"You're not worried? About the bsphemy?" I asked. Brigeth was across from her, drawing. She marred a light blue sky with gray clouds.

  In her current form, Brigeth was tall. Taller than I, even. She had short bck hair, done up in a bun, and warm beige skin, her eyes a gentle green. This was the way she appeared before people she was comfortable with, which almost exclusively consisted of her followers.

  She liked this form a good deal. It felt like her, and it conveyed who she was. She didn't want to seem that much different from those who worshipped her. Just, maybe, a little bit above them. Is that a sin? Can't a Goddess show off a little?

  It wasn't a sin, of course, because she was the one who defined what a sin was. Well, for her followers, anyway.

  She realized she had got distracted, a little, so she covered the sun in a cloud, and the room got a bit darker. "What, a human learns to identify souls? No, I'm not worried." She pulled the cloud away, let the star shine bright once again. I shot her a look, this time, as if to say, "please stop messing with my dream". Brigeth paid her no mind and continued, "I'd have to do something if she could change them, of course, If I found out about it, anyway. If I didn't know, well, then it's not my fault anyway. Regardless, reading souls is perfectly acceptable."

  "Mmm. Okay," her padin shrugged. She was so cute when she did that. Like an angsty little teen. "Then, I suppose, I'll have to make sure you don't find out about it."

  ___

  It had been a few days since the duo had first set out. The trip had been rather slow, slow and quiet. I enjoyed it a good deal. Lusa had her quirks, but she wasn't bad company. She didn't really talk much unless they got on a topic that excited her, and only then would she never shut up. There was always a pleasantness to it; the way her voice would slowly raise in pitch as she spoke, the way her tempo would quicken, the way she'd get closer, just a little bit, like she's scared I would bore of her and run away. No, I didn't mind it. Not one bit.

  Well, maybe a little bit. She minded how long it took. She know that Lusa didn't have any control over it, but really, that woman had no stamina at all. Even with the tonics she'd forced down her throat, she's just so tired all the time. It shouldn't be surprising, given the unfathomable amount of time that woman's spent locked up in a tower, and I wasn't surprised. Just, a little frustrated.

  But none of that mattered much once Luric was in sight.

  Old, abandoned Luric. She had taken to the little vilge as a rest stop, enjoyed it a good deal ever since it had been evacuated. It was a good location, afterall. Half-way between Luan and the rest of the world. With free bed and bath, at that. She smiled when its buildings were finally visible beyond the trees.

  Lusa seemed to have different feelings about it, however, "This is Luric?"

  "Yeah?"

  "Why does it look so," she rubbed her eyes, "Run down?"

  I stopped moving, for a moment, stood in pce. Lusa took an extra step forward, one further than I, then stopped, herself. "You said you passed through here before, Lusa?"

  "On my pilgrimage."

  "How long ago was that?"

  "Oh, I don't know, I tend to lose track of time."

  "Well, it's been abandoned for a century."

  It was quiet, for a moment, after that. They waited, stood around for a bit, until Lusa took the initiative and stepped forward. Then they walked on into the town.

  The buildings had aged more, since I had st came through here. It hadn't been that long, perhaps a decade or so. A lot can change in a decade, of course, but it hit I a little harder than she expected. There was a tavern which once stood two stories and had a balcony held up by long wooden pilrs. She remembers how she used to camp out there, how she'd feel the cool night air against her skin, look up at the sky and think about the stars. It had colpsed. Its support pilrs rotted, and the balcony could not handle its own weight, so it fell, taking a chunk of the tavern with it. A shame. She really liked that tavern.

  The entire commercial area was simirly worse for wear. Most of the well-kept oak wood that had composed the buildings had aged substantially. Some of them remained retively intact, but none were in a state that I would want to risk sleeping in. The pair didn't say a word as they walked through town, evidently both deep in thought.

  I wondered how much of the town Lusa could even remember. A shame, really, that life-lengthening magic didn't preserve the mind like the divine did. I had a perfect recollection of everything that had happened in her life since becoming a padin. Centuries of it. As she walked down the streets, her memories emerged as if she had been there yesterday.

