The Frightful Dance (The King of Three Bloods Book 2)

by Russ L. Howard

  He was followed by the twelve white-clad priests and four members of the Society of Ephrata carrying the ark and some large basins. Others carried buckets of water and four additional Ephrata members carried a trestle table with a cloth covering, bearing the five-pointed star borne on its intricately carved base. The dycons brought up the rear.

  “I have walked thirty three paces to mark the steps of our Holy Lord. It symbolizes the thirty-three vertebrae in our spine at the top of which is the place of the skull where our Holy Lord was slain on a cruel rood between two thieves.

  Elijah held up the spade. “This golden spade, shall open the earth for a revelation that has waited for nigh one hundred years to speak from the dust to us.”

  Dramatically, Elijah thrust the spade into the earth and declared, “This is the place.”

  Turning to two stripling youths dressed simply in black pants, white shirt, and no tie or hats. He proclaimed, “These two lads, Zerrubabel and Ichabod, have been especially set apart for this labor due to their excellent diligence in learning the Holy Scriptures and by reason of their kind deeds done throughout the community.” Elijah handed them the shovel and said, “Young men, dig until you unearth something solid.”

  As the young men dug, shovel load after shovel load were heaved over the sward. Standing aside the dig, Elijah said, “They will dig as deep as the Holy Relics lay.”

  The white clad priests all chanted in chorus, “Truth hath sprung forth from the earth. Light hath burst forth from the grave.”

  At three feet the shovelers unearthed a large twenty-four inch alabaster jar sealed with wax which they handed to the Ephrata members who washed it, dried it, and presented it to Elijah. Elijah took the vessel into his arms and wrenched the seal open with a ceremonial obsidian knife. After handing the knife to a priest, he up ended the jar over the table and poured out its contents, a flail fashioned of cedar wood. Holding the flail above his head, he turned slowly for all to see.

  A ripple of sound followed in its wake as the audience oohed and awed.

  “This is the Sacred Flail of the Patriarch and representeth the law and justice God hath charged us with administering in righteousness. Sheep for sheep. Goat for goat. Whatsoever a man taketh, that shall he also give. Whatsoever a man giveth, that shall he also take. One law for all.”

  With great ceremony Elijah placed the flail on the trestle table and then directed the sweating shovelers, “Dig on!”

  The white clad priests chanted, “Truth hath sprung from the earth. Light hath burst from the grave.”

  Another three feet deep, the shovelers unearthed the second holy alabaster jar. They delivered it to the Ephrata members, who washed it, dried it, and gave it to Elijah. Once again he used the obsidian blade to break the seal and poured out its contents, to reveal a golden shepherd’s crook wand approximately two feet in length. Elijah passed off the blade before seizing the flail in his left hand and the crook in his right hand. He crossed his arms and intoned, “Behold, the crook of tender mercy. It is our tender Shepherd’s admonition to, ‘Do unto others as thou wouldst have them do unto you’.”

  Once again, he turned to the diggers. “Dig ye yet this third time. For the third jar will contain the message of the Patriarch, who shall speak to us out of the dust.”

  As they dug deeper, hurling the soil up from the pit, Elijah placed the flail and crook criss-crossed on the trestle table. Once the jars were unearthed, the Book of Martyrs prescribed that the crook must from then on lay atop the flail.

  Time passed in anticipatory expectation as the lads dug wider and deeper. As one tired the other would take up the task. Finally, with a joyful cry the two young men hoisted a third alabaster jar from the depths of its grave and up into the light. It, too, was washed, dried, and delivered to the chief high priest.

  He unsealed the jar and poured out its contents of a golden encased scroll, which Elijah held up for the multitude to see.

  Sur Sceaf wondered what words inscribed by a Patriarch four generations before could possibly shine light on their path now. Lana scooted closer and reached for his hand. Like the others, the two of them watched in anticipation. The assemblage grew silent and solemn with expectation.

  Lila muttered under her breath. “Get on with it Elijah. I’d like to see this before I die.”

  Lana pressed her hand to her mouth, her eyes sparkling as Sur Sceaf concealed a chuckle over Lila’s jest.

