Chapter 62 — The Courage to Face One’s Fears, Part II

Priest Dohan's gaze drifted to the window. His office afforded him a view of the grounds behind the Chapel where the children from the orphanage played when not receiving instruction in letters and the faith.

The children were important and needed to be nurtured with care. Not just because Hemse willed it, but because those orphans would become future members of the community, with many becoming guardsmen or new acolytes. He wasn't naive enough to believe that children weren't capable of terrible cruelties—they were, and orphans particularly so. Rather, the children were still at an age of potential and could still be molded in positive directions, whereas the adults…

He let out a drawn-out sigh.

Unfortunately, the adults were much more stuck in their ways and prone to stubbornness and overreactions to address grievances and affirm their shortsighted pride. One of the mysteries that proved the divine nature of the gods was how they worked their grand designs throughout the world with such imperfect beings as their artists' tools.

A brief knock at the door was followed by one of the still-youthful priestesses entering.

“Head Priest Dohan, excuse the interruption. A well-dressed foreign girl named Ria is asking to see you,” Priestess Briella reported then cocked her head to the side slightly. “Is she the 'witch' that many of the villagers are concerned about?”

“I'm afraid so,” Priest Dohan replied with a chuckle, his mood perking up at the unannounced visit from one of the few bright spots to grace the village of late.

“How unfortunate.” The priestess shook her head and muttered, “For one blessed by the gods to be viewed as a source of evil.”

“All the more reason for us to be supportive and guide her to a good path,” Priest Dohan instructed young Briella. “You can send her in; I was looking for a distraction, and this comes at a good time.”

“Her dog too?”

Priest Dohan smiled at the thought of the offended preeners he would be able to remind of the statue of Hemse's Heifer that stood proudly behind the altar they worshiped at and that Hemse loved and nurtured all life, even animals. “Yes, that's fine.”

“As you wish it,” Priestess Briella acknowledged and closed the door behind her as she left.

For Briella to have noticed the seed of divinity present within the foreign girl reflected well on the newly elevated priestess' growth in her faith. Having known her mother before she died, he was quite pleased with her progress and would have to entrust her with more duties so that she would continue to grow.

When little Ria cautiously entered the room followed by her familiar, Priest Dohan gave her a hearty welcome and his best smile. Judging by the girl's subdued reaction and strained smile, her reason for coming wasn't something happy.

He resisted letting his shoulders sag at the unfairness of blessings from the gods. The greater the gods' tasks, the heavier it weighed on the one chosen to be their instrument, and the weight of fate surrounding young Ria was particularly strong. Though there was the possibility that the nascent divinity residing within her was because she was a lost descendant of a minor deity rather than a recipient of a direct blessing, such distinction wouldn't change that she was destined to be a fulcrum for choosing the direction of history.

That the budding teen had grown remarkably in spirit and magic compared to even a few days ago was another sign of her importance to the grand design. Such rapid growth was no coincidence.

After the initial exchange of pleasantries, Priest Dohan clapped his hands together. “Now, how can I be of assistance?”

The girl took a deep breath. “If you're still willing, I'd like to have a divination performed.”

Dohan's eyes traveled to the sack in the basket she was carrying. “Of course, I'd be happy to. You are aware that an appropriate offering is required to achieve meaningful results? And that the items will be sacrificed to Hemse?”

A grimace passed across her face before her shoulders drooped and she nodded.

It was truly unfortunate. All of the girl's remaining possessions from her home were likely important to her. But, that should also increase the chance of success. He resolved to do his best that the offerings not be wasted as he retrieved the gilded offering plate used for the most important of ceremonies and placed it on the desk for her to use. “Let's see then what you've brought. You can tell me about what you'd like to know while we go through them.”

The girl placed the items one at a time on the offering plate: a silver mirror, a silver comb, a gold coin in a foreign currency, an alchemy book. “The comb and mirror were my mother's. The coin is from my father's savings. The alchemy book was owned by a precious friend. I'd like to know… the fates of my family and my friend. I have two older brothers, but I no longer possess anything that connects me to them…” She said the last part almost pitifully and reached down to touch the mirror, clearly not wanting to part with it.

Dohan felt his heart tighten. Ria's expression was one he was familiar with. Family seeking closure regarding missing loved ones not expected to return. “Are you sure you want to part with both the mirror and the comb? With how important they are to you, I think that Hemse would consider either one alone to be adequate. More than adequate, really. Particularly, if we offer a bowl of your blood as is usual when seeking blood relatives.”

