Chapter 36

Alex felt a structure come into his view as he traveled through the woods. His eyes couldn't help but widen when he saw the number of runes spread throughout it.

No matter how hard he looked with his own eyes he couldn't see it. As he got closer he began to see everyone who was within it. He saw many figures many he knew and many new ones. Daniel and Michael were there.

He was not surprised to see David there. Lockhorn was present, he sat calmly next to a woman who Alex had presumed was his superior.

The guy who owned the store Alex went to get food from was there. He even saw Clay's parents. He was still unaware of what had brought them all together and all here.

He noticed a few students wearing all black near the entrance. Tom and James were on one side and a few who's named Alex didn't know were on the other side.

Alex waved to them as he approached.

"Oh come on, can't you just be off guard for once. Do you know how long we have been standing here?" Tom said after seeing that he had already been spotted.

The rest of the students got up as they had been spotted.

"What are you guys doing Taylor should be on his way soon. It will be a lot easier to spook him." Alex said as he saw them leaving their hiding places.

"Oh yeah, that's right." Tom said before returning to where he was.

"Wait how did you know that he is coming too? You saw me plant the maps and compasses?" Tom was surprised.

"Well, he was about to go to bed. Wouldn't want him showing up randomly whenever he eventually found them would you? Is this the door?" Alex said while grabbing at the air. His hand latched around seemingly nothing, he pulled and a dim light shined through the cracks of the invisible door.

He stepped through leaving the group of students behind him stupefied.

He walked up to the adults who were still conversing amongst themselves.

"Alex. it's good to see that you got the invitation. Welcome to the secret society of Dalifield. We invited you here, to give you a chance to join us. You can refuse, however, we would have to wipe this meeting from your memory." Daniel spoke up as he saw Alex enter.

The interior of the building looked like a cozy manner. Some of the people present were only wearing slippers, indicating that they may be using this building as a temporary or even permanent home.

"This is a very well-made secret base." Alex said before continuing. "What is the goal of this society?"

"The end goal as of right now is to reveal the truth, but that is the collective goal for all of the other branches of the secret societies in this kingdom as well. Our goal as of right now is to spread doubt. To make people think twice about the nonsense they are told. To let people realize that rather than revealing the truth, the light is blinding them and hiding the truth in the shadows while also striking down anyone who dares to reveal it."

"What is that truth?" Alex asked.

"You're still too weak, a life of torture would be better than what you would have to go through if you were caught holding this knowledge." Michael answered.

"Do you know why we're here Alex?" David asked.

"Not entirely."

"Because we sit here every day and see countless people lose their drive, their will to move on. Just because everyone around them was taught to treat them like the dust. Look around and you will see your friend's parents, recent high school graduates, and even many of the older generations. This problem has existed long since before we were born."

"As you can guess, our enemy is the temple of the one true god. Here look at many of the passages that their holy book tells them its followers." The woman who was with Lockhorn spoke up.

Alex read through all of the commands that the god had written in the book. He knew most of these as he had learned them as he had grown up.

If anyone was to follow them all strictly they would live a highly restricted life. They would be unable to think freely, they would be unable to do anything considered sinful, and they would have to remain unquestionably faithful to the god.

Failure to do so would require sacrificing something of great value to yourself, as the loss would make you regret sinning in the first place.

"Are people even able to follow such strict rules?" Alex asked.

"No, that's where the new teachings come in. A thousand years ago a man claimed that their god was speaking through him. At first, many didn't believe him but he was soon elected as the high priest. Ever since then a high priest has always come forward. The high priest acts as the judge, the jury, and the executioner."

"What about the apostle who claimed to be the son of god?" Alex asked as he felt that something was missing.

The room got quiet as Alex asked that question.

"How do you know about this?" Daniel asked Alex, unable to hide his shock.

"I went to a small place of worship in Marrowsville when I was smaller." Alex said realizing that something was off.

"I'm sorry to tell you this, but such a place couldn't possibly exist." The woman who was with Lockhorn said. They had many members watching the temples closely.

The group of people began speaking to each other discussing what should happen. After a while, they had come to a consensus and the woman turned back to Alex.

