Withstanding Trials: Day 19

Word Count: 114,194

Summary of Events:

Aodhán and Conchobhar were out in the hunting blind watching the distant fire of the festival glow when Aodhán noticed the glow was larger, and part of it was growing brighter. Conchobhar informed him that it was the torches of the attackers and Aodhán slipped away discreetly to hide in the church's belfry, where he shot arrows to try and scare the attackers without wounding them, prompting them to try and climb the church to get at him, but without much success, forcing them to retreat once the fires they'd set and the torches they'd brought burnt out, although they declared they'd be back the following night. Aodhán, wearied from having shot off so many arrows and stayed up so late, slept most of the day before waking in the late afternoon when Conchobhar came into his room to talk with him about what he'd done, including revealing to Aodhán that a widow whose hiding place was near the church had heard Aodhán challenge the attackers about their gods, to which the attackers hadn't had an answer…

Excerpt of the Day:

“But why does that matter?” Aodhán asked. “They were resistant.”

“Nevertheless, they were forced to retreat,” Conchobhar replied. “If I were still among them, I would’ve considered that a sign that God was at least as powerful as the sum of the gods.”

“So you think they’re now inclined to be a little worried about what might happen to them if they pit themselves against God again?” Aodhán asked.

“If I were among them, I’d be,” Conchobhar replied. “I’d be worried that maybe the gods aren’t so superior as I’ve always been led to believe.”

“But won’t the druid persuade them otherwise?” Aodhán asked.

“Oh, undoubtedly,” Conchobhar replied. “He’ll even threaten curses on them if they don’t want to go, and will terrify them into coming against us again, but I can assure you that most people are terrified of the druid even more than they fear the gods.”

“I’m not surprised,” Aodhán said.

“You saw him on the hill?” Conchobhar asked.

Aodhán nodded, quickly shaking his head to dispel the image.

“Pure evil,” Conchobhar said. “Oftentimes I find myself imagining the devil in druid’s garb. Makes him more terrifying that way.”

“But I still don’t understand,” Aodhán said. “How will it not be worse?”

“Because even if the druid terrifies them and gives them intoxicants to energise them in their attacks against those who are considered enemies, he never gives them assurance,” Conchobhar replied. “They are always motivated out of fear, which breeds hate in them toward those like us, who do know. We know truth, we know life, we know peace, we know where we’re going, and most of all, we know the One who holds the future. They have no confidence or hope of anything, but last night, what you did, I believe, will cause them to know that the gods they worship out of fear are not greater than the God you worship out of love and confidence, and the fact that you were so bold toward them with your words will have shaken them, even if they would never admit it to a soul.”

“So… you think I did the right thing?” Aodhán asked.

“I don’t know that I could define it as right or wrong,” Conchobhar replied. “But I can at least say that you did a brave thing, and your courage, as one man alone, to withstand them, and possessing what probably seemed a miraculously large supply of arrows, considering how many we found lying around, even if most of them were broken, that intimidated them. I can assure you of that.”