In that moment Idris dropped his bow. The music he was playing seemed to have attracted the attention of an older woman. 

“Hello young man. What are you doing all the way out here?”

“Oh, hello. I’m just playing for the trees, is all. I love playing music and I come here often to clear my mind. I’m sorry if I disturb you, I didn’t know anyone lived this far out of the village.” 

“Oh, think nothing of it, sweetheart. I merely heard your music and couldn’t stop myself but from following the sound to it’s source. It was quite pleasant. May I hear some more?” 

The old woman sat down on a nearby tree stump, beckoning at Idris to continue. “Oh, sure! I’ve never had an audience before, please, allow me to continue.” 

Idris continues playing for a woman, a happy tune that seems to bring a smile to her sunken features. As he continued watching the woman he couldn’t help but notice he didn’t recognize her. The people in his village were all familiar with one another and there wasn’t anyone that resembled this woman before. 

Before long, Idris finished playing, and the woman responded in kind. “That was beautiful dear. Thank you.”.

….

“You should go to the capital city, to receive a blessing.”

“A blessing? Me?” 

“Yes. I believe the gods would recognize your passion and ambition and would bestow upon you the power to reach greater heights. There was a man I remember meeting before you who received such a blessing. He went on to accomplish great things.” 

…

Idris felt compelled by both the family he had falling sick, and famine striking the village, as well as his personal motivations to go out and seek a blessing from the Gods. He was unsure of what he might find, but he was certain that going the distance is something he had to do. 

…Idris felt out of place. At this point in his life, he had never felt so unsure of everything. Those around him, himself, his history. He stood by the doors to the claiming chamber, his palms began to sweat. Did he really belong here? What if none of the Gods selected him? 

“Step forward, young one. And the chambers will be unlocked for you to go forth, and claim the blessing of the Gods.” 

Idris stepped forward as instructed, the chamber doors sliding apart in front of him. The walls seemed to rattle and shake as these impossibly large, heavy doors parted seemingly on their own. He made his way down a long spiral staircase, his footsteps echoing more and more within the chamber walls until he eventually reached the bottom. He was surprised to see what he found.

It looked like a large cathedral. Smooth dark stone made up the floor, which was adorned with several hundred seats. However, every bench and wall was covered in vine and moss, as if nature itself wanted to reclaim this place. At the end of the room was an altar with a seat in the center, bathed in the moonlight streaming in through the stained glass windows. These windows held images of the Divine 12, in a circle. He made his way down the corridor and to the seat. A voice of a young girl seemed to invade his mind. 

“Sit, sit. I haven’t all day.”

Idris was startled by the voice’s appearance and did as it said. Idris spoke out, seemingly to the void.

“Wh-who are you?”

The voice answered back, with a twinge of annoyance and disregard. “I am the great and powerful Oracle, who blah blah blah, I’m just here to tell you what God whose blessing you’ll be receiving. Now sit still and close your eyes already!”

Idris seemed irritated. “Hey look, I don’t know if it’s been a long day for you or something but-”

The voice sighed exasperatedly. “Ugh, god, do you always talk this much? Maybe you’ll be blessed by the blabbermouth God and you can spend your days talking somebody else’s ears off! Now shut up already would ya?!” 

Idris scowled and took a deep breath before sitting in the seat. The walls seemed to shudder as the Oracle recited her words.

“Oh Divine 12, in power since time immemorial, bestow upon this chosen child your blessing, so that he may carry himself in your honor and usher in the world to your design.”

The moonlight grew intense, and Idris felt the weight of eyes upon him. He looked to the benches that lined the cathedral, and noticed several ghostly forms looking at him. He couldn’t make out what they were saying, but they were conversing with one another. One of them seemed to notice his gaze. 

“…he….us? That shouldn’t….” One of them stood and seemed startled by Idris, enraged, even It reached out an open hand, clawed, directly toward. Idris felt his lungs becoming tight and lowered his gaze, afraid of what might happen.

The voice laughed, in and out, and before he knew it, he could hear the ghostly forms standing up and walking out of the cathedral, their footsteps hardly more audible than their voices. Once the noise was over Idris looked up once more. The room seemed to be empty. There was no one there. 

“Well kid, tough luck, better luck next time.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“What I mean is, none of the God’s found you worthy enough to impart a blessing unto.”

Idris, after crossing was surprised to see how populated the Holy City was shortly after crossing the borders into it. He was familiar with the city prior to coming here, he knew that anyone in the world who needed blessings from The Twelve had to make their way to the city. 

“Do ya know why that is, boyo?” 

Idris looked to his driver, unsure of what he meant. “No sir. I have no clue why that could be.” Idris sat back in his chair as the horse-drawn carriages made their way around the winding path, leading up toward the large city walls in the distance. 

“The Holy City of Alabaster rests upon the highest plateau in the country, boy. It’s said that the higher you are to the Domain of the Gods, the easier it is to hear their words. And in doing so, to do their bidding.” The old man laughed to himself as he educated Idris on the subject matter. 

“Ah, I see. Do the Gods to come down to the Holy City from time to time for meetings and lunch or whatnot? 

The old man looked bak at Idris quizzically? “What? No, boy. The Gods themselves haven’t come back down here since they left Luden over a millenia ago. They prefer to use their Oracles to spread their word around, they’ve got too much to do, official godly business I’m sure.” 

This struck Idris as very strange. If it wasn’t a god he had met at his father’s farm, who was it? Idris chose not to ponder such questions for now. He was satisfied just breathing in the air and enjoying the trot of the carriage ahead of him. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, expecting to arrive at the gates of the city at any moment now. 

“Ah…nothing could ruin this momen- eh?” Much to Idris’ surprise, the cart slowed to a stop, much sooner than he had anticipated. 

“What’s going on, why have we stopped?” 

“Ah, you don’t know boy? You got on during the worst time of the day, that’s why tickets were so cheap. Rush hour traffic. We’ll be here for a good ‘nother hour or two, I’d say.”

Idris sunk into his seat sighing. What an unlucky set of events. The city loomed ahead, one horse trot at a time.