  Elijah unhooked the gold casement, and took out the Golden Scroll before reading the contents. He placed the casement on the trestle table and read aloud:

  ‘I, Cornelius Halterman, speak unto you out of the dust as the First Patriarch of Salem. Ye have become as the gardener, who tends my tree, but hates its fruit. Lo, this scroll is the fruit. If ye have this message lawfully before your eyes, then know that it is the time in which I am sending a mighty race of people to open your eyes and to unstop your ears. They are a people whom almost all other peoples reject, but who will prove to be your light in these last dark days. The stone ye have rejected is now become the keystone for bridging you into the future. In the day that my words speak out of the dust to you, ye shall know that I have extended my arm unto you over the ages to bring you out of spiritual tyranny. If ye are reading this, it meaneth ye are living in a time of grave danger, and that the enemy of all mankind is even now at your gates. Blessed are those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. For ye did not esteem those who live by another law as less than yourselves. Yea, ye acknowledge this people as the hope of the hopeless and the copestone to your religion, that it may survive in strength on the earth, a habitation for the Lord. Do not fear to embrace them.

  “Yet there are those among you who hearing, hear not, and seeing, see not, and will lay upon you burdens no man was meant to bear.’”

  Elijah lowered the metal scroll and said for all to hear, “The remainder of the Golden Scroll is sealed. It is not lawful for me to read, or for any man to read it, until the end times when and if, the Pitter Empire has been extinguished.”

  Elijah reverently laid the Golden Scroll upon the trestle table. Sur Sceaf exchanged looks with Mendaka. Both understood the Herewardi to be the mighty race which the scripture referred to. More importantly, they recognized the Patriarch was a member of the White Brotherhood by reason of his wording alone. As Sur Sceaf scanned the audience, it moved like a hive of black bees when the skep is lifted.

  Friedrich appeared stunned. “Did I hear aright? Did the Patriarch foretell our day?”

  Hartmut turned to him and commented, “If it meaneth what I think it meaneth, we’re doing exactly what we are supposed to be doing. Surely, the Herewardi are that mighty race spoken of.”

  Lila wheezed out. “Surrey, me thinketh the Patriarch saw thee in vision and predicted what is now happening. Oh, happy day!” She looked him directly in the eye. “Is that right Sur Sceaf, are the Herewardi to be the strong arm of the Lord in our deliverance?”

  “I don’t see how it could be read any differently, Lilith.”

  Mendaka added, “Our shaman, the Thunder Horse has seen the same thing. That is enough for me.”

  Meanwhile, Elijah had returned each of the sacred objects to their respective jar while his young assistant, Franz, was busy screwing the alabaster lids back on and sealing them anew with wax he had just melted. Once the jars had been sealed, Elijah turned to hear the rumble that ran through the crowd like the sound of mighty waters or the wind howling through the trees.

  Fromer got to his feet in the midst of his dycons, raised his arms up high and said, “I want to warn you, we cannot discern the meaning of what the Patriarch meant. No scripture is of private interpretation. The assignment of the high priests is to shepherd the people. The task of the dycon’s is to interpret the holy writ. We will gather in an emergency meeting so that we can interpret this message and exclude any heretical thoughts that might arise from others trying to wrest the scriptures to their own private interpretation. Be assured, we shall interpret f
or you.”

  Hartmut jumped to his feet and shouted out in his deep voice, “It was very clear to me, Fromer, chust what the Patriarch meant. I for one trust my own ears and heart above the reasoning of those with an agenda for Retrenchment. In the Book of Martyrs men were allowed to get their own answers from the scriptures. It’s only been recently that the dycons have been interpreting the scripture and re-writing history, as if Retrenchment was all the Patriarchs of God ever addressed.”

  Lila tugged on his coat. Urging him in her cackling voice, “Shush, Hartmut, thou mustn’t provoke them. Dost thou want the dycons to shun thee? Make thee an excommunicant? They’ll accuse thee of witchcraft, sure as they do with any who oppose them of late. Thou knowest they call for sustaining votes, yet suffer no true opinion but their own to prevail. Raise a hand to say thou opposest their insanity and they’ll run thee out of this community. Doubt and thou art out. Mark me.”

