A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

By now, other people were looking up too, and there were murmurs through the crowd. They must have heard it too.

"The delight of Ingolsol! He hears our offerings!" The Elder declared, rushing to finish the ceremony, as the flames began to expand to his platform. "May the Dark Lord grant us mercy this winter! May he be satisfied with our offerings, and protect us from the lesser Dark Gods that would seek to toy with his loyal servants."

With those final words, the Elder all but jumped from his platform, as the wood cracked on one side beneath the flames, and he hurried away, less gracefully than he had arrived, and his followers settled in behind them.

Once they were a little distance away from the flames, their speed slowed somewhat, and they began to hum once more, returning to that air of ceremony, even as they began to panic.

The villagers were still murmuring to themselves as he left. They seemed to have abandoned the air of respect that they were putting on before. It seemed to Beam like the ceremony was well and truly over, and when Mrs Felder spoke to him, it all but confirmed it.

"My, did you two hear that at the end? It sounded an awful lot like laughter to me. I wonder what it could have been?" She said, tilting her head to the side. "Are you well, Beam? You've gone rather pale… Ah, the cold must be getting to you. You need to remember your coat in future."

It was then that she seemed to notice Nila's hand clutching his. She gave a knowing nod and smiled quietly to herself. Nila and Beam were too distracted to notice the look. They were still shivering, staring towards that fire, hoping that what they saw was not as they thought it was.

"I'll go on ahead and take David home – he's getting cold too," Mrs Felder said, making an excuse to leave the two of them alone. "Make sure to get your rest in, Beam. I'll see you later, Nila."

"Okay…" Nila said absentmindedly, as she disappeared from sight. "That was… It wasn't just me that thought that was weird, right? But it can't have been, can it, Beam?"

Beam shook his head. "It can't have been," he agreed. "This ritual, it still unsettles me," he said, his free hand still clutching at his heart.

The pain still had not yet calmed down. Something had unsettled the balance in his soul. He could feel the darkness in him rampaging, as though drawn by something. It was a horrifying feeling. As though the very entity that was Beam was being torn in two.

"You really don't look well," Nila noted. Seeing how Beam had reacted to the ceremony only made her worry more. He saw things that others didn't see, after all. He walked a path that others didn't think to walk. She trusted his judgement more than most, even if he wasn't putting just what he feared into words. "That at the end there, was that really laughter?"

Beam shook his head, not out of disagreement, but out of a fear of agreement. "Something's coming, Nila. Something terrible. I feel as though a cage of darkness has been placed around us."

At his words, Nila shivered, despite how warmly she had dressed. The snow fell quietly down around them, as the villagers slowly made their way back to their home, guided by the light of the torches.

The snow had begun to lay in a thin layer on the ground, and their footprints left impressions for all to see. What a convenience it would have been had it snowed a few days earlier. Perhaps then, Stephanie would not have disappeared.

"We'll be alright, won't we?" She dared to ask. But as soon as the words left her lips, she felt a pang of pain in her stomach, realizing just what a weight her question was putting on Beam, just what she was asking. She hated herself for that. That even when his eyes showed a fear that they never did, still she tried to lean on him.

She hurried to correct herself. "Whatever happens – I'll help you. Just say the word. I've been building things up, like you said to. There's a whole village behind us now. Everyone will be willing to help, if they know what they need to do."

"I suppose then, we need to figure out what it is we need to do," Beam said quietly. His voice sounded so quiet and small then, as he gazed off into the distance.

Seeing him look so defeated, Nila felt compelled to reach out to him. Even with his hand in hers, it didn't seem to be enough – for it was he that was comforting her then, just as it always was.

Catching him off guard, she pulled him into a hug.

He made a noise that sounded like a question, an explanation of surprise.

She was too tired to explain herself. "Just accept it, stupid," she told him, as she rested her head against his chest, and threaded her arms around him. His body felt so cold. He really needed a coat, she thought, not for the first time that evening.

His arms carefully wrapped themselves around her back as well, and he patted her head for a moment. "Thanks," he said quietly. She didn't respond.

After a few minutes like that, as the snow began to hurry down even faster than before, turning Beam's short hair a fluffy white, they finally separated.

"You're going to catch a cold like this," Nila said as they pulled apart. "Please look after yourself, Beam. Or I'm going to start nagging you even more."

He gave a wry smile at that. His hand reached towards his heart, now that it was free once more. He found that the pain had stopped.

Nila smiled, seeing that, and waved him goodbye.

"Goodnight, Beam," she said.

The snow was falling heavily now – enough that it was hard to see more than a few metres away. All the villagers had gone by now. Even Greeves and Loriel had long since left. Only Lombard stood, resolutely, waiting for something. Tolsey was beside him. They were looking intently in Beam's direction.