Sensing the trouble was over, the tree spirits began to pop out and help also. As the house was quickly restored, the garden on the other hand needed more tender care. Whole branches of the fruiting trees were broken off and many plants’ pots were destroyed. I repotted them and grafted the branches that I could with the help of the spirits. In the greenhouse, things were much direr. The red king flower was severely damaged, the spirit lay next to his pot breathing heavily.

“Oh, no. It’s okay, it’s okay! I’ll get you a new pot, hold on!”

I raced to grab a pot as an elder willow brought new soil. I gently picked it up only to find that the stem had been bent! I found a garden stake to act as a splint until it heals, but the spirit continued to wilt. I racked my brain for a solution and remembered the growth stone.

“Stay with him!”, I told the willow as I ran to my room to grab the stone.

I ripped off the concealment, retrieved it, and ran back.

“I hope this works”, I pleaded as I placed the stone on the stem.

The plant began to perk up and look healthy again, then suddenly another bud shot out of the stem where it had broken. I quickly took the stone away.

“Oops”, I said looking at the spirit as he stood up from the floor, “Seems you’re going to be a dad”, I laughed nervously.

He looked at the stone in my hand then back at the baby flower bud. His body began to shrink until he was the size of a pixie.

“I should conserve energy from now on then”, he said quietly, mesmerized by the baby bud.

“Will you be alright?”, I asked him.

“Yes”, he said weakly, “I feel better now, thank you”

“Jylan, is everything alright?”, Mother and Myavin entered the greenhouse.

“Uh, yeah just fixing some plants that got injured”, I assured.

“Don’t tell me the Red King also got broken”, Mother rushed over to look.

“It was, but I fixed it, so he’s better now”

“Yes…better than better now”, the flower repeated.

Mother sighed in relief. Myavin came and looked the plant over.

“Last I heard, these were extinct”

“Herongolde seemed to have found one, but I distantly remember there being one bud, not two”, Mother replied.

Myavin looked at me, “I think I know the answer to that mystery. What’s in your pocket, Jiji?”

I let out an unconvincing chuckle as I tried to take my leave, but he was one step ahead of me.

“Jiji”

“Jylan Aniceta, what do you have?”, Mother inquired.

I sighed and pulled out the stone.

“A growth stone from Evergreen forest. Where did you get such a thing?”

Hesitating, I shuffled my feet. If I tell him I got it from Mer, he may become angry, if I lie, same result.

“Jiji?”

“I-I got it from…Mer”, I answered sheepishly.

“Mer? That vampire? You told me you and he were no longer involved, but now he’s around my granddaughter?”

Mother was at a loss for words.

“He gave it to me when I went to deliver him food when he was passing through, that’s all!”, I insisted.

“Never accepts gifts so easily, especially from him”, Myavin lectured.

“Ugh, yeah he’s kind of a jerk, but he’s not that bad. There’s no meaning attached to it, I just wanted it”, I assured, “And if I didn’t have it, that flower would have died!”

I was getting upset at being disciplined.

“Why shouldn’t I have it?”, I asked looking at it uneasily.

“It’s nothing like that, Jiji, it is just that this stone is heavily guarded by the Evergreen Elves. Very few outside of the forest are in possession of it”, Myavin comforted, “guard it and use it wisely”

I nodded awkwardly, feeling like a child that just got punished.

“Now, onto other business”, Mother said, quickly wanting to change the subject.

“Yes, your plan, what is it?”

“I have reason to believe this upgrade on the temple is for anything but holy business”

“Oh? The priest is trying to hide something in the construction?”

“Yes”

“And that is?”

“What’s the best way to gain believers, and thus control, over the people?”

“A disaster and having the solution to it… oh”, Myavin’s eyes clouded over.

“There have been unusual movements involving the temple, but our informants can only infiltrate but so far. As you have already seen, the Aniceta and the church are not on good terms, making it difficult to investigate, but…”

“If we could take a look during the inspection and confirm your suspicions, then you could put the priest in his place”, Myavin smiled in glee at the plan.

They both nodded in determination and set up a plan.

