A safe temple in the storm, where fears take rest and hearts find solace.
Temple of the Sun Goddess
I sat up with a huge stretch and then yawned.
"You finally woke up..." I heard the annoyingly familiar voice. "I thought you'd even sleep through the battle."
"Oh, just shut up!" I sighed when the person who made my life bitter smiled.
Rolo was sitting on the windowsill reading. I would have liked to test if werecats could also fall to their feet, let's say from a height of more than eight floors.
"What's the time?" I asked.
"It's almost noon," he replied as he closed the book.
"Fuck!" I cursed and immediately jumped out of bed.
"I wanted to ask if there was a church around here..." he said.
"What?" I growled while trying to pull my shirt on.
"Church..." he repeated.
"Yes," I answered. "There is one."
"Shall we go there before the battle?" he asked.
I stared blankly for a moment, then realized he was religious.
"Hey," I started, just fiddling with my shoelaces, "I heard that the higher someone's intelligence quotient, the more they doubt the existence of God. Now then, how is it?"
"You are aware of the existence of monsters, but you question the existence of Gods," he stated. "To me, this seems less logical."
I didn't understand why the existence of monsters made the existence of Gods self-evident, but I let it go. You should never start arguing with religious people, because even they might get it into their heads that they will convert you at all costs.
"So, shall we go?" he returned to the subject.
I shrugged. "Okay. But before that, I have to take care of something."
"What?" asked the kid.
"Have you ever heard of the saying that those who drink together become brothers?" I asked as I hid my cross behind my shirt.
"There is no such saying..." he said with complete conviction.
I shrugged. "Well, it exists in hunter society. Before we go to war, the family gets together and we drink something terribly bitter at the same time. It's some kind of ritual."
The kid was muttering something under his breath about alcoholics, but I slammed the door on him and hurriedly headed for the great hall.
Next to the huge ebony door, Tekla puffed on her cigar. "They've been just waiting for you."
I quickly got out of my shoes, because it was a tradition to take them off in this place.
She opened the door for me and I nodded to her before entering. "Thank you."
The great hall was actually quite small, and the stale air of the circular room was made both sweet and surprisingly heavy by the smell of incense. As soon as the door closed behind me, I was engulfed in complete darkness, broken only by the light of the decorative lanterns hanging from the ceiling.
The hunters, who were already sitting inside, didn't look up at me, pretending they hadn't even noticed my arrival. I lay down on the last available pillow and soon I had in my hands a bitter liqueur rippling in the cup.
"Our family is one of the noblest among the oldest hunter clans. From the moment a single drop of nectar hits our thirsty throats, we all swear brotherhood again!" said the head of the family, then raised his cup high. "Fate has decided again to put our power to the test, the time has come again to serve the Sun Goddess and show that we are worthy of her blessing. So let the weak fall, let the strong remain!"
"Wir sind die Jäger!" shouted the rest of the family.
Everyone then took a sip of the drink. The black liquid burned my throat, I felt it gnaw through my gullet and scorch my body from the inside.
By this time, a few hunters had set off in the dark gloom – even if ordinary people would have crawled and groped their way around, the hunters proudly straightened their posture and strode confidently.
The first hunter was already standing in front of the altar and, after a few moments of quiet meditation, he poured the rest of his bitter liquid into the crystal-clear water. Many followed his example, after the last step of the ritual, many prayed by placing their palms over their hearts, or by imitating this movement, they nodded towards the deity imagined in place of the altar, before stepping back to the wall.
I was the last to step in front of the altar, which strongly resembled an ornate bird feeder, and it had to be that way since I was the last to arrive. Without a moment's thought or unnecessary prayers, I poured the contents of my glass into the crystal-clear water.
The liquid circulating in the altar did not change color, it remained as pure as the life-giving water of a fresh spring. Of course, my family had a legend to explain this, that the tears of the Sun Goddess were collected in the altar, but of course, I didn't believe it for a second.
I awkwardly walked back to my seat. We waited motionless. We waited for the sun to finally come exactly above the Babel.
The next moment, I heard a strange noise, as if stones were being rubbed against each other, then, looking up, I saw that first a hemisphere and then a circular opening appeared on the top of the ceiling. Then, after a blink of time, the first stray rays of the sun shone through that hole, which was perhaps the size of a palm. The light of the sun shone directly on the altar, where it broke into shards on the surface of the water.
