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Arlana awoke in pain. She slowly opened her eyes and saw a crowd of people surrounding her. She was standing up and her hands were tied behind her back. She felt disoriented. She closed her eyes willing her dream to come back. The man she dreamt about all the time had been laughing and hugging her. He was about to kiss her when she woke up. Why couldn’t the dream be real and this reality be a dream, or rather a nightmare. Arlana felt tears running down her cheeks. Maybe death would be better than feeling like this. Could her life be all that wonderful if she preferred her dream world to her living world?
She opened her eyes again and took stock of where she was. She felt something against her back. Not her hands but something else. As she moved her hands behind her she realized that they were wrapped around something like a tree. She looked down and saw a pile of wood under her feet. She looked to her side and saw Christina tied to a pole with a similar pile of wood under her. She was crying.
“Christina?” Arlana called out hesitantly.
“Mistress Fifi? You are alright?” Christina called out.
“Well, I guess that depends on how you look at it. I am unharmed but it would appear that I am going to be the main attraction at the village bonfire tonight.” Arlana responded trying to make light of the situation.
“You are such a crazy child my Fifi” Christina said laughing. “Thank you for making it not seem as horrible as it is.”
“I am so sorry you are caught up in this. These stupid villagers cannot see that it is Mari who sold her soul to the devil when she slept with all those boys in our village. Why else would she have had to find a husband so far away and so old? At least we will die innocent and be accepted into heavens arms my sweet Christina.” Arlana said trying to make Christina feel better about her impending and pointless death.
“I blame only one person. She knows her guilt and her life will be miserable for it. Isn’t that right Mari?” Christina called out in a calm voice.
Arlana smiles and looks off in the distance. The sun is dropping into the horizon. She assumes that they will light the wood when the sun disappears completely. Too bad she couldn’t have still been dreaming when that happened. Maybe her death will bring her to her dream man. Arlana sighs and closes her eyes.
Cole races towards the town center. He can hear people shouting. He looks towards the sky and feels the sun pulling her away from him. He reaches the back of the crowd and quietly pushes his way through. In the distance he can see two figures tied to stakes and standing in piles of wood. Death by cleansing fire is what Pierre had called it. They believed that the fire would free the soul of the innocent. He was half way to her when he heard a woman scream. He turned and saw a woman pointing at him and screaming. Others turned and looked at him. Their eyes widened and they made the sign of the cross. Cole ran towards Arlana. If he could touch her and kiss her they would be free. At first people were moving out of his way but then a tall man in a robe with a Christian cross around his neck stood in his way and began speaking biblical verses at him. Cole growled. He did not have time for this superstitious paranoia. He shoved the man aside and ran into yet another robed man. There was a line of these monks. Cole looked towards the horizon and saw the sun dipping lower. He felt a panic rise in his chest. “Arlana! Wait for me!” He called out as he shoved one monk after another out of his way. They swatted away easily but they delayed his progress.
Arlana looked up and saw him in the distance. “Is it really him? Can he be real?” she said in an awed voice.
“Fifi? Who is that?” Christina called out.
“Christina, it is the man I told you about. From my dreams. He is real. I, I don’t understand how but he is real. He will save us. I know he will save us.”
At that moment Arlana heard someone call out to light the pyres. She saw a man with a torch walk up to Christina’s pyre and a different man walk up to hers.
“For the crime of consorting with the devil you will perish by the cleansing fire of God. May he have mercy on your soul and forgive your treason!” Hollered out a man wearing white robes. “Light the pyres!”
The sun set in the horizon. Arlana looked up and saw that her dream man was only a few steps away. She saw him look at the horizon and then look at her. Those beautiful hazel eyes held an anguish she couldn’t bear. As the wood ignited a bright light flashed in front of her eyes.
“NOOOOO!!!! Not again!!!” Cole yelled as the sun slid into the horizon. He looked at Arlana and saw she was staring at him with adoration and awe. Did she recognize him? As he tried to reach her a bright light flashed and she and the village were gone.