Way of the Wolf and the Raven: Story 2 – Unifying Truth

Story 2 – Unifying Truth

These days are days of lies and manipulation, unfaithfulness and secularism, subjectivity and materialism. The great nations of the world wage war with one another unofficially behind closed doors while their citizens slave away in corporations that pay them a less than honest wage. There’s only one solution to this problem and this solution is one that brings people together and is the foundation of my faith. This solution is the truth. By learning more about each other and focusing on living the truth, I believe we will all come together and put our petty feelings of hatred for one another aside.

I have been with a secret organization known as the Ravens ever since I was a teenage boy in seminary. The Ravens seek the truth, understand it, and bring others to it by fighting for the freedom to find it and express it in all countries across the world. We foster understanding where there is hatred and promote peace where there is violence. As a priest of the Catholic faith, I try to become like my God and spread the truth no matter the cost. I publicly stand up to the corruption within my country despite the police force that they send against my peaceful protests. Many whom I’ve led have been injured and even tragically killed. I offer up my penances for them and for my enemies who hate us in the hope of us all eventually reaching Heaven.

After one mass, I sit at my desk in my office of my parish’s convent to get some paperwork done. I have plans today to meet up with fellow Ravens to make sure that they’re doing their fair share. Nothing is worse than having friends that act like enemies behind your back. It is then that I hear the sound of what sounds like a scream. I carefully go to investigate it and get startled by the dead body of a nun who works with me here that gets thrown at me. Her throat is slit while her eyes and mouth are wide open as she died in a terrified state. Before I even have a moment to mourn her death, I almost get a knife shoved into my throat from a masked man in the darkness that I thankfully manage to stop by grabbing the hands of my assailant before the knife stabs me. It’s a shame that I had to drop the nun’s body to the side so carelessly to save my life. So, he’s an assassin. What a pitiable profession.

“Who are you?!” I ask.

I quickly take out my knife and stab the assassin who backs off. Taking advantage of this, I stab their hand before they can attack me again then kick them to the ground.

Putting my knife to his throat, I ask again, “Who are you?!”

“It doesn’t matter. More Wolves will come for you and yours for your crimes,” the man answers.

“Crimes? I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Maybe not against your God, but you have against this country. The ideology that you’re poisoning the people with is tearing us apart.”

“It is the warring secular ideologies that are tearing the country and the world apart. If you will not say, who you are then tell me who sent you.”

“I won’t say anything. You might as well kill me.”

I punch the man to knock him out.

“No, I’ll spare you.”

I feel like I should’ve killed him especially since he killed my assistant, however, he could tell me something valuable later. For now, I call the other Ravens and inform them of what happened. They help find a place to bury my assistant without letting my parish know and bring the assassin in to one of our locations for questioning.

He wakes up, struggles for a bit to free himself, then says to me, “Why did you spare me? I killed your scout and was trying to kill you.”

“You knew that she gathered information for me, so that must mean you’re a Wolf and not just a pawn from the capitalist or communist party,” I deduce, “Am I correct in my assumption?”

“It’s a lucky guess. Tch. I slipped because of my surprise. You won’t get anything else from me.”

“If you say so. Are you hungry? Thirsty maybe?”

“You can’t bribe me to get me to talk.”

“It’s not a bribe. It’s an honest question.”

The man’s eyes open as he realizes that I’m honest. He tells me what I want, I bring it to him, and feed him and give him his drinks myself.

“Tell me about yourself. My name is Arne.”

“Nobin.”

“Ah, a name that means-”

“None of your business.”

“It isn’t but I’d still like to know. Don’t think that I’m trying to get more information out of you that would help me find the person who sent you. My fellow Ravens are close to finding the leader of the group of Wolves that have been harassing us by cross referencing the information we have from my scouts.”

“You’re a more valuable target than I thought if you’re coordinating the Ravens to strike at prominent Wolves.”

“Me? Not at all. I’m a poor soldier of Christ at best and fool who’s over his head at worst if anything.”

“You’re right about that over your head part. If it’s true that you’re no leader, then what are you doing leading protests and the local group of Ravens?”

“I’m just doing what I think God wants me to do. Besides, the other Ravens are caught up in the primary political conflict with the Wolves.”

“That’s what I don’t get about all this. Some of our own have even switched sides besides they don’t agree with our politics and allegiances to our country.”

“That is why I’m trying to unite both Ravens and Wolves, communists and capitalists, foreigner and natives with one another through the truth.”

“Why would people be brought together by it when people will just believe whatever they want to?”

“Think about what you learned when you were younger. That knowledge gave you the freedom to decide where to take your life next.”

“But the truth of your beliefs constricts.”

“We all constrict ourselves when we settle on our beliefs. For example, an atheist will constrict themselves from believing in God and doing things that God would approve of since the atheist has made himself god. Truth is more accurately a guide that prevents us from falling into the slavery of falsehood. Has not the truth of your life guided you to where you are now and prevented you from falling into where you didn’t want to go?”

“If this is what we’re going to talk about, then I might as well not hold back anything I know. Besides, the other Wolves will consider me dead at this point.”

Nobin and I talk for a good few hours about his past, how he became a wolf, and what his goals in life are while I share the same. We laugh and eventually take off his restraints so that he could feel more comfortable. A sudden explosion above us shakes the celling interrupting our conversation.

One of the Ravens comes down with pistols that he gives me and says, “The Wolves have found us! I called for reinforcements but it will be a while before they get here.”

“I told you that the Wolves will consider me dead,” Nobin says, “That includes getting rid of my body as well. It’s a part of how we keep our deeds and the identities of our deceased secret so they can’t be linked to us.”

