CHAPTER 117

A strange feeling. Somewhere between an ache and a loss. She couldn’t define it at first. She’d spoken to veterans before, those that refused magical regeneration, of the strange feeling that their arm or their leg were still attached.

"The worst", one grizzled ranger confided to her when he was deep in his cups, gesturing at the stump of a shoulder, "is when your elbow itches." He hissed angrily. " I ‘ain't got no elbow anymore, how in the Goddess’ name is it supposed to itch?" Or you unconsciously keep sticking your tongue into the empty socket where a tooth used to be, she mused, trying to make sense of the aching sense that something that had been a fundamental part of her was gone. What was it? After that blasphemer had knocked her out, something had happened, hadn’t it?

Katarina concentrated on her physical sensations. She lay on her side, arms twisted painfully behind her. Her wrists had been bound. She tried to shift her legs; it seemed her feet were tied at the ankles and perhaps her knees as well. She was cold, though not uncomfortably so. Her head hurt and her jaw throbbed where that asshole had decked her. She probed the inside of her mouth with her tongue. All of her teeth were present and accounted for.

She checked her breathing; slow and even. No aches besides the kind that came from sleeping on the ground. Her clothes felt weird, though. There was something wrong, there. She couldn’t place it immediately, so she ignored it for the moment as she mentally examined herself for any sign of injury or broken bone.

Well, she’d reach for Glory, summon the full strength of her power, the power of the Goddess, the power that Inanna had given her, break her bonds, snap them like thread, and-

Something wasn’t right. Glory wasn’t there. It should have been there, a warm, pulsing flame in her heart and soul, feeding her might and power and strength. It was gone.

She opened her eyes, and was greeted with an indistinguishable darkness.

As bothersome as it was, she’d just summon her halo- strange as it was, she could remember doing it before, summoning or dismissing it at will, a simple thought, no more difficult than pulling the trigger on her gun, but... she simply couldn’t remember how.

She struggled against her bonds, discovering that she’d been gagged at some point. She flexed and stretched, she realized that she wasn’t wearing her pants anymore. Someone had seen fit to put her in a dress.

This was a personal violation. Whoever had done it would have to die. Someone had undressed her without her consent. Her fury couldn’t be contained or restrained anymore. She struggled, she kicked, he twisted, she strained against her bonds with all of her might; nothing. Whoever had tied her up had done it well.

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After several minutes of struggling futilely at her bonds, she stopped to catch her breath and recenter herself. She was expending her strength irrationally, irrelevantly, and were she sixteen again, her caustic master would have slapped the shit out of her for being so stupid and giving in to panic and frustration.

She tried organizing her thoughts; it was difficult to do; the overwhelming sense of loss and abandonment of her Goddess had hit her hard.

"What’s the first priority?" She asked herself quietly. The answer was obvious. "Escape." She muttered. But that begged the question: How? She was trussed up like a slaughtered beast, arms and wrists and knees tied tightly.

"With what?" She asked herself, and struggled to examine her wrist bindings. It felt like some sort of rope. There was a little give and flexibility to it, but not enough to allow escape. Half curled into a fetal position, where her hands could reach her feet, she discovered her feet had likewise been bound, but this was with leather straps.

Her fingers played along the straps as her muscles creaked and strained. She wasn’t used to being in this sort of position. Ever since the Golden Lady had seen fit to modify her body, changing its overall shape and conformation, Katarina had struggled with acclimating to the shape her Goddess had decided she should inhabit.

In some ways her body no longer felt like her own. She was a little taller, she was more slender. Her center of balance was different. Her degree of flexibility, even the way her muscles flexed and moved was completely different than what she was used to. This was mostly mitigated by the warm, comforting presence of the Goddess within her; the constant throb and pulse and flow of Glory in her heart, filling her body with power, but now that it was gone, she felt like a complete stranger in her own body.

Her hands fumbled at the leather straps. Was there a buckle? Were they knotted? Her hands brushed against some metal, and she sighed with relief. Buckles meant they could be undone. After her feet were free, what then, though? She couldn’t reach her knees from this position. It was physically impossible for her hands, bound behind her, to reach her knees. The next priority should be her hands, then.