"It seems that you already know the truth. We won't be able to erase that from your memory without killing you, so we will simply tell you the importance of the knowledge."

A few of the younger people left the room.

"Dave." She said as she had finished speaking.

David nodded and sent some mana to some runes. The floor opened up revealing a book with a cross adorning its cover.

"The holy bible. This is the original holy book. According to these diaries, when after the seal on mana was broken, humanity was nearly wiped out. It took several hundreds of years for humanity to get back on its legs, in that time hundreds and thousands of these holy bibles were dug up from ruins. Unfortunately, whenever any attention was drawn to the owners they would disappear along with the books. The founder of our secret society kept one and detailed what would happen if it was discovered. So you understand why we wouldn't want you to be stuck with knowing this if this book is found all of us present would disappear from the world without even knowing what had happened." David told Alex.

"Now time for the bad news." A librarian that Alex had seen before spoke up.

"There are many parts of this holy bible that are written in the same style as the new holy book, meaning whoever wrote the new one also took part in writing the old one."

He sighed before continuing. "So many lies mixed in with truths, we still to this day aren't able to weed out what was written according to the true god's will. If he even exists that is."

Michael nodded.

"But the fact still stands, someone or something wanted this part of their past hidden. Look back at all the rules set by the book. They want an army of loyal and faithful soldiers, but if the god is as almighty and powerful as they say, why is the temple training people to be their soldiers?"

"Aren't there many other religions though? Why has nothing happened to them?" Alex asked as he pondered.

"Who knows. Maybe there are gods watching over us, maybe the mastermind behind all of this chaos is weak in comparison to the rest, or maybe they just don't care." Daniel answered.

Alex nodded thoughtfully before turning to the door.

"We will have to cut this conversation short, Taylor has just arrived." Alex said as he felt Taylor enter his range.

"It should be here." Taylor said as he used his flashlight to illuminate the map.

He jumped as he heard an owl hoot.

"Why did I have to go at night? I could have just waited till the morning."

Alex laughed as he watched the hiding students jump out and scare the already scared Taylor. A muffled scream could be heard and then some cursing as Taylor realized who his attackers were.

They lead him through the invisible door after he calmed down. "Alex! So this is what you meant when you said something came up." Taylor said as he entered and saw Alex.

The people present began filling in Taylor with the details. Alex had already expected him to agree immediately to the invitation, he had had already said his fill on how terrible it was how those who were different were treated.

Alex also agreed, not like he could decline. He already knew the core secret somehow.

"Good now remember the faces of everyone present. If we are not present, then they are the ones you can trust the most." Daniel told the two.

Alex nodded.

——————

When Alex returned home his head felt like it was spinning. 'There is so much more to our past than I originally thought. Who was it who told me that story?' Alex tried remembering but he couldn't seem to pinpoint who it was.

'I think it was an older man, no a young man, but it could have just as easily been an older woman or younger woman.' Alex thought as he tried to remember the features of the person who told him the story.

The more he tried to remember the foggier the memory became. He felt a headache growing so he stopped for time being. Alex went through his stuff, trying to find something to do before he had to go to bed. He stopped as he saw the book of runes.

'I still don't know why I can understand the runes.' Alex thought as he looked through the pages.

Alex closed his eyes as he recreated the runes with his spacial magic. One by one the runes floated around him. He scanned them intensely hoping to learn something from them.

Just when he was about to go to bed he noticed something odd. As two runes traveled next to each other, he noticed that if he changed them slightly they could connect together. He carefully melded the two runes together. A slight look of understanding filled his face. It's still not complete, that's why there are so many runes that do nothing.

He looked at the combined runes. 'How many more will it take to complete this? What will the outcome even be? A stronger rune maybe.'

Alex sighed as he looked out his bedroom window. He felt like the world had just gotten a lot bigger, he felt so insignificant. He could not stop his eyes from wandering higher and higher. 'We must look like insects to anyone watching us from above.'

He dispelled his spacial energy and laid down, hoping the sinking feeling in his gut would disappear when he woke up tomorrow.