181: Blood Orientation (Maiya) (Patreon)

Maiya stole through Sonam’s cool stone alleys alone. The nighttime breeze might’ve felt refreshing if she wasn’t so crippled with anxiety.

Months of preparation had culminated in this very moment. Maiya’s heart pounded and a thin sheen of sweat glistened on her forehead. She’d read through every tome, interviewed all her contacts, rehearsed her cover story. Sleepless nights became the norm as she scoured over her research, checking and rechecking her plans.

Now, there was nothing more to be done. The preparations made, her mind set—at least, as set as it could be when joining a crazy blood cult.

For this occasion, Maiya wore a faded brown cloak over brigandine armor—the kind Vir had worn and that adventurers preferred. She’d dyed her hair black, but her face was unadorned. Makeup would only be a liability later.

As far as locations went, the Children had chosen well. It had taken relying on her intelligence network to find the exact location. If she’d acted on her own, she’d never have given the nondescript three story building in Sonam’s Temple Quarter a second glance.

An ambitious move, conducting their profane activities so close to the center of holiness in the largest, most fortified city in the empire. It was exactly the sort of lunacy Maiya had come to expect from the cult.

Approaching a bland wooden door, she knocked twice, then thrice, then a pause before one final knock.

“State your business,” a soft voice spoke from a looking hole embedded within the door.

“To become one with the Ash,” Maiya replied.

There came the sound of a deadbolt sliding, then the door swung open soundlessly.

“Name?” a gaunt, hooded man in black asked.

“Maiya,” she said.

The man scribbled something tiredly. He looked like he hadn’t slept or eaten in days.

“Initiation will begin momentarily. Do not resist.”

“What do you—!?”

Before Maiya could react, the man began feeling her up and down.

“Standard check,” he said. “No orbs or weapons. You may pass. Follow me.”

Maiya swallowed her indignation and did as she was told.

They’re just crazy, Maiya. They’re not right in the head. You can’t blame them. Just stay calm.

She’d known the building’s ordinary exterior was only a facade. That the insides would be everything her intelligence reports told her. Still, she’d clung onto the possibility that maybe this particular building wouldn’t be as bad.

It was.

For one, the cramped hallway was dark, illuminated only by lanterns placed on the walls at long intervals. Too far apart to adequately light the place, the dim light forced Maiya to use the walls as a guide, carefully placing her steps lest she fall in the dark.

If that was all, Maiya would’ve been relieved. It was the blood. So much blood, smeared on the walls, on the ceiling… and likely the floor, too. She was suddenly thankful for the darkness; she wasn’t sure she’d be able to walk on the dried blood of Ash Beasts.

They rounded a bend, and the hall opened into a grand audience chamber that was plunged in darkness. Only the altar at the end of the tall chamber was lit with a dizzying array of candlelight.

There wasn’t a single magical lamp she could see. It was as if the hallway’s darkness had been intentional, to inspire a sense of awe.

Awed she was, though not on account of the lighting. The room was three stories tall, and she knew such rooms were not normal in this neighborhood. The Order must have modified it heavily. Its walls, ceiling, and floors were all dyed a deep crimson.

Dominating the rear wall was a wooden statue of… something. It stood nearly the full three stories in height, and like everything else, was covered in blood. If Maiya didn’t already know what it was, she couldn’t have guessed.

It was, of course, their god. The Prana Swarm the Children of Ash worshiped, said to reside somewhere deep inside the Ashen Realm. As terrifying as that was, the rectangular tub at its base scared her more.

For it was filled with fresh, red blood.

The baptism pool.

From the faint scent of copper, she knew it was real. The blood in the tub, the flakes of dried blood that had peeled off here and there… None of it fake, and all of it augmenting the already-profane setting.

“Wait here,” the guide croaked before ambling off.

The room was filled with prospective hopefuls, though Maiya knew only a fraction of their number would end up initiated—the Order was strangely selective about who they admitted.

Some chatted in groups of three or four. Others looked nervously at the surroundings, and a precious few—the ones Maiya suspected the Order would be most interested in—greedily took in the surroundings, deranged smiles plastered upon their faces.

Maiya had thought to go that route, but ultimately decided against it. She might’ve been trained in the arts of deception, but faking insanity was difficult at the best of times. Keeping up the act for months—possibly even years? That might actually drive her crazy.

The Order had its fanatics, yes, but they were an organized force. Which meant logistics, planning, and detail-oriented work. Deranged zealots seldom checked those boxes, requiring a small army of less… fervent sympathizers who worked behind the scenes. It was  that organization she hoped to infiltrate.

