TWENTY-THREE
The priest's fear was so thick Melitta could almost taste it. Cloying and bitter, yet he drank the draught because it was his duty to do so. He lived and would die for the vows he'd made to his order.
"From the trees there erupted a creature I can only describe as the wrath of God made flesh. It shone as bright as the sun, fearsome to look at, and moved nigh as fast as that very orb's rays. The thunder of its hooves would have shaken the very heavens above as it charged toward me." The priest swallowed. "I think it would have impaled me and tossed me into the well, as a warning to others who dare to take what they do not deserve. I suspect I would have deserved my fate, but I had not the faith to accept it. Weak as I was, I ran around the well and into the forest, as fast a
