Sharla - Family Secrets

The Bishop

2015 SANCIA

"Do we have anyone in Néarbi Valley we can trust to carry out my orders Father Azzi?" Bishop Demetri asked, passing his inner chambers while rubbing his chin.

  "I am sorry, Bishop Demetri but the church is under new leadership and has since broken away from olden ways.” Father Azzi replied.

“So the church is now vacant?” Bishop Demetri asked.

“No your Grace. A new church was formed and now has Pastors instead of a priest. The Sancian church that was there died. They claim we did not give them the help they requested...which as far as I can say, they did not need at the time." Father Azzi replied while looking at the map of the world. 

He noted the demon foothold that now managed to grow in other countries after being forcefully removed from Cantala by the power of God.

"We need someone who knows Cantala inside and out to be the new priest or pastor as you say they are now under. Who can we send?" Bishop Demetri asked one of his inner circle confidants. He waited for a response.

After what seemed like a long wait, a pin could have been dropped and it would have sounded like a gong.

"I know who you can send your Grace," a timid male voice said as he tried to make his way to the Bishop. He was suddenly held by one of the inner circle strongmen.

"How did you get in here old man?" Father Azzi asked as he walked closer to the frail man standing before him.

"I...I am the chamber cleaner and it is my job to clean your rooms which had been passed on from generation to generation. My family has been cooks, cleaners, servers, washers and watchers." The old man said while bowing his head.

"Hmm! Let him pass Father Azzi. I would like to know more. Who do you think we should send, old one?" Bishop Demetri asked.

"I had overheard, Father Enid saying he would like to return home one day to take over. I didn't hear what he wanted to take over, but he should know it inside out and be able to follow your Graces request." The old man replied, still bowing, not daring to look upon Bishop Demetri’s face.

He saw first-hand what happened to his mother when he was a little boy. His mother made the mistake of answering him directly looking into his face. She froze where she stood, her face began to contort in the most horrific expressions and soon she collapsed to the floor with a morbid expression on her face, then broke into pieces as though she were glass. 

He ran and hid from them, always hiding in the shadows, learning and waiting for his chance to rid the world of the demons he believes are dwelling within Bishop Demetri's body. 

Two things he was sure of, one: Bishop Demetri never changed his voice, still sounded young as it did seventy years ago and for all he knew, he could have been around for much longer. Two, Bishop Demetri was a cold-blooded murderer. He killed his mother and anyone that dared to look upon him.

"Thank you old one, I have an idea. Bring me, Father Enid, we have much to discuss," Bishop Demetri ordered, feeling more confident that he had his hooks back in Cantala. 

Moments later Father Enid entered the Bishops chambers with his head bowed.

Moments Later

"Your Grace, you sent for me?" Father Enid asked.

"Yes! I heard you were homesick and wish to leave us. Is this true?"

"I...I" stammered Father Enid. "My only wish is to serve the church and you are head of the church, your grace."

"If that is true, then I need you to return home and serve me there. I require your services in Cantala."

"It would be my honour to serve you, your Grace. What is it that you would have me do?"

"Excellent Father Enid, for starters you will need to be a Pastor. I hear that your home town is in need of rebuilding and you can carry some building materials, tools and machines to help rebuild your hometown. I am sure they will love you for it,” Bishop replied.

“I am not sure that...” Father Enid began. 

“They may even want to build a monument for you. That is fine. In fact, I want you to be yourself. I recall you love speaking with the young ones, maybe you can contact the church there and see if they are in need of a Youth Pastor. I am sure you will fit right in," Bishop concluded.

"Thank you, Bishop Demetri, but what service do you want from me while I am there?" Father Enid asked as he tried to understand what Bishop Demetri’s end game was.

"That will be revealed in due time. Just see to it that the town folks love and respect you. Perhaps you can become the mayor or President of Cantala. In fact, that should be your aim." Bishop Demetri concluded as his face beamed with excitement and anticipation of the future he now saw laying before him. He still had his chance to do what his heart desired.

