Chapter Four: Searches and Discoveries

Hide me from wicked people who violently attack me,

 From my deadly enemies who surround me.

They have shut out all feeling.

Their mouths have spoken arrogantly.

They have tracked me down.

They have surrounded me.

They have focused their attention on throwing me to the ground. Each one of them is like a lion eager to tear his prey apart

And like a young lion crouching in hiding places.-

 LOGOS that appeared on the wall of LOGOS in Morningstar Castle

                                                                    Chapter Four:

Searches and Discoveries

Just before Tal’s three hours had expired Chief Confessor Esmail, with lantern in hand, ordered the guardians to open the door and entered the catacombs. He was here to take the confession of the young scribe who had so upset Hunapo at dinner.  He walked down the corridor and turned at the first right. Then went down that corridor and turned left at the end.

 He thought, “I am so glad I didn’t have to try and do this in the dark by feel.” As he made the next right and walked towards the meditation chamber, as they called it, he was surprised not to hear any shout of joy or crying of fear. Every other time he had been sent here the person he was to confess was doing one or the other. “Why was this young scribe so silent? Had he fallen asleep? You wouldn’t think it possible the way the darkness seemed to come alive down here.  Could he have passed out from fear? That was a possibility, but based on what Master Scribe Dankrad and Chief Scribe Truman had told him about the young man he wouldn’t have thought so.”

As he neared the room he called out “Tal, I am here to take your confession and help bring you back to the path of the LIGHT GIVER.”  Still, there was no answer, or even a sound from the room ahead.  The Chief Confessor stopped and breathed a silent prayer to the LIGHT GIVER. “Don’t let him be dead. Not when we are so close to getting the chapel operational finally.” He made the last right-hand turn into the room and saw – NOTHING!    

No one was there! Where was the scribe who had been sent here three hours ago? Esmail knew that the inquisitor had warned the young man about taking his hand off the wall. If he had kept his hand on the wall, he should have been right here, and yet, no one. The Chief Confessor hurried back to the main corridor of the catacombs and stopping looked down.  

He could plainly see foot prints in the dust on the floor along the right wall stumbling deeper into the catacombs.  He followed them to the left-hand turn, then to the right. Even so, as he followed them, he noticed that the footsteps became further apart as if the young scribe had been running. At the next left they increased their distance even more. When he came to the final turn into the meditation chamber, the footsteps went on straight. Some how the boy had gotten turned around and was wandering lost in the Catacombs of Darkness.  

Retracing his steps to the door the Chief Confessor opened it, looked at the two temple guardians and said, “Go find Chief Inquisitor Ignatius. Tell him I need him here immediately. We have a problem.” They looked at each other and back at the Confessor. When they saw how ashen his face was, they took off at a dead run to do as he had requested.

When Ignatius arrived at the catacombs, the Chief Confessor motioned him inside and shut the door on the two guardians. He looked at his companion. Some how the young scribe got turned around in the dark. His tracks lead deeper into the actual Catacombs. I thought it might be best if you were the one to track him since you are trained to notice things. I didn’t want to mess up any tracks or over look something that would keep us from finding him quickly. We both know how important he is to the dedication of the chapel in Luminous City.”

With a quiet nod, Ignatius took the lantern from Esmail and called out to the two guardians outside the door. When they entered, he beckoned one of them to come to him. “You and your partner go and get as many lanterns as you can carry and hurry back here. Somehow, your charge got lost in the dark. Right now I must find him. After he is out of the catacombs the two of you, and I will have a discussion about making certain those sent here make it to the meditation chamber.”

“Chief Inquisitor, we didn’t escort him in your Master Inquisitor Marcus did that. However, I clearly heard him tell the prisoner to keep his hand on the wall. If he had listened then he wouldn’t have gotten lost.” 

Ignatius looked at the guardian “Be that as it may, from now on you will escort the prisoners to the chamber so this does not happen again. I will personally deal with my inquisitors and inform them as such. I also will be talking with your Captain and explaining to him this new plan. I won’t fail to mention that he needs to give you a refresher on obedience and the correct way to respond to a Chief of the Keepers.”

   With that he reached out and took the lantern from the guardian and handed it to Esmail. “Hurry up!! The young man jumped and ran for the door as if shot from a cannon.

 When they were gone Ignatius turned to Esmail.  “You stay here until they return. I’ll start to track the scribe down. When they arrive place a lantern here and come follow me if the tracks turn I will mark the turn very plainly for you with this chalk,” which he held up.

“When the light grows dim behind you leave another lantern and keep going until  you find me, run out of lanterns or I and the scribe return to you. What was his name again?”

“His name is Tal,” replied the confessor. “We must find him Ignatius. I don’t want to have to explain to Hunapo how we lost him. Nor do I want to have to deal with trying to find another transcription scribe to send to this chapel. We both know how important this is to our Master.”

 Ignatius nodded his head and started off following Tal’s path and calling his name. He slowly tracked the young scribe.  When he arrived to the place where the footprints lengthened he knew Tal had been feeling the effects of what they all called the “heaviness of the dark”.  When the trail went down a left corridor, past the chamber entrance, the Inquisitor made an arrow mark pointing up that corridor and after he made the turn he made a mark pointing back towards the entrance.  A few feet farther and the tracks lead him into a room on the right and at the entrance to the room he made a mark pointing into the room and stepped in.

He followed the footprints into the very center of the room. There he was forced to stop because there were no more signs to be found. In fact, it looked like between one step and the next the young scribe had completely disappeared.

“Oh no” he heard from behind him and turned to see the Chief Confessor with a lantern in each hand looking at that single foot print in the dirt of the floor.

“What can this mean?” Esmail asked looking to Ignatius for an answer.

“I don’t know” Ignatius replied, “Except that one of us has to inform Chief Illuminator Hunapo that his plans are going to be delayed again and it isn’t going to be me.” 

With that the two Chief’s of the Keepers of Light turned and began to make their way back out of the catacombs.

Ignatius and Esmail entered the chamber of the Chief Illuminator. It was Esmail, with a voice that trembled, who said, “My Lord Hunapo, the scribe Tal was not in the meditation chamber in the Catacomb. It appears that he has wandered into the Catacombs themselves and become lost”

With a curse the former crown prince of the Kingdom of Light and brother to King Solaris said “Well send the search party out to find him. We are too close to removing all influence of the tainted LOGOS over this kingdom for another delay to be allowed. We must not postpone the dedication of the chapel in my brother’s capitol city.

            “Master, I don’t think you understand what Esmail is trying to tell you.” Ignatius said. “We have already searched the catacombs. I followed his tracks easily enough. However the signs of his trek disappear in the middle of an open room between one step and another.’

 Hanapo roared in anger and grabbed a goblet of his desk and hurled it across the room where it struck the wall and shattered.   “How” he screamed, “how can this be happening? First that prophecy reappears on the wall in Morningstar. Then the whole chapel team, who tried to remove it is struck with that plague. Now when we are less than a month away this happens.” I don’t care what you have to do you to but one of you better figure out how to find that scribe and bring him back to us ready to do what he is told.”  With that he dismissed them.

Just before they reached the door Huapo had a thought.  “Ignatius remain here a moment. You and I have another pressing matter to discuss.”

Ignatius turned and walked back to the Chief Illuminator and waited to speak with him.  The Chief Confessor left the office with one quick glance at the Chief Inquisitor and hurried to figure out how you find someone who literally disappears without a trace.

 

            After Esmail was gone Hunapo turned to his Chief Inquisitor. “Ignatius, I need you to begin an inquisition. I am convinced, based on the question this scribe Tal asked me, that someone here in the temple is teaching from the tainted scrolls.  I want you to find out who they are and how they have been able to keep such instruction secret here of all places.”

