Armela shifted lazily in the bed, trying to soak as much of its comfort into herself as possible.

  “Hngngfnnn whhyyyyyyy, do I even need to be there?”

  She stretched, putting an arch into her back that I very much appreciated, and then yawned sleepily before turning back into her pillow.

  “I need you there, both as reassurance and also as proof that my God holds power through me. It’s one thing to produce trinkets; it’s another thing entirely to change someone as I’ve changed you. Besides, wouldn’t it be nice for me to show off my mate in front of a crowd of people?”

  Her ears perked up at that, swivelling towards me.

  “Oh? And how am I to be shown off? I don’t suppose you’ll be wearing a blindfold this time, will you?”

  I chuckled and admired the way her bushy brown tail had begun to sway side to side.

  “While that certainly would cause a bit of a stir, I think it might detract from the serious nature of our talk. I’m surprised you aren’t worn out from our earlier romp.”

  This time she rolled over and flung her arm out over me, pushing me onto my back and then mounting me.

  “You looked good in a blindfold, kneeling on the ground like my little pet! Honestly, I think there should be more of that happening.”

  Her pert breasts bounced pleasantly as she spoke, gently rocking her hips against me. She was much more awake than I’d thought.

  We went for another round, her endless lust sweeping me up as easily as a dust ball. I’d need to learn how to say no to her one day, otherwise this might actually get us into trouble eventually. Finally, we exhausted each other and collapsed back onto the bed in blissful satisfaction.

  Our lovemaking had the unfortunate side effect of making the bed seem infinitely more attractive than addressing a crowd of concerned, angry, and confused village folk. I closed my eyes and wished I could just take Armela and run away to a place where we could live a quiet life together.

  But that wasn’t fair to the people here. And no matter how far or how long I ran, I wouldn’t escape my goal of constructing a limb for my god. As they say: I could rest when I was dead.

  I kissed her and rolled out of bed. I materialised my clothes once again. This time, I opted to make some simple twine sandals, so I wasn’t completely barefoot for the presentation, but beyond that I didn’t make any modifications to my wardrobe.

  Making things too fancy would elevate the crowd’s perception of me in a way I didn’t want. Simple working clothes would help them relate to me and not see me as yet another pompous authority figure to be obeyed.

  They likely got enough of that treatment from the noble class and merchants, let alone the church—which I now had to inform them was their enemy. Armela’s dress reappeared on her body just as my clothes had, and I decided to just not be surprised by how well she was utilising her abilities.

  “I thought for sure you’d have swapped over to armor of some kind by now. Is the dress just easier to move about in?”

  She swiveled her head to face me as she drew the remnants of her ‘body’ back into herself.

  “My skin’s harder than any chain mail, yeah? Why would I clad myself in leather when my hide is better? Besides… you gave me this dress…”

  She blushed lightly as turned away, resuming her efforts to clean up after herself.

  My nostrils flared as my affection for her swelled through my chest. I needed to ensure her happiness at all costs.

  She coiffed her hair, straightened the simple dress, and then nodded to me in readiness. Opening a rift to the commerce building, we stepped through it and onto the top step outside the entrance. Before us was a crowd of precisely 102 people—33 of whom were children.

  All the original children I’d met, along with their families, were in attendance.

  This was perfect.

  Seta and her parents were near the front of the crowd, and it looked like most of the village guards were sprinkled throughout the throng. From my drone’s perspective, I could see there were still members stationed at each of the posts lining the perimeter of the fence.

  This was unnecessary, given my coverage—but they didn’t know that. I quickly launched a few more drones so I could project my voice evenly across the village; even those who couldn’t—or chose not to show up—would hear what I had to say.

  The murmur of the crowd had settled after Armela and I had stepped out of the rift, but picked up again immediately after as they discussed the magic on display. Hushed gasps and excited exclamations rippled out as the drones ejected from my body and flew off.

  I raised my hands in a gesture for silence. The setting sun to the west cast the street before me in deep shadow and I imagined the people would have a difficult time making me and my expressions out so I had a couple drones sit to either side of me and cast two impromptu stages lights over myself and Armela.

  The effect must have been rather awe-inspiring, as it caused the last of the conversation to die completely.

  I took a shaky breath as I glanced at Armela; she returned my gaze and nodded reassuringly. Show time.

  “People of Hilst, I address you all as friends and comrades, though we have not been introduced. My name is Vita; some of you have dealt with me today, and no doubt most of you have heard my name spoken. I rescued some of your children three days ago from a goblin menace.”

  I made eye contact with those who had been affected by those events, swiveling my head across the front of the crowd where they were concentrated.