The ground was bare dirt, she couldn’t find an edge of rock to use, nor could she scuff her wrists against the flooring to chafe away the ropes.

If I just had my powers, this would be a cinch she thought to herself. In her mind, her acerbic master cuffed her. You think you need powers to escape something so simple? Use your head, idiot.

"Thanks Master," She muttered to herself. "You always did give the best advice."

She went back into her mind to consider her options. No Goddess-granted powers. Just gone. This seemed to include her direct and proportionate strength and flexibility boosts she’d been given.

Okay, she told herself. She had no weapons, no tools, no powers. Wait. She had her Witch Hunter abilities long before she’d been blessed by the Goddess. She took a breath and concentrated in the way she’d been taught to invoke her Auravision. She opened her eyes; there was nothing magical around her. She expanded her field of antimagic; that worked as well, though she still couldn’t see her surroundings.

She hearkened back to the books she’d found in the old Witch Hunter keep in Montesilvano. Witch Hunter powers were a result of mental discipline and focus. There were many ways they could be manifested and cultivated. Modern conventions insisted that there were two ways a Witch Hunter could develop their powers: detecting magic, and defending against magic. However, there was a third path that had been long neglected: The offensive use of a Witch Hunter’s abilities.

What would bea good way to do that, in this situation? Her priority was freeing her hands. Unable to think of a suitable way to use her offensive capabilities (untrained as they were) without somehow causing injury to herself, She decided to stretch out on whatever ground she lay on, and roll until she fetched up against something.

She rolled a couple of times until she hit what felt to be a stony outcrop; that was promising. She wriggled and maneuvered and pushed until she was more or less with her back to it, and immediately began vigorously scraping the ropes on her wrists. She’d break free, and she’d visit her vengeance against those that thought to imprison her. She’d kill them all.

As she scraped, she strained against the ropes, hoping they’d break quickly that way. She froze as she heard a scuffling footstep approach; she could see whoever it was carried a torch; illuminating the area faintly. She was in a cave of some sort. A firepit wasn't too far away, ringed with stones. She sped up her scraping, and was emboldened by the feeling of the ropes loosening. She’d be free in just a moment.

It was the man she'd shot in the inn. "You should be dead." She stated flatly. He shook his head. "Nope. You're wrong."

She shook her head. "Then you must be a mutant, because I know for certain I shot you through the heart." She spat. He was carrying a large bundle; it looked to be her gear, going by the patterns on the coat she’d inherited from her master, and the sword hilt sticking out from the mass. This he set far away from her. A second bundle joined the one with her gear, this was a stack of firewood, which he laid into the firepit in a complicated criss-cross fashion, creating a rough pyramid shape. He sifted tinder and kindling down the pyramid, and then she heard the unmistakable scrape of flint on steel.

He snorted. "You think you or your God has any right to dictate to me the circumstances of my death?" He gave her a petulant kick as he went past her, where he picked up a wide, flat bowl with both hands. From his pack he produced a mortar and pestle, and a sack of leaves he unceremoniously dumped into the mortar and went to work, grinding them with the pestle.

"Where are my clothes?" Katarina demanded, and the man blinked at her, baffled. "Why would a woman need to wear pants?" He asked. "It's offensive. I had one of the women dress you properly." He shrugged, as if it made no difference to him, and then continued. "My God has given me the understanding that you are somehow bound up in your weapons, so I brought them with me. Perhaps you will indeed kill me, but that isn't for you or I to determine." He offered, working the mortar and pestle, grinding leaves together expertly.

"Tonight you meet the Faceless Stone, The Nameless One. He who is bound up in ancient stone older than the world itself. He will speak with you, Katarina. He will tell you things. It will be you who determines if you live or die; He is a god, a giant, and he cares not where his foot casually lands. Have a care you are not crushed underneath." He warned.

He sifted the powdered leaves into the fire, which flashed an angry red. Thick smoke billowed. "Listen..." The old man commanded, and blew the smoke at her. The scent was cloying, sweet. it was too much, Katarina collapsed.

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She stood on a mountainside, the day was clear and bright, the air thin and crisp.

She glanced around herself to get her bearings. To the west was a sheer cliff face; to the south and east the ground sloped down. To the north the cliff edge marched along, but directly in front of her, directly to the north, a perfect oval stone, a titanic egg easily the size of four horses together gleamed in the sunlight.