She looked up, surprised. “Will the blood be enough to learn about my brothers as well?”

“It might well be. With the value of the other items, I think the chances of success are good.”

Ria's hand hovered over the mirror for a moment before hesitantly moving to the comb and returning it to the sack in her basket.

Priest Dohan stood and lifted the plate. “Shall we head to the altar and see what we can find out?”

The girl's eyes drifted across the unfinished notes about the trial still on his desk, and she seemed to come to a decision. “Um… Priest Dohan, are you one of the elders that will be judging at Amilee's trial?”

“I am.”

“Is there anything that can be done for her?” Ria asked and looked down at her hands. “I don't want Amilee to die because of my actions.”

Ah... of course. That would certainly be a difficult burden for a youth to carry. That she was also open-minded and empathetic enough to regret having played the hero's role was truly encouraging. “Amilee only has herself to blame for her own crimes, but if it eases your mind, I intend to seek a lesser punishment for her if possible.”

Ria's eyes widened with honest surprise. “Even though she was performing necromancy?”

He gave her a gentle smile. “Though Hemse finds necromancy an abhorrent practice that interferes in the cycle of life and while He is understanding of the need to root out weeds, to judge Amilee as a weed when her potential has yet to bear fruit seems a mite hasty. And even weeds can find use guarding creek beds against flooding when properly tended.

“That said, I have known Amilee since she was little, before jealousy and the pressure of expectations led her to choose her current path, and I would be mighty sad if there was nothing that could be done to set her on a new, more productive path.

“I do have some hope of being able to convince the other elders, and you have my promise that I will offer my best effort on her behalf.”

Ria's expression relaxed a fair amount. “Thank you, Priest Dohan.”

“Ready?” When she nodded, he turned to Priestess Briella who was waiting patiently by the door. “Priestess Briella, would you like to assist?”

“I'd be honored, Head Priest.”

A small gasp snuck out from Ria. “Am I supposed to call you Head Priest as well?”

Priest Dohan chuckled. “No, young Ria, addressing me as Priest Dohan, like you were, is fine.”

The divination ritual was much more intense than usual as they beseeched Hemse for knowledge hidden and known. As the paper of names and each of the offerings faded into motes of light, Priest Dohan was granted a vision and understanding.

First, the mother's mirror. A line of women and children stared vacantly as they were directed to climb the stairs of a platform attached to a grand metal pillar made of metal so black it absorbed the light. A curtain of golden light extended past the vision to either side. The women were young and old, some carrying a child too young to walk. As each stepped onto the platform, the ritual circle would light and the person would drop to the surface, lifeless. Two of the four mages operating the foul necromantic magic would rush forward and toss the body off the side into a mass-burial pit already filled with countless others.

Before Priest Dohan could come to terms with the horror of the first vision, the alchemy text faded, and the second vision began. The scene from before repeated. This time the victim was a girl Ria's age. But the vision didn't end as her death occurred, instead sinking into the ground and traveling at a dizzying rate of speed before the ground opened up to reveal a grand cavern with walls carved to form a hall of glowing glyphs. At the center of the cavern slept an ancient golden dragon with black-tipped scales and black horns, its body coiled around a glowing inscribed ritual circle that must have been huge. From the dragon grew a towering tree of the same light-absorbing metal as the pillar attached to the previously seen ritual circle.

He had heard it said that dragons became trees when they died but had never suspected that such a story was true! What that meant about the true nature of the Great Barrier Wall and the fate of Ria's mother and friend…

The coin was the next item, and the third vision began. A man and three teens were laboring among many others. Some digging with shovels, others moving or laying cobblestone, others spreading mortar. Rift fiends set upon them, tearing the men and youths apart. A man among the shovel group rallied the others, and they fought with their shovels until the remaining rift fiends were driven off. Though many were saved, the man who lead the rally eventually succumbed to his wounds.

Finally, the remaining blood in the offering bowl was taken. Priest Dohan's was given a view of the three teens from before. This time training on a field of dirt with spears as soldiers looked on. One forced to endure the training even as his bandaged wounds re-opened and bled.

As the final vision faded, Priest Dohan motioned to Priestess Briella that she could stop the Chant of Seeking, and his mind churned over what he had learned as he offered up the traditional passage of thanks for prayers and petitions answered. Shaken by what he had seen and learned, he worried about how much he should tell the girl who waited nervously for the results her offerings had purchased her.

