Chapter 6, enjoy!

As always, feedback is welcome.

Chapter 6: Ceremony of the First Scale

-----

It was customary for parents to take their children to a temple to receive Mhi’ra’s blessings when they grew their first scale. While each of the seven gods – excluding Shaitan – had temples in every city, Mhi’ra had the most and grandest temples. She was the chief goddess of worship to the Gar’nash, so it was only natural. Of course, the grandest temple dedicated to Mhi’ra was located in the Gar’nashian capitol city of Mhi’ra’s Light, where the Mithras family lived.

The receiving of Mhi’ra’s blessings was an official ceremony that was held monthly, since it was unreasonable to expect the priestesses to be ready at every minute of the week to bless the little ones who had gotten their first scales.

Lhi’ra was dressed in full ceremonial armour, while Garick was dressed in his nicest suit. They were standing at the front of the crowd of parents, watching on as their children waited in front of the altar for the ceremony to begin.

“They grow up so fast… it seems like it was only yesterday that my little one was hatched.”

Lhi’ra overheard some of the other mothers trading stories about their children, and she nodded in agreement. Draygor was growing up unbelievably fast! If she wasn’t his mother, she would have scoffed at the thought of a five year old boy reading thick reference books obviously meant for advanced study. Not to mention the fact that he also possessed magickal aptitude, and practised mana manipulation exercises daily. She had only been running around playing with dolls at that age!

Unbeknownst to her, Lhi’ra’s eyes had filled slightly with tears of joy, and it wasn’t until Garick reached over to wipe them off did she calm down and regain her composure. She smiled in thanks at her husband; it would be unsightly for an elite knight in the service of the Queen’s first legion to cry in the Great Temple of Mhi’ra.

“The High Priestess has arrived! Children, please quieten down.”

A loud voice heralding the arrival of the High Priestess of Mhi’ra caused a low murmur to ripple throughout the crowd of adults, and the attendant shot a glance at them, clearly expecting the grown-ups to set an example for their kids. The voices eventually died down, though there was a palpable excitement in the air. They could hardly be blamed though; the High Priestess usually didn’t personally hold the Ceremony of the First Scale. The last time she had done so was for the Queen’s ceremony years ago, before she had inherited the throne.

“Why is the High Priestess holding the ceremony personally this time?”

Both Lhi’ra and Garick asked themselves that question, and most in the crowd seemed to echo that thought. It was beneath their station to question the actions of the High Priestess though, so all they could do was watch to see if anything special would happen.

Soon, the High Priestess had arrived via the back entrance of the predella, standing behind the altar and facing the children. She was wearing long, white robes, and was grasping a tall staff in her right hand. Her graceful voice echoed out throughout the temple as she began the Ceremony of the First Scale, starting it off with a prayer to Mhi’ra, as was normal protocol for all ceremonies.

When she finished the prayer, the High Priestess then moved in front of the altar, accompanied by the previous attendant who was holding a long list of names.

“When she calls your name, come up and receive Mhi’ra’s blessings, little ones,” the High Priestess instructed in a soothing voice, bringing the children’s attention to the attendant as they waited eagerly for their name to be called.

“Mikael Xarn!... Lhy’sa Carnet!...”

-----

Draygor’s parents had been ecstatic when he had shown them the scale on his forehead that morning. They found it strange that it was white in colour, though they dismissed it as a rare trait of some sort. They’d been surprised so many times before by their son that they had become used to attributing such surprises to how special he was, and thought no more of it. If they weren’t as excited and had given further thought to it, they might have realised that they had never seen a Gar’nash with white scales before.

The household was abuzz with excitement that morning as Lhi’ra and Garick ran around busily. They had to inform the grandparents as well as fill in the paperwork to the temple for Draygor’s name to be included for the Ceremony of the First Scale which was happening in the next few days. At some point, Dhi’na had come over as well, and the two children had went into the garden to play, so as not to get in his parents’ way.

“You look funny now,” Dhi’na observed, sitting on his chest and poking his scale for the fifth time that morning. “I like it though.”