"Do you know who you are?" The stone seemed to ask.

"I am Katarina. I am a Witch Hunter in service to the Golden Lady." She replied without hesitation.

"That is your name and your job, girl."

"It is who I am and no more."

"And your sister? The wandering sorceress Alsabet? Is she not a part of your life? Is there any room for family within the Golden Lady?"

"Reading my mind? That is definitely a trick." Katarina remarked casually, circling the stone egg.

"Of course. Your god gave you the power to block such things, and yet I bypass those safeguards with ease. Why? because for now you are in my domain, where her powers hold no sway."

She was in the presence of a god, a god that could cut her off from the powers her own Goddess had given her. Her heart thundered in her chest. Through her Goddess, all things were possible. Her power was without limit, and Her will unbending. Those who opposed Her would be destroyed utterly, and those who served, who serve wholly, unquestioningly, with utter devotion of mind and soul, were elevated to heights beyond mortal ken. Katarina knew this. She’d chosen the Path of the Champion. How was it this stone egg could deny her own Goddess and Her power?

"Why?"

"Because we need to talk, little one."

Her mind lurched and recoiled as images and feelings and thoughts poured into her consciousness. countless thousands of years of history unreeled in her head. There was a feeling like that of a thousand voices speaking at once.

She stumbled and fell, the lights from a hundred reflected stars whirling in her eyes.

I accepted my fate. We were wrong, and our destruction was all but assured. I welcomed the Void of Nothingness. But then the New Gods came. Here I have sat, unmolested for centuries. Surprisingly I have gathered a small following of souls, those you see in the village below us. I ask from them nothing, I need from them nothing; and when they die, I take their souls and return them to the little cycle I have created. The people of the village know who they are, Katarina, because they have been themselves for the past five thousand years. So I ask you, girl. Who are you?

Katarina could not compete. These people had lived their lives in complete peace, living, dying, living again for thousands of years.

"I am Katarina." She said. "Witch Hunter in service to the Golden Lady, the Dawn of Heaven. Living Champion to her cause. She is the first sunbeam that peeks over the horizon in the morning, She is the lily in the field bravely blooming against the night, and I am her striking sword, her avenging spear, and the shield against the darkness."

The stone was mercifully silent.

"You seem intent on demanding I pick a side." She remarked, poking the rock with her boot. "I already have. Strange that you are a God and yet you do not know this. I chose my side when I spoke my first vow at five years old. That was twenty-two years ago, Oh Wise and Omnipotent Rock. I spoke the words again when I was taken into service to the Golden Lady six years later. I spoke her Word, I brought her Justice for ten years, Rock."

No response from the stone or the from deity within.

"When my sister went rogue, I despaired. We had each served the Golden Lady in our own way. If she chose rebellion, chose to truck with necromancy and demonancy and beastmen and welcomed the taint of heresy and mutation, then what should I do? Should I rebel against my Goddess, that I might protect my sister and keep her safe? Should I continue in the services of my noble goddess and risk hunting my own sister down?"

No response.

"I prayed to the Goddess for help. For advice. For a sign. For something. Anything. I prayed every day, and nothing was revealed to me, except the fact that I was assigned a job to do and I was doing nothing to complete the job."

She sat on a fallen log and crossed her shapely legs. "Uncertainty is freedom. Choice denies freedom. My Goddess came to me and gave me the choice. If there were ever a point that I would have listened to you, rock, it has long since expired." She remarked casually, cupping her chin in her palm.

"I met your sister."

She was up off the log in a flash.

"She was suffering. My brethren are suffering and their pain and hate and madness bleeds off into the world and poisons the magic we freely give, and so too did she suffer. She stayed here a few days while I healed and cleansed her of the poisons she had accumulated. I cannot say if she does indeed truck with necromancy or demonancy. She did have a small retinue of beastmen, though."

An Elder Thing. She was in the presence of an Elder Thing. Some mages worshipped them as gods, and claimed they were the source of all magic. Elder Things were inexplicably mad, inexplicably powerful, and indescribable under any context. No wonder at all why the Anglish referred to this place as the Heretic Stone. "Tell me where she is."