"Also ensure you offer my sincere apologies for not sending someone to their aid sooner. Advise them we were also plagued with witches and demons of our own." Bishop Demetri added, with a smile that would have many quaking in their boots.

“When do I leave your Grace?” Father Enid asked.

“Immediately! Carry what you need and report to me every two months. I think that is enough time for you to settle in and work your way up.”

“Yes your Grace,” he replied.

“And Father Enid, I expect good reports. I will visit you to see your progress in three years," Bishop advised.

***

2018 Chaldias Headquarters

A building outstretched high in the mountains.  Looking from a vantage point, it would pass as an ancient small church building with other small buildings topside. But beneath it was a plethora of rooms, caves, secret tunnels and underground rivers.

"What do you mean by we need to break into the Bishop's office Liah?" Sharla asked as everyone now joined together as soon as Father White left.

"Look, in my vision, we looked for proof of something very important before we can find Joy and Renwar."

"Hold up...what...and who are Joy and Renwar and why do we need to find them? Marlo asked. Wondering what else he missed the few seconds he left the room to grab a cold drink, then to relieve himself.

"Like I was telling Sharla earlier, I had a vision, and in my vision, we found an important lead as to who the Bishop really is and how to find the swords of Elohim and Apollyon," Liah replied.

"Okay so who is this Renwar character and why is he so important in solving Father White's riddle," Tico asked.

“Yeah, and who is Joy?” Nico asked.

"Hey If I could control these visions, then I would have all the answers to life questions. So they gave us pieces of the puzzle, we just need to follow it and see where it leads. Maybe I will get more as we get on with the search," Liah added.

"When do we leave?" Marlo asked with a mischievous gleam in his eyes.

"We leave at midnight tonight. Is everyone on board? Sharla, Marlo, Tico and Nico?" Liah asked.

They looked at each other, shaking their heads, then shouted "hell yeah!"

"Shh! We don't want to alert everyone. By the way, how are we going to get out, remember this place is like a fortress," Sharla asked.

"Don't worry about that; just ensure you are all ready by midnight. I will signal you when everything is set up. Meet me at the north tower gate, and remember to act normal. Do your chores. Don’t miss anything." Liah replied, and then left the group.

"What do you think the signal will be?" Tico asked.

"I don't know, but I can't wait to see what she has planned," Marlo added as he combed his fingers through his hair. "She is one amazing girl," he said then went to his room to pack his bag.

***

Hours later - The North Tower Gate 

"Goodnight Liah, what are you doing out of bed so late?" Luther asked as he continued guarding the north tower gate.

"You know the usual, I can't sleep and only a little walk in the forest calms me. Do you think you can let me out for a short while? I promise we, I mean I will be back before the changing of the guard."

"Liah, I told you two nights ago was the last time. Something could happen to you and I am not there to help you."

"I know. But since you are so worried, maybe I could walk with a friend or two to ensure I am safe." She asked as she put on her most pleading face and charming smile.

"Ah, man Liah. Don't use that face, please not that face."

"Luther, please just for tonight and I promise next time I can't sleep I will try something else. I just really need to be out there tonight and leave these walls before I go crazy." 

He sighed long and replied. 

"Okay. I will allow just three of you to leave. You have to return before my shift ends which is at midday. Is that clear Liah?"

"Thank you, you're the best Luther. I promise you won't regret it." She said giving him a quick kiss on the cheek and ran to her dorm to pack her bag.

She knocked on everyone's room door and waited for them to emerge in the living room. She paced for a brief moment before they arrived with their bags in hand.

"Guys, change of plans and we need to leave now, only two of you can come with me," Liah said.

"Why, I thought we were all going," Sharla said.

"I know, but I could only secure three permissions which includes me," Liah replied.

"Okay so which three?" Tico asked, hoping he would not be the one left behind.

"Hey, it doesn't matter, as I am coming, there is no way I am staying behind, and so the five of us will be going," Nico replied.

"I can't guarantee that all of us will go..."Liah began.

"Look three of you is what they will see. Sharla and I can be invisible together. Remember that invisible spell you cast the last time Sharla...maybe you can work your little magic...we don't need a long spell, just enough to walk out with you guys at the same time. Or we try the mystery room, which doesn't guarantee us reaching the Bishop's room." Nico added.

