Lost and Alone

[Flamebird]

For the first time in weeks, I actually tasted coffee.

Bringing the creamer flooded travel mug to my lips, I got whipped cream on my face as I walked through town. I was surprised over how smooth this went. I had taken care of everything on my list, plus more, without a hitch. Thank the Thaynes for heavy, covering clothes! Even when I brushed my arm against a sharp table edge in a store earlier, it barely pierced the arctic skin or removed tufts of fur. I licked my lips, happy to make way through town towards the exit.

Hammer's Blunt was a far better of an establishment than that trash town from weeks back. The streets were made of cobblestone, some shattered but most in good shape. Snow and mud made the roads slippery and slimy, but that was something I was used to. The stone buildings, with tile roofing, were lined with blue township flags, official church flags, and nationalistic banners. It was hard to believe Hammer's Blunt and Ice Peak's Tip were in the same country! It was potent, smelling horse dung and delicious baking breads at the same time. I brought my sweet hazelnut coffee to my nose and focused on sniffing that.

Downtown, I had stepped away from the busy market. I had been pointed towards this direction for the south gate, my ticket out of here. The insulated two-story buildings loomed over me. Small crowds were clustered here and there, dressed in winter garbs. From a square window above me, a teenage girl merrily shouted down to a lover, who listened as he polished the doorknob to their house. Taking another sip of my coffee, I was relieved that some people in this country had a good life.

As I continued on, however, the atmosphere changed. Shouting resounded from the curved street corner. The raised voice, as if making a speech, commanded revered stillness across the entire block. Some girls were gossiping in hushed tones, but most people were respectfully quiet. Most of the people on the streets were eagerly walking towards the voice, though some walked away.

I used my free hand to adjust one of the bags on my shoulder as I strained to hear. Eventually, the words were audible.

"Behold! Our allegiance to the wisdom of the Ethereal Sway guides us! We follow the light and purity of their standards!"

Oh no...

I turned the corner. A crowd made it hard to see much. A magnificent feudal chapel towered above the rest of the two-story buildings of the block. Lost in the crowd, a priest shouted as monks circled the praying crowd. My hand shook in fright, forcing me to hold the mug with both hands.

"We must rid ourselves of impurity! We can heal ourselves from disease with the Sway's power! Those cursed with the wretches of magic, let us cleanse you of your woes! Seek forgiveness, be healed, and bathe in the approval of our spiritual gods!"