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1 - The Ivory Plain |
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2 - The Journey Begins |
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3 - The City of Princes |
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4 - The Mountain Village |
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5 - The Road Divides |
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6 - Comrades in Arms |
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7 - The Pass of Silence |
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8 - The Ivory Towers |
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9 - The Union |
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4 - The Mountain Village
Chapter 4: The Mountain Village
They were welcomed with pleasure into the mountain village of Shalb five days later. The journey had been hard, their pack horse had broken loose from its tether on the second night and run away, terrified by the dismal, lonely howling of the wolves. They had found its body only that morning, ravaged and ruined by the packs of hungry forest scavengers. The little party had encouraged each other to go on and had prayed daily for their safety and protection. Eldar was sure it was only the power of their prayers that had kept them safe from the ever present feeling and evil smell of danger that seemed to follow them. Eldar had begun to realise that, although their prayers kept them safe and in the hands of the Lord, it also attracted the evil spirits to them and indicated where they were, yet they had to pray.
In Shalb they were pressed for news of the outside world. The isolated people of the tiny mountain community were starved for news of the places and doings beyond their rough hewn stone walls. Set in a secluded grassy hollow on the shallow side of the most southern pointed mountain the village was so positioned that, unless one knew of its existence, travellers easily bypassed it. In fact, without Shandyke and his maps, Eldar would have missed it too.
Children crowded round them as they entered the village and clamoured loudly at the sight of the strangers. The villagers welcomed them and the mission party were given shelter, beds, food and clothing with a generosity that took their breath away. Once they had settled, even though they did not plan to stay long, Eldar arranged to meet with the village elders as soon as possible in order to exchange and receive information and news.
In the late afternoon of the second day they were at Shalb, a scouting party of villagers returned from foraging in the Mountains and they brought gossip as well as meat. A meal was arranged for the Elders and the travellers that night. The news, when it came, was not good.
One of the scouts had gone to the very edge of the Holy Forest to see the Plain. He reported that more than ever was the Plain encroaching on the Forest, to the point that, in some places the Forest had vanished and the barren desert touched the very Mountains of Anger themselves.
One of their number had mysteriously disappeared. When the body had at last been recovered, although it had been half eaten by wolves there was, still discernible on what was left of the head, such an expression of absolute terror that the scouts had not dared to touch it, but had left the body where it lay without giving it a decent burial. One of them confessed privately to Eldar that the carcass had even smelt of evil, as if it had been invaded bodily by an entity of evil. The report struck fear into Eldar’s heart and she desired nothing more than to turn and go back home. But deep within her she knew with a certainty that if it was a demon that had killed the scout then she knew through the word of God that there were ways to banish and murder demons that would keep her and her friends safe.
As they shared the meal that night with the village Elders, Eldar felt a strange voice nudge her in her heart, Speak to them about Me, their hearts are open, they will hear you. When some of the men had talked about their adventures on the road one of the village chiefs turned to Eldar and said,
“We hear you are a woman of extraordinary power. We would like to hear about how you received your power, and which of the gods you worship”.
Stunned Eldar sat for a second then felt the feeling in her heart again, a heady lightness and a desire to speak her Lord’s name. Opening her mouth, without any clear idea of what to say the words came, almost tumbling over themselves in their eagerness to be heard.
“This power does not come from me or from anything on this earth. It comes from a being far greater and more powerful than any other, even the Lord of Death.”
There were murmurs round the table as she paused.
“The village where we come from, Tavos, is a village peopled by Christians, those who follow the Lord Jesus Christ. We heard the Word of God brought to us by visitors from across the ocean and nearly the whole village believed in the grace of God. Through our faith we have a gift from God of His Holy Spirit, a counsellor and protector, that guides us and protects us as we do the bidding of the Lord.”
“But what is it that you believe that is so different from any other?” asked one elder, “there are other gods that offer a guiding light, if one is prepared to pay for it.”
“But for us there is no price to be paid,” replied Eldar earnestly, “We believe that there is life everlasting given as a gift by the Son of God, who died a terrible death upon a cross to save our souls. Our scripture tells us that God is the creator of the world. He made man in his image and loved him. Man disobeyed the Lord and so he was punished for his sins. Jesus, the Son of God came to redeem us because he loved us, and because of Him we know that there is Heaven waiting for those who have repented of their sins and believe in the Son of God as their Lord.”
