Where Faith Leads Us

Part 5

The head priest stayed in the temple and looked a the room where those two bodies were lying for a long time. To be honest, even without burning them, they looked a lot like Vars and Nilgu would in this situation. Since one had his face buried at the other's chest and the other lowered his head, their faces couldn't be seen clearly and the clothes were the right ones. Even he could believe it. Why wouldn't the people of the temple of Bul?

He sighed and then went to grab the torches that he had prepared for Mu So. That traveler had only asked for one but he had felt that it would be better to be prepared so finally gathered three. Now, they would come in handy.

He went to light the first one and walked through the temple. Starting from the rooms furthest in the back, he lit on fire what he could. Those curtains in the old room of a priest that had long died, they would never be pulled apart anyway. He asked Jel for forgiveness and turned around, walking to the pantry with its meager collection of ingredients, and put fire to one of the half-filled sacks there. Going to the garden with the old, decrepit tree, he smiled faintly, and finally just threw the torch down to its roots.

"Goodbye, old friend. I guess this is our last day."

Sighing faintly he took the next torch and lit it on the fire on the ground, continuing his round through the temple. Smoke was already wafting through the corridors as the fire spread further.

The old head priest walked to the front of the building, making sure that the people from the temple of Bul would be greeted by a wall of flames when they came in. This way, they could not get to those corpses before they had burned a fair bit, making it impossible to recognize them.

Having made sure of that, he went back to Nilgu's room. He stood in the doorway for a bit and then sighed again, coughing when he breathed in some of that smoke. He stepped inside and lit the curtains, the wood of the table and the chairs, and then the bedding. He couldn't bring himself to light the corpses on fire. Even though it could have helped, he felt that it was too cruel. In the end, he just tossed the torch on the ground and made his way back to the door.

He looked at the room that was already set aflame and ignited the last torch before he gently closed the door as if he did not want to disturb the couple inside. He turned around and walked to the main hall, looking up at the statue of Jel.

There were tears glittering in his eyes but he still went to set a fire in the corners of the room before he put the torch down behind the god's statue.

"Forgive me, Jel. Burning down your temple, as a priest, I never should have even entertained that thought. But there are three lives at stake and I can't bring myself to not give them the best chances they could have. Nilgu is also your priest and I am sure that he will make you proud. I, on the other hand, had not many more years to live anyway. So let me just atone for my sins right here and now."

He knelt down in front of the statue and started to pray, not moving from his spot even as the fire closed in, and finally licked at his clothes.

Outside, the stars dimmed and the night sky brightened and finally, the sun emerged behind the horizon. In the temple of Bul, some people had gathered, looking out of the gate at the temple opposite them that was still burning.

"Do you think he really set it on fire or is he trying to escape?"

"Only one way to find out."

They left the temple, one group going over to the burned-down temple on the other side of the square while another two went to one of the gates of the city each, taking a look at the people that were slowly lining up to be let out.

The group that entered the temple of Jel furrowed their brows when they stepped through the remains of the gate. There was still the heavy smell of smoke everywhere and fumes were blown by their faces every now and then, making their throats burn. They still trudged on, going to the corridor where the priests had lived before.