"You have failed me!"
Moist hollered in anguish.
"Zebedee!" She called immediately and a man dressed in priestly attires appeared before her and bowed.
"Goddess" he breathed, ready to take orders.
"Rid Moguos of his preistly title and take him to the pit of darkness to serve purgatory!" She ordered, looking dreadfully at Moguos who immediately cried out in mercy.
"Goddess! Please! Please give me another chance to prove my worth, give me another chance to bring my sister to you for cleansing, please Goddess!" He kept crying at the top of his voice.
He knew the goddess was a compassionate being and loved all the mortals under her protection and desired that no form of evil befall them and that was why she asked him to bring his sister for cleansing in the first place.
However, he had failed her. He could not bring his sister to the goddess and neither did he know her whereabouts right now. He knew he deserved any form of punishment the goddess was to rest upon him, but he only wished that he be given one more chance, one more opportunity to prove himself and bring glory to her name.
Amora had always been the reason he wanted to be a priest under the goddess' order, rule and judgement.
He studied very hard day and night to learn all about divinition and also inculcate in himself, what it takes to become a priest all so he could one day save his sister because for some reason, he believed she was not dead but was out there somewhere.
Then the day finally came, his most blessed day of all. The day the priestly sect took him in as their disciple. They accept to train him in the ways of their goddess to become a worthy priest before her and to serve her all the days of his life.
It was two years later after been accepted into the sect that he finally got a one on one meeting with the goddess herself. His credible grades and etiquette spoke very well of him and the goddess seem to have taken interest and hence, granted him a chance to meet and speak with her.
The news of his meeting with the goddess Moist spread like wildfire through out the sect and all of his fellow disciples and even superiors wondered what made him so special to be meeting with the goddess after joining the sect for such a short while. Most of them had been there for decades, and still have not been granted an audience with Moist herself. They were always left to speak with the head priest of the sect, the holy Zebedee.
The holy Zebedee had asked Moist to reconsider her decision of wanting to meet with Moguos but she refused, saying there was something about him that made her enthusiastic about his being. With her being persistent and intently bent on carrying on what she has decided, he decided not to incure her rot by pressing futher but simply decided to prepare Moguos and get him ready to behold the goddess's face.
At that time, the holy Zebedee faced a lot of criticism and disrespect across the sect. They all believed that it was his favoritism towards Moguos that made the goddess interest in him in the first place, and even believed that he had somehow managed to convince the goddess to meet with Moguos and it was not entirely her will.
Indeed it was of his will to punish the members of the sect who spread this nonsense rumors but he decided to remain calm for the sake of Moguos. He had already face a lot of bullying and abuse throughout his time in the sect and he did not wish to make matters worse for him.
It was no lie that the holy Zebedee had a soft spot for Moguos, he believed it was because of his zeal and ambition to become a priest. He saw a lot of himself in him and he treated him with so much love and care since the day he joined the sect, more like how a father would go his son.
He would most times do things to favor him in obvious situations and that got everyone in the sect talking. Hence, he was not surprised that saw things this way and no matter how much he wanted to render punishments, he knew they were just ignorant and judged from their intuitions. Besides, if he should punish anyone, they would all believe that the rumors were true and hate more on Moguos.
Nevertheless, Moguos stood firmly in his resolve and ambition and upheld his values till the day he finally met the goddess.
He knew what he wanted from her, the main reason he wanted to be a priest in the first place and surprisingly, he has the goddess's attention engaged at the mention of Amora to her.
"You said she was born on the night of the blood moon?" She asked instinctively, tightening her grip on the amulet that hung down her neck.
"Yes goddess" Moguos bowed.
The meeting place was her throne room. It was very vast and had this glow of righteousness and good in it.
She sat comfortably on her throne, made of valuable diamonds which brought more glitter to the throne room and made everything shine with her glory.
Moguos had felt himself being enveloped by her aura but he knew better than fidget before the goddess.
"And how long has this been?" Moist asked again, now looking very disturbed.
