Chapter 10

"So, this is Duns Veloor," Ivorisa said quietly as they all paused at the gate to the city. No guards stood at the gates. The grey dust that permeated everything marred the walls of the buildings before them. Smoke rose from chimneys. Far off, voices could be heard. "Other than the pit of bodies of plague victims we had to pass to get here, looks like they're doing okay."

"If they don't need us, why are we here?" Darvin asked. "Maybe Messor Vitavi is here, and that's why they're better off."

"Messor Vitavi sent us here," Musara replied as she walked past her companions and through the gate, "so he must have a plan for us here."

"I don't think they're any better off than anywhere else," Jez said quietly. "That mass grave was nearly full... and judging by the dirt mounds, it's not their first one."

"No, but they seem to have been spared the worst effects of the volcano," Musara noted. "No lava flowing here. No blackened earth. No new mounds of rock."

"We are now over two weeks' travel from Karst," Tavin reasoned. "Duns Veloor is one of the farthest cities from the capital."

"So, you're saying the lava just hasn't got here yet?" Darvin asked.

Tavin shrugged. "Perhaps."

They walked farther into the city. The dusty streets were empty.

"Where is everyone?" Musara asked, pausing to stare at the dark windows of a pub.

"Follow the voices," Jez suggested, jerking her thumb down the road. The voices they could barely hear at the gates had grown moderately louder.

"Sound like they're on the other side of town," Ivorisa noted, shading her eyes as she peered in the direction of the voices. "Anyone ever been here before? What's over there? The marketplace?"

Tavin cocked his head toward the sounds as he replied, "The lordly houses, I believe."

"Why would everyone be gathering there?" Ivorisa asked.

Jez shrugged. "Let's go find out."

They continued to walk down the street, following the sound of the voices as the noises of a crowd gradually grew closer. Finally, they emerged from the street onto a wide thoroughfare.

People were gathered around the fenced yard of one of the wealthy merchants of the city. Children pressed their faces through the iron bars or peered forward from atop the shoulders of taller relatives. Adults, hands on the shoulders of children or around each others' waist as they stood, murmured and watched. A group of five men and women stood around a stone table in the yard, all of them wearing dark pants and purple shirts. Golden statues lined the edges of the shiny black stone.

"People of Duns Veloor, thank you for coming out again today!" one of the men shouted. "It is good to see you all faithfully gather here, even in the face of the sickness that haunts our streets."

"We know you are all desperate for hope," one of the women spoke. "For help. For relief! Long has Messor Vitavi ignored you! We are here to bring you to the truth! To the one who can truly save us! Let us all gather here to worship Kage Zani and implore her help!"

"What?" Musara gasped.

"Sshhh," a townsperson nearby replied. "I wanna hear what they're saying."

"What makes you think Messor Vitavi's ignored us?" a man shouted from the crowd. "He's always helped us before!"

"Has he?" one of the men by the black altar challenged. "What about that drought three years ago? Or when the seastorm sunk half the fishing fleet from Mar Chennel? Or the plague that is killing us all now?"

"He—" Musara began, then was silenced by a hand over her mouth.

"Ssshhhh," Tavin whispered. "Let's get in closer first. See what they're doing."

Tavin led them away, skirting the edge of the crowd, slowly weaving and angling closer to the fence and the obsidian altar.

"Well, what's your Kage Zani done about any of that?" a woman demanded.

"I'm glad you asked!" the man replied. "We've prepared a little demonstration of what Kage Zani has to offer, if you'll submit to her will and worship her!"

The five people at the altar turned, one of the women beckoning. A person in a dusty, ragged robe hobbled forward, lowered head covered by a deep hood. The people at the altar parted to let the ragged newcomer stand amidst them.

"This poor woman has the plague!" the man announced, gesturing to the hooded figure. "We shall now pray over her in the name of Kage Zani, that she may be healed!"

Musara studied the group as the man began shouting in gibberish. Her eyes narrowed as she spied a purple cuff extending out from beneath the ragged sleeves of the robed person.

"Something's not right here," Musara whispered.

Her companions all nodded. Darvin and Ivorisa kept darting their eyes through the crowd. Jez and Tavin watched the group at the altar. Musara stared hard at the hooded and robed figure.

The figure stood too... steadily, somehow, for someone with plague. The flashes of dark and purple seen through tears of the robe on the legs and arms showed the hooded woman was a member of the group at the altar.

The man yanked back the hood from the woman with a flourish, proclaiming, "She is healed! Praise Kage Zani!"

As the crowd saw the woman's clean, unblemished face, they cheered and began chanting, "Kage Zani! Kage Zani! Kage Zani!"

The crowd began pressing into the yard, hands reaching out as people pleaded to be healed.

"No! They're lying to you!" Musara protested against the growing shouts. She glanced over to her companions. "I need to get closer!" She began weaving through the people standing beside the fence, following the flow of people, seeking the arched opening.