"Sharla, can you do the invisible spell?" Liah asked.

"I don't like doing spells; it just feels wrong like I’m letting in the devil," she replied.

"Hey look, it's all good, we can pray and ask for forgiveness and move on. We need this. Suppose something happened to them and we could have helped if we were there. We always work together, why should we split up now?" Nico explained.

"Nico, stop it. Don't force her. She is right; she could be opening up herself to demon possession. Don't worry; we will be back before you even realize we are gone," Liah said.

“Are you sure, you guys don’t need us?", Sharla asked, feeling a little guilt flood her.

“Yeah…everything is going to be okay,” Liah replied.

"Oh okay. You guys better be careful. And return in one piece," Sharla said as she hugged her best friend. 

"Marlo and Tico, you better take care of her," she warned, giving each the look of death if they let any harm come to Liah.

Swallowing a lung full of air and dismissing the deathly stare, both replied, "Don't worry we will."

They then exited the dorm and went running down the stairs then entered the hall leading to the north tower gate.

"So what are you going to do now Nico?" Sharla asked, looking at him curiously.

"I'm not going to do anything...you can't do spells and the mystery room is just too risky. So we might as well head back to bed and fix up everybody else's bed in case someone comes to check on us."  

"I don't buy that...I think you are up to something and I want in."

“No, I am not. I will just do some reading and then go to bed,” he replied.

“Yeah right and you expect me to believe you, Nico. In all the years I have known you, you never give up easily and this was way too easy for you,” she replied.

"Okay. I may have another way out of this place. He took out a paper and placed it on the table. I was studying the blueprint of this fortress and I tried a few points on it and I am at the last door, I think we could try it out and see where it leads." 

Sharla examined it and made a mental note of a room she had been in years ago but since forgotten. "Let's do the other's beds and get going before it's too late," she replied.

They both set up the beds for all of them, using long pillows as body's and using the blankets to cover them. They then made their way down to the basement. It had a secret door behind a bookshelf, leading them into a dark winding tunnel. It was filled with cobwebs, bats, insects and venomous snakes; leading into another secret passageway. 

Using only their flashlights, they turned it off and on when they were close to a guard or heard voices. They tried feeling the walls for openings or door handles hoping to reveal a room to hide in. They moved stealthily throughout the tunnels.

"Were you going to invite me on this little escapade or were you going to leave me?" whispered Sharla.

"I may have asked you, but more than likely I would have tried it out first in the event it was another dead end," Nico replied holding up his hand for her to halt her footsteps. "I think this is it."

"I don't see anything," Sharla replied, shining her light on a stone wall.

“No…just try rubbing your hand against the wall,” he replied.

“I still can’t feel anything,” she said.

"Here, feel here," Nico said as he gently guided her hand along the rugged wall to the upper right-hand side of it.

“I feel it...but what is it?" she asked.

"Think of it as a keyhole. It needs a key to open it," he replied.

"That does not feel like a key, Nico."

"Shh! Hold this...please." He added as she stared at him curling her lips to one side of her face.

He didn't want to get on Sharla's bad side; she was very skilled in combat. If she wanted she could flip him then and there on his back and there was nothing he could do other than take it. Sure he could flip her back, but it would be a head to head match as she was his match in everything he thought so far. 

"I found seven crystals in another secret room I explored some months ago. When I found the door, I noticed that it was shaped just like one of the crystals and it is even colour coded to specific doors. This uses a red crystal, so let’s see what happens." Nico said as he placed the red rectangular crystal in the matching indent in the wall.

"Where do you think it will lead?" she asked.

"I don't know Sharla, but anywhere would be better than here. I'm hoping it will lead us outside the walls as we walked down instead of up and well ..."

Just as Nico snapped the crystal into its holder, the walls vibrated then parted showing just enough light to know, they were not outside yet. They stepped inside and continued exploring the tunnels.

***

"Maybe we should just turn back, we have been here for hours, and we can't even see outside to tell if it’s still night or day," Sharla stated.

