Chapter Twelve

Gideon groaned as he woke up. His head was throbbing from the hit he had suffered from his captors and his back was hurting from laying on the stone floor. His eyes opened blearily and he looked around. Rahab and Elias were nowhere in sight.

His prison was a cave. Stone walls surrounded him on all sides and they carved up to meet at a point above him. Green vines covered the wall, running all the way to the roof and some parts of the floor like snakes. Tiny flower buds grew on their length that gave off a dim blue glow and lit the cave in its weak light.

He sat up on the stone slab he had been laid on. It protruded out of the wall like a thorn and there were other stone beds like his around the room – four in total. There was a round stone table in the center of the room and carved into the wall was a shelf that held different bottles and wooden bowls containing liquids and plants and some animal parts that he could not even name. This wasn't a prison. An infirmary, perhaps. Aleph had claimed his friends were recuperating. Deus. He was finally going mad. Nothing was making sense anymore.

There was no sign of anyone else in the room except him so Gideon rose gingerly to his feet. His tunic had been taken and the wounds he had obtained from his battle with the knight were covered in salve. Gideon took an experimental sniff of the sticky liquid that covered his cuts. Unlike the usual salve he had seen used in Mettledown, these ones did not smell like rotten eggs- something he was grateful for. He tried to recall what had happened but all he could remember was a group of white-haired men and then pain. 

The silence of the cave room was broken by soft shuffling near a hole in the cave wall – a doorway. It was just about his height and could fit three men comfortably. How had he missed that? A tall white-haired man made his way into the room muttering under his breath. He was dressed in tan pants that reached just below his knee and sleeveless tunic in a similar colour. His arms were covered in blue tattoos that seemed to glow under the light of the flower buds and he held a large wooden bowl in his hands containing water. 

He froze in his steps as soon as he saw Gideon awake. He dropped the bowl on the table and immediately began to bark at him pointing a short wooden stick at him. Gideon could not understand a word he was saying. It was far from gibberish and sounded like a language of its own but everyone in Aldar spoke Aldarian as far as Gideon knew. Aldar was not as big as Nor or even Valar and most of the people shared the same culture. Even with Gideon's obvious confusion at the language, the man continued his rant jabbing his stick at Gideon. The intent was clear –Do not move.

 So, Gideon sat back down. Even if he wanted to, he would pose little threat. His head was throbbing and he could barely stand. So instead, Gideon attempted to get some information.

"Where am I?" He always seemed to be asking that question recently. Most commonly in dreams but he was sure he was awake this time. It felt grounded and less fantastical than the last two major dreams he had had. Not even the flower buds glowing on the walls like starlight matched the utter extra-natural feel of the meadow or the foggy forest. They did come close though. 

The man replied him but with more of his own language which Gideon had no understanding of. The man paused, seeming to understand that, so instead he gestured again for Gideon to stay put and he shuffled out of the room once more, muttering under his breath. Gideon was alone again.

He examined the room he was in once more. The stone table near the centre of the room held more bowls and bottles with concoctions and powders that he did not recognize. His satchel was also on the table along with Elias'. Elias is here as well. Rahab's was nowhere in sight. Was she not here? Had she left them? Or had she lost her satchel? It had been on her when they fled from the Rulem Knight and had been with her when they argued before he was knocked unconscious. Maybe she had left for Kanaan alone while Gideon slept. How long have I been asleep? Gideon wondered.

Loud footsteps close to the entrance broke him out of his thoughts and Elias appeared at the door along with the white-haired man and two others with hair just like his. His best friend face burst open with a smile even as he rushed at him and pulled him into a hug. "Gideon. You're awake"

Gideon could not help a smile of his own as he held Elias tight. The older boy was paler than usual and his eyes looked almost sunken but otherwise he looked fine. His legs were wrapped in fresh bandages and he walked using a long wooden staff. 

"It's good to see you too Elias" said Gideon as they separated. "How long have I been asleep?"