"This is hardly the attitude one should have when asking a God for a favor." The Nameless Stone responded sardonically.

"You aren't my God."

"I may not hold the leash to your bondage but I am indeed above you as much as you are above an ant. I will have you prostrate yourself before me!"

"No. I don't need your favors, I don't need your gifts, this conversation, or anything you have to offer me. My Goddess is strong, and I don't have to bow to you." She spat defiantly, terror turning her blood to ice in her veins.

The ground beneath her quaked fiercely, knocking her off her feet.

"You rise above yourself, mortal. Do not test me."

"I’m not testing you, Rock. I’m standing against you." She rose to her feet. The ground quaked around her; she was knocked off her feet again, this time her chin smacked the ground, drawing blood. She struggled to raise her voice over the groaning and cracking of the ground beneath her as it pitched and heaved.

"I will return to your town! I will continue my work in Her name and I will end your cycle of death and rebirth by purging everything in her holy name! Then I’ll return to Darnell and gather an army of clerics and they will come and they will beat upon this rock until there is nothing but dust and sand!" She screamed frantically.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The quaking stopped suddenly.

"You are truly lost, then." The voice was deep and wide and filled with sorrow and regret.

A powerful wave of exhaustion and vertigo washed over her and she staggered. "You will feel the consequences of your actions. Sleep." Another wave of exhaustion washed over her and she passed out.

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Katarina struggled against unconsciousness, the world fading in and out around her. Somewhere in her head a voice was laughing, mocking her for leaving Armilla behind. Serves you right! The voice jeered. Another voice replied in dry sarcasm; likely the same would have happened to Armilla. The same, or worse. Not that she’d feel guilty at the death of an idiot.

"Hold on Kuroyuki, I think I heard something." A voice intruded on Katarina’s fading consciousness, one that nagged her with familiarity. Katarina managed to rise up partway on her elbows, the world fading in and out around her as a pair of figures -or perhaps just one; her vision was blurry and she wasn’t certain if she was seeing double- rounded the stone sphere.

"By the Rings, what are you doing here?" A voice asked her as the figure knelt beside her, and darkness claimed her.

She awoke some time later, with no understanding of how much time passed.

"This place is dangerous, Sasaki-sama." A voice spoke over her head, light and feminine, with a certain acerbic severity.

"I am dangerous, Kuroyuki." the other voice replied, and Katarina grinned in spite of herself.

"Sasaki." She whispered, and the voice just beyond laughed.

"Look at you, all dressed up and no place to go." Sasaki chided gently. "Fear not, Katarina. I’ll guard you."

"That is increasingly unlikely, Sasaki-sama." the other voice replied in that light, flowery yet astringent voice. "There are a number of people converging on this location."

"Hostile?" Sasaki asked, and the other made some noise in her throat.

"Would you prefer to wait and find out?" the unknown woman asked.

"I’d prefer to be away from this place." The Yamato duelist remarked sarcastically. "Katarina is as heavy as a ton of bricks it seems, though." She added.

"She suffers." Kuroyuki replied. "One such as herself should not have come to a place such as this."

"Really?" Sasaki replied sardonically. "Can you be any more obtuse?"

"You should not be here either, Sasaki-sama. This place will affect you poorly as well." The other woman warned.

"Can we carry her out of here?" Sasaki asked.

"If you do not wish to encounter the people approaching, that does seem to be the ideal choice." Kuroyuki advised.

"I just said I can’t carry her, Kuroyuki. Can’t you do something about that?"

An exasperated sigh. "Her power is disruptive to magical influences. I cannot lighten her with magic, nor lift her with it. Any efforts must be strictly..." She paused. "Mundane." She finished.

"Come on, Katarina. On your feet." Sasaki grumbled, and draped the taller woman’s arm over her shoulder and struggled to lift the taller woman. "I’ve no idea what they did to you, but we’ve gotta get you out of here for sure. If we’re gonna do that, though, you gotta help me out here." She muttered through clenched teeth. "Kuroyuki, get the other arm like this." She instructed, and Katarina could feel herself hoisted up. She struggled to get her feet working as a breeze blew past her face.

"I’m trying..." She struggled to say, and Sasaki let out a strangled laugh.