  “I also blessed them with trinkets from my God. For those of you who do not yet know me—I am a pilgrim. Though I did not have business with Hilst, fate determined that Hilst would have business with me. Over the course of my dealings, many things have come to light that I believe each of you deserve to know.”

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  The crowd was absolutely silent. Not so much as a sniffle sounded in my pause between statements.

  “First, the goblin raid which I turned away from your doors two nights ago belonged to a larger operation. This was no wandering band of rabble. A camp was located to the west of here, which had served as a base of operations for an orc warlord.”

  This caused an unsettled commotion in the crowd; the concern rose sharply among the gathered people.

  “This warlord was the nexus around which the camp—and business south of Eprie—was conducted. It was all but guaranteed that, had they been left to their devices, Hilst would have inevitably become a target for their subjugation. Simple raiding parties would turn into siege forces.”

  Eyes widened throughout the gathered people as the scope of their peril was laid bare to them.

  “And with the power of the Warlord among them, the goblins would have reduced this peaceful village to a den of villainy. However, this is no longer a concern for you, for the Warlord was slain by my mate here. An admirable warrior and former captive of that same warlord! With her strength of arm, the threat to Hilst was ended!”

  A cheer sputtered and then caught on; claps and hoots echoed from the walls and up into the rapidly darkening sky. Armela turned to me, aghast. She couldn’t fathom why I would lay the acclaim for such a deed at her feet.

  I smiled warmly as the village folk showered her with adulation. She needed this more than I did—the confidence, the acceptance, the mythos. I needed her to feel strong and for the people to view her as strong.

  Because if she were that powerful, and she were subservient to me, then how powerful could I be?

  But I continued, my tone darkening ominously as I moved into the meat of the announcement.

  “Or so we believed. However, deep within the warlord’s lair was a piece of paper, and on that paper was written the true treachery with which Hilst must contend. I will present it now for those of you who can read the common tongue.”

  I projected an image of the paper through the drones onto any suitably flat surface within viewing distance of those who held line-of-sight to them. This was met with awed gasps and worried murmurs, as this form of magic was unknown to them.

  “Herein lies the real threat to Hilst. And for those of you who cannot read this letter, I will spell it out so that you, too, understand where to direct your ire. I do not wish things to be this way, truly.”

  I hung my head in mock disappointment. Trying to make Rel’s apparent betrayal of the people a deeply disturbing development to myself as well.

  “And had there been even a single ray of doubt in my heart, I would have discarded this letter the moment I saw it. But the truth of the words displayed here will soon be bolstered by the testimony I will provide to you.”

  The disquiet among the people was palpable. Some of them shouted it wasn’t true. The church couldn’t do those things. They wouldn’t do anything like that. There was no way Rel condoned their actions. Surely the just God would have swept in to purge the taint from their holy order.

  I gestured once more for quiet.

  “This letter outlines how pleased the Church of Rel is to continue conducting business with the orc warlord. The letter exclaims that the small camp would also continue to receive support from the church. It even goes so far as to remind the orc warlord who its principal contributor of ‘merchandise’ is!”

  I had their complete attention as I explained the church’s involvement.

  “And that it would be wise of the Warlord to keep that in mind when dealing with their members. Merchandise, in this context, is slaves gathered and transported through Eprie for furtherance to places unknown.”

  I waved an arm out toward the south gate of their village for emphasis.

  “No doubt, some of you may have seen or heard of some refugees from the camp come through this way the day before. And, in point of fact, another batch of freed slaves will arrive tomorrow for shelter and reorganization.”

  The crowd remained silent now, the bevy of witnesses and information enticing them. They were curious to get hold of the gossip that would soon circulate throughout the village.

  “Furthermore, just this very day, I thwarted an attempt by that very same church to kidnap some of your fellow citizens before your very eyes! I will warn you now, some things you are about to see may disturb you. If you have a poor constitution, do not be ashamed to look away.”

  I replaced the image of the letter with the memory I’d recorded of intercepting the wagons containing the priests. It played out like a video file directly from my mind. The slaughter of the guards, the discovery of the priest atop the little girl in the back. It was pixel-perfect.

  The villagers looked on in horror at the scene playing out before them. Some turned away; others averted their children’s eyes from the all-too-real images being shown to them.

  “What you have just witnessed was what I was forced to witness mere hours ago. No doubt some of you have already recognized many faces in what you saw. In fact, those very same priests are before you now, awaiting their judgement for the sins they’ve wrought against you.”