"A few hours" Elias replied. "Rahab said they hit you too hard"

"Rahab? Where is she?" Gideon asked. The question he really wanted to ask was Did she leave?

"I'm here" Rahab said, stepping out from behind the trio of white-haired men. She looked better now that they were out of the rain. Her hair and clothes were still slightly damp and she was holding on to her satchel like a lifeline. But she was otherwise fine and she had a smirk on her face. All was well.

"You're still here" Gideon said. She only replied with a nod. 

"Welcome Surfacer" One of the white-haired men finally spoke. He was shorter than the earlier man that Gideon had met. He was also more muscular. His blue tattoos were more intricate and covered the upper part of his chest before disappearing below his tunic. He spoke Aldarian with a slight accent but it did not take away from the power in his voice. Whoever this man was, he was a man of authority.

"Thank you" Gideon replied unsure. "Where is here?"

"Adulam" Rahab was the one to reply this time with a smirk.

"The village?" Gideon asked. 

"It's not a village Gideon" Elias said with barely restrained excitement. "It's an underground cave and its bloody massive"

"Underground? Where are Midnight and Chestnut?" Gideon asked.

"Your horses have been fed and kept safe. You will see them again" The man who spoke earlier answered. 

Gideon nodded. "When will that be?"

"Soon" He stepped forward. "I am Zabad. Captain of the Pale Guards. Our King has summoned you and his friends before him."

Zabad held himself in a way that commanded respect. His white hair was cropped close to his scalp and his pale blue eyes were sharp, like an eagle's. They pierced straight at Gideon. He did not smile or frown, his lips were set in a straight line. His attire was similar to the healers and the other man with them but unlike them, Zabad wore sandals around his feet. 

"Come on, Gideon" Elias said. "We've all been waiting for you to wake up." 

Zabad nodded and turned gesturing for the trio to follow him. Rahab followed behind him, then Gideon and Elias and finally the other white-haired man. The healer stayed behind muttering something in their language. "What is he saying?" Gideon asked Zabad but to his surprise, Rahab was the one who replied

"He's complaining that Zabad is taking his patients without letting them heal properly. He was annoyed when Elias started walking with the stick earlier as well."

"You speak their language?"

"Aduam."

"What?"

"That's what the language is called. Aduam. And yes, I can speak it." Rahab replied. "My master taught it to me." She grimaced. "Though I am told that my accent is quite poor"

The man trailing behind them barked out a laugh and spoke in heavily accented Aldarian. "You sound like child learning Aduam. My baby sister at three years speak better than you." He quieted however when Zabad glanced back at him.

They left the infirmary behind and entered into a stony corridor. It was just tall enough for Elias, the tallest of them to stand at his full height but it was wide enough for three men to walk. The floor was smooth like the walls and there were holes all along the corridor to led to other cave rooms. Most of them were empty. 

The walls of the corridor were lined with the same vines and glowing flower buds that lit it. As they walked along the winding path, Gideon noticed that a few of the buds were barely glowing – their light was weak and even more had no glow to them. 

They had been walking for a while when the guard behind them spoke noticing his fascination with the vines and the light they held. "The Ohrpirchei" The man behind them said. He held his hand up to his head and muttered something under his breath. "It is sacred plant that lights all of Adulam. It is blessing of Yachwah"

Elias perked up at that. "Yachwah?" Nowadays, it seemed anything religious caught his attention. 

"Yes. Yachwah himself blessed Adulam. When it was dark, he give us light. He give us Ohrpirchei. Yes. This thing is true."

"Do you have churches down here as well?" Elias asked as they rounded a corner into another similar looking corridor. This one had a higher ceiling but it was narrower and only two people could walk its breadth. The Ohrpirchei here were much brighter as well. 

"Churches?" The man asked. "What is this thing?"

"Churches are places where we go to worship Yachwah." 

"Is this how you surfacers worship Yachwah? With big building?" The man seemed genuinely horrified by the thought. He slipped into his native language, muttering almost feverishly but he addressed them again. "This thing is nonsense. You not need big building for Yachwah. You only need a true chest. No, not chest. How you say this thing?" He looked to Rahab and said a word in Aduam.