They had been play fighting with sticks, and as usual Draygor had let her subdue him with her superior strength. He didn’t fight seriously of course; he had nearly a thousand years’ worth of fighting experience, and had many techniques to overcome a physically stronger opponent without magick. It would have been extremely unfair to utilise his experiences against Dhi’na, not to mention the fact that they were simply kids playing around.

“It looks so different from mine,” she added, turning to look at the dark blue scale on the tip of her tail. “Hey, stop it – ”

Draygor had taken the opportunity to tickle her while she was distracted, causing her to wriggle about in a fit of uncontrollable laughter. In retaliation, she began punching him lightly, though the punches were enough to wind him, and after a few moments, they were both laying on the grass, staring at the sky breathlessly.

“Are you excited for the ceremony?” he asked.

“Mhm…” she nodded in response, turning to look at him, and he chuckled as he returned her gaze.

“Me too, Dhi’na, me too.”

-----

Draygor yawned sleepily as the attendant called out name after name, and Dhi’na elbowed his side with a frown to keep him awake. The ceremony had been more boring than he’d imagined. He had paid a little attention for the first few names that were called, but nothing really seemed to be happening. A child would climb up the steps to the High Priestess when their name was called, whereupon the High Priestess would lay her hand on their scale and say a few words of blessing before the child would descend again and return to their parents’ side.

His name seemed to be near the bottom of the list as only a handful of children were left next to him, and he sighed in annoyance.

“Dhi’na Zorshe!”

Just at that moment, Dhi’na’s name was called, and he turned to her.

“It’s your turn!” he whispered, urging her on, and she gave a small smile in return before she pushed her way through the remaining children to climb the steps and receive her blessing.

It went the same for her as it had for the other children before her, and after a minute or two, she was descending the steps to find her parents. Dhi’na gave a small wave to him as she did that, causing him to chuckle slightly. Soon, all the children had received their blessings, and he was the last one still remaining.

“Correction, my name wasn’t near the bottom of the list. It is AT the bottom of the list…” he thought, shaking his head with a sigh.

“Draygor Mithras!”

Draygor began walking up the steps at the mention of his name, and soon he was face to face with the High Priestess. Well, more like face to waist, since he was barely half her height. He thought he saw her eyes widen slightly as she laid eyes on the small white scale on his forehead. Perhaps it was his imagination. He focused on her hand as she raised it to touch his scale, and he heard a small gasp escape the lips of both women in front of him.

“Okay, something is definitely weird…” he thought with a frown, convinced now that the High Priestess’ strange behaviour was not a figment of his imagination.

“M-may Mhi’ra, She Who Gives Life and our Eternal Goddess, grant you her blessings. May you ever stand in her light. Go now, child, to your parents.”

Her hand had been trembling slightly the whole time, and when Draygor looked up at her after she had finished, she seemed a little pale. He was confused, but he followed her instructions, not wanting to cause a scene in front of so many people. Perhaps she would permit him a question after the whole ceremony had concluded, though he couldn’t think of a way to approach someone who was so important.

He found his parents at the front of the crowd with huge smiles around their faces. Both Garick and Lhi’ra ruffled his hair and patted his head with pride – the hugging would have to be done after they had left the temple – before he moved to stand beside Dhi’na, whose parents had moved forward to stand next to his own.

The High Priestess continued the service with another prayer, before loudly announcing the conclusion of the ceremony. Then, she exited the way she had entered, signalling that the people were free to leave. As the crowd filed out of the temple, some of the adults began gossiping about the reason for the High Priestess’ appearance.

“Perhaps she was just bored today,” someone suggested, which was immediately dismissed, as it was much too ridiculous a reason. It seemed her appearance would be a topic that would be discussed for a while.

“These people have too much time...” Draygor mumbled, shaking his head at the rumour-mongers before turning his attention to his parents.

“Let’s go home for lunch! I cooked a huge spread to celebrate – ” Garick had invited Dhi’na’s family to join in their celebratory meal, and they were just about to leave. At that moment, the attendant from before approached the group, interrupted him.

