Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 The small chapel was dark, lit only by a few candles at the altar and
sconces placed at wide intervals on the side walls.  A koada'dal woman,
barely older than a girl in elven terms, stood quietly, head bowed, a
coarse woolen gown her only garment, her copper curls pulled back from her
face tightly with a piece of cord, her pale skin almost glowing in the dim
light.

   She had traveled here from Qeynos, from her home in Castleview Hamlet,
of her own free will, exchanging everything she had ever known for this new
start.  Now that she was here, in this place where malice and hate seemed
to seep from the stone that made up the very walls of this chapel, she was
starting to wonder if the price she had paid was worth it.  It was too late
now, though.  The only way to go from here was forward.  Any other
direction would only lead to death...  or more likely, torture and death.

   She dared to look up for a moment, her aquamarine eyes trying to take
everything in at once: the imposing priest in blood-red robes; the shadow
knight in full armor, his sword at his side; the woman who had led her here
to begin with; and a small gathering of worshippers, all teir'dal.  The
dark elves, the evil twisted enemies of her people.  She had been told the
stories from the time she was barely out of infancy: how the God of Hate,
Innoruuk, had stolen the Mother of All Tunare's first creations, the first
king and queen of the elves, how he had tortured and twisted them over
centuries, until both their hearts and bodies were dark and wicked, how the
dark elf race had sprung from these first two...originally Tunare's own
children, yet perverted by the evil that was Innoruuk.  If the stories were
to be believed--and she knew they were--then technically the teir'dal and
the koada'dal were cousins of a sort, though neither race would acknowledge
that with anything but scorn or disgust

   The teir'dal woman who had led her here seemed so distant now, her
memories of the woman's almost sympathetic attitude fading quickly in the
light of her current cold and distant demeanor.  The shadow knight was not
unknown to her either; she had met him in the Commonlands when she had been
struggling to prove herself to Freeport.  He had been friendly and
encouraging then, today he was simply...frightening.  The priest scared her
most of all...  obviously old by even elven standards, his cheeks sunken in
with age, his eyes glowing crimson with an unholy zeal.  His hands were
thin, almost skeletal, as he reached forward, placing one hand below her
chin and lifting her face for his perusal.  She fought to control her
natural instinct to shudder or pull away.  "Ahhh, Gratis.  You have a
most...enviable task today." His voice was low, thready...the malice almost
tangible.  His quiet chuckle sent chills up her spine.

   "Well, then...  let us begin.  I am sure our Knight of Ceremony is
getting...anxious..." He chuckled again and stepped back behind the ornate
pulpit.  His voice, when he spoke again, was powerful, ringing clearly
through the chapel.  "Great are the Children of Innoruuk.  Great is Our
Father.  His Will is Our Will, our strength is His Strength.  May Our
Father look down upon Us as we gather here, for this night He shall claim a
new child as a great tool for His Will."

   He looked down at the koada'dal girl, and the teir'dal woman standing
next to her.  "I stand in the Place of Innoruuk.  I await she who is to be
given to Him."

   The woman next to her smiled maliciously, everyone in the chapel seeming
privy to a secret she did not know, and then spoke up, her voice low and
husky.  "I present Penitence to the True Service of Our Father.  She has
been called by Him to serve as a Priestess of His Will."

   "Has she lived as a true Child of Innoruuk, and do you believe the she
is destined for further service?"

   The other woman's lips twisted in a smirk as she glanced at Penitence,
but she answered in the same vein.  "I believe that she is a true
instrument of Our Father, and her devotion to His Will is boundless."

   "Your words are the words of the Teir'Dal.  Now shall the Words of
Innoruuk be heard from the mouth of this child." The old priest turned his
piercing crimson eyes to Penitence.  "Your life is not your own.  You were
born a child of the Lying Gods.  Do you now relinquish this heritage, and
give your life to Him?"

   Peni's hands were ice-cold as she repeated the words that had been
drilled into her.  "I understand that I exist only to further His Will.  I
strive only to serve him fully.  It is therefore that I seek to draw His
Eye upon me, and His Words into my mouth."