"No...I can feel it, we are close. If you want to go, you can go, but I know we are close."

"Let me guess your gut told you that."

"Yes, and you know my gut is never wrong," Nico replied.

“Fine, let’s see where this rabbit hole leads us,” she replied, picking up the pace.

They entered another dim-lit room.

"This room, it feels familiar somehow," she said.

"That's not possible. Do you see the amount of dirt here? No one has been here in years. Come on, you search those draws there and I will search over and search over there." Nico said.

The draws looked like they were there from the early seventeenth century. A picture of a mother and a baby rested in an old frame. Sharla held it and gently touched the woman and the babyfaces, then placed it back on the table, filled with other similar pictures.

“These pictures… they look familiar too,” she said. Then her eyes wandered around the room and on something else that glistened on the table where her light flashed.

"Nico, what do you think this opens?" Sharla asked, holding an oblong key with three prongs on it.

"Hmmm, maybe a Chester draw or something as old as that," he replied, pointing to an ancient-looking treasure chest. While he took up a silver and gold magnifying glass. He noticed the same initials Z.D was etched into it. He saw it written in a book, but at the moment the name eluded him.

Sharla examined the key then walked over to it. She knelt before it, then placed the key inside.

“So far, so good…it fit,” she said.

“Okay…what are you waiting for, turn the key,” he replied.

She nodded her head and proceeded to turn the key. She waited to hear the familiar clicking and release, but… nothing, it didn’t open.

“Why isn’t it opening?” she asked no one in particular. While trying to pry the chest open with her brute force.

“Maybe that key opens a similar one. So let’s keep it and continue exploring this place,” he said.

She placed the key in her jacket pocket. She then noticed other little trinkets, thinking they might be of some help in the future, she placed them in her bag. She also took a picture with the lady and the baby, feeling connected somehow to them.

"Hey, I think I found a map of the Bishops monastery. This doesn't look like the one we have been studying...look at this wall here, I have seen it before." Nico noted.

"It looks like someone dug an underground tunnel to the bishops keep, this must be his inner chambers," Sharla said pointing to the map.

"Can you make out that writing Sharla, it looks like ancient Latin but none that I can fully make out?" Nico asked.

Squinting her eyes and holding the map closer to the light.

"Nico, I think there is a message written on the map, but I can't see for sure under this flash. We need some other light source." She said, still straining to make out the writing.

"Hold on. I have an idea," he replied. He then searched his bag and found a yellow crystal. They laid the map on the ground. Nico held the crystal while Sharla used both flashlights to shine on the crystal. It created a glowing effect. 

Slowly the Latin words glowed, changing to English ‘Beware of the traps that lay ahead. Who you seek may not be who you find, for he is of ancient worlds old. An X then glowed on the map with several footprints on it.’

"I think we should keep this map," Nico said. He then folded it up and placed it in his bag.

"Hey check this out; it's a diary, with the initials Z. D. Whose initial do you think that is? He asked stuffing it into his bag too.

"I don't know. Maybe Zamilia something…But we need to get out of here, so we can help them find his chambers," Sharla said. 

"Zamilia? Who is that?" He asked.

"I don't know, the name just came to me."

"OKay...wait what is this?" He asked.

She watched Nico as he examined a gold pendant that was wrapped in a white handkerchief that held the initials A.Q.N.H.

It seems to jar a memory from her past. A face of a man flashed before her and a demon with horns. She then saw the woman from the picture with a frightful look on her face, while the baby smiled.

"Whose initial do you think this is now, A.Q.N.H?" He asked. He realized she wasn’t listening and her eyes seemed far off. 

“Sharla! Don’t check out on me now…I need you,” he said and gently shakes her out of it.

"Sorry…I don't know, maybe Atéri Quinten Hitchcock," she replied.

"Who is that?" he asked.

"I don't know. The name just came to me too," she replied. "Come on, we need to leave now, she implored.

He placed the magnifying glass in his bag, and then led the way out of the room. 

