The Guardian Demon (The Guardians of Nine Heavens #3)

Chapter 29: The End of High Priest Joan Mardyr

A large wooden stake was erected amidst an enormous pile of brushwood in the centre of the town square. A procession of the yelling mob walked through the streets while an already-numerous crowd had gathered all around the square, whooping and shouting. The procession that advanced was led by a lot of black-robed monks and some armed guards who held ropes which a prisoner they conducted was tied with. That prisoner had short hair once blazing blonde and now soiled in mud and blood. Her bare feet too severely bled from tripping on stones, tree roots, and thorn bushes on the way. The people didn't find it enough, however - they were cursing her and throwing stones at her, some of which even hit her right in the head, hence all the blood. 

"Burn her!"

"A disgrace!"

"How dare she trick His Holiness High Priest Cedric?!"

"Poor man, High Forces bless his soul!"

So much for keeping her secret to the grave... He came out stainless, while she received all these stones and curses, just because she was a she... Why did it turn out like this? Where did she make a slip? Where did she take a wrong turn? All she ever wanted was happiness, her share of that delightful cup only men were allowed to sip - the freedom. Why were women robbed off of their rights? Only because millennia ago some foolish woman listened to a snake and bit an apple? Or because another woman wished to tie stronger with nature than she should have, and was ultimately bidden to betray her husband? Or simply because they were of a weaker physique? - None of that made any sense! She was a woman, a Former Hostess, yet, she had succeeded in obtaining the High Priest post, and if women were allowed on such positions, she'd never have been thus humiliated. Her skills were just fine, it was that this world did not deserve her! This world did not deserve the likes of her! Maybe, by letting her soul loose from this sinful earth, she'd be able to reach that absolute freedom and complete perfection she so yearned for?

She was too weak to struggle. She felt how she was dragged up the pile of brushwood and tied to the stake, and then, several men put fire to that wood at once.

"Burn, you wretch, for sinning against the High Forces, against our laws, against the monastery, the Golden Tower, and His Holiness, late High Priest, Cedric Ivory! Be burned and cleansed of your blight!"

When the heat of the burning flames reached her, finally, the primal instincts of survival kicked in, and she screamed at full force:

"Let me go, you wretches! Let me go!"

"Burn, demon!"

She began struggling and yelling in agony as the flames slowly ate up the wood and approached her feet. The heat began scorching her skin, peeling it little by little, and the first stains of blood dripped off her feet and arms. She roared in pain and horror. The people's curses and yells meddled with her voice, silencing it in a strong echo. She felt the smoke of her own skin, flesh, and bones blind her eyes, and her head go dizzy. Soon, she was no more able to discern her feelings - pain, agony, horror, despair, hatred - all of it combined in her heart howling for salvation which could be found nowhere.

What did I do to deserve this?! 

Such was the main thought of her heart, for her mind couldn't think straight anymore. 

"Joan..."

"W... Who's calling me?"

"Joan..."

"Who are you? What do you want?"

"Let those earthly flames eat away this imperfect flesh of yours, Joan, and obtain the freedom you so yearned for... Follow me, Joan, I shall lead you towards happiness you so greatly desire... I shall make you a perfect human you deserve to be..."

Joan shrilled as the pain became sensible once again - the fire had reached her body and was eating up her flesh. Tears of blood poured down her cheeks. Tears, for she recognized whom that voice belonged to. Soon, her heart too, that held on for so long for a single purpose, shattered in multiple pieces - amongst the cries and shouts of the agonized mob, sounded a vile, triumphant laugh, more hideous than of any demon, or even of the archdemoness - a laugh so horrendous that only the absolute fiend could possess. Indeed, that fiend's yellow eyes soon sparkled right before her in the crimson smoke, and his blazing grin was the last thing she saw before blackness engulfed her and her soul was taken by the archangel of death, to the depths of the underworld.

Thus ended the life of Joan Mardyr - the only female High Priest ever known to the history of humanity... The one to shake off people's trust in High Priests, and the one to lay the basis to a generation of strong women, who revolted against the monopoly of men and followed in her footsteps, giving birth to the world's first Angel Hostesses.