"This demon tempts us! Call the Almighty's Angels to destroy him!" and Allen pulled from his habit a small flat, triangular device and passed his forefinger over its surface. Instantly, bells echoed throughout the street and the roar of the mob died down as they moved back, away from the stage.
Two tall male figures, dressed totally in black, with dark helmets and shiny metals adorning them, entered the square in haste, beside the café. Cardinal Allen pointed a bony finger at the man on stage and the two monastic guards stepped up to the stage and drew their weapons on him.
The man on stage was certain that they would fire upon him. He knew that he couldn't allow his book to be taken from him, for then no one would ever see it. He quickly took a glass ball from his hip sack and threw it down at the guards. A twangy sound echoed though the air and the man fell from the stage, to the ground. The glass ball that he had thrown down poured-out a grey green smoke, giving him the chance to drag himself into one of the nearby alleys.
The monastic guards stopped in their tracks. Their guns were still pointed up towards the stage but they did not fire any more.
The mob, aimless and panicked, ran into one another and screamed in horror that they were blind. Others fell to the ground and crawled off, crying and praying to the Almighty to deliver them from the evil that had befallen them.
Cardinal Allen ran off in the direction of Halls, still rubbing his forefinger over the surface of the device. The roar of the mob subsided, giving way to the eerie sounds of the bells that echoed through every part of Pomperaque. As Allen approached Halls, he fell over his habit, dragging behind him, and in final desperation, made it through the gateway and collapsed by the fountain in the courtyard.
Amidst the confusion in the city square was the man's body. It dragged itself into a doorway, his hand cupped over the open fist-sized wound in his side. The intolerable pain made him sway out of the doorway and onto the cobble-stone street. He dropped his book as he tried to stand up, and vomited into the gutter before he passed out.
Some figures quickly rushed towards him. One of them grabbed the book and concealed it with their clothes, as they took him under the arms and quickly spirited him away.
Overlooking pomperaque stood Mount Benitar the rock of wisdom. There sat a man of wisdom, who watched everything that occurred in that great city.
The man of the mountain was not pleased with what he witnessed taking place over the centuries. Alone, he contemplated his descent into the valley.