Chapter 21: A Night of Good and Evil
Reaich woke up on a fine morning. After arriving for breakfast, one of the students presented him with a letter. The otter took the letter, tore the paper and read the words. Instead of holding a mere letter, Reiach believed he was holding pure gold. Naasson and Seth took notice of the otter‘s change in expression. Reiach slammed the letter on the table for all to see. This is what letter said:
To Reiach, the chief keeper,
I am, what you would call, a lower member of Shavron. It has been brought to my attention ,by your unceasing pursuit to destroy Kleos, to taken an interest in your proposal. I too have plans for Shavron, and despite my pleas for him to understand me, Kleos has reject my ways and therefore I must reject him. Come to the Cinnamount Woods tonight, alone.
"I told you there‘s always a bad apple in the bunch!" Reiach said raising his arm in triumph.
"Looks like your meeting is tonight, should we come with you," said Seth.
"Well this character wants me to come alone, but I don‘t take orders from peasants."
During the day, Kleos healed the sick that came to him, a number that was so prevalent it took the entire day to see them all. Among the multitude was two koalas. The father stayed close to his young daughter whose face, half of it, was wrapped in a gray cloak.
Once the crowd had mingled they cried out for Kleos, as did the koalas. The father cried once more, but saw that he could not overpower the other voices in desperate need. He took his daughter and returned home, yet his daughter was not easily given to discouragement as her father was; so during the night, she snuck from her home in pursuit of the Kleos.
She found him safely. The young koala ran up to him and hugged Kleos, the twelve smiled to see such a warm sight.
"It‘s you! Its really you!" said the young Koala.
"I know, but my dad and I was here this morning to see you. He tried calling you, but I guess you couldn‘t hear us so we left."
Mia lowered her head, but Kleos returned it back to its level state.
Mia nodded her head. Kleos slowly removed the cloak. The cloth revealed a terrible scar, brought on by fire, that covered half of Mia‘s face. The right eye was swollen shut and all the fur had been burnt down to the pink skin, leaving with it a waxy completion. Her right ear was gone; only a gash remained of what was once a body part. The twelve tried to hide their horror, but it showed far too well with their small displays of anguish. Mia had seen enough. Snatching the cloth from Kleos‘s hand, she frantically wrapped her face again.
"I hate how they look at me!" cried Mia, " I hate how they all look at me!"
"Mia," he said bringing her to silence, " You did not come out here to leave again."
"But they‘re looking at me."
"Don‘t worry how they look at you," Kleos said, "keep you focus on Me."
Kleos removed the cloth again. The panda tickled the side of her face all the way to the top of her head. Now this was not just to make her laugh. Whenever he tickled her, a small patch of fur would appear that was the same gray as the rest of her face. The ten watched in awe as the Maestro continued his work. He went to the swollen eye, and pressing it with his hand, he wiped the swollen mass back until the skin was in proportion with the rest of her face. The eye itself was blind, but with a swift blow of air from Kleos, it became a functioning organ again. There was one last piece to finish. That gash, the missing ear, was nothing more than a hole to Kleos. He reached inside and began to pull. Mia squinted a little, but there was no real pain; and what came out was another ear, just the same as the left. Kleos stepped back to examine his work. He looked closely at Mia as an artist would with a painting. Suddenly an idea came to him and with his finger he brushed Mia‘s forehead. Three white streaks appeared with every stroke. It was Kleos's signature– for God always signs his work.
Under the night he took Mia back home to her father who was quiet upset that she left without his consent, but once Kleos explained the situation everything was made right. The father was overjoyed that his daughter was made whole and fell to his knees and worshipped.
Among the twelve, Angus pulled Poe away from the group. The dog explained to his partner of his endeavor with the keeper‘s.
"I have been in the dirt and the mire with that farmer, and he won‘t consent to my reasoning."
"No," said Poe, "You‘ve seen God–I have too. What are you up to with the keepers?"
"I‘ll tell you later, its time to leave these fools, let‘s go."
"No, Angus," said Poe, "I‘m not leaving him."
A brief contention ensued, but Poe was unrelenting. With a sneer, the husky dog ran into the night for his visitation.
The Cinnamount Woods carried a foreboding appearance with the illumination of the moon. Reiach lead the way as the other two keepers followed from behind.
"We should have brought some soldiers," said Naasson, " This could be a trap."
"Oh, be quiet. There‘s nothing to fear."
Angus spotted the three coming. Not knowing who they were he called out to them, and after a brief introduction, the four came to meeting.
"I told you to come alone."
"Calm down, let‘s focus on the matter," said Reiach. " I need the farmer during the Exodus fair, can you do it?"
"Sure," said Angus, "for a price. You greedy little pigs can spare a few coins for a poor creature like myself."– the husky cleared his throat– " I‘ll give you Kleos for seven hundred gold coins."
"You‘re out of your mind—a farmer isn‘t worth thirty silver coins," said Reiach, "But that‘s what you‘ll get."
Rieach produced the pouch of silver. He shook it to make the coins jingle inside. The sound pricked Angus‘s ears and he agree to it."
The otter threw Angus a silver ring. On it was engrave a timely phrase that was quite ironic in lieu of Angus‘s pursuit: From friend to friend.
"You‘ll get the money when I get the farmer. Use that ring to identify the panda for the soldiers, got it?" replied Reiach.
"Yeah, yeah, just make sure you keep your end of the bargain." said Angus.
The husky dog flipped the ring in his hand as he disappeared into the dark wood, awaiting to find opportunity to betray Kleos. So all the pieces were in place for Reiach to kill Kleos, but little did the otter know that it would be by the will of the Lord that he would even touch the panda. The feeble efforts of the judges held no real power, but the Holy One was using the evils that generated in the minds of the judges to bring about a great good that would bring salvation to that entire world.