The stars twinkled, and the comets split the darkness of the sky. At this hour, the students of the fourth grade elementary section were behind the temple of what people called it the ‘domain’. It was an expanse of grass that stretched all the way to the southern gate, and the grasslands lied beyond the wall. A metal fence enveloped the domain, so as to prevent the attendants from running amok.

Right now, the kids formed a circle around a pile of logs. They held each other’s hands and huddled as close as they could. The fire from the logs blazed and crackled, it warmed them so much that some of them tempted themselves to come closer to the inferno.

Neha and Sachen joined in the circle. The latter gazed at the fire in awe.

“It’s so warm! I want to get closer to it!”

“That’d be dangerous,” Neha said. “Besides, I wonder how long this is going to take… the sacrifice I mean.”

“I hope it lasts for a minute. Otherwise, I’ll get bored.”

“If you do get bored, then you’ll fall asleep in no time.”

Sachen smacked her lips and slanted her shoulders. Neha let out a yawn, her eyes remained open from the brightness of the blaze. The kids were tired; they went to the temple right after school under the decree of the High Order, though the officials explained nothing in regards to why they only chose the fourth graders. It was perhaps because bringing in the whole school might cause a frenzy in the domain. Regardless, the classmates showed a lot of enthusiasm in this to-be sacred night.

When the Young Guards of their section started to give lyrics in a hymn, the students sang along. In unison did they sway their bodies. At the same time, they moved the circle in a clockwise manner, some of them kicked their feet and bobbed their heads as though something spontaneous had infested their minds. From the hymn, their voices harmonized, and the fire burst in size. It released a storm of heat, and it caused the hearts of the students to accelerate. In light of this thriving climate, Neha and Sachen kept their mouths shut, and they stood still.

“Oh the Dove, the messenger of the gods, please come to us and grant our sanctity to heaven, so that we may live in Paradise. Oh the Dove, please smite the enemies and traitors of our entity, so that we can eternally prosper for the rest of our mortal lives. Oh the Dove, how much your wings flap and how serene your voice is, please grant mercy on our very own soul, so that we may be purged of our wrongdoings. Oh the Dove, Oh the Dove, praise the Almighty!”

“I’m getting dizzy, ugh,” Sachen said, she grabbed her belly. “Get me a pillow so that I could sleep.”

“We can’t do that now, we have to let them finish the hymn.”

“Well you can join their sing-along.”

“But I don’t know the lyrics at all.”

“Neither do I.”

The girls dropped their glances, they stood as the students continued their hymn. No zeal within them, they desired to go home, for they saw this event as more banal than spectacular. Hours ago, their parents forced them to go under the premise that they might learn a lot of things, even if it meant they had to miss their school assignments and dinner time. For sure, even Sachen wanted to do her homework rather than go here and dull herself.

Whenever the tails of the fire were whipping the air, the students could not help but let their eyes burn. They moved as fast as ever in order to wade off the heat. All together, they jumped off the ground and flapped their arms as though they had wings. Then with their arms and shoulders aching, the kids plopped.

The Young Guards stopped their hymn. The president of the group then announced the start of the sacrifice. From the entrance of the fence, a platoon of the Holy Army opened the locks and marched into the domain; No gossips, complaints, or grunts, the men arrived at the middle of the expanse.

“Hey hey, they have come!” said Sachen. “And look at what we have there! It’s your crush, Tulisen!”

“I-I don’t want to see him!” Neha looked back on her shoulders. It seemed that running away was possible at this time.

Sachen grinned from ear to ear. “Haha, you’ll get him someday.”

The kids stared at the soldiers. They heaved over their shoulders a living pig that came fresh out of a farm in the grasslands. A bundle of ropes tied up its legs and arms, and veins pulsated along its pink, fleshy skin. On the snout area where Tulisen was holding, there was a mask that looked like a crow’s beak. It concealed the pig’s squeals into muffled, and no matter how boisterous its sounds were, the mask cancelled it out. In discomfort, the animal thrashed its body, its hooves scratched the metal armor of the soldiers and its tears dripped through the mask. Neha and Sachen sensed the distress in its plight, they wanted to save it if they could; as for the students in the domain, they brought nothing but gasps.

The soldiers laid the animal to the ground, and the men sighed from it being too heavy even for them to carry together. From the side, Tulisen flicked his hair, his dark-brown eyes were shining as luminous as the stars. He knocked his knuckles against his chest, he then put his hand down.

“Welcome young ones, to this very important night. Clearly to all, you are the only one to attend this first sacrifice—because of course, the young should be the first to participate. Here we have a pig, a healthy one to be perhaps, that the Lama and his clergy had chosen for tonight. This pig is throwing itself around and struggling to break free—but no matter, we shall end its suffering. To us, this abominable swine represents the accumulation of filth, of all the sins that we have committed; you see how fat it is? It goes to show that we have done much wrongdoings to place ourselves in a precarious position; but it’s not too late. By killing the animals, all of our sins will be forgiven by the gods. Also, we have become too hungry, not just for war, but for salvation itself. Now we must repress our hunger.”

