Fire of the Inquisitor

Octavius took a long drink of water, has hands shaking he could not help spilling some on his bare chest. If there was one good thing in this whole strange world it was the water. It was crystal clear and with a sweet aftertaste that was not unpleasant. It was also abundant, found in rivers, lakes, and seeping from rocks near the walls that surrounded Orchid. Octavius would have traded all of it if he could get a decent drink of wine.

The general looked down at the bed that gave him no rest. The dream with his grandfather had haunted him in his waking hours, making it hard for him to concentrate on one of the most important decisions of his life. He was very tempted to stay awake, walk the village streets like he used to. Order the first person he met to take over his position and walk away for good.

“I’m too old,” he wept.

Falling on his bed he immediately found himself drifting off to sleep and when he found himself holding a sword in the middle of the desert, shouting orders to his men, he knew he had been cursed with another dream. He was an older man, this time, he could tell by how heavy the sword felt in his hand and wrinkled his arms looked when he raised them. He was fighting in Egypt, thought he had never been there in his waking life, he recognized the great pyramid of the pharaoh. It must have been night as everything was cast in a dark blue light, yet there was no moon or stars in the sky.

Octavius studied the battlefield, but could not make any sense of it. His soldiers all looked like children waving their wooden swords and they were fighting clay dolls that looked like lifeless versions of themselves. The general felt the ground shake and large shadow engulfed his army. He looked up to see a sapphire dragon smiling down on them, it landed on the great pyramid and laughed as he watched the two armies fight.

Octavius was determined to punish the dragon’s disrespect and called for his army to charge the pyramid. His men followed him, but soon he felt his steps become more labored and the pyramid seemed to get farther and farther away. He looked down to see his feet starting to sink in the sand and soon he found that he was no longer able to move at all, watching as the sand started to devour his body. Soon his men started to become confused and scatter.

“To me!” He tried to rally his troops, but the become more and more disperse. Finally, the great stone sphinx arrived on the battlefield and started to gather both armies in its mouth. He tried to yell again but his mouth was filling with sand.

The dragon’s face was the last thing he saw, smiling at him with silver teeth and piercing him with its blood red eyes. “Your children are all mine,” it said. “Tell me the one you love the most and I will spare them from death.” Octavius tried to scream his answer, but he could no longer feel his own body. “Interesting,” the dragon said before it opened it white bird-like wings and flew into the empty sky.