Bishop Jorad, a rising member within the church of the father God, an executive, part of the supervision of the church itself falls in his hands, which means that the expansion of his religion as a whole, how the affairs and services to its believers are conducted, the rites, ceremonies, celebrations and other acts of the church itself, are under his discretion.
Under their direction is the oasis village of Taryng, a very delicate point for the clergy, on the one hand, they must make present the values that their religion represents and defends, and on the other hand, they cannot offend with their extremism the hundreds or thousands of visitors that arrive daily to this point of the map. Many small cults have been banned by nobles, military, politicians and others when they believe they are above the other powers. The church of the father God learns from history, and some ancient empires have fallen under chaos because of extremist ideals, all the more reason why a cult, for many relatively new or for others small, must advance one step at a time.
The elders within the church, a group of elderly men who meet and discuss with the intention of nurturing their religion, have decided that the young 32 year old bishop will handle the affairs, to give a face of vitality to the church in this place, accompanied with some older priests, who assist and substitute their presence in some rites and ceremonies, thus giving way for the emerging member of their church, establish good relations with the various illustrious characters, whether those who live in the city, as the many who are passing through, opening new routes to expand the church, and the results have been more than evident, in more than 2 years of management, the bishop reduced to a negligible number of sabotage or "events" that affected the collaborators of his church in the oasis.
No one now dares to steal, kidnap or other various crimes against anyone living within the walls of the oasis church. There are a couple of other chapels present in the oasis, belonging to other religions in the area, but their members continue to receive these abuses from time to time.
The oasis of Taryng seems to behave like the sea, the visitors move various currents in this part of the desert, and one of them is generating waves under the surface.
Given the good performance at the Oasis by Bishop Jorad, some local priests are not very happy, yet they show their smiles in front of the public and privately look for cracks in the walls of their enemy. Why have these priests gone against the good performance of a member of their church?
Kenbrand is one of the most influential priests in the oasis of Taryng, he grew up in one of the orphanages under the management of the church and stood out for his devotion and community work, now in his 40's he quietly watches the movements of the Bishop.
Priest Kenbrand enters a stone room, with a few pieces of furniture, where other members of the church were waiting for him, seated around a simple wooden table.
-Good morning Kenbrand -said the priest Louis, an old man in his mid 50's, with tanned skin, dark hair and a few gray streaks.
-The bishop has gone out today to do his monthly negotiations -this time spoke the deacon Sasyl, a young man with light brown hair and warm expressions on his face, his somewhat bulging belly makes him look a little younger, although he is already in his 20s.
-Since that's the case we have some time to reorganize our men, I have warned some acquaintances of mine to keep an eye on their surroundings and then we will gather the information, maybe it will take us some time, but we will surely find the source of their success.
-Although I must admit that it pleases me, that the forces against our members are almost non-existent, it makes me curious to know how they calmed down -said Louis.
-Priests, I would like to add a few words -said Deacon Sasyl, this time rising from his seat, getting the attention of the other participants.
-Perhaps it is because now under the directions of the bishop, both of us have been busy with work within the vicinity of the church, together with other deacons, as usual, we have visited the two orphanages in the oasis, and so far 2 youngsters have gone missing.
-I don't see where you are going with that, we can't always keep an eye on all the children, in this place it is common for people to disappear -said the priest Louis with some impatience.
-So far it's just a coincidence, but the disappearances of these youngsters coincide with the bishop's monthly trips, we don't have any other data besides that -finishing he took his seat again.
-Well, I think we should note it as a subject to investigate, perhaps it is a point to leverage our demand to send him elsewhere to demonstrate his talents -replied the priest Louis.
Another deacon raised his hand with the intention of obtaining permission to speak, both priests nodded.
-With regard to our armed troops, currently in our facilities the number has risen to 102 men, 89 knights of the church and the rest still guards in training -he finished and kept silent.
-Why does it seem to me that it is more than before? I have also noticed them in the courtyards," asked this time the priest Kenbrand.
-In the last months with the objective of maintaining the security and order of the members of the clergy as well as of our faithful we have increased the number granted from the city-state -answered the deacon.
-That makes sense, although it seems to me that the number of clergy members or assistants in this building is almost the same -said the priest Louis.
-Well, I think we have laid the foundations of our work, now priest Louis I will ask you to cover for me during the rest of the day, I want to go out a little bi t-said priest Kenbrand addressing his colleague.
-No problem, it's good to change the air sometimes.
With that their meeting was concluded, and the participating members quickly returned to their duties on the church premises.
Priest Kenbrand, with his usual serious expression, his robe with discreet decorations representing his beliefs, moved briskly through the busy midday streets of the oasis, heading towards the market, the merchants often greeted him, a man of faith who climbed under his own work in the church that belonged to his own culture, was something they respected, a fruit of their oasis, the priest bought some sweet nuts and other local foods, until he filled a basket that was already beginning to weigh enough to not want to carry it.
One of the orphanages in the Taryng oasis was the same one where Priest Kenbrand grew up, the building had been repaired a couple of times over the years, and its appearance was no different than his childhood memories, an adobe building with a frame outside made of rocks, one side for the dormitories, another for the classroom, a large living room, a dining room, a simple foyer, and a side for the members who maintained it that combined all its necessities, plus a small courtyard that housed a solitary palm tree, it had nothing to make it stand out.