            “Yes your Grace”, Ignatius responded “I will begin that just the moment that we have found the missing scribe.”

           

            His face a livid purple with barely controlled rage, the Chief Illuminator roared. “You will begin it right now! Let those who lost this scribe search for him. Your only concern at this moment is to figure out how this boy is learning these dangerous concepts. Nothing else matters but to stop this taint before it destroys all my plans.” “Now get out and don’t come back until you have answers.”

With that Ignatius found himself doing what he did best, calling in members of the Keepers of Light and questioning them on an infraction of the Rules of the Light Giver. None of those questioned knew anything about a member of the Keepers teaching from or about the tainted scrolls. This did not deter the Chief Inquisitor in his task; instead it only made him more determined than ever to find this secret heretic.

Since Tal’s friends and coworkers knew nothing, it was time to look for clues. Ignatius decided to start by searching this scribes room and work place. A search of his room turned up not one trace of a teacher or anyone else who might be instructing the scribe in the old scrolls. The Chief Interrogator was at a loss to explain to his master how this scribe had so much knowledge of the tainted Logos.

However as Ignatius was searching the work room he struck pay dirt, the preservation box belonging to Tal was empty. With his most intimidating inquisitors stare directed at Master Scribe Dankrad he inquired, “Where is Tal’s copy scroll?”

“Well, you see Chief Inquisitor, Tal was having trouble concentrating today on his copying. Seeing as how important it is to get this scroll completed for the new chapel, I suggested he take the afternoon with the scroll in a meditation closet. He will come in early tomorrow for a fresh start.” Dankrad was beginning to sweat under the inquisitors glare, “I assure you that it is not an uncommon practice. Often the LOGOS just grabs a scribe’s attention. When it does that we always suggest that they spend time reading and meditating. Then the next day they are reenergized and ready to transcribe.”

“Yes, I have heard of this practice. However, this time your young scribe may have been meditating on tainted logos. When was the last time you checked his transcription to see how he was doing?”

“Well, um, actually I haven’t checked this transcription at all.  I don’t usually check them until they are complete, unless the scribe in question is known to be unfocused and inaccurate. Both of which does not describe Transcription Scribe Tal. He was promoted early because of his accuracy. His novice master came to me and the Chief Scribe and informed us that Tal was perfect in his transcription every time. Upon checks we realized that he had never made a mistake since being promoted from apprentice to novice. So with special release from Chief Illuminator Hunapo we promoted him.  He was checked frequently on his first transcription project for Holywood chapel. Again he was completely accurate and perfectly legible, so we haven’t checked him since.”

“I see, in that case, and in light of the fact that he was leaning toward heresy today with the Chief Illuminator. I suggest we take a look at his transcription right now. Get it and let us see what he has been copying for the most important chapel we have ever built.”

 Master Dankrad went to the last desk on the right nearest the door, then with a quick flip of the latch opened the preservation box and pulled out a scroll. He turned and made his way back to his own desk where they quickly laid the scroll in the reader. They scrolled to the section that Tal had been working on that day.  With a gasp he moved away from what he saw on the reader.  “LIGHT GIVER have mercy on him!!”

Ignatius took one look at the master scribes face and knew that the young scribe had not only been reading the tainted LOGOS but he had been copying it as well. Rounding on the Master Scribe he demanded “How do you explain this Master Dankrad? You said this scribe was diligent and careful! Yet, here I see the tainted scroll being copied! How long would you say he has been working on this transcription?

Dankrad quickly calculated when Tal had completed his last copy of the LOGOS. “This is his second transcription since being promoted, Chief Inquisitor and based on how far along he is I would say about seven or eight months.”

“Where was his last transcription sent? We must retrieve it and check it for this taint as well. But even more importantly, I must find the scroll he was copying from so that I can figure out how he got his hands on it.” Ignatius started to pace back and forth behind the Master’s desk and then he stopped and looked behind him. What he saw caused his face to go ashen. For there sitting in the darkest corner of the room was a steel chest with a large steel lock on it.

He turned back to the Master Scribe and grabbed him by the throat.

“YOU ARE MASTER OVER THE COPY ROOM WITH THE TAINTED LOGOS IN IT?” With barely controlled rage he loosened up on the Scribes throat and continued, “Yet you allowed at least one of your scribes to transcribe and send copies of the LOGOS without checking to see if the taint had spread? Especially now after we know it has returned to the Castle and made a whole chapel of Keepers ill!”

“You will be lucky if the Chief Illuminator doesn’t have you burned at the stake. For now I am placing you under the authority of the Inquisitors.”

He turned the scribe around and placed shackles on his hands.  Ignatius led Dankrad to an empty inquisition cell to await the outcome of the night. After getting the Master Scribe safely into a cell the Chief Inquisitor called for three Master inquisitors to report to his office immediately.  Within a few minutes each of them came flying into his chambers in various states of dress.

This chamber was both office and sleeping room for the Chief Inquisitor. Against one wall was his bed. On the one opposite it lay a chest filled with the scrolls of the test requirements for various levels of the taint. Beside them lay a test kit with the several of the Chiefs favorite test implements. The test implements were items that brought enough pain to draw the darkness to the surface of the subject, with out causing permanent damage. Beside the bed, facing a steel doorway was Ignatius’ desk where he was seated when the inquisitors entered. Behind the steel door was a stairwell that led down to the three levels of the Inquisition cells and down one more level to the inquisition room, where the more serious tests were conducted.

Looking at the three masters standing before him he was encouraged that they were the most diligent in bringing the darkness to the surface.  “My brothers it is with heavy heart that I give you this assignment.  The young scribe who has gone missing from the catacombs had access to and was transcribing a copy of the Tainted LOGOS. I have the transcription right here but we know that he left the copy room in possession of an original tainted copy. 

His master says he was given permission to spend the afternoon in the meditation closets. I want you three to personally search each and every meditation closet in the Temple. For your own protection, from the taint, it is imperative that you stay together and in sight of each other. None of you should enter a closet alone. Two of you enter and search the third one guards the door. No closet is to go unsearched, be polite but firm on any who want to continue their meditation. Retrieving that scroll takes precedence over everything. Now go, and leave no closet unsearched. If you find it bring it here to me. If I am not here the three of you wait here, together, until I return. Under no circumstance are any of you to open the scroll.  Bring me any and all scrolls you find.

With that the three Masters went and quickly finished dressing. Then they began to search the meditation level of the Temple as their leader had instructed. Not only did they open every closet, but they checked all the waiting couches as well. They overturned every table, lamp, and planter. But when they had completely finished they had nothing to show for their zealous search. Empty handed they stormed back to their Chief’s chambers.

 Chief Inquisitor Ignatius, his heart heavy with dread, opened a secret compartment in his desk. He withdrew a steel key and a small scroll that listed the code for every tainted LOGOS in the Box in the copy room. He sent a messenger to the temple guardians requesting half a squad to meet him at the copy room. He gave strict instructions that neither they nor anyone else, under penalty of testing, enter that room till he arrived. Then he started toward the copy room dreading which scroll he would find missing. However he was afraid he knew already which one Tal had in his possession.

           

When he arrived at the copy room he instructed the guards to keep everyone out of the copy room until he said other wise. “This means you men as well. If anyone tries to enter around you, anyone other than the Chief Illuminator himself, he is to be killed as a heretic working for the Darkness. Do you understand these orders?”

