The way over to the Major Chamber was dimly lit by a few torches on the rock walls. Men of different heights and ethnicities walked through it, the only thing they shared was the similar uniforms in black and white and the golden chains hanging from their necks, each sporting a beautiful T cast in the precious metal. They were servants of the Church of Saints, each a prestigious priest or functionary in their own right, summoned by the call of an emergency meeting issued by the Chamber Priest of the Genesis Corps, one of the many different Chambers of the so-called “True Church”.

Once inside, the Major Chamber was a beautifully ornate and perfectly circular room, caressed by the sunlight filtering through the stained windows decorating all of its walls with images of the Greater Saints. This room was sitting on the west wing of the Great Cathedral of Alkairos: the cradle of the Church of the Saints, and the birthplace of this Age of Silence that has reigned supreme over the East of Jericho for the last thousand years.

Twenty-eight tables were arranged in a perfect circle around the main area, where Chamber Priest Giovanni patiently waited for the members of the council to take their seats (each table corresponding to four representatives of each of the twenty-eight True Church Chambers). Once a tall man and a starling example of power, Giovanni was now a fatherly, weak figure thanks to the inclement passing of years. His dark skin was now covered with wrinkles and spots, the hair falling from his head was gray and long, thin enough to leave some spots of his head almost completely exposed… and yet, the golden glimmer of his eyes was as lively and intimidating as the first day he walked into the church, who knows how many years ago.

He was, really, the oldest member of his Chamber and the second elder of the Church at large, only surpassed by the age of the current Wise Great Bishop, the regent leader of the Church of the Saints; curiously enough, this aforementioned Bishop was the only member of the Major Chamber that was missing right then.

This was a great thing, giving Giovanni a chance to speak uninterruptedly.

“As we wait for our Great Bishop to dignify our meeting with his presence, I wish to summarize my reasons for this meeting: For those who somehow still don’t know, we have finally gathered enough proof of the presence of a Demiurge in North Britta to justify our attention and immediate action!”

The crowd immediately began speaking among themselves, the outrage was palpable in the air: Demiurges were usually thought to be completely eradicated, until a new one popped right out of the woodwork several years after the incarceration of the “last one”. Of course there were those in the Major Chamber that were clearly tired of this constant resurfacing of rogue mages and malcontents. But there was nothing that could be done about it!

Or, well. There was one thing.

“I understand that you all must be eager to get rid of this issue as quickly as possible. Please believe me, I am as tired as you all feel! But on this occasion we must be more careful than usual: the culprit this time, a man called Enrico Abalone, has innocent people hostage. Children.”

“That bastard..!!”

The outrage only seemed to grow more intense there. Some of the Chamber Priests were quick to point out the urgency of capturing this Demiurge as quickly as possible, while others insisted on the risk of an operation involving children. And, despite his own anger, the man was starting to feel quite hopeful for the meeting. Looking around he saw most people crossing their arms, their minds already racing to find ways to solve the issue while protecting the hostages.

Of course, the members of his own chamber did not seem so convinced. Giovanni sat among the zealous, the eager and the wrathful members of the Genesis Chamber after all! Each and every one was picked personally by him, or at least that’s what it said on paper. In reality, the one who called the shots…

“Now now, gentlemen. Please, settle down for a moment and let this old man speak…”

… Was the Wise Great Bishop.

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A man who looked as powerful as he was ancient, tall and muscular despite the lack of meat on his bones and the many, many wrinkles on his face. His hair was long and black as the night, perfectly dressed in gold rings and plaited in exactly one hundred and three thick braids, each for a successful Witch Hunt Season.

His long white sotana fell straight down to the floor like a puffy dress, dragging slightly as he made his way into the High Chamber with a placid smile.

“I know you are all eager to return to your duties, my children, but please! Don’t just start taking decisions without Father present! Now, where are your manners…?”

The entire room fell silent, as the eyes of their superior scanned all around until landing on old Giovanni, and the Wise Great Bishop’s smile only widened. They both knew what was going on, and what was about to happen. And no matter how much effort Giovanni put into trying to fan the flames of mercy in every meeting, they were all extinguished immediately by the mere presence of “the Father”.