“Draygor Mithras? The High Priestess wishes to speak with you.”

Draygor was surprised. He hadn’t expected the High Priestess to seek him out instead, but he certainly wasn’t going to squander the chance to question her about her weird behaviour. Of course, his party had been even more surprised than him. Both Lhi’ra and Garick turned to look at their son, speechless, as did Dhi’na’s parents. Even Dhi’na herself had her shock displayed on her face, which was extremely uncharacteristic of her.

“W-what does she want? Did Draygor do something wrong?” Lhi’ra managed to stammer out.

“The High Priestess would just like to get to know the youth of this generation better, and would like to speak to him alone,” the attendant continued, offering no further explanation.

“Then we’re coming along – ”

“It’s fine, mother. I’ll just have a small talk with the High Priestess, I’m sure nothing will happen,” Draygor said, interrupting his mother with a reassuring tone. He smiled, which seemed to calm her down.

“The parents may return home first. Your son will be escorted back by the High Priestess’ personal guard, so there’s no need to worry about his safety. Come, child.”

With that, the attendant led Draygor away, not allowing Lhi’ra to get another word in.

-----

The High Priestess, Lah’ra, was pacing nervously in her quarters as she awaited her guest. She had barely managed to calm her nerves after the events that had happened during the ceremony, and her mind raced with questions. She was young, at the age of 33, having taken the position of High Priestess mere years ago after her predecessor has passed of old age.

Lah’ra sighed as she recalled the dream she’d had the night before. The goddess herself had appeared to her in that dream. The image she had been shown was burnt into her memory; it was an image of a Ceremony of the First Scale. A white flame with black streaks had been amongst the crowd, and it had burned even brighter when she reached out to touch it.

“Find the one in white,” Mhi’ra had instructed.

She didn’t know how she would accomplish that, but she knew that it would have something to do with the ceremony, and thus when she awoke, she immediately informed her subordinates that she would be taking charge of the ceremony. The other priestesses were very much confused at her instructions, but to their credit, they had managed to make the arrangements within an hour, just in time for it.

Lah’ra’s thoughts moved on to the actual events of the ceremony, and she shuddered at the memory. She had kept an eye out for anyone in white, though it seemed fruitless, considering most of those in attendance were dressed in white. As the ceremony drew closer to its end, she had begun to doubt the accuracy of the dream, and before long, only one child was left to receive her blessing, causing her to sigh in her mind.

“Perhaps it was meant to be another ceremony?” she thought, but as the child climbed the steps up to where she stood, she realised that it was him that she was looking for.

The child had black hair and eyes, which wasn’t exactly uncommon. Her eyes widened, however, when she noticed that he possessed something she had never seen on another Gar’nash before – a white scale!

“Only the goddess has white scales!”

Her mind was racing, but she managed to reign in her thoughts enough to go through the motions of the ceremony, raising her hand to touch his scale. The instant she came into contact with the small white scale, however, she lost her composure enough to allow a small gasp to escape her lips, and she heard her attendant do the same.

The scale was glowing!

With that, she knew with all her heart that the child was the one she had been instructed to find. Of course, the crowd had not been able to witness the glowing scale, nor had they heard her surprised gasp, since they were just out of earshot, with the boy facing away from them. She didn’t know if the boy himself knew either; the scale was on his forehead, and he wouldn’t be able to see it unless he was looking in a mirror. The glow had also been weak enough to possibly escape his notice.

The rest of the ceremony had been a blur. It had taken all of her effort to stop herself from fainting due to her excitement and nervousness, and she had almost forgotten to get her attendant to summon the boy, with her mind being such a huge mess.

A sudden knock on the door startled Lah’ra from her thoughts.

“I have brought the child, High Priestess.”

Sitting herself down on a chair, she cleared her throat before replying, in an effort to seem calm and composed, though in reality, she was extremely nervous about meeting Draygor. The goddess had never contacted her directly before this incident, after all.

“Let him in.”