"Fastest would be towards the village, but that’s just a terrible idea all around." Sasaki mused. "Those fuckers are creepy. Deep-down heebie-jeebie creepy. We’ll have to go back, around the ledge, and down." She decided.

Katarina struggled to stay conscious as Sasaki added in a voice that grew strange and echoed hollowly as darkness claimed her, "If you left anything in the village, we’ll get it come nightfall."

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When Katarina awoke, night had fallen. Around her the trees flickered with reflected firelight. She turned her head and saw two Yamato women talking in low voices. She recognized one as Sasaki.

"I thought I was dreaming." Katarina remarked, and struggled to a sitting position. Every part of her body felt weak and drained. Sasaki glanced at the other Yamato woman and smiled at Katarina.

"Look who’s up." She remarked casually.

"What happened?" Katarina asked, and Sasaki raised an eyebrow.

"Quite a bit, it seems." She replied.

"I imagine so." Katarina replied, and let out a sigh. "I can’t tell if it’s the drugs they used on me or if it was that damned stone, but I feel like shit." She remarked wearily.

"Did you leave anything in that town, Katarina?" Sasaki asked curiously, and the taller woman sighed. "Do I have my gun and sword?" She asked, and Sasaki made a seesaw gesture with her hand. "I found them in a cave not far from where we found you."

"The asshole that took them?" She asked, and Sasaki shrugged. "The cave was empty."

Katarina glanced down at her clothes; a simple peasant's dress. "My clothes. My travelling pack." She muttered.

"Where is it?" She asked, and Katarina raised an eyebrow as she struggled with a waterbag.

"If it’s where i left it, then it would be in the inn. If they confiscated it, I have no idea where it would be."

Sasaki traded glances with Kuroyuki.

"I will stay here." The other woman remarked quietly. "I refuse to fight them." She stated stiffly.

Katarina took a long drink and eyed the other woman as Sasaki adjusted her clothing and vanished into the darkness just past the firelight.

"Who are you?" Katarina asked after a moment.

"You may address me as Kuroyuki." The woman replied formally. "No family name."

Katarina nodded slowly. It made sense that Sasaki would ally with someone with no family ties.

"I’m Katarina. I’m a Witch Hunter in service to the Golden Lady." Katarina replied, and Kuroyuki nodded once.

"It would make sense that a Witch Hunter would come to this area." Kuroyuki allowed. "Foolish and irresponsible given the circumstances, but it is exactly what a Witch Hunter would do." She added acerbically.

Katarina raised an eyebrow. "Why is it foolish?" She asked. Kuroyuki blinked, a flicker of movement.

Kuroyuki let out a small sigh. "I will offer you a different discussion." She replied. "Can you sit properly?" She asked, and Katarina rolled and struggled to move her limbs.

"I think so." She replied, and finally let out a breath. "This’ll do." Katarina finally admitted, and waved her hand languidly to the Yamato woman.

"When you are small and weak, and there are powerful forces all around you struggling for control, what should you do?" Kuroyuki asked curiously.

"I don’t understand. What’s that supposed to mean?" Katarina asked, and Kuroyuki raised an eyebrow.

"I had my doubts as to whether you would be able to participate in a discussion of this nature." She replied with a touch of condescension.

Katarina rolled her eyes ostentatiously. "The glory and power of humans is the ability to come together and form communities. ‘One arrow is easy to break, but it’s harder to break the whole quiver’." She quoted.

"A nest of ants is just as easy to crush underfoot as a single ant." Kuroyuki countered flatly.

Katarina’s face sobered. "This is a theological question, isn’t it." She replied flatly. "‘ware your words, Yamato. I am a Witch Hunter, after all, and I am tasked with rooting out heresy wherever it lies."

"It is not heresy to acknowledge that there are other powers that struggle and jostle for authority in this world." Kuroyuki replied with an amused chuckle. "It is heretical to grant them agency and authority, however." She added in response to Katarina’s glare. "After all, the nation of Urthan worships their Goddess of the Moon, which you acknowledge as an authority, but do not give agency to." She reminded, and Katarina nodded. "And you are definitely more than a Witch Hunter, Katarina." Kuroyuki finished. "Else you would not be affected so."

