Chapter 12: Temple In The Sky

I stomped down on another dirty pink fuzzball. It puffed up underneath the sole of my boot before it burst and released a gush of greenish gooey blood. Satisfied, I kicked the newly dead Keen outside of the cave and onto my corpse pile.

28.

My arm whipped out to stab another Keen with my prayer knife. I sliced through it. It fell to the ground and I kicked it toward the pile as I elbowed another Keen.

29.

I twisted and used the prayer knife in my other hand to stab the Keen I still had pinned with my elbow. I got it right between the wing joints. The dead Keen slid down the wall and another corpse was kicked to the pile.

30!

And there were still more. The creatures were everywhere, swarming around me and my comrades.

My nearest ally was Rat. He was just inside the cave with his metal suit. The armor protected him against the Keens' sharp teeth and claws. Both of which could latch onto things to suck out the blood, magic, and life force of anything living. I was wearing some leather armor and moving fast to avoid the suckers, but Rat could take his time setting his traps.

Outside of the cave were Beadie and Snipe. The two fierce Selish warriors were riding Felmoths up above the trees and using their fancy metal slingshots that they called "rifles" to corral the Keen.

Lastly, there was Murdoch deep inside the cave. He was basically a streak of light in the darkness, using the walls to hop around and slice and dice with his giant hand axes.

I kicked another Keen, kneed another, and twisted and stabbed a third dead. A kick and it was one more for the pile.

31.

Another slice and kick.

32.

"Is it trap ready yet, Rat?" Beadie shouted.

I crushed another Keen and kicked it outside.

33.

"Yeah, what's taking so long?" Snipe complained. "I'm not made of ammo!"

I smashed two Keen together and kicked twice.

34 and 35!

"Ready!" Rat declared as he stomped out of the cave.

I went further inside. The Keen were drawn to the power flowing within me and followed. Next, Murdoch ran up to me.

"Thou hath done thy job. Move girl," he commanded.

I glared at him which I now knew he couldn't see. Murdoch was blind and I was mute. Communication between us was very limited.

"Do not throw blame upon me if thou art scorched," he said.

I would be fine. I had done this before.

"Incoming!" Rat warned.

I shoved Murdoch out of danger and then at the last possible moment I leapt away from the cave myself. In the next instant, there was a loud…

BOOM!

A blaze large enough to rival one of Lina's erupted from the cave. Murdoch and I ran several steps back to get away from the impressive inferno. Rat just stood put in his special metal suit while Beadie and Snipe gained attitude to avoid the blast.

The cave entrance crumbled into a rock mound and thus, our last Keen nest of the night had been dealt with.

"And that's a wrap, boys!" Beadie cried out in triumph.

Snipe despite his earlier complaints, fired several shots into the air in celebration. Rat and I pounded fists which made his armor clang.

Murdoch just walked away. I frowned at him. He wasn't heading towards the temple, nor had he called his Felmoth.

Beadie was the one who asked, "Where are you dashing on off to, Doc?"

"Where I am 'dashing on off' to," Murdoch repeated in his deep condescending voice, "is further into the woodlands to scout out more infestations."

"But the Leaf-fall festival is just around the corner," Beadie pointed out, "HP is here and everything. I'm even making my famous cookies for the occasion. Go on and turn in early with Snipe and Rat to chip in temple-side prep, Doc, or come with me. I could use—"

"The leaves will fall whether I 'chip in' or not," Murdoch countered. "Thou cannot distract me from mine true mission with cookies and other trite frivolities, Beatrix."

Trite frivolities?

My hands curled into fists. I took a step toward Murdoch. I did not need to be at full strength to take him down.

"HP," Rat said, grabbing my arm, "leave it."

I glared at him.

In the time it took me to pull away, Murdoch managed to blend into the trees. His parting words to the group were, "I shall see thee on the morrow. Do not be late."

I ran to the place I last saw him. The forest was not that dense and he could not have gone far. I should be able to spot him.

I could not.

The nonconformist had disappeared.

Again!

How did he keep doing that?

I scowled at the trees and then stomped back to help the others because I was a good acolyte who knew the importance of teamwork!

While we gathered the Keen corpses, Beadie chatted about the Leaf-fall festival and other stuff that wasn't Murdoch's awful behavior. I calmed down a bit and even pocketed a third shiny rock to go with my other worthy souvenirs from tonight.

When we were all done, I let out a loud whistle. After a moment of rustling, my favorite Lunar Tigri in the whole world came out of the trees to join us.

Sagan!

I ran up and gave him a Big Hug.

One of the first blessings, I had woken up to after my collapse was hearing that my Lunar Tigri had arrived. Selemene had been appalled when Sagan had returned to the Nightsilver Woods without me. Along with ordering search parties to find me, she had sent extra food provisions and Sagan here for me. Lunar Tigri weren't very good in a Keen fight and Sagan refused to be carried up to the temple grounds, so I only got to see him before and after hunts.

