Chapter Three: Life at the Temple

Dayn was shaken awake the next morning by Sister Eve, "Come boy its well passed time you should be about your duties" he rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he half walked and was half pulled by the sister to the main chamber. "You will start by cleaning the statues of the gods" she said handing him a bucket and a rag.

On a dais in the center of the room stood five granite statues, the one in the center that was standing slightly in front of the others looked familiar. Dayn began wiping them down making sure to reach into all the cracks and crevices as best he could, it seemed to him a scrub brush would have made a more effective tool. As he finished up the statue he recognized and began to start on the next Father Archibald sauntered into the room.

"No no boy, Lord Terran is enough for now we have plenty of work to do today." He grabbed Dayn by the hand and led him into the library, the place was a sight bit more organized then it had been however it was still a disaster.

"Take those scrolls and tablets and fill the closer shelves, the old leather bound books go in the back" Father Archibald instructed, Dayn set about the task without any complaints or arguing, the father took note.

As the day dragged on most of the damage done by the inquisitors had been put right, the occupants of the church all met in the small dining hall near the individual quarters, there lunch was a simple affair of watery soup and plain hard bread. Dayn initially had begun to turn up his nose at the food although to be honest it was a damn sight better then what he had gotten at the hospital, he found that he was pretty hungry once he began to eat. The only other occupant an elderly priestess called Sister Helen excused herself before the rest of them leaving Dayn, Father Archibald, and Sister Eve sitting at the table.

"Now tell me boy, how did you come to be on that road" the father asked having heard the story the previous day, Dayn stopped eating, he had to think for a moment as they weren't his memories. "Armored men, they wore dark red cloaks, red like blood" he recounted, "Their armor had a symbol on it a pitch fork? no an anchor? both?" he said confused, The father and sister Eve exchanged knowing looks.

The inquisitors of Kanarys, probably the same ones who had ransacked the temple "Yesterday you seemed dead inside" Eve said, "How is it you feel so little today?" "That's hard to explain," Dayn replied "It feels like it happened to someone else, not me, they were my parents but they don't feel like my parents" he tried to explain.

He knew the reason truthfully, he couldn't explain that to them though, once again Father Archibald and Sister Eve exchanged looks, she had explained to the father before bed the previous night the boys situation so the fact that he was alive now was a surprise. The soul less under normal circumstances would wander for a day or two then drop dead as if afflicted by some disease, there has never been a case of the soul returning once it had departed.

"What do you call yourself boy?" the father asked, "Dayn" he responded, "Dayn is it, well we'll have you work as an apprentice acolyte till you're old enough to decide your own path, now take the refuse to the midden and return here swiftly for afternoon prayer."

Dayn had never heard the phrase midden before, they handed him a pot full of waste, animal bones, vegetable peelings and other food scraps, he was astounded, it was like he was carrying a pot full of stock base. They directed him to a location just outside the walls to the rear of the town where a large trench had been dug full of other useful waste, why aren't they composting this he thought to himself. He saw the rich soil where a lot of food stuff had decayed, he dumped the bucket of food scraps there as there would likely be less flies to swarm him when it hit the dirt.

"How do they keep their fields fertile if they aren't using any of this" he whispered to himself. "Whatsat boy?" a voice sounded behind him, he spun around to an old grey bearded dwarf "Oi aren't ye that dead un from yesterday" he said, "I'm not dead!" Dayn said flatly, "Course yer not, dead uns don't talk." The dwarf eyed him curiously, "Now, whatsis about the fields?" he asked, Dayn picked up a nearby stick and poked at the rich dark soil on the edge, "This, it grows plants a lot better then just plain old dirt" he said. "Aye I've erd of burying soiled straw but never ave I erd of burying kitchen waste" the old dwarf said incredulously, Of course Dayn thought they would have had a system of compost just not as complex of one. "They should use some of this as well" Dayn said still poking at the pile "Well aren't ye a cheeky lad" the dwarf said, "Come on now off wit ye, I expect the temple wants ye back before long."

He thought he should start a garden if none of the townsfolk intended to use that soil he would, as an orphan he'd need his own income at some point, he decided to ask Sister Eve if he could start a small plot somewhere when he got back.

"Farming is it?" Sister Eve asked, "If you're so eager to farm we'll have to add weeding to your list of duties, if you do a good job of that I'll ask Father Archibald for you."

The thought of weeding exasperated Dayn in his past life weeding was always the part of gardening he hated and he was never an avid gardener, it was necessary to cut food costs with the rising prices, economics in his world were a nightmare.

"We'll do that then" Dayn said already dreading the idea of getting up early and pulling weeds, although he wasn't as tall so it wouldn't strain his back as much as it used to.

For dinner, Dayn and Sister Eve received the same soup and bread as they had for lunch, Father Archibald and Sister Helen both had some meat with their dinner, as far as Dayn could tell it was some manner of poultry. From the smell he could tell it was likely unseasoned and very dry, the soup he was eating seemed to be just boiled vegetables in water and the bread near as he could tell had no yeast in it. It wasn't bad by any means it was just bland and not really all that appetizing, he guessed in this period filling meals were more important then how the food tasted.

"So the sister tells me you want to work in the field" the father chuckled, "That's hard work are you certain you can handle it?" "Yes of course!" Dayn responded excitedly. Father Archibald considered it for a moment, "Very well, your duties for now will consist of ensuring the main hall is clean and orderly and after that is complete you shall weed and maintain the temple field" he said.

Several weeks went by and Dayn had been hard at work on his given tasks, the field had been more clear of weeds then it had been in a long time and he had made sure the main hall was bright and sparkling daily. The flock had been more receptive to Father Archibald's sermons of late with less dust floating in the air causing them to sneeze and gag. Father Archibald called Dayn to his quarters that morning for a meeting.

"You've done well son, Sister Eve tells me you'd like to try starting your own small field, with how well things have gone lately I give you permission" he said. "The fall planting season will be starting soon so make sure you have it ready by then or you'll have to wait till next season, choose a spot near the storehouse" "Thank you father" Dayn responded with a slight respectful bow, "And thank Lord Terran above for this blessing" Dayn finished the way Sister Eve had taught him.

"Before I forget, don't lag on your regular duties, and I'll be adding a few more as well, you are to light and extinguish the candles before and after sermons going forward" he announced. Dayn was ecstatic, he already knew which part he intended to use, he had no clue what to grow but decided for now he'll grow the same potatoes the church had in their private field, they should grow much more quickly with compost he thought to himself. "I wonder what they use for fertilizer" he said to himself lost in thought as he walked towards his room.