"A true heart. He said you need a true heart." Rahab said.

"Yes. You need true heart. That is all." He tapped his chest. "This is all that matters with Yachwah. Hopefully, you will see this thing. At Ohrtekasim. Ceremony of light."

"Is that where everyone is?" Gideon asked. All the corridors they had been walking had doorways to what seemed like homes and crevices that led to places that Gideon did not know. Adulam was a city of stone, crevices and cave but there was no one in it. They had been walking for almost quarter of an hour now and yet there had not seen anyone. 

Dura nodded in reply. "It is sacred ceremony..." 

He stopped as they finally entered a long corridor, the last stretch in their long trek. This hallway had no rooms at the side and at its end was an opening to a large cavern beyond it. Zabad nodded at the man who had been speaking to them. The man saluted, his hand to his chest and jogged away. 

Zabad then led the way to the large cavern. Before they entered, Rahab turned to the other two and whispered urgently, "The man we are about to meet is King Abiathar. He is the most powerful man in Adulam. He quite literally holds our lives in his hands so it would be unwise to do anything to disrespect him or cause his ire" Her eyes flickered to Elias as she said this. 

"I don't know why you're looking at me like that" Elias said. 

"Because I'm talking to you most especially"

"I can't imagine what you mean. I'm a joy to be around" Elias said with a giant grin on his face. He looked at Zabad who was waiting for them. "I've never met a king before"

"Neither have I" Gideon said. "This should be interesting"

Rahab sighed exasperated and Zabad led them to see the King.

-

The King's Cavern was at least three times larger than the infirmary. Like all the other parts of the Adulam, the walls were smooth and covered in vines and glowing flower buds –Ohrpirchei. Green vines hung down from the high ceiling forming a hovering nest of light above them, among the already existing constellation of light that crisscrossed the ceiling. 

King Abiathar sat on a stone chair carved into the wall opposite the opening. The throne was set in the wall a few feet above the floor and wide stone steps that led up to it. Carved into the wall on either side of the throne were two stone warriors. Tall, lithe and covered in stone tattoos – there was no doubt that they were Adulamites. Their stone eyes glared imperially at everyone who stepped into the cavern. Actual guards in similar attire to Zabad lined the walls, standing still as their stone counterparts and holding sharp spears. 

The King himself was a tall man. Like all Adulamites Gideon had met so far, he was cleanshaven. He was all hard lines - strong jaw, long and narrow nose and a thin line for a mouth. His hair, white as wool, fell to his shoulder. Unlike the others, he was dressed in pale blue robes and sandals similar to Zabad. An old woman sat on the stone steps with a gaggle of younger ladies around her. Her bone white hair was held up in a tight bun and decorated in colorful ribbons. She wore similar blue robes and sandals as the king. Her ladies in waiting wore the same bar the sandals. 

Another man stood to the right of the king on a raised dais. He was clad in dark robes and sandals. His nose was long and hooked and he sneered at the group as they approached. 

Zabad placed a fist against his chest in salute as they got beneath the throne.

"Live forever, my king. I have brought with me the surfacers that my men captured earlier today" He spoke in Aldarian, which Gideon assumed was for their benefit.

The king nodded, his pale green eyes scanning them. He didn't speak a word, instead the old woman seated on the steps addressed them.

"What the bloody hell do you want in Adulam?" said the woman harshly, catching Gideon and Elias off-guard. Their surprise must have shown on her face as she scowled and continued, "Have I sprouted another head? No? Good. Then answer the question. What do you want in Adulam? We do not take too kindly to Surfacers."

"We're not... Surfacers" Elias said hesitantly.

"You live above?" She said pointing upwards. The duo nodded dumbly. "Then you're Surfacers. Dim-witted like all the rest. So, what do Surfacers want in Adulam?"

"My Lady Crone" Rahab started but was interrupted quickly.

