Chapter VI — Of the Fire in the Streets

1. And banners were lifted high, not in the name of truth, but in the pride of men who made themselves gods.
2. They promised justice, yet sowed chaos; they preached peace, yet their hands were swift to shed blood.
3. The prophets of “progress” clothed their chains in fine speech, saying, “This is freedom,” yet it was bondage.
4. The zealots of violence cried, “This is holy,” yet their swords devoured the innocent, and their altars dripped with blood.
5. The fire spread in the streets, not from heaven, but from wrath; it consumed brother and neighbor alike.
6. The children were taught to despise their fathers, to mock their mothers, and to scorn the wisdom of old paths.
7. The nations praised tolerance but cursed truth, boasting of liberty while chaining themselves to vanity.
8. The watchers moved through the city like shadows, not guarding but hunting, and the people fled though they knew not their crime.
9. And the rulers trembled, fearing to speak lest they lose their thrones, and so they bowed before the noise.
10. But the Spirit saith: fire is given not to destroy, but to reveal. Lies are straw, and truth alone endureth as gold.
11. Blessed are they who lift no banner of men, but the standard of the Most High, for they shall stand when the fire is spent.
12. Thus shall it be: the streets shall cool, the banners shall fall, the hunters shall vanish, but the Word endureth forever.