Dance of the Concordium by Nolan T.J

Author:Nolan, T.J.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2023-12-28T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

The White Procession

The sun hung high overhead, a blinding golden orb amidst the crisp azure sky, but it's normally comforting radiant warmth could do little to pierce or improve the oppressive icy pall of grief that had settled over all of House Veridion on this somber day.

The once vibrant and bustling thoroughfares and merchant stalls of Eldermere now stood eerily muted and somber, its ancient mossy cobblestone streets echoing only the steady cadence of thousands of boots marching in solemn procession - an endless mournful stream of Veridion's robed figures all garbed in pristine unadorned white to match their muted despair.

This was the Purification Procession - a grave communal ritualistic march held only when one of their own gifted Aetherscribes was found conclusively guilty of violating the fundamental tenets of their sacred governing Concordium oaths through their actions. And not just any Aetherscribe, but renowned Kael - lauded among all Veridion since adolescence as a prodigy without peer for his meteoric talents in wielding and reshaping the flows of Aetherium energy to heal the land and people.

But now, Kael had committed an unthinkable and unforgivable act rendering him forevermore outcast in their society - he had knowingly used his prodigious gifts to directly take the life of another sentient being, violating the cornerstone Aetherscribe vow sworn before all to uphold benevolence and the sanctity of life above pursuit of power or acclaim.

While a sympathetic minority still viewed his unprecedented actions when cornered as morally justifiable if extreme retribution, Lord Vaelor had been left with no tenable choice given the egregious public nature of the violations but to officially declare Kael as Bloodmarked according to their most ancient tradition. This irrevocable decree severed all remaining ties or recognition between their house and the one who had severely dishonored them before the entire Concordium's eyes.

The slowly winding procession filling Eldermere's streets was both spectacle and ritual - a public statement that balance and order must be restored now in the aftermath, no matter how it might tear open the community's heart afresh.

Glistening tears of shock and disbelief flowed freely down stoic faces that reflected every conceivable shade of profound dismay and betrayal as dressed stone statues and facades all throughout the city had been respectfully draped in blacks and grays by ordained hands for the procession's passage. Gone now were the vibrant spring banners, strings of twinkling festival lanterns, and potted flowering vines that usually lent such warmth and sanguine joy to these streets.

In their place, stark monochromatic portraits bearing Kael's once smiling visage had been sensitively placed at intervals to silently remind all who gazed upon them as they passed, of the great promise and potential now lost forever, a bittersweet visual testament to the rich life extinguished.

The bitter, pungently metallic scent of the freshly mixed crimson dye necessary to carry out the purification ritual ahead wafted through the chill morning air and stubbornly clung to the back of the throat with each mournful breath.

At the regal vanguard of the

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