Chapter 3

Kaus was a village, surprisingly on the surface. Brown, burnt fields surrounded it, and to the East, there were hills the same color. The village itself looked very mediocre. The people made huts for themselves out of the long grass that surrounded them, and carved stone. It seemed the smaller ones were residential areas, and the slightly larger ones were stores, and banks, and hospitals. The largest building of all did not look like a hut. It was all stone, and looked like a small cathedral. The stone they used was darkened by something to make it a deep shade of grey. It was a beautiful sight to see.

"This is Kaus." Muirne said to the amazed looking Rebecca.

Rebecca could not turn her eyes away from the cathedral. "What is that?"

"Kaus." Muirne replied simply.

The blonde girl looked a little frustrated. "You've said that about your religion, and your tribe… and… a lot of things. What is Kaus?"

Muirne grinned. "It's an acr'nym, lass."

Rebecca thought for a moment. "For…?"

The red-haired girl smirked a little and was silent. She looked to the bible that was tightly clenched in the white-robed girl's skinny arms, and shook her head. "I think it's best y' don't knoe."

In compliance with Muirne, Rebecca did not pry any further. Her curiosity was maddening, near unbearable, but if this girl said it was best not to know, then so be it, it was best not to know. Though the girl did seem a little rough around the edges, she had no doubt in her mind that she only meant to help her.

Muirne nodded to Rebecca. "The chief'll come 'ere a' noon t' address th' people. Y'can talk to him aboot water an' the likes. Are y' okay on your supply unt'l then?"

Rebecca nodded.

"Then Ah'll let yeu take a look around th' place. If y'need me, yeu kin find me at tha' church. At Kaus." She half-bowed to the blonde.

Rebecca nodded again, and watched the younger girl walk off. She was intriguing, to say the least.

Muirne suddenly halted, and she ran back to Rebecca as she began to turn away and wander off. "'Ey!" She shouted to her.

"Yes?" She turned around.

"Another rule of Earth. When in another's lair, show 'em r'spect, or else dinnae go there. Clear?" She asked.

Rebecca stuttered "C-clear."

She received a brash smile before the other girl went bounding off again. It was strange. Though Rebecca knew Muirne wasn't Christian, she was headed off to a church. It highly resembled that of a Citadel, but it couldn't have been if Muirne was going there… It didn't look like a synagogue either… She wondered what it was, but decided that it was best not to follow.

Rebecca could feel something about the village, but she couldn't quite place it. Perhaps it was only her imagination, seeing as how this was the first surface village she'd ever seen. The red light of the moon gave everything in the town an eerie glow, even worse than the trees, and the rocks, and the crumbled nothingness of what was once a great piece of architecture that she'd seen on her travels. Pacing the village, she saw something that was very disturbing to her. In the very center of the town, they had three sculptures. The smallest were the two on the outside, and between them was the largest.

One small sculpture was of an angel, kneeling on sculpted soil. He looked hurt, and he was screaming, suspended in motion. His wings looked tattered, and at the bottom of this sculpture read something foreign to her. A few strange symbols she'd never seen before.

The other was of the same angel, aged a little more, and standing, in full health, holding his fist to the sky, seemingly glaring at the clouds. His wings now resembled that of a bat's wings.

The last sculpture, and the largest of them all was the same angel, once again, with his bat wings spread far out, along with his arms, and in front of him, there was four people. One was an old man, another was a little girl, the third was an adult male, and the last was a teenaged girl. They all wore priest robes of some sort, with a pendant in the middle. A circle with a star inside it, with a point facing down, and inside the star, the image of the face of a goat.

She took a step back from the sculptures, really not liking this feeling at all. Something about it was twisted, and made Rebecca feel ill. She told herself, many times, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth."

If it were only that that made her feel horrible…