“Where am I?” I groaned, sitting up.
Around me sat a deep woods, my head killing me.
“Wasn’t I just playing Cult of the Lamb?
Where am I?”
Murmuring could be heard, I crept closer, being careful to be stealthy.
As I crept closer, I saw hooded people, seemingly averaging half my height.
The one in front spoke roughly for such a cute voice, “Come on, Leshy demands sacrifices.
We can’t come back empty handed or we’ll be sacrificed.”
“You see anyone?
Most villages that haven’t paid the toll have already been burnt, there are no sacrifices to grab!”
I froze, Leshy?
Sacrifices?
Weren’t those the things in the game I was playing?
“Hey!
There’s something in the bush!”
I flinched, knowing I was caught.
I stammered, “Please spare me, I swear I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.”
The two cultists of Leshy looked intrigued, and to my pleasant surprise, didn’t immediately go to sacrifice me, like I thought.
The senior spat at me; “What kind of critter even are you?
As tall as an ascendant, but you have no strength.
Are you some sort of balding monkey?”
“Ascendant?
What?”
“Goodness, you’re clueless, Aben, let’s grab this one as a sacrifice.”
Aben nodded, “Leshy will love a unique sacrifice like this one.”
“Hold on, this seems a bit unnecessary.”
The other one grabbed me.
“Silence, bald monkey, your soul now belongs to the Bishop of Chaos, the great Leshy.”
“Calm down Trenar, we want him intact for the sacrifice.” Aben scolded.
I began freaking out, then I thrashed, sending Trenar flying, then I ran for the trees.
“TRENAR!!!
You, I’ll kill you right now!!!”
I froze as Trenar landed with a crunch.
Horror dotted every feature on my face as the hood dropped to reveal that Trenar resembled a horse, he would have looked adorable if not for the crushed skull.
“I… I just killed someone… holy crap… I just killed someone… I didn’t mean to…”
“Well, you did… NOW DIE!” Aben slashed, fury engulfing his catlike face, but I wasn’t ready to die, I dodged the slash barely and picked up Trenar’s sword.
Aben’s face twisted in anger as he leapt, too fast for me to block, but I didn’t have to.
A lamb, a red-eyed crown on her head and a red cloak around her neck, cut Aben in half.
Her smile made me fall on my butt in fear and squirm back to a tree.
The lamb turned and looked at me with a now tender smile, “Hello there, what’s your name, I’m Ceres.”
“C-Caleb.”
“Nice to meet you Caleb, would you want to join my cult?
We are fighting against the bishops.”
Though I already knew the answer, I needed to ask, “Who do you serve?”
Ceres sighed deeply, “It’s supposed to serve the One who Waits, but instead the people worship me, it’s kind of aggravating.”
“I can see… I’ll join.” I needed to be on her side, and… try to ignore the broken horse next to me.
“Wonderful!” Ceres seemed to sweat as I stood up.
“… You’re tall…”
“Yeah…”
“What are you, exactly, I would guess monkey but something looks different.”
“Um… I’m a human.
It is a primate like a monkey, but yeah I am different.”
Ceres made an ‘oh’ face and smiled, “I see, well, all species are welcome in our group, no matter how unique.
Though, did you kill that one?” Ceres gestured to Trenar’s crumpled body.
“Y-yeah, but I didn’t mean to… I just freaked out…”
“And did that?” Her face looked unconvinced
“Yeah, I thrashed and because I was a lot bigger… I threw him like a ragdoll…”
Ceres winced, hearing the pain in my voice.
“You… hate killing… don’t you…”
“I… yes… I didn’t want to do that… I just didn’t want to die…” Ceres nodded, sympathy showing in her eyes.
“Can I tell you something, and please don’t tell the other followers.”
“What is it?”
“I hate killing too…”
I looked at the lamb, shocked, then gave a small smile.
“Let’s go to your base, now.”
Ceres nodded and smiled.
“Follow me.”
We walked through the woods until we came across a small encampment with many crude tents.
A sigil sat at the entrance of the camp, red and starshaped.
In the center, lay a statue of Ceres, it’s presence enhanced by the devotion pouring from it.
