Lamplight flickered over the walls of the damp cave. Shadows cast by the bodies of perhaps 40 people gathered within danced in contrast with the soothing voice of the man who stood before them. A young woman knelt at his feet, hands clasped behind her back as she trembled slightly. A serene smile rested upon her face, as doe brown eyes looked upon the Brother with wonder.
"And she will dwell in the Sight of the Father...forever"
Murmured voices joined him in the final word. A ghostly chorus of 'forever' resounded through the cave.
Silver flickered, sharp contrast to the shadows surrounding them. Bright and quick as the lamplight touched the blade so swiftly carried from the stone altar to the girl, Gailene. A breath, heard not by any save the Brother and the girl. His hand curled gently into her hair and scarcely a moment later, the girl slumped forward toward the altar, blood flowing freely from the empty sockets where her eyes had once rested. The smile still gentle upon her face.
The Brother turned from the shell that had been Gailene, cradling the offering as he then knelt before the altar. Blood soaking into the hem of his snowy skirt. The ornate representations upon his bare back, in ink and scar alike, looked back at the congregation.
Eyes, perhaps 30 or more, painstakingly detailed across the flesh of his back. Years of dedication for all the followers to plainly see. Some tattooed in vivid color, some burned in to flesh, leaving dark raised welts. Some cut with loving grace to leave images deeply trenched upon the human canvas.
"For the eyes are the knowing. The eyes are the spark of life. The eyes are the power of the human soul. We offer these to You, Father, that You may look upon us with favor."
Gailene's eyes were placed in the offering bowl, consumned hungrily by swift blue flame.
"He is pleased."
Sounds of comfort and happiness rolled through those gathered. The voice of the Brother soothing the congregation with the knowledge of the Father's further favor.
Their numbers had grown, though slowly. Perhaps only one coming to them between each of the Father's divine works. So had Gailene joined them, just after *He* had performed the miracle at the Tolmer residence. Brother Prime knew immediately that the girl would be their next offering. He told her so and so she did come, willingly, to die for the further grace of the Order of the All.
And now they had come to Myrken to witness the miracle worked upon Nathanial Darve. It had been a wonderous sight, his room bathed in blood, the governor standing amid the wreckage, his beautiful violet eyes glistening with tears. What a lovely offering they would make.
And so was another chapter of the Book of the All beginning to unfold.