2140 Hope and Despair (Part 2)

More people threw themselves on the ground, raising and lowering their arms toward Kamila while they chanted some kind of prayer.

"Oh, gods! This is even worse than the Desert." Kamila's head was spinning and she had now a splitting headache.

"Zekell, what's the meaning of this?" Lith asked as his confusion was quickly turning into annoyance.

Those who lived near the temple didn't even dare meet his gaze, just praying to him for a miracle or another. He was used to being feared or respected, being worshipped was beyond unsettling.

"Business." The blacksmith whispered in reply. "Also, it's a nice way to keep Lutia peaceful and friendly. Now follow my lead."

"As it was prophesized, the All-Father has returned among us. He's pleased with us and he needs to confer with his high cleric."

"My/his what now?" The entire family said in unison.

Zekell gestured them to shut up and follow him, keeping a perfect poker face while he ordered the believers to make way for them to the temple.

The inside of the shrine consisted of a single huge room, about 30 meters (100') long and 20 meters (66') wide. A central corridor separated two rows of wooden benches where people could sit, pray, or meditate.

At the farthest end of the north side, there was a small altar made of white stone. Behind it, there were two statues. One depicted Tiamat riding on Protector's Emperor Beast form and the other Friya.

On the east side, there was a space with candles of seven different colors that the worshippers could light according to what they were praying for.

On the west side, instead, there was the closest thing to a souvenir shop that Lith had ever seen since his time back on Earth. One of Zekell's clerks sold the Tiamat-themed accessories that they had seen outside, toys, statues, and tacky knick-knacks.

"Get out!" Zekell said but no one listened to him.

Seeing the object of their veneration walk among them made something like a cleric irrelevant. They surrounded Lith, praying for his blessings.

"I beg you, bring my daughter back as one of your Demons." A woman about his own age said while throwing herself at his feet. "All I want is to hold her one more time and tell her that I'm sorry.

"I promised her that I would move heaven and earth to make her get better, but I failed her."

The woman was holding a black candle and a poorly carved wooden figurine of a young girl.

"My son lost an arm during a hunting accident and now his life is destroyed. He worked for years to inherit the family business but a tailor without his dominant arm can show only half of his skill in double the time." A man clinging to Lith's leg said.

"My little sister is dying from the Strangler, but my family can't afford to travel to Distar, let alone the treatment. Please, I'll do anything you want if you save her life." A crying boy said, hitting more than one nerve.

Tista and Lith exchanged a quick glance before dismissing them all. Only once they were finally alone could Zekell drop the props and the act as high cleric.

"Okay, what's going on and how could you afford this building?" Lith asked. "Heck, with the money necessary to build this monstrosity, you could have probably cured a lot of people."

"Do you really think I'd waste my money or time? I didn't make this, I just exploited it." Zekell replied with a laugh as soon as he was certain that they were alone. "I told you, things got hard after you left for the Desert.

"People tried to chase me and my family off Lutia, claiming that I was your accomplice. Neighbour attacked neighbor, thinking that they might be either a beast or another of Meln's thralls in disguise.

"The whole city almost got burned to the ground in the riots that ensued from the attack on the Heavenly Wolf tavern, but that was only the beginning. Things got much worse when the Lutians realized what they had done.

"They had attacked their friends, hurt their own families, and chased away the only person who could help them fix their mess."

"What do you mean?" Rena asked.

"Have you forgotten that after Nana's death, the village lost its protector and only real mage? The healer who took over her business was much less experienced and people relied on Tista and Ryman for the important stuff.

"With your family gone, how could a simple magico deal with so many severely wounded people? He did his best, giving priority to those with the highest chances of survival and letting the others die.

"Which of course didn't sit well with their relatives who tried to lynch him, blaming the healer for the loss of their loved ones. He saved his skin by flying away, never to return, leaving Lutia with no healer.

"He also gave us one heck of a reputation so no matter how much money we offered, no one wanted to live in a place where people treated their healers so badly. From that moment onward, every broken bone could mean becoming a cripple.

"Every illness, even the flu, spread like wildfire, and the only thing the people who couldn't afford a trip to the nearest haler could do was cross their fingers and hope to survive.

"To make matters worse, without you or the Queen's Corps, the city was as rich as it was undefended. For years we had relied on Nana first and then on you for protection, never investing a dime in the local militia.

"Useless to say, the Lutians paid a high price for their foolishness." Zekell said.

"Oh, gods, Dad! Why didn't you tell me that you were going through so many hardships?" Senton grabbed his father, making sure that he was fine.

"Me? Silly boy! I was never in danger. I spent the whole time laughing my ass off and telling everyone 'I told you so'." Zekell patted Senton's shoulder moved to see how worried he was for his old man.

"How, exactly?" Lith asked.

"Because you have good friends, kid. The magical beasts you left here kept people from harassing me just like they stopped the bandits who tried to raid my shops. The kings of the woods healed my family whenever we needed it.

"When they thought to not be up to the task, they called Faluel. That's how I met your Hydra lady friend." Zekell said. "Then, after a few weeks since your departure, a bunch of weirdos arrived from the north.

"They claimed to be followers of the All-Father and to have come on pilgrimage to the place that had given him birth. At first, many scoffed at them and considered them insane.

"Yet a lot of people had already left Lutia and the city was slowly dying so no one could afford to turn away paying customers. Especially magically gifted customers with access to tier one and two magic."

"Wait a second." Solus said. "The Church of the Six forbade the use of magic, claiming that it stole the power that Lith- I mean the All-Father needed to be reborn."