Maiya sighed for the tenth time.
“Er, hello? Are you alright?” a black-haired man with a haphazardly trimmed mustache said, approaching her. “I think that’s the fifth time you’ve sighed in the last few minutes.”
Maiya jolted. Having been lost in her own thoughts, she’d completely missed him. He wore dirty robes, and while he didn’t smell, the oils on his face showed he hadn’t bathed in a good while.
“Sorry, you are…?”
“Yamal,” he said, extending a hand.
“Maiya,” she replied, reluctantly taking it.
“Maiya,” the man echoed, drawing out the ‘a’. “What a beautiful name. Though not quite as beautiful as the one who bears it.”
Maiya’s eyes narrowed. “Did you want something?”
“Oh, no. My apologies. I merely saw you here alone and grew curious.”
“What about you? Why are you here?” Maiya asked, directing the conversation away from herself.
“Lost my job. No way to support myself. What’s a man to do?”
One of them, huh? Alms were a strong recruiting mechanism for the Children. Perhaps not directly, but amongst the poor, they were considered saints. Word eventually got around to the less stable among the homeless, leading them straight to the Children.
“Most of us are deadbeats,” Yamal continued, “here for the handouts. The others are crazy. You don’t strike me as either.”
“Maybe the zealotry burns within me? Maybe I’m just good at hiding it.”
“Miss, nobody hides it. Not when you’re as far gone as these guys,” he said, thumbing at the altar.
“Silence! There will be silence!” a member of the Children of Ash called out frenetically, pulling every eye in the hall—including Yamal’s.
Thank Yuma! Maiya breathed, saved from having to answer Yamal. Should’ve smeared more dirt on, I guess.
Her eyes flickered to the tub of blood, and she shivered. She’d dreaded the baptism for months. It wouldn’t happen until she’d been officially initiated, but the reminder of what was to come put her in a foul mood.
“It’ll be fine,” Yamal whispered beside her. “Don’t worry.”
Maiya took a half step away from the man.
“Deference to the Rector! All ye, deference to the Rector!” the Child of Ash shouted, gesturing to a man in blood red robes with an ornate headpiece made of twigs, and covered in blood.
The Child of Ash knelt before the Rector, and the audience—the freeloaders there for the alms, and the initiate hopefuls—did as well.
“That guy a bigshot, or something?” Yamal asked.
“Kinda looks that way, doesn’t it?” Maiya whispered back, forcing herself not to roll her eyes.
The Rector stood at his raised podium. The hall was utterly silent.
The silence continued… and continued. The Rector said nothing.
“You think something’s wrong?” Yamal asked. “This feels—”
“Reverence,” the Rector shouted, silencing the hushed whispers.
“Hallowed is the Ash. Hallowed. And Sincere! Be witness to it! Yes. To enlighten is to ascend. The higher plane. But know this! Few deserve it. Few deserve to KNOW the Ash. Blessed be those who do. UNINITIATED! All of you. TAINTED. By the world. You must purify! Prove your devotion to the ALMIGHTY SWARM!”
The Rector fell, prostrating himself in front of the statue. So did the other Children in the hall, yodeling in a high-pitch.
Maiya and the others followed suit, pressing themselves flat against the blood-stained stone.
“First time?” Yamal asked with a wry smile.
“Uh, huh,” Maiya replied, keeping her voice as calm as she could.
The Children were every bit as deranged as she’d feared.
They rose only after the Rector did. He seemed calmer now, less insane. His words came in a steady—even normal—voice.
Which only scared Maiya more.
“The road is long, and the path is fraught with peril. If our lord god approves, you shall be admitted into our hallowed order.”
Silence once again fell over the hall, and for thirty seconds, nobody spoke. Long after the silence turned awkward, the Rector spoke again, as if no time had passed.
“Blessed are we, to be so near to the Ash. A Blessing that goes unappreciated by your UNINITIATED ears!”
Oh gods… he’s shouting again. So much for the sanity.
Then, without a concluding remark, the Rector walked off the stage, shaking visibly in what Maiya could only assume was rapture. Either that, or the man was experiencing a seizure. She wasn’t sure which was worse.
The Child of Ash next to the Rector spoke instead, “Your Initiation commences one month hence. We shall convene at dawn, east of Jatan Lake. There, your worth shall be determined.”
One month’s a ways away, Maiya thought. She’d known the Children batched their Initiation tests, but getting a precise date was difficult without showing up.
Should’ve sent an agent instead, Maiya thought, though she herself had chosen not to. If she was to join these maniacs, she needed to see all parts of their operation. Even the unpleasant ones.
“A WARNING!” the Rector suddenly shouted, rushing back up to his podium, as if he’d forgotten something important. “Beware the Primordial! The enemy of God. The despicable! The Primordial will bring the end of realms! Find him! Purge him! Burn him to Ash!”
Maiya cringed while Yamal sneered.
“You think he really exists? This Primordial?” the man asked.
“Maybe?”
“Gotta be an Ash Beast, I guess.”
“I dunno. Maybe he’s just a handsome teen trying to find his way in a world that hates him?”
“That’s… oddly specific,” Yamal said, giving her a look.
Maiya fought the urge to giggle.
“Kidding! Who knows what he’s like? If he even exists.”
“R-right.”
I do, Maiya thought. And he’s amazing.
Her chest grew warm at the thought of Vir. Cirayus had said the Primordial—or the Akh Nara, as he called it—would usher in a new era for demons, but how did the Children know of Vir? Or rather, his prior incarnations? What was his true purpose?
Maybe I can help him find out while I’m here. Maybe the Children know more…
Maiya couldn’t wait to see Vir’s reaction when she’d learned all the juicy details of his past. Then she remembered it would be months, if not years, and her mood came crashing down again.
“Begone, ye tainted!” the Rector shouted, descending from the podium for what was hopefully the last time.
The Children pushed the uninitiated out of the audience chamber, through the hallways, and back out to the entrance. They released them discreetly, letting out only one or two at a time.
It was the most miserable Initiation drive she’d ever seen, although perhaps that was by design. It was like they wanted the crazies who enjoyed such treatment.
Maiya stretched and took a deep breath the moment she was free, happy to be rid of that bloody place.
To her dismay, she found a certain shaggy-haired, mustached man by her side.
“What do you think, Maiya?” he asked, earning a frown from her.
Why’s he acting so close?
Maiya shrugged. “East of Jatan Lake puts us closer to the Boundary… Maybe they want us to fight Ash Beasts?”
Yamal visibly paled. “A-Ash Beasts! Fight them?” The man looked as though he was about to piss himself, which helped restore Maiya’s mood.
“I thought you said you were just there for the handouts?” Maiya asked. “Don’t you already have what you want?”