Katarina let out a sigh. "I was anointed by the Golden Lady as a servant of Her will." Katarina replied evasively. She eyed Kuroyuki, who gazed back impassively. After a moment, she closed her eyes and added, "The Church recognizes me as a Living Saint."

"Ah." Kuroyuki replied in a voice that was both flat and nonplussed. "And it reinforces the point I was making, Living Saint: That if you are weak and small and powerless, the most effective solution for continued prosperity is to ally yourself with one of those forces." She smiled thinly. "Someone to watch over the anthill and prevent others from crushing it underfoot."

Katarina nodded. The Anglish Empire devoted themselves to the Golden Lady’s worship. There were forces, terrifying forces out there that threatened the existence of the Anglish Empire, and the true purpose of the Witch Hunters and Paladins and Inquisitors was to root out and destroy those threats.

"So, what is this place, and why is it dangerous for someone like me?" She asked curiously. "Not that I need a reminder of how dangerous this place is." She added, lifting a shaky hand. "I... I think it’s killing me." She admitted.

Kuroyuki nodded. "This place is a sanctuary of sorts for a different power than the Golden Lady. It is inimical to you, it is toxic for you, and it is killing you."

Katarina let out a shaky breath. "I knew I would meet my end in a place like this." She replied after a long moment of silence. "Strange. Until I met Olivia, I was ready to die like this." She remarked in a wavery voice. "Now, I-" She trailed off. "I want to keep going."

Kuroyuki nodded. "This is acceptable to me." She replied. "My Master is quite fond of you, it seems."

Katarina nodded. "Same on this side." She acknowledged. Her eyes shifted to Kuroyuki. "What are you?" She asked dangerously, and Kuroyuki gave her a slow, dangerous smile.

"I am companion to Sasaki." She replied calmly.

"Bullshit." Katarina challenged, and Kuroyuki shook her head. "When Sasaki arrived in Yamato, she met me. In exchange for the pardon of her crimes, she agreed to let me follow her on her adventures."

After a long moment Katarina nodded. "And her family?" She asked, and Kuroyuki shook her head. "She has been disowned and banished."

Katarina let out a sigh. "That’s tough to hear."

"Never you mind that, Katarina." Sasaki announced, stepping into the firelight and dropping the Witch Hunter’s pack at her feet. "I’m here, and like I promised, I’ll stand shoulder to shoulder with you."

Katarina burst out into tired laughter. "Wonderful. Simply wonderful."

Sasaki nodded, and Kuroyuki glanced at Sasaki, and then at Katarina, and her lips thinned. Katarina wondered what it could mean. The Yamato woman seemed to have a dislike for Katarina, but it didn’t seem specific to her.

"We’ll leave in the morning." Katarina advised, and Sasaki nodded. "Hopefully you’ll feel better by then."

Katarina shook her head. "I don’t think so." She replied. "But we can’t fly during the night."

Sasaki blinked. "Fly?" She asked, extremely carefully.

Katarina nodded. "Fly." She repeated.

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In the morning, Katarina was nearly insensate, and had to be roused roughly.

"What happened?" She asked vaguely, head lolling.

"Thought we lost you." Sasaki grimaced, eyeing Katarina’s cheeks, which were a brilliant red from several vigorous slaps. The rest of her was completely pale, a lifeless white of a corpse.

Katarina let out a long sigh. "In my pack, there’s a whistle. Three finger holes." She whispered. "Blow it like this:" She whispered, "second, first, third." She struggled to find her feet and was dismayed when they didn’t even twitch.

"There are herbs and spirits in my bag." She advised. "Mix them together and give it to me. Hopefully it’s enough to get me moving." Sasaki nodded, and rummaged into Katarina’s pack once more.

Katarina took the draught in a single swallow, and Sasaki was immediately heartened by the flush of color returning to Katarina. Katarina herself was amused to find that while she was able to move her limbs about, she wasn’t capable of standing unassisted.

Sasaki blew the whistle, which was almost immediately answered with a ear-splitting roar.

"Ah, good. Marcela is nearby." Katarina announced shakily. "Good. We’ll load up and fly out of here on her."

