Another World of Dreams-The Escape

Chapter 9 - Saint Rafael

The roaring sound of the church bells echoed off the cliffs of the ravine, sending tickling vibrations through Liv's body. They were high up, level with the black spire of Saint Rafael's heavenly chapel, closer to the ringing bells than those standing on the ground below the building. The forest opened up as they walked onwards through the ravine and descended the hillside. A rolling landscape of small farms and groves spread out in front of them. On tired legs, they wandered down the trail they had been following for the last two days. The village of Saint Rafael appeared further below, a collection of dark tiled roofs under the shadow of the immense chapel.

After a while they passed a flock of grazing goats on the green slopes and the path transformed into a rocky dirt road. They reached a farm where a herd of meager cows occupied themselves by grinding their teeth against the thick mountain grass. More houses lay down the slope. A maid herded livestock into a small cow-house to spend the night. It was the first human they had seen in days. The stench of the creatures and their jingling bells made them realize how isolated they had been up in the forest.

The road split in front of them and Liv stopped to read on a weather-worn sign that dangled from a tilted stick.

"Put on your shoes and hat. Cover your ears," she said to Kaan.

They turned left towards a wooden house with a turfed roof that lay higher up the slope than the rest of the village. She judged that the house had the best location in the area. From there they could view the valley and the forest would be close at hand if they needed to escape. A narrow black door opened and an old man holding a broom stepped outside. He was barefoot and wore a pair of sun-bleached leather pants and a beige cardigan that had probably been white once. Not a single strand of hair stuck out from his head, not even where his eyebrows were supposed to be. His green eyes were as large as those of a swollen fish and grew even bigger when they left the main road and walked over to him.

"Is this an inn?" asked Liv. "Can you give us lodging?"

"I might," said the man. "Are you Believers?"

She noticed a white hand painted above the door and could discern the shape of black iron cross through the nearest window. The correct answer to the man's question was obvious.

"We are," she said. "We have come to visit the heavenly chapel."

The man shone up. "Then you are most welcome! You can choose whatever room you want. They're all vacant."

He opened the door and waved at them to enter. They stepped through a small vestibule and entered a dim kitchen. He offered them to take a seat at the dinner table and held out a chair for Liv. Then he went into the room next-door and returned with three glasses of milk and handed them one each. It tasted like water and she suspected that the white drink had been diluted or that the cow it came from was in poor health. The innkeeper pulled a stool out from beneath the table and sat down opposite them.

"I'm Brother Moriah," he said. "Who are you?"

"Hi, I'm Kaan," Kaan said before Liv could answer.

"My name is Elda," replied Liv, glaring at the elf for saying his real name. "We are newly wed and live in the countryside outside Tarum."

"Not many guests come here this late in the summer, especially not visitors from far away places like Tarum. And those who visit Saint Rafael are of the bad kind, people who prefer a pint of ale over divine peace. They don't come to my house, but stay at the pub in the village." Moriah gulped half his glass of milk and coughed, then exhaled through his nose before he continued speaking. "But we have a strong parish here, righteous people unafraid of the dark. Pastor Brock leads us. He's a brilliant man that you've definitely heard about."