The Priest

They have all heard by now, I am sure. I see the looks upon their faces, ones of pity, ones filled with sarcasm, hatred. 'I told you so', their looks say. 'It had to happen some day'. My enemies watch me, knowing that I have lost the thing so dear to me, my very purpose.

My Gods have abandoned me.

The last words they spoke to me, so filled with disappointment, so filled with power, spoken in tandem:

"Priest, you have failed us.
You have not heeded our warnings.
Priest, go now from our sight and do not return."

I went. I left their sight. I have returned, many a time, only to see their faces, cold, hardened stone, looking at me with disgust. I did not heed their call to an end to violence, so they have ended me. My soul, perhaps, though my physical body remains.

I watch the world go by. How many days has it been? Weeks, perhaps. I am not sure. I watch and wait, empty of purpose, empty of being. What am I waiting for? A sign? An end?

I wait.

Then it comes, one day, as I lie beneath the trees, watching the sky through ancient eyes. I realize that perhaps...I have been given a second chance. I have been granted life; a changed one, but a life.

I stand, breathing in the smells of the forest, of the myriad of deer that live here. This is my home, my life, my brothers.

I refuse to be broken, to waste away. I will find my Gods again. I will regain their favor. Somehow, some way, it shall be done. I will not fail my brothers.

"I will find a way."

[Not sure how this sounds, seeing as it's early morning. |D Happy New Year's!]