“What does having this Jesus in your life do for you though”, asked another council sage.
Eldar paused and her face glowed softly with an inner light as she replied,
“You will never be alone because he is with you. His love accepts us as we are, we are not perfect, but He is, and His love is awesome. If you falter He will pick you up and guide you on His way. He will talk to you constantly, He will answer when you call, His presence in the form of his Spirit goes with you always. Most of all though, when you sin, as all of mankind does, He forgives you of everything even before you repent”.
“So this power in you is from the Spirit of your God. What can this power do?”
“The strength of God works through our faith and through our prayers. So if you are ill and pray for healing, God will do it. It says so, here” she hesitated and pulled her small black book of the Word of God from her jerkin and opened it, “Here, it says that whatever you ask for in the name of Jesus it will be given to us. So healing can be given because of God’s grace, people will come to God if you pray for their salvation, and demons and evil spirits can be cast out and vanquished because the power of the Lord is stronger than the power of the Devil.”
The Elders began to murmur among themselves, some nodding, some shaking their heads at the words they had heard. Then one said,
“You read from this little book, what is this? Where did it come from? Who wrote it. Why do you believe it?
Eldar stroked the soft cover of her precious Bible thoughtfully, then quietly said,
“Part of this book was written by eyewitnesses, people who knew the Christ when he lived on earth in the shape of a man. Other parts are the old law of a nation that God loved. But throughout the book God’s Holy Spirit breathes and the words live because God spoke them through men who would listen to him, men he chose to speak through to his people.”
“But you are also saying that there is only one source of evil and one source of good? What about all the other gods and spirits? Are you claiming that the existence of all these others are false, that only you have the answer?” The questioner’s voice was scornful.
Eldar frowned, she was unsure how to answer this within her heart she prayed for guidance and paused before starting her reply.
“We believe there is only one God, of which there are three parts, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, there are no separate gods for different things or places. Our Word says clearly that there is only one God. The Devil is the evil from which all other evil spirits and bad things come from. He is a constant enemy and must be fought with the awesome power of God.”
The same elder who had asked the question about the source of good and evil said quietly, “Prove it. Show us that your God lives and works these miracles. Why should we believe tales written hundreds of years ago and think it can have any bearing on our lives today? Prove your God exists!”
Eldar looked round the table, some of the elders were nodding their heads in agreement with the spokesman and others were arguing saying that the basis of the Christians life seemed to be a blind faith that accepted the unexplainable. Her own band of Christian friends paused in their own conversations where they also were witnessing to the love of Christ. Eldar caught Malek’s eye and he gestured to her Bible. She knew he was saying that the answer was in there but she didn’t know where to find it. Looking down at the little book in her hand she prayed, please Father, I need to show your love for them, help me now that your name might be made glorious in this place. A soft voice answered her, remember Elijah. Quickly she riffled through the pages of the Bible until she came to the stories of Elijah. Yes, here was the proof she needed to give them. She got to her feet and rapped on the table with her wooden bowl for silence. As the room fell quiet about her, she held up the book and said,
“I want to read you something that proved to a nation that God exists. If any of you doubt afterwards I believe the Lord will do a sign of this magnitude now that all of you may come to him today.”
Slowly she read to them the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal and how the Baal prophets had responded to Elijah’s challenge to find out whose God was real, and that Baal had not answered the request to burn the sacrifice because he did not exist. The God of Elijah however burned up not only the sacrifice but the stones the altar was built of and the water Elijah had drenched it with. When she had finished she closed the pages and sat down.
The Elders went back to murmuring among themselves again. For a while no-one asked another question while Eldar sat feeling slightly embarrassed at how much she had said and at the authority with which she had spoken. Then it seemed as if the Elders had come to a decision and a group of them turned to Eldar and said,
“We are prepared to believe that what you say is the truth, and we would like to know your God, tell us how we can meet him”.
Eldar was completely astounded, she had not expected such a fast reaction. Gathering her wits hastily she leaned forward and said,
“You need to acknowledge that you are sinners, that you need the forgiveness of the Lord, then you must ask him into your hearts to lead you and guide you and ask for his strength and love. Do you want to do this now?”