The following morning, the Elves set off to the temple first, while Mother and I trailed behind on a different route. As the caravan entered the inner temple and was inspected by the guards, we slipped in from the worker entrance while they were distracted.

We slip into a hidden space between the walls left by the previous builders of the temple and make way further in. We agreed to investigate the west end, while the Elves investigate the East, where the new construction is closest to. Soon we come across familiar voices.

“…As soon as we track down and dispose of that wretched High Priestess and obtain the holy seal, our plans will be in order. I will be in charge and bring new glory and riches to the church. No more relying on these disgusting alms and groveling to those noble pigs!”, the voice laughed, “My father was a fool, lowering himself to allow a woman to run the holy order. Humble? More like weak!”, the voice trailed as it moved away in disgust.

I looked at Mother, a worried look spread across her face. She mouthed to me to head for the space behind High Priestess’s quarters. There, a latch protruded from the stone, indicating a hidden door. We waited for a while to ensure no one was present in the room before opening it. Once inside, the room was a mess as though it was ransacked. Every piece of furniture was overturned and broken open. Mother scanned the room quickly.

“Try to find anything that could indicate where the priestess has gone”, she whispered.

I nodded as I carefully navigated the mess and looked through it. Though rather recluse, Mother and Grandmother were good friends with the priestess, so she must have had similar techniques to hide something not meant to be found. I looked in every book and paper, but found nothing unusual or a trail to lead us to her hiding place. I looked around the room once more, trying to find what was out of place. Something was off, a slight imbalance in the decoration of the room. The temple recognizes the new main god, several saints, and six ancient deities, the gods of Fire, Earth, Air, Water, Strength, and Knowledge. The priestess was a follower of the old deities, so she decorated her room with their symbolic portraits, hanging in threes on the walls, but one, Knowledge, was missing. I walked up to it to feel where the portrait should be. An unnatural bump protruded from the visually flat wall. I felt around until I found a slip of paper and pulled on it. The illusion lifted to reveal the Goddess of Knowledge lifelessly staring back at me. I gently lifted the portrait from the wall, I expected a hole to be behind it but nothing was there. Inspecting the back of the painting, it was slightly convex. Quietly, I pried the back off and a thick letter addressed to the Aniceta fell out. I put the painting to the side and picked it up. Mother rushed over to read it.

“When balance is lost and fire buries the earth, knowledge becomes strength carried by the wind. The Earth’s tears shall form the water goddess, who shall bring forth both healing and destruction”

An encrypted message scrolled across the page in hastily written letters, giving directions as to where to find the priestess. A large piece of ornate metal and an odd-shaped key accompanied the note.

“Put everything back where you found it and let’s go”, Mother instructed.

I nodded and put the painting and concealment back. We slipped into the hidden passageway and I followed Mother to a set of stairs that seemed to descend deep into the ground until Mother stopped and placed her ear to the stone wall. She began to tap until she found a loose brick and removed it. On the other side, a dimly lit guard’s office came into view. Peering through, Mother checked again, then slid the wall out of place.

“Is this a dungeon?”

“Yes”

“Why does a church need a dungeon?”

“For fire to bury the earth”

I looked at her confused. As we snuck out of the guard’s room to the corridor, a pungent smell of rot and blood hit my nose. We looked into the jail cells to find lower priestesses and women of the nunnery.

“We found the earth”, Mother sighed as she unlocked the first cell with the key the High Priestess left.

“Gaea!” a voice painfully choked.

It was the deputy priestess and her assistant. Their hands were bound and clothes were bloodied from wounds inflicted upon them.

“Dear god, Meilar! Yuine!”, Mother gasped, “What happened?”, she asked as she cut them loose.

“Father Maurice…he wants to kill the Head Priestess… and rid the church of any women in positions of authority for complete control… He let in hired mercenaries and bribed some of the council… With our help, her holiness managed to escape…”, she huffed as Mother helped her up.

Mother took out illusion talismans that would make it look as though the priestesses were still in the jails, handed me the key, then nudged me to go free the rest of the priestesses and get them to the secret doorway. They were packed in by the tens, covered in filth, and emaciated.

