Chapter 1
Wilfred Smith was sitting at the bar of the tavern with his new girlfriend, Beth Houser, who was constantly wondering about the thesis he was writing for his doctoral dissertation on the nature of God and the identity of the mages in history. She was not a scholarly person by nature like he was, but she loved to talk, and even found interesting such seemingly obscure facts. His intelligence was very attractive to her.
"So you're saying that the mages were really human beings?" she said.
"Yes, at least they were originally. It appears that the seven mages were seven of the earliest human beings here in Secfenia. They were part of the early family of man, created by God to fill the earth, which their descendents have performed an admirable job at. At the end of their natural lives they were made into immortal guardians of different aspects of the earth, as examples for their fellow human beings." Wilfred replied.
"That is really odd. Why would human beings be guardians of the elements?" Beth replied.
"That seems to be the hardest problem I have in writing this thesis, providing the justification for making seven exemplary human beings mages. There were other human beings made lesser mages, like that Bravian chaos mage, that mischievous one. As a Bravian myself, I appreciate the diversity of the major and minor mages. All of them appear in history as worshippers as the most high God. I need some of the earlier histories to provide me some of the events of the time that might give me some of the reasons that God had for making these people immortal mages," Wildfred replied.
"Where could this book be?" Beth asked.
"I tried to look in the West Fenia Archives, but they do not have the book. However, the librarian had told me he had seen the book somewhere else. This history of the oldest book known to mankind, and it appears to be, from what I can gather, in the place is in the home of the mages. I do not know exactly where that is. My thesis advisor and the other professors at the seminary have given me conspiratorial winks and asked if I was willing to become a victim of terrorism. I do not understand what they mean. I shall have to ask them exactly what they mean. What library, if not West Fenia, would be privileged to hold such an important book? I do not understand, but I need to find this book," Wilfred said.
"Can I come with you tomorrow when you go to the professors at the seminary and see what it is like?" Beth asked.
"Sure, I would love that," Wilfred said with a smile.
"Your smile is so big and cute," Beth said.
"Aw, thanks," Wilfred said, blushing.
"You know, you are the only person here who is not trying to either get drunk and forget some kind of failed romance or trying to get some drunk enough to start a new romance," Beth replied.
"You see things rather clearly from the other side of the bar," Wilfred said matter-of-factly.
"Why are you here in a tavern anyway, writing a religious thesis?" Beth said.
"Well, I am not here for the booze, for I have no tolerance and no taste for alcohol. I am here for the dinners, as this is the only place in town I can afford to eat at. Besides, they serve great chicken, and that is my favorite food. Besides, I like to be around common people, as it helps me remember who I am underneath the robes," Wilfred said.
"Why chicken?" Beth asked.
"I grew to love the song as a poor boy in the city of Cork. Here in the city of West Fenia there are few people who come from my hometown, and my family is nowhere near, so I use food to remind me of home," Wilfred said.
"That is so wonderful, I am from here in West Fenia myself. I was never able to leave home when I became of age because I had to take care of my family, whose health began to fail during my teenage years. As the only child I couldn't leave my family behind, so I was never able to go to college. I had never worked, but the owner of this tavern was looking for a pretty face, so I found a job here and soon learned how to concoct all types of strange drinks for the consumption of fallen women and bitter men. Still, it is good to find love, thanks to you," she said smiling, putting her hands over his.
"It is good to find love. It is good that clerics do not have to remain celibate. That would be a sad life," Wilfred said.
"Some clerics abstain from marriage and believe in all manner of strange things like the Trinity," Beth said.
Yes, but those pagans do not truly understand the Holy Book. I am amazed they are not declared heretics for their syncretism of pagan and holy," Wilfred replied.
"Yes, it is amazing. Well, my shift is over. Walk me home," she said winking.
"Alright, honey," Wilfred said winking.
The two of them walked out of the tavern and past the Directrix's palace. They looked and wondered what sort of construction was going on there. Was the Directrix making his palace larger, or was this some kind of project that the clever Bravian had. They both shrugged their shoulders as they walked to the poorer part of town, where both of them lived in small apartments near each other. They kissed each other goodnight and agreed to meet the next morning at 8AM to head off to the seminary, which was nearby.
[ Chapter 2 ]
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