While the High Priest was talking to the Marshals and Lord Gaiba, the other wagons too had disgorged their occupants. These were senior priests and priestesses and their attendants from the Temple of Rud. Every one of them was directing his or her assistants to their tasks, which was principally the same as what the High priests attendants had done - they were covering every opening in the Palace wall - windows, ventilators, service openings, sewage outlets - nothing was left uncovered. Every opening was being covered with a frame of cloth sprinkled with the potion from steaming pots.
On the roof of the Palace walked a priestess, overseeing her assistants covering all the openings. In her late twenties, she was already a senior priestess. She stood taller than any of the others. Her gait was that of a warrior, and being a warrior was her calling. She had trained as a teenager along with the best men in the Empire, and had joined the Emperor's Army as a guard on the Rockface of Rud when she was just eighteen. She had rapidly ascended the ranks, becoming Squad Leader in less than two years.
Then she had received The Call. Rud had called to his daughter, and she had responded. She had entered the priesthood as a novice. She served her time in the different stages that took her to her present position as senior priestess. Throughout her priesthood, she had never let go of her military training. As soon as she became senior priestess, she had lobbied for and won the right to constitute a Temple Guard, with warriors drawn from the priests. She headed the Temple Guard, and had recruited and taught well. The Temple Guard, though small, was considered formidable, for it combined powers physical and spiritual. And when the time came for the priests of Rud to rescue the Emperor, it was the Temple Guard that had been called upon to plan and execute the mission.
While all this activity was going on, the Palace Guard watched with trepidation from their positions. They had been clearly told not to interfere. And as they watched their confusion only grew. It was as well that they were as disciplined as they were tough, for any other force would have attacked in defence of their Emperor. Not that the priests were unprotected - Lord Gaiba's men stood grim-faced and ready between the priests and the Palace Guard. Had it come to a fight, it would have been difficult to say which side would have come out on top - or maybe they would have just butchered each other.
The High Priest stood before the Palace Door. The cloth was dry and the frame was kept near the door. On either side of the frame sat a priest, crouched and ready to drag the frame into place before the Door. The High Priest turned to the Marshals and said, "Watch from a distance, but watch well. This is when you get to see all your nightmares come alive." He said this almost nonchalantly, and turned towards the door. The Marshals rode to a mound about a hundred yards away and stood on it, watching. Lord Gaiba had taken from one of his bags a bright yellow cloak. This he put on, and lowered the hood over his greying head. From the other bag he had taken out a short wand, about two feet in length. He held this in both hands, as if it were a broadsword. Then he advanced to the High Priest, bowed low to him, and then took a position a couple of paces behind him, slightly to his right. There he stood, head bowed, hands together holding the wand.
As the High Priest started chanting in the ancient Tongue of the Rituals, Lord Gaiba slowly started swaying. After a few minutes, he stood absolutely still, locked on to the High Priest's every move. He was the High Priest's second, the filler-in in between spells. He saw with the eyes of the High Priest, and his wand was an extension of the High Priest's staff. The High Priest raised his staff and pointed it at one of the priests crouched near the door. Lord Gaiba's wand pointed at the other. A bright white light shot from the staff and the wand simultaneously, enveloping the two priests in a bubble of protection.
It was then that the High Priest began to call the Ayirapisasu. From his staff proceeded a shaft of white light, which blasted open the Palace Door. The light illuminated the inside of the Main Hall briefly, showing that the interior had been burned out totally. There were scorch marks everywhere and all the furniture seemed to have been burned to ashes. Within a few moments, out began to pour numerous creatures, black as night, reptilian in nature, and ugly and repulsive to look at. These were blasted to nothingness by bolts of light from both the staff and the wand. Not a single one survived the double onslaught of the High Priest and Lord Gaiba.
Suddenly, from within the Palace, came a great and terrible cry. It was a howl and a roar at the same time, and sent fear coursing through the blood of any who heard it. It spread terror in its wake, and seemed to precede a terrible monster. The smaller creatures had ceased to try to make it out of the Door. They could be made out trying to get away from the door as the Ayirapisasu came up. It unleashed another mighty cry as it reached the door.
It was a sight to terrify anyone. The Ayirapisasu stood over ten feet tall, and was darkness itself. All the light around it seemed to fall into it, and it was impossible to make out any features, if indeed there were any. As it stood on the threshold, it looked invincible and unstoppable. And when it let out its terrible cry again, it was all the Marshals could do to keep from riding away - such was the terror the Ayirapisasu inspired. The Ayirapisasu had spotted them from the doorway and looked at them, away from the High Priest. Which was a mistake, as in the split second, two massive beams of light hit it in the middle, knocking it far back into the Main Hall. What looked like bolts of lightning came out of the Door, but were easily parried by the High Priest with his staff. In the meantime, the two priests crouching by the door saw their chance and pulled the cloth frame across the door, covering it fully and trapping the Ayirapisasu within the Palace.
The High Priest turned to Lord Gaiba, who looked worn and ready to collapse. He took Lord Gaiba by the arm and sprinkled some of the liquid from the cauldron on him before bidding his assistants to give the Lord some water. The High Priest himself was unruffled and looked as calm and collected as he had been before. He signalled to the Marshals to ride up. When they reached him, he was grinning as he said, "Looked easy didn't it?"
The Marshals did not know what to say. They were still recovering from the fear instilled in them by the terrible Ayirapisasu.
"It's okay to be terrified," continued the High Priest, "the first time I saw an Ayirapisasu I was petrified. Until of course I realized that if I did not kill it, it would probably take me and make me part of it, acquiring in the process all my powers, knowledge and skills. Which is why an Ayirapisasu is one of the most dangerous adversaries from the other world - it is one that has assimilated at least a thousand other pisasus. Anyway, now for some work for you. Get your men to erect a tent between the two wagons there. It should be big and grand and should be fit to receive the Emperor himself."
At this the Marshals perked up.
"The Emperor you say? Is he coming out? Is the tent for him?" Ainura could not stop himself from asking.
"Patience, my dear Ainura," said the High Priest, "it is not for me, neither is it for you or for Lord Gaiba to bring the Emperor out. Only the Saviour can bring him out. And that tent is for him. Build it and wait and the Saviour shall come. I have read the signs and Rud has assured us of victory here. We shall beat the evil here today, but to save the Emperor, the Saviour will have to come."
"That's us he's talking about," said Bowser, as we stepped out of my Guide's mind. "Or more specifically, you. We'll probably go along as your assistants."
