* * *
“Listen carefully, boy, this work your master has laid at my feet is a great working and a great working I must perform alone! Listen carefully and do as I say, immediately. Understood?”
“Yes, Priest Darnua,” Garnedell immediately responded, attentive to the priest’s demands. Today was the day he would finally be free of his curse, and he found that freedom intoxicating.
The priest winced, growling slightly under his breath but said nothing in return, “You would find it wise, boy, to say little or nothing of your curse. When it is gone, none will know you once had it. Speak not of it, and erase it from your mind. You truly do not wish to bring attention to who you once were!”
“Yes, Priest Darnua!”
Another cursing wince, and this time Garnedell finally noticed. Playing back through his memory, Garnedell realized that the Priest had been doing this every time he replied, and Garnedell quickly focused, bringing himself back to attention. Don’t lose focus! Listen well. He seems to be a harsh master and teacher! Garnedell straightened and quickly brought himself to cautious awareness of the priest, the typical stance of those younger and lesser listening to their betters and masters. I’ve been too long under the kind tutelage of my master. I’m grateful for him, but I cannot forget the proper respect youth must display! Stiffening and greatly expanding his awareness, he made sure to listen to all the priest had to say.
The priest sighed after the wince, seeming to calm himself and looked towards Garnedell with a friendly smile, “You’re a good lad, boy, and you are lucky to have such a master. Listen well to him. Do well by him. I do this as much for him as I do for you!”
“Yes, Priest Darnua,” Garnedell’s response was a bit softer, recognizing the shift in tone from the priest, a moment of true connection. Garnedell offered him the salute given to the priest class, truly grateful for what was to occur and Garnedell almost faltered when he noticed the priest respond with a sad, disappointed smile. Have I offended? Did I do wrong? How shall I … But before he could repair the offense, the priest’s demeanor changed and he came forward, clapping him on the shoulder.
“Garnedell!”
“Yes, priest.”
“Please tell the villagers that I will be journeying to the north. I have need to visit the great city. The masters of this shrine live there. I will leave after this summoning.”
“You are leaving,” Garnedell responded with some fear and shock. To be without a priest would be truly difficult for the village, “Please do not go on my account?”
“Boy! I told you! The masters of the shrine are the masters and the priest of this shrine must heed the call of the shrine master! Simply tell the village I will be away on a journey for a time.”
“Yes, priest.”
Priest Darnua stood before Garnedell, hand to shoulder and stared deeply into the boy’s eyes, measuring him. The moment stretched, but Garnedell was used to such measuring. Master’s often did such before taking on apprentices, evaluating them cautiously. Garnedell did still, feeling the uncomfortable uncertainty of whether he could pass the master’s scrutiny, and he felt a moment of panic when he saw the all too common look of disappointment and rejection flicker across the priest’s face. Even as he opened his mouth to beg, the priest cut him off.
“Prepare yourself. We must begin.”
Garnedell blinked in some surprise, certain that the priest had rejected curing his curse, and took a moment to respond appropriately, “Yes, Priest Darnua!”
“Stand here. Do not move! Do not speak! Do not wave your arms! Do not flicker your eyebrows, waggle your ears, flap your lips, or even breathe. Do! Not! Move! Do you understand!”
“Yes, Priest Darnua!”
“Stand here and wait. You may breathe and stretch until the ceremony is to begin, but do not step from the Central Power stone! When the ceremony is to begin, I will tell you and you CAN NOT move! Not even a breath! Do you understand!”
“Yes, Priest Darnua!”
“Excellent! Prepare yourself.”
Garnedell settled on the stone the priest had pointed out and began doing the simple stretches his master had given him. The priest continued his journey around the shrine’s Guide, carefully cleaning all refuse that may inhibit the flow of power. Garnedell was cautious that no detritus fell from him as he moved to the center of the shrine’s Guide and watched carefully that nothing fell from him even as he stood there, especially his hair. After several moments of silence, the priest began speaking again and Garnedell tensed in expectation but realized he was only passing on more instruction.
“You may wish to tell you master to also be silent of this. He seems a foreigner, ignorant of the shame your curse has placed upon you. He should tell no one of this ceremony, shrine, or event. Those who know of the faith’s power will know well what this ceremony is, and easily understand that you were cursed!”
“Yes, Priest Darnua,” Garnedell felt his heart warm at the priest’s concern, a small smile gracing his lips. Grumpy old git, but he seems to truly care!
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“Probably the easiest way is to only ever think of me as the priest who changed your master’s ridiculous amount of jobs! Although, if you have the skill, you may wish to warn your master to keep silent of his dozens of jobs as well! Maybe, it would be safest if I am never even in your stories you may wish to tell in the future! I do not wish harm to come to your master, nor shame to you!”
“Yes, Priest Darnua,” Garnedells warmth shifted quickly to a shivering cold as he took the hinted advice for what it was worth. His master was truly unusual, and the unscrupulous would likely seek him out. If we do not speak of the priest, then my master has not changed many jobs! Garnedell immediately recognized the wisdom of this and determined to warn his master after the ceremony was done. It would be difficult, but such wisdom was hard to disregard. Even as Garnedell struggled to piece together Joe’s strange words so he could explain, the priest finished his inspection and turned to the boy.
“One last thing, boy!”
“Yes, Priest Darnua.”
