Valerik’s Quest 4: A Village In The South

The breeze brushed against his skin. The atmosphere, hot as the sun made it, did nothing to dry the sweat that soaked more than his face. The dry air grated at his nostrils with each intake of air and his lungs expelled them with a labor telling of their hate for it. They were clearly not designed for these parts of Ayla.

Valerik rode through the dry and dusty lands of the southern villages of Umunari, far beyond the borders of the realm. This had been one of the reasons he had chosen the class of evangelist prior to his ordination. Scouring the reaches of Ayla, he met peoples he had not known existed. He doubted any other evangelists had gone as far from the realm as he had without express orders from the church.

Rive picked up dust with each step but Valerik ignored it, knowing his destination lay not too far from where he was. He had passed through the village twice before, but then, he had stayed a full year. Today, however, he would onl