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The Pilgramage to Kasvatigagaten, Part 1 |
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Aramis woke Bre just before dawn.
This time, she didn't complain.
They gathered their things and headed east towards Shaudrey, where the temple of Kasvatigagaen was located. Carrying their packs on their backs, they started out, walking towards the dull, misty gray dawn that seemed just ahead of them. "So where are we going now?" Bre asked, looking up at Aramis. "To Shaudrey," he replied, unblinking. "I've heard rumors about a living god over there, so I figured we might as well go take a look. I mean, honestly, how many chances like this do you get in your lifetime?"
In a little under a week, they'd made it to the outskirts of Shaudrey, a country known for its magnificent beaches dusted with sparkling white sand, and an ocean as brilliantly blue as an endless field of sapphires. As soon as they crossed into the nation's borders, they spotted a road sign directing them towards the Temple of Kasvatigagaten, and instantly started along the dirt road. Great, sprawling fields of emerald green flanked them to the left and righ, and not a single tree was to be seen for miles. The sun above them shone down in an almost celebratory manner, as if it knew something wonderful waited for them just beyond the horizon. Suddenly, a delicious, light scent danced past the pair, awakening their senses in an instant. "Smells like... flowers," Bre said with a smile. "How pretty. But... I don't see any flowers anywhere." Aramis sniffed. "...Wild roses," he muttered. "Something big is going on."
Once they arrived at the city gates, the loud, thunderous roar of an ongoing celebration resonated through the towering barrier, quite nearly shaking the ground they stood on. As they approached, two large, burly guards standing on either side of the massive doors to the city stopped them in their tracks. Bre darted behind Aramis for cover. "What business do you have with our city?" the one on the left asked. "Well, noise like that tends to attract attention," Aramis said truthfully. "I'm just curious as to see what all the fuss is about." The guard on the right reached a hand out and lightly patted Aramis down for any sort of concealed weapons. "We execute liars in this city," the guard warned as he stepped back into place. "You don't want to know what we do with thieves and murderers." They opened the door and gave one final, warning glance as Aramis and Bre made their way through the doors and into the city.
The roar of the crowd was deafening. Bre clung to Aramis as tightly as her small hands could handle, her knuckles going white with tension as she pressed her head into his arm, trying to dull the incessant noise. He stood up on his toes and looked over the writhing sea of bodies towards the massive temple ahead. He was sure the Temple of Deus back in his homeland of Meenah was the biggest temple in existence, but it seemed like merely a speck of dust compared to the massive architectural masterpiece that lay before him. It seemed to be made entirely of white marble, smooth and flawless in its construction. Gold topped each of the tall, thin spires (of which there were many), glittering majestically with such brilliance that they seemed to be lending light to the sun itself. Even from this distance, Aramis could make out the embossed carvings of what he could only assume was this Kasvatigagaten during many important phases of history, although his face was always hidden behind a pair of great feathered wings. The doors, which were at least fifty feet tall and decorated with intricate carvings of the Shaudrese landscale, seemed to be made of gold, It was almost worth the trip to Shaudrey only to see the temple. He shook the thought from his head and scanned the crowd for someone who wasn't too caught up in the celebrations to explain to him what was going on. "Excuse me, sir," he said, tapping the shoulder of a man directly in front of him. "I'm new here and I'm just wondering, what's going on?" The man turned around and smiled brightly. "The living god Kasvatigagaten has decided to let one of us see his face!" he said excitedly. "He sends a message to one of his priests, and they decide who will be blessed with his presence!"
Just as soon as the man finished his sentence, the crowd's already obscenely loud participants went into an ecstatic uproar. Not far into the distance, the enormous doors opened, and two lines of temple priests filed out. After they'd taken their proper places in front of the temple, another priest (of higher rank, Aramis assumed) dressed in a blood-red robe raised his hands into the air. The crowd fell into a hush so sudden, it made Aramis and Bre's ears ring.
"The oracle has spoken! The one who shall be blessed with the holy presence of Kasvatigagaten is not of this land! He is a foreigner, his left eye a dark blue, his right eye a dark green! Come forth, foreigner!"
How could it be anyone other than me, Aramis wondered, putting an arm around Bre and taking her with him as he pushed his way through the hushed crowd. Dodging the icy glares of jealousy and apparent rage, he somehow fought through the massive throng of bodies and up the unimaginably steep flight of stairs towards the temple doors. The priest in the crimson robes studied him a moment, as if doubting the oracle's deicision for the first time in his life. He nodded, and as Aramis tried to make his way in, the priest stopped him. "The oracle said nothing about this female you bring with you," he said.
"I guess the oracle didn't see her," Aramis replied. "In any case, if she doesn't come, I won't go, either. And you don't want to call the oracle a liar, do you?"
With a disheartened sneer, the priest stepped aside and let the pair in.
End of Part 1.
 Bleeding Apocalypse · Wed Jul 06, 2005 @ 04:54am · 6 Comments |
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