Introduction: The Prisoner
Come God, to this troubled world.
Come God, shed your light abroad.
Come God, save the lost where they stand.
Few to begin with; millions to end
Come God, spare not your grace.
Send the workers into the race.
God has come into this trouble world.
God has shed his light abroad.
His work is always grand.
God saves the lost where they stand.
The poet of the inspirational verse was sitting quietly on a stool with feathered pen in hand and writing gracefully with ink paying no mind to the beggarly elements around him. The elements ,of course, had to be ignored for the prison in which he dwelt produced multiple sounds of anguish and pain. If it wasn't a prisoner howling from starvation, it was a inmate pleading for mercy from the copious beatings from the guards. Yet these sounds, which were once a terror to the poet, were now nothing more that mundane distractions. His cell was fairly large and despite the wardens dictum of overcrowding every cell, the poet; whether by grace or in earthly terms luck, was given a cell all to himself. The heavy stench of mold sat in the air that made most of the inmates sick to their stomachs. Light was provided by torches whose perpetual burning resemble a dance and provided the only means of entertainment. After finishing his last line to the previous poem, a tape on the cell bars interrupted him. He did not turn around in haste as most of the inmates out of fear, but calmly straightened his back to acknowledge the sound. A leopard, his assigned guard, looked over the captive with apathy and indifference. There was reason for this: the prisoner was an inciter of trouble in the land of Chetz.
The poet was an otter with silvery gray fur due to his old age. He was blind in his right eye, but never complained from the ailment. He wore a brown murky cloak with two pieces of patchwork along the back. Turning his head the leopard saw the right eye that was blind, the wrinkles in the face; and to the leopards dismay, the whimsical smile.
“Is it time yet,” replied the otter.
“Two days from the emperors command.”
“Well, leave it to the Chetzians to be punctual.” replied the otter sarcastically, “I was sentence in this prison three years, five days, and four hours ago . In which I was told I would be beheaded within that time. Why the wait?”
The leopard agape from the otter's lack of concern for his noggin, responded as any good Chetzian leopard would.
“The Chetzians will make on their due on their promise, otter, be sure of that!.” he said standing proudly, “ As a Shavronite you should know that from history.”
“Oh,” replied the otter a little surprised, “You mean when God slew Lugar the greatest general in Chetzian history and destroyed him by the hands of a mere rabbit.”
The history lesson, which can be found in tale “The Rebirth of Shavron“ , was a blow to the leopards ego; for it was known in the books of Chetz that Lugar was defeated by a great force on the infamous day, but none of the leopards; from the emperor to the common peasant, rarely spoke of the story and when one did it was always putting the beloved general in the greatest of praise and prestige. The leopard whacked the prison bars with his short sword, and then pointing it directly at the otter.
“Watch you tongue, Shavronite!”
“You're right, I should.” said the otter. “ My apologizes for insulting the mighty army that won every battle except one.”
This calmed the situation and the leopard returned his sword to its sheath.
“That's better,” said the leopard rolling shoulders with an air of conceit. “Next time I come in there and finish you off myself.
A slight giggle came from the prisoner who had heard the threat numerous times with his three year, five days, and four hour sentence. However the smile on his face turned into a expression of concern for the leopard. So the otter asked the only question to show his odd concern for his oppressor.
“Would you like to hear a story?”
“What?”
“A story,” said the otter scratching his head, “ you know, a composition made up of characters, a plot, and a ending.”
“I know what a story is,” said the leopard angrily. “What is it about?”
“Listen and find out.”
The leopard was inclined to be on his guard about this otter. He knew, from gossip around the land, that this creature told a story of One God among lands of many gods. He told stories about a specific creature who was God in flesh and bone who willing perished for the sins of all creatures; and after being murdered, lived again! The leopard gave the otter a deep and loathing askance; however, with his assignment of guarding the otter for two days, there was little to do and it was better to listen to a tale than to suffer from ennui. The leopard found a stool, propped it near the cell door, and sat down.
“Start,” he said, “ but if my ear catches even a hint of something I don't like, I'll come in there and beat you to a pulp.”
“Funny,” said the otter, descending from the stool slowly, “The last four guards said the same thing and yet not one has assailed me. By the way my name is Reiach and your name is?”
“None of your business.” replied the leopard.
“Well, Mr. None of Your Business, this story is about Gosha: The Kingdom of the Wolf. It's a nice place, a peaceful place.“
“A boring place!” said the leopard rolling his eyes.
“It's a good place.” said the otter correcting the comment, “Its good because of the Good is there now.”
“How does good find its place in that land?”
Reiach smiled and started the story.