How Divine is Thou?

Flames

It took us a moment to register how panicked she sounded. We took off quickly and caught up with them in moments. It wasn't hard as they were stopped, staring.

It wasn't hard to see what they were staring at, it lite up the night. A small village about a mile away was burning bright. Distant screams echoed in the deafening silence.

"We got to go," Tholnia said. "It's off course. But we can't leave then to die."

"Of course." Robin looked back at Nyx and me. It was obvious we wouldn't argue with this. Thorn took off quite fast for having two passengers. The flames only grew brighter as we approached.

"You should wake up Umsin. This could be bad," I told Nyx.

"Already awake," the former God replied. "What's going on?"

"We don't know," Tholnia told him. "Just as ignorant as you."

"Fiamma, can you sense that?" He asked, staring me with wide eyes.

I could. Something, someone, very powerful was in the center of the village. I could only assume they had something to do with the destruction.

When we got close, we could see just why it took us so long to see. The fire was in a perfect circle around the village. It was magically created.

As we approached, a black figure was limping towards us. This person was burned so badly I couldn't tell if they were a man or woman. "Help, my children," they croaked out and dropped.

"Can you pass through the fire?" Nyx asked me.

I reached my hand out, and when nothing happened, I nodded to him. "Go, we'll find another way through," Robin commanded. "Try to find some water or anything."

The fire clung to me as I ran through. It wasn't just a tiny line. It was twenty feet deep and a hundred feet high. A prison of ever-burning flames. I had to wonder how that person made it through. Even to me, the flames were hot, worse than The Boiling Desert.

I had to command the fire off of me when I got through. Inside, the screaming was a hundred times louder. I saw people trying to put out the flames, only for the fire to leap out and burn them alive. Mothers and fathers were shielding their children.

I grabbed a nearby man. "What's going on?" I demanded.

"This guy just showed up and told us to worship him. When we denied he did this," the man told me. The flames reflected the fear in his eyes.

"Was it a Titan?" I didn't know any Titan that could do this, and it couldn't have been Phoen because this was actually hurting people.

The man shook his head vigorously. He looked near tears, "No. He said he was sent by 'The Mother?' I don't know what he was talking about. But my wife is dead and I can't find my children."

"I'll stop him," I promised. I didn't know how else I could help this poor man.

The man looked confused, but I ran off nonetheless. I could sense the power radiating from the town hall in the center. This man was an old God, not a Titan. How he escaped The Hall of Night, I don't know.

I could hear distant yelling that sounded authoritative rather than panicked. I felt relieved to recognize Nyx and Robin's voices echoing through the crowds. I couldn't tell if they'd made it through the fire or not, but they were trying to calm the people.

Near the hall, a group of small children sat, cowering. "You five need to get out of here," I told them.

The smallest, most likely the youngest, cried out, "I want Mommy!"