Soul Sanctuary - Prologue. Prologue

A lot has been said about inner beauty. So much it becomes absurd when people preach about it but would not date someone physically unattractive. As a teenager with a serious obesity problem, I drifted through my younger years being either bullied or rejected. So much it hurt. And not few times I heard this argument, 'You are really handsome, but you're just so fat!' Back in those closet days, I kept dreaming I'd one day meet the one, someone whou would love me for who I was inside. Well, it didn't really happen back then. In 1996, being 21, I watched Disney's version to "Notre-Dame de Paris". I don't have to tell you how much I loved Quasimodo, and how much I hated the fact that, after preaching about inner beauty all through the movie, the female lead would end up with the handsome captain. I mean, Disney always does this 'happily ever after' thing. Why not having Esmeralda fall for Qausimodo? Lots of people told me if Quasimodo were real I wouldn't love him being hunchback and deformed. Then, I saw the 1996 version "The hunchback" starring Mandy Patinkin. Yes, the character is much closer to Victor Hugo's Quasimodo, and make up and prostethic's made him as physically unattractive as he could possibly look ... And I totally loved him ... And yes I would have definitely dated him the way he looked. And yes, over the years I've dated lots of people who would probably be considered seriously unattractive. I even lost a couple of friends for making stupid comments about one of them. Guess what? It's been worth it a zillion times.

“Abomination!” Archdeacon Damien Brogan says.

The mob around the gallows looks at the tall man. A good number of the townspeople have gathered in the main square to witness the public execution of two young men who now stand with their hands tied back to similar wooden posts over an executional pyre. It is a common display, because most of the crimes associated with religion are punishable by death.

“The crime you have committed,” The Archdeacon says for everyone to hear, “is one that is condemned by the government, the church and the people of Obsidian.”

“Sodomites!” the crowd shouts.

The cleric tries to suppress the smile that threatens to show on his face.

“Let us not forget,” he continued, “that when the great catastrophe befell our planet, the one thing that we humans did not lose was the word of our Lord which kept our course steady as we fought to survive ….”

He walks around the gallows looking at the people. Many of them he knows. Many of them he’s never seen. But they live in his city. And in his city, he makes the rules.

“It is the word of our Lord, if a man also lieth with a man, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.”

“Mercy!” a woman from the crowd all dressed in black shouts, “Mercy, my Lord, my son did not know what he was doing!”

The clergy man looks at the woman and recognizes her as Darly’s mother. She, like her son, has the same blond hair and the same set of green hazel eyes.

“Sodomites!” the townspeople vociferate again in unison.

The cleric approaches one of the men being trialed and takes the boy’s face by the chin so they are looking into each other’s eyes.

“Repent now, Darly, and our divine Lord will be merciful when he judges you ….”

The people look at the scene unwinding on the gallows, a moment of silent tension among the young man and the head of the Obsidian Church.

“I …” he says, “I shall not repent of the love I feel for Dante!”

“Abomination!” The people cry out loud.

“It is the word of our Lord ….” The Archdeacon continues.

“Then our Lord is wrong!” Dante bellows from his post.

“Blasphemy!” the people yell this time.

Archdeacon Damien Brogan turns around dramatically to face the mob.

“These men have clearly shown that they do not regret their devious ways ….” He says and then turns around and starts walking towards his chair.

“And have also disrespected the word of our Lord,” he says with his back to the people, “and for such an insult ….” He pauses for effect and, as he sits down, he continues, “They shall burn!”

With a hand gesture, he gives the order.

“Mercy!” Darly’s mother keeps shouting, “Mercy, my Lord!”

The executioner approaches the gallows and, holding the ray gun in his hand, he shoots aiming both pyres. The crowd cheers as the flames engulf the wood on the base of each post.

Darly’s mother covers her eyes. She does not want to see her son consumed by the fire. Dante’s and Darly’s hollers soon fill the environment mixing with the shouts of the mob as the sinister show carries on.

Damien Brogan remains on his seat while the execution takes place, a baleful grin on his angular face. Not even the cries of pain which emanate from the boys’ throats make him wither.

Obsidian is one of the biggest cities of the North Continent, counting a population of two hundred thousand souls who are under his rule. Both as a representative of the Church and the Lord of Obsidian, it is his duty to keep these people in line. Showing mercy is a weakness he cannot afford.

The city festival is just one week away, and a public execution is the perfect reminder that he will not tolerate criminals to go unpunished. Keeping the city under control is not an easy task but the Lyst, the holy soldiers of his church, have made a wonderful job of keeping people in his grip.