The glowing fluid flowed into a small bowl at the bottom.
The devotion came from the eyes like tears, falling like a glowing stream.
Less than a dozen humanoid animals were talking with one another.
A white furred goat approached.
“My lady, thank goodness you’re here, disaster has struck and we’re starving.”
Ceres and I blinked in confusion.
I looked slightly to the right, “Um….
there’s a massive pile of berries right there.”
The goat looked at me like he was an idiot.
“And?
It could be poisoned for all we know, we don’t know where it came from.”
“But-”
Ceres patted my shoulder, a tired look on her face.
“Let me show you.” She picked up a bowl and scooped some berries into it, then handed it to the goat.
“Send the others for food.”
The goat smiled enthusiastically, “Yes, my lady, thank you for bringing us food!”
I gaped as the goat left, and Ceres groaned.
“10 followers and 9 of them are to stupid to live a day without me.”
“At least you have one smart one.”
“Yes, and there he is, hello Felen.”
Felen was a fox, his orange fur complimented the white tips of his ears.
He smiled when he saw Ceres, “My lady, it’s so good to see that you returned, maybe the others finally won’t starve themselves next to food.”
Ceres sighed, “I’m slowly beginning to think they do it to mess with me.”
Felen suddenly looked tired, “I sincerely wish they were, but no, they are genuinely that stupid.” The fox looked up at me with a raised brow.
“Who is this?”
Ceres smiled, “This is Caleb, I saved him from a Leshy cultist, so he joined us.”
“Huh, that makes sense… what is he?”
Ceres looked at me, curiosity on her face.
“He calls himself a human, but I’ve never heard of that species.
It’s supposedly similar to monkeys though.”
Felen walked around me, sniffing.
I began to feel awkward.
“Um…”
Ceres brushed it off, “Don’t worry, he’s just getting used to your scent, canines always do that.”
“I see…”
Felen held out his hand.
“Welcome to the team, new guy, let me show you to your sleeping bag.”
“Um, thanks?”
Felen dragged me to my sleeping bag and smiled.
Then he noticed that I had a look on my face.
“What’s up?”
“You guys don’t have a temple for Ceres?”
Felen looked at me, a brow raised, “Should we?”
I nodded, “Oh, absolutely,” I gestured to an open plain, “just imagine, a temple dedicated to Ceres, one fit for her to teach us from.
And with her sermons, she gets stronger too.”
Felen seemed interested.
“She can get tougher?”
I smiled, my grin infecting Felen, “She can become so much tougher.”
Felen and I gathered the followers as Ceres was making food for everyone and not paying attention.
They made plans and began construction, I handled organizing, while Felen led the actual construction.
Halfway through, Ceres approached me with confusion.
“What are you all building?”
“A temple for you.”
“Caleb?!
We’re supposed to serve the One who Waits.”
“Yes, but as you are his avatar, you need to use both devotion and sermons to get stronger.
Otherwise, you will hit a cap and get beaten.”
Ceres blinked, she seemed to have been unaware of that, and was wondering how I was aware.
“I see… and you know this how?”
“Ironically, it’s not my first rodeo.”
Ceres looked at me, and my height.
“That would explain the height.”
“…
I guess?” Maybe she was talking about that ascendant thing?
I’ll need to ask someone about that.
Ceres then decided to chat with me, “So, are you an ascendant or are all of you… humans that tall?”
“Oh, I’m actually still a teen, so I’m a bit shorter than most humans.” Ceres was visibly attempting, and failing, to imagine a species that stood to the height of ascendants, whatever they were, naturally.
“Also, what is an ascendant?”
Ceres blinked, almost shocked I didn’t know.
“An ascendant is a mortal who’s begun the path to apotheosis, of course, even being an ascendant is almost impossible to do, and noone knows what makes an ascendant actually ascend.”
“Wow… that sounds cool, are you an ascendant?”
Ceres looked proud, “Yes, I am, under the One Who Wait’s will, I act as his champion in exchange for enough strength to avenge my people.”
“Um… your people?”
Ceres raised a brow, “The lambs?
You know, the species that the bishops genocided?
