Actually all three of them were interested in this. The main temple of Lori was a huge pyramid, built from white stone, located in the middle of Moira and it could be seen from the distance of tens of kilometers away from the capital. And, even though the towns and cities in the Lori kingdom didn’t have any city walls, there was almost a ten meter high stone wall around the pyramid and it was guarded so well it was hard to even come close to it, at least during the day.
Lori kingdom was not a prosperous one and there was a reason for them to ally with the Sand kingdom and try to conquer the fertile lands of the Sun kingdom – the soil was simply too poor in these parts of the continent and the crops locals managed to grow were pitiful, especially compared to the harvests of the farmers from the Sun kingdom.
Even though the capital Moira was huge and housed hundreds of thousands of people, most of them lived in poverty, similar to the suburbs Nick saw in the Nestri empire’s cities. Even the architecture was similar. But the huge pyramid, or rather, the temple in the middle of the city seemed to be surreal and exist in a different world. Especially when one had to imagine how much blood was shed and how many lives were lost while building it.
In addition, the whole layout of the city seemed to complement the temple. Nick even got a feeling that the energy from the surrounding lands was gathering there.
Feroz seemed to gather his thoughts for a few minutes and then spoke, “It is said that the temple was built by a simple thought from the goddess Lori countless years ago. It’s also said she sleeps on top of it and rules the world in her dreams.”
He coughed and continued, “Of course, all of that is nonsense. The temple was simply build long ago and no one remembers how or when. Most likely at some point all the information regarding that was banned and erased and now, after many generations have passed, no one has an idea what exactly transpired.”
Nick nodded to himself. It was the same concept with the emperor Osman’s longevity – when people were not allowed to talk about something for decades and there were no records kept on the subject, after some time it was relatively easy to control the information or simply erase it from the history.
“During these years we have tried to investigate it, but apart from getting some general information we only got a detailed layout on two floors. Even then we paid a great price – many lives were lost in the process. In addition, we know there really is something they are hiding in the temple, but no one has any idea what it is. What we know is that there are thousands of sacrifices brought in every year to never return. Slaves, captives – these people are brought in just to never see the daylight again. The strange part is – no one is bringing out any remains! Trust me, our people have monitored the temple from all sides day and night! We would’ve noticed something or someone coming out long ago, especially when we talk about the victims on such large scale.” Feroz explained.
Nick and YunYun looked at each other in shock. They got a similar suspicion at the same time.
But Nick asked first, “How old is the bishop?”
Feroz furrowed his brows in confusion, but still answered, “A bit older than I. Officially he’s seventy three, but maybe in his eighties. Why do you ask? What does his age have to do with anything?”
“I was wondering if his age could affect his daily activities.” Nick pulled out a random answer. He was not going to explain about the way emperor Osman and his brother were cultivating while absorbing the lifeforce of other people. In addition, this was just a hunch. Thousands of people could be brought to the pyramid and killed off as a sacrifice, maybe burned, maybe burred.
“Don’t tell me you guys intend to go in there?” Feroz suddenly realized their intention.
“Well ...” Nick looked at his two companions. While YunYun was smiling carelessly, Zia was obviously barely holding herself back to not run out and check the temple out by herself right now, “We might take a look. You do understand that the king didn’t send us over just to chat with you, right?”
This was the simplest card they could play – blame king Spenser and a random secret assignment.
Feroz immediately turned solemn, “Alright, I’ll bring you every map we have on the temple. Wait here!”
He got up to leave and but before closing the door he said, “Oh, right. You three probably are hungry. Although I can’t offer you the quality food you are used to, my wife’s cooking skills are quite decent. I’ll send you some food over while you’re waiting.”
“Nick, what’s the plan?” Zia impatiently asked as soon as Feroz closed the door.
“Sigh, first of all – we have already done what we came for.” Nick shrugged helplessly at his anxious friend, “We could directly go to the Sand kingdom and see if we can do something over there. Even if the Lori’s army is called back, I doubt the war will suddenly end. Sand kingdom is the main player and Lori kingdom plays only a role of supporter.”
“But there have to be some treasures in the temple! Why don’t we take a look?” Zia said.
Nick knew her very well and it was obvious the common sense didn’t apply to this young lady. In addition, he was quite curious himself.
“Why don’t we simply kill the bishop?” YunYun suddenly asked, “I know that king Spenser was against it, but the situation is out of control already …”
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“Although it sounds logical, bishop is an old Qi master and he definitely has the best people protecting him. Imagine someone tries to assassinate your mother – what are the chances of success?” Nick looked back at her and said with a smile. Seeing her falling in thoughts, he continued, “We don’t have to make any plans right now. Let’s get familiar with the situation first and decide later.”
Both girls reluctantly agreed. Actually, there was nothing they could do – Nick was right. Barging in the unfamiliar fortress guarded by the country’s most capable Qi masters was suicide and a stupid one at that.
