The High Priestess

Glad you could join us for the next quizzical episode of Elliot’s Adventures. If you’re new here, you can catch up by returning to the beginning, and reading really fast…

Well, he might have just killed me. Elliot caught and released a deep, calming breath. “Thank you for asking,” he said. “My name is Elliot, and my guide left me outside with instructions to go inside.”

“For what purpose?”

“I have no idea.”

“Who was your guide?”

“I don’t know her name.”

“You didn’t ask?”

“No.” This wasn’t going well.

“Why didn’t she stay to introduce you?”

“She said she had to leave.”

“Where did you come from?”

“Oh, I know this one!” Elliot declared. “The Baths in Fen.”

“You came all this way and never asked why?”

“Actually, I asked several questions. She wouldn’t answer them.”

His interrogator’s brow furrowed. “I suppose that means I should take you directly to the High Priestess.”

“The High Priestess?” Queasiness invaded Elliot’s stomach and settled in.

“Yes. She’ll know what to do with you; you’ll be in good hands.” He turned his back saying, “Follow me. Keep up.”

Once more, Elliot considered escaping to find his way back to Fen. The only “good hands” he wanted to be in were Cassandra’s, and she didn’t even have hands. But here he was. He’d faced more danger than this on a number of occasions. At least he hoped he had. So he followed down a slanting, crooked passage, closed in by rough carved walls and a ceiling so low his companion bent over to pass through. Elliot’s relief to enter a vast, airy, well-lit chamber was brief.

A crone — perhaps as old as the Forest itself — creaked her way off an ornate and imposing throne to stand like a bent twig on a platform two steps above the floor. Her voice was as dry and dusty as drought dirt.

“Elliot. Finally. Welcome. You’re in good hands.”

To be continued. . .

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