Each of the guards agreed that they did. With their assurance Ignatius entered into the copy room, crossed to the Master’s desk, and grabbed a quill and inkwell. Then he took the scroll Tal had been transcribing and he began to make a series of marks on it. He made two T’s and over them a U then around the outside of the whole mark a half circle, open to the left.  Then he took the small recorder scroll from his pocket along with the key. Using the key and the inkwell to keep it unrolled he made the exact same mark as the one on the scroll. Then he wrote out beside it TAL TRANSCRIPT UNFINISHED COPY ROOM. He blotted it dry, then taking everything he approached the Steel chest. With one quick motion inserted the key into the lock and unlocked the chest.

           

Once the lid was up, Ignatius took the small scroll and lay in on the lid. In each corner of the lid were four small mag-rock. He unrolled the recorder scroll and placed a mag-rock in each corner of the scroll turning the lid into a small table. He set the inkwell and key in the lid as well. Then, with quill in one hand, he began to draw out each of the scrolls contained in the Lock Box and looked at the markings on the outside of each. Each marking had a corresponding one on the recorder scroll as well. Ignatius would find that marking, then find its match on the recorder scroll and make a check beside its entrance in the recorder. Then he would place the scroll in his hand on the floor and repeat the process.

           

The more scrolls he marked off, the surer he became. When he got down to five left, and saw only four scrolls; he was almost certain which one was going to be missing.

When he was at two scrolls, dread and fear of what would happen when Chief Illuminator Hunapo found out which scroll the scribe had, overwhelmed him.  Then he marked of the last scroll in the chest. Only one mark was left: a full circle with a cross and an x through it and on the scroll the description, in his own hand writing, defying his every hope: LOGOS ROOM MORNING STAR CASTLE.

            Quickly, Ignatius replaced every scroll and added the one with Tal’s mark on it. He removed the recorder scroll, inkwell and key from the lid and set them in the floor. Then he relocked the box.  With inkwell, quill, and key in hand went back to the Master’s Desk and found a single sheet of parchment. He quickly wrote out a message and blotted it dry. Then rolled the parchment and using a bit of wax and his inquisitors ring, sealed the message. He went out into the entrance way and sent two of the six guards back to their Sergeant.

 “Tell your sargent to get this message to your Chief. If I don’t receive a reply in less that a half hour, in my chambers, you two, your sargent, and the Chief Guardian will face the test for taint by morning.” Then he motioned for the other four to enter the copy room with him. He led them to the steel lock box and instructed them to pick it up and follow him.  He marched them to an empty inquisition chamber and had them sit the box down. 

“Two of you are to remain on the inside of this door and two on the outside. You will stand watch over this box. If anyone besides myself or the Chief Illuminator try to enter this room and access this box, you are to kill them for they are a taint controlled heretic.  You will be replaced by four more guards at next watch. They will have the same orders. Be diligent and repeat the orders to them, because if you fail at this you will be put to the test and found a heretic as well.”

Then Ignatius and two of the guards left the room.

The Chief Inquisitor, with dread sitting like a ton of bricks on his soul, headed up to the Chief Illuminators office to report what he had discovered. “Heaven help us all when Hunapo finds out what scroll that scribe has in his possession.  I had better not arrive alone.”

With that last thought he went and retrieved Master Scribe Dankrad, and together they collected Chief Scribe Truman. Ignatius explained what he had found as they walked towards the Chief Illuminator’s chambers.  Then he stopped them and said “It would be better for Tal if he were to die lost in the chamber of darkness than to face what Hanapo will do to him if we find him. You need to be prepared for that, he is beyond saving now. If I were you I would pray the LIGHT GIVER gives him mercy and takes him quickly.”

 Ignatius and party resumed their walk to the Chief Illuminator’s chamber each locked in his own somber thoughts.  Ignatius knocked and they were ushered into see the Chief Illuminator and give him their burdensome news.

Chapter Three:Return of the LOGOS

For you have been reborn,

not of flesh which is perishable

but of imperishable matter

 that is the LIVING and Indestructible LOGOS.

For all flesh is like the grass

 and its beauty is like the flowers of the fields.

The grass dries up and the flowers fall off

but the LOGOS of the LIGHT GIVER is ETERNAL. –

LOGOS on the wall in the LOGOS ROOM at Morningstar Castle on the day of the Champions rebirth.  

Chapter three:

The Return of the LOGOS

______________________________________________________

One month earlier

          King Solaris stood in the LOGOS ROOM and looked at something he never thought to see again, words on the wall of LOGOS. Not words from the LOGOS of the LIGHT GIVER but words he remembered his grandfather telling him about.
Words carved by the fingers of the Last Prophet of the LIGHT GIVER a thousand years before. They were his final prophecy, and the story had been passed down from Morningstar to Morningstar until this day.

They were the words of the prophecy of the Champion of the LIGHT GIVER.  Here, they were, just as if they had never been removed twenty years earlier.  When his brother Hunapo, declared the LOGOS on the Walls to be false, and had the Keepers of Light temple guardians chisel them off.    

Just, an hour before the Keepers, who were here to build their new chapel, had been summoned by the guardian. The word was that something strange was happening in the LOGOS room. Now an hour later they were all sick and making plans to return to the Temple.        

           

When they left, the king’s steward came to him with the keys to the LOGOS ROOM. “My liege they left so fast they forgot the keys. I believe you might want to come and see what has gotten them all extremely excited.”

The King had, for the first time in twenty years, entered into the LOGOS ROOM. He was standing here amazed to see words on the wall again. 

The only person the Keepers left behind was the temple guard who was the first to run to them. Word was he was down in the infirmary being consumed by some kind of infectious plague, which was liquefying his flesh from the inside.  The king's steward had gone to see the guard and returned to tell the King what the man had said.    

The tale was he was standing watch to ensure no one entered the room. Just as he had done every day for the last twenty years. Standing there, he heard a noise of movement coming from inside the closed-off  room. He opened the door and saw a hand writing on the wall, nothing more, just a large hand with a wound in the wrist. The words written were the prophecy of the Champion. The very words the King was now reading for himself, just as he had all those years ago when his grandfather showed them to him the first time.    

“When darkness reigns in the Kingdom of Light

And all seems lost in blackest night

From the Keepers camp, a true champion shall arise.

And with him once more the True LIGHT shall thrive.

And these shall be the signs he is right

He shall be cloaked in the Armor of the Light.

There from his hand LIGHTS power shall pour

And drive the Keepers from the kingdom's door.”

King Solaris fell to his knees and began to pray to the LIGHT GIVER. “Oh Lord LIGHT GIVER I pray these words be fulfilled soon. We are in desperate need of a Champion to return us to the days when we could worship you in freedom and without restriction.”  The King left the LOGOS ROOM giving his steward orders for the room to be checked frequently to check if more text was returning to the walls. 

As he left, he reflected on how things changed twenty years earlier. How the LOGOS had been removed from the walls of the room. How religious freedom had been scrubbed from the Kingdom of Light in the same manner. He remembered it just like it was yesterday.  

           

It was the custom of the royal family for the first born to be the heir to the throne. The second born was to be dedicated to the service of the LIGHT GIVERS church, the Keepers of Light.  So it was that Solaris was the Crown Prince and his brother, Hunapo, was dedicated to become a member of the Keepers of Light.

As they grew into manhood Solaris began to learn the intricacies of running the Kingdom of Light and Hunapo began to learn and advance in the order of the Keepers. He was not a scribe but of the Illuminators Sect and continued to advance. By the time they were both in their thirties Solaris was married to a noble young woman named Agape. Just, one year after his marriage, his wife had given him his first child. A girl named Rayhia, who was the apple of her grandfather’s eye. 