Feroz didn’t lie – his wife’s cooking skills were decent, in fact, the trio really enjoyed the first warm meal in days. It was hard to imagine how many people could enjoy such three course ‘feast’ in Moira, probably only aristocrats and high priests.
Soon after they were done, Feroz arrived with a small pile of scrolls. There were dozens of maps of different sizes drawn on papers, parchments and even napkins. It looked as if this was a collection of the intelligence Feroz managed to gather through all of his life.
“This is everything we have on the temple. It might look like a lot, but, trust me, it really isn’t.” Feroz sat directly on the floor and one after another opened the scrolls and organized them around himself.
“This is the detailed map of the outskirts of the temple. As you can see, even though the territory is vast, there is not much to it. Very few buildings and this garden where bishop goes for his strolls.” Feroz pointed at the map while explaining, “This also should be the easiest way into the temple, although I’m not certain how you guys will manage to pass the Qi masters – a pair of them are positioned at the each side of the pyramid.”
“We don’t intend to charge right in.” Nick shook his head, “In fact, depending on the situation we might not go in at all. Tell us about the bishop’s habits and the inner layout. Let’s first talk about the points you’re confident of and then proceed to the rest of guesses and suspicions.”
For the next four hours Feroz poured out all the knowledge he gathered throughout the years. He understood very well that the survival of these youths depended on the quality of the intelligence he had. There was a lot for Nick to process, but he still urged Feroz to go in details as much as possible.
While YunYun was carefully listening to their conversation, Zia was long bored out of her mind and fell asleep. She was still sitting there with her head dropped on her chest and even snored a little, but the rest didn’t mind.
The next morning Nick, Zia and YunYun had a discussion to decide on how to proceed. In the end they agreed to spend the day monitoring the temple grounds form outside and verifying the information Feroz gave.
An hour later three old priests, dressed in worn hooded linen robes, left the “Desert Night” one after another few minutes apart. They slowly moved through the crowded streets towards the city center without raising suspicions from any passerby. There were quite a few similar characters around and no one cared about such minor clergymen. At the same time they were priests of Lori, so there were no people who tried to look for trouble.
It was the perfect cover, except for one aspect – the movement speed. All three of them, especially Zia, felt like turtles. If asked, it was unlikely they could remember the last time any of them walked so slowly for a prolonged period of time. It was challenge even for Nick – the one who had the strongest patience of all three.
The city seemed to live its regular life except for a few individuals who were buying increased amounts of daily necessities and food, although food was already relatively scarce around here.
‘Looks like the news of the uprising has spread, but most people don’t take it seriously. Just like Feroz said – there have been too many of those in the past and no one believes the revolutionaries could succeed. Actually, even I’m confident that, as soon as the army returns, the uprising will be quelled within hours.’ Nick thought to himself while looking around.
It was obvious that the chaos could be only caused in the countryside and the capital was still strongly within bishop’s grasp. The lack of rebel activity in the capital was also another evidence of that.
Three hours later they met up at the central entrance to the temple grounds and decided to compare their findings while having lunch. After a short search they chose a tavern nearby that looked a bit more run-down so it would suit their new ‘status’ and they wouldn’t stand out.
Unfortunately they couldn’t find any establishment directly across the street from the walls of the temple grounds and apparently there were no food stalls allowed here either. Seemed like the whole perimeter had some serious limitations or people avoided the proximity of the temple on purpose out of fear. Thus it was not possible to sit somewhere on a terrace and observe any of the temple gates from nearby and the most investigation that could be done was while pretending to stroll around the streets.
After ordering food, even before they managed to sit down, Zia already could not hold back.
“I saw people from the Holy Order!” She whispered in excitement.
Nick and YunYun looked back at her in surprise.
“Any elders?” Nick asked.
“No.” Zia shook her head in disappointment, “No hooded robes.”
“Could they have been random people in dark red?” YunYun probed.
“No. The people you guys killed in the jungle had similar clothing, although in their bags.” Zia said.
“Ok. Tell us in detail about them.” Nick said, “How many? What did they do?”
“Well … there really isn’t much to say. Two of them entered through the east entrance and the guards let them through. I couldn’t get closer in time to listen to their conversation.” Zia said with regret in her voice.
“It’s fine, you did well.” Nick shook his head and grinned at her, “Maintaining your cover must have been hard. You definitely wanted to jump at them and cut them in halves.”
But then he turned serious, “Let’s eat quickly and head back. Feroz has to have more information.”
Compared to Feroz wife’s cooking, the plain noodle soup here was beyond disgusting, but all three of them still forced to empty their bowls – they were playing poor Lori priests after all. Half an hour later they were back at the “Desert Night”, but unfortunately Feroz was out and they had to wait till evening. Of course, this time was not wasted and they spent it in meditation.