"It is not a matter of whether or not you pray, but if you believe."

-Priest Lurmunthur of Destruith

"To doubt is to not believe."

- Creed of an unknown order of knights

"Seeing is believing, but believing is not seeing."

-Unknown

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My knees groaned slightly on the hard marble floor of the temple, however, it was nothing in comparison to my devotion to the gods. Before me in the ornate room were eight statues, each bearing the representation of the gods of these lands.

"Oh Olgarth, Matik, Velorau, Hastia, Coampsa, Destruith, Zenitr, and Krosa, I, your pitiful servant beg of you to bless mine people in these troubled times."

The thunder of rock against stone shook the temple, dust falling from the ceiling. The priest who gave this open prayer squeezed tighter his hands and eyes in both fear and worry. His lip quivered as sweat slowly dotted his brow, it was a wonder he didn't defecate upon himself as his fear was such.

The doors to the temple flung upon, as several armed guards rushed into the room, the front most holding his helm, rather out of breath "Oh revered priest, the kings calls for you."

Silence came over the priest and the men, with the exception of steady pummeling to the walls. A few minutes passed before the priest stood up nodding, keeping his gaze from theirs as to not reveal his emotions.

The temple was the highest point in the city, with a long staircase being the only way down. Step by step they descended to the market district, upon which their direction turned toward the noble district, and the Palace walls.

People were crying in fear as the impending doom of their home felt all the more certain with time. Soldiers were rushing to and fro to both reinforce the walls and defenses, and fight back against the terrifyingly close invaders. The stone halls of the palace were heavy with tension, as even more soldiers were in here than outside. Shouting and the rustling of arms and armor was the current melody as the priest and his escort approached the war room.

The doors were opened and the priest walked in with trepidation as all eyes became focused on them. They were a mix of hungry and worried. The king, his generals, and strategists all stood around the map of the city. Impromptu markers were used to gauge the current state of the losing fight.

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"You came as I requested, High Priest Golurm." The current king, far wise beyond his years, was hardly sixteen.

The priest put hand over heart with a curt, but respectable bow in response "O-of course mine lord."

A grim smile was the silent response from the young ruler of the kingdom "Have the gods said anything of our turmoil?"

The priest closed his eyes, his head dropping "They remain silent still since the harvest of last summer."

"I had feared such."

Silence became deafening as none had any ability to formulate proper thoughts. They were fearful for, not just the kingdom, their wives, and children against these marauding savages who're known to rape and pillage anyone unfortunate.

Finally, after the sole sound of the walls being battered became enough, the priest spoke once more.

He searched for his voice, for a way to share his thoughts and beliefs, all upon which stemmed from the small sliver of hope he kept warm in his chest. "The silence could be a trial...to...prove we are able to overcome any threat with our own power..."

Nods slowly rose, mostly out of fear they had been forsaken by the gods they all worshiped.

"A-after all, those savages worship the same gods we do." Though that wasn't much of a shock in truth. In fact in all the lands, worshiping some other deity was completely unheard of as the gods had appeared in the world only three decades prior to prevent a mass extinction event.

One of the generals placed his dominant hand onto the table, looming over the map "Well, then let us do well to not disappoint, mh?"

The room roared back to life as ideas were tossed around and orders carried out. They were unprepared for the sudden assault by their enemy, but they would not die like dogs for their lack of foresight if all possible.

However not only were planning being done. In fact, the sole constant in the small war room, was prayer. Continuously the members would bow their heads and issue out a quick prayer. This kingdoms devotion to gods outstripped many, and as such was the sole thing keeping them from attempting to flee.

Days and nights came and went as the siege of Cabrut carried only on. Prayer growing only more fervent.

On the fifteenth day of the siege, the king himself came onto the walls bulwark with the high priest who led the men in prayer.

"Oh lords above, we know both sides of this fight may worship you, however, we still come before you meek and beg you to give strength in our tiring bones, and the will to fight on to the end in our minds. We ask that you do not let us die poorly, but at least give us an honored one. We ask that you watch us repel the invaders and protect our families should we fall. Oh lords, bless us in these unending battle, so we may find peace proper when the time of end comes."

Solemn and silent, the warriors rose. In truth they were outnumbered seven to one, the only thing stopping the army was a curious overly large wall and design that prevented ladders from reaching, and the stone itself being near unbreakable. It was unknown how such a wall was built as, besides this prime example, it was considered unusable for building anything.

The warriors did not grow in fear from the priests honest prayer but became silently determined to at least do all they could to the end. There was no battle cry and increase in tension, no. Simply determination grew, unnoticed by all.

In the end, the siege would last nearly a year, due to the design of the city having large amounts of farmland inside along the walls. The victor was in fact the kingdom, as the would be invaders gave up in the end out of both fatigue and irritation at the unbreaking walls. To this day, though the kingdom has long since fallen due to internal strife, the walls stand tall as a guard against any who seek harm against those inside.