True Church?

If you believe in the truth of the Resurrection and teachings of Christ, you have to ask the question: how do you follow Christ? Indeed, today there are many options available. Did Christ give His followers a Church? If He did, which Christian denomination is the one that Christ founded, or does it even matter? How do you determine which denomination Christ founded? In this paper, we will confront these questions and attempt to find the answer.

To begin, however, one must confront the first question: did Christ give His followers a Church? Three proofs exist to support a positive answer: a Scriptural proof, a historical proof, and a logical proof.

It is logical that Christ would found a Church. He taught His followers doctrinal(1) and moral(2) truths and instituted a form of liturgy(3). If these teachings and institutions were to remain unchanged, an organized institution was needed. After Christ left this world, He could not be there to constantly remind His followers of His doctrines; even with salvation, man’s nature is fallen and cannot retain the perfection of Christ.

Not only is it logical that Christ would make provisions for the humanity of His followers, but Scriptural proof can be found. A strong passage that proves this point is Matthew 16:18(4); “‘And so I tell you, Peter: you are a rock, and on this rock I will build my church.’” In the teaching of the Good Shepherd, in John 10, Christ told them that there would be one flock, one shepherd(5). He gave the Apostles, His head followers, the authority they needed(6) to shepherd and govern His followers throughout the ages.

His Apostles used this authority, and the proof to the affirmative is shown in the historical proof that Christ founded a Church. Immediately after Christ’s Ascension, the Apostles arranged the Church and began to follow His words to them(3). If Christ had not told them to begin this organization, they would not have gone against His direct wishes. Not only this, but Acts of the Apostles describes an orderly church. Leaders were chosen(7) to go to the faithful in far away places, and the Apostles themselves traveled to distant countries and cities to preach the Word of God and to found Christian societies there.

Once one has established that Christ did mean to found a Church, it is time to face the second question: does it matter which Christian church one belongs to? A lack of options is not the problem; more than thirty thousand Christian denominations exist. Although they each claim to have the same fundamental truths, no two denominations believe exactly the same thing. Anne Carroll sums this up well when she says(8), “A statement cannot be both true and false at the same time. Yet different denominations have contradictory beliefs. One will say that Christ is really present on the altar under the appearances of bread and wine; another will say that Christ and the bread and wine are both present.” Only one Church will be entirely true in all the truths that it teaches its faithful, and it is to this Church that one should belong.

Since it is now known that only one Church will have the full truths taught by Christ, it must be asked: how does one know which church is the Church founded by Christ? Given that Christ wished that all humanity to believe in Him and belong to His Church, it should be easy to find. Using a reasonable approach, the True Church should teach all the things that Christ taught, and teach the same things, regardless of in which building the parish is housed; be holy itself and strive to make its members holier; evangelize to all people without taking into account their race, culture, or financial situation; and have a direct historical link and lineage to Christ Himself. These are often called the four marks of the True Church: one, holy, catholic, and apostolic.

Of the thirty thousand plus denominations of Christians in the world today, only the Roman Catholic Church can claim all four marks. The Catholic Church is one; she also has the only claim for this mark. Protestant churches claim to represent Christ but allow for private interpretation of the Scriptures, thus disrupting the unity of all its members. In the Catholic Church, the Pope has the final authority on the interpretation of Scripture. None of the other denominations has one supreme head. The Catholic Church is also holy. She honors those of her members who were exemplary in their holiness and names them saints, and sets them before her followers to encourage them in their personal journeys toward holiness. Each saint is an individual with a different vocation, and so can be applied to each life differently. She is also universal, or catholic. Since her founding in approximately 30 A.D., her missionaries could be found in every corner of the world. Even today does she continue her missionary efforts. She is in every country. No other Protestant church can even come close to matching her missionary activities. And, finally, she is apostolic; she can trace an unbroken line of Popes from St. Peter, appointed before Christ left this world and by Christ Himself. Most other Christian churches had their founding later, with most Protestant denominations starting one thousand five hundred years later. Nor can any of the other Christian churches claim to be founded by someone directly appointed by Christ.