Eldar’s voice shook with excitement, she had never realised the joy there was in sharing her faith in this way. The Elders conferred again and then said that they wanted to make the commitment in front of the whole village and that anyone in the village who wanted to join them could do so.
A messenger went out and called the villagers into the small green in the centre of the huddle of houses and all the inhabitants of Shalb came to see what the Elders were up to. Eldar asked the members of the village council who wanted to accept Christ to kneel and raise their hands. Looking rather sheepish and avoiding one another’s eyes the Elders knelt on the grass, several of the villagers followed suit. Then Eldar spoke, raising her voice so that all could hear her,
“This is the most important decision you will ever make, to invite the Lord into your hearts and to forgive your sins. I will now say a prayer of repentance, will all those who wish to accept the Lord as their Saviour repeat the words after me.”
More of the villagers knelt as a summary of what Eldar had said to the council flew through the crowd. The Christians among the travellers talked with people who wanted to know more about what was happening and knelt as the word of the Lord spoke into their hearts. Eldar was amazed at the feeling of joyousness that flooded through her as these people knelt to receive her Jesus into their lives. Almost weeping she said the prayer and listened as a hundred voices repeated her words. When she had finished one of the Elders rose to his feet and kissed her.
“Thank you, from all of us, for what you have given us today”. Those who had knelt now hugged each other and wept each seeing a reflection of their own newness in other people’s eyes. Whole families rejoiced that they were saved, and those who had lingered uncertainly at the back of the crowd now pushed eagerly forward, wanting to say the prayer of repentance as well.
Although the mission party were eager to be on their way, as the Christians who had brought God and his glory to the village, they needed to teach the people about their new faith and disciple them so that the powerful seed of God within them would grow and flourish. Most of all a building was required so that all travellers and the villagers themselves would have somewhere to meet and pray.
A plot of land was chosen near the centre of the village and on the edge of the green. The village stonemasons and bricklayers helped to dig the foundations, filling the trenches with stone quarried from the mountain and to make the walls from planks cut from beech trees. Within a week the little church was built with the weavers and thatchers laying the sheaves on the roof to finish it. Shutters were fixed to the windows as the village had no glass blowing facilities. The little church was furnished with rough wooden benches and a large cross hung at the far end of the church. The Council met for a day and prayed and fasted dedicating the new building to the Lord and asking for a name. A plaque made of chiselled beech wood was nailed to the church door the day after bearing the name, The Church of the Living Christ.
On the following Sunday, two weeks since she and the travellers had entered the village the first meeting was held in the new building. Maxe and Barin led the prayers for the blessing of the Lord upon the new elders and upon the new Christians and spoke briefly on the need for unity in their church and for submission to the authority of the elders. Bible teaching went on constantly with smaller groups meeting every couple of hours to learn more about the God they had invited into their lives and the Tavos party had to promise that they would return via Shalb on their way home. Eldar’s Bible was handed over to the scribes who wrote day and night in shifts in order to have something of the Word of God to read and learn from when Eldar and her friends had gone. Eldar had insisted they copy the New Testament before the Old as it would be of more relevance to their need. From the Old Testament she read stories to the children and gathered them round her in the shade of the beech trees on the green to teach them how to love the Lord.
So with all the teaching and baptising it was nearly a month later, the year midway into August, when the mission party finally left Shalb and began the last stage of their journey, this time heading for the narrow pass through the Mountains of Anger to the Holy Forest. They were fortunate in that the village bred their own ponies, shaggy and surefooted as goats and had given Eldar a riding pony each. The spirits of the men were high as they shared stories about the events in Shalb, who had been saved, who had been healed, and one little boy who had thrown away his crutches and danced after Malek and Bram had prayed with him. As they climbed higher toward the Pass of Silence the weather grew colder and the air thinner and the days’ travelling was slower with less ground covered. Always, there was the ever present fear of bears or snow leopards or an even worse evil attacking them.
