Zion: Light of the New Moon Part 3, Temple of Unity Ch 0
Zion - Light of the New Moon, Part 3 The Temple of Unity Ch 0
As a Priestess of Tah'aveen, Lady Marion had no trouble sensing the direction of the Temple of Unity. With few other options on how to proceed, she made the call to head there. It was not a complicated task to convince Keeland on the path, but the Wild Landers were a little more difficult to persuade.
"The Temple will provide us safety and sanctuary." the priestess suggested.
"We don't know if they'll want US there though." Iskiy attested, motioning to himself and to Dana, "The temple in Bannihar doesn't allow Wild Landers inside."
"This isn't Bannihar, Iskiy." Keeland came to Marion's support, "Not all cities turn Wild Landers away."
"Aye... so if we were in Myre they'd let us inta th' temple there?" Dana inquired.
"No," Lady Marion acknowledged, "But the Temple of Unity has always supported the Myrenese tenants of temperance--"
"But ye think they relax a lil when it comes t'passin' judgment on guests?" the shaman inquired, a faint barb to her tone.
"The essence of the Half Moon is to weigh and judge," Lady Marion responded calmly, not willing to rise to the bait as presented by the she-wolf, "Rules exist for a reason, and ours is the way to revere tradition."
"Even if ye have bad traditions?" Dana questioned.
"Please..." Keeland spoke up, "Priestess..." he looked to her, "Ms Dana..." he glanced to the Wild Lander, "we can hold philosophical debates later once we get to safety." Marion was relieved that the white-furred wolf did not object to the logic of the Sergeant's advice.
"Dana..." Iskiy spoke quietly once the party had quieted down and begun moving again, "It's a temple... we should be welcome at temples, right?"
Lady Marion paid close attention to the shaman's reply, "Nay, boy-o... th' Temples o' Tah'aveen ain't had a great history o' bein' kind'ta us an' our tribe."
"I don't really have a tribe." Iskiy spoke and, to Lady Marion, it didn't sound convincing... apparently Iskiy thought the same thing, "I mean..." he clarified, "before I was brought to Bannihar I lived with my family, but that was a family, not a tribe."
"An' why don' ye live with em t'this day?" she asked calmly, but pointedly. Iskiy didn't reply, but, by the way his ears and tail drooped, it was obvious he knew the answer. "Why be ye a soldier in Bannihar's army?" she pressed.
"The... the soldiers brought me back to Bannihar and raised me after my family..." he swallowed, "...died."
"An' how'd they die, Iskiy?" Dana pressed.
"They were killed."
Dana nodded at that, "By bandits? Brigands? Beasts o' th' wild?"
Iskiy shook his head, and Lady Marion couldn't help but wonder just what it was Iskiy didn't want to say. She only had a moment to wait before he answered, "The soldiers from Bannihar killed them."
"What had they done?" Lady Marion asked quietly, her heart going out to the poor Wild Lander for having lost his kin, "Were they thieves? Brigands? Cut-purses?"
"No..." Iskiy shook his head, "I mean... I don't think so..." he shrugged, "I don't remember much, except that we lived near the foothills and we kept to ourselves, then one day grandfather came back into camp saying that he saw city soldiers nearby and that he thought they saw him... and... after that..." he covered his face with his paw.
"They saw he had antlers... an' so they followed him back to th' rest o' th' family." Dana spoke for Iskiy.
"There has to be a reason beyond that." Lady Marion suggested, aghast at the thought of such a massacre of innocent people; whether Wild Landers or not, such a thing was unheard of.
"Because they had antlers." Dana reiterated, then rested a paw on Iskiy's shoulder, "Ye were still young, aye, boy-o? Didnae have antlers yet, I bet."
"No..." Iskiy acknowledged, "I didn't have antlers."
"Y'see?" she said to nobody in particular, "Our tribe nae get antlers until our fourteenth or fifteenth summer... I bet they thought Iskiy was a changeling... stolen by his family from someone else, but they didnae know better."
