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"In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit," finished the priest, closing his bible and looking out unto the congregation.

"Amen," they said as one.

Aria looked over at her brother, who had stood up and looking around at the church with a confused expression on his face.

"Arien, where has father gone?" Aria asked her distraught brother.

"I do not know, but he told me to get us home and lock the doors," Arien replied.

"For what reason? Who were those men?" Aria asked, following her brother out of the pew towards the doors of the church, through which a flood of worshipers were exiting.

"I don't know, I've never seen them before in my life," Arien replied.

"If they have come to speak with our father, why must they do so inprivate? Our father keeps no secrets, so what could they-" Aria stopped as she bumped into a tall auburn fox wearing the black garb of a priest.

"Aria! Watch where you're going," berated the fox, looking down at her with an annoyed expression.

"I am sorry Hal. I am distracted at the moment," Aria replied, bowing her head slightly.

"Well, I should certainly think so. Thinking about your father and those three strangers who came to see him, are you?" he inquired, looking perceptively at the two fox siblings.

"Yes, do you know anything about them?" asked Arien.

"Unfortunately I do not, but Father Roehns may know something of the matter. He has asked me to bring you to him. Follow me," said the fox, turning away from the two of them and walking towards the steps leading to the undercroft.

Aria looked at her brother who nodded and walked after the young priest. The three made it to a large wooden door with an impressive white cross painted across it from top to bottom. Hal pushed the door open and held the door open for them.

The brother and sister entered into a small, low ceilinged room. A plain wooden table lay in the center of the room, with two long benches on either side for sitting. Off to the left side of the room was a smaller wooden table with a pair of simple wooden chairs next to it. A pair of priests sat at the chairs, casually leafing through books, relaxing in front of a fire that burned brightly within a hearth. To the right was a small altar with a metal basin full of water, and to either side were tall bookshelves stocked from top to bottom with religious books with somber colored bindings.

Hal led the two past this room into a branching set of corridors that led to the priests' personal rooms. At the end of the corridor straight ahead was a simple wooden door with an round metal handle. Inscribed upon the handle were various religious motifs; a sun, a crown of thorns, a lamb.

Hal opened the door and gestured them inside before closing the door. Aria and Arien looked at one another before turning to the room's other occupant.

An old man of well over seventy years of age, father Roehns was a devout clergyman. The townspeople were affectionate of the old man, and they said that the Father could raise people up on his eagle's wings to bring them closer to god. He was good humored, but could be serious when he wished to be, and Aria assumed that this was one of those times. She could see it in his tired and weary eyes that something was happening, and that he felt powerless to stop it. She had always pitied and adored the old man, and she had spent many days helping out at the church to help him with the chores he was too old and weak to do on his own.

Father Roehns looked at the two young siblings as he stood opposite of them. His hands were crossed behind his back, and his wings were folded behind his back. He looked sternly at the two of them, but his eyes softened after a moment, and he gestured towards a pair of chairs in the corner of the room. "Sit down, please, I must talk to you."

The brother and sister did as they were bade. Father Roehns sat down at his own chair, relaxing and letting his old sore legs rest for a moment. He let out a deep contented sigh and then began to speak, firmly, but wearily.

"Aria, Arien, as you know, a group of strangers came to speak with your father today. I imagine that the two of you are surprised, and perhaps even a little worried about this. I hope that what I have to tell you will ease your minds, at least a little bit.

"These men are good men, known to our church, and they do not mean your father any harm. I will not give you your names, for you will not know them, and I would rather not have you asking questions about them out in the town."

"If they mean our father no harm, why then should we not know their names?" Arien asked defiantly.

Father Roehns hesitated before answering. "And what will you do if I give you their names?"

"Father, please, we just want to know who we are. Hardly anyone from out of town comes to speak with our father, and we have never seen these men. We're worried about him..." Aria broke off with trepidation.

"My child, why are you so afraid?" Father Roehns asked the young vixen, looking compassionately at her.

"They were armed, and one of them wore a sinister look upon his face," Aria replied.

"Ah, you speak of Seth...Yes, he has never been at ease in a church...He was never baptised, his brothers tell me...But I assure you, he means your father no harm," Father Roehns mused.

"Ah! You have given us a name!" exclaimed Arien.

"Yes, I have, but it is only a name, and it means nothing to you. Seth, Ilya, and Ashe are three brothers who often undertake missions for the church. I will not tell you anything about what they do, for their work is perilous" Roehns spoke calmly.

"What peril? If our father knows about them, then he is in danger!" Aria cried out, distraught.

"Aria, your father is older and stronger than the both of you, and he can look out for himself, but the two of you should not stick your muzzles into business that does not concern you," Father Roehns warned.

"But Father Roehns, it does concern us! Strangers come to the church and take our father away, and you tell us that these men are dangerous, and yet our father is not in any sort of danger," Arien hotly debated.

"Arien, please, listen to me. Your father is safe. I did not say that Ilya and his brothers are dangerous, merely that the work they do is dangerous. They are friends, I can assure you. Your father is involved in something that he would not want either of you to be a part of, and so you should respect his wishes and trust my words," Father Roehns sternly spoke.

"But Father Roehns-"

Arien was interrupted by a knock at the door. The two turned around and the priest called out, "Come in."

The door was opened, and a male feline about the age of Aria and Arien's father walked in. He looked at the two foxes, and he was immediately relieved, his ears and tail relaxing. This newcomer was only slightly taller than Arien, and he had brown speckled fur.

"Ah, Aria, Arien, here you are," he said, relieved.

"Aurthur, what are you doing here?" Aria asked, surprised.

"Well, I came to find you, and your brother, and to bring you home. Am I interrupting anything?" Aurthur asked timidly.

"No. The children came to ask me something, and now they are ready to go home, isn't that right, Arien?" asked Father Roehns.

Arien hesitated, and then replied, "Yes, father."

"Ah, good. We'd best get a move on, the snow is beginning to fall, and it is dreadfully cold out," Aurthur said, stepping back to allow the foxes through the door.

Aria still wanted her questions answered, but she understood that the priest wanted the two of them. To leave. She and her brother took their leave of the priest and stepped out the door.