  Soon they made it to the residential buildings, and Lusa spoke for the first time. After taking in a sharp breath, she let out a little, "Oh no."

  They were ruined. Completely, utterly ruined. The thatched roofing was missing from most of them, entirely decayed. The grayish ash wood that the houses were traditionally made from had turned a moldy bck, had colpsed in on itself. Some of the nicer buildings used to have gss windows; these had all shattered.

  "It might be best if we don't stay the night here," I said, and she hated that the words came out of her mouth. She had really looked forward to a nice bath.

  Lusa just nodded and continued to walk.

  Walk until she stopped, abruptly, and gagged. A moment ter, it hit I too. The smell was truly horrendous.

  It hadn't smelled good, before, either. But it wasn't quite as acrid, didn't quite carry the scent of death that was all too familiar to the padin. The ground here was devoid of even the yellowed grass they saw before. It was all just a bck, gooey sludge.

  "Is this," Lusa started to speak, having recovered just a little, "Is this why this pce is abandoned?"

  "No," I shook her head, "This is new."

  As soon as the words were out of her mouth, the pair of them had already turned around and started to walk away.

  ___

  They spent some time in search of a suitable pce to sleep. Every wooden building they found had decayed to the point of being dangerous, so they, ultimately, were left only with the stone buildings. Of which there was one: The church of Rika.

  It wasn't quite as imposing as Rika's churches normally were, since it was a bit smaller, more fit for a vilge like Luric. But it was still imposing. The gray-white carved and yered granite stood an impressive two stories, its presence broken up by stained gss windows, one of which was an orange sun which shone from the center of its steeple. Below the steeple stood a great bronze door, strong enough to resist even an invasion.

  "Go in without me," I said, crossing her arms.

  "Huh?"

  "I'm not stepping one foot in that building."

  It took a moment for the cogs in tired Lusa's head to turn in the right permutation to connect it all, then, "You don't have to be scared. It's been abandoned for a century, hasn't it?"

  "I'm not scared," she responded, and normally, when someone says that, they are very much scared. But I's tone was stoic, without a hint of emotion in it, "I'm principled. Padins don't step foot in other church's holy grounds without permission. Even if they have been abandoned for a hundred years."

  "Well," Lusa realized she'd have to change tactics with this woman, "I am scared. I'm not equipped to interface with the divine on my own. What if there are traps? Won't you come with me, keep me safe? You're sort of obliged to, you know."

  She shook her head. "It's really not about that. It's an insult to both gods if I enter without permission. I don't mind insulting Rika, in fact, I'd be happy to, but I will not insult Brigeth."

  "Why don't you just ask her?"

  "And take time out of her busy day? I don't want to bother her, she has better things to do."

  "Better than talk to her padin? I doubt it. She'll be delighted to see you. You know that."

  "Fine. I'll ask," she said, and closed her eyes. It seemed to only take a moment, at least to Lusa, before her eyes opened again. There was the hint of a blush on her face when she said, "Let's go in, then."

  Lusa raised an eyebrow at this but said nothing, and soon, the pair opened the bronze doors and walked into the church proper.

  It was fairly pin inside. The floor was made of the same granite as the rest of the structure. It was polished and uniform, but otherwise undecorated; just a bnk, gray space. In the center, a circur firepce had been erected, surrounded by the semi-circle of a curved ash wood bench. At the far end, the one without a bench, sat an elevated ptform, upon which a long, rectangur table rested, presumably some sort of dining table, given the seats accompanying it. The wood used for all of these was still in good shape; not decayed in the slightest. Either they simply used a much higher quality wood and kept better care of it, or this pce had been spared from the destruction that had found the rest of the town. Lastly, in the right corner, there was a staircase up, and, to the left, a staircase down.

  The first thing Lusa did, of course, was walk up to the benches next to the fire. There wasn't any wood in the pit, so she didn't light it. Instead, she sat down on the bench, rolled her head around, and stretched out her arms above her head, arching her back, yawning the whole time.

