THE BEGINNING:CHAPTER XV:TEMPLE

The serene night soon gave way for a blizzard that began to fall heavily on the thick snow as well as on a hooded figure who had a baby strapped to his back with a large cloth as they ventured through the stormy blizzard undaunted by the heavy snow storm heading towards his abode which wasn't quite far off from where he tread through the gnarled evergreen trees and kept on plodding on the thick snow which swallowed his feet each time he place his footsteps on the soft snow allowing his boots to be snow cladded with white snow except for his body that was partially covered by the raining snowfall descending upon them including montane regions from the dark sky.
Although he had been treading on the snow path towards his abode under the blizzard with the pale child behind his back, he didn't take anytime to seek shelter from the falling snow under the tall spruce in order to rest for some minutes despite his heavy cloak and his claymore weighing down heavily on his body including the poor child behind his back whom kept on crying out on the way to his cave but he wasn't disturbed by her tears since he had already decided not to pay heed to her summons and kept on trudging heavily on the snow amidst the heavy snowstorm which added thick snow to the snowfield including the spruce that surrounded him as he venture without looking back, towards his hideout that was situated below a rocky hill filled with snow.
Arriving at his cave after carefully ascending the rocky steps to his abode that was quite far away from the wreckage, the hooded man noticed part of the entrance of the cave was almost covered by the raining snow as well as an avanlache from the steep mountain falling down from above the snowcapped region of the cliff and went inside anyway to get some shelter away from stormy weather outside the deep snowfield. He
swiftly pulled down his snowcladded cowl revealing his stern face before stepping into the cave to rest his fatigued feet he used in conveying himself and the baby, whom he tied around his back, from the wreckage towards his rocky home which he had prepared for himself the previous night after trekking for 35miles away from the outskirts of Summervile heading towards his destination located around the eastern montane region far away from the remote areas of Greaves. He slowly untied the strapped cloth around his torso removing the child from his back and placed her beside the cold wall before wrenching his boots from his tired feet letting out large quantity of snow on the dark rocky ground and kept them close to the entrance beside the coarse wall of deep cave. He began undressing his scarlet robe after removing his two short sword which he kept beside a black sack and neatly folded them on the bare floor beside the sack that he had tied concealing his personal outfits including a thick blanket carrying it along with him on his fifth Saji journey to the western remote areas of Summervile in order to carry out his mission assigned to him by Magistrum.
He untied the black sack bringing out the fawn blanket which he lay spread on the rocky ground beside the wall and placed his folded leather robe on it conveying the sheathed swords that he had rested upon and stood up to unstrap his girdle which held his sheathed claymore hanging loosely on his waist putting it on the black sack before taking the baby from the opposite side of the coarse wall and rested the child on the thick blanket which provided the baby a little bit of warmth from the cold atmosphere outside making her feel more comfortable regardless of the little warmth and shelter provided by the snowcladded cave that was almost concealed by the white snow on top of it allowing only a small opening for him to see the heavy snowfall outside that kept falling on the deep rocky valley creating huge lumps of snowdrifts on the rocky terrain. Then he scoured inside the dark cave searching for flints on the rocky ground that was quite dark for him to see using his cold phalanges as well as his trained senses to scrape the ground in rigorous search of a grey stone and was lucky enough to pick one lying on the ground in the darkness far inside the cave where little light from the waxing crescent faded off creating an aura of darkness which he used in striking against one of his steel sword after he got back from inside the cave close to a dry grass he found lying outside the entrance of the cave and ignited a fire keeping it large enough to generate some warmth inside the cave using some twigs he luckily found inside the cave before the blizzard began to subside down allowing the tensed night to reduce its rage on the snowcapped montane creating a serene atmosphere outside the cave which left the hot fire inside the cave alone to keeping flaming resplendently in the cave giving the cave dwellers enough heat to warm themselves from the cold night.
After succeeding in making the fire, he undress his inner semor coat from his body exposing his light undershirt that fitted tightly to his muscular body including his arms except his palm which he placed over the fire warming his cold phalanges before peering at the child who remained quiet on the thick blanket fast asleep under the cozy warmth of the fire that he placed on the centre of the cave near the entrance.
He began to ponder about his entire uneasy life as a wolf hunter fighting alongside some of his comrades whom he sadly lost to the clutches of deadly beasts leaving him and some of his partners to cater for the next generation of acolytes while he peered inside the red fire as he warm himself by the cozy heat related by the fire making the dark cave conducive enough for him to pass the night inside before resuming his journey back to Wind Cloud mountain way beyond the outskirts of Greaves far off from civilization. Another thought came across his mind about what to do with the child he had taken from the wreckage since he only rescued the child from being eaten alive by wild animals especially mountain wolf packs roaming around the region although he could have left her there to be found by the search party and the policemen but he wasn't sure when they would arrive at the scene and wouldn't want to leave an helpless child lying vulnerable waiting to be devoured like the head pilot who had his head chopped off by the alpha dog and its pack which compelled him to take the child with him heading back to his cave where it would be more safer than to await the arrival of the police that might take a longer time before they find the crashed plane. Part of his mind was filled with sympathy for the poor child having lost her parents in the crash but he wasn't sure if he was doing the right thing bringing her back along with to his secret sect and the Magistrum would likely told him to return the baby back to the police which would make all his precious efforts to save the child from the wreckage to be in vain since the sect has a strict code that binds on all ranked members including the lowest apprentice present in the sect as well as the servants which they wouldn't want to be broken by any disciple of their sect and severe penalty differently awaits any ranked offender that is found guilty of breaking the stringent rule.
He raised his head from the fire fixing his gaze on the sleeping child with numerous thoughts echoing inside his mind telling him to return her back to the police who would send her to an orphanage home where she will be cater for instead of accompanying him into a life full of blood and violence which he didn't want for the cute baby to experience suffering rather than a happy life in the city but he suddenly recalled a dead corpse that lay on the ground beside the wall of the aircraft in the standard cabin where he found the baby and had noticed a familiar liquid on the tainted corpse which was quite different from the others that he didn't pay much attention to it until now realizing that the corpse must have been one of those bio soldier that he had encountered in Summervile during his mission secretly sent by the Magistrum to reconnoiter the city about the hidden activities of the Sao clan and managed to get a leads up but was stopped by two fierce mutants who unfortunately pick up his trail possibly recruited by the Sao clan to monitor and deal with spies each time they pick out the trail but luckily managed to slay the beasts using his advanced skills he had learnt his whole life as the second advocate of the wing sect. He finally deduced that someone probably from the Sao clan must have sent some assassin to slay someone important in the airplane which had led to the massacre of the passengers in the aircraft except for the pilot, Marion and Jessica who died as a result of the accidental crash initially caused by the beast putting the life of the child in harms way if he decide to takes her back to the police who might hand her over to whoever is really responsible for deaths of all the boarders of flight A43 that fateful night of December 4th 2001.
He made up his mind to take her back with him to his seat where she would be in safe hands away from the claws of those who would seek her life in the city if they find out her true identity and got up from his rumination before resting his weary body on the hard rocky ground to pass the night as his eyes began to be heavy with sleep having so much thought running inside his mind which he decide to rest quietly in order to renew his clouded mind the following day where it would be less stressful to return since his imminent arrival back home will take place as soon as he wakes up the next day from his slumber that has taken full control of his senses without much resistance from him having accepted his fate to give in to the deep darkness.