They continued down the corridor following the trail of footsteps the map had shown them earlier, right, then left, then right again. They reached a crossroads and weren't sure where to go next. They stopped for a moment to allow Nico to view his map. He tried using his flashlight on the map, but it no longer showed the footsteps.

"How is the map going to help us now? We are lost." Sharla said starting to panic as they were now in the underground tunnel that now split in four ways.

"I don't like cramped spaces and I don't like darkness Nico, we need to get out of here."

"Sharla, calm down, don't panic. Maybe the same crystal is needed...hold these please." Nico said. He handed her his bag and a flashlight. He then rummaged through his bag, searching for what he hoped would help them. 

  "Did I put it back in my bag," he wondered.

He could only imagine her twisted facial expression. Not daring to look at her; he proceeded to take out a yellow crystal. He then took his flashlight from her and shined it on the crystal. He then placed the new light shade over the map. Sharla gasped when she saw the footsteps returned via the reflected light.

"I'm a genius aren't I," he said, beaming with pride.

"Sure you are," she replied, patting him on the head like a good little dog.

They selected the tunnel leading to the left, then another tunnel leading right. 

"Oh God, at last, the sky and some grass. Please let’s not take that route to return home," Sharla exclaimed.

Nico grabbed Sharla, covering her mouth with his hand. Just as she was about to pin him flat on his back, he pointed up. Following his fingers, she saw two priests meeting in the Garden.

She held her breath and waited for them to move.

Using sign language she asked if there was another way to go since the priests were not ready to leave yet.

He opened the map once more shining his crystal light and sure enough, another way presented itself. 

“It’s back underground,” he signed.

Her eyes widened, shaking her head, chest heaving as if she might die going back under.

Nico noticed how scared she was then signed.

“We’ll wait until the priests move.”

Her face relaxed and her breathing gradually became normal. 

Finally, they left and she emerged out in the open, brushing off the cobwebs, dirt and mud that filled her hair, boot and clothes.

Seeing the way clear, Nico decided it was now or never and grabbed Sharla’s hand, running towards the passage that was just off the garden. It was overgrown with green prickly vines.

They reached a high wall. It seems to be made of concrete covered in various patterns engraved in it. Sharla examined it, then exclaimed.

“This colour is blue Nico. I need a blue crystal. Did you get one?"

Nico dug around in his bag and came up with the blue square crystal.

She then noticed he still had the red crystal they used back home.

"Hey I thought the red crystal was left at home," Sharla asked.

"Why would I leave it? Someone might have seen it and used it. It's best I remove them once we’re done. We never know when we might need them again," he replied.

"Okay, sure. I can see the wisdom in that," she conceded.

"Great now let’s get on with it then," Nico quipped.

They entered through the open passage when the wall opened and Nico took the crystal out and the wall closed up, engulfing them in darkness once more.

Sharla quickly turned on her flashlight and Nico once more worked his magic map.

Flashing their lights in the room, they realized it was dusty and filled with War Armour and candlesticks. A giant size picture of a wolf with horns and red eyes stared at her. Her body shuddered momentarily, and then she flashed her light elsewhere. Another frame had a teenage girl in a fighting position with a sword in her hand pointing at a demon that she was knee-deep in his chest.

"This way my lady," Nico said ushering Sharla forward.

"Are you trying to get rid of me?" Sharla asked.

"Why would you think such a thing?"

"You’re pushing me forward, instead of leading the way," She replied.

"I was trying to be a gentleman. I guess it was wrong of me," Nico said, whispering under his breath, ''there is no pleasing a woman is there?”.

"What did you say?" Sharla asked, glancing at him sideways.

"I said I will lead the way." He responded. "I thought we were finally getting along Sharla."

"Of course we are. We are talking and not fighting. Don't you consider this getting along? I think we have made a considerable amount of progress. I have not once put you flat on your back this entire journey."

He smiled a little and then continued walking ahead ignoring her statement. Only stopping to listen for guards or priests or anything else that might harm them.

“Hey I think we finally found Bishop Demetri’s quarters,” Nico replied. He put up the map and surveyed the area before turning the knob to open the door.

***