Chapter 3 Chapter 2 A Step Over the Passover

Dawn had passed for a long time, but the room Cadderly entered was still dark, and the sun shades were still tightly drawn on the windows.The young priest quietly walked to the bed and squatted down, not wanting to disturb the sleep of the headmistress Portelope. If Dean Avery is the person Cadderly regards as his father, then the wise Pertelope is his mother.Now, with his newfound ability to dialysis the harmonious Denir, Cadderly felt he needed Pertelope more than ever.Because she, too, had heard the mysterious notes of that never-ending song, she too had transcended the conventions of priestly discipline.If Pertelope had been with Cadderly when he discussed with Thobex, his argument would have been supported, and the old headmaster would have been forced to accept the facts Cadderly had penetrated.

But Pertelope could not be by his side.She lay in bed, terribly ill, in agony from an out-of-control spell.Her body was caught in the middle of a transformation process; it had the smooth skin of a human, the sharp, pentagonal skin of a shark, and now neither air nor water met the needs of the Priestess' body. Cadderly stroked her hair, which was grayer than he remembered, as if Pertelope had aged.He was a little surprised to see her eyes open - still searching - and managed to smile at him. Cadderly tried to return the smile. "You have to get better," he whispered to her. "I need you."

Pertelope smiled again, and slowly closed his eyes. Cadderly let out a helpless sigh of resignation.He started to turn away from the bed, not wanting to drain Pertelope's little energy, but the headmistress spoke to him unexpectedly. "How did your meeting with Headmaster Thobicus go?" Cadderly turned back, surprised at the strength in her voice, and also surprised that Pertelope knew about his meeting with the dean.She hadn't stepped out of her room for several days, and the few times Cadderly had visited her, she hadn't mentioned the upcoming meeting. But he should have known she would.As he pondered the unexpected exposure, he reminded himself that she could hear Denier's song, too.She and Cadderly were bound together by a force far beyond the comprehension of the other priests of the library, bound by the same river of song that bathed in their lord's deity.

"It didn't go well," Cadderly admitted. "Principal Thobicks can't understand." Pertelope said as a matter of course, and Cadderly guessed that this headmistress had also talked to Thobicks and others who couldn't understand the special relationship between her and Denier. Priests of the relationship have had many similarly bad meetings. "He questioned my right to brand Zirkan Rufo," Cadderly explained. "Besides, he ordered me to hand over the weapon to..." Cadderly paused, not knowing how to quickly explain this dangerous tool.But Pertelope squeezed his hand and smiled, so he knew she understood.

"Master Thobex ordered me to take it to the Overseer of the Library," Cadderly finished. "You disagree with this arrangement?" "I'm afraid of it," Cadderly admitted. "In that vessel was a will, even an emotional force, that might overwhelm all who handled it. Even I, after removing the vessel from the charred body of the assassin, had trouble Resist its seductive call with all your might." "You sound arrogant, young priest," Pertelope interjected, emphasizing the word "young". Cadderly paused to consider the response.Maybe his feeling could be seen as arrogance, but he believed it anyway.He can control Lufu's power, at least until now.Cadderly understood that now he possessed a special dialytic ability, a Denirian gift that the other priests of the sect - with the exception of Pertelope - seemed to lack.

"That's good," said the headmistress, answering a question of her own.Cadderly eyed her curiously, not quite understanding what she meant. "God Denir has summoned you." Pertelope explained. "You have to trust in this call. When you first discover your burgeoning powers, you don't know them, and you fear them. Only when you start to trust them, do you understand their usefulness and their limits. So it must come with Your intuition, your sensibility, the feeling intensified by the song playing in your head. Do you trust yourself to know what to do best with your device?"

"I know," Cadderly replied firmly, not caring that he sounded pompous indeed. "What about branding Zirkan Rufo?" Cadderly thought about it for a moment, because Rufo's case seemed to include more of an edict about due process—some process that Cadderly had apparently circumvented. "I'm doing it according to the ethics God Denir taught me," he concluded. "However, Dean Thobicus still believes that he has valid reasons to question my authority." "From his point of view," Pertelope replied, "what you have is moral power, and the dean's power over such situations comes from a different source."

"From a man-made hierarchy," Cadderly added, "a hierarchy that doesn't see the true meaning of God Denir." He let out a chuckle, casually mocking. "It will hold us back until the cost of fighting Trinity Walled City increases tenfold, or even a hundredfold." "Would that be the case?" It was a simple question, a simple one, from a priestess who couldn't even get up from the bed.But for Cadderly, the meaning of the question became complex, suggesting that he, and his future actions, were the only possible answers.He knew in his heart that Pertelope wanted him to avoid the situation he had just predicted from happening, and wanted him to usurp the power of the highest priest in the sect, so as to quickly end the influence of Trinity Walled City.

Her faint smile confirmed his guess. "Have you ever tried to overthrow the Headmaster?" Cadderly asked bluntly. "I've never been in such an extraordinary situation," the headmistress replied.The voice suddenly weakened, as if her strength to support it had reached its limit. "When you first discovered your gifted abilities, I told you," she continued, pausing for breath now and then, "many demands will be placed upon you, and your mettle will constantly be tested. Denier God calls for wisdom, but He also calls for spiritual courage so that wise decisions can be practically carried out."