I am the last.”
“Oh, right, I’m sorry.
Not sure how I didn’t put that together.”
Ceres sighed.
“You could use a little work, but at least you can feed yourself.”
We looked over and saw a shouting match between Felen and the earlier goat about whether berries were edible outside of bowls.
“…
We need smarter members…”
Ceres nodded, a tiredness of having to deal with this obvious.
Then she looked at me, seemingly calculating, and decided something.
“Caleb, you are going to be our scout, and you start tomorrow.”
“Why?!” I was not keen on going out into that terrifying woods again.
“Because you’re big, have long legs, and can just throw anything that attacks you.”
“I think you’re forgetting that was an accident that I’m still shocked by!”
“Eh, you’ll get used to it.”
“See, that’s the problem, I don’t want to get used to it.”
“Heh, I never said you have to grow dull, just used to it.
If you don’t, I’m sorry to say, you won’t last long at all.” Ceres’ grim face did not help my confidence.
…
“…Noted… well… I’mma help finish the construction because apparently I’m the only one who can hold a 4×4 plank…”
“Yeah, most of them aren’t that strong…”
I helped throughout the day, worrying about what the next day would bring.
I walked up to Felen.
“Hey, could I ask a question?”
“Shoot.”
“How dangerous are the woods?”
He looked at me with a smirk, “What, planning on running off this early, mate?”
I rapidly shook my head.
“No no no, Ceres just wanted me to do scouting.”
He raised a brow, then thought for a second.
“Yeah, I guess that makes sense, she’s been doing our scouting alone thus far, and you are definitely large enough to avoid being attacked.” Then he looked at me with a cautious look.
“Definitely be careful.
It is quite dangerous these days since, well… the bishops attacked the lambs…”
I blinked, “What about before that?”
Then Felen sighed, “You really are not from around here.
Well, it’s quite simple.
The bishops all, within my lifetime, have been a bit kooky, but they only became destructive when that prophecy started going around.
And frankly, while it was half expected from Leshy, the fact that all of them went crazy was what shocked us.”
I nodded, “I suppose that makes sense.”
Felen smiled, “You’re definitely strong enough to handle cultists, but if you see a bishop, run.”
I gave a ‘seriously?’ expression.
“I think that’s a given…”
Felen snickered, “I guess it would be.” Then he looked at me, “Your size alone will probably dissuade most attackers; they will assume you’re an ascendant.”
“Um, also, quick question, if height means an ascendant, then why is Ceres still normal sized?”
Felen blinked, thinking for a moment, “Well, if I could venture a guess, there would be two reasons that I can think of right now.” The fox thought for a second.
“Yeah, the two reasons that come to my head is either since she’s technically an Avatar, rather than a typical ascendant, or it could be due to her being a lamb.”
“I get the avatar idea, but what does her being a lamb have to do with it.”
Felen sighed, then shrugged, “In almost all divine history, lambs were sought as ideal sacrifices, in fact, there’s never been a known lamb ascendant or divine, which is one of the reasons most people dismissed the prophecy that the Bishops went insane over.”
“Four to Three, Three to Two…”
“Two to One, One to None.
Yep, that’s the one.” Felen looked in the direction of Ceres, who was chatting with some cultists; “When it came out that a lamb would be behind the bishop’s deaths, we all thought it was a ridiculous notion, but now, seeing Ceres, I definitely believe she could beat them, given enough time.”
“I agree… well, I suppose I’ll head out tomorrow.”
_
The next day, Ceres gave me a crude sword.
“Not to be ungrateful…
but…
can this thing… cut anything?”
Ceres sighed, clearly expecting the question.
“Probably not, but we don’t have a smith yet.
You will likely find better weapons in the forest though.”
“Got it…” I headed out after a breakfast of berries and wandered, hoping to find something quick and easy to report in order to get back to safety as fast as I could.
After a while, I found a small clearing, in it was a large cat lady, Forneus.
She sat outside her tent, and several things sat on merchant podiums.
Her sitting down was near my standing height.
She saw me and smiled kindly.
“Hello child, do you require anything?”