"I'm no lady. This isn't the bloody surface." said the woman. "I'm the Crone. Call me Crone"

"I apologize. Crone." Rahab said. "We came to Adulam to seek refuge. We are being hunted."

"Hunted by who?" This time, it was the man clad in black. He rubbed Gideon off the wrong way. His eyes were black and beady and sunken in his face. He was balding and what little hair he had left was thin and frail. But his question was valid and Gideon was eager to know the answer as well.

Rahab cleared her throat. "I was sent by Lord …."

"Answer the bloody question first." Crone interrupted her. "Who is hunting you?"

Rahab shifted in her place and glanced at Gideon and Elias before turning back to the King. "We're being hunted by Knights of Rulem, Crone"

"What does Rulem want with a little girl?" The man in black sneered. "Has the Warden finally lost his mind?"

"The Warden is ill, High Priest" Rahab revealed.

The King turned to look at the High Priest and he spoke for the first time. His voice was as hard as his face "Have you heard word of this?" 

The Priest fidgeted. "No, my King. I will spread my net and I will confirm her claims"

"And who is in charge of Rulem?" Crone asked. "The Warden has no children"

"The Warden's Advisor sits at the head of his Council, a man named Absalom" Rahab said. Gideon could hear her pure hatred for the man in her voice. It dripped into her words like venom. "He's a cruel man. Wicked and evil beyond measure. He will stop at nothing until Rulem and the whole of Aldar is under his foot"

The King turned to the High Priest again. "I have heard of Absalom. And everyone says the same thing. He is a good and honourable man"

locket

"Only on the outside. Inside he is a rotten man, full of darkness. I have seen it with my own eyes." Rahab said vehemently. She stepped forward. "He has managed to trick everyone on the council, save for my master. He sent me with an urgent message to Kanaan to alert the High Council"

"And your master is who?" Crone asked, the disdain in her voice remained.

"Lord Yoab, Captain of the Guards of Rulem." The High Priest answered. "I remember you from when he visited last. You were but a little girl"

Rahab glared at him but said nothing. 

"You understand that you are accusing a Lord of Aldar. A member of the council of one of the great cities" King Abiathar said. "What proof do you have to present to the High Council?"

Rahab lowered her satchel to the ground and opened it. They all watched curiously as she dug into it before pulling something out. "My master sent me with this" She held out a gold locket. It gleamed under the blue light of the Ohrpirchei. Gideon leaned closer to catch a better look. The locket was small enough to fit into her palm and carved on its surface was an image of two archangels facing each other on their knees. Their wings were extended upwards and forwards so that their tips touched each other. 

The locket and its image meant nothing to both Gideon and Elias, but it meant something to the other occupants of the room. They spoke to each other in quick bursts of Aduam before the King silenced them with the raise of his hand. 

"Do you know what it is that you hold in your hands?" King Abiathar asked.

Rahab shook her head. "This is one of my master's prized possessions. I have never seen him go anywhere without it. I was to show this to the Advisor to the High Warden in Kanaan. Lord Yoab assured me that he would understand."

"Bah! The girl does not even know what it is that she holds. Surfacers get dimmer and dimmer every time I meet them" Crone said. She caught sight of Rahab glowering at her and snapped at her. "Glare all you want. Won't take a strand of hair from my head. I was already old by the time you were born and you're fifty years too late to scare me with that pretty little face of yours."

"Don't antagonize them, mother" The king said casually putting an end to the woman's tirade. She was his mother? Before Gideon could process the information further, the king stood up from his throne, every bit the regal ruler that he was. "The symbol you hold with you carries great significance. To the right people. The people of Adulam will grant you refuge to stay here"

"Stay?" Gideon asked, bringing attention to himself for the first time. Rahab hissed at him under her breath but he continued. "Ehm, Thank you for your hospitalities, Your Highness. But we need to leave as soon as possible. Myself and my friend must be in Kanaan for an event that we cannot miss"

He was met with silence. The King, the Crone and the High Priest regarded him, confusion drawn on their face, but it was the High Priest who spoke.

