Dark temple

Lately, Zain has been noticing strange changes in her body. Unexplainable disappearance of bruises, and instant healing of wounds. At first, she didn't believe it, but when she saw it happen before her very eyes, and after a series of personal experiments taken by her, she saw and believed it, but couldn't explain it. She needed explanations for this new change in her body. She desperately needed to meet her teacher, Abigail, to find out if she would have any explanation for her strange cell mutation, but mainly to request of her, only a little bit of petal from the healers' flower, for her brother. The number of armed men that guarded the laboratory throughout the day, discouraged Zain from meeting with Abigail. She just studied books and scrolls about healing, and about ancient physicians. She was going through them to check if there were any similar medical records to that hers ever in history. She spent all day in the temple library, scanning through for useful answers and solutions. Today she caught interest in a particular ancient scroll about cellular regeneration. It was talking about how the cells of the human body could be able to harness its protoplasm to achieve a certain complexity in the growth and repairs of worn-out tissues. Although the scroll was among the under-relevant documents, something in it made her eager to read it over and over again. The scroll made reference multiple times to another book named Phoenix, which she was still yet to find. She read the scroll throughout the day till her eyes itched. She got so tired with the passing of time. Zain decided to have a little nap before heading back home.

Zain was woken up by strange disturbing sounds of unfamiliar voices, echoing through her ears. Looking around her, she couldn't recon where she was at that point. She found herself in a hideous gloom of thick darkness. The voices increased. They were more audible to her now. They sounded like some sort of unholy chants. It all appeared to be a scary nightmare. It was getting more frightening and frightening by the passing moment. She desperately hoped that this was just one terrifying nightmare that would just pass away like any other dream, and she would just wake up anyway, but this didn't look like a typical dream, it felt more like reality. She stood up from where she sat, and blindly swung open her arms, feeling the cool dark air like a bat in the day. She wanted to take a step, but something on the floor obstructed her, countering her step, and allowing her to trip and fall. She fell hard to the ground. She bruised her temple in the process. Just like normal, she felt the wound on her head heal in an instant. The pain disappeared too. Right there on the ground, her hands reached the bench she sat on, and the desk. As she tried to get back to her feet, a huge pile of books crashed down upon her, sending her back to the ground. It was after this that she started to recall. She sat up now, looking around in confusion. She remembered that the last place she was in, was the temple when she decided to take a nap. She never remembered leaving the temple. It looked to her like hours had passed in a flash. One moment it was the golden hour of noon, and the lingering approaching of dusk. The next, she's woken up by odd voices, only to find herself in the scary darkness of the temple. She tip-toed silently to the only visible object in the large hall. A large glass window was ignited by the shaky glow of yellow light. As she went, she felt the air with her arm, to avoid bumping into objects. At the window, she could see blurry images of about five or six men. They were with bright torches, in a circle, chanting words she couldn't unravel. There was one of them doing something on the ground. This was so strange. She knew not who they were, or what they were doing, but whatever it was they did by that hour of the night, she found sacrilegious. She looked closer. She spotted a child bounded by a rope and restrained by another of the men. One nearby was holding a glittery dagger in his hand. Zain was getting more worried about all of these. Where they about to use this girl child for some unholy sacrifice? She asked herself. It was during the dark era that human sacrifices were performed, but all of those evil practices were already abolished. This was so barbaric to be done. Zain was super careful now. She wouldn't want to be caught peeping at them. She tried not to make any slight noise. Holding a child by that time of the night was enough proof that they were cultists, and they were doing something illegal and unacceptable to the people. She knew that they wouldn't leave her alive if they saw her. As she stood there, trying to maintain the silence, her leg uneasy leg knocked down something by her side. The sickening sound of the clattered brittle ware reached her ears. She hastily knelt to feel the floor for what had fractured, or rather, what she had mistakenly destroyed. She prayed it wasn't one of the expensive bronze idols of the temple, that she had knocked down. She felt the floor and touched something hard and round. She handled it with her fingers, studying its details. It was one of the sculpted gods, separated from the main body.

"Oh no," muttered Zain in the darkness.

She remembered the priest warned her himself about damaging the priceless objects of the temple. She had always been careful ever since. Now she would have to pay for damages. Soon she found the headless body of the bronze god. She held it tight in her hand. She had to take it home, get it fixed, and return it, without any further interrogations. She felt sorry for the girl outside amid those barbarians. As she was still kneeling on the floor, something came to her mind. She vividly remembered that the sound made by the fallen Idle was loud, loud enough to be heard by the men outside. She found out now that their chants had abruptly stopped. Zain peeped through the window above her. The men were now two in number, the rest were nowhere to be found. The ones remaining were the one holding the bounded girl, and another one standing before a fire, holding a glittery double edge sword. Zain squatted down to the ground, leaning her back against the wall below the window. After some minutes, she heard sounds of footsteps from behind the window, and could now see shadows of about five men with swords and torches, passing by. She trembled in great fear. Where these men coming for her? She thought. Zain was shivering where she was. She could feel the chill of her cold sweat, trickling down her spine underneath her silky garment. She wondered why the temple was that cold by that hour, even though there were glass windows. After a short time, she heard a loud sound down the entrance door of the temple library.

Thump! Squeak!, Came the sound, as the door screeched open. A dull glow of yellow light partly illuminated the hall. Zain peeped above the desk. She could see the men standing back by the entrance door. They were all armed to the teeth. Clearly, they came for her.

"Who's in here?" came a loud voice from afar.

Zain bent low, maintaining her silence. She was in a terrible state of fear. She could even hear the throbbing sounds of her heartbeat, pounding aggressively within her. She could hear their footsteps slowly approaching. There were still about thirty rows of benches before they get to her.