Thus, the Catholic Church is the True Church. Christ did found a Church; it was logical for Him to do so, and both Scriptural and historical evidence exist to confirm His founding. He would not have founded multiple churches; it would not make sense for Him to do so. His one True Church has four easily recognizable marks; she will be one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. The Catholic Church is the only one that has all four of these marks, and so is the True Church established by Christ.

Footnotes

(1) “Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ ‘Good for you, Simon son of John!’ answered Jesus. ‘For this truth did not come to you from any human being, but it was given to you directly by my Father in heaven.’” Matthew 16:16-17 (GNT)
(2) “‘And God said, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and unite with his wife, and the two will become one.’ So they are no longer two, but one. No human being must separate, then, what God has joined together.’” Matthew 19:5-6 (GNT)
(3) “‘Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples: baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.’” Matthew 28:19 (GNT)
(4) GNT
(5) “‘I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd.’” John 10:16 (NAB)
(6) “‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.’” Matthew 18:18 (NAB)
(7) “They appointed presbyters for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, commended them to the Lord in whom they had put their faith.” Acts 14:23 (NAB)
(8) Following Christ in the World, pgs. 16-17

Bibliography
—, Good News New Testament, American Bible Society, 1992
—, New American Bible, American Bible Society, 1970, 1986, 1991
Carroll, Following Christ in the World, Seton Press, 2000

so, yah...i know i have a really difficult choice ahead of me. and i know how i'm confronting it. and that is the last you will ever hear from me...any blog posts i do will not pertain to my everyday life. i may occasionally do a philosophical type thing on something from my Catholic doctrine class, or maybe a story i wrote...but for a while here, i'm not going to post everyday doings. mainly becuz there's nothing really out of the ordinary going on. i'll post results from districts, and after that, i'm just not going to bother.

just letting y'all know.

-enna

VC lowdown, philo on longing, story, AND quote from a Book...one heckuva post for ya ;)

yep...so, ya know how i was saying the Valentine's Classic is my second-to-last meet? well...umm...it may not be. the 15-21 girls' medley relay we swam was only 11 seconds away from a state qualifying time...if we drop 11 seconds at districts, we'll be going to state. O.O first time fo' me...and no, it's not an outlandish drop - we dropped 20 seconds today. that's 5 seconds apiece! we'd only have to drop 2.5-3 seconds apiece to get to state...we're gonna go for it! :) anyway, the lowdown on my individual events: (event - original time new time)
50 freestyle - :33.10 32.99
100 freestyle - 1:19 1:14
100 backstroke - 1:29 1:26
100 breaststroke - 1:33 1:36 (i was mad at myself for this one :P)

ok, the rest of the post will go in this order: story, longing, quote - enjoy :) (btw - nothing in this post is fictional.)

rewind to the summer....

most people do not drive twelve passenger vans around. even fewer of these vans are the particular shade of blue-green that characterizes our van. so, when i drive it, i am...shall we say...easy to recognize. on this particular day, i needed to fill said van's gas tank after signing up for physics class. do you have ANY idea how hard it is to maneuver a van that size around a crowded gas station lot? lemme tell ya, it ain't no trip in da park. i drove around the dratted lot three times TRYING to find an open pump (that i could pull the behemoth i was driving into). i was, needless to say (though i'll say it anyway), very frustrated by the time i found a spot. as i pulled next to the pup, i happened to see something in my left sideview mirror. i thought i was seeing things. i quickly finished pulling in, turned off the van, and hopped out as quickly as i could.

he was there. it was the last place in the world i'd expected to see him, yet he was walking toward me with the smile that melts my heart every time i see it. i found out (after asking "what are you doing here???") that his job (construction) had him painting the inside of the Jimmy John's that was connected to the gas station. he'd seen the van during his break (duh...how could you miss it?) and followed me around the parking lot. it was such a small thing...but the few minutes we were able to chat made my day...just remembering it makes me smile now. i can't explain how...i'm not good enough with words...i can't explain how happy that made me or why it struck such a chord. but it did. :)

now, for philo...

