Sabis

An eerie green glow lit up the boys young face as he filled one of the Grand Temple’s braziers that stood near each main entrance. He had already heaped up the cauldrons with charcoal and was now pouring the oil of blessing on the slowly burning flames. The oil as it burned made him nauseous, but it was his job and he would not fail in his tasks. The priests told him daily that he would get used to the smell of the oil and in time come to appreciate its effects. With the current brazier full he moved to the next one in front of the south door, careful not to spill any of the oil on the polished stones as he walked with the heavy bucket of oil. As he neared the next brazier some movement within the flame caught his eye, “What was that?”, he exclaimed only to see a small head pull back into the glowing coals. It cant be, there hasn’t been a guardian born to the temple in generations. As he moved closer and started to pour the oil into the brazier a small reptilian form about 3 inches long rolled in the flame generated by the oil. It rolled its small glowing eyes in a happy way, then slithered back into the hottest part of the flaming bowl. A small tongue could be seen every now and then lapping up the oil in blobs. “Don’t eat it all, I only just filled it”, Sabis called out. A High Priest was strolling near as he yelled out, but only shook his head and walked on thinking the boy was daft in the head. The creature poked its head out once more and then blinked sleepily, just as quickly it was gone into the coals for a nap. This was going to be his secret for now, as who would believe him any way?