“How did they know you were here?” I ask.

“Some kind of experimental tracking chip that put in my leg. To be honest, I didn’t think it was a real thing and it was just part of the initiation process.”

“Here, take this,” I say as I hand him one of the pistols.

“You trust me with this?”

“If I’m wrong, then God will prove me a fool now get ready!”

I fight alongside my fellow Ravens and Nobin with our backs against the wall. At the end of it, both the Wolves and Ravens lie dead except for Nobin and me. Another explosion blows a hole in the ceiling. I tackle Nobin out of the way of the falling debris then shoot the remaining Wolves with him. Our backup Ravens arrive shortly after and secure the area.

“Thank you for saving me. I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve been causing you,” Nobin says.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s not your fault,” I say.

“No, it’s this chip’s fault. Let’s get it out before more Wolves appear.”

A Raven who is knowledgeable in the medical field and takes care of the poor in the area who can’t afford to go to hospitals gets rid of the chip in Nobin’s leg and we destroy it.

After that, Nobin says, “I’m sorry for all this. Not just this, but also killing your assistant. If I had known that the rumors were true about you risking your life to save your enemies, then I would’ve…”

“I accept your apology. I can also hear your confession if you truly wish to be free of your sins.”

“I’m not Catholic though.”

“Okay, but you will be in time if you follow the truth to where it leads. It might be a slow process; however, I believe you will get there.”

“Are you fighting for the truth just so people can become Catholic?”

“What they choose is what they choose. I can only pray for them and try to change their mind with my actions and words, but I will not force anyone to become Catholic just because I know it to be correct. If I did, then I’d be a hypocrite and just like the enemies I fight against.”

“Father,” one of the Ravens says, “We know who the leader of this group of Wolves is. We’ve cross referenced the information we’ve gathered plus the new information by our informants in addition to the identity of these Wolves that attacked us give away his identity.”

“Do we know where he is?”

“Our informants do.”

“Then take me there now. It’s about time that we ended this.”

“I’ll come too and help in whatever way I can,” Nobin says.

“You don’t have to, but if it’s what you want to do, then come along.”

The Ravens, Nobin, and I go to an abandoned warehouse where our informants say the leader of this group of Wolves is and manage to meet them there.

“We’re just going to walk up to him?” Nobin asks when I tell him and the other Ravens my plan.

“Yes. I want to try the peaceful method first by talking,” I say.

“That’s crazy. He’ll kill you.”

“And you tried to do that too, but I changed you, so maybe he’ll change as well.”

“But why didn’t you try to change those other Wolves that attacked us?”

“Because there were more than one of them. The pacifist option isn’t exactly viable when there’s a group of attackers all trying to kill you.”

Nobin looks like he’s struggling to believe me and I hope I can actually change this leader. I cross myself then approach him with my arms raised while we have the guns of him and his followers aimed at us.

“Let’s talk,” I say.

“Talk? What’s there to talk about?” the leader asks, “Wait, I know what we can talk about. Thank you for presenting yourself to me so I can kill you without having to send any more assassins after you. In another context, this would’ve been cause for worry, but this is truly a blessing, father. Now, go to your weak God.”

One of his Wolves, one of my informants, shoots his hand before he can fire. The rest of his Wolves then turn their guns on him.

“What?! How did you do this?!” he asks.

“When I invited them over to dinner. When they tried to kill me and I showed them mercy. When I showed them that we have more in common than we first thought. The Wolves and Ravens don’t have to fight. We can unite in our search for the truth and help each other.”

“It’s funny that you say we can unite in our search of truth when you really just want people to worship the same God as you.”

“I won’t force people to believe in the same things I do even though I know Catholicism to teach the truth.”

“Do you really think people will come to your truth that in a world with thousands of beliefs?”

“I do.”

“Ha! I doubt it. In a world ruled by political, racial, and religious tension, the truth doesn’t matter. People are too busy caring for their own and sticking to the beliefs that make them feel comfortable. No one will listen to you and the few that do will not help you change anything.”

“Your Wolves who’ve turned on you prove otherwise.”

“Then there’s nothing more to be said. Do as you wish. The Wolves will always hold dominion over the whole world and influence events without the public or you and the Ravens knowing.”

The man quickly takes something from his pocket, bites it, and dies of poison.

“What a shame,” I say as I cross myself for his sake.

“What should we do now, father?” one of the Wolves that turned on their leader asks.

“Join the Ravens. The Wolves will punish you severely or think you turned on them if you return to them since your leader is dead.”

“We will humbly serve then.”

Nobin approaches me and says, “I would like to join too. You might not have much use for an assassin, but I’d still like to help in any way I can.”

“Of course. You are welcome as well.”

“Oh, and my name is Elvin.”

“Can I just call you Nobin? I’ve been calling you that in my head since you said it.”

“Haha, okay. You can.”

“Then let’s embark on this new chapter of our lives together as the best of friends.”

“Wolves and Ravens working together what has this world come to?”

“It’s happened before in history. You just have to read the right history books that we Ravens have that aren’t written by the capitalist and communist propagandists.”

“It feels like it should surprise me that the history books are filled with lies, but it doesn’t. Wait, don’t the Catholic schools teach the same history?”

“They do, and I’d tear them all down myself except for the ones that raise proper Catholics. I’d also tell them about the true story of the Blood Wolf.”

“Wasn’t the Blood Wolf a dictator who killed thousands of his own people and other foreign people who threatened his rule?”

“That is a lie. He was a just and honorable man who defended his faith, family, and country.”

“Okay, now you’re going to have to explain this to me in detail.”

“I will over our celebration feast. How does that sound?”

“It sounds perfect after all we’ve been through.”