I nuzzled him and squeezed him just the right amount.

Sagan chuffed and I knew he understood what a good Tigri he was. He always cheered me up from Murdoch being Murdoch.

Sagan was such a good boy!

Yes, he was!

Next thing I knew Beadie was by my side to trade mounts. She'd be going to visit her water drake, Mortimer, so she would be staying out here to fish and gather leaves for the festival.

I said goodbye to Sagan and hopped up onto Pinkie to strap myself in. Then Rat, Snipe, and I took off for the temple on our Felmoths. We were going to prepare for the festival as we should!

Snipe broke the silence of our flight. After scratching his scraggy white beard, he said, "Look, I didn't want to upset Beadie, but just between us, me and Rat know Murdoch's a major asshole. It's just he's our major asshole. We adopted him and tolerate his crazy moods because who else would?"

I glared at Snipe to let him know what I thought of that explanation. I'd been in the temple city of Selum for nearly three weeks and that whole time Murdoch had been rude and disrespectful! I had never met an acolyte so lacking in manners and faith. I did not understand why Selemene had taken his form or why he was even allowed to live in the temple city. I knew if Mirana was here…

But Mirana wasn't here.

I gave my head a quick shake. I couldn't think like that.

I tuned back into what Rat was saying, "—chores and he's very good at Keen hunting. Ever since Gyro and Tink left to go to the Library of Ideer—"

Library of Ideer?

I was glad I'd decided to start paying attention again.

Snipe on the other hand seemed less interested in the topic, he interrupted Rat, claiming, "Gyro and Tink didn't leave to go to the Library of Ideer. There is no Library of Ideer. They threw their lives away to go chase after a pipedream."

"I don't know, Snipe," Rat argued. "Tink was pretty sure it was real and with Gyro's flying machine, they could—"

Snipe laughed, bitterly. "With Gyro's flying machine," he repeated. "Next, you'll be claiming that Mortimer could teach you how to swim in your armor or that the High Priestess here could show Murdoch how to speak like a person from this century."

"That's not—!"

"When are my words going to get through that thick helmet and your thicker head? The Gyrocopter 9.1.3 wasn't fit for sub-zero temperatures. I told Gyro and I'm telling you the ice would jam the propellers before they could do anything."

"But—"

"But nothing. Just because Beadie isn't here doesn't mean you can run your motormouth about stuff you don't understand. You weren't there, so you don't know. Got it?" Snipe stared Rat down.

Despite his armor, Rat was the softest of the group. He gave in and mumbled, "Okay, Snipe."

The ride back remained quiet after that, so I had time to think.

This sounded almost exactly like High Priestess Lanaya's disappearance. As her successor, I heard about her a lot. Some people talked about all her achievements and others only complained about her for leaving to search for this legendary library in the Frozen North. Now, it seemed like Gyro and Tink had tried to get there too. It was extra mysterious because I'd been told Gyro, Tink, and High Priestess Lanaya had helped redesign the Selum temple years and years ago, so maybe they had even gone off to the library together?

We landed on the temple city grounds and Snipe stormed off to go deliver the Keen skins. That left me and Rat together in the Felmoth open-air stables.

I looked at him and gestured to the northern sky.

"It's a nice night?" he guessed in a tired voice.

I shook my head.

Since I had no idea what a flying machine or a library looked like, I just pointed at the direction Snipe went and then Rat and then back where we had come.

There was a long silence before Rat asked, "You…want us to go back to the forest?"

No.

I tried again.

This time Rat sighed. "HP…I don't know what you are getting at and after what just happened, I'm not sure I could guess."

But that's exactly what I wanted to know! What had just happened?

"My thick head is all jumbled up right now," Rat admitted.

I reached out to grab his gloved hand and put my other hand on my chest. I gazed at him with big eyes trying to convey that I would listen to whatever he had to say. I knew from High Priestess Lanaya's disappearance that people needed to talk about this sort of thing with someone.

Rat only said, "It was just an expression, HP. I know I look like a machine." He banged his free hand against his helmet to make a satisfying clang sound, "but I do have fleshy bits under here. I promise. My brain just needs to be reset. After some tinkering time in my workshop, I'll be good as new. So, it's nothing to get sick over."

I bit my lip. Without someone else to translate, I was at a loss of what else I could do, so I just nodded in agreement.

"Excellent! Let's stable our Felmoths and fuel up for the night," Rat said, knowing that I loved food.

I did love food…

Still, I would have to try again with Rat later because it really sounded like he could use a listening ear and I wanted to hear what Rat had to say as a priestess and as a friend.

For now, I gave Rat's hand a comforting squeeze and the two of us dealt with Pinkie and the other two mounts, Indigo and Flappers. Then we parted ways.