"And you are –?" 

"Gideon. My Lord." He said.

The king nodded slowly looking at the young boy standing before him. It felt like the king was assessing him. He was not sure whether he passed or not but when he turned to Rahab, she was glaring at him with murder in her eyes. 

"Of course," the king finally said. "Gideon." He looked at the high priest who shrugged. "Should I know you?"

"I am from Mettledown, my Lord. My father's name is Jesse. From Mettledown" Gideon said. He heard Rahab mutter idiot under her voice.

"I see" the High Priest said. "Your father is a Lord then. Of Mettledown?"

"No, my Lord" Gideon replied.

"Then your mother perhaps? A lady?"

Gideon looked down. "No, my lord. I never knew my mother."

"A bastard?" Crone sneered. The ladies behind her gasped. Gideon did not reply. Her gaze sharpened; her voice cut like a knife. "I can smell one from miles away. You brought a bastard into the king's hallowed halls? A child of sin. On a night like this?"

"My apologies, Crone. Your highness" Zabad said, head bowed. "I did not know."

"Apologies, my King." She said glaring at Gideon. "We appreciate your generosity and we will be gone at the end of the day"

"Not possible." Zabad said speaking out for the first time since introducing them. "Since my men brought you into Adulam, the forest outside has been crawling with armed men. They are searching for three runaways that fit your description. If you were to leave through the Waypoint now. I have no doubt that they will find you. More importantly, it could reveal the Waypoint to them and compromise Adulam's safety. That is a chance we cannot take. You must lay low for a few days"

"You want to entertain a bastard in our halls?" Crone said. She climbed to her feet, standing above him on the stone steps. Her ladies stood with her. "On a night like this. You want him to blaspheme our king with his unholiness"

"He has no bloody unholiness" Elias spat. All eyes turned to him in an instant. Crone's eyes narrowed at him.

"What did you say?"

"Are you stupid? Apologize!" Rahab whispered harshly to him.

"Apologies for my language. But my friend does not deserve to be judged for his father's mistake"

"We are a holy people here in Adulam" the High Priest said. "We will not have our people corrupted by him and his unnaturalness. Bastards have no place in Adulam. This is the will of Yachwah."

Gideon felt a sharp stab at his heart. All his life, he'd always been judged for what he was. But it had been subtle, to see it done so outright was more painful than he thought. Even worse, backed by a High Priest of Yachwah. But Gideon was used to it. He did not let the words of the Crone and the High Priest phase him and his face remained carefully blank. Elias was not the same. 

"I will find a place for them" Zabad said stepping forward. His eyes were firmly on the king, bypassing the Crone and the High Priest. "I will keep them with one of my men and out of the way of the people. Until the danger in the forest is passed."

"Or we can just cast them into the outer darkness and save ourselves the trouble" Crone said. "It solves all our problem and prevents any future conflict with Rulem"

"Rulem is barely aware of our existence. There is no danger of conflict with a city that does not know we exist" Zabad said.

"If the Captain of the Guard knows and told his underling." She said pointing at Rahab, "Who else did he tell?"

Zabad looked ready to reply but was silenced by the raised hand of the king. 

"This is a sacred night. It is Ohrtekasim" He said. "So we will have no fights tonight. Zabad, I leave these strangers in your care." His eyes found Rahab. "I will have words with you on the morrow. We will discuss the locket you hold and the man who sent you." Rahab nodded and bowed. "Spread the word among the Cave Masters and the Pale Guards. We have strangers in our midst and I will not have it be said that Adulam treated its strangers badly – regardless of the state of their birth." 

"Yes, my king" Zabad said.

"Good" the King said. "Now let us go to the feast. The people are waiting." 

The King walked down the steps and out of the room followed closely by Crone and her gaggle of ladies. He stopped at the entrance and turned to Zabad. "Bring the surfacers to the feast." and with that he swept out followed by a bevy of guards. The High Priest stayed behind and whispered something harshly to the Captain in Aduam before sneering at the three and leaving. 

