Where Lies Adventure!

CHAPTER 7 Laid Bare              “The Messengers of Rama, as commanded my lord,” a female villager at the front of the throng declared.   They had escorted, rather forcefully, the Messengers to the center of Tessir. Shepherd surveyed the group, settling with a searching eye on the priestess and Janus at their head.   He signaled them to step forward, and they obeyed.   They were in his thrall now, and would do whatever he commanded them. “Is Rama among you?” Shepherd’s voice rang out. “Not as far as we know, lord,” the priestess answered promptly. Shepherd looked at the pair of them square in the eye.   They looked back at him with that same blank expression of the possessed; as did the villagers who had escorted them and the rest of the Messengers - save one. He was tucked away in the rear of the line, with his head bowed in a seeming subservience.   Shepherd smiled as he laid eyes on him.   Rama had been hiding in plain sight. “Well…bravo,” a soothin

Renounced It was the dead of night.   The church parking lot was completely empty as Evan wheeled past in his chair.   It wouldn’t be long before the pastor arrived to prepare for the Sunday service.   That meant there wasn’t much time.   That was good.   Too much time meant he might get cold feet.   He had a plan; a design that was entirely his.   And so far, everything was working out. He rolled to the front door of the church.   It was locked.   Of course it was.   But Evan had prepared for this.   He pulled out a hammer, tucked away in a blanket he was using to cover his now useless, unfeeling legs.   He found no one ever questioned the blanket.   It infuriated him.   It made no sense to cover legs that felt nothing with a blanket.   But it didn’t matter.   To everyone else, it was a clichéd token of comfort for a cripple.   That’s how they all saw him now.   How quickly perceptions could change. Evan gave one swing of the hammer and the door la