Along with the students, Tulisen’s fellow soldiers applauded. The junior officer bowed before the pig, kissed it on the head, and ordered one of the men to remove the mask. Next thing that happened, the entire platoon drew forward their single-action rifles. The resin of their weapons emitted a stinging, but fragrant odor of pine cones. Grooves and cuts muddled the woodwork and frames, such marks they had accrued from past conflicts. Chills swallowed the guns as a whole, and for a bit it became too cold for them to hold it with their bare hands.

Under Tulisen’s order, the soldiers pointed their firearms at the swine. They at first, poked its skin from its head to its buttocks. They started to taunt the poor animal with every insults they could come up with, and the pig responded with more of its squeals. The animal scraped its hooves against the soil, at the same time it bashed its head upon its arms. Mercy was at the end of the tunnel.

Tulisen raised his right arm. His eyes twitched.

“Fire!”

The soldiers pulled the trigger. Rings and bangs echoed the air and blasted the students’ eardrums, they shook themselves as a result. Fumes welled from the barrels, it plowed the air and obscured the presence of the pig. From the swine, blood geysered, bringing the grass and soil into a crimson bath. The iron smell of the blood ripped open the stomachs of the kids, and the last thing they desired to do was to vomit.

Not more than a minute later, the fumes dissipated and revealed the pig itself. For the worst of the faint-hearted, its snout poured out a gallon of blood. Bullet holes were scattered throughout its body, and it resembled a giant beehive, something that made their skin crawl. Critters from the ground such as worms and ladybugs roamed close to the hole, about to infest the carcass in great numbers. The sight suffocated the kids.

The sacrifice was close to being over. A couple of soldiers gave a long piece of lumber to Tulisen, and the officer wrapped the pig’s feet and arms onto the wood. His companions then installed a pair of logs onto the ground by the flanks of the fire. Tulisen lifted the pig and put both ends of the lumber onto the standing timbers. Then the fire began to skewer and consume the dead animal. Blackness colored the pig’s skin, it could blend into the night sky. With the blaze taking over the carcass, the soldiers finished the first sacrifice, thus they were in relief. The kids cheered and at the same time, loosened their tongues and mouths in disgust.

“Hurrah, we have finished,” said Tulisen in a nonchalant tone. The men clapped again and they began to dance. Once more, the students and the Young Guards created their circle and sung a new hymn. They felt grateful that it was over, but it wasn’t so for Neha and Sachen. The girls felt a kick in their stomachs, the sensation then turned into a painful twist.

“Oh the Dove, the messenger of the gods, the pig has been slaughtered for the greater good. Oh the Dove, please enjoy the smell of the smoke and the fat of the pig from the fire, and eat the meal that is free of its corrupt blood. Oh the Dove, how much your wings flap and how serene your voice is, please grant mercy on our very own soul, so that we may be purged of our wrongdoings. Oh the Dove, Oh the Dove, praise the Almighty!”

Neha and Sachen looked at the pig above the fire. By now, it became unrecognizable.

“This is so sick,” Sachen said, rubbing her belly. “Neha, are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m just feeling queasy like you.” Neha’s face went pale, she almost tipped to the ground. “I’m sorry.”

Sachen pulled Neha out of the circle, and the duo went near the back door of the temple. Sachen wiped the sweat from her friend’s forehead.

"You seem hot," Sachen said, “but at least it’s not going to be a fever.” The duo sat down, and Neha laid her head upon Sachen’s shoulders. The fire fuzzed and softened in sight. The voices of the students gurgled.

“How can they bear such a horror?” Neha asked. “If the pig were still alive, then I’d have saved it.”

“Unfortunately, it’s too late to do anything. By the way, did you see blood gushing out like a river? Nasty, nasty! I was about to hurl when that occurred. It’s so weird that our classmates can stomach this, but not us.”

“Probably because they have sang the hymns, so that kept them into a lull of their senses. To be honest, we are kind of clueless when it came to those hymns.”

“I can’t agree more. But I thought that you’d join them, because you are a bright student Neha.”

“But I am bad at memorizing the lyrics. Every time I sing, I sound like a dying cat.”

“Haha, I am bad too. There was this one time in music class, when as a class, we were trying to sing this song and perform it in the temple. I was one of the only students going to sleep and slacking off, you couldn’t believe the look on the teacher’s face!”

“Her face was red right? And she was very angry.” Neha tightened her face as to imitate the teacher.

