The Bone Temple Burn Watch has been on for a few weeks now. Last night, things suddenly escalated. Instead of posting each relevant Tumblr post separately, I’m combining last night’s and today’s in this post.
Sept 15, 15:08
Smoke. No fire.
Yet.
There is not a spot that is not covered in moving, silent, unblinking black. The Boneburners have changed their appearance. There is not a single shade of gray outside the circling march. I barely have enough room to stand. There is no way to see where I end and my neighbor begins. We are covered in darkness.
I am not guaranteed being present when the first flames appear. That’s okay.
I am assured the Bone Temple is as good as done.
We are waiting for the last betrayer to die.
Burn Watch.
Death Watch.
Silence.
Sept 15th, 8:30pm
Fire. Not from the Bone Temple. From us. The last betrayer made one last attempt to buy time by trying to sucker us into giving up our flames. “You are still living, your heart will grow back. Just a drop. Just a kiss of unquenchable fire.” Liar. Deceiver. Just a ‘kiss’ grants access to all.
I replied by flaming up in silent defiance. One by one, others flame up as well. The ravens perch on us unaffected by the bone shattering heat. The Elders and the Ancients continue their devouring black circumspection of the temple.
I don’t understand why the drawn out formality. Why the last chance that could buy another lifetime of waiting.
The skulls in the walls wail.
I ask forgiveness from the Kemetic Statue. I must attend this. I leave cakes, honey, water, and incense before her and express my hope to see her face whole when I return.
I stand with the others with only the snapping of flame as my voice.
Sept 16th, 6:58am
One skull is on fire. Or what I could recognize as fire. Mounted on the corner of the highest roof as if the builders got bored and could not think of anything special, it was mounted when the temple was first built and has watched the temple’s expansion and isolation.
The jet of flame gives the illusion that the skull is screaming. It just might be. Hard to tell.
But the skull, despite the brilliant plume, is not burning. The flame reminds me of the burnoff flare at oil refineries. This flame is not the fire we’ve been waiting for. It is an indication that the burning has begun within.
I fall to my knees, overwhelmed by Sights and Emotions. Strong hands hold me and keep me from pulling at my flesh as I shriek. I See inside the temple. The skulls are burning with a flame that can not be seen by human eyes. The last betrayer is dead, their spirit trapped within the temple and bound to the walls. Those that managed to continue through death are running to and from the fountain, trying desperately to extinguish the flames. As the temple falls, so do what they think is immortality.
They were never immortal. They were only the masters of a spiritual Ponzi scheme. No more lives to steal. Time to finish dying.
I don’t understand why I’m still shrieking. I don’t feel any of my selves. Hands and talons pull me down, forcing me to lie on my back, holding me firmly to the ground. I don’t fight them. I’m fighting myself. I know I am on the knife edge of madness and unreason. But I don’t understand why. I don’t know what influence is riding me. Those around me act as if they not only knew, but were expecting it to happen.
I can hear others enduring the same confusion. As distressing as it feels, it also feels part of the process.
A Raven alights on my chest. It’s presence comforts me. I don’t know what is happening, but I know I’ll be okay. I stop trying to keep reason. Something dark and twisting flows through me. I open my mouth to shriek but I express a jet of flame instead.
…
Tell [Redacted], do as [ke] wishes.
The Raven’s voice in my head brings me back to consciousness. I’m pulled to a seated position on the ground. The temple’s exterior is unchanged. Only that one solitary skull gives any indication of what is happening within. I want to watch further, but I am exhausted. The world pitches and jerks to the side as I pass out.
Sept 16th, 15:20
Welp, I missed the collapse of the structure. ~snaps fingers~ My consolation prize is confirmation that each and every trapped soul has been released. Also, it seems it’s Hunting Season in the Boneyard, as those betrayers that had enough of their own power to remain (kinda, sorta, not really) whole have scattered. They are now officially classified as Persona Non Grata and what woe befalls them is none of the Ravens’ concern.
Unknown (to me) at this time:
- The state of the fountain where the unquenchable flames were extinguished to bind boneburners to the Ponzi scheme.
- The status of the (former) boneburner that delivered his cousin’s bones to the betrayers in a blinded hope for redemption. (Last seen mounted on a pike overlooking the temple.)
- How much work got deposited in my back 40.
EOM