"We do what we normally do," Henry said.
"No, about the other priest," I asked softly, "what do we do about him?"
"Nothing," Henry said and smiled at me. "It's not my problem, and not your problem. If he does not join the People, and if the People do not start to follow him, he will be asked to leave, and those who have not joined will be asked to leave as well."
"And because you're a member, and many tribe members follow Fel?" I asked looking at him.
"Feliogustus," he corrected me.
"Feliogustus," I nodded, "So you won't be asked to leave."
"Exactly. To be honest, I hope Feliogustus is sending more priests out to help. There are a lot more here than six priests can handle."
"So we don't have to worry about him then?" I asked, still concerned.
"Probably not," he turned to Yarsha, "Do you know anyone here?"
"I have a cousin who married into the tribe five years ago," She said.
"Ah, well we can visit with her later tonight, and ask her about it." Henry said and turned back to me, "I wouldn't worry much. It is rare for priests to fight, that's what we have you for after all!"
I sighed; yes it was what I was here for. Didn't mean I was thrilled by it however.
I woke up in Fel's bar. Henry had learned that there were three who had come out from the city to the west, which was called Langhir. Two of them were male priests, one of whom was in the village west of here, that of the Upshur tribe, which was the last one of the chain, and the farthest west. Apparently there was a woman with them, who traveled back and forth, and I suspected she was a champion like me.
"Hi, Fel," I said looking up at him; we were sitting in the bar.
"Greetings, Will. No, I did not know they were there. Remember that I can't track the priests or champions of the other gods, just as they cannot track you."
I nodded, "So what do I do about them?"
"They are priests of Roden. He and I are not at war, or in open conflict, and I would prefer to keep it that way. So do not kill his priests. Do what you can to encourage them to leave, but do not do so openly, or directly."
"But he is trying to convert your people over to his ways," I said.
Fel laughed, "Will, the Mowoks are not my people, well not yet," he said sounding rather pleased. "They are open for any to try and win over, their small numbers have left many to not bother, and their stance on certain things has made it hard for most of the other gods and goddesses around here to get a foothold, even if they had cared."
"So what can you tell me about Roden?" I asked.
"He's a fairly militant god, rather hedonistic as well however."
I thought about that a moment, "How does that work?" I said trying to parse the two of those things.
"His priests are often fairly martial in nature, and preach strength gives you power over the weak, to do as you want."
"And that power is sex?"
"Sometimes, though the priestesses.... Will, I would suggest you avoid those," Fel laughed.
"Why?"
"Because your weakness for lovely females is well known, and they are rather salacious in their behavior."
"Militant priests and whorish priestesses?"
"More or less," Fel nodded, "The biggest obstacle to Roden's winning over the Mowoks will be that his religion does not take a stance against slavery."
I nodded, "I guess I should leave Steve here when we go, and then take Henry to the next village."
"That would probably be a wise idea," Fel agreed. "If his priests cannot gain a foothold among the Mowoks, he will take his followers back to the city, and his champion will leave as well."
"And with us here, hopefully that will happen soon." I agreed.
Fourteen
Stark Winter Camp
"Are you sure you'll be okay, Steve?" I asked him as Henry, Yarsha, and I saddled up the next morning.
Steve nodded, "Sure, I'll be fine. That Gauch guy doesn't have many followers, and after last night and Henry's talking to everyone, well they're a lot more interested in what I have to say, than the other priest.
"If he tries to do anything, the tribe won't like it, and he'd have to leave. I'm not worried."
I nodded and got up on Tom and waved to him as we rode off. We had a pretty good sized group with us again. Ten of them were still people from the Aldar tribe, Henry really was popular with them, then again, he was pretty popular here it seemed as well.
"So, what do you know about the next camp?" I asked Henry as we rode along.
"Well, apparently there is a large group of Roden's followers in the next camp," Henry told me.
"So they are making inroads with some of the Mowoks?" I asked.
"Not really. The freed slaves are making their way west. Well those that wish to return to Langhir that is. Many of those follow Roden. No one knows yet if they're going to settle in the Upshur tribe, or continue on to the city."
"I'd think they'd go to the city, if they're already heading that way," I said.
"Yeah, so would I. But I suspect that some of them are going to end up being slaves again if they go there."
"Then going back would be a pretty stupid thing to do."
Henry nodded, "But sometimes people do stupid things."
"Yeah, I know, I've done more than a few of them myself," I sighed.
"Well, we'll see what's going on when we get there. If the Stark tribe is any indication, I suspect that when the freed slaves move on, the priests will move on as well."
"You think so?"
Henry nodded, "Chief Narzon told me that once Gauch has no more people to minister too, he will be told to leave. Apparently they've had priests of Roden out here once before, years ago, and they weren't popular then either."
"Really?" I said surprised.
"Langhir and the People apparently do not get along very well," Henry laughed.
"Why's that?"
"Because the People have raided it's outskirts more than once in the past."
I nodded, "That would do it."
