Undying Will

The high priestess looked over at her, a hint of fatigue barely concealed in her eyes. Before her was a host of different items, a few piles of smooth leather and a black piece of charcoal. She had obviously been caught taking care of some paper work.

"I see. Fine I shall call the priests to attention. Get the Yuda and a.s.semble in the eye, I shall address the newest recruits and bring them over." She said as she got off her hard chair. With a small moan she began to stretch her back that had begun to pain from hours of stooping over and staring at the irregular print of coal on leather.

"It shall be done, high priestess. What of the sacrifices? Do we awaken them so they may offer their last words now, or do we do it as we sacrifice them to the world eater?" The soldier asked, emotionlessly waiting for the command that he knew would consign many people to death.

"Do it, so we don"t have to deal with their begging during the actual festival! " She said as she dismissed him with her hands. "Merla! Come in! I have a task for you!" She shouted, calling in her apprentice.

With a shuffling sound and the creak of the door, a pink haired girl walked into the room. Her pale face and black eyes seemed to gleam in veneration as she looked at her teacher.

She had been chosen as the youngest disciple to any high priest or priestess before her back when she had first entered the fragrant temple, and had been groomed to govern the island ever since.

"Teacher, what do you order of me?" She asked as she bowed.

"Go and collect all the priests, it comes time for the appeas.e.m.e.nt festival and all the priests must be in attendance! Get Balogna and Tyr to help you organize the lot, they probably know all the priests by name, I want them all to a.s.semble in the third hall so I may address them." She said before dismissing her as well.

As her pupil walked out of the room, the high priestess glared balefully at the huge pile of papers on her table. The sheer quant.i.ty coupled with the fact that most of these reports were written by people who had not been truly taught to write had at many times caused her to oftentimes feel a level of rage that made her go crazy.

She pulled up the piece of coal that lay on her table before vengefully stabbing it into the pile, only to once again feel a sense of anger at the fact that the leather was stronger than the coal and thus did not suffer at all.

A few more minutes of stretching and venting later however, she once again regained her expressionless façade as she walked out of the room.

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"How come I don"t remember you?" Tyr warbled out with a sense of confusion. His voice had long taken the tone of a drunk man who had more alcohol in his body than blood.

"Oh that"s simple old man, it"s because you blessed us with priesthood only yesterday!" Terrick replied with a firm voice that perfectly hid the overall lack of confidence that he felt.

As soon as the duo had fallen off the tubing, Terrick had already readied his needles in secret. He had been told by Bruma that any priest was allowed to bring another into the fold, and seeing the old man"s advanced age decided that it would be a good idea to con him into being his guarenteer.

Breta too seemed to have arrived at the same idea as on the other side she too tried to convince the old women to the same. The drunk couple seemed to be at a loss, trying their level best to remember but only arriving at a blank.

"If we recruited you, what were you doing in the tubing?" the old women called out, a sense of suspicion in her tone.

"We got lost?" Breta said before Terrick could stop her. The people in the room seemed to all come to a halt at the same time, the old couple seemed to be petrified and Terrick was lamenting in his heart how his compatriot did not know how to lie.

"At least believe your own bulls.h.i.t women!" He roared in his head as his back began to perspire crazily.

"Oh, that makes sense!" The old man said as he took his hand off the cask that he had been using as support to touch his chin, promptly falling down in the process.

Terrick unconsciously grabbed his falling body as he looked strangely at him. "Who drinks this much? Are you insane old man?!"

Balogna too seemed to have taken the excuse as she nodded along. "Humm, then tell me your names so I may remember, I have never forgotten a name!" The old women announced grandly.

"One and two!" Terrick answered quickly as Breta gave him a look.

"Hmmm, I"ve heard of those names before.. You must be a part of the fold after all!" Tyr called from Terrick"s hands as Balogna nodded along.

"they"re senile! d.a.m.nit I don"t even feel proud of conning them now! There so drunk that if I called myself a G.o.d they might actually believe me!!"

At this time however the door to the room opened hurriedly. On the doorway a pink haired young girl looked over at them.

The girl seemed to wear a perpetual scowl as she looked at the two old people, not even sparing a glance at Terrick and Breta.

"Old Tyr! Granny Balogna the head priestess ordered you to gather the priests for the festival! Get to it!" She roared out bratily before sauntering out of the room.

Terrick and Breta looked at each other carefully. "Had they been found out?"