Chapter 2 – Purified by Fire
Because the crusades never completely retook the Holy Land, there have been vengeful spirits who attempt to still take it. Some say these are spirits from Purgatory who are still tied to their earthly desires, but these spirits rarely appear, and accounts of their appearances are iffy at best. A slightly different legend is the one that appears to be truer. People who travel through the battlefields of the Holy Land sometimes come across a battalion of crusaders at sun rising hours. These crusaders are skeletons who have the scars of battle on them and swords, bows, and weapons lit by so-called divine fire. People say divine fire because when a person is struck by it, the fire will burn them like the fires of Purgatory. It is only when their sins are absolved through confession do the fire subside. Once the fire subsides, all of their injuries and burns are healed along with their sins. Otherwise, if a person continues to burn, they will burn to ashes. It is also possible for a person to burn to ashes faster if their sins were too great. Some rumors say that the spirits of the people that burned to death come back to say that they were purified and managed to enter Heaven. Water and suffocating the fire do nothing to it and in some cases, people’s efforts will only make it spread it to others.
These legends and cases that prove it cause governments to enact laws that forbid people to travel through these lands at the times of activity. They say it’s out of respect of the dead, but pictures and accounts of this legend along with their reaction to it say otherwise. The political climate of today has caused the government to focus more on current issues than the law about the Holy Land. Roger takes this opportunity to have a special circus event there to commemorate the lives lost there. It’s not likely that the government will bother them because the legend has faded over time and the law has relaxed, but the spirits haven’t.
Guests and event planners are able to set up the circus tent and other tents for other activities with no trouble over the course of a few days. The people who set up the event who remember the legend are eased by the lack of strange occurrences. Ebony adds to their relaxation since she usually senses danger.
Ebony watches the morning sunrise with her usually smiling face. Riley goes up to her and says, “You know the sun seems to reflect off of you.”
“Awww thank you!”
“You’re like a mirror and its kind of hurting my eyes.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. Why are you looking at the sunrise?”
“Isn’t it beautiful?”
“I don’t know. I still don’t really understand that word.”
“What about the feeling it gives you?”
“It reminds me that it’s too early to get up.”
“You don’t like getting up in the morning?”
“Of course I don’t. Do you ever see me up early in the morning?”
“No, usually you’re still in bed. You usually get up at noon.”
“That’s right. I’m a night kind of animal. I never do mornings.”
“So what are you doing up now?”
“I was curious as to why you were looking at the sun.”
“I guess you can be a morning animal if you want to be.”
“Oh be quiet. We got practice soon.”
After several hours of practice, people start coming to the circus. They go around to the different tents and interesting attractions. There are historians talking about the battles while there are actors acting them out. People pay to play simple carnival games. Decent food and drink are served outside alongside specialty foods and drinks that are native to this land. Roger and Ebony watch as people enjoy themselves. They smile at the enjoyment they’ve brought them and because many kinds of people are enjoying today together.
The crowds start going home around nighttime after the shows and spectacles stop. The workers, performers, Riley, Roger, and Ebony rest for the night in tents with their things packed ready to move tomorrow. Skeleton spirits clothed in light and torn crusader armor rise as the sun slowly begins to rise. They are armed by the light and close in on the Circus of Misfortune. Riley senses their presence and wakes up to see the dead soldiers quickly approaching on the backs of horse carcasses that don’t have legs. He quickly goes to wake everyone up. Some don’t move because Riley isn’t strong enough to slap them awake. Ebony doesn’t even wake up because the soldier’s presence is completely pure and masked by the feeling of the sunrise. It isn’t until the soldiers rain fire arrows from the sky do they wake up.
Everyone looks outside to see the dead soldiers ready to fire another barrage of arrows with another group of soldiers on horseback fast approaching. There’s a gap in their formation large enough for the Circus to escape through. It appears that the dead meant to do this since the rest of their attack formations are perfect. The circus quickly gets what they can as another barrage of arrows come in. They mount their horses and carriages as the group of soldiers on horseback closes in. The horses are unaffected by the fire arrows and aren’t targeted by the dead. The circus tries to fight back by using their weapons, but nothing affects the soldiers. Not even Ebony can do anything because she is in a daze due to the morning sun and the pure feeling of the dead. There is no hope of fighting back against the dead. They can only run away and hope that the dead don’t catch up to them or an expertly shot arrow doesn’t hit them.
Eventually, the circus made it through the gap the dead left open for them and made it to a nearby city. The circus arrived as if they were a firebolt since some of them had caught fire. The people in the circus that knew the legend lead them to receive confession. Once the people in the city saw this circus healed by it, almost everyone went to church that day. Some people in the circus were lost that day and turned to ash. Others were burned only slightly because they barely had any faults. Because Riley was the only one who helped people wake up, he was congratulated. He was given his favorite meal and a round of applause.
Among the praises, Roger says, “You saved us, Riley. I knew I could always count on you.”
“You’re the best!” Ebony says with joy.
Riley is held up and given tons of attention that he wanted though he still felt a little bad about failing to save everyone. As the circus stayed in the city for the night, the spirits of the people who were lost came to Riley and their loved ones and told them that they’re okay in Heaven. This incident was investigated by the government then the laws surrounding it were taken seriously again. Thankfully the things that the circus had left behind were untouched and still there when they went back to get it. The government of the land tried fining and jailing them, but they managed to escape the country with no plans to ever go back. When the dead are forgotten, the dead come back to life.