Their father King Stephan was proud of both his sons. He was surprised to hear that Hunapo had taken a wife from the servants of the keepers. She had borne him a son named Balaam.  Things were right in the Kingdom of light. Peace and prosperity were the legacy of King Stephan’s reign.  

           

Crown Prince Solaris heard often about his brother's achievements. It was no surprise when he obtained the rank of Master Illuminator. Nor was he surprised, when  Chief Illuminator Patience named his brother to be the heir apparent to the post of Chief Illuminator. This began to allow Hunapo access to all areas of the Temple of the Keepers of Light.

The rumor was that his brother, along with his studies of the role of Chief Illuminator, was spending time on an excavation of the Catacombs under the
Temple.  Everyone had been surprised when the excavation paid off with the finding of another scroll of LOGOS. The scroll was found in a jar in one of the oldest quarters of the catacombs. 

 Even more surprising was that, with the blessing of Reigning Chief Illuminator Patience, Hunapo refused to allow anyone to see it.  A few months later, Hunapo took the scrolls with him to the Patience’s Chamber. Whatever they discussed upset Chief Illuminator Patience so much, he suffered a major stroke. Two days later he died without ever uttering a single word. All the Keepers of the Light were recalled to the Temple to preside over the anointing of Chief Illuminator Hunapo and the funeral of his predecessor Chief Illuminator Patience.        

For the next two years all over the Kingdom, Illuminators were being replaced by men known to be loyal to the new Chief Illuminator. Their predecessors either passed away, or were retired. Until finally Chief Illuminator Hunapo was the oldest illuminator left at the age of thirty two. His brother was overseeing most of the daily operations of the Kingdom. Their father, the King, spent most of his time entertaining his granddaughter and daughter-in-law.  

Then the day came when Hanapo came to see their father with news that was quite disturbing. Solaris remembered it as the day which marked the beginning of the time of Darkness, though none of them knew it at the time.

 The Chief Illuminator entered the Palace asking for an official audience with the King and Crown Prince. He needed to discuss a matter of great importance to the spiritual life of the Kingdom of Light.  He was escorted into the capitol city and even the palace by an army of Temple Guardians twice the size of the royal army.

In the Kings private chambers, Hunapo showed his father and brother the scroll he had found in the catacombs. He proceeded to explain that they were older than the scrolls found anywhere else in the Kingdom so far. He wished to test this found scroll against the scroll in the LOGOS ROOM, and the LOGOS recorded directly on the wall as well. He suspected that this scroll was older than both. If true it would show that the LOGOS had been altered over the years in such a way as to lead the entire Kingdom down a path to darkness and away from the LIGHT GIVER.

Disturbed by this King Stephan gave his permission for his son to conduct the examination. 

For two months the Chief Illuminator aided by Master Scribes and a new class of Keeper called Inquisitor scoured over the LOGOS ROOM, and the scroll of LOGOS contained within.  They read every word both on the Wall and in the Scroll and compared them word for word. They ran a test on text type and scroll age. They did carbon testing on the Wall for age and in the text on the walls as well. Then at the end of two months, Hunapo again asked for a private audience with his father and brother.

Hunapo stood in their father’s private office and stated. “As I feared father, the scrolls I found are indeed older than both the LOGOS scroll and the LOGOS on the Walls in the LOGOS ROOM. Sometime in the ancient past the LOGOS of the LIGHT GIVER has been drastically changed. This has led our Kingdom off the path of the LIGHT GIVER and into a path of Darkness. As Chief Illuminator I feel it is my responsibility to return our Kingdom to the right path.  I am send my Inquisitors, along with a contingency of Temple guardians, to every chapel throughout the Kingdom to destroy the corrupted LOGOS. Further more; I will instruct my Scribes to begin making copies of the Authorized LOGOS to distribute to every chapel as they are finished. I also will leave a contingency of Guardians here to see that the LOGOS ROOM is sealed. It will remain sealed until my inquisitors can chisel clean the walls. Then the scribes can reapply the Authorized LOGOS to them.”  

King Stephan looked for a moment at his son and then replied. “I know that the spiritual well-being of the Kingdom is your responsibility. However, the entire well-being of the Kingdom is mine. Let us slow down here. It is not that I don’t trust your test, but I wish to see the differences in these two LOGOS for myself.  I would ask you to give me the same courtesy that I have extended to you. Allow me two months to read both scrolls and see this path of darkness for myself. If the corruption is as bad as you say, we will proceed exactly as you have stated. However, until then let us slow down.”  

Hunapo’s face briefly flashed with rage, but so quickly was it gone that Solaris was not sure that he had truly seen it, or if he had imagined it.  

 “Father you are right, in my zeal to correct this spiritual problem, I became overzealous for a moment. I will give you those two months but would ask that you allow me to seal the LOGOS ROOM to everyone but you. Furthermore, allow my men collect the Scrolls from all the chapels in the land.  We will hold them under lock and key at the temple until you have made your decision.”        

King Stephan nodded. “I agree with your conditions with one exception. We both know that my eyesight is not what it used to be. I would ask for you to allow Princess Agape to read the scrolls to me. I trust her judgment and discretion as much as I do yours and your brother’s”

Hunapo thought for a moment, and with a smile, said, “Of course father. I will also leave several scribes here to begin making copies of the Authorized scroll when you and Agape are not reading them.”    

With those words, an agreement was struck and the Chief Illuminator began to give orders to his men. When finished, he took his leave of his father and brother.    

The King sent for Agape. The two of them began to read the scrolls a section at a time from morning to night for the next few weeks.

 After a few weeks Agape mentioned to her husband that she was worried about his father. He seemed to be growing sick and weaker by the day.  Solaris went the next day to see his father. He was shocked by the change he saw. Until that day, his father always seemed like a strong and regal King. Now what he saw sitting at the desk that day was a frail old man.    

Solaris sent for the Royal Physician, who examined the king saying he seemed in good health, but a little overworked and tired. So Solaris convinced his wife to shorten the reading time and urged his father to rest more.  Then with two weeks left to go in the two months. King Stephan went to bed one evening dying in his sleep.    

Word went out through the land that King Stephan was dead. Long live King Solaris and Queen Agape. That was never to be. 

Hunapo came to preside over his father’s funeral. He also made arrangements for his brother and sister-in-law’s anointing and coronation as King and Queen.  

 The Chief Illuminator arrived, and the funeral took place the next day. King Stephan was laid to rest with his forefathers in the royal crypt.  The Coronation was set for two weeks later to allow a period of mourning for the King. It was during that time that Hunapo requested an audience with his brother.  Solaris would never forget that day as long as he lived.  

Hunapo met with Solaris and reminded him of the spiritual problem which the Kingdom faced. “Brother I agreed to fathers plans out of respect for him, but now that he is past, I must do what is spiritually best for this Kingdom. I issued orders last night to my inquisitors and guardians to seal the LOGOS ROOM and finish collection of the corrupted scrolls.” Solaris was shocked that his brother would overstep his authority like that and informed his brother of that.  

“Overstep my authority? Are you forgetting whom you are addressing? I am the Chief Illuminator. It’s my role to oversee the spiritual well-being of the Kingdom! You will be king in two weeks because of my authority as Representative of the LIGHT GIVER.  I went along with father’s request because he was our father. However, with him dead I will do what I feel is best for the Kingdom’s spiritual life. If you try to interfere with my duty, I will have you tested for the influence of this taint. If my inquisitors find darkness in you by the Authorized LOGOS, which I guarantee you they will, you will be executed as a heretic. Make no mistake, brother, we will return to the Path of the LIGHT GIVER, with or without you as King.”

