75 Pair of Swans

None of the disciples or lower priests knew what had happened. All they were told was that priesthood wasn't safe anymore and hence they were being dismissed. Never in its long renowned history has it been closed for even a minute. But now it was for who knows how long. Does that mean this was the biggest threat they had ever faced? Big enough to force the Hall of Priests to dismiss the entire priesthood!

With heavy hearts they packed their belongings, they only had three days to bid farewell to each other. Since priesthood taught detachment from materialistic things, the disciples and priests hardly had any belongings. It was just a pair of clothes and some food for their journey. The time passed in a blink and everyone stepped out to leave. They looked at the high doors that opened into the temple courtyard, reminiscing about the first time they walked through those doors. They were so young and naive back then. They grew a lot individually and formed into a family within these walls. They had never thought they'd ever have to leave it behind. When they turned back and saw the priesthood close its doors, their hearts sank and many tears fell. It had been more of a home than their real homes all these years. There were many orphans among the students that were offered refuge by their masters and friends. Everyone bid their farewells to each other and started to leave little by little with their heads shook and tears falling. There was a group of four disciples left with a priest in the end.

"Master, how long will we have to stay out here? I want to go back." said the youngest one among them. His innocent words made the older disciples tear up even more. One disciple squatted on the ground and broke into sobs till he left out a wailing cry. He was the same one Ashwin had almost pounced upon. But there was no trace of ridicule on his face. He was too distraught to be disrespectful to anyone anymore. The other disciples followed suit and began to cry as well. The priesthood was the only place that treated them fairly. They were all orphans with no money or a place to go. It was the only place that they could call home, which was now being taken from them. The priest wiped away his tears and yelled in an angry tone.

"How could crybabies like you call themselves a part of the Northern Priesthood, the most powerful priesthood in the entire country. I don't have weak disciples like the lot of you. The Hall of Priests will surely take care of whatever the threat is and we'll soon receive letters from the High Priest to report back immediately. All you good for nothings have to do is to stay put till then. Can't you even do that?"

They were all aware of their master having a fiery temper with the softest heart. The disciples sniffed back their tears and got up with a new-found determination after hearing their master. It was true, they just had to stay put and not lose hope.

"You truly are weaklings if that's all you want to do." a voice came from behind the bushes and shocked the crying bunch.

***

All the First Priests gathered at the High Priest's residence waiting for further instructions. As soon as the doors were closed, they had closed all entrances to both the temple and the priesthood. This place had always been peaceful but today it had felt abandoned for the first time. Priest Dharma felt his heart ache as he looked around. For more than a millennium, this priesthood had stood through wars,calamities, every thick and thin. Nothing could ever bring harm to the priesthood, but now they were facing a life threatening crisis because of him. He couldn't help but be overcome by guilt. He was expecting others to blame him and curse him. But to his surprise, no one did. In fact they felt sympathetic towards him, and that had worsened the guilt he was feeling. So he kept his head down in shame the entire time.

High Priest entered the room and everyone stood up to greet him. His gaze swiped through the room and stopped at Priest Dharma's shook head.

"Priest Dharma, you're of no help to your brothers if you continue to sulk around. This was a mistake that all of us share, and we must correct it. Now is not the time to take blames and house guilt for it."

Priest Dharma looked up and nodded. It was true, he could feel guilty all he wanted but only after this was taken care of. The High Priest walked through them and stood in front of the wide scenery carved in the stone wall. He raised his hands and placed them on each swan. With his eyes closed he started to chant, and so did the First Priests. As the chants came to an end, the swans moved! Their beaks that was forming a heart opened and they looked up. The wall made a loud rumbling sound as gust of winds swooshed out from behind it. Like a sliding door it went up and revealed a hall. The walls inside were of a dark shade, implying to the amount of time it had withstood till now. The hall had nine thrones similar to the Hall of Priests. But instead of the statue of the diety behind them there was a large pair of golden swans.