Instead of the statue of the diety behind them, there was a large pair of golden swans. It was the same way as in the scenery outside, their beaks touching to make a heart. The throne in the middle was the biggest and there were two rows of four thrones each on both its sides. Everyone went inside and took their respective places. High Priest looked on both his sides to see everyone in places and stepped on a small circle carved in the ground. He tapped on it and began to chant again. Golden lines began to shine as they spread out from the circle and formed a map covering the entire floor of the large hall. It was surrounded by mountains on all sides except one and a stream ran through that open side. Right beside the stream was a small picture of the temple"s deity. Between the mountains laid a vast forest with a small golden patch in the middle and a small palace like picture on its side. This wad the same palace carved outside in the scenery. A few kilometers away from the golden patch a black mist started to rise a whirled covering a small part of the forest."There he is!" Priest Dharma shouted as he pointed towards the black mist that was highly contrasting against the golden maplines. All other priests nodded and broke into a heated discussion.
"Now that we know where he is, what should we do now? We can"t win against him in a head on battle even if all us combine our powers. We need a plan." said one of the priests.
"I think Priest Devansh is right. We cannot face him head on. We have to think ahead" Priest Shravan said.
"We don"t even know what he wants to lure him out of there. All the evil spirits seem to be cl.u.s.tered at that one point. I have never seen this happen before." said another. The priests were very well aware of the evil spirits this place attracted due to the high spiritual energy it emitted, but they were always scattered around the forest. They have never seemed to have shown this kind of behavior before.
"Could he have something to do with that? But why would he gather evil spirits?" one asked and everyone started to discuss it among themselves. No one could guess his plan of action or the reason behind doing so.
"Can he harness the powers of the evil spirits?" Prince Dharma asked in confusion. These words made a sudden realization struck in Priest Shravan"s mind.
"Is that why he stole the stone? Nothing other than the Philosopher"s Stone has the powers to do so. It is the only thing that can affect the spirits around it" he said and made their faces go pale.
"We have worked so hard cleansing the Spirit Forest of evil spirits it attracted every year without a miss. And all of that just so one day a lunatic could use it to gather them and fulfill his evil intentions? We all are well aware of the calamities those evil spirits can bring forth if not cleansed in time." Priest Dharma sat back down after he finished. His mind was in a daze as he imagined the consequences of his actions that day. If only he hadn"t hesitated that time, if only he hadn"t let him escape into the Spirit Forest. If only he had followed him and not just imagined him to be dead in there. There were too many ifs, but he knew that there was no way of changing what had already happened. All he could do for now was to rectify his mistake or die trying.
"I do have something in mind, but it involves heavy risks." Priest Vishva finally opened his mouth as he confided in his brothers. Everyone turned towards him and awaited him to continue.
"We can use all our powers to summon the Great Guardians! We cannot let this spiritual place fall into evil hands even if that"s the last thing we do."
Everyone exclaimed at the words -"Great Guardians". Great Guardians were the spirits of former High Priests that ascended and became celestial beings. Summoning them all required an immense amount of power, but that could claim all their lives! The whole Hall of Priests would be wiped off in an attempt to summon them. It was definitely a huge risk. First Priests exchanged glances among themselves unable to decide what to do. The Hall of Priests did posses enough power to do so but it would mean an untimely end to all them. Wouldn"t that be the same as ending the priesthood?
"What about the priesthood then? The priesthood can never end." Priest Shravan voiced out his worries. He was right, even if they overcame the trouble this time by laying down their lives who would be performing the cleansing ceremony afterwards. Without the ceremony, this place would be gone anyway.