 At that point Agape looked at her brother-in-law “Hanapo, I think that you may be mistaken in this. Your Father and I could see no darkness in the LOGOS as it stands. However, we did find a lack of the Love and Forgiveness of the LIGHT GIVER in this so called Authorized LOGOS of yours.” 

Hunapo, with rage apparent on his face, stood and crossed to the doors of the royal chambers. He opened them, and called out for the Temple Guardians. A contingency entered the royal chamber as if waiting right outside.

“Take Princess Agape to the Chief Inquisitor and ask him to put her to the test. I fear that she is in immortal danger because of all the time she has spent with the corrupted scroll.”

 As the guardians approached his wife Solaris stood and drew his sword only to be clubbed in the head from behind. When he returned to consciousness, his wife was no where to be seen. He was disarmed and restrained. His brother was standing over him. 

“Solaris, be very sure of your next move. I have a larger and better trained army here than you do. I will use them to ensure the spiritual purity of our Kingdom is returned. You are to be king, and the political and daily life of our Kingdom is yours to run. Do not try and interfere again with the spiritual life of the Kingdom, or you will face the same fate as your wife. Instead, I suggest that you pray that we find no taint of darkness in her or your daughter either.” With that Hunapo cut the restraints and left his brother alone.  

For three days Agape was tested by the Inquisitors. She confessed, in writing, that she had been practicing in dark arts for years. Her confession stated that she had used them to confuse her father-in-law and ensure that the corrupt LOGOS would continue. When he had begun to see the truth of the scrolls, she had insured his death by witchcraft.  

It was the conclusion of the Chief Confessor, that there was only one way to purify her eternal soul. She was to be set free of the Darkness by being consumed by fire. Though her body would perish, her soul would be cleansed and returned to the LIGHT GIVER.

So, two days before the Coronation of King Solaris, the Princess Agape was burnt at the stake as a witch and murderer.
Watching his wife burn, Solaris knew that, in reality, he was not really the ruler of the Kingdom of Light; his brother was in command. He wondered in his heart how long it would be before Hunapo found a way to be both Chief Illuminator and King.  

When his brother left after the coronation Solaris called his Steward and had him find out which of the palace guards were the most committed to him and Rayhia. From those men, he picked twenty of the best and fiercest fighters creating the royal guard. They were tasked with protecting the King and Royal Princess with their very lives.    

Twenty years had passed but to King Solaris on this his daughter’s twenty-first birthday a miracle had happened. The wall had LOGOS on it again or at least a prophecy, that gave him a renewed sense of hope. “Even so, so LIGHT GIVER," he thought, “please send your Champion soon.”  

Two weeks passed, and a new group of Keepers arrived at the castle. The Illuminator among them asked to speak with the King. Solaris granted him an audience.  The illuminator handed him a letter from the Chief Illuminator stating that all the original chapel party had succumbed to the same plague as the Temple guardian they had left behind.    

This new party was to complete the building of the chapel. Furthermore, they would ensure that the LOGOS ROOM was kept locked, and that no one entered it again until the taint of darkness it possessed could be eradicated.        

So King Solaris ordered the room locked. He gave a key to the new illuminator of the chapel project. King Solaris suggested to him that since the room was locked, and he had the only key. It would be unwise to post temple guardians at the door seeing what happened to the last one assigned there.  The illuminator with an ashen face agreed. No doubt, not wanting the same fate to befall him as had befallen his predecessor.        

Things returned to normal in Luminous City. However, no one was aware that the King had kept a copy of the key to the LOGOS ROOM. Solaris continued to have it checked daily to see if any more of the sacred text appeared.  

Chapter Two: Out of the Darkness and into the Light

LIGHT GIVER where can I go that you are not?

 If I go to the Highest peak you are there.

 If I go to the lowest cavern you are there.

If I say to the darkness hide me from the CREATOR

 Or say to the day turn dark and cover me .

You still see me; the darkest darkness is like Light to you. You are everywhere I am or ever could be. –

 LOGOS that appeared on the wall of LOGOS at Morningstar Castle on the day that the Champion was taken to the catacombs.

 Chapter two:

Out of the Darkness and into the LIGHT

The group moved towards the lowest level of the Temple, with the master class inquisitor in front leading the way. Tal was being physically hauled down the stairway by the two temple guardians. His mouth was bleeding from a split lip.  He had received it suggesting that he was perfectly capable of walking to the catacombs without help. After smashing him in the mouth with a rock-hard fist, the guardian on the left, told him to keep his mouth shut.

“After all,” He said; “It has already gotten you in enough trouble for one night.”

            Tal realizing that the guardian was right and he assumed they were just doing their job as they understood it.  Furthermore,, he figured they were making sure the inquisitor saw that they weren’t showing the heretic any mercy.  After all if they showed him mercy or kindness, then it might be remembered later.  That could cause problems for the one who’d acted in showing kindness or mercy. No one wanted the kind of problems that ended with them in the torture chamber known as the inquisition hall.

            As they passed the servant's level and entered into the Inquisitor’s training level Tal realized that the doors here had something that no door in any of the other training levels had, locks.  No one entered the domain of the Inquisitors without someone letting them in. Reversely no one left the domain of the Inquisitors without someone letting them out.  

            From the training level, they reached the first of three levels of testing cells. This was where those suspected of having the Taint of Darkness would await their call to the Testing for taint. Tal was grateful not to be stopping, but he was well aware that when he had no instructors name to give the Chief Confessor that this would be his next stop.  

“Was it worth it?” He wondered. “Was reading, copying, and meditating on the forbidden texts really worth all the trouble he was headed for?” 

The despair over what he was about to endure washed over him. However, it couldn’t diminish the closeness to the LIGHT GIVER he felt within  that scroll.  He remembered another passage from the scroll that summed up his feelings very well.  The LIGHT GIVER had asked his followers once, after a number of people had turned against him, if they would leave him as well. One of them had replied, just like Tal’s heart did now; “Where else can we go your words bring us to life.”

            As that thought finished in his mind, the group exited the stairs having arrived at the deepest level of the Temple.  They were standing in a short hallway with a large ironwood door, and two wall mounted torches on either side.  The Master Inquisitor removed the key from his pocket as they approached the door and unlocked it. He then took the torch from the left side of the wall and taking Tal by the arm entered the catacombs.  

            Just inside the door the Master Inquisitor looked back at the guardians and said: “I’m taking him to the first turn. Wait here for my return and whatever you do don't let this door close until I get back.” The guardians nodded and took up positions on either side of the door frame blocking the door open.  

                 As Tal was being led deeper into the Catacombs, the torchlight revealed that the ceiling was at least ten stones high. The granite block walls were wide enough that six horses could have been ridden side by side without touching each other or the walls.  The floor too was made of granite block.  

            Moving deeper down the corridor they passed several passageways on the left. When they reached the first turn on the right, the inquisitor rounded the corner, turned and looked at Tal. 

“Pay attention to what I am about to tell you.” His tone somber.  “Your life may depend on it.”  “You may think that you understand darkness, but you don’t. Once I leave taking this torch with me, the door is closed and locked leaving you in total darkness.  You won’t even be able to see your hand in front of your face.”  

            He then took Tal’s right hand and placed it on the wall. “The way to the meditation chamber is along this path.  Just keep your hand on the wall. If the wall turns you turn with it.  You will know that you have reached the meditation chamber when the wall  no longer feels straight but rounded.”  “When you get there, sit with your back against the wall.  Take the three hours and contemplate on what led you down this dark path. Do not move from that spot until someone with a torch or lamp comes to get you” 

The inquisitor moving to look Tal square in the eye, continued “The most important thing for you to understand is that the darkness is so complete you’ll have no sense of direction. No matter what happens or how scared you become don’t take your hand off the wall until you reach the meditation chamber.  Because if you do you will certainly become lost in the catacombs.”    