Some children approached to greet him, they missed the priest, others somewhat older helped him carry his belongings, while the sister in charge of the orphanage also approached to greet him. Sister Nira, a woman already in her 50's, tall and thin with a stern look in her eyes, but sweetness in her heart, the one who has raised countless seeds in this desert, now in charge of this place perhaps until the day her light goes out.
-Have you become so bored with your life in the church that you remembered your home? -asks the sister to the priest.
-It seems that I am not worthy servant of our father if you tell me that way -answered the priest with a smile.
Sister Nira walked with him to his office to talk, while she ordered other sisters to distribute some of the goodies that the priest brought to the children and promised them another one if they did their homework well, after a while of greetings and unimportant conversations the two were left alone in the administration room.
-I imagine you have been busy, always doing more than you should, it is also important to take care of your health, you are no longer a child -began Sister Nira, already in the habit of lecturing whoever was in front of her.
The priest nervously arranged his clothes, even though he didn't need to, and began with the topic he had in mind.
-I received some news that left me a little worried, it seems that every month a child disappears from our orphanages.
Sister Nira looked at him with a grimace of discontent and sighed.
-Two months ago a young man went out to do his errands, one of the older ones of 15 years old, he did not return, we thought it was another time that he was lost in his games, you know they are almost at the age of being men, but they continue playing like children, but he did not return at night, nor the next day, and after we asked in all the places that our children usually frequent, nobody knew anything, the desert had swallowed him up.
The room was silent, although the priest Louis said that it was not uncommon for people to disappear, that did not often apply to those born in the oasis, there was a certain rule that everyone respected, the locals never attacked other locals, unless they were opposing gangs, who had sworn their enmity.
-Can you tell me more about him? What he was like, what places he frequented, that sort of thing - he ask with a calm tone, but with a tinge of sadness.
-He was a good boy, maybe because of his age he was interested in the neighborhoods near the brothel, maybe to see a striking young woman, besides that he was a cheerful young man, he took care of his younger brothers as most of the older boys do -sister Nira finished and gave another sigh.
-All right, for now, don't let the boys go out alone, if they have to run errands, let them go out in a group, apparently one of our children is lost every month, let's try to avoid it, as far as we can do -the priest finished speaking and slid his hand over his face as if trying to lower his worries.
-I don't like the sound of it, but I will let the others know, who could be attacking our orphanages? -Sister Nira asked.
-I don't know, I want to think it was just unfortunate coincidences rather than something planned.
After finishing his conversation the priest went to the living room, many children followed him, especially the younger ones, there he began to tell some stories of his church, the priest knew how to give some details along with an intonation that made them sound more fantastic and striking, it had been a few months since he visited them, but the children always expected this kind of details, which delivered light as the church says.
After a few hours and before the night settled, the priest Kenbrand walked back to the church, with a heavy step and immersed in his thoughts, from time to time he met a familiar face and answered his greetings automatically, finally in his chambers he directed his prayers to his God, asking for a good present to these missing young people, and clarity to help him on his way.
The next day the work of all the church staff was developing normally, and the priest Kenbrand returned to assume his work for his faithful, listening to the pleas for forgiveness by some of them, the insecurities of others, the contemptuous looks of those who only pretend faith and many other similar cases, the life of a priest needs a tough skin and a gentle touch to know how to react to the various tests of his work, but for a man born in the oasis these were already part of his routine.
A few days later, Priest Kenbrand was in his room, delivering his last prayers of the day with an oil lamp burning, when he hears someone knock on his door, to which he responds by giving permission to enter, at the same time sitting up to receive his unexpected guest.
Deacon Sasyl enters just a few steps and closes the door behind him.
-Good evening priest and excuse my intrusion, I just wanted to inform you of something, a couple of days ago the bishop returned, and there has been another case of disappearance of one of the children of an orphanage.
-I was just wondering, has one of our seeds gone missing again? How bad will we look in the eyes of our father God if we can't take care of the new sprouts -I sighed and finished.
-Sir, this time it happened in one of the orphanages of the church of the sun, I wanted to mention it, because this very place received the visit of the bishop the month before.
-certainly it is a fact that links the bishop more to these disappearances - he said to the priest with a frown and then continued - for the moment we can only continue looking for all the information related to these facts, in a discreet way, to know what places they frequented where they were last seen, it is lucky that it did not happen in one of our orphanages, but he is still a child of the oasis.
-as you say sir, together with the other deacons we are more attentive in our visits to the orphanages, although sadly we can do no more than find out and wait.
-Yes, unfortunately that's how the situation looks for now, but don't worry, thank you for informing me if you have nothing more to say you can head to your room.
-Of course sir -says the deacon Sasyl with a slight bow -may the Father take care of you.
-And bless your path, good night.
The door to his room closed behind the deacon's exit, and the priest returned to a period of introspection for a few moments, then resumed his prayers with new phrases before it was time to extinguish his oil lamp and rest.