longing...i'm not talking about a want here. we all "want" stuff - a faster computer, chocolate, better grades - but these are wants ONLY. they may seem like pressing needs at the time, but they are not truly what we NEED. they satisfy only temporarily and leave no lasting impression.

to use a quote from the movie the tale of despereaux, we are "full of longing". the princess longed for sunlight and for rain - for her kingdom to be a joyful place once more. we also long for the things that bring lasting joy. the things we long for may not always be easy to find or maintain, but they bring a joy that is not easily dispelled.

to illustrate, i'll name a few of my own longings. i think it should be fairly obvious where the joys come from.
-i long for the Eucharist. who doesn't long to partake of the Bread of Life?
-i long for love. we as humans were made to love God and to seek love - for God *is* love. our longing for love is the manifestation of our search for God in each person we meet.
-i long for music as a starving child longs for bread or a man in a desert longs for water. (not that this would be hard to figure out, knowing me...) ;)
-i long for heaven.
-i long for truth.
-i long for peace.
-i long for acceptance. as i am, no ifs, ands, or buts - just for who i am.
-i long for Love. (it bears repeating.)

and, last but not least, the quote from a very special Book. :)

"If I speak in human and angelic tongues, but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge, if I have all faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
"Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, it is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
"Love never fails.
"If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing. For we know partially and we prophesy partially, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things. At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then shall I know fully, as I am fully known. So faith, hope, love remain, these three, but the greatest of these is love." -1 Cor 13

-enna

VALENTINE'S CLASSIC!! and a history of St. Valentine

for the seventh and last year, i will spend the saturday closest to Valentine's day in my swimsuit, wet and waiting for my next event. yep, tomorrow's the Valentine's Classic, and my last home meet. in a way, i'm sorta sad...i've been competing for seven years now. plus i really enjoy the camaraderie on my team - it's like a really BIG family. but i'm not going to miss punishing my shoulders all the time. DEFINITELY not missing that. here are the events i'll be swimming and my seed times (fastest time to date) for them. (format - min:sec)
4x50yd medley relay (backstroke, BREASTSTROKE, butterfly, freestyle) - n/a
50yd freestyle - 0:33
100yd freestyle - 1:19
100yd backstroke - 1:30
100yd breaststroke - 1:36
4x50yd freestyle relay - n/a

since sunday *is* St. Valentine's Day, i'm going to offer a history of the saint that the holiday is named after. becuz apparently, most of the world doesnt know the reason we CALL it "Valentine's" Day.

St. Valentine was a priest in rome during the Christian persecutions under claudius II. legend says he would perform marriages for soldiers in the roman army - which had been outlawed by claudius. we do know that when he would not renounce his faith, he was beaten with clubs, and when that wouldn't kill him, he was beheaded on february 14 in approximately 270. he's now the patron Saint of affianced couples, bee keepers, epilepsy, fainting, greetings, happy marriages, love, lovers, plague, travellers, and young people. (just a few different things to keep him busy!) the holiday as we know it started as the roman holiday lupercalia (if you wanna know what it was, look it up, i'm NOT going into it). anyhoo, between St. Valentine being patron Saint of love and lovers and pretty much everything related to it and the ancient festival lupercalia once celebrated the day after, St. Valentine's Day became a holiday dedicated to couples.

so, there's a nice history for ya, and the less serious business of the swim meet ;) i'll post results sometime before next weekend.

if i don't post before, happy Valentine's day to all!
-enna

(references used: www.catholic.org and www.history.com/content/valentine)

The Dark Forest, Part 3

and this is the conclusion of the story i started three weeks ago...cheers and i hope you've liked it. :)
-enna

A Father’s Love
I bind my arm tightly with a clean cloth. Then I slip back into the house. Within five minutes, I am racing down the path to the west, one I have ne’er taken before. I had very good reason to avoid this path – this trail leads to the Dark Elf’s castle. I know exactly where he will take her. The legend says that he must take her to the highest point in the kingdom.

