He was a man of early middle age — tall, bright, attractive. His perfectly sculpted golden hair gleamed almost as brightly as his diamond-blue eyes, which stared out into the crowd with honed intensity. His tanned skin, which was flawless, but for a few well-treated pockmarks — distant echoes of adolescence — drew tightly over his high, distinguished cheekbones. His mouth held emotionlessly flat for a tense moment, before, without warning, it broadened into a smile as wide as his face revealing teeth so sparklingly pearly white that they risked eclipsing his own dazzling robes.
“I do love a dramatic entrance!” came his congenial drawl, and the crowd erupted immediately into wild applause, with many of the younger members whistling and cheering euphorically; he received them with a well-practiced yet personable, self-deprecatory laugh.
In his left hand he held a long black sceptre with shining silver strips along its grip; he tapped it respectfully on the marble floor in a series of glittering clicks while maintaining his broad, bright smile and shaking his head at the exalting throng — his years of polished prominence expertly handled the embarrassment of idolisation. He eventually lifted his right hand to quell the gushing adulation. His smile flattened out again, and as though released from its beguiling power, the crowd hushed almost at once. The High Priest suddenly looked straight at Kai, then pierced his intense blue gaze deep into a thousand other hopeful ones.
“Tell me!” he called out with a commanding tone that sucked every other sound from the temple, “Are you looking for a Way?”
“Yes!” called out many in the crowd spontaneously, followed by yet more cheers and whistles, before again trickling away to silence.
“Tell me!” continued the priest, the intensity of his steely eyes swelling, “Are you looking for the Way — the only Way?”
“Yes!!!” came more emphatic cries from the congregation.
“Are you here to GIVE yourselves to the Way?”
“YES!!!!!” roared and sang and squealed the sea of worshipping souls.
The priest suddenly struck his sceptre down onto the pristine marble and a thundering crack resounded through the temple, silencing all as one.
Finally, through the tense hush, the High Priest slowly raised his right arm and proclaimed, “You are all...every One...Chosen!!”
The crowd erupted into cries and chants of exaltation, each raising an arm — or similar, if they lacked the exact appendage — into the air towards him in respect.
“Yes, my friends, yes!” laughed the priest, as the congregation again calmed with him, “Isn’t it great news! You see, my friends, the Way needs you — all of you! Many lose their way in life. I’m sure you know people like that, friends and family around you who have no direction, no faith.”
the boy uncertain of his path among the surge
“Then there are those who say, ‘Sure, take the Way seriously, but not too seriously!’ As though it were possible to love with half a heart! No! The Way needs you, needs all of you — all your love and faith. Unless, of course, you’d rather be ‘warriors’ of some other ‘truth’?”
A ripple of knowing laughter spread through the crowd.
as shadows burn and shift
“Yes, my friends, we all know about the I’sta, of course — the ‘Truth Warriors’ — fighting oh-so-passionately for their cause. But they have the audacity to tell us that only they know the ‘truth’ — even when they know so little of their own history! Descended from the Eluciaë, they say. Really?! Then why do they need to genetically modify themselves to stay ‘pure’, I wonder? With so many generations of such eugenics, how can we be sure that they didn’t just alter their appearance to look like the Firsts? And how, then, can we be sure they ever stood for true Eluciaë beliefs?”
Murmurs of agreement swirled around the space, as the priest’s fervour blazed up, accentuated dynamically by fingers in the air.
“No, you know the real truth, my friends — they are nothing but racists, sexists and elitists! They are everything that we fight against, the opposite of our Way’s acceptance of all as one. The I'sta, I tell you now, are simply unenlightened terrorists! We are the modern way. We are real! And we accept you all!”
Impassioned cheers roared into the air.
his shining hands outstretched
The priest’s ferocious fervour softened slowly back to smiles as he calmed his zealous worshippers with a fluttering palm.
“Wow! My friends!” he said, flashing his irresistible smile, “When I believe something deeply I really let you know, don’t I?!”
The crowd bloomed into adoring laughter.
“But these people are in need, my friends. They wish us nothing but harm, but still we will try to help them. We are all one in the Elucian Way, after all, and we must even accept our opposers. So, my friends — help us to help them. Dedicate your lives to the Elucian Way. Look at the majesty of this place! Our glorious temple, at the heart of our great city-state. The Eluciaë...,” the priest’s voice wavered emotionally for a moment, before he regained his composure and continued, “The Eluciaë, the Firsts created this for us, left this for us. And here in the Elucian Way we must continue their great work, spreading the word and the faith, and continuing our spiritual and scientific evolution together with the SYStem. And, unlike the secretive I’sta, all of these treasures belong to you, the great people of Destiny. I want you all to live forever in this glorious Light!”
The crowd broke spontaneously into applause, and a chant of “The Way is Light! The Way is Light!” rose into the air around the smiling priest.
elúcian, seeing all
Kai’s wide eyes sheened over in emotion as he looked up at the High Priest. Again the crowd calmed to his signal.
“Only if you give yourself fully to the Way can you be reborn. Only if you give yourself fully to the Way can you achieve immortality — a return to life. We have the secrets here, my friends, the revelations for one and all. Leave your empty lives behind and join us — join me!”
a blazing path
“Join me in the inner circle. Now! Today! Learn the secrets of the Elucian Way...”
a silent cry
“...and you will live forever. Save yourselves and your loved ones. Give yourselves to the Way, and immortality is yours!”
she waits in restless anguish
“The Way is Light! The Way is Light!” proclaimed the High Priest, leading the captivated congregation back into their chant. Kai simply stared, in awe of the man, intense and entrancing.
I see
“The Way is Light! The Way is Light!”
I feel
“The Way is Light! The Way is Light!”
I know
The crowd was crying, wailing, raising hands to the skies and chanting in a thousand unknown tongues. Suddenly, the High Priest smashed his sceptre on the marble, silencing all with a thunderous crack.
the grey-haired queen, her robe in flow, her staff in steady hand, her voice a sigh upon the air, now clear...
“You are all...”
“Kai is not...”
“...One!”
“...the One...”
“And no one...”
“...alone!”
“...is alone!”
“Kai is not the One alone!”
The priest’s diamond eyes pierced Kai’s.
“Follow!”
Our way is here!
The priest lowered his arm, smiled brightly to the congregation, spun round and strode off proudly. As he went, he nodded to the austere, hooded monks, and they stepped forward to lead the eager, young volunteers into ranks and files behind him. Kai stepped forward, smiling zealously; Shen’s face blanched as he saw.
“Salvator? Salvator?! May I say, Salvator — I am not entirely sure that you should...that is to say, you shouldn’t...”
Kai turned and glared.
his father’s bitter pall
Then Kai’s fury softened and dissipated to a serene smile.
“Salvator! I would really rather encourage you to...to think before....”
I’ve thought for years
Kai left Shen floundering and joined onto the rear of the excitedly solemn procession. Shen shuffled after him as, before the High Priest, an army of monks pulled up and opened two sides of a monumental, wooden portal in the floor. The priest followed the marble passageway down through the circular gate, followed by the unquestioning, faithful masses.
I’ll wait no more
“Please, Salvator! Show some restraint!”
We’ll live!
Still with his tranquil smile, Kai descended into the stone-walled passage, and the monks began to release the wooden doors to the ground.
“Oh, my! Salvator! What shall I...?” blabbered Shen, looked around at a loss, then tottered forwards and leapt into a tripping tumble down into the dark unknown; the portal doors fell tight and sent an ominously long, crashing echo through the temple.
Next chapter — The Catacombs
Sunday 27 March 2011
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