Wemimo’s knee hurt. It was her turn in a moment.
She was certain that she would topple over when she tried to stand up to receive her bible. It reminded her too much of the day of her ordination into the calling of the deliverer.
Now, it was routine to say a prayer for strength. The deliverers in Merit town were not many, as it wasn’t the most pleasant Christian duty. People would rather be shepherds to keep the flock or prophets in the extreme, who on rare occasions partook in the side-lines of confrontational warfare.
The line before her all but disappeared when the person before her arose from the crucifix and departed to join the thinning trudge of Calvary.
Normally, a group of deliverers going for battle were a flock of mighty men, but there was a full out war long brewing, presently escalated at the border.
The Calvary consisted of the entire flock from intercessors to the last two standing prophets found in Merit. It wasn’t as if there weren’t other prophets in the globe, but aside from the calling of being one was scarce, it was the most difficult.
Wemimo shuffled forward, kneeling on the slice of pew constructed specifically for this.
‘Gracious father in heaven,’ she recited, ‘have mercy upon your servant. Thank you for unwavering grace. Thank you for strength. Thank you for provision. I receive deliverance so that I can deliver the captive from the darkness that plagues this chaotic globe. Amen.’ She prayed it with sincerity and focus as her bringing to the fold instructor had taught her.
She was aware that if she activated the realm tranz the fire of her prayer would be seen around where she knelt, exploding to an incense of whitish flames climbing through the atmosphere to the highest seat of heaven.
She dusted her knees as soon as she was done sipping the blood of the lamb in a divine grail. The goblet sat beneath the cross, collecting the blood which dripped mysteriously from the cross to its inner curve.
She bit back a grin, trying to maintain the state of reflection, but it was difficult.
She had the urge to activate the realm tranz, curious to know what type of flame her prayer produced. It could be that there was no fire and thus no smoke and it could be fiery with pure smoke.
It was banned here.
The reason being that members of the flock, especially new or septic converts, spied others prayers. It had grown so terrible that a demon agent from beyond the Merit had posed as a flock and spied through the prayer altar for nearly a year, but was caught in time so that he was not able to leak out their secret to the enemy. The elders had had to investigate the praying ground themselves with realm tranz as soon as they found out that the spy had not only come to mole through their litanies, but was polluting the hearts of the flock, tainting their prayer. Wemimo had no idea what happened to the demon agent, but there had been a revival.
Therefore, only the watchers were allowed to inspect periodically the consistency and the purity of the Merit’s prayers.
Wemimo was the last deliverer to come out. The prayer ground wasn’t commissioned only to deliverers, it belonged to everyone. It was the prayer rites that were different.
There were many types of prayers: prayers from the bible, prayers recited for each office and prayers you prayed from the heart.
‘Deliverer’ Elder Dawn’s Puff greeted, as Wemimo tried to find her spot in the formation.
They were to march at a designated path a distance after the bards with their weapon and realm tranz activated.
‘Elder Dawn’s Puff’ Wemimo answered with a mask of foreboding.
The much older woman was one of the two last prophets and unlike her fellow Elder Apocalypse; she was a seer and also a prophet.
It was no hidden fact how weird prophets can be from Elder Apocalype who spewed nearly in rage the atrocities and dooms to come to the soft spoken Elder Dawn’s Puff, who was the direct opposite of her name.
A Dawn’s puff was supposed to be the beginning of the great heat of judgement in the eve of the new birth of redemption days.
‘Yes’ the elder said, shuffling closer to her, breaking the formation to the annoyance of shepherd Merriboth, who was always at loggerheads with them.
The man kept his thin lips firmly shut in concentration to the discussion he was having with another elder.
‘Did you have a message for me, perhaps a revelation?’ Wemimo forced a smile.
Dawn’s Puff squeezed Wemimo’s hand with a tremor. ‘Not you this time.’ her grip was firm. ‘You might not be joining the Calvary, because you have a higher task at hand to meet.’ She said.
‘What could be more important than this Calvary, Dawn?’ Wemimo frowned. She had a stream of questions, but it all came out blank so that she felt speechless.
She had come fasting as instructed, but it did not make sense what the older woman was saying.
‘It is of equal importance. You know how the numbers of the prophets are dwindling.’ She pointed out.
Wemimo nodded, not understanding how this related to her not attending the Calvary.
‘The Lord revealed to me one who needs the help of your deliverance to fulfil the calling of the prophet.’ The elder explained.
‘Deliverance comes from God. Besides, I am not the one in charge. I follow the instructions of my leader.’ Wemimo explained.
‘True, but you shouldn’t forget to do the bidding of your saviour first before you hearken to other voices. The Lord has told me that it is you, who must do this.’ Elder Dawn’s Puff insisted.
‘If it is the will of God, why not?’ Wemimo said finally after some contemplation.
‘Good girl, I know you’ve been a new convert for a while now, but the Lord tells me to tell you that you should listen to him more often. You must have been aware of this assignment for a while now.’ The elder prodded.
Wemimo reflected on this and then remembered the verses that had been popping to her mind. They had been rather strong and one minded. ‘You might be right.’ She said carefully. ‘It’s all new to me and there’s just so much to learn.’ Wemimo explained.
‘Keep on then. You will not always be new. Someday you will have little ones to mentor too.’ Elder Dawn’s Puff said and left, shuffling to stand beside Apocalypse, who looked like he could use some sleep.
Out of the blue a horn pierced the plethora of one-minded harmony of n impending battle to come.
This brought no reaction from anyone, but through the time that Wemimo had been in the camp she knew what that sound meant. She was being summoned to her unit. She was not the only deliverer, but her fellow deliverers, who were well established for the field, had ridden off for an assignment a week ago. She on the other hand, had recently been ordinated for field release.
It could be a mission, she thought.
She took off on her heels through the sea of tents, until she saw the familiar flag of the angel spiking the dragon.
She stopped to catch her breath and collect her thoughts, but as if expecting her shadow to grace the exterior of the tent, Dominus Candice threw open the flap and pulled her inside.
It was very unlike him, as he had an aversion for contact of any sort, after his legendary face off with a skin affliction, who had tormented him with his well-known addiction to cleanness and an aversion to germs.
“They have all been martyred!” Dominus Candice croaked. He grabbed a scroll from the vast table that had the war plan and shoved it into her grasp. “We do not have time to spare, Wemimo.” He pointed at a pack. It contains everything you need and your horse has been prepared. The Sfordsfield Gothic has been defiled and if you don’t make your way this instant, the institute will be taken over completely by afflictions.”
Wemimo grabbed her pack and hurried out of the tent, rushing to the stables. This was going to be her first mission. It wasn’t how she imagined it will be.
The weight of success fell on her and it took a while for her to mount her horse and the shock and suddenness of her plight fell into her iron grip, as the horse gathered up storm.
She knew she would stop at nothing to make this mission a success and she couldn’t help, but think that this was the sigh she had been waiting for.
Wemimo grabbed her map and rose through the night until it was dawn and she saw the city.