His castle is a forbidding one. We live on the slopes of a mountain, and the Dark Elf dwells at its very top. A single tower rises above the rest, one with a flat top and no roof. It is here that he will attempt to sacrifice her.

I heft the rope higher on my shoulder, and double-check the grappling hook in my belt. I can feel my strength trickling out of me along with my blood. The wound is deep, but the well of my love for Amarie is deeper. I will save her before his wound kills me.

I know the words of the song Amarie often sings, and I sing it now, to give me strength and courage to continue.

“Lux terrae in nocte amulavisti
“Ocula mea aperuisti, me videas
“Forma ut te adorare viscum illud fecerit
“Spes vitae tecum acta

“Rex dierum omnium, O sublatus summiter
“Glorificus in caelo superno
“Summisse ad terram creatam te vidisti
“Omnis pro amoris causa pauperis fieristi”*

As I finish the song, I find myself at the foot of the castle wall. I take a deep breath and begin the long, laborious climb upward.


On the Tower
I stand over the girl, my triumph complete. Her flame-like hair fans out around her head, and her icy blue eyes stare into mine. Her dark bonds now bind her hands and feet to the altar, and she remains gagged. I slowly take the silver dagger into my hand. It is heavy, but its weight is a solid presence that reminds me what I am about to do.

I suddenly hear something from behind me, and I whirl around, my knife leaping to accompany the dagger in my hand. That blasted man, Kristof, is standing there. A grappling hook and a rope attest to how he climbed here. Before I have time to take in more, he throws himself upon me and wrests the dagger from my hand. I dive after him, but he throws the dagger over the edge of the tower. I rush to the verge just in time to see the dagger shatter into pieces on the rocks below. Shaking in fury, I turn back towards this meddling father.

He is standing next to his daughter and cries to the skies, “Lux terrae, libere filiam meam!”** A blinding light slashes through the bonds that hold the girl to the altar.

“NO!” I scream, and jump towards her, my knife slashing down to kill the girl. I must have this power!

Kristof jumps in my way. He takes the blow without a grunt and knocks the knife from my hand. We wrestle on the top of the tower, unaware of our surroundings. Suddenly, there is nothing beneath my back. I look down to see myself falling. Kristof is holding me tight so that I cannot cast a spell. I struggle with the energy of a wild animal. I cannot die! I must become invincible! I must...


Epilogue
Sacrifice Out of Love
We finally found that which is stronger than the evil of the Dark Elf – the love of a father for his daughter. My father gave his life on that tower so that I could live unafraid of the darkness. I stumble down the stairs of the tower and out to my father’s broken body. I murmur a prayer for his soul, then dig a grave for him with a shovel-like piece of wood. After I bury my father, I return to the clearing to try to rebuild a life for myself.

Two months later, I am the only one in the area besides the birds and the animals. I decide to leave this forest. Despite the Dark Elf’s death, it remains dark. It will take a long time for the forest to recover from the years of dark magic he wreaked upon it. While it recuperates, I will go to inhabited lands and tell them the story of the Dark Elf and hope that their land will be able to recognize evil. I do not wish for every land to become like the Dark Forest.

*Light of the world, you stepped down into darkness
Opened my eyes, let me see
Beauty that made this heart adore you
Hope of a life spent with you
King of all days, O so highly exalted
Glorious in heaven above
Humbly you came to the earth you created
All for love’s sake became poor
**Light of the world, free my daughter!

muzik in review!

never fear, faithful readers...the philosophical post WILL come...just not tonight ;) since i got my new mp3 in the mail today (and with it, 50 free songs – WOOT!), i’m going to offer for you today a very much overdue music review!