  I sighed, and Lusa could faintly hear her footsteps echo across the building as she also walked towards the bench. Lusa made sure to make note of that in her journal: "I is a quiet walker, rare, for a padin." She was not at all quiet when she plonked down on the bench next to her, rolled her shoulders around, and stretched her arms out in front of her body, yawning, too.

  "Tired?" Lusa asked, already knowing the answer.

  "A little," she responded, yawned again. They sat there for some time, resting, not speaking.

  Finally, Lusa sighed, then took in a deep breath. "That was caused by some Liedo, like, obviously. Why are they here?"

  "Not sure. There haven't been any battles that I know of nearby," I was looking into Lusa's eyes as she spoke, and it took all her willpower not to avert her gaze, "Which most likely means that some very powerful wizards were here."

  "Some very ignorant powerful wizards, maybe," Lusa crossed her arms, "Seriously, using enough mana to drain a whole vilge and the forest nearby? They ought to be ashamed."

  "Probably didn't have enough time to moderate themself. Maybe a conflict. We might want to investigate more tomorrow," I's eyebrows rexed for a moment, as she took in a deep breath, and said, "And, Lusa. I know you don't need me to tell you this, but make sure to not draw any mana in, okay? We really don't need any Liedos coming after us, too."

  Lusa was a bit offended by the fact that she even felt the need to suggest it. "Of course I won't."

  "Good," I said, then paused for a moment. When she started to speak again, Lusa's stomach growled. So instead, she said, "We should eat."

  With a nod, Lusa took some dried foods out of the storage. Some nuts, seeds, and berries. It was what they had mostly ate while on the road. She offered some to I, who looked confused, and refused.

  "We're not eating dried food. Save that for when we don't have a perfectly good stove right in front of us," she said as she got up from her seat, "I'm going to get some kindling. The church is perfectly safe; no residual curses or anything, but, that doesn't mean you're perfectly safe. So, stay out of trouble."

  With that, she left, and Lusa was left alone. She journaled, for a time, wrote down the events of the day. Sometimes she would spend a good deal of time musing over diction, ruminating about how she really felt, what it meant. But she had not done that this time. She was far too tired. So it was a fairly pin, matter-of-fact account of the day. One that she finished before I returned.

  Which left her with nothing to do. She wrapped her cloak around her body, and her hat changed into a pillow as she id down against the bench. She contorted her body against the frame of the round bench, but she couldn't quite find a comfortable position, no matter how she twisted and turned. It was practically designed to make ying on it difficult.

  After some time, she groaned, a bit of an "urrgh", and gave up on resting on the bench altogether. Her pillow transformed back into a hat as she sat up, and her cloak soon unwrapped.

  This wouldn't do at all. She just had to find a bed.

  ___

  It was the first time I had been alone for some days, this search for firewood. It was a nice break, honestly. She had to admit that she enjoyed to company of the mage, it's not like she wanted to get rid of her. But she had always been someone who needed time to herself, away from others.

  And what better time to herself than a nice walk through nature, a gathering wood for the fire.

  She was a bit worried, she had to admit. About leaving that frail thing alone. Lusa seemed like she might keel over at the slightest breeze. They really should have a way to contact eachother. It was careless, to leave without one. She wasn't used to this, really. To protecting. That's not what padins did.

  She considered going back, for a brief moment, but it was really quite silly, worrying about her. She's lived this long on her own. And besides, I was already at the forest.

  The trees on the outskirts were surprisingly healthy. Few dead branches littered the ground, they seemed to have all their life force still intact. The Liedos had clearly not found it yet. Which was good, for the forest's health, but a tad strange. And inconvenient, for I, who just wanted some dead, dry firewood.

  So she went deeper into the forest. And as she explored she started to, subconsciously, notice signs. Disheveled saplings, small scratches against the bark. And then, ground that had clearly been shifted. Something had been buried there.