Jez, Tavin, and the other guards hurried in her wake.

Musara didn't stop until she stood before the black altar. She drew herself up taller and shouted, "STOP!" She pointed an accusatory finger at one of the purple-shirted men as he collected money from the crowd. "In the name of Messor Vitavi, I declare you false!"

Darvin swore under his breath as the clamoring crowd froze and a silence fell.

Tavin and Jez quickly came and stood just behind Musara. Darvin and Ivorisa stood behind them, facing the crowd.

One of the men at the altar laughed. "Well, if it isn't Messor Vitavi's slut herself!"

Musara's lips lifted into a snarl as she took a breath to reply. A hand on her shoulder made her pause.

Tavin stepped forward. "What did you just call Messor Vitavi's chosen High Priestess?"

The man leered. "A slut. Why do you think worship of him has persisted for so long? It isn't because he does anything. It's because what she does. Or should I say who?"

Tavin scowled. "You are a vulgar man with an uncouth tongue. You will address the High Priestess with respect."

"Why should I?" the man challenged. "Not like Messor Vitavi will step in to defend her honor."

"You have lied to these people," Musara broke in, pushing Tavin back. "The woman you supposedly just healed never had the plague, did she?"

"Of course I did!" the woman in rags protested. "Kage Zani healed me!"

"Then why are you wearing the uniform of the worshipers of Kage Zani under your rags?"

"Th-that doesn't matter!" the woman sputtered, trying to pull the ragged sleeves lower to hide the purple cuffs. The sleeve tore, ragged cloth falling to the ground, revealing her purple shirt beneath. The crowd gasped. "I-it doesn't matter! I still had the sickness! I still was healed!"

"No, you weren't!" Jez shouted. "You pretended to be sick so they could pretend to heal you!"

"Just so they could get money from desperate people," Darvin added, pointing at the man holding the bag of coins.

"You're taking advantage of people desperate for hope!" Musara declared. "You must cease this!"

The man smirked and crossed his arms. "I'm not doing anything the church of Messor Vitavi hasn't already been doing for years."

Musara glared at him. "You are a liar and a thief. Kage Zani doesn't even exist. Messor Vitavi does, and he has sent us to heal and help people in this current trouble."

"Oh, really? Then prove it." The man gestured to the woman in the torn robe. "I've already healed one person today through Kage Zani's power; what have you and Messor Vitavi done?"

In the silence, while everyone stared at Musara, Jez spoke up, "We healed people in Lurth before coming here."

"Easily claimed. Impossible to prove," the man sneered. "If your Messor Vitavi is so powerful, why don't you do something here? Right now?" He jabbed his finger on the top of the altar.

The crowd began murmuring in agreement. Some people shouted, asking for a sign.

"Messor Vitavi doesn't do parlor tricks or big displays of power on demand. He sends the rain for our crops, and brings out the sun. He fashioned the hills and mountains and set the waves and rivers in motion. He placed the stars and designed every single snowflake." She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "But, very well. So that you may see the truth of what I say, and so the glory and love of Messor Vitavi may be shown." Musara turned and shouted at the crowd. "Is anyone here sick? Or injured?"

People began calling back. Some waved arms.

"Come here and stand before me," Musara called.

The crowd parted as people came forward. Some on crutches, some simply leaning on each other and limping. A few were carried.

Great Messor Vitavi, Musara prayed silently as she closed her eyes. These people need to see your greatness, so that their doubts may be quenched and this false goddess thrown out. She drew out the coin of fate. Will you grant healing to these people today? She flipped the coin. Everyone watched as it arced up, then fell, flipping through the air until it landed in the grass. Musara looked down at the coin and smiled.

Musara turned to her companions. "Jez, I need your help to pray for healing. Darvin, keep an eye on the crowd, in case they become unruly. Ivorisa, Tavin, keep an eye on these false priests and priestesses." They all nodded.

"Are you sure about this?" Ivorisa asked.

Musara smiled, tapping her toe on the copper face of the coin in the grass. "Yes."

Musara and Jez stood together before the assembled group. After exchanging glances, they both raised their arms over the crowd.

"Oh, Messor Vitavi, our help and our savior," Musara prayed loudly, "these people have come to you for healing. May you manifest your presence here and wash these people with your spirit, cleansing them of every injury and illness." She took a deep breath and added, "And, despite their disgracing your name, be merciful to these false prophets, so they may once more believe in you."

The obsidian altar shook, the golden statues rattling as they wobbled and then tipped. The black rock turned a brilliant red as it melted into a pool of lava, the heat melting the statues and scorching the nearby grass. The group of purple-shirted people jumped backward, scrambling away from the bubbling pool. The molten rock burrowed into the lawn and sunk out of sight.

The crowd collectively gasped as the clouds parted and a single ray of sunlight shone through, basking the group of people in its warmth and light. Crutches dropped, backs straightened, and the people raised their hands to the sky, shouting and dancing for joy.

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