The Pearl Fox

The White Rose

Temple Jasmine was a sight to behold amidst the jungle, for it looked like a structure out of a dream. A site so ancient in its foundation that it extended back twelved thousand years. It resembled a city made up of large step pyramids. The biggest central pyramid, the Mother Pyramid, was two hundred feet high, surrounded by four smaller pyramids that rose sixty feet high each. Their capstones were all made from a greenish gold crystal.  At certain times of the day, the Mother Pyramid looked alive with an aurora soul.

Women glided through the corridors and rooms of these temple, en route to their personal tasks. While some were novices, others were established priestesses of the Skylore religion. The orange fragrant air carried their songs of life and love. There were many priestesses of various age groups, and from different areas of Diaphry.

Jade wore a long white habit dress, tied at the waist by a blue cord. She wore sandles on her feet, while her long moonblonde hair was braided and pinned up on her head. Around her ears were painted jewels to represent the moons and stars. She'd eaten blackberries and it made her lips dark and juicy. No one could hear the constant banging that was happening deep into the jungle. Only she and the animals could hear it.

"What troubles you daughter?" Brenda in a gold habit asked as silver beads sparkled in her black hair. "You seem a bit worried."

Jade kept looking over towards the forest. "Strange noises. coming from in there."

"I don't hear anything," said Gilly, also in gold, but she wore a crown of flowers.

"It's many miles away," Jade told them. She could hear but they couldn't.

"Your hearing is splendid and better than the cats!" Gilly went on chuckling, as she was the proud owner of two margay kittens.

Jade always heard things that nobody else could. She saw things in the dark. Most of all she could detect emotions and thoughts by scent. She could smell changes in the atmosphere before anyone else noticed it. For days she sensed something out there in the jungle, and it might have been ten miles away or longer. Now it was nearer, and it  came with the banging noises deep inside the jungle.

She returned to the temple, and made her way to the inner sanctum, that was filled with the scent of vanilla. She passed priestesses with bakets and trays of fruit, onions, herbs, spices, linen, thread spools, soap and pebbles. Some were in the corridors, praying, sweeping the floor, kissing the minaiture statues of the gods, polishing the doors and wooden shelf brackets, relighting the small hanging lights, deep in prayer, or in silence.

The inner sanctum was bright and golden. The walls were enraged in platinum and patina runes. White marble columns and rows of pillars each had elegant statue cyratids, who represented the former priestesses who once worked in Temple Jasmine through the ages.  On the far side of this inner sanctum was the alter, and behind that a starglyph window filled with many coloured mosaic pieces of crystal glass. As in all Skylore temples, pyramids and small chapels, the direction is always designed Ad orientem, to face in the direction of the sunrise and moons wake. This holy room was beneath the Mother pyramid, and close to the top, so that the ceiling was inside the apex of the pyramid.

Twelves priestesses formed a circle in the inner sanctum. They held special ceromonial swords with rose gold pommels in the glistening carved shapes of flowers. velvety red grips, rose-gold cross and rain guards, sugar-milk white coloured steel blades with gold and green leaf details on the fuller. The priestesses wore gowns of two shades in deep sapphire blue and pale iris blue. These priestesses lifted their voices to the gods and sang, then they formed the shape of a lotus flower. Jade didn't feel comfortable today and she needed one of those beautiful and sharp lotus swords. One-by-one, the twelves priestesses layed down their cermonial swords on the floor, and left the sanctum. The twelves lotus swords were positioned in a circle and will remain there for the day.

"What are you doing here at this time, sister?" asked Brigit, a priestess in lilac .

"Sister," Jade acknowledged, and didn't trouble herself with any excuses. "I will ask plain. May I borrow one of the swords?"

"Why?"

"I'm not quite certain but I shall need it to defend the temple against a foe."

"We have our brothers here, and warrior monks from Kol Monz pyramid will be better suited at defending us all in any conflict. You shouldn't trouble over that."

"It isn't war that concerns me," Jade said. "It's neither human or animal."

Brigit held Jade's hands, and Jade looked north, towards the direction where those sounds and presense was coming from. Brigit was older than Jade and she was motherly towards the younger priestesses. "We're protected in here. The warrior priests can fight so well as they've been trained in various martial arts. These holy men feel no fear." Brigit was fearless also. Jade couldn't convince Brigit to let her have just one lotus sword. She bowed and went on her way.

Outside, Jade was approached by a priestess in rose-pink called Shy Sara. The girl's eyes were huge and brown, like her hair, and she was nervous. Jade was hungry and it was time for supper. She climbed up some steps, and walked along the ramp, and descended down another level of steps to enter the dining hall. There was bowls of fruit, biscuits and bread, fruit pies, vegetable pies, ewers of water, milk and fruit juices. After Jade had eaten, Shy Sara gingerly approached her again. This time, she spoke. "Jade" There was fear and nervousness about her that Jade could smell. "Please Jade! Please stop killing the animals that we're supposed to look after." Everyone in the dining room fell quiet. The blood sacrifices that Jade had done. The poor animals whose lives she destroyed all because of her wolf's instinct.

"Of course I will stop," Jade replied. "Forgive me." Shy Sara appeared as if Jade had slapped her. The others were stunned. "I've learned my lesson." Jade continued. "I won't do it again."

No one else but Shy Sara dared confront her about the animals in case Jade turns into a wolf out of anger. Sara was the bravest of all to speak out in defense of the animals under the temple's care. Jade spoke, and this time she addressed the entire room and all who that listened.

"I can't undo what I did, but so sorry. These animals needed a better life. And I took that away from them. I accept punishment because of this." She spoke as clear and honest as she could because she felt guilty. The order was valuable to her. Then she felt her eyes stinging with tears. It wasn't what she expected to do, but she cried. She rubbed her eyes quickly, but to no avail. Her eyes filled again with water. She realised that those animals were under the protection of Skylore. It wasn't just a sense of guilt for breaking the temple trust but also because she felt terrible for killing those animals. She wasn't able to control her crying anymore.

Mater Polly-Zia went to Jade and comforted her. Then the senior sister, Weranda of Luniapolis, spoke out: "I forgive you, sister Jade".

This was followed by other priestesses in the hall, forgiving Jade. Then the elder, Ombry, rose from her chair and spoke, the loudest of all. "You are forgiven, daughter. It isn't your fault that you are part wolf. Your tears is prood to us that you're going in the right direction towards virtue and divinity."

Mater Amela, who was standing near the back of the hall, spoke up clearly: "Jade, priestess of Applerock, you can't help what you are. There is a great forest all around us so you are entitled to hunt out there when nature calls. But please, no more killing our animals that belong to us. If you do this again, you'll be defrocked."

Amela's words stung for they were bitter and she was unfriendly, but right also, Jade understood. The forest has much prey. This human rationale within her also made her cold, so she trembled. She was given a hot tea. For the first time in her whole life, she wept for her victims. Any priestess who reconcilled their darker side was called a Rose.