The Godsend Backfire: The Beginning by Harold Straugh (best e reader for academics TXT) 📗

I realized it was making a rustling noise, I stopped.  I focused in front of me and I noticed a faint light ahead of me.  I got closer and the light got brighter. I was soon facing a hut that was deplorable. It literally looked like someone had gathered random sticks of different sizes and threw this thing together. The light was coming from a torch anchored to a mount on the outside of the building next to a door.  The door looked like it was resting next to the frame and not actually hinged to it. I was scared to even breath in its direction.

I heard grumbling and groaning from the inside, I peered through one of the spaces between the sticks and observed a rather robust man, sitting in a chair next to a fireplace, that was better built than the whole hut.  He was leaned back, stomach protruding from a shirt, two sizes too small.  He raised a goblet to something on the wall I couldn’t quite see at the time and yelled out, “To the better days!” downed what was in the goblet, dropped it and passed out.

I was curious what he was saluting and made my way around the hut to the opposite wall. I was able to peer through even more of bigger gap in the sticks and see a painting hanging on the wall.  How the walls didn’t cave in from the size of the painting was truly and act of Jehovah. The painting itself was of a man.  He was large, muscular, his biceps rippled. He wore a toga and the part of the chest that was exposed was defined.  They painted his hair blonde with short, curls and a full beard, totally opposite of the man that was slopped over in the chair.

It was aparent, they had the same blonde curly hair, the beard was a little longer, but what other reason would he have to salute the painting and yell out what he did.  I didn’t even feel bad he let himself go, I simply grabbed the torch from the front of the hut and started walking around to the corners, letting some of the torch oil drip down before igniting it.

I soon had all four corners ignited, then I stepped back and waited.  The hut was soon, engulfed in flames. Pontius came running out of the hut, himself engulfed in flames.  I pulled my arrow back and took aim at his head and then let go.  He dropped like a sack of potatoes and I stood around a while to watch him burn.  I couldn’t do anything to stop the death of Jesus, but I felt as if I avenged it somehow.

The stench of burning flesh and wood filled my nose, in which I responded by forcefully blowing the scents out my nose. I stood around a little longer, then decided to head back to my Yura, who was still asleep when I got there.  I put my bow and arrows back on my horse, then gently slid next to her, she rolled over just as I had laid my head down and put her arm over me.  She stayed that way until the sun came up, she was always an early riser, made most of our time together that way.

We went through Rome, most of the place was still asleep when we passed through.  We did garner some stares from those awake, but they appeared to be all talk and no show.  Yura looked truly disappointed at the sights.  She yawned, mockingly, out of boredom and it was then I noticed someone looking at me.

They had long black hair, with the portion of the back rolled up in a bun of sorts. His skin was a shade darker than beige and his eyes were but mere slits on his face. His fingers lightly tapped something holstered on his hip, it appeared to be a sword handle. He had on black, baggy pants, and a black sleeveless vest.  As soon as he saw I was looking, he stepped back in the shadows.

It was few hours later as we road to the other side of Rome to see if it were any better that I caught a glimpse of him again, this time on a roof top, he simply spun around and was gone.  Yura noticed something had my attention, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing at all, just keep seeing a glimpse of someone. Who knows? Maybe after all these years of being awake, I’m finally growing mad,” I said, thinking on a how a mortal could move so fast.

“Maybe,” she said and smiled at me, “I do have to say, this place is really boring. I get better satisfaction listening to animals at night than this place.”

“I agree my love; do you want to head back home?”

“I wouldn’t argue that thought.”

After that, we headed back towards home.  We were two days in and Yura was fast asleep at the fire.  I heard a snap of twig off in the distance and the horses stirred a little. I looked over at Yura and she was still asleep. I got my bow and arrows down, even though I couldn’t see anything to aim at outside the light of the fire.

As I was turning around to look back at Yura, everything went back. I felt a heaviness over me and no matter how hard I fought; I couldn’t budge what had ahold of me.  I screamed out to Yura, then felt something pinch my lips together. I couldn’t open my mouth after that, then I couldn’t open my eyes. I was in complete darkness and that’s where I’m going to leave you in this chapter of my life. In darkness.