The Fire Will Soon Extinguish

Only the dim family flame burned in the dark room. According to legend, this flame contained the spirits of the ancestors. Now, it flickered unstably like a candle in the wind.

Caligula, sleeping before the fire, opened his eyes and sighed. The dove in the cage beside him had felt the unrest and flapped its wings in fear. Caligula grasped it and slit its stomach open, taking out the thin intestines. He hummed the ancient song lightly and deciphered the obscure sign under the firelight. After a long while, he tossed it into the fire.

"The fire will soon extinguish." He read the message from the heavens. Looking up, he stared in the distance blankly as if he could see the spirit far away in the temple, dissipating into flames.

"Your Highness, I hope your gradually leaving spirit will gallop through the starry skies just as you raced across the lands…But sadly, there will be no family flame for you to rest in…"