Hugh Hammer (ASOIF/SI)

She had never seen the flames so agitated, so restless, so prone to

 rage one second, subside too almost nothing the next. And she was

 not alone in this, all of the priesthood were reporting the same, the

 flames unquiet, and impossible to read.

 With increasing desperation, the priests had tried everything they

 knew how, more sacrifices, more sacrifices of the specially breed

 slaves whose entire life was dedicated to their eventual

 consummation by the flames. Even sending priests to feed the

 flames had not resulted in any better results.

 For many moons now the flames were unreadable, or worse yet full

 of terrible portents that had driven many of her fellow priests mad,

 some throwing themselves into the flames, screaming incoherent

 blasphemies, others gouging their own eyes out at what they had

 glimpsed.

 A few had lapsed into catatonic states from which they could not to

 revived, sitting staring off into space, eyes blank and unresponsive,

 unable to feed themselves nor control their bowels.

 It had been moons of this, here in Volantis in the Temple of the Lord

 of Light, and across all of Essos, the priests and priestesses of

 R'hllor cut off from the Lord of Light, bereft of his visions and his

 magic. And thrown into a terrible confusion and doubt, already there

 were schisms and factions forming within the faith, threatening to

 tear it apart. Added to that the foul tide of apostasy was washing

 through the faithful, and even corrupting the priesthood itself, terrible

 and all that this was. No mercy had been shown to those who

 showed the tell-tale signs of apostasy, they were cast into the flames

 alive and screaming.

In her heart of hearts even she had started to quail as the moons

 had passed, terrified that her God had abandoned his faithful, or

 even more horrific, that her God had turned his face from the world

 completely. Either of these outcomes would be a disaster and would

 lead to the end of the world she knew.

 In her chambers in the Great Temple of Volantis she had even come

 to avoid the personal flame that she lit every day, lighting it just out of

 habit, and so as not to draw attention to herself. Everyday she went

 about her duties, by rote it had to be said but still, she completed her

 devotions as was required, preached when preaching was required,

 showed the correct level of devotion in each situation.

 But she had come to dread looking into the flames, to only see

 chaos and images that made no sense, that defied any rational

 explanation. Suns bursting into existence above cities, turning them

 to ash, great metal birds, bigger than the biggest dragons, flying

 through the skies. Strangely dressed people, all staring at small, flat

 tablets from which lights glowed softly. Metal carriages, with no

 horses to pull them, some of them armored like knights, with lances

 belching forth fire and flame. Men like ants scrambling over a mud

 smeared landscape, carrying short spears, scurrying about, falling as

 the earth itself erupted like boils being burst. Moving pictures coming

 from every flat surface, showing things show could not understand,

 images sometimes, what looked like writing other times, or even

 indecipherable scribbles. Columns of fire reaching into the sky, great

 towers of glass in vast cities, thousands of people moving about

 through wide thoroughfares that looks like canyons as the buildings

 on either side were so high. On and on and on these images poured

 out of the flames, no matter where you lit them, no matter what

 sacrifices or prayers you made beforehand. An avalanche of

 senseless chaos, obliterating all visions, all messages, all

 communication from R'hllor.

 As she prepared for bed in her chambers a servant knocked and

 entered, his shaven head bowed as he delivered a summons to

 attend the priesthood in the Great Hall of the Flames.

She dismissed the servant and made her way along the familiar

 passageway of the Temple of the Lord of Light, allowed entrance by

 the Fiery Hand to the ever more secret and heavily guarded sections

 of the temple, until she arrived at the Great Hall of the Flames.

 She made the necessary courtesies to the leaders of her faith,

 before she approached them, standing before the central mystery of

 her faith, her breath catching in her throat.

 At the heart of the Temple was the Unforgettable Fire, the fire that

 burned constantly, day and night, which was fed constantly, but

 which gave off no heat, or fumes, only light, and which left behind no

 ash or residue.

 Thankfully the Unforgettable Fire still burned strong and hearty, she

 did not know what she would have done if the Unforgettable Fire, the

 very essence of her God had been diminished.

 "Melisandre of Ashai, welcome before the Unforgettable Fire"

 intoned the High Priest Lazonar.

 She knelt as was required and intoned the correct response to being

 both in the presence of the Unforgettable Fire and the High Priest of

 the Temple of the Lord of Light.

 "Rise child, for we have much to discuss" he said as she stood up,

 wondering what the High Priest would want to discuss with her, and

 in the presence of the Unforgettable Fire.

 "Our faith has been sorely tried these last few moons Melisandre of

 Ashai, plagued by unbelief and division, torn asunder by these

 strange visions that have interfered with R'hllor's divine messages."

 She said nothing, as nothing was required for her to say, and the

 High Priest had given her no leave to speak.

 The High Priest moved closer to her, almost touching her, and she

 almost, almost flinched at this move, as he bent his head closer to

her to whisper "we know now what has caused this, this disruption in

 the natural order of things Melisandre of Ashai, and what we must do

 to correct the disruption."

 As he said these words she felt a tiny pinprick on the flesh of her

 hand, and she suddenly reared backwards from the High Priest, fear

 and horror chasing across her face, she went to flee, her mind a

 whirl of terror and screaming denial.

 She took two, maybe three steps before she stumbled, staggering as

 the poison took hold of her, her voice croaking out a strangled

 "why?" before the poison robbed her of all control over her body.

 "Why?" came the sibilant reply from the High Priest, whose features

 seemed to be melting like wax before her un-focusing eyes, as she

 slumped in total paralysis upon the cold, stone floor. Why, why was

 the stone so cold?

 Had it not felt warm through the soles of her sandals when she had

 walked into the great, dark, echoing space?

 "Why" came the word in an almost sigh from close by, far too close

 by "because something has changed Melisandre of Ashai,

 something has entered this word whose very presence has disrupted

 everything. The weight of this one's arrival has set the world a

 spinning, disrupting the futures for all things to come. And thus, we

 must needs change also, and accommodate to this new force in the

 world, and prepare ourselves for this new future, these new futures."

 Melisandre had trouble concentrating on what was being said to her,

 her mind spinning and tumbling within her head, unable to stop

 despite her ever more frantic attempts to halt its motion.

 She felt hands upon her, removing her gown, removing her sandals,

 but leaving the ruby at her neck, which was getting cooler to the feel

 of her skin underneath, terror scrabbling at her mind at what that

 could mean.

She was lifted up, carried somewhere, feeling her hands being

 bound above her head, and her feet being bound together, and the

 being hoisted up, her head falling down to see the flames of the

 Unforgettable Fire directly below her.

 "And as we change, so we must discard that of us which is no longer

 needed, no longer required."

 And with that Melisandre felt herself being lowered into the

 Unforgettable Fire, the flames licking against her skin, plunging into

 her suddenly, like knives piercing flesh. Agony howled through her

 mind and suddenly Melisandre of Ashai came face to face with what

 her God was and had she lungs still left she would have screamed

 and screamed and screamed.