Unfortunately, the zealots ran the indoctrination process, so her fate rested in her hands. Despite all the power she wielded as Princess Ira’s right hand, Maiya was no different from any of the other hopefuls. She’d still chosen the Kin’jal branch over the others.

Not all Children branches were equal. The ones in countries sharing a border with the ash tended to be larger and wielded more clout within the organization. While the Childrens’ Rectors—their mid-level leaders—could deploy her anywhere in the Known World, Maiya figured it was more likely they’d keep her local.

If they did, it’d be her gain. She could bring the full force of her power to bear only in the Kin’jal Empire. It was exciting, in a way. This might have been the first time a country had placed such a high level operative within the Children's ranks. Every country had their moles—even Kin’jal—but none with ambitions like hers.

No one had attempted a total takeover in recent history. For good reason. It was a fool’s errand, and Maiya herself had grave reservations about Ira’s plan. Bringing a fanatical organization fifty thousand strong under her control sounded wildly fantastical… and highly improbable.

Still, it wasn’t her place to question. Ira ordered, and Maiya obeyed. The princess wanted Maiya to follow out of willingness, and she did, but that didn’t mean Maiya got to say no to individual assignments.

Out of habit, Maiya felt around her pocket, finding nothing there. No magic orbs. No communication orb, either. She felt naked without her magic, but moreover, she could hardly bear the thought of Vir attempting communication, only to find silence on her end.

She’d become inseparable from it over the past months. With every day that passed, her hope mounted—surely this was the day Vir finally reached out?

And now, she’d never know. It was far too dangerous to bring such a valuable thing here. Reluctantly, she’d left it behind, and depending on how the initiation went, she might not see her royal quarters again for a good long while.

Maiya sighed for the tenth time.

“Er, hello? Are you alright?” a black-haired man with a haphazardly trimmed mustache said, approaching her. “I think that’s the fifth time you’ve sighed in the last few minutes.”

Maiya jolted. Having been lost in her own thoughts, she’d completely missed him. He wore dirty robes, and while he didn’t smell, the oils on his face showed he hadn’t bathed in a good while.

“Sorry, you are…?”

“Yamal,” he said, extending a hand.

“Maiya,” she replied, reluctantly taking it.

“Maiya,” the man echoed, drawing out the ‘a’. “What a beautiful name. Though not quite as beautiful as the one who bears it.”

Maiya’s eyes narrowed. “Did you want something?”

“Oh, no. My apologies. I merely saw you here alone and grew curious.”

“What about you? Why are you here?” Maiya asked, directing the conversation away from herself.

“Lost my job. No way to support myself. What’s a man to do?”

One of them, huh? Alms were a strong recruiting mechanism for the Children. Perhaps not directly, but amongst the poor, they were considered saints. Word eventually got around to the less stable among the homeless, leading them straight to the Children.

“Most of us are deadbeats,” Yamal continued, “here for the handouts. The others are crazy. You don’t strike me as either.”

“Maybe the zealotry burns within me? Maybe I’m just good at hiding it.”

“Miss, nobody hides it. Not when you’re as far gone as these guys,” he said, thumbing at the altar.

“Silence! There will be silence!” a member of the Children of Ash called out frenetically, pulling every eye in the hall—including Yamal’s.

Thank Yuma! Maiya breathed, saved from having to answer Yamal. Should’ve smeared more dirt on, I guess.

Her eyes flickered to the tub of blood, and she shivered. She’d dreaded the baptism for months. It wouldn’t happen until she’d been officially initiated, but the reminder of what was to come put her in a foul mood.

“It’ll be fine,” Yamal whispered beside her. “Don’t worry.”

Maiya took a half step away from the man.

“Deference to the Rector! All ye, deference to the Rector!” the Child of Ash shouted, gesturing to a man in blood red robes with an ornate headpiece made of twigs, except covered in blood.

The Child of Ash knelt before the Rector, and the audience—the freeloaders there for the alms, and the initiate hopefuls—did as well.

“That guy a bigshot, or something?” Yamal asked.

“Kinda looks that way, doesn’t it?” Maiya whispered back, forcing herself not to roll her eyes.

The Rector stood at his raised podium. The hall was utterly silent.

The silence continued… and continued. The Rector said nothing.

“You think something’s wrong?” Yamal asked. “This feels—”

“Reverence,” the Rector shouted, silencing the hushed whispers.

“Hallowed is the Ash. Hallowed. And Sincere! Be witness of it! Yes. To enlighten is to ascend. The Higher plane. But know this! Few deserve it. Few deserve to KNOW the Ash. Blessed be those who do. UNINITIATED! All of you. TAINTED. By the world. You must purify! Prove your devotion to the ALMIGHTY SWARM!”

The Rector fell, prostrating himself in front of the statue. So did the other Children in the hall, yodeling in a high pitch.