Sachen nodded. “Yep! I couldn’t stand my classmates singing anyway, so I annoyed them instead! I sang the wrong words, coughed every minute, and scratched my legs! Oh goodness, the teacher scolded me so hard, that I had to carry a bucket of water around school. I really want to forget that, it’s too humiliating.”

“I recalled that you almost cried-”

Sachen grinned, and she pushed her face against her friend’s. “I did not certainly cry. I sucked up my tears, and went along with the punishment.” Sachen brought herself back. “Plus, the punishment lasted for a couple of hours, so I was let go early!”

“They should have made it longer. That way, you might have learned your lesson.”

“Hmph, then you should be better than me! You were the one who’d keep messing up the pronunciation and tones of the hymns, and it’s so bad that the devil could run away in tears! You should improve though. You have a nice voice, and I can listen to you all day.”

The duo laughed. Their conversation relaxed the tensions in their bodies, of all the awe that the sacrifice had shown for tonight. They held each other’s hands, and they gazed at the stars and comets, more interesting than anything else now.

Meanwhile, the inferno had fully cooked the swine. Grabbing a bucket of water from the side, Tulisen extinguished the fire, and it sizzled into nothingness. From the fence door, the soldiers hauled a bag full of paper plates and opened it. With a machete knife, a trooper sliced the skin and meat of the pork. Blood draining from the flesh, it was deemed safe for kids’ consumption.

“You kids can now feast on the swine,” Tulisen said, winking. “It’s very delicious, don’t you wait!”

“Thank you!” the students said together. Like flies, they hoarded to the pig. The soldiers handed them the plates, then they gave the kids a piece of juicy meat. All of them standing, the kids chowed to their content. In seconds, most of them were done with their portions, they left nothing on their platters but charcoal marks. They begged for more, and the soldiers provided them servings again as the pig was large enough for everybody.

When one of the soldiers offered Tulisen a plate, he refused. Instead of eating, he made two platters and walked away from the fire. He arrived at Neha and Sachen’s spot. Upon his presence, the girls vaulted and shrieked.

“What’s the matter you two? A bit scared of the way things went? How about some pork to help you get full?”

Sachen stood up. “No, we are not hungry, thank you. And we were not scared!”

“You were shaking when the circle was formed Sachen,” Neha said.

“So did you!”

Tulisen chuckled, he kneeled down to Neha and offered her the food. “Now now, let us eat, for it’d be bad if you starve.” Neha pushed the plate away, her face flushed in redness. “Come on Neha, your mother won’t be happy if you come home with an empty stomach.”

“I-I don’t really want to eat sir! P-please, you must eat it yourself!”

“Well then, I guess I can’t help my appetite.” Tulisen slapped his stomach. He then ate the two pieces of meat from the plates. When he was done, he threw the plates into the trash bag and came back to the girls. “That was delicious. You should have tried it, you know?”

Sachen pouted. “I ain’t going to eat something you put bullets in! That’s cruel of you!”

“It was necessary to do so. Otherwise, the clergy might get mad at me. The Lama, although he is not here, expected that the sacrifice would go without any interference, and it went well. The pig’s soul now lies in the hands of the gods.” Tulisen closed his eyes, and through the gaps of his teeth he released his breath. “It seems that the gods are appeased, just for a bit; but we need to do more.”

“And what will you guys do next?” Sachen asked. “As a matter of fact, what will it take to win this stupid war?”

Neha jabbed her friend’s arm. “Sachen! Don’t say it’s stupid!”

Tulisen laughed it off. “Based on the threatening letters that we have received from the eastern and southern frontiers, it is apparent that the war will come in just a month. In order to spur our pathway to victory, we must accumulate many of our resources. We are low on rifles, canteens, and armor, so we’ll have to cooperate with the industries. The village will be surrounded by enemies of all sorts, so we must be prepared. When we go out the gates, you kids will have to stay either at school or at home; you cannot go out under any circumstances. And lo, don’t even try to sneak out again, I heard that there were some guards sleeping when you two were going to the forest.”

“Y-you knew?” Neha gave a bashful smile. “I knew they were going to find out.”

“You two are naughty little ones, hanging out in the forest without any supervision. But the guards there should have reported something, or at least stayed on their toes. Never mind that, it’s in the past.” Tulisen stood up and crossed his arms. “The war is coming to our backyard. Neha, please protect your mother if war comes even tomorrow. Lately, she has barely spent any money on the medication, even though I keep telling her to do so.”

“Okay, I will remind myself of it.”

“And Sachen, don’t be reckless. In this current climate, there is no room for fun and games.”

“Yes sir!”

With a thumbs up, Tulisen returned to the platoon. Neha and Sachen yawned and shut their eyes. Then it was that they let their imaginations loose in order to distract themselves from the subject of war. The only thing that could make them worry was nothing. A chain of events however, would destroy such worry.