“Listen, my children… to be human is to be imperfect. We are all aware of this, right?” The ancient man waited for signs of approval before continuing. “Our minds are imperfect, our souls are imperfect, and of course our very world is imperfect. We have been abandoned by the Gods for this reason, and the only way to return to their embrace is to destroy the shackles of this imperfection.”

Silence. No one dared to even take a breath loud enough to interrupt the Father’s voice.

“We have dedicated our entire lives to perfect ourselves with this purpose, to follow on the steps of the Saints, those of us who have managed to obtain but a Spark of the Gods’ Will with their virtuous deeds! Each and every one of them a miracle of his own! And the only way to reach that perfection would be, should be, the one we have honed and designed with the sweat of our brows, and the many sacrifices we’ve done… and now this Demiurge, this heretic, dares to go against all this effort and break the very rules of nature! To jump across all of our efforts, sacrificing anyone on his path!!”

Giovanni swallowed, turning around once more and seeing the indignation in the eyes of his peers turning into growing, burning anger.

“To spit in our way of life, to pretend that we have been wasting our time, to look down on our efforts!!” The Wise Great Bishop’s voice grew thunderous and more powerful with each word; his speech was soon evolving into shouting. “This man and his deranged ambitions must be put to rest before they can spread on the innocent! Each and every effort of his must be erased from History itself, never to make a mockery of our work again!”

The chamber erupted into shouting and cheering, the overwhelming majority of the Chamber Priests already on board with what was clearly a new Witch Hunt. Those who kept to themselves were either too afraid of losing their own position, or too deep in the pockets of the Great Bishop to even dare to talk.

But then, Giovanni spoke.

“Father… the man has gathered children around him, the most innocent are being used as a shield for his madness. “

“No shield shall stop the spear of our church!!” A man from the crowd shouted, and people immediately backed him up.

Giovanni utterly ignored him.

“Is there truly no other way? We must save those who have been corrupted by his insanity!” The old man pleaded with his superior, golden eyes full of anguish. “Please, Father!”

There was a moment of silence, before the Wise Great Bishop gently shook his head.

“My child, you have always been wise and merciful, my favorite child… but the time for mercy is not the middle of a war.” The Bishop shook his head. “It is a shame that we must walk on the corpses of children, but they have been tainted with the ideas of this madman.”

“We do not know for sure!” Giovanni added. “Our spy should be evaluating the spread of the Infection as we speak. If we could wait a bit longer.”

“We shall only wait enough to understand the nature of the Spark this Demiurge has stolen, and not a second more!” The room trembled under the finality of that statement. “We do not have the time to wait and beg, every second that passes is a risk! A chance for this man to escape! Or worse, to spread his malice even further… do you wish for even more people to be sacrificed, Chamber Priest?”

Silence.

Giovanni looked around himself, and found only judging eyes… his position was already in danger, people already whispered in the halls about “renegade ways” and “disrespect for the Father”. He had pushed it as much as he could, and now he was truly alone.

So with a heavy heart, he bowed his head and acquiesced.

“No, Father.”

“Good child… You’ve always been my favorite, Giovanni. Please, never change that pure heart.” Despite the smile on his lips, those words simply dripped with a very hidden sense of mockery. “Members of the High Chamber! The Genesis shall prepare for a new hunt! And I am hoping that each and every one of you will do your best to aid the efforts of our forsaken children! Our necessary evil! May the Gods forgive their efforts in the end, for we only sully our hands for the good of humanity itself!”

The High Chamber exploded into cheering and clapping, while Giovanni silently sat back down on his chair and looked down at his log book. Once more, he had failed… but this only meant he would need to work harder.

If the Church wouldn’t embrace mercy, he would only need to put mercy in their way. While the meeting was dismissed, and people started walking out of the chamber itself, Giovanni took his quill and hurriedly wrote.

“Arianna, the Genesis is about to declare a Hunt… But don’t fear, this always happens anyway. We don’t need them to save these children.”

“We shall do it on our own.”