“Quietly now”, I whispered as I placed the talismans, opened the doors, and freed them.

“Is this everyone?”, Mother whispered to Meilar.

“A few have been called home by the Earth Goddess…”, she choked down tears as Mother held her up.

Mother painfully nodded at her words. I kept on the lookout to make sure none of the guards preoccupied upstairs did not return, as some fifty priestesses filed into the wall. As the last one entered, we shiftily shut the wall and led them back upstairs. The procession was slow, but, despite the difficulty the severely wounded were facing, everyone knew to bite their tongues and stay quiet. As we made it to the exit, Mother stopped to inspect the outside, how were we going to get so many people out unnoticed through that side door?

Suddenly Mother made the sound of a bird call. It was silent for a moment then a loud bang could be heard and the ground shook. Humans and Elves began to inaudibly yell in anger at each other for whatever accident that had just been caused. The inner guards distracted, Mother directed a few priestesses out the side door and flagged down several carriages.

“Take these women outside the west gate quickly. Don’t ask any questions if you know what’s good for you”, She warned the drivers as she generously paid them.

“Y-yes madam”, they shivered out a response.

Packing in as many as the carriages could hold, they sped off one by one. Every now and again Mother would whistle and the quarreling would intentionally continue as a distraction. With the last ones gone and loaded, Mother nodded to me. I let out a hissing noise, attracting the messenger cat and tied a note to it for Saovin to head to the western gate.

“Now what?”, I asked, “We didn’t get to the innermost sanctum of the western temple and we’re out of time… and distractions”

“It’s fine. With the knowledge we have, our mission has changed”, Mother said solemnly, “Head to the rendezvous point”

She let out one last call as I pinched my lips and shook my head. I calmly walked to the Gurgler’s Pub as though nothing happened.

“Halo gin, where the angels swim”, I greeted the owner with a code.

She pointed to a private room on the second floor. I tossed her a gold piece and trotted up the stairs. Inside, the Elves sent to the eastside were already there.

“What took you so long?”, one prodded.

“Had a change of plans”, I replied drily, “find anything?”

“A lot, actually. You might want to sit down”

They spread out papers and plans retrieved.

“Discussions of mutiny, overthrowing the Head Priestess, and forcing the nobility to submit under the churches power”

“Yes, we found that out in the westside, anything else?”

“Blueprints for the building of an armory and an expanded apothecary hidden in the construction”

“He’s planning to fight a war on all fronts…”, I mumbled in shock.

Suddenly, a loud bang echoed through the room. Everyone drew their weapons, but then let out a sigh as it was only Mother.

“So, what do we have?”

“A hostile takeover by the church, in short”, I answered.

“Not surprising. I have instructed Sao to lead the priestesses to the Luna Convent on Carnil Mountain. Lord Taira, I want you and your men to catch up with him and guard the priestesses on their journey. Many are injured and need to be looked after on the road”

“Yes, my lady”, Lord Taira stood, bowed, and departed with his men.

“Jylan, you and I are going to head west to retrieve the high priestess”

“But how will we find her?”

“The clues are in her note. We need to act fast, I’m sure someone will notice soon that the prisoners are gone. The illusions only last an hour”

We quickly exited the pub after purchasing some light rations to take on the road. I whistled for Lilith and we sped out of the western gate towards the river. We passed the caravan of priestesses and Elves, and Mother tossed them some concealments, then sped up. We rode for hours, making a sharp right at the Avale river to head north to the foot of the mountain range. We stopped at a town nestled at the base.

“We’ll rest here and get some warmer clothes for the hike up”, Mother said as we stopped at a tavern.

“Are you sure the priestess is up there?“, I said looking at the imposing, uninviting snowcapped mountains.

“All we can do is hope and follow the clues. Keep a low profile in this town, I have a feeling Father Maurice’s men may be lurking around here”

I nodded as I filled my glass with mead as Mother made a few requests of the tavern owner for supplies and accommodation. I felt eyes on us as were lead to our room.

“I guess it won’t be a restful night”, I thought as I locked the door and tucked my daggers under the blanket.