When Marcela appeared, rumbling out of the forest in her odd, rolling gait, Sasaki fell back on her ass with a terrified shriek, causing Katarina to fall herself. Kuroyuki folded her hands at her waist and clamped her lips tightly together.

"Katarina, I can’t fly on that." Sasaki blurted in a frantic voice.

"Nothing to it, Sasaki." Katarina replied. "Trust me." Sasaki let out a breath of exasperation.

"I do trust you, Katarina. I do. I don’t trust that." She replied, with a shaky gesture at Marcela. Katarina reached out and hauled herself up to lean heavily against the drake. "Marcela dear, we need..." She trailed off. Where could she go? Katarina really wanted to fly home to Darnell, but even if Marcela was well-fed and rested, it would take several days of constant flight, day and night. Likewise she rejected the Countess’ ship and Begierde. There was only one place she could travel to, and she wholeheartedly didn’t want to go there.

"Marcela." Katarina gasped out, and the drake turned her head to eye Katarina.

"I’m dying, Marcela." She finally admitted. "I need to get to ... " She trailed off, and then forced herself to speak. "Landeck, Marcela. You need to take me to Landeck and straight to the temple." She glanced at Marcela, who bobbed her head.

"Katarina, the saddle is for two." Sasaki observed, and Kuroyuki spoke up. "Do not fear. I will make my own way." She replied primly. "Take Katarina to this Landeck, and hurry. She does not have much time left."

Sasaki grit her teeth. "Kuro-chan, I don’t like this-" She began, and the other Yamato shook her head.

"You brought me here as requested, Sasaki-sama." The girl replied. "I will abide here yet awhile, and then I will join you. Do not fear for me." She added, and Sasaki shook her head.

"There has to be a way." She insisted, and Kuroyuki stepped next to Sasaki.

"You know there isn’t." She remarked warmly. "You know why we came here. Let me fulfil my need, and I will join you. Don’t worry, the people here do not have the ability to stand against me." She embraced Sasaki gently. "Help your friend. That’s most important. I will join you later in this... Landeck." She added.

With Sasaki and Kuroyuki working together, they managed to get Katarina into the saddle and strapped in.

"I remind you that this is the second time you’ve gotten me to ride a beast while I’m wearing silk!" Sasaki exclaimed to Katarina angrily. "You’d better appreciate this!" The entire flight Sasaki kept her eyes tightly closed and swore constantly, unrelentingly under her breath.

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When the drake touched down, Sasaki was off the back of the beast as fast as she could scramble. A crowd had gathered as the drake had landed; They scrambled to make room as Sasaki jumped down.

"My name is Sasaki!" She yelled. "I need a healer immediately!" She struggled with the straps that kept Katarina in the saddle.

A white-haired woman pushed her way through the throng of people. "You are Yamato?" She asked, and Sasaki spat. "I am, but she isn’t! She’s a Witch Hunter and she’s dying while we’re running our mouths!" She shouted angrily, still struggling with the straps. "Help me!"

They managed to extricate Katarina and carry her indoors, Sasaki following closely behind. An acolyte pushed Sasaki rudely away. "Weapons are not permitted-" She started, and Sasaki shoved the girl back. "You’re welcome to try and take it from me." She sneered. "I go where she goes." She pointed at the unconscious Katarina that the other acolytes carried. "Now get out of my way."

The white-haired woman eyed Sasaki critically. "Are you Katarina’s apprentice?" She asked severely, and Sasaki stopped stiff in her tracks. She let out a short breath. "Does answering correctly mean that I get to stay by her side, unmolested?" She replied, a challenging glare set on her doll-like face.

The woman rolled her eyes with a smile and nodded. "It does."

"Then I am." She replied tersely. "Now let me pass." She gestured at the doorway that the acolytes carried the unconscious form of the Witch Hunter into. The woman laughed amusedly.

"First, some ground rules." The violet-eyed woman commanded. "One: you don’t make a peep. Not a sound. Let us do our work. Two: you don’t move. You sit where we tell you to sit. You do not get up, walk around, or interfere in any way. Failure to abide by either rule forfeits your right to be present. Agreed?" She replied sternly.

Sasaki clamped her lips shut tightly. "Agreed." She finally replied, and the woman nodded. "We’ll treat Her Grace to the best of our ability, Sasaki." She added in a much kinder voice.