  The crowd waited just a heartbeat before going absolutely apoplectic with rage. The shouting and jeering were deafening in the street's corridor. They seethed and undulated like some magnificent beast thrown on hot coals. The guards were trying—unsuccessfully—to contain their indignant anger.

  The priests, who were bound, gagged, and kneeling at the bottom of the steps, cowered in fear. I flared my lights brightly to catch the gathered people’s attention once again and help quell the forming riot.

  “Be still, friends. What you witnessed has come and gone; the people who were taken were returned to you safely and are gathered here in this meeting. Seta, can you and the others identify yourselves to the group? Come up here and stand with me, if you please?”

  Seta nodded, but glanced around apprehensively as she made her way up the steps. The other families pushed their way through the crowd until they, too, stood next to me on the landing leading into the commerce building.

  “As you can see, they are all here. Whole and intact. So calm your wrath for the moment; you will need it later. The priests responsible for this travesty against you are detained and shall be dealt with by your collective judgement once my talk is over.”

  There was a single cry from a man three rows back and slightly to the right.

  “FUCKING KILL THEM!”

  The cry was then unanimously taken up by the crowd, which once again began to roil and roll with unspent energy. I was whipping them into a frenzied mob.

  Good.

  “You there, man. I hear your plea and assure you that judgement will be passed on to them swiftly. However, there is still more to this case than some corrupted, god-forsaken priests. Your village leader also holds responsibility for the acts carried out today!”

  I dragged a spotlight over the hog-tied form of the leader.

  “In my efforts to locate and rescue these fine families, he did his best to muddy their tracks. He seemed more interested in preserving the ‘honour’ of these corrupt men than he was in protecting the people he led. Observe how he responded to my questions once confronted.”

  I changed the projected images once more to replay my interaction with the Leader. His stuttering and obvious deception seemed theatrically exaggerated. After the interaction had concluded, I jumped to when he’d attempted to flee from me.

  At that point, the people of Hilst surged forward. Their anger and indignation needed an outlet, and they were going to carry out their justice now.

  “STOP!”

  My voice boomed out like a peal of thunder; the force of it slammed into the wave of humans and broke their advance. Many of them clutched at their ears and looked up at me in fear and confusion. Ramping up the energy output of my voice amplified the volume quite a bit.

  I was careful to modulate it appropriately; too high and I would risk rupturing eardrums or soft organs.

  “Hear me! People of Hilst! I feel your rage! I feel it just as you do. It boils inside my veins even now, standing just out of reach of these despicable men. And I, too, wish with every fibre of my being to tear them limb from limb… However… there is a greater foe against which you should bring your wrath…”

  I reached out to them with one hand, the other across my chest, beseeching them for patience and civility.

  “One which will not stop until every man, woman, and child has been subdued or slain. For the Cardinal, who led these men, has promised retribution against those who wish to disrupt their tainted activities…”

  I displayed my interaction with the Cardinal now. Specifically, the part about treating their people like church property, to be used and disposed of at will.

  “This! This is how the Church sees you. Cattle to be reared and sold when it pleases them. To be herded and driven where they like and for whatever purposes they care to explain.”

  I allowed my collected rage to bleed into my voice as I spoke, my hatred for the church singeing the edges of every word as it seared its way up my throat.

  “If you dislike what they do, then you are labelled a heretic and scoured from your homes like vermin. THIS! The very same church, WHO THIS VERY DAY, attempted to STEAL. YOUR. PEOPLE!”

  The clamour from the people was harsh and unyielding. They were screaming and beating their chests like a war band ready to march out and ravage the world in their quest for vengeance.

  “This church has promised revenge upon me for the simple fact that I DARED to save members of your community. That I would even THINK to expose their crimes to you! I have been persecuted as a villain for saving your loved ones from a life of torture and servitude to those who would wish to bring harm to them.”

  Their rage cooled slightly. Or, perhaps, it was more accurate to say it was tempered. Their spite and bloodlust had been placed upon my anvil, and I was forging them against it.

  “And if you still hold any doubt in your hearts, consider that if they were so bold as to abduct these beautiful people in BROAD DAYLIGHT. FROM YOUR VILLAGE. WITH THE AID OF GUARDS… think what they might do now that they are coming for revenge.”

  The racket died down slightly as the people began to stop and consider. Most of them were followers of Rel, and though the church had slighted them, this didn’t implicate Rel as a complicit entity. Could they still follow Rel guilt-free? Would the following Rel mean they sided with the kidnappers? With slavery? I could see the struggle on many of their faces.

  I was getting close to having them. They’d been heated, tempered, and now they just needed to be shaped. I was close.

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