"Why didn't they kill him when he started to grow his antlers then?" Keeland spoke up, taking up the fight while Lady Marion found that she no longer had the energy for it. She had known that the Banniharians had strict ways and a tenacity for fighting what they thought was impurity, but to slaughter helpless innocents?
"I was already squired to the Captain of the guard." Iskiy spoke, his voice coming out almost as a croak; Lady Marion found herself liking Dana less for having forced the poor scout to review such bad memories. "The Captain stood up for me and told the men that I was still one of them."
"An' did they bring up doin' bad things t'ye, Iskiy?" Dana questioned.
Iskiy shook his head, "Not that I know of."
"Ye were hurt? Excluded? Taunted?" the shaman pressed.
"Enough." Lady Marion spoke up and all eyes went to her, "I understand the point you're trying to make." she let out a breath, "You don't have to do this just to prove to me that you're persecuted."
Dana gave out a single, scornful 'ha'. "Ye cannae help but think I'm doin this for ye... city dwellers..." she shook her head and rolled her eyes, then met Lady Marion's gaze, "Nae, Priestess... this be for him." she motioned to Iskiy, "He's in a dangerous way, thinkin' that there're people among ye that he can trust."
"He CAN trust us." Keeland noted.
"He can trust ye t'need him... but when that need passes an' ye have no more use for either o' us then things change... they always seem t'change."
"You sound like you have some experience in the matter." Keeland observed.
"More'n I care t'share." she answered flatly.
With that, the party continued on in silence.
* * * * * *
"Thank you for your trust." Tollie offered calmly to the two Doenians following along behind him, "I know how difficult having faith in a Shradian can be when you do not fully understand us."
"Sometimes it's easier to understand someone you don't know better than someone you do." Taggart offered, his eyes occasionally glancing to the rabbit that walked beside him; Tollie did not miss where the dog's attention was.
"We don't have a reason not to trust you, Tollie." Zachary responded simply. Although the statement wasn't anything abnormal from what the hyena would expect from a priest of Doen to say, the rabbit paused once it had escaped, as if his tongue had said something he didn't want spoken.
"You are troubled?" Tollie inquired calmly.
"You could say that." Taggart spoke up, "He hasn't been himself lately."
"I'm fine." Zachary noted, shooting the dog a withering glance.
"You're not fine." Taggart countered, "You're... different."
"Life changes people." the rabbit stated flatly.
"But for the better or for the worse?" the dog retorted.
An argument began between the two that Tollie could clearly identify as a lover's quarrel... but there were elements of it that struck much deeper chords than a simple misunderstanding or imagined slight. A chill went up the hyena's spine the moment Zachary spoke a comment that cut an end to the argument, "We should have gone back for my pack."
Tollie realized that it was best to play dumb on the comment, "Brother Zachary... you carry it on your back."
"The Bloo--" Taggart began, but stopped mid-word when he received a sharp look from the rabbit, "The Enaral.." he spoke.
"You serve them now?" Tollie inquired of the rabbit.
"They serve me." Zachary countered immediately.
"Then show it." the hyena offered simply, the three words immediately snapping the priest out of whatever waking-dream had grabbed his attention, "We head to the Temple of Unity where all of your mental facilities will be required. You will need to be able to focus on the present, set aside the past, and," he added more for his own sake than that of his traveling companions, "...look not to the future."
"What's at the temple, seer?" Taggart asked, as if ignoring Tollie's prior comment.
"Life... death..." the hyena offered cryptically, "...danger... succor."
"You aren't being very clear." Zachary stated, his comment tinged in humor rather than ire; it was a good change, Tollie decided.
"Indeed it is not." the seer offered a faint smile, "No one claimed that the future would be."
"What awaits us there?" Taggart asked what Tollie decided was simply a rehashing of the earlier question, "Life... death..." he met the dog's gaze, "...danger..."
"succor." both of his traveling companions spoke the last word for him. The group stepped out of the alley and into the Divine Road, the main street leading to the temple.
"Indeed..." Tollie nodded forlornly; he was not surprised as numerous sun cultist soldiers were waiting for them, "Sadly," he added with a sigh, "...more danger than succor."