"Over a decade now goddess" he answered with his head still low.
"Are you sure of what you are saying young priest?" Moist rested high levels of her wrath like a vent, on her words.
She wanted to very much remind him the presence of whom which he stood before and the consequences thereof if he told a lie.
"Yes goddess" Moguos quickly replied, "I dare not defile your presence with a lying tongue" he went ahead to assure, pushing Moist into deep thoughts.
She knew what the night of the blood moon signified and what it meant for a female child to be born on that night.
She had long anticipated this particular night, how come it went by and she could not even tell.
She had carefully listened to Moguos and she heard him say that an aged man took his sister, claiming she was the one who sent him while she was not even aware that the blood moon appeared.
What was going on?' She pondered within her, trying to solve the puzzle in her head.
"One more thing goddess" Moguos started again.
"Speak!" she ordered.
"My sister also had this mark on her forehead, and according to the villagers, they called it the mark of witches" he said, watching closely to see if she would have any negative reaction to what he just said and as he thought, she did.
"The mark of witches?" Moist seemed to loose her cool for some seconds but immediately pulled herself back together. "Can you show me what this mark looked like?" She finally asked after taking deep breathes.
"Of course goddess" Moguos bowed and immediately, lifted his hand and began to make a drawing on the air with his index. When he was done, he waved his other hand and light came upon the drawing, showing it's form clearly to the goddess, making her let out a hallo that shook the walls of the throne room.
"Impossible!"
"I am sorry if I have offended you goddess" Moguos quickly apologized, going down on his knees immediately.
"You! You liar! You lie!" She continued to yell at him, which compelled holy Zebedee to join them immediately.
"Goddess" he bowed immediately he appeared, "what is the cause of your troubles?" He asked, trying to calm her down.
"Zebedee, this young disciple dares to lie to my face!" She angrily pointed at him, standing from her throne and walking down the stairs that led to where Moguos knelt with his face on the floor with Zebedee standing beside him.
"I would never do such a thing goddess!" Moguos was quick to defend. "I am being totally honest goddess and I hope you believe me" he pleaded.
"Allow me to look into the matter goddess and swiftly report back to you" Zebedee decided to speak finally. He did not know what Moguos had told the goddess but he was sure he would never tell a lie in her presence.
"No need" Moist shunned him, walking straight towards Moguos and finally spoke to him. "Rise!" She ordered.
He wasted no time, as he stood in his feet with his still low.
"Raise your face look into my eyes" she ordered again.
Moist's powers gave her lots of abilities but the one that would be most useful to her at this very point in time was her discernment.
She had ordered Moguos to look into her eyes because only then would she be able to tell if she was lying or telling the truth. If Moguos was lying, one look into her eyes will turn him into stone but if he was being honest, no harm would befall.
However, he hesitated a bit, not sure if it was right to look into the eyes of the goddess herself but Zebedee compelled him to obey.
"Come on son" he ordered, not comfortable with the fact that he kept the goddes waiting.
He swallowed hard and finally looked into her eyes. Her grey orbs looked as cold as ice, emitting a very strong aura that he could not withstand for long so he had to look away after few seconds.
"You are telling the truth" Moist said, more to herself than to him.
"Yes goddess" he bowed again.
"Then I shall grant your heart desire" she finally said before making her way back to her throne, climbs the stairs through which she came down from.
"Thank you so much goddess" Moguos was very surprised but exited at the same time. He was very happy that the goddess not only believed him but also accepted to help him. He looked at Zebedee as saw him smiling proudly at him.
"Thank you holy one" he bowed to him too.
"Enough!" Moist ordered immediately she got comfortable on her throne.
"Stretch out your right hand" she ordered and he did so without hesitation. Immediately a staff appeared. It was similar to that of Zebedee's but looked like it held more power.
"That staff will enhance your strength and will. Also, it shall grant you more power. Use this power, find your sister and bring her here to me!".
That was the order, that was what the goddess had commanded him to do but he failed her…