i unfortunately can’t offer you a review on my new mp3 player yet...cuz i haven’t used it yet. like i said earlier, i got it today. and since it’s got one of those integrated batteries, it needed to charge for ten loverly hours (not :P)...so it got plugged into the computer around 11 am and won’t finish until 9pm. can’t you just feel my joy radiating through the internet? :P i CAN debate the technical aspects of it though...and my old one too ;)

the new one is an e-matic 4 GB video/photo/music player. i have no intention of using the video aspect of it (i prefer to watch my movies on a screen that’s a tad bit bigger than 1.8 inches), but i’ll definitely use the music aspect of it (duh...that’s what i bought it for), and very possibly the picture aspect...not sure. i CAN say that the headphones that came with it are phenomenal. as i’ve been listening to my music (off my computer) with them, i’m hearing SO MUCH that i’d missed before...i’m very much enjoying it. :)

OLD mp3...it was a sansa sandisk m250, 2 GB music player. i very much liked it. the menu was easy to understand and access. the recorder could have used some work, but hey – it’s an mp3 player, not a microphone, so it was fairly good for what it was. the only reason i’m even replacing it is becuz it died. over the summer, i accidentally dropped it in a cup of water...oops...i let it dry out and got as much moisture out of it as i could. it worked like normal until december...then the volume control on it fizzled and died...on full blast...thereby making my portable PERSONAL music device rather useless unless i was making everyone around me listen. i caved when the play/pause button started going the same way as the volume. hence me reviewing mp3’s in the first place.

before i go to muzik itself, i shall offer my opinion on emusic.com – the site from whence i got my 50 free songs. the site has a fairly decent navigational setup. it’s easy to cancel after you’ve used up all your free downloads (hehe ;) ), the sound quality is decent...but if you listen to obscure artists (like me), this is definitely NOT the site to go to. i had a very hard time finding a lot of the bands that i listen to. if i did find them, they normally did not have their most recent albums. something else to be careful of is the method of payment – you have credits toward free songs, but some albums ONLY let you get the tracks if you buy the credits – you can’t just use your free ones. which is why i don’t have fireflight’s healing of harms or red’s breathe into me...i was more than slightly annoyed. :P so in other words, unless you get the free song thing, it’s not worth the money. heck, they didn’t even have some of the mainstream artists, like disturbed, evanescence, or nickleback. and THAT, ladies and gents, is emusic.com.

NOW...the muzik...h3h h3h h3h...anyone who’s been reading this blog for any length of time knows i’m a muzik addict and fairly easy-going with what i listen to (basically, anything except country and dirty lyrics). SO...h3h...like i said, i got 50 new songs today, and i also received two albums for Christmas, one just before my birthday, and i bought one (becuz i’d borrowed it and liked it so much that i got my own copy). i’ll put the album title as the beginning of each paragraph so that it’s clear what i’m talking about (which would be rather unusual for me...:P ;) ) i also got several single tracks, but i’m not going to list them here...otherwise we run the risk of the blogger getting bored, and you’ll have two-word reviews. i’ll save those for another time (maybe when i get full albums!).

Awake – Skillet: two thumbs up! this is their latest CD, and it’s amazing...i can’t think of a single song on here i don’t like. most of the tracks on this CD are shorter than what you would normally expect, but i don’t really think that’s bad...it’s just a shortish CD. not a bad thing...although i wouldn’t have complained if they’d included more muzik along these lines ;) this album goes from fairly hard (Monster) to soft ballads (Never Surrender). like i said...two thumbs up!

Welcome to the Masquerade – Thousand Foot Krutch: another AWESOME CD! the latest from TFK...i really enjoyed this one. this one is longer than Awake, but quantity does NOT compromise the quality here. they use a fair bit of strings, but it just makes it even better. ^_^ another two thumbs up!

Confessions – Pillar: great CD. another one i really liked. :) once again...this is the latest CD by the artist. it starts very hard, but softens up...all round, very enjoyable. :) it’s another one that’s shortish, but the quality more than makes up for the lack of quantity. yet again...two thumbs up!

