"Hey, you need to pay attention. We are nearly to the next vige." The high priest was gray haired and growing a bear now. The boy that had once healed him was decently taller and in his own robes. He was a traveling priest under the high priest who had taken him under his wing the day he was saved.


    "I apologize high priest, I was just distracted. I don''t want this to be thest journey I take with you. Do you need to retire to a cathedral? Can''t I just get you a carriage toe with me?" The worry in the boy''s eyes was all too clear.


    "Ohe now. You have grown enough to lead a group of healers like this alone. You followed my lead to the point. You gave up your name, pledged your life to healing, and have been to over twenty viges with me. It''s time for you to walk the path alone. I can''t always be there. Just don''t let anyone push you around because you weren''t born in the church like I was. You earned your ce as a priest and I will live long enough to see you be a high priest. I promise you that." The high priest pushed the priest ahead. "And I can promise you, I won''t miss traveling. I like my bed you know. So, tell me, what did the letter say is going on in this vige?"


    "Ah, yes. The vige has a gue of illness. It attacks the adults and is resistant to medicine and healing. That''s why we were sent. A high priest should be able to help the adults. The children aren''t affected though so it''s very odd. It''s a mystery." The priest looked up at his teacher, the high priest.


    "And?"


    "Adventurers already checked for poisoned water in the stream nearby and found nothing. They said that they didn''t even find the usual monster around which is also odd. It might be an illness that came from a monster. But that''s just a theory."


    <o>,m "Good, you have the information now let''s go on inside those wooden walls and see what we can do." The high priest and priest guided the five healers with them inside. The priest was by far the youngest but he had long exceeded many healers in the church with his healing abilities. It was a prime example of a cut above the rest. This made him the youngest priest ever under a high priest. An aplishment that garnered the attention of the grand cathedral which fostered talent from their nobles in the northern city and were not happy to see a gem found elsewhere since it may undermine their superiority in healing.</o>


    "Well aren''t you very tough to stand guard and open the gates. Are your parents in need of healing?" The teen that was watching guard could only nod. The spear he held was toorge for him but he pushed the gate closed and showed the healers to therge dwelling.


    "Only fifteen left. And thirty five children…Alright, listen up. We will begin with the most in need. We will work our way through the room. Children, please step away and be ready. We will call if we need you." The high priest spoke loudly but with calm strength. It seemed to be a skill he had that the priest had envied for years now. "Go and speak to the children. You are closest in age to them and might be ankle to figure out what is going on. Not many of them have families left. I think you are the best to put them at ease." The task meant a lot more to the priest than others so the high priest had made the obvious decision to send him.


    "I will do my best." The children had been sent outside but did not go far. They had no idea what to do without the guidance of their elders and adults. The teens had taken over to begin to protect their vige but that had been all they could do.


    "My high priest has asked me to see if any of you are injured and need attention!" The priest announced this while looking at all of the children and few teens that had gathered.


    "How can you help us? You are barely our age. Hell, I think I''m older than you!" The teen that had been the other guard walked over and got right in the priest''s face.


    "Like this," The priest waved a hand a the three closest children were healed from scratches they had gotten while running about without supervision. "Now, let''s also talk about anything weird that may have happened when all this started. I want to know if we can figure out what caused this so we can heal everyone and avoid this ever happening again." The slight trick of healing had caught many of the children''s eyes. They didn''t appear too worried anymore.


    "It was the snow!"


    "Yeah, the snow!"


    "No, it wasn''t the snow. That was a fluke of the weather."


    The teen that had spoken before cut off the child speaking.


    "Snow? It''s too warm for snow right now. When?" This seemed a little familiar but the priest couldn''t figure it out just yet.


    "Ugh, one night about a month ago we were going him and some white snow fell for a little while. It was blown away by the wind but every kid freaked out saying it was snowing. A few dayster the adults were not feeling well but it couldn''t be snow. It blows down from the mountains sometimes and melts fast enough." The teen exined this but had unknowingly been misled. The priest had already turned around and begun to sprint back to the high priest. He remembered what he had learned. His past lessons screamed at him to alert the healers.


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