Undying Will

"Young acolytes and old veterans, it is that time again. The time where we celebrate the past and pray for the future! The festival of the snake father is upon us! It is time for us to feast with the world eater.

For those new and inexperienced, the world eater is the island"s patron, and it is time for us to honor him once more! The feast has been placed before his eyes and the time for the supper draws near. Lay your minds to rest and bow in deep penitence so our home may continue to prosper as it has." She said as she looked at each of the priests before her.

Her eyes roved through the hall giving everyone a cursory glance before she smiled.

"Merla! Step forth. Balogna step forth! Tyr step forth! You three shall go to the feasting halls and aid the soldiers prepare for the festival. Gather the priests under your name and chose a few to aid you. At the strike of the midnight hour the festival shall begin!"

Then she had turned her back on the priests before her and walked through the dimly lit hallway behind her. A Sharp yellow light seemed to shine on her back giving the young priests an illusion of a stable mountain.

On this island the head priestess was supreme. What she said was the law and all she did was for the benefit of her people.

As she exited the room the empty podium was immediately claimed by the young Merla. Her eyes cut through the group before her as she glared.

"Teacher might not have warned you of this thus I shall take it upon myself to do so! Tonight is a very important night for her and I, and anyone that puts even a toe out of line, mark my words redemption shall be swift and terrible!" Then with a derisive snort, her glare redoubled.

"What are you all waiting for, scuttle!"

Balogna and Tyr looked at the fleeing backs of the many priests, a serious expression on their face. Behind them stood Terrick and Breta, now called one and two.

They had arrived following the old duo and had stood behind them throughout the entire thing, even pushing their way to the front of the group when the duo were called to the podium.

Merla turned around with a savage grin, happy at the amount of "respect" that she was accorded. Suddenly she caught sight Terrick and Breta hiding behind the elderly couple and snarled.

"What are you doing here? Did I not tell you to scram? Run and get back to work maggots!" She roared at them not caring for the old couple in front of her.

Tyr frowned unhappily as he opened his mouth. "Priest Merla, control yourself. Those two are under me and Balogna. They shall follow us to the feasting halls to help us old ones. We do not have the same vigor as those of the younger generation after all. " He said calmly.

Merla glared at him with a nasty glare. She had been chosen as a student to the high priestess and still, her teacher often trusted these old bag of bones more than she trusted even her! It was infuriating, and every glance she took at these old people was another reminder to her of this.

Her young immature mind could not understand her own position, and had at many times a.s.sumed that the priests, who she was also a part of where her inferiors.

With a curt and violent nod she walked off in a huff, once more huffing at the apparent lack of respect.

Tyr turned back to them with a kind smile. "What did you say your names were again?"

Balogna glared at him, "You old coot, it"s obviously …" And she quieted off, forgetting their names as well.

Terrick looked at them, suspicion hidden in his eyes. "How could someone that senile possibly be trusted so much? Where they faking it? No, their pulses remained stable throughout the entire exchange, and they truly looked clueless….What is going on?" he thought to himself.

"It is one and two, old seniors…" Breta answered them, before looking over at them with a smile. "Now then weren"t you both planning on taking us to the feast hall?"

******************Angella groaned in pain as she slowly stirred. The world around her seemed to shift scarily as a weird smell a.s.saulted her nostrils.

She could barely make out a shadow that stood over her, as her head began to ring. With a small lurch she bent over, candidly spilling her guts of the food that she had consumed last.

As she looked up, her vision clearing, she could make out the silhouette of a man. He had taken a step back hastily when she had begun to puke and stood there calmly.

With a small groan she looked over at him, finally his image began to clear, and she could make out his features. The man had blonde hair and a generic face, a scar ran alongside his temple and a tuft of s.h.a.ggy hair hung down mangily from his chin.

"Outlander, calm yourself." He called out in a baritone voice as Angella situation finally came to her. She felt a weight on her hands as sea stone cuffs held them tightly. Her feet too had been bound with the same material, and she had begun to get flashbacks of her time in slavery.

A few minutes of hyperventilation later she rasped out. "Where am I? Where is the crew? Scipio, captain?"

The man looked on mirthfully before smiling. "You are on the scale island. The land blessed by the serpents! Be proud outlander, for you are to do something worthwhile in your life. You shall accompany the world eater in his feast, be honored!"

Angella glared at the man darkly, hating the patronizing tone he had begun to use. "I have no use for this honor take it yourself and let me out of these chains or I swear to G.o.d-" And she was interrupted by the sound of a door.

A moody young girl walked into the room, glaring darkly at the soldiers. "The time for the festival draws closer! Stop fraternizing with the food!" She bellowed out as she began to wave her hands at them.

"You there! Come here and help tidy up the pool! You light up the halls and gather the banners…" She began ratting out orders, standing still in her place and drawing herself up to her full height. "Stop dallying!"

With a deep sigh the man who had awoken Angella nodded before walking over to her and beginning to work.

This had given Angella time to observe the room.

The walls were made of a strange substance that gleamed in a nasty yellow shade in the light of the hanging torches.

The room itself was a very long and open one. The roof opened out to the outside sky, the hole wide enough to fit a decent sized marine vessel, and a tinge of pink fog overtook the entire place. At the very centre of the room a wide pool had been placed, directly below the opening in the roof.

The pool could only be a few feet high barely even reaching to Angella"s knee, but an eerie feeling overtook her every time she looked at it.

In front of the huge pool was a vast pavilion like place with a huge carpet that was rolled all the way from the pool to the small una.s.suming entrance.

A dull whimper suddenly sounded as Angella quickly snapped her head to the side, at another corner to the room she could see the tied up body of a boy. Angella immediately knew who it was.

"Scipio are you alright?!" She called out, completely ignoring the scathing glance that the young girl at the center of the room shot to her.

"Silence!" She barked out, again being completely ignored by Angella.

The door slowly creaked open as another two bodies were brought in. It was the unconscious bodies of Fawkes and Sorren!

The men that brought them in quickly dispersed to either side of the room, tying Sorren on her end, and placing Fawkes on the other.

The soldiers tied the two to a hook in the wall before cuffing their hands and legs. Then reaching into their armors they brought out a small gla.s.s before force feeding the contents to both p.r.o.ne partic.i.p.ants.

Angella looked on in horror as the duo finally began to move, a collection of seizures wracked their bodies before they began to groan.

Angella took a deep breath to calm herself as her mind ran at a quick speed. Suddenly the door cracked open and two old figures walked into the room.

One an old women and on her side an equally old but exponentially more wrinkly man. Behind the two another two people followed.

One a brown skinned black haired women, and on her right. It was Terrick!