascend my platform once more.
I turn and face him.
"These men would kill you. Would have killed you, but I raised my palm. They would kill you still, at the slightest sign of displeasure from me. You are a foul blasphemer, but I spare you today. You are to go forth, return to your farm, embrace your wife and children."
The man is jittery, afraid there is a trap in my words.
"Go and enjoy each moment. Live fully having escaped your death. Drink that life down with gusto. But remember always who it was that gave it to you. Each time you kiss that woman who is your wife, know that I have made that moment possible. Each inch your children grow before your eyes, know that it is me who has allowed you to see that sight. In every moment, in every waking breath, you will be living the life I have bequeathed to you. Go forth, live that life I might have taken from you. You will remember this moment in each of those other times. Everything you will now experience has been given to you by me. From my very hand," I roar. "Go forth and live, and see if in the end I am not truly your God!"
A god in repose.
The doors beyond open and two leather-clad warriors enter with a grunge-covered young man splayed between them as they walk.
They bring him before me and throw him down to the hard stone.
"My lord, here is the man who has spoken against you in the Andaman province."
I rise and step toward him. His eyes flash up with contempt--though he does not stir the courage to rise in my presence.
"Is this true?"
He looks at me with all his anger, and yet does not speak.
"Your god has asked you a question!" the guard shouts and jabs the man's exposed flank with a fierce blow from the blunt end of his spear.
"He is not my god!" the young man shouted.
The guards both swung their spear points toward him, ready to run him through.
Calmly, slowly, with gentleness I raised my palm.
I bent down to the young man, and touched the underside of his arm to draw him to his feet. The guards' eyes widened like great, featureless moons.
"You are a farmer, yes?"
Confused, the man nods nervously.
"Wife? Children?"
He nods again.
"How many?"
He pauses, afraid to answer. I smile, urging him on. "Four," he says meekly.
"I see." I leave him standing between the guards and ascend my platform once more.
I turn and face him.
"These men would kill you. Would have killed you, but I raised my palm. They would kill you still, at the slightest sign of displeasure from me. You are a foul blasphemer, but I spare you today. You are to go forth, return to your farm, embrace your wife and children."
The man is jittery, afraid there is a trap in my words.
"Go and enjoy each moment. Live fully having escaped your death. Drink that life down with gusto. But remember always who it was that gave it to you. Each time you kiss that woman who is your wife, know that I have made that moment possible. Each inch your children grow before your eyes, know that it is me who has allowed you to see that sight. In every moment, in every waking breath, you will be living the life I have bequeathed to you. Go forth, live that life I might have taken from you. You will remember this moment in each of those other times. Everything you will now experience has been given to you by me. From my very hand," I roar. "Go forth and live, and see if in the end I am not truly your God!"
For some 1500 years I have ruled upon this throne...
"My lord, the enemy advances upon the heart of the city!" my advisors clamor in a panic.
I do not budge from the throne, do not allow these words to frighten me.
The nearby provinces have all fallen under my sway throughout the centuries. Absorbed by the might of our culture. Even the foreign capital of Persepolis rebelled and pledged its allegiance.
"My lord! We must flee!"
But beyond the borders, other powers lurked. Now their armies charge into our territory, bent on conquering all that I have built.
"How dare they," I mumble.
"My lord?"
"Next time..." I stammer just beneath my breath.
"We must flee!"
"You go," I say, rising from the throne and stepping toward the torches.
"We might escape by ship, sir?"
"You do that."
"You cannot remain."
"Do you fear for your God?"
"My lord...if you were a God...could they conquer us?"
"Stay then," I say as I push a torch over into the tapestries.
"My lord!" he shrieks as the canvas catches alight with flame.
"Stay and you will see."
"The palace! It will burn."
"It will."
"We will die!"
"You will if you stay."
"Surely..."
"You doubt me. You doubt me just as these invaders must doubt me. I'm shown you all so much power and still you doubt me."
"My lord," he whimpers again, seeing the flames spread about the room.
"Stay and you will see. These flames cannot harm me. I will simply slip from this world into another."
"It's insanity!"
"I am unbound...there will be another chance...and I will show no mercy then. I will crush all those who oppose me. I will be a God of Wrath. I don't need temples or worshippers, only blood!"
"My lord," he lamented. "The entryway is blocked!"
"Then die here beside me." He fell to his knees, weeping as the palace was engulfed.
"My lord, the enemy advances upon the heart of the city!" my advisors clamor in a panic.
I do not budge from the throne, do not allow these words to frighten me.
The nearby provinces have all fallen under my sway throughout the centuries. Absorbed by the might of our culture. Even the foreign capital of Persepolis rebelled and pledged its allegiance.
"My lord! We must flee!"
But beyond the borders, other powers lurked. Now their armies charge into our territory, bent on conquering all that I have built.
"How dare they," I mumble.
"My lord?"
"Next time..." I stammer just beneath my breath.
"We must flee!"
"You go," I say, rising from the throne and stepping toward the torches.
"We might escape by ship, sir?"
"You do that."
"You cannot remain."
"Do you fear for your God?"
"My lord...if you were a God...could they conquer us?"
"Stay then," I say as I push a torch over into the tapestries.
"My lord!" he shrieks as the canvas catches alight with flame.
"Stay and you will see."
"The palace! It will burn."
"It will."
"We will die!"
"You will if you stay."
"Surely..."
"You doubt me. You doubt me just as these invaders must doubt me. I'm shown you all so much power and still you doubt me."
"My lord," he whimpers again, seeing the flames spread about the room.
"Stay and you will see. These flames cannot harm me. I will simply slip from this world into another."
"It's insanity!"
"I am unbound...there will be another chance...and I will show no mercy then. I will crush all those who oppose me. I will be a God of Wrath. I don't need temples or worshippers, only blood!"
"My lord," he lamented. "The entryway is blocked!"
"Then die here beside me." He fell to his knees, weeping as the palace was engulfed.
So an explanation is order. I screwed up and deleted the save game for this story. These last two posts were two moments I imagined/remembered from the game, but the running save game is gone so I can't do the rest with screenshots.
Oh well. But this is how it was supposed to end.
Oh well. But this is how it was supposed to end.
The Flame
^^ bad diplomat ^^
That's too bad the story had to end. Nice ending though.
The Flame
^^ bad diplomat ^^
agreed, that would be interesting.