"How is that man the high Priest?" Elias asked as the man left. "There's no form of good in him." 

"I told you to keep quiet" Rahab said rounding on Gideon.

"And I did." Gideon replied. "You, on the other hand, told us nothing about this mission you're on. You have the leader of Rulem after you?"

"I did not mean to involve you in all of these. I genuinely just want to get to Kanaan."

"Instead, we're stuck in this place until this person who is after you gives up"

"This person who so happens to be the head of Rulem at the moment" Elias said. "How do we know you're not the one in the wrong"

"Absalom is nothing but a snake" Rahab said. "One look at him and you will agree with me"

"And yet you put us in the crosshairs of this snake." Elias said. He turned to Gideon, "See I told you. She's trouble"

Gideon did not disagree. There was no doubt in his mind now that Rahab was trouble. It had been one danger after the next since they'd met her and now, they were stuck leagues underneath the ground with a people that harbored a strange hatred for who he was. So, yes, she was trouble and he should be running in the opposite direction. Unfortunately, there was a nagging part of him that compelled him otherwise, that compelled him to stay. He could not put a finger on what it was but he just knew that the three of them – himself, Elias and Rahab needed to stay together. 

Before they could argue any further, Zabad interrupted them. "The ceremony is starting, we must leave"

"Listen, we'll discuss this later. Right now, we just need to stick together." Gideon glanced at the captain of the guard uneasily before lowering his voice. "We don't know anyone here and for all we know, they could cast us into this outer darkness anytime unless we present a united front." Elias and Rahab nodded reluctantly. He turned to Zabad. "Lead the way"

They followed the shorter man out of the King's Cavern into the corridor through which they had come. He led them down a maze of corridors similar to the ones they had come through. Gideon tried to keep track but after the fifth turn, he got lost. They all looked too much alike and it was easy to get lost in any of them. 

"What exactly is this festival we're going to?" Elias asked their Zabad after the seventh turn into a corridor that looked a carbon copy of where they had been three turns ago.

"It's not a festival. It's a sacred ceremony. Every year, we gather at the Hearth to pray. We spend three days camped at the Hearth in prayer and then on the third night, Yachwah renews his blessings on us" Zabad explained.

"How?" Elias asked. "I mean how do you know he has renewed it. Does your high priest tell you?"

Zabad smirked, an unusual expression on the face of the otherwise stoic man. "You will see with your own eyes. The first Surfacers in many generations to see it."

Suddenly, the quiet of the corridors started to fill with sounds. Sounds of thousands of people speaking over themselves. Zabad paused as they approached the source of the sound, a large opening at end of the corridor. Beyond the entrance, Gideon could see a mass of pale skinned people all on their knees, all Adulamites in one accord - praying. 

"We are in the final session of prayers" Zabad whispered. "When we enter, do not speak and do not distract anyone. It is considered a grave offense. I will show you where to stay. "

The trio nodded and Zabad led them into the Hearth.

The Hearth was a huge cavern, bigger than the King's Cavern by far. The walls were smooth stone like the King's Cavern and the Infirmary and were lined with vines bearing the Ohrpirchei. Its ceiling was high up with parts of it hidden in the shadows that not even the lights of the Ohrpirchei could reach. Hanging down from the shadows were large stalactites with ends covered in Ohrpirchei. They looked like natural chandeliers emitting the soft blue glow of the strange flower. 

In the center of the Hearth was a small pond with sparkling blue waters. It glowed ethereally reflecting the lights of the Ohrpirchei. On the pond was even smaller island - more like a piece of floating rock but on that rock was a small tree. Its trunk was maybe a hands breath wide and its tallest branch was only a few inches taller than Gideon. Its branches held buds of the flower that Gideon recognised as the Ohrpirchei but they did not glow. It was on this floating rock that the king knelt along with the Crone and the High Priest. 