"Cadderly?" came a soft call from the door, and Cadderly turned to see Danica, her expression serious.Standing behind her was the beautiful Xuelin, an elven girl and elven warrior from the Simista forest, with golden hair shining and violet eyes shining like the dawn.Although she hadn't seen Cadderly for several weeks, she did not greet him aloud, respectfully not wanting to disturb the apparently solemn meeting before her. "Principal Thobicus is looking for you," Danica explained in a low voice, her tone full of apprehension. "You didn't surrender..." Her voice died away, as Cadderly looked back at Pertelope on the bed, who looked very old, very tired.

"Courage," Pertelope whispered, and, under Cadderly's knowing gaze, the headmistress passed away peacefully. ※※※ Cadderly entered Headmaster Thobex's office without knocking or waiting for permission.The elderly man was sitting in his chair, staring out the window.Cadderly knew that the Headmaster had just learned of the death of Headmistress Pertelope. "Have you followed the instructions?" Thobicus snapped as soon as he noticed Cadderly in the room, even though Cadderly had already walked to the man's desk by then. "It did," Cadderly replied. "That's good," said Thobicus, and his anger faded, replaced by sadness at Pertelope's passing. "I want Danica and Shailene to gather the dwarf brothers and Vander at the front door with the items they need for the journey," Cadderly explained, tipping his blue wide-brimmed hat on his head. wore. "To Simista Forest?" Thobicus asked tentatively, as if he was afraid of hearing what Cadderly was going to say to him.One of the options Thobix had offered Cadderly was to leave the library and become an envoy to the elves and Prince Abereth, but he did not think at this moment the young priest was referring to this . "No." A firm answer came. Thobicus sat very upright in his chair, the look of consternation on his sunken and weather-beaten face.Only now did he notice that Cadderly was carrying his small crossbow and the belt with the explosive point.The frisbee—another unusual weapon of Cadderly's—slung from the young priest's belt, next to a cylinder that Cadderly had designed to emit a concentrated beam of light. Thobicus considered these clues for a long time. "Did you deliver the device to the library overseer?" he asked directly. "No." Thobicus trembled with sudden anger.Several times he tried to speak, but ended up biting his lip instead. "You just said you followed instructions!" he roared at last, and Cadderly had never seen such a violent outburst from the normally calm man. "I did as the god Denir instructed," Cadderly explained. "You arrogant...you...blasphemous—" Thobicus stammered, his face flushed bright red, and he stood up from behind his desk. "Not really," Cadderly corrected, his voice firm. "I followed the instructions of God Denir, and now you also have to follow the instructions of God Denier. You will go to the front hall with me, and I wish my friend and I this trip to the Trinity Walled City Your important mission has been successful." The dean tried to intervene, but something he could not yet understand, something that broke into the deepest part of his mind, forced him to remain silent. "And then you'll go ahead and prepare for a spring attack," Cadderly explained, "just in case my friend and I don't make it as planned." "You're crazy!" growled Thobex. it's not true. Thobicus opened his mouth to retort—until he realized that Cadderly hadn't spoken.The dean's eyes narrowed and then snapped open as he began to feel something touching him - in his mind! "What are you doing?" he asked frantically. You don't need to talk, Cadderly assured him telepathically. "This is really..." the Headmaster began. "...Absurd, a great insult to my status." Cadderly opened his mouth to help him finish, sensing and perfectly uttering the words before Thobex had even uttered them. The Headmaster slumped back in his chair.Do you understand the consequences of what you do?he asked in his heart. Do you understand that I can shatter your mind?Cadderly answered confidently.More importantly, do you understand that my power is bestowed by God Denir? The dean's face was torn between confusion and disbelief.What is the meaning of this young boy who suddenly rose to the top? Cadderly didn't like this ugly game at all, but he didn't have time to follow the due process of the Moezhi Library.He ordered the dean to stand up in his heart, and then stood on the desk. Before Thobicus knew what was happening, he found himself looking down at the young priest from a height. Cadderly was looking at the window, and Thobex felt telepathically that the young priest was thinking in his mind that he could persuade the Headmaster to jump out fairly easily—and suddenly Thobex believed Cadderly could do that—without warning, Cadderly let go of his mind control over Thobex, and the headmaster slumped from his oak desk and slid back into his chair. "I don't take any pride in controlling you like this." Cadderly explained sincerely, knowing that returning dignity to this man who had failed miserably would get the best results. "My powers are given by the gods we both identify with. God Denir is the way to explain to you that the decisions I made in these matters were the right ones. This is a message for both of us, but that's it That's all. All I'm asking for is—" "I'm going to brand you!" Thobicus said furiously. "I'm going to see you shackled and driven out of the library, tortured every step of the way. Get the hell out of this area!" He went on with this impassioned tirade, vowing every conceivable form of punishment allowed by the Denierian order, and the words hurt Cadderly deeply.He was raised and taught within the norms of these orders: the words of the headmaster are the highest norms in the library.And to the young priest, the abandonment of these traditions—even for the higher truths revealed in the notes of Denier’s song—was real and terribly disturbing.In this terrible moment, Cadderly focused his thoughts on Pertelope, remembering her demands of courage and faith. He heard the harmonious notes of the song singing in his head, entered into its seductive flow, and rediscovered the channels of energy that had given him access to the intimate realm of Dean Thobix's heart. A few minutes later, Cadderly and the Headmaster came out of the library to find Danica and Sherin, the giant Vander (who had used his gifted magical abilities to transform into a tall, red-bearded man), and two dwarves— Stocky, yellow-bearded Ivan and round-backed Pikel (whose beard was dyed green and pulled behind his ears and braided with his long hair down his waist) were waiting for them.The smiling headmaster wished Cadderly and his five companions success on their important mission, and waved them affectionately goodbye as they walked towards the Snowflake Mountains.