An Excerpt From The Cultist (p. 1)

                For years, the cultist had drudged through empty lands that haunted his conscience through the sheer terror of its inhabitants, their lack of passion and lack of inspiration to live joyously, pursuing a boy made of shadows to no avail. The cultist himself knew nothing of the child, or at least he assumed the being of shadows to be a child, given the height, figure, and playful demeanor of the being. He hunted for the child only according to an order passed down to him by the High Priest of the Blissful, claiming that the child was a threat to the Church, and is to be eradicated as soon as possible.

            “But sire! What harm could a child do to a soldier, much less an entire army?” The cultist inquired, referring to the Holy Army: a regiment of troops bent on enforcing the belief system of the Blissful over as many territories as possible, bringing other territories beneath their reign if the resources available had allotted for it.

                The High Priest chuckled coldly, “You'd be surprised.”

                To this, the cultist shrugged nonchalantly and went on his merry way, and has been tracking and attempting to capture the child ever since. After the first year of stalking the child, the cultist had concluded that, while the child was mischievous with no boundaries whatsoever, the child was ultimately harmless. Still, the High Priest would heed none of his pleas to simply let him be, insisting that the child had the ability to dismantle everything the Blissful has accomplished.

                Within months after believing the child is harmless, the cultist had already grown fond of him, even to the point where he saw the pranks of the child not as setbacks, but rather admirable methods to taunt him. This made the cultist giggle, bringing relief to his intellect and causing him to perceive the world in a much more different light than before. On multiple occasions he considered seeking friendship with the child, but wisely deciding against it; for doing so would endanger both of their lives further if any of the Church agents were to be spying on his progress at the time. But the cultist knew he could never bear to capture the child, and instead partook in the facade of appearing to pursue him with no intention to actually detain the helpless being due to an unspoken bond between them. Sometimes, he suspected that the child thought the same of him, as the delicious snacks once used to lure the cultist into traps now lay close enough to trigger the mechanism, but far enough so that the trap posed no risk whatsoever to the cultist, like a gift.

                So began the cycle of a perpetually (but intentionally) failed attempt to capture the child that lasted for a total of eight years until it ceased; a chase that brought the two through insipid lands made merry by the childish antics of the boy. The child was a constantly moving being, never to remain stationary in an area for more than three days if he could help it, and it struck the cultist odd when the child finally chose to settle down in a misty forest for a week.

                It struck the cultist even odder when his orders were updated, calling for his return back to the Church, and he began his trek back plagued by both sadness and fear. Sadness, because he would be departing from a dear friend of strange circumstances that brought life to a world he considered lifeless, and a fear that the Church had finally discovered his fondness for a child that is considered nothing but a menace to it.

 

Reviews

[Bluefire]

Strange and intriguing. I like this story, can't wait to see what happens.
I wonder why the child decided to stay in the forest, or why the cultist had to go back to the church?
I hope they haven't found out his scheme of not capturing the child. =c
Anywho, I like that it's easy to read, yet not too easy.
Well done!

[Tai Ryens]

It just gets better and better (I have the whole story plotted out, just need to get to writing it).
Thanks muchly, Blue, always a pleasure to read your reviews.

[Bluefire]

No problem, always a pleasure to read and share what I see. ^^