Reign Of Fayala

Solutions

       Ohas left her sleeping quarters and is her custom walked to the courtyard past the various construction projects involved with rebuilding the inner sanctum. She proceeded through the caves towards the valley and the newly constructed Earth Goddess Temple.  

Six full moons had passed since the establishment of the order and much had changed. The renovations were proceeding at a rapid pace as there were thousands of laborers made available from the dissolved townships. There were people working all over the temple from sunup to sunset under the strict supervision of the Priestesses.

         As is now required the workers would pause in the labor and lower their heads as she walked by. Only she, Mira and the Spirit Priestesses wore the blue robes and received this particular kind of deference. The temple priestesses strictly enforced this show of respect and should the Goddess herself be in the area all were expected to kneel and bow to the ground.

Even though she felt it an unnecessary form of veneration she had become accustomed to people stopping and bowing to her as she passed. As the new decrees were being fashioned Fayala had insisted that humanity be brought under the sternest of supervision which included a visible show of respect to a High Priestesses of the Order.

     Ohas understood the concept and intent of due respect but she wondered if they had taken it too far with the Spirit Priestesses. She always knew when one was in the area as she could sense the heightened anxiety among the workers. Sometimes they even made her nervous, she knew the respect and deference they all now received was derived out of the fear they instilled in the people.

          Ohas proceeded to the cave entrance that would take her to the valley. The reconstructed entrance was left without doors to allow free access for all to enjoy the unspoiled retreat of Goddess Fayala. At the far end of the valley hundreds of workers were building the Earth Goddesses new residence. Like the temple It too was being constructed into the side of a massive mountain. It would consist of vast courtyards, palisades, vestibules, chambers, and a grand assembly area all tailored to her height and comfort. The final structure will extend out from the mountain down to the lake were a large bathing pool was being built for Goddess Fayala.

            Ohas strolled along the broad marble pathway that would take her around the lake to Fayala's new residence. She stopped at the shrine that held the remains of priestesses and servants who had lost their lives in the violence. Workers at the shrine paused in their labors while Ohas paid her respects.

A female worker tentatively approached her, knelt, gently took her hand and kissed her fingers. "Thank you, thank you for sparing my husband Priestess," she said.

Ohas recognized the woman as the wife of Mayor Andreas who was standing passively nearby. He had been spared the punishment that left men imbecilic and was instead bound to labor at the temple for the rest of his life. His wife had agreed to stay with him. "You have no need to thank me," she replied. "Your sacrifice, to vouch for your husband and stay here with him is what spared him the teaching, he should be grateful to you."

Fayala and Mira were together in the newly constructed shrine near the Earth Goddess temple and psychically greeted Ohas as she approached. The implementation of the Order and the placement of the Spirit Priestesses as matriarchs of the outlying villages had been finalized and Mira and Ohas had spent the last several months inspecting the new provincial villages.

     Humanity had been successfully scoured of undesirable influences, which in some cases included people. Dwellings and materials not considered ecologically apposite were confiscated and destroyed. All children thirteen seasons and younger were relocated to instructional centers to be cultured in the new eco-agrarian based society that was to be humanity's future. In effect the Order had instituted a reset on human civilization.

          Fayala would not make the same mistake of being complacent in her attention to matters of social order. It had become all too apparent that humanity needed moral and ethical guidance from an authoritarian symbol that would be respected, and feared. Ohas and Mira became her two High Priestesses to whom the Spirit Priestesses were answerable to.

Though already powerful in their own right, Fayala shared part of her own psychic DNA empowering them with abilities comparable to hers. The Spirit Priestess became her personal representatives away from the temple to rule over the town's citizenry in the Order and to enforce the new natural laws when necessary.

          The creation of the Spirit Priestesses did not come about without contentious debate amongst the Sisters. Fayala, Mira and Ohas together had developed the ability to enter a human body through spirit travel and alter the genetic code of that person creating a unique and exceptional being. Fayala had desired that the Spirit Priestesses possess expanded psychic abilities with the power to touch and influence the minds of thousands simultaneously. These special priestesses would be able to reach out over great distances to locate and connect with people though they would be limited in the intensity and scope of the psychic power they could bring to bear.

          In some women Mira recognized a specific gene sequence that ancient Miorpeans were known to possess. They had the ability to read, sense and influence many minds and thoughts simultaneously. They were easy to identify as their translucent skin was pale while their eyes, lips, hair and nails maintained a bluish tint.

The Three Sisters of the Order activated these long dormant genes  in select women and created the Spirit Priestesses. The process caused a physical change to the women that made them similar in appearance to their ancient benefactors. They developed an intense whitish tint to their skin with blue tinges around their eyes and lips and to their hair. They were beauteous in an other-worldly way and their power lay in the ability to read, sense and influence many minds and thoughts concurrently.

           "Greetings sisters," relayed Ohas as she joined Mira and Fayala at the shrine. The quaint structure had been purposely constructed on a mountain backdrop out of view from the valley. This is the one place they could drop all the newly adopted pretenses and formalities and relax with each other.

"I must be honest," began Mira, "this transitional period went much better than I anticipated."

Ohas looked down at the floor, "we all know full well the reason the people capitulated so readily, even when we took their children, they offered no resistance not even a whimper."

Fayala reached out to her troubled priestess. "Ohas my dear one, the Spirit Priestesses are a means to an end, and when that end is near, when the children mature and are ready to take their place as this planet's steward they will no longer be needed."

                Ohas sat up and looked at Mira and Fayala. "We took ten wonderful women and using our abilities as one altered their genetic matrix and their minds to create powerful psychic beings without morals and compassion, they frighten me."

   Mira approached Ohas and knelt before her, she took her hands into hers. "I know," she said sympathetically, "they were designed to be intimidating, callous, and most importantly ... short lived."

Fayala added, "in a few years their genetic enhancements will cause their brains to fail and they will quickly, quietly, pass away."  "By then the children of humanity will be able to vie for themselves in harmonious companionship with the land."

Ohas looked into the eyes of her sister, "we should have told them that before we changed them into ... monsters, those women, those poor women," she decried.

Unbeknown to the Sisters, they were being listened to ...