Rolf followed me down the main street of the village of Thunder Ridge Castle. The village itself was called Ta'arny and I had visited it often since my arrival at the castle. It was like walking through a part of living history, a history that was now mine. The town's people left me alone for the most part after acknowledging my presence, with a warm welcome of good morning, which I returned in kind. They knew where I was headed.
I was headed to the chapel, which was the center of every Valley Lander town. The building wasn't pretentious, but it was beautiful. It was made out of cut stones that had been from the original chapel. It had been burned down four times over the years. As it was being rebuilt, as much of the original building was incorporated as possible, which created a eclectic styled appearance. Flowering vines twirled their ways up the rough stone sides of the chapel gracing it with their blossoms. The dome of the chapel was of an aged white plaster veneer and there were words scrolled around the dome that read, 'Until the Savior comes we fight on'. It was a saying that dated back to when all the people of this world had belonged to one tribe, the Vallians.
I passed under the oaken door lintel into the spacious chapel beyond. There was a sense of peace within the chapel that soothed my soul. Passing through the rows of seating I went out a side door on the far end of the chapel. Rolf stayed in the chapel. I think he found it soothing as well and usually stayed inside when I came to the chapel garden. The side door had already been open. I stepped into the garden beyond. The morning sun touched my face as did the pleasant aroma of the meditation garden. The garden was enclosed within a courtyard that was located off of the chapel building. It contained a central reflecting pool with paths that radiated off of it throughout the garden plantings. What interested me most about the garden was not its plantings or its peaceful beauty, but rather what was inscribed all over it. The stones of the pathway, the courtyard walls, and even the boulders situated in the landscape plantings were all artfully inscribed with the fragments of the Holy Scriptures that were still left to us. I had spent hours in this garden going over the fragments of the words of the Creator. It was both exhilarating and frustrating to see so many of the Creator's words. It was frustrating because there was so much missing. One could get the jist of it, but not the full substance or even the contextual meaning of some of the passages.