   "Know that according to His Will, the Priests of Innoruuk are the Mouths
of Innoruuk.  None but His words pass from their lips.  Do you stand ready
to prove his favor of you?"

   She clasped her hands in front of her to try to keep them from
trembling, her eyes staring at the ground as she repeated the next part of
the ceremony.  "I stand with the Words of Innoruuk upon my tongue.  May I
speak only that which he gives me, or serve him in death."

   Now came the part of the ceremony that she had dreaded, and that she had
spent days studying old tomes and epistles for...  the Test of Faith.  It
would be more aptly called a Test of Knowledge, she thought, for one could
have faith without knowing every last nuance of the old texts.  The old
priest would drill her with three questions, each a chance for her to
stumble, with any wrong answer resulting in death.  "False is your claim to
His Word.  Our Father abides not failure.  May you serve Him better in
death than you did in life." Those words had been repeated to her often, as
a warning, when she was learning of the Church and the Father.  They had
terrified her, though only the most observant would realize it.  Her hands
were white-knuckled, but that was the only sign of her fear that she
allowed to show.

   "Who are the Spurned, child, and why do they act as they do?"

   She took a deep breath.  Of course, the first question had to deal with
Tunare.  Why not?  She'd be lucky if all three didn't.  "The Spurned are
those who willfully ignore the Will of Innoruuk, including those who simply
choose to take other paths as well as those who walk completely apart from
Him.  They do so because they are deceived by the...  lying goddess Tunare
into believing they still bear her curse of free will." Her eyes continued
to look down, but a confident gleam entered them.  She KNEW this was right.

   "What are the greatest callings of the Father, and in which order?"

   She took a deep breath, closing her blue-green eyes in concentration. 
"The King and Queen...eternal Mother and Father, beyond reproach.  The
Clergy...they are the Mouth of Innoruuk and speak His Words. 
Necromancers...  they command the Dead in His Service.  Shadow
Knights...Soldiers of Innoruuk and protectors of the Mouth. 
Warriors...they are the shield that protects the Queen and King, and they
exist to cut down enemies of the Faith.  All purposes serve the Will of
Innoruuk, but these shall be set above all others as most holy."

   The priest looked almost disappointed at yet another correct answer, his
red eyes boring into her malevolently.  "Who are the Hated Others, and what
must happen to them, child?" His voice turned silky.  "To all the
others...your parents, your sisters, the friends you left behind?"

   He had chosen the wrong subject if he wished to weaken her.  Peni's head
came up sharply, her blue-green eyes almost glowing in her fury, her hate.
"Those that stand against the Father shall be damned.  They are the Hated
Others.  All shall be reviled and destroyed.  Hatred shall be spread among
them and they shall perish from inside as well as from out.  No mercy shall
be shown them, and none shall be suffered to live." Her normally soft lips
were hard, pressed flat against each other in renewed ire...a challenging
tilt to her head as she looked at him.  She saw her victory in the way he
held himself.  He didn't seem to move at all, yet there was a difference in
his stance that told her she had passed the Test.  A low breath of air, of
relief, escaped her before she schooled her features back into a mask of
calmness.

   Without warning, Gratis grabbed one of her arms, and the priest the
other, dragging her towards the altar.  Penitence froze in terror, aqua
eyes wide with fear and shock as they laid her on the altar and chained her
arms and legs quickly, efficiently.  "What..."

   The priest spoke over her faint voice.  "Our Father truly dwells within
you.  As I speak for Him within this world, so shall you.  From this night
forward let all know that you speak as His Mouth.  As He has granted you
your life's blood, so now give back that blood to Him." Penitence watched
in horror as Gratis lifted the ornate dagger he carried over her chest,
shutting her eyes as it started to drop towards her body, only to have them
fly open again as she felt cool air over her bare breasts...he was cutting
her robe off.  "Oh, gods...what are you doing?  Please, stop!"

