Quoted By:
[5/5]
<span class="mu-i">“No more shall the sight of the Cross mar the view of the Bay of Cathagi.”</span> As the man speaks your eyes are drawn to the stone pulpit you find yourself kneeling upon. It was here, in this very spot, that Cain was strung up on the Cross, the cruellest of the master’s public executions. And it was from here that he broke free. <span class="mu-i">“No more shall those that cry out for freedom meet their harsh end here, to face the torments of winds and wild birds. Cain was not the first but, praise the Almighty, he was the last.”</span>
<span class="mu-i">“Praise the Almighty.”</span> You gasp the response, trembling as the mark of the Cross is placed upon your forehead in ash. For ash is what Cain made of it. <span class="mu-i">“Cain on the Cross.”</span>
<span class="mu-i">“Cain in Cantǒn.”</span> Chapter Master Callahan intones respectfully. Although the man is of an Adamite order, none can deny the importance of Cain’s own story in the creation of your nation.
<span class="mu-i"> “Cain. Cain. Cain…”</span> You whisper the refrain, half delirious from pain and blood loss.
Behind you, Brother Joab throws the whip into the sea with an expression of pure disgust. Father Towbray, eyes wet. You are too tired to feel joy at the sight, your right arm is still shaking uncontrollably and you yourself near to passing out here and now. You tell your body to rise to your feet, to make way for the pilgrims behind you. But it does not listen. You shudder, utterly spent and close to sobbing at the freshness of the wounds as you attempt to get to your feet again. In your ragged state Mikail and Brother Rousseau move to help you up, Orin close behind with a pail of fresh water. You cannot have come this far on the Long Walk only to falter now…
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<span class="mu-r">“No…leave me… I command it! …God help me, I will stand… on my own two feet…” Did Cain not stand alone, bloody and unbowed, even as his enemies cast him upon the cross and the world condemned the futility of his defiance? Cain on the Cross, Cain on Crusade, Cain to the Ends of the World. </span>
<span class="mu-b"> “Ah…my friends… where would I be without you …help this foolish young knight back into the saddle, would you?” Did Cain not find ultimately himself alone? He and his ten-thousand others lost to the call of war. In the end, Adam’s sacrifice was no less than his. </span>
