Vir turned to Cirayus.
“So, uh… I guess we can go?”
The four-armed giant looked as dumbfounded as Vir. “I suppose, lad. I suppose.”
And so, Vir, Shan, and Cirayus set out. Not Leaping or Blinking, but riding on the broad shoulders of one of the most advanced creations the realms had ever seen.
71AMONG THEM (MAIYA)
“Don’t think we don’t know what you’re up to,” the man said, his rotten breath nearly making Maiya gag as he leaned in close, his hand on the wall next to her head. “What’s a little dove like you doing here, anyway?”
The man was in his thirties and wore an unkempt beard. He looked and smelled like he hadn’t bathed in months. He was also a full head taller than Maiya, and he used his height with the well-practiced motions of someone who’d mastered the art of bullying.
So this is what Vir had to deal with all his life… Maiya thought. Except, of course, he never had the luxury of knowing three dozen ways to maim, incapacitate, or kill his bullies.
There was security in that. Or, there would be, if only Maiya could employ any of those options. While she always carried her orbs with her, she suspected slicing the man’s arms off wouldn’t win her any favors with the Children. Especially not with them.
Maiya’s eyes met the gaze of an unassuming woman who’d watched the entire event from a nearby wall.
The Sisters of Gray.
She wasn’t the only one watching this tussle, but she was, by far, the most important person around. Even in an organization as crazed as the Children, there had to be a small army of logisticians running around making the whole thing work. The Sisters were that army. Comprised of the saner cultists, they saw to the organization of recruitment events, the transport and housing of its members, and it was they who managed the coffers.
The fanatics begrudgingly accepted their existence, treating them with the barest modicum of respect. The Sisters were very obviously second class to the deranged cultists, though, in actuality, it was they who held the real power in the cult.
And Maiya knew well that they shunned violence. While that limited her options, she was by no means stymied.
A sudden chill ran up Maiya’s spine, though she couldn’t say why. Briefly scanning the group of bullies, she found nothing but sour-faced delinquents. Nothing unexpected.
Feels like I’m being watched. Her eyes flicked to the Sister of Gray. No, not her. Someone else?
Maiya pinched her nose and wondered if the blood cult was getting to her.
Just then, Yamal and the Silent Man turned the corner. Yamal was saying something to the Silent One, but stopped immediately when he took in the scene. His face turned from confusion to shock, and finally to anger. The Silent Man simply frowned, and both started for Maiya when she shook her head.
I’ll deal with this myself.
They got the message. Yamal’s frown turned into a smirk, and he leaned against the wall with a look of amusement—no doubt expecting a beatdown.
This is actually a good opportunity, Maiya thought. If I handle this well, maybe I’ll catch their eye.
Maiya’s eyes innocently flickered over to the woman, and, like a moth to a flame, the man followed her gaze.
“Tch. Shoulda known. You’re in with them, are you? Faithless scum,” he spat.
“F-faithless?” Maiya’s face warped into a mask of feigned shock. “I’ll have you know that I’ve drunk no less than three bottles of blood today! Look!”
She produced a red vial from her belt, holding it up.
“Would you like to drink together? As fellow believers?”
The man jerked away as she dangled the vial in front of his face. Confusion melted through his anger. He stared at the vial, unbelieving.
“I hear this blood comes from an especially ferocious Ash Beast. I can just feel the power course through me whenever I partake. Can’t you?”
Maiya batted her lashes, grinning deliriously up at the man.
He took an involuntary step back, bumping into his lackeys, who bore equally horrified expressions.
Maiya didn’t let him retreat. She stepped forth and planted her face just inches from his, then brought her voice down to a whisper.
“I hear that if we’re especially lucky, we might even get to bathe in Ash Beast blood again. Can you imagine?”
“I… uh. I have matters to attend to,” the man said, nearly stumbling over his feet as he pushed past his friends to get away from her. “Just don’t cause us any trouble, you hear?”
He strode off, followed by his dumbfounded friends.
Maiya dropped her fake expression and smoothly returned her vial to its place on her belt.
“Uh, Maiya?” Yamal approached slowly, as if eyeing a dangerous beast. “W-Why do you carry a vial of blood on your belt?”
“Hmm? Why else?” she said, winking at the woman who’d studied her exchange. The dark-haired Sister’s expression remained stoic, though if Maiya wasn’t mistaken, her tight lips curled ever so slightly upward.
“How’d I do?” Maiya mouthed silently.
The woman spoke in a voice far deeper than her slight frame would suggest. “Perform at the Orientation Camp, and the Sisters will welcome you into our ranks.” Then, before Maiya could reply, she walked away, disappearing into the crowd of dispersing onlookers.
Yes! Maiya mentally pumped her fists.
“Please don’t tell me you’re thinking of drinking that,” Yamal said worriedly.
“Relax. It’s to deal with situations like this,” Maiya said in a low voice so only Yamal and the Silent One could hear. “Never know when you might have to ‘prove your faith’ around here. Can’t hurt to play along, right?”
“I… never knew you were such a good actor,” Yamal said, clearly unsettled. “Have you performed in a theater, by any chance? You’re a natural.”
Maiya grinned wryly. “Oh, you have no idea. And you never will. Now, let’s be off before any more of these fanatics decide to harass us.”
Maiya navigated the halls of the underground compound—one of many Children bases around the Known World. Theirs happened to be under Jatan Forest, where they’d undergone their Initiation trial.
Thinking about that horrific sequence of events soured Maiya’s mood as she tromped up the blood-stained stairs. So many had died pointlessly. She later learned that some perished on the journey through the forest, though most who’d died had been brutally murdered by those Ash Beasts.
Ash Beasts I could easily have dispatched, Maiya fumed. There’d been no rhyme or reason to it. And the priests regularly died on these Initiation crusades. That theirs survived had been nothing but sheer dumb luck. If there was a purpose beyond simply testing devotion, it was very well concealed.
Just when she’d finished with that ordeal, they’d thrust her into another, even more harrowing situation. They’d marched the survivors down into this very underground complex, to its lowest level where a bath full of blood sat.
Then, one at a time, they’d stripped down to their underwear and stepped into the bath. In full view of the Rectors, the Sisters, and the other Initiates.
It was the most humiliating moment of her entire life.
Maiya couldn’t say which was worse—nearly drowning in the pool of Ash Beast blood, or suffering the zealots’ presence. That the priests only turned their attention to her after she was covered in blood made her shudder; they’d paid no mind to her before.