A few nights after they had left the village the travellers camped in a series of odd shaped caves on the mountainside. The caves were cavernous inside and deep with strange objects hanging from the roof of the caves the further in they travelled. Malek and Rindith had taken torches deep inside the caves but could find no sign of habitation by beast or human. So they lit their fires in the mouth of the caves and settled down for the night. Bram was to take first watch that night, so he lay his rugs out by the mouth of the cave where he could see for quite a distance over the terrain and tried to keep himself awake by learning the 91st Psalm.
Eldar could hear him whispering under his breath as he paced softly and slowly to and fro across the mouth of the cave, the ancient words of the Psalm calmed her and she drifted off to sleep with a peaceful heart. But Bram was tired from the day’s exertions and his recent wounds and was asleep only an hour after the others had begun to snore. Darkness fell swiftly and the night was black with no moon or stars to light the earth. The air was unusually heavy and still with not even the plaintive cry of a night owl to break the heaviness. Then the nightmare happened!
The rocky surface of the mouth of the cave began to heave and churn and a strong wind blew from outside with a fierceness that woke the travellers quickly. Half of their possessions were already bowling down the depths of the cave into the darkness beyond. Bram stumbled into the wider part of the cave where the others were sleeping and shouted,
“The cave mouth is closing, we’ll be trapped here if we don’t hurry and get out now”. Snatching up his saddle bags, the only item that had not been swept away by the wind. Malek and Maxe followed him, struggling to push against the increasing strength of the wind. Eldar, trying to rescue the map scrolls with Shandyke heard Malek shout then there was a quick lessening of the early dawn light from beyond the cave mouth until the cave was plunged in darkness and a sharp crack sounded from the front of the cave.
“Malek,” she called, there was silence, “Malek”. Her voice rose with hysteria, the cave echoing Malek’s name.
“Eldar, what’s happening?” The voice was Rindith’s, “where is everyone?”
“I don’t know”, she answered, her voice shaking slightly, “if anyone else is here, please say”.
“I’m here”, said Shandyke’s voice from further down the cave, “Anyone else?”.
There was no answer, the silence and blackness of the cave pressed upon them until Eldar felt she was going to scream. She had never known such terrible pressure upon her and the thought of all the rock above them, around them, she felt sick from the tightness the claustrophobia was causing in her chest.
A low red light towards the mouth of the cave caught her eye and she realised it had to be the embers of the fire they had lit earlier. Walking unsteadily towards it, tripping on the odd outcrop of rock she knelt down beside the embers and blew on them gently. The embers flickered and glowed, carefully she fed it some wood and waited as the flames began to grow higher. Behind her she could hear Rindith and Shandyke making their way hesitatingly towards the light of the fire. As they squatted down beside her she looked at their shocked faces and felt herself begin to cry. Awkwardly Rindith put an arm round her shoulders and patted her, for a second she leant against him, grateful for his solid bulk and wept. Shandyke and Rindith looked at each other over her head and exchanged worried glances.
“Come on now Eldar”, said Rindith quietly, “This does look bad I admit, but let’s talk about what’s happened and see what we can do next.”
Eldar pulled a square of linen from her pocket and wiped her face carefully and blew her nose. She sighed and breathed deeply for a minute.
“Yes, you’re right”, she said, “so what do we know. That we are inside the mountain and trapped, and they are outside. How do we get out, or how do they get in?”
“I don’t know”, said Rindith heavily and sat down on the cave floor.
There was a silence among them as each one struggled to think what they could do next, and they thought about their companions stuck outside on the mountainside. They may never see them again. That thought occurred to the trapped three at the same time and it was too much to simply sit there in the dark and hope to be rescued.
“How about going down the cave tunnel?” Suggested Shandyke, “it’s deep and the scouts said it didn’t end, just went on into the mountain in a tunnel.”
“What about the mouth of the cave at this end?” said Rindith, “if there’s crack maybe we could call to the others and see what they suggest.”
Eldar nodded, “Let’s try that first. I’ll go, you two wait here”. She reached out and took a couple of the glowing sticks from the fire and set off in the direction where the cave mouth had been. Walking slowly with one hand outstretched she prayed that there would be some way of talking to the four trapped outside. The sticks she carried glowed brightly and flared as she neared the part of the cavern where she thought the entrace to have been. Eldar realised excitedly that the sticks glowing meant there had to be fresh air somewhere, the fire was feeling oxygen. But the blank, damp face of the cavern offered no crack of light, and her spirits sank as she felt along the rock face and called. She shouted until her throat felt sore and her eyes stung from the effort of trying not to cry. Silence fell as she slumped to the floor and gave in to the temptation to weep again. She had almost forgotten Rindith and Shandyke waiting back in the cave for her. Only the thought that she needed them and they her, made her finally rise from the rocky floor and grope her way slowly back into the cavern.
