ENDRASP - 11 tales Endrasp the Ironic Priestess, Part One Endrasp the Ironic Priestess, Part Two Endrasp the Ironic Priestess, Part Three Endrasp the Ironic Priestess, Part Four Endrasp the Ironic Priestess, Part One "I'm on a mission from God." The petite woman paused to be looked at skeptically by the very broad-shouldered temple guard, and then she said, "Well, Goddess, actually. But that changes nothing. I'm still on a mission." The guard's expression switched from merely skeptical to downright disparaging. "You were sent here," he hooked a thumb over his shoulder at the towering palace of sanctioned worship behind him for unnecessary emphasis, "on behalf of a heathen deity?" Endrasp nodded and tried to curl her lips up winningly. The effect, given her generally resigned disgruntlement at the situation, was far off the mark. "Yeah… She told me to speak with Father Lawper about a garden." Now there was a squirrelly mix of emotion on the guard's face. It began somewhere near dubious surprise over hearing that the odd woman's Goddess had spoken directly to her, and ended up all the way out in depressed acceptance at the mention of Father Lawper's name. He even groaned a little. "Go around to the back door. You'll know him when you see him." "Uh-okay. Thank you?" Endrasp sort of had the impression from the guard's tone that she oughtn't to be grateful for directions to that particular Priest. She tried not to think about why that might be… Endrasp the Ironic Priestess, Part Two Though, unlike most of the people she'd explained her situation to, Father Lawper didn't belittle her for seeking his advice on behalf of a heathen Goddess, Endrasp could see by the look on his face that he doubted very much that she was any deity's chief representative. "Child, where are your Robes?" Father Lawper was eyeing her dust-colored twill work-pants with unmasked dismay. "Your Scepter of Office?" Endrasp held up her empty, scar-laced hands in a gesture of innocent ignorance. "I'm sorry, but…I'm all She's got." Suddenly, Father Lawper burst into smiles. "Perfect! She must be very wise to have sent you to me," he said, tucking Endrasp under his 'wing' and leading her up the back steps into his God's Holy Temple. Endrasp the Ironic Priestess, Part Three Endrasp stood, in nothing but her smallclothes, in the shallows of a very cold stream while she scrubbed the rest of her laundry with gritty soap. Her feet were practically numb - it was a glacier-fed stream, apparently - and her naturally pale flesh had gone slightly blue and was covered in gooseflesh. She could hardly wait to get out of the water, but it was the first place she'd found in a week that she could get her washing-up done that was both away from all the ogling eyes of other travelers and not swarming with woman-eating beasts. Or bandits. Last time she'd done laundry, bullies had tried to sneak up and rob her. Fortunately, thye had't been prepared to face a priestess who was more comfortable fighting tooth and nail than with the mace they thought they'd disarmed her by taking… Just when she'd tossed the last of her now-clean clothes over a bush to dry and stepped into a patch of Spring sunlight to warm her tingling skin, Endrasp heard a yell. Then came the sound of bodies charging carelessly through the heavy underbrush just West of where she stood. And they were headed her way. So much for doing laundry in this spot ever again… Endrasp the Ironic Priestess, Part Four She could hear the fight coming to her, so rather than trying to struggle into her still wet clothes before it reached her, she simply stepped back into the shadows and mumbled the prayer she'd learned back at the Cathedral that raised a halo-like shield around her. Endrasp had learned the hard way that even battles that don't include a person may still strike that person down with stray blows, and she especially didn't want to die accidentally, and definitely not dressed in only her underwear. Just in case she had the chance to aid an innocent victim of assault, Endrasp also prepared to fling a simple healing spell; though she couldn't actually remember the last time she'd actually crossed paths with anybody 'innocent' since she'd left home to come on this crazy mission she'd been compelled to make by her adoptive goddess. The crowd of pounding footfalls drew nearer, and then a woman burst through the thicket of stinging nettles to the West. The pretty runner seemed to have dashed through the snaring brush without slowing to protect herself from barbs, as cross-hatched with bleeding scratches as she was; she leapt onto a fallen log, bounded from there into the low branches of the nearest tree, and seemed to vanish into thin air. Endrasp was instantly impressed with the rogue's agility and skill at camouflage. Mere seconds later, the runner's pursuers barreled into the clearing in a mob. They ran halfway to the stream before any of the pack of bandits noticed that they'd lost their prey. Endrasp dared not move or make a sound as they peered all around for some sign of the runner's passage through the forest, lest they discover her crouching behind that sheltering rock and take their rising tempers out on her when they could not track the hiding rogue. One man climbed onto the log that the running woman had used for a boost up into her arboreal hideout, but even then he didn't sense her where she perched in the branches overhead. They were a fairly well organized gang; after a short search along the stream, one among them had directed his fellows to spread out and head eastward in a rough line to increase their chances of discovering in which direction the woman had run. For all that, they had no chance of tracking the rogue, for she had never left the clearing after all. Endrasp listened to the brutes abusing the nearby terrain while they attempted to find their missing target until they moved away deeper into the forest. Then, grateful that the bandits hadn't been thorough enough in their search to include looking under that particular stony crag, she peeked quickly around the edge of her hiding place to be sure they hadn't left anyone behind to watch for the woman they sought. Satisfied that they were gone, the priestess quickly dressed in her still-wet garments and prepared to escape the clearing before the gang got tired of beating the brush and decided to head back the way they'd come. She knew that the woman in the tree had spotted her by now, but she didn't care. It was fairly clear that, though she was obviously a deft rogue, she was also apparently not the villain in the scene that Endrasp had just witnessed. Once she was dressed and had her packs back in order, Endrasp walked over to the tree hiding the runner among its leafy shadows. She called up, "If you come down, I can heal you of the poison in those nettle stings before it makes you dull-witted and thirsty with fever." For a moment, it seemed that the rogue was really gone from the clearing, but then a face appeared from behind a branch. The blue-gray eyes scanned the area for straggling bandits one last time, and then the wary woman dropped lightly back down to the forest floor. She asked, "You could have given me away to them, but you didn't. Thank you." The priestess snorted and made a rude face at the now distant backs of the bandits. "I've no need to build a good reputation among thugs. Besides, I wouldn't have wanted to put myself in your position; one woman surrounded by a lot of angry men…" "Good point." The rogue stood still while the priestess murmured a healing prayer for her. The scratches on her face and limbs closed quickly and the vague numbness that had been encroaching upon her senses faded after that. When the small ritual was over, she offered her hand to her healer. "I'm Alaith." "I'm Endrasp," said the priestess. "You wouldn't happen to know of a safe path to the nearest inn, would you? I'm freezing in these wet clothes." Alaith said, "There aren't really any safe roads in these parts, but I can get you to town before dark." She motioned for Endrasp to follow, and struck off South through the woods. "Why were you doing your wash in Cold Creek? You're lucky the fin-heads didn't come along and nab you." Endrasp looked back at the stream and shivered in a way that had nothing to do with the breeze and her wet robes. "I'm beginning to think that there's nothing in this country but monsters and fiends." The rogue laughed heartily, all fear of being caught by the bandits now apparently lifted from her. "Monsters, fiends, and us damsels in distress, you mean." "Something like that, yeah." The priestess couldn't help smirking at the irony. MORE COMING SOON Back to the Sandyplex | Back to K's page | Back to SubverttheSpace