Known Afterlife (The Provider Trilogy, Volume One) Read Online Free Page A
Author: Trey Copeland
Mysticnet logs, Steffor took just over a minute before he replied. To Vejax, both times, it felt like an eternity.
"Questions, endless questions. Questions I have asked before I was old enough to sync with the Mystics. Questions that, for every answer I find two more crop up in their place."
"This is the time and place for your questions...all your questions," Kilton said to the group. Everyone gave Kilton a respectful nod, grateful for the Teuton to include him or her but all were as i nterested as he was to hear what questions the impressive youth had to ask. Kilton turned back to Steffor. "There are no bad questions here, what is it that weighs heaviest on your mind?"
"The Provider Exists, both as the world we live upon and as our crea tor, yes?"
"That is correct."
"The Citizens Creed also tells us, through the eternal energy of life, derived directly from the Provider, that Life of a Citizen is Continuous and that as we grow, so does the Provider."
"True."
"That is where I become confused. If the Provider exists, in us, what does that make us ? Am I, we, destined to become a tree, teaming with life spawned directly from our own energy...life that will eventually create the human animal...the vessels in which I may expand and grow? If so, was our Provider once a human like us, born on a tree planet, given a soul by its creator? If we are to become like the Provider, what then does the Provider become when we do? Does the Provider ascend to become a new form of existence? If so, what new form of existence does the creator of our Provider take? Where does it all—"
Steffor's last question came up short as he looked away from Kilton for the first time since starting his flurry of questions, startled by the shocked f aces around the deck. Steffor flinched, squeezing his legs closer to his chest, but to his credit, and the first of many moments the Guardian would earn Vejax's respect, Steffor met the eye of each before turning back to the water running swiftly by the edged hull.
"Young Steffor's questions are what The Four have posed since the Day of Discovery. To question what we believe to be true is healthy for all Citizens. The truth of now empowers us and it is the very foundation of our faith. Face the morrow when it arrives and carry from the past that which improves the present. And for the love of our creator, be patient; be active; be joyous."
"Thank you father. Please forgive us. We love you with our whole hearts." Kilton's timely words, followed by the group's intoned prayer, thankfully broke the yoke of Steffor's thought provoking questions. The days ahead were to be dangerous, requiring the utmost concentration for all. None could afford to cloud the mind with questions that had no answers.
Vejax had looked b ack to Steffor at that moment and, again, was unnerved by the others anticipating stare. Vejax sensed boyish relief from the other, content to let the subject drop. He decided in that moment to shoulder the burden on his own, to keep his unique process hidden to the rest, and we were all grateful he did not share it again.
As was the case then as it was now, Vejax never gave concern to that which he did not know. Living in the present, guided by irrevocable truth, fulfilled him beyond measure. And outwardly , Steffor lived his life the same, completing his training in less than three years, inducted as a Guardian by age fifteen.
From that moment on, Steffor manifested the ideal life of any Guardian, always being at the right place at the right time. It seemed to Vejax, a daily Mysticnet feed without Steffor's name was more uncommon than not. Steffor was the model Guardian, always putting others before himself. If not for the joy produced by the Guardian Games, the one thing you could accuse Steffor of being selfish of was in the dive. But even there it was not hard to correlate his success to his love for everyone.
So here I am, finally forced to confront a faith of another that has manifested
"Questions, endless questions. Questions I have asked before I was old enough to sync with the Mystics. Questions that, for every answer I find two more crop up in their place."
"This is the time and place for your questions...all your questions," Kilton said to the group. Everyone gave Kilton a respectful nod, grateful for the Teuton to include him or her but all were as i nterested as he was to hear what questions the impressive youth had to ask. Kilton turned back to Steffor. "There are no bad questions here, what is it that weighs heaviest on your mind?"
"The Provider Exists, both as the world we live upon and as our crea tor, yes?"
"That is correct."
"The Citizens Creed also tells us, through the eternal energy of life, derived directly from the Provider, that Life of a Citizen is Continuous and that as we grow, so does the Provider."
"True."
"That is where I become confused. If the Provider exists, in us, what does that make us ? Am I, we, destined to become a tree, teaming with life spawned directly from our own energy...life that will eventually create the human animal...the vessels in which I may expand and grow? If so, was our Provider once a human like us, born on a tree planet, given a soul by its creator? If we are to become like the Provider, what then does the Provider become when we do? Does the Provider ascend to become a new form of existence? If so, what new form of existence does the creator of our Provider take? Where does it all—"
Steffor's last question came up short as he looked away from Kilton for the first time since starting his flurry of questions, startled by the shocked f aces around the deck. Steffor flinched, squeezing his legs closer to his chest, but to his credit, and the first of many moments the Guardian would earn Vejax's respect, Steffor met the eye of each before turning back to the water running swiftly by the edged hull.
"Young Steffor's questions are what The Four have posed since the Day of Discovery. To question what we believe to be true is healthy for all Citizens. The truth of now empowers us and it is the very foundation of our faith. Face the morrow when it arrives and carry from the past that which improves the present. And for the love of our creator, be patient; be active; be joyous."
"Thank you father. Please forgive us. We love you with our whole hearts." Kilton's timely words, followed by the group's intoned prayer, thankfully broke the yoke of Steffor's thought provoking questions. The days ahead were to be dangerous, requiring the utmost concentration for all. None could afford to cloud the mind with questions that had no answers.
Vejax had looked b ack to Steffor at that moment and, again, was unnerved by the others anticipating stare. Vejax sensed boyish relief from the other, content to let the subject drop. He decided in that moment to shoulder the burden on his own, to keep his unique process hidden to the rest, and we were all grateful he did not share it again.
As was the case then as it was now, Vejax never gave concern to that which he did not know. Living in the present, guided by irrevocable truth, fulfilled him beyond measure. And outwardly , Steffor lived his life the same, completing his training in less than three years, inducted as a Guardian by age fifteen.
From that moment on, Steffor manifested the ideal life of any Guardian, always being at the right place at the right time. It seemed to Vejax, a daily Mysticnet feed without Steffor's name was more uncommon than not. Steffor was the model Guardian, always putting others before himself. If not for the joy produced by the Guardian Games, the one thing you could accuse Steffor of being selfish of was in the dive. But even there it was not hard to correlate his success to his love for everyone.
So here I am, finally forced to confront a faith of another that has manifested
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