The Priest walked into the room carrying a woolen sack. We stared at each other before he finally decided to speak up. "I heard from the Chieftain that you want me to pray over you?"

I nodded. "I have indeed requested that you aid me with a prayer."

The tension filled the room as we stared at each other. When I thought he would reject, he responded, "I will do so then."

He opened his bag, grabbed various items and instruments, and placed them on the table. I saw some dyes, some kinds of colored stones, two wooden sticks, some stalks of grain, and what looked like some flint and rock.

"Can you sit down in the middle of the room?" I did as I was asked and stiffly moved over to the center of the room. I tried sitting, but the pain shot up my back, so I spoke up.

"Can I stay standing or lay down? The pain makes it difficult for me to sit." He nodded as he started to sprinkle dyes and stones around me. I took that as a sign that either worked. I decided to lie down and let him continue working around me. Midway through, he started humming and singing. Whatever prayer he was doing seemed more like a ritual to me at this point. But it wasn't bad. It seemed like the Priest knew his stuff, which should be expected since that's his whole shtick.

Once he had everything laid down, he increased the volume. It went from a hum to a traditional Mongolian throat music, retaining its soft edge. Even though everything seemed a little ritualistic, it was weirdly enough relaxing. It was all going great until he decided to start hitting the two sticks together.

It took all my effort not to burst into laughter, as he would take great offense to that. I could see why he did so, as it created a beat, but to me, it was as good as a kid hitting sticks together and pretending it to be an instrument. Why couldn't he bring out their other traditional instruments? I knew they had them. Once I got my body back into control, I let him finish. He simply finished it off by sprinkling flowers on me.

Once he started packing everything back up, I took the hint, got out of the circle, and laid down in the bed. He finished packing everything and bowed, "May the goddess of fertility and harvest bless you."

With that, he left, and I decided to take another nap.

* * *

I was not getting better. It was horrible. My back and head were in pain, as well as nausea rolling through my system. No matter how much it hurt, I ensured they continued to change my bandages every six hours. Since I was indoors, I didn't notice the passage of time, but thankfully, the Healers were on top of it.

Was I going to die? Just like that? I've only been here roughly over a year. It sucked, it really did. There was no magic of any sort that I could tell. And even the friends that I have made left without warning. I have made no friends in this city, as everyone was either too reverent or had other agendas, like the Elders.

At least my back still worked, and I could move it around, even if there was great pain accompanying it. Every time the Healers came, I would look through the herbs and grab more and more until I was simply eating herbs for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I was grasping at every straw I could. I even had the Priest come by two more times. He looked more worried every single time he was called.

At least before my death, I needed to know if the Priest was involved. While the Priest was setting up for one of his prayers, I pulled on his sleeve as he walked past me. He looked over at me curiously, and I stared him dead in the eyes as I spoke out of my gritted teeth. "Were you behind any of the incidents during my stay in this city?"

He scowled at me, "How many times did I tell you it is beneath me."

I grabbed his sleeve harder, and I pulled down. Caught by surprise, I was able to pull him to my eye level. He tried to tear away, but I gripped onto him even harder. The pain the action caused me was intense, and air whistled through my teeth, but I needed to know. "Listen to me! Were or are you aware of who sabotaged the farm, who sent him to stab me. Swear on the goddess that you are only going to utter the truth or be damned!"

We stared at each other as sweat poured down my forehead. The clothing I had on was sticking to me, and I was the perfect example of misery. But I wasn't letting go, not until he gave me a straight answer. I didn't care if it was beneath him. Did he do it or push someone to do it?

Finding whatever he did in my eyes, he finally answered. "I did not, nor do I know who would do such a thing. I swear on the goddess's name. I'm sorry, Sage Jié Míns."

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

I let him go, and he carefully backed away. We stayed in our spots for a bit before the Priest decided to call it a day and left with his bag. It seems like he genuinely didn't attempt all those things. It seems he was more worried about the plague than killing me, or perhaps he didn't have it in him to wish death upon others. I wondered if the reason he looked so worried whenever he walked into my room was for my well-being or that I seemed to be the only one who was the most prepared out of everyone here. Maybe he liked his chances better if I stayed alive. I took another nap.