   The shadow knight who had befriended her in the Commonlands looked even
more like a stranger now, in his ornate ceremonial armor, hair pulled back
tightly in a braid, his eyes intent as he dragged the knife down the front
of her robe, cutting it completely open, the sharp tip barely grazing her
skin in a few places.  He smiled up at her, the expression frightening in
its zeal.  "You need to give a blood sacrifice, Penitence.  And what better
sacrifice than this for a daughter of the Elven Whore?" His gauntleted hand
slid between her legs, the metal cold against her untouched flesh.  She
arched off the altar, her body bowed, rejecting his touch, her head shaking
desperately from side to side.

   "No...  not this!  Can't you just...stab me with your dagger?"

   He laughed low in his throat, giving the words another meaning.  "Oh, I
shall, my pet, I shall..." He looked down at the treasure he had bared, the
slender elegant body, her skin smooth, pale and flawless.  Her breasts were
small but full, topped with delicate pink nipples, her stomach flat,
flaring into hips that were both slim and femininely curved.  Not a single
hair marred her skin.  Her arms and legs were spread open, his metal
gauntlet almost obscene next to her delicate skin, pushing against the
softest part of her.

   The Shadow knight's eyes wandered back and forth over the prize splayed
helplessly before him, a very satisfied smirk splitting his lips.  The
beautiful Koada'dal looked up at him, blue green eyes still confused,
whimpering softly in fear before she choked off the sound, trying to shrink
away from his touch.  Gratis slowly removed his armor, piece by piece,
revealing his flesh to her slowly.  He stood before the altar nude; his
form muscular and fit, skin occasionally marred by a scar received in his
many battles.  The hand that had been touching her, now free of the
gauntlet, returned to her soft skin.  The sight of him unclothed and the
warmth of living flesh touching her was a greater shock than even the cold
metal had been, and she flinched away as much as her chains would allow. 
His finger started at the bottom of her foot and very slowly slid up her
long, perfect legs, his malicious grin making it obvious he was enjoying
every moment of the fright building inside her.  His eyes met hers as his
calloused hand approached her inner thighs; gliding up and around her
womanhood, then back down the other leg teasingly, prolonging both the fear
and the anticipation.  He spoke to her in a commanding voice, low and
steady, the words carrying easily through the chapel.  "Are you ready to
shed your blood for Innoruuk child?"

   Her eyes widened on his, her face turning crimson as she finally
remembered where they were...and their audience.  Fear of this man had
blanked everything else from her mind, but no longer.  Her voice, when she
answered, was shaking, thready...  barely audible to him even as he leaned
over her.  "Please...just get it over with."

   "Mmm, soon enough, my pet..." He continued to call her that, a sly
expression on his face, realizing that the words didn't really mean
anything to her at this point.  His hand ran up and down her thigh again
and again before stroking into her folds.  His fingers caressed her soft,
silky lips, gently running up and down them.  To take her would be
pleasurable...  but to make her cry out for it would be divine.  His
fingers found her hooded nub of flesh, stroking and teasing it.

   Peni shivered almost violently at the touch, having never even touched
herself there other than to wash.  She closed her eyes to try to block out
what was happening, but it only served to intensify the feelings, and she
opened her eyes wide again, gasping.  His touch was relentless, caressing
her innocent flesh, the sensation almost electric, spreading across her
skin.  His finger started to grow slick with her moisture, sliding against
her even more easily, her eyes fixed on his.

   His eyes never left hers, watching every innocent reaction to his touch.
His finger pressed hard against her clit and began to tease the poor little
bud mercilessly.  A soft touch here, a hard caress there.  He licked his
lips as he watched her body respond, hIs words coming out as a soft,
encouraging whisper.  "Mmm.  There you go, my pet.  See what your parents
have denied you?  This, and so much more, will be yours soon.  Enjoy it."

   She shook her head wildly, breaking eye contact, then met his gaze
again. "I can't...It's too much, and they're watching." The last was
uttered as a whisper, her body flushing in both arousal and humiliation. 
Her hips started to move against his hand unconsciously, her body
responding fully to his touch even as she tried to tell him no.  As she
continued to stare into his eyes, the chapel around them started to fade,
until the only thing she could focus on was him and his touch.