“Your master will likely seek out the priest class soon. He will wish to be able to change his jobs. I have no understanding how he is able to change jobs so quickly nor how he knows what jobs he has available. I have never seen him fail in his job change. NEVER! This is … He truly cannot tell this to others. He MUST NEVER reveal this. Only to those he trusts with his life! It would be… very bad if any learned of this. He must keep this silent. No one can know. Do you understand, boy? Neither his easy job change nor his rapid growth.”
Garnedell quickly nodded, “Yes priest.”
“Good, then… this is VERY important boy! Listen Carefully! Warn him when he takes the priest class; even a believer of a specific church. Do you understand boy! They will know! The priests, all of them, will know. He must be cautious when he does so. He must be... slow.”
Garnedell frowned, “They will know?”
Darnua frowned, “They will know if he takes the priesthood. They will see his speed! He may ask me more if he wishes. I will return in a year or two’s time. He may have resolved his language by then.”
“Yes, Priest Darnua.”
“Do not play coy with me, boy! Are you listening? Do you understand! These three are more important than anything else I have spoken of till now. Do you understand?!”
Garnedell straightened much more firmly, back stiff and face quickly turned serious as he took the importance of the priest’s words to heart, “Yes, Priest Darnua. I will make certain that he hides his growth and changes and I will tell them they will know. I will tell him he may seek you out in a year or two’s time.”
“Excellent, boy. Excellent.”
Priest Darnua nodded as the boy seemed to finally understand the importance of his words. But since the boy had heard his words well, Darnua quickly dismissed him and returned to his work, his thoughts lost on finishing the Guide and preparing it for its use. It has been very long since his last use of a guide or a work of such power as this, and he had no wish to endure the results of a failure. He had much to do before his death, he had not plan nor desire to interrupt his plans over a simple failed Guiding. Now satisfied, he quickly turned his focus back to the boy.
“Are you ready, boy?”
Garnedell quickly tensed, coming back to focus on the now, “Yes priest! I am ready.”
The priest chuckled a bit, even as he made a quicker round once again, moving easily over the shrine’s Guide and inspecting for corruption or infestation one last time, “Relax boy, we will begin shortly, but you can still breathe. I warn you know only that you may make sure you have enough breath. We will begin after this pass.”
The priest had already passed in front of Garnedell and around to his right. In a matter of only another few seconds, the priest was before him once again, stopping his inspection and standing directly in front of him upon an ornate circle of beautifully patterned brick.
“Gain your breath now, boy.”
The priest turned to Joe, shooing him off the shrine’s Guide, telling the man to leave, but Joe seemed too focused on studying the Guide and the priest had to go towards him.
“Tell you master to get off my Guide, boy! I’ll have to inspect for corruption again!”
Garnedell looked to Joe, calling out to him, “Joe. Go.”
Joe looked up at him, speaking in his sing song voice too quickly for him to understand, but he moved back a few steps and Garnedell could see that he hadn’t cleared the shrine’s Guide.
“Joe. Go! Go! No here!”
Joe raised an eyebrow at him, something that always surprised Garnedell and made him want to laugh. Show respect to your master, Garnedell! He is deserving of great respect! Joe nodded his head and took another several steps back until he cleared the shrine’s Guide by a good four or five strides. Garnedell smiled and gave a thumbs up to Joe, still amused a bit by the gesture, but easily understood it’s meaning now having used it so often.
“OK! Good! Master!”
Joe waved in response and turned to watch the priest clean what corruption Joe had dropped on the shrine’s Guide with his casual inspection. Master has always been fascinated by everything! So… strange? Is this a key to a great adventurer? The priest quickly cleared the shrine’s Guide and once again returned to where he had stood before, its name unknown to Garnedell for he was unlearned in the way of magic and faith, but each portion of the shrine’s Guide had great and terrifying name’s identifying its function. The priest stood before him once more and began the ceremony.
“Boy, I draw faith, now. Please prepare your breathing and body. You may move and stretch to prepare for the moment. I will tell you when you must be still! You must be absolutely still in ALL WAYS! If it were possible! I would ask that you would still even your heart! But such things are folly, so still your breathing and movement completely.”
“Yes, Priest Darnua!”
“Now, stretch, relax, and breath. We begin soon.”
Garnedell took the priest’s advice to heart, once again stretching and breathing deeply while making sure to keep his feet on his stone, not daring to leave it. The priest stood silent, arms spread and body open, facing towards Garnedell, the shrine statue, and the majority of the shrine’s Guide. Every once in a while, he noticed the priest seemed to wave his arms forward in a pushing motion, almost as if he was pushing a large ball. Garnedell could see the priest’s countenance slowly taking on a more serious mien even as winces of pain came through. Several minutes past, and Garnedell soon felt the thrum of power pulsing throughout the Guide, reverberating from the central shrine statue and the walls of the shrine’s Guide, like ripples in a pond bouncing from the edge of the pond back to the center. The central statue seemed to pulse in time with the ripples as the returned, and each ripple grew in power. After a while, Garnedell noticed that even Joe felt it as a surprised look seemed to come over him, his eye’s focusing and head shifting, trying to find the source of the pulsing power of faith. Huh… I guess I can feel it much easier because I’m in the middle between the Guide’s edge and the central shrine. Only seconds later, the priest called out, getting his attention.
“Now boy! No movement!”
Garnedell froze, his breath a quick gasp inward, and then everything seemed to flee from his mind.
* * *