She reached the faint red glow of light at light and flopped down on the rocky floor beside Rindith.
“There’s no crack, nothing,” she told them, “I called and shouted but the rock must be so thick they couldn’t hear a thing.”
She threw the remnants of her torches onto the fire and said, “So now what do we do?” As Shandyke shrugged and said, “You’re the leader, you tell us”, her temper snapped under the pressure and anxiety of being trapped in the cave.
“I’m not a leader, I’m just me, and I can’t manage this any more. I don’t know what to do, I’m frightened and feel I’ll go mad with claustrophobia. You must have some idea of what to next. Help me, help yourselves, or we’ll starve to death in here!”
The thought of starving to death seemed to finally galvanise the other two into action. Rindith suggested a search of the cavern floor to see if any of the saddlebags were left and what kind of provisions they possessed, if any. Shandyke said he still thought their best bet was to continue into the tunnel. It might after all go all through the Mountains.
“Except,” said Eldar bitterly, “the Mountains of Anger are huge and we have absolutely no idea where the tunnel ends if it ends at all.”
“Well”, responded Rindith tartly, “We could just sit here and do nothing, but I for one am hungry. Come on, let’s see what we can find.”
Taking up the last glowing embers of the fire, they searched the cave from side to side but found only one small packet of dried meat that must have fallen from a saddle bag. Still, it was something. Shandyke and Eldar still carried their water bottles, both a little more than half full. For the time being, they were surviving. Knowing that there was no way out for them at the cave mouth they gathered together at the tunnel entrance and peered down it as the last of the torches flickered and went out, leaving them in darkness. As she felt the crushing weight of the damp darkness, Eldar could not prevent the sob that escaped her. A second later she felt the buckle of Rindiths belt shoved into her hand.
“Hang onto that”, a disembodied voice spoke close to her ear, ”Don’t let go and we won’t lose each other”. Rindith put Shandyke at the centre of the belt and closed the other man’s hand around the soft leather. Rindith himself clutched the end of the belt and third place in the line. Shuffling, they headed slowly down the tunnel.
* * * * * * * * *
Barin, Malek, Maxe and Bram lay wheezing on the ground outside the mountainside. The effort needed to push against the tremendous wind had been incredible and they felt exhausted and their skin ran with sweat. Then the terrible crushing sound of rock being pulled made Malek lift his head from the grass.
“Where are the others?” He cried, “Eldar, Rindith, where are they? Shandyke?” Staggering to his knees Malek knelt on the damp grass and watched with amazement as the last crack closed with a snap that indicated where the cave had been. A second later, Malek could not have sworn he knew where the cave mouth had been. Maxe and Bram rolled over onto their stomachs and gazed in disbelief at the cliff face that now stared at them.
“Where did the cave go?” They asked. Malek shook his head, “I don’t know what’s going on, but it seems evil. Eldar and the others are trapped inside, and we’re outside.” The three stared at each other, horror mirrored in all their faces.
“Where’s Barin?” Asked Bram. Glancing round they saw Barin’s body lying still near a large outcrop of rock. He was lying face down and the back of his head was bleeding and bruised. Obviously he had hit the rock tumbling out of the cave. Malek knelt beside him and felt his neck with his fingertips.
“I can feel a pulse, he’s alive”.
Awkwardly between them they managed to wash the blood away and found the cut beneath was small and unlikely to fester. Barin began to moan a few minutes after they found him and came round staring up at them with pupil widened eyes.
“What happened? Where are we?” He croaked.
“We’re outside the mountain, do you remember the wind that blew in at us, we managed to escape, but Eldar, Rindith and Shandyke are still trapped inside.”
Barin closed his eyes in pain and whispered Eldar’s name quietly under his breath.
Gently the others helped him to his feet and gathered up their belongings while Barin stared helplessly at the rock face. God, help them, he prayed.
Chapter 5