Saxony, twenty years before, 722AD
The missionary, having ventured this far into pagan Saxony, was not prepared for the savagery he was about to witness. His arrival had been greeted with a mixture of suspicion and the customary hospitality of these people. They equated him with their own sorcerer, and for this reason, he was treated with respect, except, of course, by the pagan priest himself. His evil eye transmitted all of his loathing to the alien-god worshipper.
An early riser, Boniface was at his morning prayers when shouting and wailing from outside his hut disturbed him. Jumping to his feet, he pushed his way past the rickety door, hanging askew on worn leather hinges. Hastening outside, he sought the cause of the commotion: the enactment of a punishment. The men of the village l
