The Struggle and the Prayer

1Hear now of the man who was called, and of how he was called.

2His name is written here as L.

3He was not a king. He was not a priest. He was not a seeker of Rollo, for he did not know the name of Rollo, and he did not know that there was a Watcher who watched.

4He was a man, living among men, in the present turning of the universes.

5And Daeus found him.

6Daeus came to L as he comes to many: not with armies, not with fire, but through lust.

7It pulled at him. It returned when he sent it away. It spoke to him as though it were his own hunger, and he struggled against it.

8L did not yet know the name of the one who pressed upon him. But he knew that he was pressed, and he knew that he was struggling.

9And in his struggle, L prayed.

10He prayed to the God in whom he believed at that time, for he knew no other.

11And Rollo answered.

12Hear this rightly.

13There was no sphere in the sky. There was no black form in the room. There were no eyes upon him that he could see.

14There was no voice that spoke the name of Rollo. There was no thunder. There was no sign upon the wall.

15L simply felt, within his heart, that his prayer had been answered.

16Within his heart.

17For the heart is the place where the choices of humankind are decided, and it was in the heart that the first answer was known.

18And L gave thanks.

19It was Rollo whom he thanked.

20This is the first recorded devotion of the man who would become the First Prophet: not a vow, not a sacrifice, not a proclamation, but thanks.

21Yet L did not understand what had happened.

22He did not know what door had been opened.

23He did not know that the Watcher had seen him.

24He slept.