When we rode into the Upshur tribe's camp, it was a fairly typical arrival, we met with the chief and his wife, shared a meal, chatted a bit. We learned the Roden cleric here was named Zang, and the female with him was named Evean. There was a large enough group of Roden's followers now, probably fifty or so, and people had been curious as to what Roden was about, though so far, it was still only the freed slaves who followed him.
So as soon as we got out of there, Henry went to work.
There was a BBQ and celebration planned for that night, because of the visitors from the other tribes that had shown up with us and Henry spent the rest of the day talking with the other tribe members, telling them about Fel. So did his wife and interestingly enough, so did several of the members of the Aldar tribe who were still with us.
I guess Henry felt it was his duty to convince all of the Mowok's to follow Fel, now that he was a member.
It was around then that Evean finally tracked me down.
"So you're William?" I heard someone say, and turning around I knew immediately who it was, and what she was. She was gorgeous of course; actually, she was beyond gorgeous. She had a body that was absolutely perfect, she was groomed to perfection, she wore less clothing than any of the women around, and what she was wearing was arrayed to accent her looks.
I figured I was doomed.
"Will is fine," I said after a moment. For all that I had two beautiful women who loved me completely, and I them, I was still tongue tied for a moment. Yeah, I was definitely doomed.
"You're Evean?"
"How did you ever guess?" She asked a bit coyly and sauntered up to me rather seductively.
"Because you're beautiful, and only a champion could keep their fur clean while wearing so little." I sighed and looked up into her eyes. They were grey. I'd never seen a woman with grey eyes before, especially here. They looked good on her of course.
"So what brings Feliogustus's champion out here?
" She asked giving me the once over as well.
"Visiting with friends," I said. "Why are you here, Evean?"
"Oh, call me Ev," she said and grabbing my right arm with both hands leaned into me a little seductively.
I had noticed she wasn't wearing any weapons, not that she probably needed any against the average person. I however was, and I made sure to keep an eye on where her hands were. Last thing I wanted was to be killed with my own sword or knife.
"So, Ev, why are you here?" I asked and started walking; she walked beside me, and continued to lean into me. She only came up to my shoulder and I could feel her tail trying to wrap around mine. I probably should have stopped her from leaning into me, or turned and walked away, but she seemed harmless and rather nice. Plus it had been months since I'd been with Rachel or Darlene, or any other female for that matter. But still....
"Oh, Roden wanted me to come out to this dreary place because a bunch of his followers were stuck out here."
"Un-huh. Right," I sighed and shook my head with a wane smile.
"Well, it's true," She said and smiled up at me. "He was afraid that if the priests showed up by themselves, they'd just be killed out of hand."
"Seems like a lot of trouble to go to, for just a few followers," I said.
"I don't know, you're here," she said purring out the last two words.
"Umm, we do work for competing gods you know."
"Oh, who cares about that?" She smiled up at me. "You know how long it's been since I've found a decent male to be with? Much less a nice big strong one like you?"
She was stroking my arm with a hand now and purring rather happily.
"I would think that there would be lots of them back at home, all just lining up to make you happy," I said, unable to take my eyes off of her. I was starting to enjoy the attention she was showing me, she was after all incredibly attractive.
"Well, there are some," she said. "But they're just regular men, they're not a big strong champion like you," she purred again and turning in front of me, she stood up on her toes and grabbing my head with her hands, she kissed me.
I was surprised, and well, impressed. If there was one thing this fem knew how to do, it was kiss. I suspected my tail was sticking out straight, fully bushed. In the back of my mind, my conscious was betting there was probably a cantrip for this.
I grabbed her wrists, more so I wouldn't get any nasty surprises, but she didn't seem to have any, other than her body which she first pressed into mine, and then started to slowly grind against me.
When she pulled away I looked down into those eyes and smiled and she smiled back and winked. She pulled away from me, and turned slinking away a few steps, then turned to look back over her shoulder at me.
"Coming?" She purred.
I started to follow her before I had even realized I was doing it, my eyes riveted on her butt, and the way her tail danced over it. I was entranced and could no longer think about anything else other than to follow.
She led me to her teepee, and I didn't hesitate to follow her inside, grabbing her and kissing her rather hard once we were inside, I really couldn't help myself anymore, she was about all I could focus on. I ran my hands along her shapely body, quickly removing what little clothing she was wearing as she slowly walked me backwards towards one of the beds.
When I felt my heels hit it, I suddenly remembered what had happened with Stephanie, so as I started to fall over backwards I twisted around to put her beneath me, just to be safe, also enjoying the idea of being the dominate one in our first pairing.
Everything slowed down suddenly, and I couldn't understand why, as she had no weapons and we were alone in the tent. I was holding her shoulders rather tightly and I realized that she was trying to twist out from underneath me, but was unable to because of my strength, and her position.
When she hit the bed and several blades suddenly came out of her body, as she settled onto it, I realized that it had been a trap. I pushed down hard and arched my back to avoid one of the longer blades as she cried out and tried to pull my body down against hers.
"You bastard!" She screamed, "How did you know?"
I was shocked, my wits were still dazed and I was having trouble concentrating. I realized suddenly that she had done something to me. "I'm sorry, Ev, I'm sorry," I said and looked around. We were in the priest's tent, and it was holy ground. How had I missed that?
