Chapter 636 A New Way pt 1 (1/2)

Beyn was troubled in spirit, something he had rarely been during his life. He remembered his time in the seminary, training to serve The Path. Even at that young age, his spirit had burned with certainty and divine purpose. He had risen long before the sun and slept long after it had set, devoting his every waking moment to the scripture, his meditations and the development of his oratory skills. It had been a simple time of purity and growth, one that he was fond of.

But the measure of his devotion in those years would pale in comparison to the blaze that would awaken in his later life. With the loss of his arm, an even greater purpose would be revealed to him, a deeper truth! And yet, he was unable to serve as he so desired!

”Priest Beyn. How are you feeling?”

He was dragged from his thoughts by a voice and he turned to see one of the true believers, Margaret, approaching him with concern.

”I am fine, sister,” he a.s.sured her, ”my symptoms have abated at last and I make haste to the temple to join our brethren.”

A look of relief flashed over the middle aged woman's face.

”That is a relief, Priest. We feared the worst when you were returned to us.”

Beyn tried to hide a grimace at the unwanted memory. He'd been unwilling to leave the nest to the point that he had suffered severe Mana Sickness. A gross oversight on his part. When the illness had started, he'd a.s.sumed it was due to an oversaturation of joy, but alas. Without the intervention of Coolant, he might have died down there, but he was saved when he was dragged to the surface by a soldier that gripped him around the waist with its mandibles. Almost all of the brethren who'd joined him in the nest had to be removed in this way, though his symptoms were by far the worse.

The fact he'd been forced to be removed from the nest at such a crucial time was the source of his disquiet. As much as Coolant had wanted to keep it quiet, he knew of the great challenge that faced the Colony at this time, how could he not sense the tension that was in the air? More than anything he yearned to lend his support, to aid and abet the great Colony and the Great One as they fended away the evil that threatened to snuff out the miracle of their existence.

He was filled with impotent rage! Bursting with fervour and zeal with nowhere to direct it! If he didn't find a way to channel these emotions he felt as if he might just explode on the spot.

Margaret joined him on his walk through the streets of Renewal as he walked toward the church. Many people called out to him and he waved back to them with his remaining arm, stopping to exchange a few words here and there with the faithful.

”The people have responded well to the word, haven't they?” Margaret noted with obvious pride. ”I was worried that the newcomers wouldn't be willing to receive our teachings.”