* * *

I woke up feeling a little better. My spirits rose, and a smile broke out. I didn't want to get my hopes up, as there was a thing back on earth where a dying patient felt perfectly healthy before kicking the bucket. Since I didn't feel great but simply felt better, I was going to assume the best: that I was fine.

I called over the Healers again, and we did the routine again. I looked through the piles of herbs and chose all the ones I had last time. Since whatever was working was effective, I would keep everything the same and eat the same herbs. There was a concern at the back of my mind about my kidneys, but kidneys be damned, I needed my back just as much.

That's how I spent the rest of the week. Sleeping, eating typical food, eating a bunch of herbs that could potentially cause kidney failure, and changing the bandages. I was glad I was past the biggest hurdle. I didn't know if I survived due to eating the herbs and applying the right kind on the wound or if my immune system just decided to pull its weight. Either way, it didn't matter. All that mattered was that I survived.

On roughly day seven, the Healers deemed my back good enough to walk around by myself. "Your back still looks a little sick, but you are probably fine with moving around."

I nodded while smiling, glad to be out of the red. "I'll make sure to come by before night to get my bandages changed," I said.

As I walked out of the medical ward and into the streets, I smiled and breathed in the fresh air. The sun was shining, and it felt like perfect weather. I walked the streets, seeing kids run through puddles of sewage and grime. They didn't seem to mind, but my smile turned a little smaller. I walked past the market, and even that seemed to be affected, with some stalls down and only a few seemingly essential stalls still up.

I really wanted to enjoy the fact I was alive. And I did, but it was saddled down by the grim reality around me. I swung by the hall entrance and walked up to a guard. "I need a guard allocated to me for now. Would you be able to get that settled?"

He nodded and ran inside, probably to notify and fetch someone. After several minutes, the two guards, the original and a new one came out. "Thank you for humoring my request."

The guard bowed and replied, "There is no need to thank us. We know of the incident, and we understand. I'll ensure that nothing happens to you under my protection."

I bowed in return and gave him a slight smile, "I feel assured already."

To their surprise, I headed directly where he came from, which was directly into the hall. Specifically, I was aiming for the temple portion of it. I mainly felt convinced that the Priest, although unpleasant, didn't wish harm upon me. During the seven days I was trapped, all I could do was think. I thought of the past, the present, and the future. It looped multiple times over and over in my head.

I walked into the temple for the first time. The floor beneath was smooth pine wood, worn by decades of footsteps. There weren't pews like I was familiar with, but there were rugs big enough for one person surrounding a giant tree trunk. The trunk was carved full of figures who were fighting with beasts, and a figure of the goddess that gave blessings and a home. Her figure remained vague, but still female. There was a smell of some flower that was probably used to scent the palace to make it feel more mystical.

I scanned the room and noticed two other entrances besides the one I came from. One was on the opposite side, leading directly to the streets, which was probably how most people entered the temple. On the left side was a corridor leading a little deeper. I turned to the guard and pointed toward the hallway to the left, "Would the Priest be in that hallway?"

He nodded, and we headed deeper. There were a few offshoots, but looking at the guard, he led me deeper, all the way to the end of the hallway. I looked back at the guard and wondered if I was allowed to just announce my presence. Seeing that the guard didn't seem to object, I did just that.

"Sage Jié Míns requests an audience with Priest Xuán Shān!" My echo bounced through the hall, and I winced. It might have been a little too enthusiastic.

I heard a voice from the other side, "Come in."

Walking in, I saw a small office-like room with decorations galore all around. The walls were engraved, the floors were painted, and ornaments hung from the ceiling. I stood there, stunned as I took in everything. Quickly snapping out of my stupor, I looked towards the end of the room, where the Priest was sitting at his desk with a wooden board in front of him and a pointed stone rock to the side.

That was interesting. I approached the desk and awkwardly sat down with his permission. None of us decided to mention what happened that one day, so I decided to break the ice by asking about the wooden board and the figures carved on it.

I asked, "What is this board you are carving on?"

"It is to keep records of our history. The job of a Priest isn't only to pray and commune with the goddess. It is also to keep, maintain, carve, and re-carve these records for the city's sake." He answered without even blinking. I had no idea these guys kept records. I knew they weren't words, and wood took too long to carve, but now that I knew they already had the idea, possibilities flooded my mind.

I looked at the Priest and decided at that moment, "What do you think about making a deal? I'll teach you something better to carve than drawings, and you can help me. How does that sound?"