  Hartmut reluctantly took his seat again. “I fear not their condemnation, but for thee Lila, I shall bite my tongue. Surely thou canst acknowledge the Patriarch was saying that man has enough discernment to distinguish truth from error within himself.”

  The hum of conversation continued to run throughout the crowd.

  Elijah raised his hands until the level abated somewhat. “Please, Fromer, thou hast committed a terrible breach of protocol. Now is not the time for interpretations or dissension. Now is the time for quiet reflection on the words of the Patriarch and to faithfully carry out the ritual of the Ineffable Tree as prescribed. As chief high priest, I must perform according to the rite as it is laid down in the Book of Martyrs. So permit us high priests to finish this service in proper decorum.”

  Fromer placed two fingertips to his lips signifying he would obey. But those sitting close enough to see, knew his expression was anything but cooperative.

  Once again, Elijah held up his hand for silence. As soon as the assembly obeyed, he gave the signal. Four Ephrata members stepped forth bearing the cedar ark on specially designed staves. They sat it down on its legs and each member carefully took a corner of the three-colored veil; red, blue, and purple representing the veil between this world and the next, as described in the Book of Martyrs. They proceeded to fold it, lay it on the trestle table, and then return the items to the ark, which was a three by six gilded cedar box with an ornately tooled lid displaying a hexad containing the five pointed star atop it. Each Ephrata member unfastened one of the four latches and lifted the lid off to the east. One by one, Elijah, as the chief high priest of Salem, carefully placed the holy relics back into the ark while Franz packed it in virgin white wool. The Ephrata members moved to the west and replaced the lid over the ark and secured the latches. Once the ark was closed, they carefully unfurled the veil and re-veiled the ark. “I am re-veiling the ark, for its contents have been revealed as prescribed. Now it behooves us to re-veil it, showing that which is holy must always be kept veiled and hidden from the eyes of the profane.” He then laid a barley sheaf tied with a golden ribbon on top. “We shall plant this Ark at our final place of settlement, until we move again, or until the Pitter Empire lies dead in the dust.”

  Sur Sceaf was amazed that so many people could go dead silent at the same time. A hush fell over the crowd. The priests rose from the chairs. Elijah joined them and they spoke in unison. “Truth hath sprung from the earth. Light hath burst from the grave.”

  After a spell of quiet reflection and prayer, Elijah retrieved his staff with its five-pointed star on its crown. He walked out ahead, followed by the ark bearers, who in turn were followed by the twelve white clad priests, then trailed by the dark clad dycons, and finally the multitude of the Ephrata Society who fell in procession behind them.

  Elijah halted at the tree. “The Ineffable hath preserved the truth in its roots. It hath sheltered us with its branches, and it hath marked our existence in the earth of Salem. One day, I prophecy a remnant of our seed shall return in due season. May this tree witness their return in the form of our children’s children’s children, in a day when The God of Heaven shall raise up a new patriarch with a new message. Let us take the Ark of the Patriarch to rest in the sanctuary of the church this night that it may go before us on our exodus as a light unto our feet.” He shouted, “To Witan Jewell!”

  The white clad priests chorused. “Amen and amen.”

  With Elijah going before them once again, the procession followed the Ark, like the children of Israel in their scriptures, out of the swale and on to the main road towards the town center leading to the little white church in the dell. As they walked waving white handkerchiefs above their heads, they shouted “Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna to God and the Lamb. Let glory to them in the highest be given.”

  “Amen and amen!”

  Chapter 11 : Fire in the Sky

  After the ceremonies of the Ineffable Tree, the crowds dissembled to their last night at home. The evening hung like a muffling dark blanket over the Land of Salem and the air was deathly still with not a breath of wind. Smoke rose from chimneys in straight columns. Not even the leaves of the cottonwood moved, but hung down in dead stillness.