It Is Well – Kutless: this is not a hard rock CD. like the three CD’s previously reviewed, this is the latest CD by Kutless. i enjoyed this one as well. it’s more calming than the others, but still very much enjoyable. i’ll give this one and a half thumbs up!

Losing All – Day of Fire: guess what...it’s the latest CD by Day of Fire! haha...no, seriously. it’s a very good CD...it strikes me as somewhat different from the previous two albums, but it’s still a very good listen! i haven’t listened to this one all the way through yet...but what i’ve heard, i like! two thumbs up!

What Was I Thinking – Disciple: aaaaannnnndddd...it’s DISCIPLE’S latest CD! no joke... another very good listen...leastaways, what i’ve heard of it...i haven’t listened to all of it (since i just got it today...) but i like what i’ve heard! it’s different than their other albums, but still a very good listen! two thumbs up!

Metamorphosis – Pillar: and finally, i stop reviewing the latest from different groups ;) haha...this is a Pillar CD from 2000 i found on emusic.com. it’s very different from their later works, but i’ve enjoyed what i’ve heard. although, when i said it’s very different...i MEANT it. i don’t know the band’s history, but i do know that it sounds like there’s a different lead singer. i’ll venture one and a half thumbs up for this one.

Where Do We Go From Here – Pillar: another really good CD. more recent than Metamorphosis, its sound is closer to Confessions than Metamorphosis. i’ll go ahead and give this one two thumbs up (even if i haven’t listened to the whole thing yet ;) )

and that’s where i’ll leave it tonight...much muzik for you...hehehe...i’ll get that philo up soon, i promises! (actually, with valentine's day on sunday, you'll prolly get two...lucky you!) as well as a lowdown of the Valentine’s Classic on Saturday. valete!

-enna

i promises...

hey, there *is* a philosophical post coming...for those who enjoy them...it'll just be a tad bit later than i'd originally planned. as soon as i start sleeping normally again, i will have it up here!
-enna

update fo' today

i'm not 100% sure why i even post anymore...i dont know that anyone reads this. oh well...maybe someday, someone will actually want to take the time to go back and see what i had to say when i was eighteen years old...though WHY they'd want to do that is beyond me...

sorry, i regressed into my depressed self for a second there. :P as i've been reflecting lately, a couple somethings that i've really noticed i have an issue with are self-confidence and trust. i already sorta knew i had issues, but i didn't quite realize how strong they were. in the past couple weeks, i've been doubting myself in almost everything. i've doubted my ability to get into a good college, get a degree, make a decent impact on the world, pass high school, heck, even finish the swim season without seriously injuring myself again, and i've only got two months left. i'm having one heck of a time trying to understand why anyone would even want to hang out with me, because right now, about half the time i'm depressed and mopey. granted, that half-the-time is generally at night, but it occasionally pops up during the day. i have GOT to get this under control, because until i do, my relationships with everyone are going to suffer. the trust issue...meh, i'm working on it...sorta goes along with the self-confidence thing, i can't trust myself to do a decent job of anything anymore and think whatever i do is crummy.

OH WELL...i need to drag myself out of the cycle now otherwise i'll make it worse. i've been much enjoying NOT doing nothing but school all the time. guitar and writing (hence The Dark Forest) have made a comeback into my schedule! woot! the CD is coming along nicely...now i just need to wrestle my microphone into NOT muting itself...

i also purchased a new mp3 player. as a note to all, mp3 players do NOT appreciate being dropped into a cup of water. i managed to revive it and baby it along for almost six months...but i haven't been able to adjust volume for a while and now the play/pause button is going. my new mp3 is in the mail and should be in next week. :)

i've also been doing a lot of reflecting on life in general recently, and not just on the afore-mentioned issues. so please, if anyone is even still out there reading this, please keep me in your prayers.

i'm going to bed now, before my depressing side can take over the post again. good night to all!

-enna

The Dark Forest, Part 2

if there's even anyone left who reads this, here's the second part...it's a little early, but oh well...
-enna


To the Cottage
The orange of the early sunset paints the windows of the small cottage a fiery gold. I shudder as I gallop toward the place. Too much light is in this clearing, where dwells the girl with hair of flame and eyes of ice. It is fitting, then, that I must sacrifice this light-dweller to bring darkness to this whole world.