"Her Grace?" Sasaki recoiled with a frown.

The woman placed a finger on her lips. "No talking, remember? Come."

Sasaki sat quietly, sheathed sword planted firmly between her feet as the priests and priestesses prayed, exhorted and invoked, swung thuribles and annointed Katarina with oils and unguents. They chanted, they sang and they prayed. After several hours, the white-haired woman moved to stand next to Sasaki.

"I’ve known her since she was ten years old, and I’ve never seen her this weak." The woman murmured quietly. "I almost believed the Golden Lady had simply made her invulnerable." She added, and shook her head.

"Her Grace?" Sasaki asked again, and the woman smiled. "That caught your interest, did it?" She asked curiously. "Very well, I’ll tell you: A couple of days ago, Katarina and her apprentice appeared here, and told us that the Golden Lady had chosen her to receive Her blessings."

Sasaki jolted at the announcement of Katarina’s apprentice, and the woman nodded to herself. "Katarina was as focused and as diligent as ever. She didn’t acknowledge her status as a Living Saint. There was only the job. She looked over our maps and was ready to continue her quest. Her apprentice was insistent upon reminding her ... and everyone around her, however, that she was a Living Saint. Katarina divested the poor girl of her apprenticeship and took off." She summarised succinctly. She eyed Sasaki with a bemused expression. "Good luck." She encouraged with a sardonic cheer.

"Where is this apprentice of hers?" Sasaki asked curiously.

The woman gestured offhand. "Former apprentice." She reminded the Yamato woman. "She divides her time between moping about the temple and moping about Landeck. I suspect she hopes that Katarina will return for her."

Sasaki gestured at Katarina. "How is she doing?" She asked, and the woman sighed.

"I’m afraid we’ll have to send her to Darnell." She replied. "And there’s no direct overland route, either. The road begins in Higgenfal, a logging village-" Sasaki cut her off with a nod.

"I’ve been there. I know." She interjected quickly.

"Is that so?" Frederika asked rhetorically, and shrugged to indicate that it didn’t matter. "We’ll have to send her south to Tannit, I should think. From Tannit a boat will have to be procured to take her down the Tems to Einsamkeit, and a ship from Einsamkeit to Darnell." She finished. "If there were a mage here that could perform the rites for a Rune of Translation, we could have her in Darnell in but a moment!" she grimaced with frustration.

"Where can a mage like that be found?" Sasaki asked, and the woman raised an eyebrow. "Darnell, of course. The Miskatonik University."

Sasaki rolled her eyes. "Then send word to Darnell, if you can, and request a mage ... translate..." She stumbled over the word, "here, and then both of them go back to Darnell."

The woman eyed Sasaki. "Why would they do that?" She asked, and Sasaki rolled her eyes ostentatiously. "Wouldn’t they try to move heavens and earth for their Living Saint?"

The woman sighed. "You’re right. I didn’t think of that. And you’re in luck; we have a mage that can push such a message to Darnell almost instantly." She added. "Come this way."

As Sasaki followed the woman, she offered, "You know, I still don’t know your name."

The woman laughed. "My apologies. I am Frederika Edelweiss, the Cardinal Priestess for Nauders. Normally you would be required to address me as ‘Highness’, but given the circumstances I think you can address me as Frederika. Just try not to do so with too many people around, they may take offense."

Sasaki nodded. "You can address me as you have; Sasaki."

"Is that your family name?" Frederika asked. "I am given to understand that Yamato introduce themselves with family name, and then personal name."

Sasaki shook her head, and clamped her lips at the pain in her heart. "I don’t have a family, anymore."

"I’m sorry for your pain." Frederika replied sympathetically.

Sasaki nodded silently. "It was easier when we just... pissed each other off." Sasaki found herself saying. "We fought, we argued, we were at each other’s throats, but I knew... there was love, there. Now I have been disowned and exiled." She scrubbed her face with her sleeve. "I think sometimes that I’d give anything just to argue with them that way, again."

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The response from Darnell was blindingly swift. Sasaki found herself unceremoniously swept up, along with a peasant-faced armored woman with a troubled brow, Katarina herself was moved, bed and all, to the main hall, where the Rune of Translation was painted in mercury.