Maiya and the others followed suit, pressing themselves flat against the blood-stained stone.

“First time?” Yamal asked with a wry smile.

“Uh, huh,” Maiya replied, keeping her voice as calm as she could.

The Children were every bit as deranged as she’d feared.

They rose only after the Rector did. He seemed calmer now, less insane. His words came in a steady—even normal—voice.

Which only scared Maiya more.

“The road is long, and the path is fraught with peril. If our lord god approves, you shall be admitted into our hallowed order.”

Silence once again fell over the hall, and for thirty seconds, nobody spoke. Long after the silence turned awkward, the Rector spoke again, as if no time had passed.

“Blessed are we, to be so near to the ash. A Blessing that goes unappreciated by your UNINITIATED ears!”

Oh gods… he’s shouting again. So much for the sanity.

Then, without a concluding remark, the Rector walked off the stage, shaking visibly in what Maiya could only assume was rapture. Either that, or the man was experiencing a seizure. She wasn’t sure which was worse.

The Child of Ash next to the Rector spoke instead. “Your initiation commences one month hence. We shall convene at dawn, east of Jatan Lake. There, your worth shall be determined.”

One month’s a ways away, Maiya thought. She’d known the Children batched their initiation tests, but getting a precise date was difficult without showing up.

Should’ve sent an agent instead, Maiya thought, but she herself had chosen not to. If she was to join these maniacs, she needed to see all parts of their operation. Even the unpleasant ones.

“A WARNING!” the Rector suddenly shouted, rushing back up to his podium, as if he’d forgotten something important. “Beware the primordial! The enemy of god. The despicable! The Primordial will bring the end of realms! Find him! Purge him! Burn him to Ash!”

Maiya cringed while Yamal sneered.

“You think he really exists? This Primordial?” the man asked.

“Maybe?”

“Gotta be an Ash beast, I guess.”

“I dunno. Maybe he’s just a handsome teen trying to find his way in a world that hates him?”

“That’s… oddly specific,” Yamal said, giving her a look,

Maiya fought the urge to giggle.

“Kidding! Who knows what he’s like? If he even exists.”

“R-right.”

I do, Maiya thought. And he’s amazing.

Her chest grew warm at the thought of Vir. Cirayus had said the Primordial—or the Akh Nara, as he called it—would usher in a new era for demons, but how did the Children know of Vir? Or rather, his prior incarnations? What was his true purpose?

Maybe I can help him find out while I’m here. Maybe the Children know more…

Maiya couldn’t wait to see Vir’s reaction when she’d learned all the juicy details of his past. Then she remembered it would be months, if not years, and her mood came crashing down again.

“Begone, ye tainted!” the Rector shouted, descending from the podium for what was hopefully the last time.

The Children pushed the uninitiated out of the audience chamber, through the hallways, and back out to the entrance. They released them discreetly, letting out only one or two at a time.

It was the most miserable initiation drive she’d ever seen, but perhaps that was by design. It was like they wanted the crazies who enjoyed such treatment.

Maiya stretched and took a deep breath the moment she was free, happy to be rid of that bloody place.

To her dismay, she found a certain shaggy haired, mustached man by her side.

“What do you think, Maiya?” he asked, earning a frown from her.

Why’s he acting so close?

Maiya shrugged. “East of Jatan Lake puts us closer to the Boundary… Maybe they want us to fight Ash Beasts?”

Yamal visibly paled. “A-Ash beasts!? Fight them?” The man looked as though he was about to piss himself, which helped restore Maiya’s mood.

“I thought you said you were just there for the handouts?” Maiya asked. “Don’t you already have what you want?”

“W-well, yes. But, well…” Yamal’s eyes darted between Maiya and the ground. “Are you going?”

“Sure am.”

“Then I shall go.”

“Huh?” Maiya asked incredulously. “Why’d you do that?”

“You’ll be in danger. A girl like you should be protected.”

Maiya tried to stifle a laugh. She failed. Tears welled up in her eyes. “You think I’m weak, Yamal?”

“You can count on me,” Yamal replied, taking Maiya aback. There was an earnest determination in his eyes.

“You’re free to act as you like, but so am I. Don’t expect me to look after you, either,” Maiya said, falling behind the man. “If you do venture out there, be prepared for the consequences.”

“I will, Mai—Maiya?” Yamal said, confused. When he turned to face her, he found only an empty road.

Maiya watched from an alley as the man ambled off in confusion. She couldn’t help but feel like she’d picked up some useless baggage. Dead weight.

“Ash Beasts, huh?” she muttered to herself. I only hope it’s that easy.

For some reason, she feared it’d be worse. A lot worse.