"Kneel" Zabad whispered to them and they did, behind a row of other kneeling Adulamites close to the back of the cavern. Immediately, the man started praying, muttering under his breath. Elias seemed to know what to do and copied him leaving himself and Rahab looking at them. Gideon did not know how to pray. They were never religious in his family outside of the traditional prayers for one who was traveling and the yearly festivals. So, he felt lost in the crowd of people who clearly knew what they were doing. Rahab was his only companion in this confusion but even she eventually closed her eyes. She did not seem to be praying however. 

Gideon sighed and followed her lead. He closed his eyes and racked his brain trying to think of something to say. Prayer was supposed to be a request, right? To Yachwah. What did he want? To leave here and get to Kanaan as soon as possible. So, he said that. A whisper under his breath and he was done but the others were still praying. What else did he want? To get back home to Mettledown. He said it again and was done with it. The others were still praying, even Elias was muttering under his breath with such fervor. 

Gideon looked up again, above the heads of the many kneeling Adulamites, to where the tree was. Who planted the tree there and how was it still flourishing? Who created the vines that held the Ohrpirchei. Who made these caves? Were they naturally occurring? Or was there something more divine to it like waht their earlier guard seemed to believe. He looked around trying to find said guard but it was impossible. The Adulamites looked extremely similar. All with white hair and pale skin. Hundreds of years of living under the ground isolated would do that.

He sighed again and closed his eyes. What to pray? How to pray? He suddenly remembered the priest in Rushford, Jabez and the writing they had seen on the wall. He remembered the words he had spoken. He also remembered the strange presence that had come with them. The same presence that he only felt with the man in his dreams, Aleph. Just the thought of the man caiused a shiver to run down his spine. It didn't hurt to try.

"Yachwah in heaven" he began in a whisper. "Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our transgression as we forgive those who transgress against us. Lead us not into temptation. Deliver us from evil." He felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He could feel the presence once more, crawling through the air and blanketing the room with something he could only describe as power. The muttering of the crowd seemed to grow but he kept his eyes closed and pressed on. "For thine is the kingdom. The power and the glory. Forever." The presence was stronger now. It not only permeated the air, it diffused into his body – a living, breathing fire that flowed in his veins like during the battle with knight. He could scarcely breath, his very being filled to the brim with life but he pressed on. Just one more word. "Amen"

Immediately, it seemed as though the presence vanished. No, he could still feel it. Just beneath his skin, faint but it was still there. There was silence in the Hearth soon overtaken by multiple gasps of surprise. The people had stopped praying and instead their attention was on the tree in the center of the Hearth. Gideon looked and it was glowing a brilliant blue. He gasped in surprise at its ethereal beauty. Not just the tree, but every flower bud in the Hearth was glowing bright as opposed to their normal soft glow. So bright that he could see the ceilings that had previously hidden in darkness. It was as though they were candlelight before but now, they shone like a bonfire. 

The Adulamites were gasping and pointing at the tree excitedly. Elias looked amazed at the light of the tree and even Rahab looked surprised, although she hid it well. "It has not glowed this bright for a hundred years" Zabad said in awe, the light of the tree reflected in his pale blue eyes. 

"It is beautiful" Gideon agreed. It was. Most importantly, it was not natural. 

The King stood up on the island and there was silence. He looked regal beneath the light of the glowing tree. He started to speak in Aduam. Even without understanding a word, Gideon could tell that his words were rousing. He had the voice for it, it was commanding and carried over the cavern. When he was done, the people broke into loud noises and cheers. People began to dance in groups and they started to beat drums all around the cavern.

The solemn mood had been lifted. "Now we feast!" Zabad said with a small smile. 

Gideon nodded. The memory of the presence was still fresh in his mind. Did he cause the light of the tree? It had occurred as soon as he finished his prayers. When the presence had disappeared. Was it mere coincidence? He looked down at his hand, he could still feel an echo of the fire beneath his skin. He closed his fist and shook it. He looked up and Rahab was staring at him with a strange look in her eyes.

"What is it?" He asked.

She shook her head and looked back to the people dancing and celebrating. Strange. Strange indeed.