The Salom'Sileyu Trilogy 1: The Kult of Salom'Sileyu

Episode 2: Cult

"...You're sure they never followed you home?"

Days had gone by since those hooded figures attacked her. Days. She'd thought about it often, and the very next day after it happened she reported it to Karinth. His first question was "did they follow you home?" Logically, she had to assume they stalked her since one of them wasn't killed after their small tussle, but they left her alone. Perhaps the secret of being a divine logician sent them a message they weren't prepared to receive.

She sat there in the diner she had been going to since she arrived, making it a personal favorite of hers. The food was delightful, the company was pleasant, and it reminded her of both Rhaja and Gean. With both partners, they often found themselves going on dates at one, and she needed familiarity as well as a way of coping.

In front of her was her half-eaten breakfast, a lukewarm cup of coffee, and her religious book, the Alldweii, opened somewhere in the middle of its pages. She'd lost her place a few times already, unable to keep her mind on track. Their robes were a permanent fixture in her toughts, and the markings along the trims that were etched in golden thread bore a strange and cosmic appearance. The language on the pendant wasn't anything she was familiar with, but she admitted that there was a lot about her world she didn't know.

This language haunted her, though. It threatened to repeat in her head until she was able to decipher its alien hieroglyphs. She wondered what Zadism truly was about, and what attracted so many people to it. As far as she knew, and as far as Rhaja ever told her, it was a patriarchal religion meant to benefit masculinity and establish a superior group of the reman species above all others as fit rulers and – in her opinion – tyrants. Rhaja explained that it was a religion benefiting the wealthiest in society above all others. They worshipped one god, and to the other gods they paid respects unless they accumulated wealth enough to rule a people. Then the gods would worship them.

She supposed she could see its dull luster, though, in its veiled threats to abandon anyone who didn't adhere to its strict and unreasonable customs and traditions. It was an attempt at resurging an ancient sect of a nearly dead religion, which was a common ancestor to Korism – her religion. To everyone on the outside of their religion, it was clearly an attempted manipulation against the people who either converted to it or were born in it.

It gave her an uneasy feeling in her stomach. Those high in status in the religion had the privilege of lying about their religious affiliation to gain access to other religions and cultures, and tear them down from the inside. All of it was a game, and it preyed on those who had no power to defend themselves against it.

Its influence in Durinveii was sickening, but she couldn't really say much to contend for a better life in Enthedrill. Emperor Gorvon Komin was a tyrant in his own way. His influence in the Empire blended the authoritarian leadership of Durinveii's Supreme Minister, as well as the dynastic model in place in the Sovereignty of Songriveii. The only countries that remained truly democratic and gave power to its people were the kingdoms of Korok and Dominov.

She shook her head, clearing her thoughts of politics and maddening diplomacies. There was only so much she could consider about the governments of thaerv before she grew angry at world leaders. The war with Durinveii was bad enough, and she felt the weight of that pressure in her daily life when she went out in public.

She sighed and pulled a sigil coin that would cover the cost of her uneaten breakfast, as well as a sizable tip, and she quickly left the diner and started to make a call on her cell.

The district library was a tall, cube-shaped building a mono-toned concrete and black lettering. There were a few windows near the top of the building, but otherwise it remained rather ominously simple.