Ceres had given me a few coins in case I ran into a merchant, and I saw something that would be absolutely perfect.
“Um, could I… get that stone piece?”
Forneus raised a brow.
“And what would a member of the Lamb’s Cult need a piece of a Commandment stone for?”
“You could tell?”
“I can sense the One who Wait’s mark, and as the lamb is his current avatar, it was a simple guess.”
“You know Narinder?” I had guessed it before, when playing but the confirmation was-
“How do you know that name?”
I clamped my hand over my mouth, remembering that not even his own Avatars knew the name, Ceres wouldn’t learn the name until Shamura told her after Heket’s death, if game time held.
So myself knowing obviously would attract attention.
Idiot.
But, Forneus only seemed curious.
“You clearly know much more than any simple cultist.
I wonder if your leader is aware…”
“She… isn’t…” Forneus smiled, menacingly, which was more terrifying than I remember he being in game, “Well, let’s make a bargain.
If you know that name, I’m going to imagine you know my children?”
“…
Aym and Baal?”
“Correct, tell you what, I’ll do two things, give you the stone, and not tell your leader of your advanced knowledge… on one condition…”
“You want me to bring them back… right?”
Forneus’s nice smile returned.
“Exactly, back safe and well.”
I thought for a moment.
“I’ll do it… if I don’t have an early death first.”
She nodded, “Of course, thank you.” Forneus handed me the commandment shard, and we waved goodbye as I continued on.
I was getting a bit hungry, when I ran into a rat man.
He had one eye missing and a little hat on… Ratau, the previous avatar of Narinder’s.
Ratau saw me and waved.
“Greetings, traveler.
Are you hungry?
Dinner has just finished.”
I blink, aware he was friendly as in game lore he hated sacrifice and never did it, but this was way too much whiplash from Forneus threatening me.
“Uh… sure… I have coin…”
“No need, you are one of Ceres’ cultists, I can smell her on you.”
“I… guess that makes sense, but I would rather pay than not.”
“And I would rather you eat than the food get cold.” We sat and ate, I was clearly much larger, but I could still sense that he was powerful, very powerful.
He likely went on via sermons, but couldn’t get enough followers for the sermons to be more effective than sacrifice, leading to Narinder’s abandonment.
“Child, I get I am old, but I can still see you staring.”
I flushed, “I, uh, I’m sorry, I just was thinking.
You are really strong… and I heard you didn’t kill a single bishop… how strong are they if you couldn’t do it?”
He laughed, a soft thing.
“Ah, yes.
I did gain a lot of strength from being the One who Waits’s lackey for those 100 years.
I still serve him, but he took the red crown from me.
I hold no ill will, however, I was unsuited and too soft to be a proper vessel for one who embodies death.
It makes sense he would pass me up, especially after the prophecy.”
“The one about a lamb doing it?”
“Indeed, but if you are curious, yes, the bishops are unbelievably powerful.
Many would forget when mocking the One who Waits, but they are all gods, and mighty ones at that.
The bishops took this land from the other gods who ruled it, after all, and one was literally the god of the hunt.
It is clear that killing them is no simple task.”
I nodded, “Yeah… do you think Ceres can do it?”
He simply looks resolved, “She’s the only one who can… the prophecy was clear, a lamb would kill them.”
I nodded.
“Yeah, that tracks.
Thank you for the food.”
“It is no issue, serve Ceres well, and serve the One who Waits better.”
“…Got it.” I wandered on, mind swirling.
In game, one could beat Leshy with basic stats, but this wasn’t a game, I needed to remember that.
This was real life, just with the same story.
I wandered more, and eventually found myself in a deep fog, I couldn’t see a foot in front of me.
I waved in front of me, trying to see as I walked.
I saw a few things that looked like flowers, but nothing I could see clearly.
Then I slammed into something that felt like a wall, but kind of soft.
“Oh, I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to-” I froze, unable to even scream as the fog cleared, revealing the figure that, even sitting, was almost double my height…
Leshy… the Bishop of Chaos peered in my direction, a bandage over the hole where his eye would be, a flower in his hand as he sat on his knees.
“Mortal, what brings you to my personal garden…”
I was going to die.