I saw how this light cast lace on other people's faces, and I also felt how my skin warmed up a little in some places. Many people closed their eyes and bathed in the blessings of the Sun Goddess, but I was just waiting for the end of this whole torture. This small miracle could only last for a minute, the light of the sun soon disappeared from the room and the sound of stones moving could be heard again.
After the ceremony, my grandfather announced that we would gather at the entrance to Rosenstein Alley at exactly eight o'clock, and then dismissed the family members. And I decided it was time for Alex to get up, so I went to his room.
By the way, you could already hear his snoring at the end of the corridor, so I thought that if we survived today, I would get a referral to otolaryngology for him. The door to his room was open. I let out a deep sigh — didn't anyone ever teach him that the bare minimum is to lock the door when surrounded by an army of evil hunters? Alex woke up screaming when I accidentally poured a glass of water on his neck.
"Why did you need to do this?!" he jumped out of bed. "I thought my heart would jump out!"
"It's one o'clock in the afternoon," I said, and he turned pale.
"Didn't you sleep at night?" I sighed.
He shook his head. "I was nervous."
After half an hour, all three of us were walking down the main street — yes, because I promised Rolo that we would visit the lousy church. Anyway, the street was now almost packed with hunters who had just arrived or were already waiting — I had never seen Rosenstein Alley so packed before.
The main street was closed by a square, where the four-towered Rose Church stood. It seemed unusual in contrast to the colorful, loud city with its black color and elegant, late Baroque and Gothic decorations.
Anyway, I think Rolo really liked it, because he doubled his steps when he saw it. He entered through the ebony double doors and marveled at the beauty of the place. You could discover black marble columns everywhere, the gold decoration expressed the wealthy era when it was built, yet everyone was most impressed by the altar — that is, the stained glass windows that surrounded it.
The beautiful glass has an almost picturesque appearance, especially highlighting the colors and different shades. The first and largest image, of course, featured the Night God: a dark-skinned, dark-eyed figure with long braided black locks and antlers, complete and majestic indeed.
Millions of stars twinkled in his eyes, claws curved on his hands, so he looked perhaps more like a monster than a human. Yet he didn't seem threatening or scary, he was peaceful and calm.
Then, of course, there were leaded glass windows that immortalized the myth of the creation of the world: the embracing figure of the Night God and the Sun Goddess, their wild dance and their eternal love.
The shape of the Sun Goddess could not have been more different from that of the Night God: she had long golden curls and bright blue eyes. Wherever this majestic woman went, flowers and shrubs sprouted in her footsteps, singing birds were born from her every smile, she created the wind with her sigh, the rain with her tears, the earth with her flesh... and from her blood arose humans and monsters. The Night God created night next to day, darkness next to light, and death away next to life. All this symbolized the belonging of the two deities to each other.
Rolo stared at the figure of the Night God with round eyes. The central hall was huge, yet only a few hunters sat among the benches to pray.
"Did you know that they give organ concerts three times a day?" I whispered to Rolo. "Apparently, this is also the tradition of the founders. They are said to have been amazing talents individually, but when they got together and started playing, people burst into tears. It was said at the time that they were the children of the Sun Goddess."
"Where did you get this from?" he sighed.
"Of course, one of our family legends," I shrugged. "Ágota Rosenstein supposedly had legendary breasts, too."
Finally, they managed to persuade me to take a seat on one of the benches and wait while they prayed. Even Alex himself tried to imitate Rolo's gestures, although I did know that he wasn't religious.
"Well, what did you wish for from your God?" I asked when we left the church door.
The kid looked up at me with piercing eyes. "I asked you to be beaten thoroughly, and I proposed that you die in agony today."
I laughed. Meanwhile, Rolo was still looking around.
"I don't see a temple for the Sun Goddess," he stated. "I thought your clan followed her."
I grinned and gestured across the town with my palm. Rolo frowned in confusion at this.
"The Sun Goddess is the goddess of life, and as such, so is she the Goddess of battle," I explained. "After all, life itself is the fight for survival. That is why the temple of the Goddess shelters the weak and the elderly during wars and battles."
Sparks of recognition flashed in Rolo's eyes, but I continued anyway.
"This whole city is the temple of the Sun Goddess."