Kerrigan Lokir (Pronounce: Low-Keyr) trudged along an onyx lined corridor, a step behind the slimy-haired Prima Zadok Sundeas. Prima Zadok's leering gaze always gave her the creeps, so she did her best to keep him in front of her, where she could be the one keeping him in her sights.
"I want you to go to Jinstain. It has been three years since the loss of the Pendent of Celia. See if you can find it. The Dragoons seem to have lost the scent again," he was saying.
"I have business to deal with here in Targu. Bayan Province is too far out of my way," Kerrigan said tartly. She was in no mood to do his bidding.
Prima Zadok stopped and turned to her. Gripping her chin with his long fingers he said, "Kerri dear, you will do as I say." He gripped her chin harder, "Just remember it was you who got into this mess by allowing Abrasax's pendant to be tampered with. If you hadn't disturbed his rest, we likely would not have risked the loss of Celia"
Kerrigan squirmed under Zadoks torturous grip, "that wasn't my fault."
Zadok's eyes flashed and he slapped her hard, knocking her to the ground. Kerrigan's eye's brimmed with tears and she longed to feel the strength of Abrasax roar through her veins, fueling her need to retaliate. But the stone hanging between her breasts lay cold and dormant, just as it had since the loss of the temple of Celia.
Zadok sneered down at Kerrigan. "I was entrusted with your care by High Priestess Rania herself. She may have been good for little else but she saw fit to promote me in that way at least. And how did you repay my stewardship of your miserable orphan life? You broke into the sacred hall and disturbed Abrasax! His stone should have slumbered for another fifty years! But no, you had to wake the wrath of the Warlord himself! Five monks died in the quake from his wrath! Their lives are on your head. I was spared only because I am his anointed, destined to lead his temple since before my very birth. Remember well whom you speak to."
Kerrigan suppressed a retort. She knew full well that Zadok was full of shit. He had survived the quake because he had been raping a temple accolade in a broom closet when the ceiling collapsed. A stone had struck the young girl in the head, and she died a day later, barely able to tell Kerrigan the story when she had gone to visit her in the mending wing. Of course, Zadok being the sharp snake he was had proclaimed himself next in line to be Prima, High priest of Abrasax and the Dragon Thunder. The reality was simply the other five in front of him had died due to where they stood when the roof collapsed.
Abrasax's roar had filled Kerrigan's mind that day, nearly ripping her sanity to shreds, before he had calmed, seeing memories in her mind of High Priestess Rania entrusting her to Zadoc, before Abrasax's soul stone. Kerrigan thought back to that day with mixed emotion.
18 years prior, here in the temple of Abrasax, Priestess Rania had held little Kerrigan's hand as they stood in the Sacred Hall before the soul stone pendant, propped on a pillow atop a pillar. "Kerri, one day you will serve Abrasax. Guard this pendant with your life. May Abrasax accept you as Celia has me and guard you as you guard him."
Kerrigan tried to stand, face still stinging from Zadok's slap.
"You will go to Jinstain. It is about time for us to expand business in that direction anyway. The temple is still being rebuilt but that is no reason for us to not have a firm presence there. "I will send two dragoons to ensure your safety."
Insure I don't run away, you mean. Kerrigan thought darkly.
"Fine, I suppose a business exploration trip is in order. Celia's acolytes use to have a presence there, so perhaps I can make sure those assets come back into the fold." Besides, an excuse to get away from Zadok was always welcome. Kerrigan normally spent as much time as she could at Dragon Corporation headquarters, willing to attend as many meetings personally just to stay away from the temple. It had paid off, as Dragon Corporation was growing exponentially thanks to her hands-on approach.
Zadok tapped a medallion around his neck, "Good girl. Just remember who is Abrasax's Avatar and voice around here. Now GO!" he spun on a heel and left her alone in the hall.
"Arrogant prick," She spat after him under her breath. She had to chuckle to herself. The pendant he wore so proudly was nothing more than costume jewelry that Abraxas has her acquire shortly after he had awoken. She had been wearing the real pendant around her next ever since, while the fake rested on the gilded cushion in the Sacred Hall. She still cringed when she remembered when he had discovered the ruse.
Zadok had been leering at her over one of their private dinners when he had noticed the chain around her neck. He had snatched at it, but when his hand finally gripped the pendant, he had hissed as he dripped it, his hand recoiling protectively. Kerrigan remembered the smell of burnt flesh.
"What in the hells was that?!" he had demanded, sticking his hand in the water pitcher on the table. The water almost boiled instantly as it absorbed the heat from his hand. His eyes went wide as he guessed the truth. The beating she received that day was just a haze of memory now. However, no matter what Zadok and his guards tried, they never removed the pendant from her. Many still had the burns to this day. It wasn't long after that Zadok had publicly proclaimed himself as the avatar of Abrazax.
Kerrigan shook herself back to reality and considered Jinstain. She had visited before, and know there was a good place to get a drink on high street. She wondered if Abrasax would laugh at her for thinking about buying a bar, just to have a place of her own to drink when away from Zadok. Oh well, She might as well visit and see what High Street was like these days. If nothing else it would be a place to start listening for whispers of Celia. She could be in Jinstain in a matter of hours if she caught a flight out before the next snow started.
Being away from here would be worth the last minute rush to pack.