Of Prophecies and Promises

Chapter 3

3

Anada Dal glanced around at the growing darkness, realizing the boy should have returned from Taylor’s Sweets before now. “Anada Jai, let us say our farewells and be on our way. I’m sure we’ll catch up with Gage at the edge of the village.”

Anada Jai agreed. They both gave their thanks to the shopkeeper and his wife, then exited the storeroom.

“Why don’t you make for the sweet shop? I’ll bring the casps and wagon,” Dal suggested.

Jai disappeared around the corner of the building and moved down the wide roadway back the way they had traveled earlier that day. Just as he arrived at the entrance to Taylor’s Sweets, the proprietor was exiting and securing the door for the night.

“Excuse me,” Jai called to the tall, thin man. “Did you see a boy earlier? He was to come trade a bit of sugar for a sweet.”

“Ah, yes. Shaved head, simple robe, and sandals. I gave him a few tips on negotiating. He is very bright. Traded the sugar for sixteen discs.”

“So, the trade was made, and he left your store?”

“Yes.”

“About how long ago?”

“Maybe twenty minutes. Not long at all,” Taylor answered, becoming concerned.

“Thank you, sir.”

“Wait. You mean he didn’t return to you?”

“No, sir. He was to do the trade, then return to the shop. I’m sure he got distracted somewhere. This is his first time to the village,” Jai explained, then turned to make his way back towards Dal and the wagon.

“There are many who come from Malhinda at night. Few have righteous intentions. I shall pray to Source that he has not become a victim of a tragedy,” Taylor offered, enough concern in his voice that Jai began to worry.

“Thank you, Sir,” Jai said, then left to find Dal and Gage.

Dal backed the casps and wagon out from between the buildings, then turned the casps so they faced the direction they would need to travel to reach the Sanctuary. A commotion in the darkness across the roadway drew his attention. Deciding to move a little closer, he noticed the white on the ground, and it piqued his curiosity. Looking toward the sweet shop, he saw Jai heading his way, sans Gage. A lump formed in his stomach. Reaching down, he picked up the white sack just as Jai hurried to his side.

“Dal, I fear something has befallen the boy. Master Taylor said Gage left his shop some time ago. He also warned that there were many from the city who come to do ill in the village at night.”

Dal opened the bag to see the discs that Gage had traded for. “Jai, search the side over there. I’ll check the shadows and stores on this side. I’ll meet you at the end of the village.”

Jai nodded and trotted across the roadway, calling out so the boy would hear. He stopped at the store and elicited the assistance of the owner and their employee. They scoured the few roads leading out from the center roadway, asking any strangers whom they happened upon if they had seen a boy in robes. Two hours later, all met at the end of the village, facing the direction of Malhinda. The lights from the city blocked out some of the brightness of stars and planets that spun overhead.

The shopkeeper spoke the words that confirmed the sense of loss Dal had felt growing in him since he discovered the sack on the ground.

“I’m sorry, Anada Dal, Anada Jai. The boy is not in the village. Whoever took him had to have led him to Malhinda.”

“He would not have gone. Gage is a smart boy. He has only known the Order and safety of the Monastery,” Dal argued.

“There are many ways to get from here to there. Some willingly, some by force. If you want to find your boy, you’ll have to search Malhinda.” The shopkeeper wiped his brow and sighed. “The boy may not be in Malhinda for long. s*****y is a popular trade. He could be swapped for any number of debts or services. In a city that size, it could well be that he is forever lost to you.”

With heavy hearts, Dal and Jai returned to the Monastery. They arrived later than was expected and found the gates open and several Anadas deciding if they should begin down the roadway to see what had occurred that delayed the wagon. Anada Bosley pushed his way to the front, eager to assure himself that Gage was alright. He stopped and stared as only two human forms emerged from the dark.

“Gage? Has he fallen asleep in the wagon?” he asked Dal.

Dal and Jai exchanged a glance, then Dal retold the events of the evening and what they suspected had happened to the boy.

“It is with a broken heart that I give you this news. We searched. The sack in the dirt, our inability to locate Gage, the warnings we were told by those in the village… I’m sorry, Bosley, Gage was taken to Malhinda.”

A gasp and quiet murmurs echoed in the crowd of Anadas, their faces reflecting degrees of fear and sorrow in the torchlight. Bosley stammered, the tears rolling down his cheeks unchecked. He turned toward the Sanctuary, the other Anadas standing aside as he made his way to the High Holy One.