She was struggling, trying to get up. I could imagine the pain she must be in, the only reason she wasn't dead was she was constantly healing herself, but with my weight pinning her down, she couldn't get up off the swords.
"Let me up, you bastard! This hurts!"
"I'm sorry, Ev, I'm sorry," I kept babbling, but I had enough of my wits about me to realize that I had to kill her soon, or there would be one hell of a fight, and with the way my head was spinning, I probably wouldn't win. I let go of one of her shoulders, and as she tried to sit up I grabbed my dagger and drove it through her eye. She spasmed once, then fell back down, dead.
I moved away from her and sat down hard on the floor.
"That was a nasty thing to do," I said aloud in the room. Looking around I took stock of my situation and the inside of the tent. Oh right, holy ground, I remembered and I crawled out of there quickly. I took a guess at where one of the wards was once I got outside the limits, and dug it up rather quickly. Standing up I threw it towards the woods.
I shivered as I thought about what had happened, and I still felt pretty messed up in the head. I staggered back to the small teepee I was sharing with Henry and Yarsha and dropped down to nap for a few minutes. Whatever she had done to me, I hoped would wear off soon.
"What happened to you?" Henry said coming into the tent not long after I did. "Yarsha told me she saw you stumbling in here.
"Evean did something to me," I said, "some sort of spell or something. I was following her like a wolat in heat, and now that she's gone, well I can't think straight."
Henry thought about that a moment, then made a prayer to Fel, did something that I couldn't see, and then touched me on the head. Just like that things went back to normal and shaking my head I sat up.
"What did you do?" I asked.
"Treated you for poisons, potions, and other charms." Henry said smiling.
"But I didn't drink anything!" I said.
Henry shrugged, "Whatever it was, that worked."
We heard a bit of a commotion outside, and I groaned, "Better go see what that's about." I suspected someone had found the body.
Henry nodded, and ducked out the tent, with me following. I heard a noise, and everything slowed down for me once again. Looking up I saw the other cleric, and he was holding my dagger, the one I had killed Evean with. Only he had driven it into Henry's body and was casting a spell of some kind as he did it.
And then I heard the screaming, Yarsha was hitting him and several other people were yelling and running forward. As I watched he pulled the dagger out and turned towards Yarsha, so I took two steps to close the distance and pushed him hard enough to send him flying, then I turned back to Henry as his body started to sag. Grabbing him I started casting the few healing spells that were in my capability, but nothing was happening.
I tried everything I knew as Yarsha collapsed next to Henry and started to cry. Henry was dead. Whatever Zang had done when he had attacked, it had killed Henry instantly. I heard another scream then, I turned to look to see who the priest was attacking next, and what I saw shocked me.
It was Henry's wolat. And mine, and all the rest of the village pack, and they were tearing the priest to pieces. I saw him heal himself several times, but for every wound he healed, he quickly received two more. Everyone watched stunned as it played out, until after a couple of minutes he was no longer moving. But the wolats didn't stop they continued to attack the body, not stopping until they had torn it to shreds, a gruesome and rather bloody mess on the ground. Which they then dragged off into the woods, leaving pieces everywhere.
"What happened?" Chief Far Eyes asked running up to me.
"Zang attacked Henry and killed him," I said looking back at Henry and the weeping Yarsha, who was cradling his dead body. "While I tried to save him, the wolats attacked Zang, and tore him to shreds." I said a bit shocked.
I'd never seen anyone torn apart alive before. It wasn't a pretty sight.
"Why did he attack Henry?" Chief Far Eyes demanded looking at me.
"Evean drugged me and tried to kill me."
"She did what?"
I shrugged, "She's a champion like I am. She invited me back to her tent, I thought she wanted to, umm," I blushed, "be friends."
"She has done that with more than a few of my tribesmen," Chief Far Eyes said, "But they all survived the encounter."
"Come, let me show you what happened," I sighed, heading for the tent.
We went inside, and there was a blanket over the body. I could feel that the holy effect had worn off, which made me feel a little better. When the chief lifted the blanket, he saw the blades sticking up through it.
"How dishonorable." He said and dropped the blanket, and then walked out of the teepee. I followed him out, and he walked to the center of camp. I wasn't sure who he felt was the dishonorable one here.
"Followers of Roden!" He called out.
Everyone in the camp stopped and turned to look at him.
"You have until nightfall to leave this camp. You are no longer welcome here."
I heard a number of gasps at that, and several people approached him, starting to plead.
He stopped them, "I have made my decision, and it is final. If you follow Roden, you leave. If you wish to stay, you may only do so if you convert to follow another god." He turned to me then, "We will mourn Henry in the ways of the People, and his god. Zang's attack on Henry is a crime that will be remembered, Henry was well liked he performed no crime, no treachery.
"Zang's quarrel was with you, but seeing how Evean had died because the trap she tried to lead you into failed and took her instead, his quarrel was not a just one. The People do not like treachery, and both of their acts count as dishonorable. As they were priest and champion to Roden, he, his people, and his acts, are no longer welcome here."
Portals of Infinity: Book Four: The Sea of Grass Page 14