  Sur Sceaf and Lana held hands as they walked to the home of Rudolf von der Vogelweide and Lana’s eldest sister, Verushka. Sur Sceaf decided this was to be a last ditch effort to topple Rudolf’s stubbornness. Though he suspected his efforts to persuade Rudolf to join the safety of the Quailor Exodus were futile, he determined it was his duty to at least try. Once again he was given evidence of how religious zeal could blind one to truth. Rudolf’s intentions were good, but the results would be evil. He was all faith and no reason. Sur Sceaf had no definite plan other than to study Rudolf’s religious armor to see if perhaps, some chink might be missing where the spear of truth might pierce his sense of survival and preservation, for his family’s sake.

  As they walked along the tree-lined street, Sur Sceaf pulled Lana tightly to himself. “You look scrumptious in your home spun.”

  “Dost thou think so, dear. I’m trying to be respectful of their ways.”

  “It reminds me of the young Lana I met as a teen. I’ve never regretted a day since. You will charm them as much as you still charm me.”

  After a firm knock by Sur Sceaf, Rudolf came to the door in traditional attire but without his black coat or hat. His long brown hair ruffled. “Please, Brother Surrey, Sister Lana, herzliche welkommen! Come in, come in.”

  Lana was distraught, but knew if anyone could dissuade Rudolf it would be Surrey.

  Verushka yelled from the kitchen, “I’ll be there directly. Please, Rudolf, seat our guests at the table.”

  “Can I help thee?” Lana called to her sister.

  “No, no, chust find your seats. I’m finishing up the plum pudding.”

  Sur Sceaf shook hands with Rudolf. “Thank you for inviting us for dinner, Rudolf.” They walked into the dining area and Rudolf motioned for them to take their seats at the table.

  Rudolf gave a scanning glance at Sur Sceaf. “Thou art no longer a boy, Surrey. Thy beard makes thee to look much older.” Sur Sceaf suspected Rudolf was still using the diminutive name because he was making a point that he was not recognizing his status or authority as a leader.

  “That’s because I am much older, Rudi.” Sur Sceaf said in a pleasant tone. “It’s been nigh sixteen years since last we met.”

  “I don’t know why I thought to see the same young man thou wast back then,” Rudolf declared. “I’m sure we’ve all changed.”

  “Lana knows my changes.” Sur Sceaf glanced at his wife seated next to him and offered her a reassuring smile. “Every time I return from a trip she takes new measurements and makes my clothing accordingly.”

  “Not every time, my dear. It dependeth on how much thy waist line groweth or diminisheth.”

  “She loves to tease, but in truth, taking the measure of a man anew is a practice I’ve incorporated in my everyday life. Each day brings entirely different sets of circumstances and men and situations are alw
ays changing.”

  Rudolf’s half-smile disappeared. “Thou thinkest I should change and reassess my decision to stay. Is that it, Surrey?”

  “Yes, Rudi, that is what I am saying. Salem will no longer be the community you grew up in. The fyrds of Salem will be accompanying us back to Witan Jewell and it will not return. You cannot know the malice and ill-will the Pitters have for you. They will sweep through these lands and bring mayhem of such a sinister order the likes of which you have never witnessed.”

  “Surrey, my God is an awesome God. He can strike down any threat that rises up against us. It is my family’s calling to demonstrate to our people that God rewards those who practice Retrenchment by renouncing the world and its carnal reasoning. We must rely wholly upon his protection and none other.”

  “Rudolf, I know your God will protect you, but only if you first do all to protect yourself and your children by traveling under the arm of the Herewardi which have so long sheltered your people and given them the right to worship as they wish. Do not tempt the gods. Use the wisdom they gave you. And above all, don’t exercise spiritual tyranny over your family by compelling them to stay and join this ill fate with you. I promise you this will not end well.”

  “I’ve seen how you Herewardi allow your women an equal status. The women here have already shown signs of corruption from seeing thee and thy brother, the long one, with the way you treat your women, allowing them to make their own decisions as if they were men. It breaketh the line of authority from God. I’ve seen the way thou lettest Lana dress, but a woman’s beauty only lasteth so long. Look at Verushka, she hath already lost her bloom, and is starting to wilt. It is faith that keepeth us together. Not her beauty. I tell thee Surrey, without our faith, what are we but empty vessels. We might as well be dead.”