Bosley had been to Malhinda. There were a few places he could search, perhaps finding Gage before whoever took the boy launched off-planet or did any real damage. There was a whisper in his head that reminded him that Gage was special and intelligent. The boy would find a way to protect himself until Bosley retrieved him.

Ignoring protocol, Bosley swept aside the cloth curtain that secluded the High Holy One in a corner in his chambers. Seated serenely on a cushion, his legs crossed in front of him, eyes closed, the Holy One appeared to be in deep meditation.

Bosley prostrated himself at the feet of the Holy One. His breathing coming in gasps, he decided to wait to be acknowledged, but only for a few breaths.

“Rise, Anada Bosley. Tell me, what has you so distraught?”

Bosley raised his head and torso and sat back on his heels. “Holy One, I would not interrupt your practice unless it was dire,” he paused as the Holy One nodded. “Anada Dal and Anada Jai have returned from the village, but not Gage. It is suspected he was taken to the city of Malhinda.”

The High Holy One closed his eyes briefly, touched by the loss of the child. When he opened them, there were tears swimming behind the lashes. He touched Bosley on his bare scalp. “I’m sorry. The boy will be missed.”

Bosley swallowed. “Please, Holy One, allow me to travel to Malhinda and find Gage.”

The Holy One smiled slightly as a tear escaped. “Anada Bosley, the boy is in the care of Source. It is in Divine right order that he was taken. You may not interfere with that.”

“What good is it for him to be in Malhinda? How could Source place him there? He belongs here, behind these walls where he can be protected.”

“You have done well with the boy. It has not escaped my notice that he is… special. Source does not create that which holds no purpose. His purpose was not the path of an Anada.”

“But he is only a boy,” Bosley argued.

“Yes, but you, Bosley, are an Anada of this Order. Your place is here.” The Holy One sighed. “You may not follow Gage to Malhinda.” The tone was clear that there was no more room for argument.

Bosley nodded, swallowed, and with a bit of a frantic countenance, took his leave.

As the curtain once again enclosed the High Holy One, he sighed. He could not tell Bosley what he knew regarding Gage St. Veritas, but he guessed the Anada would not stay put. If all worked as the Prophecy predicted, Anada Bosley would receive the truth this night. On another sigh, he gathered his prayer beads, and as tears flowed down his face for the loss of one under his care, he prayed to Source that Gage would be led to fulfill his purpose.

On the way back to his room, Bosley peered through the open door to the gates. They were closed. The small area between the side entrance of the Sanctuary and the protective wall was empty. The Anadas would have taken the wagon to the storage area to unload it, then to feed the casps.

Closing the door of his chamber quietly behind him, he began to pace. The longer Gage was held in Malhinda, the less of a chance Bosley would have to find him. Stopping briefly to gaze at the symbol of the Order cast in metal that hung above his bed, he tracked the interconnecting circles of the design with his eyes. It brought an immediate calm to his frenzied mind. Allowing his lids to drift close, he sought the silence within. An answer came immediately. Bosley sighed, then pulled out the wooden box from under his bed.

Sitting on the blanket that covered the place where he had slept the past quarter century, he let his hand caress the top of the box before he removed the lid and set it aside. Inside were the few items that were of personal and material value to him. His identification card was worn, showing its use before he found his way to the front steps of the Monastery, where he no longer needed it. The few credits, surely antiques by now, clinked together as he turned over the discs of metal in his hand. A length of ribbon, a black stone, a piece of animal hide, and a silver chain were all pushed aside as he retrieved the final item.

The crystal was nearly clear yet continued to hold some of its original pink hue, and appeared to be polished, though Bosley remembered when he found it in the sand alongside the roadway on which he was traveling. Having lost his wife and newborn son to an explosion in the store in which they were shopping on a distant planet, Bosley had left the city and taken transpo to Second Earth. That was when he spent a short time in Malhinda. Desperate to escape the pain of living, and having depleted his credits, he wandered out of Malhinda, hoping to die in the wilderness. Ambling along, looking for a place to lie down and breathe his last, the partially buried crystal had reflected the light from the star that warmed the planet. Brushing away the sand and picking it up for closer inspection, he found it quite beautiful. That shocked him, as he believed himself to be beyond feeling anything besides the extreme grief over the loss of his family.

Looking up the road from the crystal’s resting place, he could see the top of a bell tower. Within the hour, he was pulling on the rope and asking for salvation. That was twenty-five years ago. He had come to Second Earth to escape and was saved instead.

Hoping the crystal would lead him to Gage, he placed it, along with the credits and his card, in a pocket in his robe. Replacing the lid on the box, then the box under the bed, Bosley exited his room and made for the front door of the Monastery.