Then with a sad smile he said; “I am not trying to scare you.  Each inquisitor is sent here on his first day of training. They are told the same thing but each year someone takes their hand of the wall and becomes lost.” When it happened to me, I was down here five days before someone found me. It took me almost a year to recover enough to be able to try again.  Some of my classmates were never found at least one a year is lost and given up for dead after seven days. None of those given up have ever returned. So don’t take your hand off that wall until it curves under your hand. When you reach the Meditation chamber sit down and don’t get up again until you have light to see by.”

 With a final shudder, the inquisitor said: “You may be on the path to darkness, but no one deserves to die down here.  However, if you don’t do what I have told you there is a great possibility that you will. Do you understand?”  

            Tal, his face drained of blood by fear. Nodded and said; “Don’t take my hand of the wall no matter what and sit down until someone brings a light once I am in the chamber. Yes, I understand.”  

            “Good.” Replied the Inquisitor. Then he turned around and headed back up the corridor to the door.

 Tal was left all alone in the thickening darkness with just his thoughts and growing fear as companions. After a few minutes, Tal heard him thank the guardians. Then he heard the booming echo of  the door being closed. The darkness surrounded Tal so completely that black was too mild a word to describe it. 

            As he was walking along the corridor, with his right hand solidly on the wall, Tal began to understand just what the Chief Illuminator had meant about  understanding the Darkness.  Try as he might Tal couldn’t see anything. Not even his hand in front of his face. He knew this because when he had tried, he had mashed his nose with his hand.  The further he walked the more real the darkness seemed. It was like it had weight and was pressing in on him from every side. Never before had the Darkness seemed anything more than a concept of evil, but now it felt real. More than real, it felt alive.  

            Tal reached the first turn in the corridor, a left-hand turn. As he went left, he began to feel as if the Darkness was stalking him. He suddenly was sure that the Darkness was real, and it was evil. Real and evil, and it wanted to destroy him. 

“He had to get out of this place. Why would they send anyone down here?  Were his questions and thoughts so bad that he deserved to be stalked and destroyed like prey?” “Because that was what he was here, prey.” Without further thought Tal began to run.  

            He was not scared. He was beyond that, he was terrified. The faster he ran the more sure he was that the Darkness was going to consume him. First, it would crush him then it would devour him and when the Confessor came, there would be nothing left of him. That must have been what happened to those illuminators whom no one ever saw again. The Darkness had devoured them.  With that thought, terror became something more. Tal’s reasoning left him. He dropped his hand from the wall and started running as fast as he could, flying down the corridor without thought or reason.   

            Suddenly, he ran full speed into the wall knocking him  off his feet.  He scrambled back up, still in terror making the right-hand turn and kept running. He picked up speed with each passing step until he was practically flying again. When he hit the next wall, he didn’t even realize it. His head connected with the stone floor and Tal, for one brief second, before unconsciousness took him, saw bright-colored  specks in the darkness.    

            When Tal awoke he was still in darkness and fear came rushing back on him. He sat up and realized that he was still in the catacombs. He had no idea how long he had been there or where he was exactly. How many turns had he missed after he took his hand off the wall?  How could he have given in so easily after the warning the Master Inquisitor had given him?  As these questions ran through his mind he suddenly realized that the darkness seemed to be lessening.

He heard someone call his name and saw a faint light down the corridor. He thought that in the darkness he had not only gotten completely turned around but had lost time, three hours had gone very fast it seemed. 

“My Lord please don’t leave. I got lost in the darkness but I see your light and I am heading toward you now.” Tal cried rising to his feet and heading towards the light.

 

“Am I really your Lord Tal? The voice replied.

“ I don’t understand your question my Lord.” Tal responded as he rounded the corner and saw the man who was waiting on him. The man was not the Chief Confessor, he wasn’t a confessor at all, nor was he carrying a lantern. It appeared that the light Tal was heading to was coming from the man himself.  Tal realized he was standing in the presence of a Heavenly messenger. 

            The Messenger had short tightly curled brown hair and a matching beard.  Completely crossing his forehead and disappearing into his hair line was a row of very unique scars. His eyes were a shade of green that Tal had never seen before. He was about the same height as Tal maybe a little taller, around six or six and a half stones.

He was dressed in the finest and purest white robe Tal could have imagined. Running across his body from his Right shoulder was a sash of the deepest purple cloth. 

“Who are you my Lord?”

“I am He whose words you were reading today. I was there as you asked if it was possible to ask and receive answers. I have been waiting for someone to ask that question since my words were removed from the Logos room at Morningstar. I must again ask you Tal, am I your Lord?”

Tal’s heartfelt reply was “Without a doubt my Liege.”   

“Ah that is a different question my young seeker. Am I your Liege as well?  Would you consider me both your Lord and your King?” The LIGHT GIVER asked.

Falling to his knees head bowed low Tal responded with a resounding “You are the LIGHT GIVER how can I respond but with yes to both with all my heart.”

The LIGHT GIVER , using scared hands, lifted Tal to his feet “Do not be so quick to answer my next request Tal for I am going to ask a hard thing of you. Since the day the enemy of the Light who calls himself the Chief Illuminator of the Keepers of Light removed my true words from the access of the people. I have been looking for a Champion to stand and fight for me. Are you willing to take on that role Tal?”

“Before you answer know that if you accept this role you will be considered a Heretic by those who have trained you. They will hunt you to kill you. But others out there in the Kingdom of Light have been waiting for the true words to be spoken again. They will flock to your banner as an army to over throw the darkness. The task is hard and the rewards are not guaranteed but I will empower you and give you gifts necessary to fulfill your mission.”

“Now I need your answer Tal do you accept the role of Champion of the Light Giver?” 

“My Lord” Tal answered, with fear and awe on his face. “I will accept the role of Your Champion but I must ask why me? I mean there must be others better equipped to fight for you, like King Solaris at Morningstar or one of his soldiers. Why would you ask me, a minor scribe in what is obviously the order of your enemy?”

With a smile the LIGHT GIVER said “I am glad that you accept my request Tal and the reason is that I don’t want someone better equipped. You have the scroll of my Logos in your possession and you have been reading it for the better part of this year. You must know by now that I always use those who are willing not those who are best equipped. In your weakness My strength will shine through.  Fear not Tal for the gifts I am about to give you are strong for the tearing down of the enemy strongholds.”

Looking deep into Tal’s eyes the LIGHT GIVER went on to add: “The main reason you were chosen is that you were selected  by my father and I before you were even born.  One of the last things added to the wall in the Logos room at Morningstar Castle was by my last prophet. He added a Prophecy about you over a thousand years ago. When you get to Morningstar ask the King to show it to you.”

“Our time grows short they are searching for you. Now let us leave this place for a time and retire to my throne room, so that I may impart my gifts and instructions to you. That will allow you time to be ministered to by my messengers and prepare for the ordeal you must needs go through when your order recovers you.”

With that ,Tal and the LIGHT GIVER took a few steps forward and were translated from the Catacombs of Darkness to the Throne room of the LIGHT OF THE WORLD.      

Chapter one :Disillusionment and Illumination

Chapter One:

Disillusionment and Illumination

Had he known that today would be the day that changed everything he believed to be true he would have stayed in bed, but he didn’t.  Transcription Scribe Tal awoke with a start to realize that the sun was too bright for the time he was supposed to have gotten up.  He must have overslept again. How was that possible?  Yes, he had been up late meditating on the LOGOS he had copied during the day; but he had asked his roommate to awaken him before leaving for his watch assignment.  Tal realized that he must have rolled over and gone back to sleep after Jarrod left, and now he was late again.  How could he keep doing this? Master Scribe Dankrad had told him over and over how important this copy of the LOGOS was. It was going to the new chapel being built in Luminous City. 