As he moved to step down from the altar's dais, Priestess Briella called out in an awed whisper, “Head Priest! There's something on the altar!”

He spun around, and sure enough there was! Gifts from Hemse himself!

On the offering-plate was an amulet that looked similar to a common faith medallion but was crafted of gold and silver and was anything but ordinary. Arrayed around the amulet were a stalk of harvested millet, a radish, and a bundle of pansies—all faintly glowing.

Reverently, he retrieved the offering plate and carried it down the altar dais steps to where Ria was kneeling in supplication. Her eyes widened at the sight of the items on the plate. “My offerings…”

Priest Dohan nodded. “It seems your offerings exceeded what was required.”

“No, I mean, aside from the amulet, these are the offerings I gave in Shadewood during the Harvest Festival—that I harvested from my back garden,” the girl restated in wonder as Priestess Briella took responsibility for holding the plate so he could properly present the amulet.

Oh? How unusual. Considering they had clearly been blessed, the gifts weren't a rejection of young Ria's offering… maybe rather a reward and reminder?

“Receive the bounty and blessings of faith,” he intoned and placed the amulet over her head, and the moment his hands left the chain of braided gold and silver, the amulet transformed to look ordinary bronze and unremarkable.

Priestess Briella gasped at the change, and Priest Dohan marveled as well. An amulet that would look ordinary to all except those sensitive to its holy aura. An amulet that marked its wearer as blessed by Hemse himself.

Ria held the amulet's medallion in her hand as she looked up and asked, “The divination, was it successful?”

“It was, child.” Priest Dohan offered his arm to help her stand.

The girl's lower lip quivered as she rose. “My family?”

Priest Dohan pulled Ria in to hug and broke the news as gently as he could. “Your brothers yet live, and I saw them being trained to learn the spear.”

At the girl's quiet sob, his throat tightened, and he looked to the ceiling, blinking twice to keep his own eyes dry.

“My father?” she asked into his robes.

“He died protecting your brothers and others from rift-fiends that had tunneled under a weak spot in the Great Barrier Wall. Many were saved that day thanks to his actions.”

Priest Dohan gave her time to recover and ask further when she was ready. After some time, young Ria stepped back and raised her red-rimmed eyes with determination. “And my mother and Jeni?”

“Though no longer among the living, their spirits are yet bound to this world.” It was a terrible thing to tell a child, but rather than the reaction he was expecting, the girl's jaw tightened and her fists clenched. A sense of fiery rage smoldered behind eyes that momentarily gazed off into the distant north before she defiantly dried them on her sleeves.

The news was expected, Priest Dohan realized. He considered telling her about the dragon but decided against it. Ria was at an age prone to reckless choices and filling her head with thoughts of dragons and draconic magic seemed unwise. Care would have to be taken that this girl who might well decide the future's path for a great many people didn't lose her way while seeking the path of vengeance.

“I don't know if it means anything to you, but there was a third boy with your brothers. Not of your blood, but with ties to your family,” Priest Dohan offered, and the girl blinked as if having momentarily forgotten where she was.

“Jarrel's son Danny, probably,” she offered and unclenched her fists, going through the motions of smoothing out her skirt that had become wrinkled when she stood after kneeling.

“Ria, are there any prayers that you would like me or Priestess Briella to offer on your behalf?” Priest Dohan asked.

Ria glanced at Priestess Briella briefly before returning her gaze to him and answering with a tight voice, “For Jarrel's safe return.”

“Is he also in Revant?”

Ria shook her head. “No, he's the butcher's son, here in Vorshan's Hills. He's…” She stopped and changed what she was going to say. “…the murders and missing children, he's investigating those.”

Priest Dohan nodded. “I see. I'm sure your prayer will be heard. Is there anything else we can do for you, Ria?”

“No.” Ria shook her head again. “Thank you, Priest Dohan. You've been kind, and I've already taken too much of your time.”

She gave him a polite bow, and after receiving her remaining gifts, placing them in the sack in her basket, she left with a worried familiar following her.

“I feel like there must be something else we should be doing for her,” Priestess Briella muttered after the girl was gone.

Priest Dohan agreed, but he was at a loss as to what that might be. And there was another girl who would be on trial on the morrow and was in even more desperate need of his attention if she was to have any future at all. Rigure, at least, would be persuadable. The others, he wasn't so sure.