Priesthood (Part 3)

Shaurya nodded his head all the way through the High Priest's explanation. Visha and the others quietly listened to it without any reaction but the last part made it a little difficult to believe.

"My apologies for interrupting in between but... " before Shaurya could complete his words a scoff resounded in the room. Visha turned to see the man from before who was looking down to convey it wasn't him this time with his gaze pointing to his right. The man beside him sat straight with arrogance clearly dripping from his face.

"How dare you interrupt our High Priest? Know your place boy." he scolded. These people in front of him were witches to begin with and that had filled him with utter disdain. Then they turned out to be some kids who had no shame interrupting the High Priest. These willful ignorant brats had the audacity to disrespect their High Priest. Did they have any idea that this was the youngest council in a century and were deemed to be the most talented and skilled.

"Beggars can't be choosers." Everyone turned to look at this utterly disrespectful little girl.

"You... " before he could spite back Visha's voice resounded in the room.

"We came to help because you asked for help. And isn't it strange that someone sneaked into your treasure room and blasted an entrance with no one noticing! Were you all drugged?"

Even if her words pierced through all the First Priests like blades, they could only clench their fists as her every word was true. They couldn't think of any way to retaliate. The High Priest sensed the upcoming war and tried to stop it.

"They are our guests and it is not a custom of our priesthood to disrespect guests. First Priest Dharma should keep that in mind." he said gently. His voice was gentle yet full of authority and that made Priest Dharma nod as he shook his head. Then he turned to the team again.

"That had stood out to us as well which is why we asked your Coven for help. Since this is not our area of expertise we would be needing your guidance." the High Priest continued with a gentle tone. Shaurya and others nodded awkwardly. One of theirs had just clashed with a First Priest and that had made them feel highly embarrassed. They couldn't wait to disown this wretched brat with a big mouth as soon as they got back.

"I apologize for my subordinate, Your Eminence. If it's not too much trouble, we hope to start our investigation with the treasure room." Shaurya said with his head bowed in embarrassment. Couldn't this brat had stayed shut? This was no ordinary priesthood, it was the largest and the most auspicious one. Every priest in the entire country could only dream about this prestigious place. Even without the knowledge of the Philosopher's Stone*, it had stood at the peak of the religious community for centuries. If Dhira found out that they messed up their only chance to establish an alliance with them, would she consider showing him any mercy for his years of service? The thought in itself seemed highly impossible.

The High Priest agreed to their request and highly respected their professionalism as well. Instead of wasting time in worthless chatter they wanted to get straight to the work. He got up and came to the group of the youngsters. The First Priests got up after him and followed closely behind. The High Priest held up his hand to gesture them to leave, and they complied as they bowed before leaving. First Priest Dharma looked at the team filled with hatred before leaving. Once everyone left he turned to the group and smiled apologetically.

"The priesthood hardly ever comes in contact with the people outside. First Priest Dharma is just a little cold to strangers. He's otherwise a very loyal man who holds me on a pedestal. I believe our young guests won't take it to heart."

"Of course not, Your Eminence. We understand the predicament the priesthood is facing. At a time like this we know that one has to be cautious, but one must know the difference between caution and belittling." Visha answered immediately before anyone else could.

The High Priest smiled at that and nodded in agreement. "You are right, little lady. And there is no need for formalities, you all can just call me Priest Vishva. And who might this lively little lady be?"

"Visha" she answered. Her eyes caught Priest Vishva's attention. They were full of confidence and sincerity. This little lady was a fierce tigress who slept soundly till someone provoked her. He couldn't understand why but Visha emitted a strange aura around her. He couldn't ascertain if it was positive or negative. This was the first time something like that happened. Maybe, the disappearance of the stone was fate bringing them together. He had met this little miracle on the universe's command. Who knew what their destiny was?

Priest Vishva summoned one of the disciples to show them the way to which the young disciple seemed highly against. He narrowed his eyes as he stared at the foreign group in their premises but kept quiet and led them. He was different from the one before, he didn't look back to see if they were following him. To be exact, he didn't care as he had already branded them as his enemies just because they were witches. Atleast, he was smarter than that First Priest Dharma and kept his opinions to himself as he quietly led the way.

***

Philosopher's Stone - The one I'm talking about is an Indian Myth, Paras Patthar. But that was the word closest to it's English translation. Please don't confuse it with the western one.