The only thing keeping the chapel from officially opening was that it didn’t have a copy of the LOGOS for its dedication ceremony. The new crown jewel in the Keepers holdings was this chapel that was right down the road from Castle Morningstar in the capitol of the Kingdom of Light.  Some said that it wasn’t a chapel but that the Chief Illuminator was planning on making it the new Temple so that he would be close to advise his brother the King on spiritual matters. However, it couldn’t open because Tal hadn’t finished the transcription of the LOGOS for the chapel. He had to find a way to start being early and get caught up before they regretted promoting him to Transcription class so young.

            Looking quickly around the small sleeping cubical that he shared with Jarrod, Tal searched for his robe from yesterday.  He didn’t have time to go down to the laundry and get a clean one, so he searched under the beds for it not finding a thing. He looked around the small meditation desk and under it finding nothing as well. Then he opened the wardrobe on the opposite wall where Jarrod kept his guardsmen armor and found the black robe of a scribe class Keeper hanging from one of the armor hooks. Once again, Jarrod had picked up after him.  Tal pulled the robe over his head as he went out the door, trying to put his sandals on as he ran for the stairs in the Temple of the Keepers of Light.

Up the stairs he flew from the second floor dormitory level, past the third floor acolyte learning level, listening to the acolytes practice the hymns as he flew past the opening.  Then Tal tiptoed past the fourth floor Confessors training level. There was no way he wanted to attract the attention of a Confessor right now and have to admit to the sin of procrastination, or even worse laziness. If the Confessor was any good at what he did, then Tal’s real taint would be revealed, and he would be sent to the Inquisitors for the Test. What would that reveal about him? After getting several stairs past the opening, Tal raced to the top floor. This was his stop, the Scribes transcription level.  

As he exited onto the floor, he stopped for just a brief minute to look at himself in the reflecting glass. Tal saw what he always saw--a young man of 20 with close cut dark hair, emerald green eyes with flecks of gold in them, and a scrawny pale complexion from too many hours spent indoors.  “Just once”, he thought, “I would like to be someone who people would notice and be drawn to.” Then knowing he had wasted too much of the time he had to transcribe LOGOS, he hurried down the corridor to his copy room.  

All copy rooms looked the same. That way if you got transferred from one Master to another, you instantly felt at ease and able to work. Along the back wall the furthest from the light were the preservation chests of the LOGOS.  The ones on the right were the Authorized LOGOS scrolls, one scroll for every scribe assigned to the room. The preservation chests were made of cedar wood, and the outsides had been coated with a finish that was resistant to light and water to help preserve the LOGOS so that each scroll would last up to two times longer than it normally would have. This was done to cut down on the number of recopies that had to be made.

On the left side of the back wall was one large steel chest with a huge lock on the front. This held the Original copies of the tainted LOGOS, removed twenty years earlier by the current Chief Illuminator after the LIGHT GIVER revealed to him that the LOGOS they had been following for generations had been corrupted a thousand years earlier.  Just in front of that wall were the windows that ran down the outside wall of the room and up into a domed crystal ceiling allowing the maximum amount of natural light for the scribes to copy by.  Just to the front of the preservation chests was the Master Scribe’s Desk where the Master Class Scribe and overseer of the room sat hard at work checking a recently completed copy of the LOGOS for error or taint before releasing it to the chapel it had been created for.  Then three desks across and four desks deep from there to the entrance room was where the Subscription Class scribes desks were placed, all of which were already filled except of the one in the far right corner, the one belonging to Tal. 

Tal walked quickly and quietly to his desk and began to get set up for today’s copying.  First, he checked to make sure that there were twelve fresh Eagle quills for him to copy with.  Only the eagle was considered holy to the LIGHT GIVER so that its tail feathers could be harvested for the copying of the LOGOS. Next he checked his ink well and realized that he had been in such a hurry to leave the night before that he had neglected to fill it. So he took his well and went back to the entrance room where on the left sat a cask of the blackest ink the Kingdom of Light could manufacture.  He carefully filled the well half way knowing that the air of the open ink well would cause it to become to dry by lunch and be unusable. He did not want to have to spend half his lunch time washing the well. He learned as a novice to only get what he would need till lunch, then he could quickly wipe out the well and refill it after eating. 

            With that accomplished and the well neatly back in its nest on the copy desk, Tal opened the scroll well on the left side of the desk and threaded the LOGOS scroll he was laboring so diligently over through the copy placard, a wooden square much like a picture frame that would hold a whole day’s worth of scroll to be copied and dried. The placard opened on a hinge to the bottom of the desk and latched into place in each corner. Leaving the placard raised, Tal opened the preservation box on the right and attached his copy of the logos into the scroll roller and began to slowly crank the handle until he had no print between the two vertical slats of the placard. He lowered the placard with his left hand while keeping the scroll rolled snug with his right and snapped the latches at each corner into place keeping the empty section of the scroll in place.

Once this was done, he closed the side of the preservation box being careful to make sure the scroll exiting it was lined up with the small slit that allowed the scroll to run to the placard; and then he latched it in place and released the winding handle tension so as not to put stress on the skin of the scroll.

Then and only then did Tal approach Master Dankrad’s desk and ask for the key to his Authorized LOGOS preservation box. Master Dankrad looked at Tal, then looked at the time keeper on his desk. “Tal, I for the life of me cannot understand you. You are the most gifted young scribe we have here at the Temple, and I and the Chief Scribe have both personally gone out on a limb recommending you for this most prestigious honor. *We even promoted you from novice to transcription class six years sooner than any scribe has ever been promoted, making you the youngest transcription scribe ever and yet you arrive late every day. You know that the only thing now keeping the chapel of Luminous City from being dedicated and operational is the arrival of their copy of the Authorized LOGOS. You should be the first one here and the last one to leave. I tell you this every day and yet here you are again late.”

“I know, Master Dankrad, I do apologize for being late again. I even made arrangements for someone to awaken me before first light. My plan was to be early but I must have fallen back to sleep.” Tal replied.  “Let me get my key and I will get right to work.”

As Dankrad scowled at Tal without saying a word, Tal began to get nervous. “Have they checked the scroll then?” he wondered. “Do they know what I have been doing for the past 7 months? If so, why is there no Confessor here, or worse an Inquisitor?”

With a deep sigh that showed just how perplexed he was, Master Dankrad reached into his desk and handed Tal the key to the preservation chests.

“Here, Tal, get your scroll and get to work. However, today you will work through lunch, and I will come back and get you for midday devotions. Also, Tal, I myself will come by your room in the morning and awaken you and escort you to breakfast and straight to here.” With those words, the Master went back to checking the scroll on his own desk against his authorized LOGOS scroll.

Tal approached his preservation chest and opened it. There within lay a copy of the LOGOS. Not raising it enough to be seen by anyone, he turned it until he found the strange mark he was looking for, a circle with a cross and an x through it. When he saw that mark, he felt relief and fear at the same time--relief because that meant no one had figured out that somehow he had been given an original copy of the LOGOS not an authorized copy, and fearful because it would mean death to be caught with one.

He should have turned it in when he first started working on his current copy, but his curiosity had gotten the better of him. He had wanted to know how the original was tainted; and because of the trust that Master Dankrad had in him, no one had checked his scroll to see what he was copying. He figured at the time that it would end up in some small little chapel where it wasn’t even read but used as a symbol, and he would have been right if not for the plague of a month ago. Now instead he was the transcription scribe to the most highly coveted new chapel construction project ever undertaken.

