CH302 Gods and Believers part three

“What was that?” Caz asked, not understanding what his fellow priest was saying as Toltho screamed out into the crowd.

“I said no! Who are the gods to say that we should die for them? Who are they to say we should kill the ones we love before running away like cowards? Is our community so fragile? Are the bonds we share so weak? Could you all go on living with yourselves if you just let the lives of your parents and your young, brothers and sisters, friends and neighbours end so easily? I say no! If the gods would ask this of us then why do we even worship them? What’s been the point of all of this?”

The crowd was a mix of looks, a few seeming to agree but more looking shocked that a priest would say such a thing, while others looked enraged at him for daring to say something that would go against the will of the gods like that, with his fellow priests being in the latter group.

“You go too far Toltho!” Pleht screamed at him, a ball of fire already in his hand before turning to the crowd. “Look at what we have! The gods gave it all to us. The food of the forest, the waters of the river, the sun in the sky, even our very lives! If they gave it all so freely then who are we to say they can’t take it away? Are you so great that you can decide what is right?”

“You don’t have to be great to know this is wrong!” He yelled back. “And if the gods are wrong about this then what else are they wrong about? I’ve seen the strange ones! They care for one another as any of us do! Maybe they are coming to kill us, but then what difference is it from now anyway? I’d rather die fighting than live with the consequences after!”

<SILENCE!> The voice of Quox screamed through his head. <After all we’ve done for you, this is how you’d repay us? With mistrust and hate? I thought better of you Toltho! I thought you had a future.>

“Perhaps I am wrong for this, but in that case it’s better to be wrong!” He yelled back at the same time the other priests attacked.

With how coordinated it was he could only assume it was directed by the gods as the four of them moved as one, two of them firing off flame spells towards him as the others used earth, leaving him little room to avoid as he had to decide what hit to take, choosing the weaker of the flame spells in the end as he felt his flesh sizzle and fur burn as he activated the one skill in the village that no others had managed, he brought forth his invisibility.

As the awakened version of the stealth skill, turning it into a non-affinitied magic when it did, he was the only one in the village to achieve such a feat in its entire history, needing just what had happened explained to him as a result, but when he had he couldn’t have been more thrilled. He attributed it to the gods, and now it was going to be the only thing keeping him safe from their wrath.

With the skill activated he couldn’t be seen, a similar effect to what some light spells could achieve, but as a skill descended from stealth it could do so much more. It silenced his movements, helping to erase what noises he made while at the same time reduced his impact on the world, though not completely erasing it. The steps he took in the dirt left almost non-existent traces, though they were there, and the smell of his body lessened enough that even his kind’s sharp senses typically couldn’t pick him up unless they were focusing on it and right by him. At least that would be how it usually was if the stench of his burning fur wasn’t so strong.

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