  ___

  There were no beds. Not a single bed in this entire establishment. Not upstairs, not downstairs. It was ridiculous, truly. Had they taken the beds with them when they left? If not, where did the clergy normally sleep? The upstairs seemed to have mostly been used for storage, if the cupboards and containers were anything to go by. They were empty, now, no longer fulfilling their purpose. A shame. And the downstairs was just a library. Well, not just a library, since Lusa was indeed fascinated by it. But it had no beds to speak of, and that was a crime.

  ___

  It wasn't long before she heard movement behind her. It was soft, quiet, and restrained. It took great care to only move when I moved, stop when she stopped. She had been running some theories about what was following her. Too small to be a mormha, too big to be a kad. It touched the ground, occasionally, but it moved across the trees as well, so it had to either grapple onto them or stick to them somehow. Or fly, but a creature like that flying would make too much noise.

  There was only one option, really, one she confirmed when it leapt past the trees towards her. Its mouth opened wide, so wide that it was entirely horizontal, its jaw totally unhinged. It had a red, fleshy mouth, upon which a row of sharp teeth rested, teeth which were pointed directly at I. A tongue flopped down zily between the two halves of its mouth, facing downwards, towards the ground. It was obvious, just seeing its mouth, that it was a raif.

  She ducked her head down, and it shot past her, barely missed her. It flew between the two trees nearby, wrapped its tail around one, caught itself on it with a hiss. It crawled across the tree, and I finally caught a glimpse of its body. It was covered in bck-and-purple mottled fur, its patterns seeming to shift and change as it moved. It was about the size and shape of a particurly long house cat, with two pairs of strong, bded legs.

  It wasn't long before it was ready to leap again. Realizing its mistake from st time, it aimed lower, faced her left leg, and shot through the air. I knew what it was aiming for, though, so she squatted down a little, held her hands out to catch the beast by its back. But it was ready for this too, and it wrapped its tail around her arm, sprung off of it where it leapt towards her chest and--

  ___

  She flipped to the next page. It was somewhat rare for there to be books Lusa hadn't read yet, and these were fascinating musings on the nature of divinity. They weren't correct in any sense of the word, but they were fascinating. It's something she might have wrote as a thought experiment, picturing herself in the pce of a raving zealot. She had to admit, the dedication Rika inspires in her servants was nothing but amazing. She had no interest in such things; she did not need followers nor servants. But still, it was good to learn about. Perhaps it would help her rete to I.

  ___

  I caught it, of course. Grabbed it by its back and turned it around so its stomach was bared to her, mindful to keep her hands away from aforementioned stomach. Dangerous things, those cws were.

  She often felt the urge to pet raifs, to stroke her hand across their stomachs. And she did pet this one, just. Only on its back. Touching its stomach was a good way to lose a limb, something she was all to familiar with.

  It was still fuming. The pets never really helped to calm raifs down much. But I liked to do it, so she did. The next thing for her to ponder was what to do with the beast. She could simply knock it out, but that risks causing it permanent damage, and--it thrashed in her hands once more, this time managing a wicked cut on her wrist--she really didn't want to hurt the poor thing. Perhaps she could ask Brigeth for a miracle, but that would be a waste of her divinity's time, really. It wouldn't be possible to just leave it, either, since raifs are persistent, vengeful creatures. It would stalk her for months before giving up, now that it had marked her as its prey. Waiting for any moment of weakness. For her to rex to eat, for her to sleep. They were dedicated little things. No, there was only one option, really. So she took some thread out from her pocket, and wrapped it around the creature. Wrapped its legs together, tied it to the tree, and walked away. It wouldn't take long for it to break free, but she'd be long gone by then. And it wouldn't follow her. Despite how spiteful they were, they didn't tend to chase after targets once they'd lost them.

  The walk back was quiet. There weren't any other beasts in sight, so it was easy to just grab some firewood and return to the church with it. Return to Rika's church.

  She noticed one peculiar detail when she entered through the front door: her mage was not where she left her.