 Tal quickly lifted the LOGOS and carried it to his reader box.  He then placed the whole scroll inside, threaded the end through the slit and latched the box. Tal opened the reader placard, lined up the scroll, and threaded the end into the readers scroll roller in its protection box and carefully turned the scrolling arm until the text he was working on was displayed in the reader placard.  Then keeping the arm snug, he snapped the placard in place. After releasing the arm, Tal sat down to copy. 

  

Tal was finding it nearly impossible to complete the task of copying the scroll because he kept being drawn to read the restricted parts. Even though he knew that the Chief Illuminator had discovered them to be heresy and not found in the oldest copy he had discovered in the catacombs of the Keep, Tal couldn’t stop.  They spoke to his soul like nothing in the authorized text. What he was supposed to be copying made him feel imprisoned by the Logos and unworthy of the LIGHT GIVER’S love. But the words of the unauthorized text made his soul feel light, free, and empowered to do great things. So his work slowed as he found himself reading more than writing.      

           

He would have gotten away with this indiscretion too if not for the midday devotional requirement. When he failed to hear the bell calling for assembly, the Master Scribe took notice of him and came by to rouse him to devotions.  That was when it was discovered that Tal had not even completed a half a page of copying for a whole morning’s work. Tal looked at his Master who was reminding him yet again of the shortness of the time left till his chapel would be ready for dedication. He stressed that the completed copy of the LOGOS must be finished and delivered before that time for proper sanctification of the chapel. Tal responded with “I understand, Master Dankrad, I just seem to be overwhelmed by the manifestation of the Logos in my possession this morning.”

Master Dankrad smiled and patted his pet student on the arm and answered, “Oh, Tal, that happened to all of us at first but you must overcome it.  Take the afternoon and the text you were transcribing and spend time with it in the meditation closet. But you must return ready to make up for lost time tomorrow.  And whatever you do, do not be late for dinner, as you are to service the Chief Illuminator tonight. It would not look good on our department for the youngest transcription scribe ever to be late to his mandatory service.” 

“Oh, thank you, Master. I will be there on time and will certainly strive to catch up tomorrow on my copying for the chapel.” Tal replied. And with that he gathered up the scroll that had so enthralled him. Tal was gone before Master Dankrad could notice that it was not the authorized copy but one of the tainted scrolls.

           

That should have been the end of the incident accept the words that he had meditated on all afternoon was not an authorized passage; and it had overwhelmed him because it seemed to indicate that a more intimate connection to the LIGHT GIVER was possible.  It simply stated,   “Call out to me and I will answer you and show you great things you never even thought about.”  Was it really possible? Not only that, was it that simple to just ask? He spent all his time thinking and pondering the implications of why this would be part of the Heretic writings? And then he realized that he would have to rush to get changed to serve the Chief Illuminator at dinner and be on time. 

Tal rushed down the hall and stopped at the first doorway on the right to get a clean robe from the laundry. The Laundry Mistress, with a chuckle in her voice and an amused twinkle in her eye, told Tal that Master Dankrad had asked her to remind him to be on time. Furthermore, he was to serve with the dignity and honor that set the Scribe sect apart from all the other Classes of the Keepers. Even that added pressure couldn’t stop the text Tal had been meditating over all day from echoing through his mind.  It seemed like he could almost here the LIGHT GIVER saying, “Ask me, Tal. Let me show you great and wondrous things.”

After a quick wash and a not so quick changing of robes, Tal made himself presentable for the service he was to render. He headed back down to the main level and into the kitchen to find the head cupbearer and receive his instructions. Grabbing the golden serving tray reserved for use by the Chief Illuminator, Tal carefully arranged the plates and bowls filled with the meal’s first course. 

The dining room, the second largest main floor room, was to the left of the kitchen. The Chief Illuminator’s table, directly before the entrance to the kitchen, was on a raised dais as was fitting for one of his status.  His elaborately carved chair was in the very center of the table with five chairs on either side.

Three of these, on either side, were occupied by the Chiefs from each sect of the Keepers. To the right were the Chief Confessor, Chief Scribe, and the Chief of the Acolytes.  To his left were the Chief Inquisitor, Captain of the Temple Guardians, and the Head Master Illuminator. The other chairs on either side were normally empty, reserved for honored guests invited to the meal.

Arranged in front of the dais toward the main entrance were six rows of tables. Each Sect had its own table where they would sit and break bread together. It was not forbidden but highly frowned upon to fellowship with the other sects before nightly vespers was over. This fostered a continuing learning atmosphere during meal times. Here one could ask their sect mates for help or clarification of the day‘s studies. 

Tal was so deep in thought that his serving actions were automatic and the sounds and smells of the meal were lost to him. All that kept running through his head was, “Is it possible? Was hearing from the LIGHT GIVER as easy as just asking?”

As he filled the Chief Illuminator‘s glass after serving the main course, Tal found himself requesting, “Chief Illuminator, may I ask you a personal question?” 

The Illuminator looked at him with surprise, and after giving him an assessing look, gave a brief nod of his head.

Tal leaned closer and whispered, “Does the LIGHT GIVER answer us when we ask him to show us things we don’t understand?”  The look that Tal received was one of shock and outrage.

In a voice that carried around the hall, causing every head to turn and all conversation to cease, the Chief Illuminator said, “Who do you think you are? Are you my confessor? Are you an Illuminator? No! No, I didn’t think so!”

“You were tasked with the privilege of serving me, which makes you a lower level something.  Are you a junior confessor? No! How about a lower level inquisitor? Again, I can see from your face you are not. So tell me, what is your name, rank and classification?”

“My Lord, I am Tal, a Transcription Class Scribe,” Tal replied.

“Aren’t you young for a Transcription Class Scribe?  Wait, you said Tal was your name?”

Tal with a voice quaking with fear answered, “Yes, your Grace.”

“I have heard of you, our youngest Transcription Class Scribe. If you weren’t needed at the new chapel, I would suggest to Chief Scribe Truman that you be returned to Novice class.”

Rising from his chair to tower over Tal, Chief Illuminator Hanapo thundered, “Let me explain to you that I will not answer your question for two reasons! First, this subject is one that can only come from the study of the Tainted Scrolls, which I can tell from your face that you are well aware of!”

“The fact that you still decided to ask it tells me that you are dangerously close to going down the path of darkness! You are not old enough to have studied those scrolls, so where did you hear this blasphemous topic?”

Tal whispered around the lump of fear and doom in his throat, “I am not sure but it has been burning within me all day.”

With a look of disgust and unbelief, Hanapo continued, “Second, even if it wasn’t down the path to darkness, you are not a member of the Illuminator class so you do not have the maturity to handle the answer.” 

“To save your soul and bring you back to the path of light, I am remanding you to the inquisitors. They will escort you to the catacomb Meditation chamber. There you will spend three hours of contemplation in the effects of the darkness and allowing the heresy of the tainted scrolls to occupy your thoughts.”

“Sit and think about your blasphemous direction and contemplate why you would imperil your soul by withholding where this teaching came to you from. At the end of three hours, I will send my personal Confessor to hear your confession, as well as the name of who has been instructing you in the tainted scrolls.  After your confession, he will bring you back to the path of light with absolution.”  

Then with a snap of his finger, two temple guardians appeared and grabbed Tal. Dragging him from the dinning hall, they headed towards a waiting Inquisitor with the key to the catacombs. None too gently, the guards took their young charge into the lowest depths of the Temple.