Lions of Men

Chapter 23

Something awakened Eudarius from his slumber. The warrior prophet sat up in his bed and scanned the room. Did he hear noises? He had become accustomed to the creaking and groaning of the ship as it rocked along the tide of the sea. Was it someone stirring in the night? He heard footsteps on the deck but knew it to be the night crew.

Suddenly Eudarius was struck by a deep premonition. Was someone he loved in danger? Perhaps Rakurih? Had one of his men broken into her sleeping quarters with intent to violate her or cause her harm? That didn't make sense to Eudarius. He trusted the two-hundred-fifty men aboard his ship with his life and knew them all to be devout in their faith in God.

No, it was something else; a forewarning, a trepidation so intense that it drove him to his knees. Eudarius began to whisper the names of those he held dear. Images of his son, Daylan, Shamarah, Rakurih, Rowen, Kiherah, Tesyonah, Balumereh, even Rashnee, flooded his soul. He silently cried out to God and pleaded for mercy and protection for their lives. He prayed desperately for their salvation, and for all the citizens of Laynemarah.

As Eudarius prayed, a peculiar image began to form within his conscience. In a vision, he saw a large winepress which sat upon a great and high mountain. A mighty angel emblazoned in light stood beside the winepress holding large clusters of grapes from a vine in his hand. The angel tossed the grapes into the winepress and turned and gazed right into the eyes of Eudarius. On a lower ledge, seven other mighty men, clothed in white raiment stood awaiting instruction.

Was this a metaphor? Could this be God warning him that he was about to release his wrath into the earth? Was this a representation of God treading the wicked beneath him as one would tread grapes to make wine? Was the wine a symbol of man's blood? What was the purpose of the other angels? Where they to execute God's wrath? Or were they there to assist believers in the coming persecution of the saints?

Whatever this was, Eudarius knew that Laynemarah was about to be shaken to her knees, and the impact would have dire implications for all.

***

Jeruh thoroughly enjoyed watching the men around him quarrel like boys over Meryolis' highly controversial proposal to outlaw Christianity. The Brotherhood, men of elite status, whose names were synonymous with power and wealth seemed utterly perplexed at how to stop Eudarius. And while he himself jeered at such a ridiculous concept of a benevolent God, Jeruh took pleasure in making remarks every so often to stir the men to quarrel anew.

Chancellor Malisdier who had been silent for most of the debate finally stood up, and the room grew quiet. The chief judge of the holy court stood stone still, his long flowing white hair and piercing grey eyes, glowing in the lanterns perched around the room.

"It would seem that most of you in this room are suffering from a temporary case of insanity. You have momentarily forgotten who we are. Here we sit, thirty of the most astute men on the continent, and yet because of one man, the prince of sheepherders and goats, ye quarrel among you like children? The Regime was designed to deal with a nuisance such as Eudarius. We've long suffered him because he was considered a savior to many. Now we break him."

"We shall strike at the heart of the warrior prophet with a toxic, lethal blow, and watch the poison weaken him and his defectors. We will cover the land with a dark cloud of vengeance and wipe every traitor from its remembrance. We will crush him. We'll bring their god to shame and expose him for the weakling is."

"Your Highness, if I may?" Rashnee said. "How shall we proceed? Even as High King of the Fellowship, I am at a loss for answers."

The elder judge panned the room, and his eyes met Jeruh's. The Black Lion feared no man, but something about Malisdier's soulless gaze often vexed him. His arcane mannerism concealed a foreboding tendency that in Jeruh's opinion made the chancellor capable of anything.