Chapter 17: The Meeting at Tribless Hill and the New Commandment
It was an ordinary night as the twelve rested comfortably under the stars in the Cinnamount Woods. The smell of the fragrant bark put a sense of peace in their minds, leaving whatever cares they had were far and few. Kleos went up to Tribless Hill to pray; it was an hour or so before three of them: Ricco, Paskalo, and Theafan went to speak with him. At the hill, Kleos had his back turned as the three stood at the foot of the mound.
Ricco went to speak, but before he could utter a word, a grand aurora of light appeared that enveloped the entire area. In the blink of an eye, Kleos became pure light. His fur was white. The grass, and the stone itself were made white as snow too. The three had to shield their eyes briefly from the shock. Then the Holy One spoke.
“This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen and do what he says.”
When the three recovered, they discovered that Kleos was not the only one on the hill. There were two other creatures, both rabbits, that stood in front of him. The first was a black haired rabbit whose ears were flared at the ends. He was wearing a navy blue jacket that was threaded with gold. Paskalo knew who the rabbit was, he had read all the stories written about him throughout Shavron's history. It was the same rabbit who held Heaven's Ray, and was the same who became the first king of Shavron: it was Gabriel.
The other hare was white. He had the look of wisdom in his eyes, yet humbleness as well. This rabbit wielded a long sword that he wore on his back and his jacket was jet black. At first Paskalo could not figure out who this rabbit was, but after hearing Kleos refer to him as the righteous rabbit, the greyhound immediate knew. He was the same rabbit who was the judge of battle during the reign of Jezerah and Iya; he was the same rabbit who defeated the Chetzians (with the Holy One's guidance of course), and he was the same rabbit who entered the world of night with Gabriel to save the posterity of Shavron: it was Gideon.
Gideon and Gabriel took a knee and paid homage to the Kleos. Kleos told them to rise. Ricco found the courage to speak despite the overwhelming scene before him.
"Lord, should we wake the others?"
Paskalo, Theafan, and Ricco watched as Kleos talked with the rabbits. Although they could not hear what was being said, they were in awe of just being there. However, to deny you the opportunity to know what was said would be a great disservice, so I‘ll draw you closer to hear the words.
"So those are three of the twelve you have chosen," Gideon said looking down the hill, "Are they up for the task you would have them to do?"
"But you said you had chosen twelve."
Gabriel lowered his head. Something was bothering him. Kleos knew what it was, and allowed the rabbit to speak.
"Why does it have to be this way?" said Gabriel, " You were with us in the world of night...you didn't have to die to save the creatures there? Can't you snap your fingers or something to redeem us?"
"Yes, I share Gabriel's thoughts. There must be another way."
Suddenly Gabriel and Gideon were gone. Theafan, Paskalo, Ricco came up the hill.
Kleos knelt down by the Tribless stone and looking back at the three he said,
With his finger, Kleos wrote on the stone. The words appeared like easily as if one was writing on paper with a pen. After the words were complete the writing was exactly the same as the Holy One‘s when he carved the words for the first time.
"Believe on the one whom God has sent." said Ricco repeating the words, "Its you isn‘t it?"
Behind a tree was a spy of the keepers who saw everything. He ran to his leaders to expound what happened.