   Gratis continued his assault on her senses, his finger teasing her clit
with quick strokes.  His violet eyes stayed locked on hers compellingly,
leaving her seemingly unable to move her gaze from him.  The others stayed,
watching avidly, though standing back far enough that she could almost
forget their presence, her whole being focused only on him.  He smiled
deliciously at her, knowing that eventually the pleasure would be too much.
She would soon forget the others or at least stop caring that they were
there. .  "Look at me, pet.  They are not important.  I am.  Nothing else
matters to you, only me.  My presence, my touch, is all that is worthy of
your attention.  Ignore all else."

   She trembled, almost submitting meekly now, her blue-green eyes fixed on
his, limbs spread wide by the chains.  Her tongue slid out between her full
lips to moisten them, her breath coming in short pants now.  Her hips moved
completely of their own volition, rubbing her sensitive flesh against his
fingers, as her moisture started to pool on the altar between her spread
legs.

   He stared deep into her eyes, able to see the pleasure and fear in her.
Her body, knowing this dance by instinct, arched against him, slowly
winning the battle against the fear in her mind.  His other hand slowly ran
up and down her slit, watching her body attempt to move into his hand.  He
could see the signs in her body and eyes as she slowly became lost in lust,
his own lust causing his erection to grow almost painfully hard, his body
hungering for hers.  He bit his lip in an attempt to hold back his desire,
wanting to finish his corruption of her.

   By now she had started to struggle against the chains again, not to get
away from him, but to try to get closer.  Everything but the throbbing
between her legs was forgotten as she simply reacted to his touch, thinking
of no one and nothing else.  Her breath escaped her in ragged sobs of
passion, her eyes both hazy with arousal and wide in confusion at the new
sensations.  She started to tense, nearly panicking as she felt new
sensations building inside her, unsure of what was happening to her.

   His touch continued to take her body and make it his.  Feeling her fast
approaching the edge, he gestured to one of the acolytes to bring him
something, the young teir'dal rushing forward to him with what looked like
a piece of fabric in his hand.  Gratis accepted it silently with his free
hand, holding it at his side, the other hand still on her clit though
moving slower now.  His cock was already grown to its full length, engorged
with his lust, though she could not see it from how she lay.  He looked
deep into her eyes and spoke in a commanding but gentle voice, "Now, ask me
to take you."

   Her eyes met his, almost hypnotized now, the pupils dilated in arousal
until her eyes looked nearly black.  Her hands formed fists as she arched
up off the table, her body craving his touch.  She licked her lips, her
eyes unable to look away from his face.  "P...please, take me now."

   "Tell me you're mine, Penitence, that you belong to me." His voice was
low, commanding and seductive.

   "I'm yours...  I belong to you.  Please..."

   He grinned in satisfaction, his voice husky with lust.  "Yes, you do, my
pet." He reached out, a black velvet covered strip of leather in his hand.
He wrapped it around her neck softly and set a pulsing, deep blue stone
against it, the stone merging with the garment--A beautiful new collar
around her neck.  "You belong to me, forever." With that he stepped forward
to the altar and used a hand to position his thick cock against her folds,
her juices already coating the head as he thrust forward.  Though tight
from innocence her body had been prepared for him with his teasing fingers,
allowing his cock to push deep into her slit, tearing away her hymen in one
quick thrust.  He stopped his movement to let the pain fade, wanting her to
feel the pleasure of him inside her.

   She screamed, the pleasure-filled haze fading, pain filling her senses
as her innocence was torn away.  Her eyes widened in panic, looking out at
the congregation watching them, her whole body tensing as sobs of shock and
pain escaped her.  He paused for a moment, looking down between her legs at
the virgin's blood spilled upon the altar, the ritual complete.  One hand
moved caressingly over her hair, then tangled roughly in it, lifting her
head so she could see where they were joined, and how much of him was still
outside her body.  She started to whimper quietly, her eyes fixed on the
thick cock pushing into her tender flesh.  "Stop...  please.  It hurts...
you can't fit that in me...you'll tear me apart..."