I crave darkness above all else. I am originally a subterranean dweller, but my own kin threw me out when they saw the blackness of my heart. Fitting it is, what they call me. Yes, I know what they say behind my back – that I am evil incarnate, that my powers are derived from the dark god Pyragmon. These frightened creatures call all magic-users “elves” to distinguish us from those who do not control the forces of the night. I watch them from my tower, struggling with mundane tasks, when if they would simply apply themselves, they could finish the tasks with a snap of their fingers.

No matter. Soon, they will realize my power. By then, I will be unstoppable. But first, I need the girl.

I’ve tried to acquire limitless power without the sacrifice – mainly because I knew the villagers would try to protect her identity. However, none of my efforts yielded any result worth mentioning. I must obtain this level of power!

The trees around me give way to the clearing of light. I quickly have my mount, a stallion as black as my own heart, back out of the light.

The girl is there, wringing the water out of some white piece of material. She is bent over a basin filled with sudsy water, completely unaware of my presence. I watch her for a little while, almost fascinated by the ways of this strange creature.

I cannot see her eyes from where I sit, but her hair is stunningly obvious. Flame-gold, it tumbles down her back in a river of light, contrasting with the blue of her simple dress. Her skin is so white, I almost cannot tell the difference between her hands and the white cloth she is washing. She suddenly raises her head, and I catch myself before I gasp. Her icy blue eyes are clear and piercing, and seem to have beams of light coming from them. Her features are small and delicate, her lips full and red. Most men would call her a beauty.

For me, it is simply another confirmation that this is the girl I seek.

She turns back to her washing. As she does so, I dismount, landing silently on the forest floor. She is seemingly unaware of my slow approach. I slip behind her without a word, and am surprised when she speaks. “You don’t need to sneak around,” she says, and turns towards me.

Her eyes widen in shock when she sees me. I smile, mocking her surprise. “Am I not who you thought?”

Her skin, already so pale, has managed to become even moreso. She does not answer my question, only speaks three small words. “The Dark Elf.”


Confrontation
I have never seen the Dark Elf before, but I know that this is he. His skin is deathly pale, almost as pale as my own. Even the slight hint of olive cannot lessen the contrast between his skin and his black hair, or his eyes. His eyes are what truly frighten me. Blood-red, they seem demonic. Although, if all the stories are true, he is a demon.

He takes another step toward me. His eyes never leaving mine, he snaps his long fingers. A horse with the same demonic eyes trots out of the forest toward the Dark Elf. He speaks again, in his deceptively pleasant voice. “Will you come for a ride with me?” I know he means a ride to my death, though why he chose me for such a terror is beyond my comprehension.

Before I have a chance to answer, my father runs into the clearing. He has his long knife in his hand, ready to fight. “No! Not Amarie!”

The Dark Elf turns to him. “I don’t believe I asked you, Kristof.” A shimmering knife appears in his hand as he speaks.

“She is not the one you need,” my father shoots back.

The Dark Elf smiles mockingly and gestures around the clearing. “Then tell me, Kristof, where can I find another virgin with hair of flame and eyes of ice?”

All at once, I know why he has come. “You want me for the sacrifice.” I speak calmly, not revealing the turmoil and chaos now whirling within my soul.

The elf turns back toward me. “Yes,” he says simply. “Will you come?”

I will my voice not to shake as I reply. “I will never give my life to Pyragmon!”

In two bounds, the elf is at my side. He thrusts his knife into his belt and grabs my arm in a grip so tight, I cry out. He wrenches me up, throws me on his horse, and begins to tie me to the saddle. Everything is suddenly moving so much faster than normal, as if someone decided to speed up time.

My father bellows, as a wounded animal does. He crosses the clearing at lightning speed and raises his knife to strike and kill the elf.

