"Whoa!"
Reuel puffed out in surprise as Eli ran into him.
"We have got to stop meeting like this!" He joked as he helped steady Eli, who was more jarred than him.
Eli rubbed his head, eyeing Reuel. This man was as solid as a rock!
"You turned into a boulder while you were gone." He sighed and looked around his friend.
"The child.. Did you see them?"
Reuel turned, looking around.
"Child? I saw quite a few, you have to be more specific than that.."
Eli looked around again but it was too late. The child was long gone.
He sighed and looked back at Reuel.
"There was a child next to me during worship who was an orphan from another area.. But they refused help at the orphanage."
Reuel's expression changed and he frowned. "From another area? Are you sure?"
"I've never seen them before.."
They began to head back to the orphanage, Reuel's arms crossed. Eli could tell something was bothering him.
Once they were inside of his room, Reuel sighed and sat down.
"An orphaned child travelled by themselves across the land from one town to another? That doesn't sound right."
"Why?" Eli asked, unsure how it could be that hard, the closest town or city couldn't be that far away, right? He had never been outside the walls of this town to know.
"Things are a lot different out there, Eli. Its only a matter of time before it finally reaches here too."
"Until what reaches here?"
"It’s a war out there." Reuel's face looked solemn
"Since I left a couple years ago, I've encountered different religious groups that have extreme views of the church and worship."
"These religious groups have been gaining followings rapidly, using their power to control areas with corrupted tight fists. They're creating war. Strict rules have been enforced in some cities, anyone deemed a heretic is tortured and killed. With there being different groups with conflicting beliefs, bodies are piling up everywhere."
Reuel clasped his hands together tightly, looking down with furrowed brows.
"At first it started so haphazardly.. Everyone was careless. Messy with throwing words and fists. But now.. They're forming real armies. Real governments and real followings based off of these beliefs. The ones who preach these beliefs claim the 'true god' had abandoned humanity for centuries and have been recently visited by people who claim they're gods. seraphim. His highest angels. And they mean to take over as the one 'true god'."
Elis head was spinning. He already barely listened to prayer and scriptures during worship, he didn't know exactly what he believed himself because his life and the way he had lived until now muddled how he saw faith. But even still.. This was beyond crazy.
Eli watched Reuel clasp and unclasp his hands, seeing there was something else bothering him.
"What is it Reuel?" He asked, placing his hand over his friends in attempt to calm the aggressive clasping.
"I..I was only so lucky to get by so easily while travelling.. Because I had to.. To play sides."
Reuel relaxed his hands as much as he could and patted back at Elis hand over his.
"When I travelled to a certain area and ran into these groups that opposed the 'true god', I had to pretend I was with them. If I was challenged by the leaders or 'knights' as they call themselves, I had to pledge myself to their beliefs. I had to live a lie to get by and stay alive.. I've done things that I- I didn't like.."
After a while a silence fell over the two. Eli continued to hold his friends hand, letting Reuel have a moment to process. He couldn't begin to understand what he had gone through.
"You know what.."
Reuel spoke up after a long time.
"Lets go to the market and splurge on some food."
Eli smiled as his friend snapped back to normal, getting up to find the small stash of coins he had saved up from the market people having paid him for his occasional help.
"Yeah! I think you deserve a good meal and some snacks after everything you've been through, lets go!"
Comments (0)
See all