   He paused, waiting patiently for her body to adjust, feeling her inner
muscles slowly loosen around him, her whole body relaxing slightly.  His
hair tightened in her hair again, moving her face to look up at his now. 
His eyes are dark with the promise of punishment.  "You do not talk to me
without addressing me as Master, pet.  Do not forget that." "Y..yes,
Master..." Her voice trailed off, her entire consciousness once again taken
up by those compelling violet eyes.  She stared deeply into them, the pain,
the embarrassment, the fear all slowly fading away.  He smiled down at her,
feeling her slightly stunned acceptance of his ownership, pushing deeper
into her folds at that moment, the tender tissues clinging to him, but
accepting his invasion.

   "Penitence...that is your Master's cock inside you now, spreading you
wide so he can use you.  Get used to the feeling, pet." He laughed softly
as she flinched slightly, but did not argue.  He began to move inside her
even more, his cock pushing deeper into her body, another inch...  then
another, slowly violating her innocent flesh.  He pulled her head forward
again, forcing her to watch as he continued to thrust into her, grinning as
her eyes locked on his erection as it pushed into her to the hilt.  A low
moan escaped him and he murmured his pleasure at her tightness, biting his
lip to keep from crying out his pleasure in front of the onlookers.

   He released her hair suddenly, her eyes staying fixed on the place where
they were joined in fascination, unable to look away.  He spoke her name
quietly.  "Penitence, look at me.  Now." His voice was low and commanding,
and her eyes pulled reluctantly away from the sight of him buried inside
her, moving back to stare deep into his eyes.  He grasped her hips in his
hands tightly, pulling himself back from her, a soft gasp of protest
escaping her at the empty feeling, before he slammed into her roughly,
seating himself to the hilt inside her.

   She cried out sharply, arching up from the altar, her limbs stretched
painfully from the chains holding her.  Both the pain and pleasure of his
claiming intensified sharply, leaving her whimpering, her body trembling
beneath his.  Moaning, he began to thrust into her, deep and hard, his eyes
locked on hers, watching her eyes lose focus, her pupils dilated in
excitement.  Soft, almost animal cries were torn from her throat with each
rough stroke inside her.  He felt her tight muscles clenching around him,
almost milking his cock as he thrust into her over and over.  Letting go of
her hips with one hand, he moved it to her clit, once again caressing the
little nub of flesh, trying to push her over the edge.  His other hand
continued to hold her still as he pounded into her.

   Peni's eyes opened wide for a moment, then fluttered closed, her body
bowed up off the altar completely, her low moan escalating into a loud cry
of pleasure.  Her muscles convulsed around him, clamping down on his cock
again and again as her orgasm washed over her, drowning her in sensation.
He threw his head back with a stifled shout as his own climax hit, his seed
flooding her tight passage as he thrust inside her to the hilt.  A few
seconds passed, perhaps minutes, before either could do anything but
breathe heavily.  Her eyes opened slowly, Gratis' face the first thing she
saw.  She reached for him and found she could move her arms again, her
bonds apparently loosened while she had been lost in the ecstasy flooding
her body.

   Her pale hand caressed his face, a stark contrast against his indigo
skin, her eyes once again seeing only him, uncaring of the audience that
had so horrified her a short time ago.  She brushed a stray ivory hair back
from his face and trembled slightly as the cool air brushed against her
sweat-dampened skin.  He pulled back, wrapping the tattered edges of her
robe around her nude form and lifting her in his arms, turning her to face
the worshippers gathered and whispering in her ear.  She blushed again, her
eyes still dazed and her voice low and shaking.  "Go now, and forget not
what has transpired here.  From this night forth I speak with His Mouth,
and shall endeavor to lead all who wish to follow in His Will."

   She pressed her face back against him, her pale skin almost crimson in
embarrassment, her body weak with exhaustion.  He looked down at her,
striding quickly from the chapel.  "Let me take you home, pet." "Thank you,
Master.."