Suddenly, time has stopped moving so fast. Instead, it moves so slow that every second seems to be an hour. I am held captive, both by the rope and by the horror of the scene before me.
The Dark Elf’s knife shimmers into his hand. Some distant corner of my mind wonders how it got there; I did not see his hand return to his belt. He parries my father’s blow and knocks the knife from Kristof’s hand. The knife flashes in the air. Crimson blood sprays from a wound. My father cries out. The Dark Elf quickly wipes his knife on the grass and returns it to his belt. He strides to me, quickly finishes tying the knots, and mounts. The animal rears and paws the sky with its hooves. As it dashes from the light into the darkness of the forest, I crane my head for a final look at my father.

He is lying upon the ground. Blood is streaming from a gash in his arm. He looks at me, and the sorrow and anger in his eyes begins to consume his features. Before he can stand, I am whisked away to a petrifying and uncertain future.


“With Your Blood”
I am thrilled. This was an extremely easy venture. The village is gone, yes, but I didn’t need any of those people. They were expendable, unnecessary for anything except my brief enjoyment. I revel in the pain I cause others. Though I possess the dark abilities to twist the world to my liking, I still relish the chance to apply my hand to my favorite craft.

The girl struggles against her bonds. I chuckle softly, a sound completely swallowed by the encroaching darkness. Oddly enough, though, the complete darkness won’t envelop me as it normally does. It stays back, allowing the softer darkness of night to surround the girl. She seems to be saying something. I stop my horse and dismount. I wrench her face so that she can see me. Her eyes are filled with tears and some petty human emotion. I whisper to her, “No calling for help. No lightness will reach you now.” I rip a length of material from the hem of her dress and use it to gag her, then untie her from the saddle.

She attempts to run. I catch her easily and laugh. The haunting sound echoes off the trees. I tie her hands and feet, and loop the rope around her arms and legs for good measure. I lift her in front of the saddle, then remount and urge my horse onward. We are mere minutes away from the castle.

Her struggling does not cease the entire way there. Though her mutterings have stopped, the darkness refuses to enfold me. I curse this creature of the light. It is she who must be keeping the darkness from me.

We clatter into the courtyard. I dismount and drop the portcullis. I turn back to the girl, sitting on the black stallion. He is fidgety. Her eyes are wide in terror as he prances, snorting and pawing the ground. Suddenly, he rears and screams. It is an eerie sound, almost human with a demonic undertone. The girl screams as well as she falls from his back. He bolts from the courtyard, and I dart to catch the girl. She must not be harmed before the sacrifice. I set her lightly on her feet and loose her bonds.

Her clear, icy eyes seem to probe the depths of my own bloody orbs. “Why have you brought me here?”

I am pleasant with her. No need to frighten her more than is absolutely necessary, else she might hurt herself. “With your blood, I can have the power I seek.”

“Then why do you not simply cut my arm and take a vial of the blood? You can do that; just let me go to my father!” She holds out her white forearm, the blue veins showing clearly against her alabaster skin, her eyes pleading.

I gently push her hand back to her side and lean closer, until her face is mere inches from mine. “I cannot take a single vial of blood. The sacrifice demands all of your blood.”

A fury ignites in her eyes as she backs away. “No! I will not be an instrument of your dark god! Lux terrae, orationem meam audi! Adiuve...”*

“NO!” I screech. Her words brand themselves like light upon my vision. I cannot let her finish! I throw myself at her and tackle her to the ground. As we fall, I roll so that it is not she who strikes the ground, but my own back. I put my hand over her mouth. She bites it. I speak quickly. “Lige lucem in loco hoc!”**

She is bound by ropes of darkness. Her mouth is covered by one strong strand. Her clear eyes shimmer with defiance. I smile back mockingly, then twist my hand in a strange movement. She is lifted to a high tower with a flat roof. This is the tower whence the sacrifice will take place. I begin to mount the stairs. The time is almost here. Soon I shall be invincible.

*Light of the world, hear my prayer! Help...
**Bind the light in this place!