Rat headed towards his tent for his midnight meal and I made my way to the center of town to see the deacon.

When I reached Deacon Ish'kafel's office tent, I saw that he was at his desk. He looked up as I came in.

"High Priestess, it is always an honor."

I nodded a greeting and then before the deacon could distract me, I pointed at the healing urn that sat on the corner of his desk.

"Ah, yes, of course." And just like he'd done each and every night that I had visited him before, Deacon Ish'kafel beckoned for me to, "Come closer."

When I was a few feet from his desk, he held up a hand for me to stop. Then he knocked on the urn a few times.

"Do you hear that ringing sound, High Priestess?"

Not really. I never did.

"The moon lotus continues to heal beautifully," he announced.

I pointed at the lid, hoping tonight was the night.

It was not.

Once again, the deacon told me, "I am sorry, High Priestess. You know how delicate the healing process is for both of you. It is in the moon lotus's best interest to stay sealed within the urn, so I must once again ask for your patience."

My shoulder slumped a bit, but I nodded.

According to the deacon, opening the urn for me before the right time would undo much of Mirana's healing process. Selum was filled with so much of the goddess's regret and pain that just staying on its cursed ground for too long drained a person's life force, magic, and even their happiness. And if they were already sick like me, they also drained energy from other weaken people.

That was why the entire temple was elevated and why reclaiming this land for Selemene was so important. It was also why I could not go Keen hunting every night and see my friends as often as I would like to.

I knew all that.

I just…

Deacon Ish'kafel came forward and patted my right shoulder. "Come now, High Priestess. The Leaf-fall festival is two nights hence. There is much that must be done and Selemene would not wish you to look so despondent."

I knew that too.

"Should I read aloud the message she left you again?" he said.

It wasn't necessary.

I shook my head and did my best to smile at him. The deacon had kindly read me Selemene's letter several times. It had come all the way from the Nightsilver Woods for me. I remember its words well:

- Listen to Deacon Ish'kafel and heal -

The deacon smiled back and though I still thought his smile seemed a little off, I knew he was a loyal servant of my goddess just like me. I left the deacon and tried not to feel disappointed.

As the deacon kept reminding me, being unhappy would just slow down my own healing and that did not help anyone. And there was good news. My midnight meal was ready when I got to my tent.

It was sky-dried amber fin jerky and two whole Cirrus-wing eggs. Pretty good considering that I had donated this week's more interesting rations to the festival.

I set aside three small portions. Then I dug into what was left. As I ate, my temporary servants Freya and Millie laid out some water and a new set of clean clothes. Once they were done with that, I nodded my thanks and dismissed them with a hand wave, so they could begin their festival prep. The two Selish girls took the food portions and shiny stones and left me to finish my meal.

I polished off my jerky and eggs in minutes. Then I went about applying my new prayer scars. I decided to add some four-pointed stars to the night sky on my stomach.

76 stars later, I wiped my prayer knife clean, got dressed, and headed for the edge of town. After a brief stop at the Felmoth pen where I let my new animal friends lick my plates, it was time for the real chores to begin.

My first task tonight was to haul bags of leaves from the edge of town into the domed center temple. If I finished with that, I'd pitch in with patching the temple ground with newly finished Keen leather or help tan the Keen skin from my hunt. There was still lots of cleaning and decorations to put up too.

At some point, I also needed to stop by the kitchens. The cooks wanted my opinion on the menu since they weren't used to the seasonings and ingredients that I'd given them. That meant taste testing!

Yum!

And of course, I had to finish my tribute to the goddess. Nearly everyone was going all out here. Beadie was doing water art and baking cookies. Rat had shown me a preview of his new "fireworks" a few days ago and Snipe was working on a "float" that was supposed to look like the moon.

There was so much to do and who knew what other stuff would pop up between now and dawn!

As I worked to get it all done, I thought of home. In many ways, Selum's southern temple was very different. The oscillations of the floating city, the moans of the goddess's remorse from down below, sleeping with my tent open to the sun, Murdoch's continued existence, and the fact I was suddenly one of the tallest people around, all took some getting used to. And yet, tonight I saw everyone doing their part to show their gratitude and devotion to the goddess. I passed people doing chores, setting up for the festival, practicing their songs and prayers, and being productive, healthy, and happy. Seeing the people of Selum work so hard and doing all these new and slightly unfamiliar tasks myself reminded me of the first time that I had to prepare and host my own festival. It was then that I finally began to find my place within the Dark Moon Order.

A/N: Well...I finally finished Crimson Tiger and as promised all those months ago, here's another chapter of HP Marci for you all. I hope you enjoyed it. I must admit to being under the weather...but I really wanted to publish this today. I hope you are all managing to be happier, healthier, and more productive than I am, and if not, well good luck in getting there.

See you all later!