[Author contact/feedback info: 

Rapina(followed by the circle "a" at sign)GameBox.net

Sorry to be a little cryptic with the email address
but the ASSTR site seems to be a favorite for virus
programs to scan for email addresses to send 
themselves to.  This way a real person can figure
out how to send feedback but a virus will not see the
typical  person@domain.com pattern and send itself to
me.  Maybe I should include YouHave@virus.com here so
that people getting return to sender mail will
realize a virus is using their email.]
--------------------------------------------------

Welcome to the Rapina swords, sorcery and lust serial.
Rapina should be pronounced just as the word "rapine,"
is but with a soft "a" at the end.  Rapina has never
had anything to do with Rap music since hers is a
medieval tale that takes place in a period long before
the advent of Rap.

Rapina was originally a character on the collaborative
writing newsgroup, Alt.dragons-inn but she was far too
adult due to the talents she inherits during the first
chapter of her saga.  Originally a full and a PG
version of each chapter were written and the PG version
was posted to the newsgroup.  That was too much work.
Later just the full version was posted to a geocities
web page and occasional notifications of new chapters
were posted to the newsgroup.  Geocities was a fine
home for a long time but their obscenity rules became a
concern.  A reader suggested ASSTR as a way to spare
Rapina the danger of censorship or deletion. This
prompted the move.

For quite a while the serial had a second author (Brian
L. chapters 3-26) but eventually real life took him
away from writing.  The early style of the story
reflects the fact that there were two authors.  The
format used to reflect that as well.  Alt.dragons-inn
format includes nametags in the dialog so that a reader
can easily identify the character speaking and thus the
author of that character.  At first the story was told,
in my opinion, from too many points of view, but
instead of trying to rewrite the entire serial for its
move to ASSTR, it received a light edit.  The
Alt.dragons-inn nametags were removed and the names of
the speakers were imbedded into the dialog as is normal
for stories.  The dialog was "polished," in some places
but no major alterations were made.  Starting with
chapter 54 the story will be written without conversion
from the original Alt.dragons-inn format.


---------------------------------------------
The Chronicles of Rapina, Chapter 1
[Rapina]001 PENANCE

The belt stung for a fifteenth time, and Brianna's red-
faced father stamped away without a word. Brianna let
her dress slide down over her high, beautifully rounded
alabaster rump and shapely legs. This was not the first
time she'd been caught enjoying herself with a boy, it
was the fourth or fifth, and she was always so careful
to avoid getting caught. If her father knew how bad she
really was, he would have died long ago from the
stresses.
Her mother said she took after her evil Aunt Audrey who
had been a petty sorceress, herbal healer and seller of
curses until three years ago when the parson had the
constable hang her for cursing him with warts and many
other afflictions over the years. He had deserved every
one of them, of course. The parson was a lecher of the
first degree, but only a few mothers with pretty
daughters knew it. Aunt Audrey had been their only
recourse, for the men and the old women of the town
hung on the parson's every word.

Aunt Audrey's secret nick name for Brianna was Rapina,
and that was the name Brianna thought of herself by.

(Rapina: similar in pronunciation to rapine, but with
an "ah" at the end.)

Rapina asked her Aunt why she called her that, but Aunt
Audrey only said she had dreamed it, which told Rapina
nothing. Rapina had been to visit her Aunt many times
when she was a little girl. Auntie had taught her some
things about plants.  When Rapina was eleven, and Aunt
Audrey still lived, she had taught Rapina about the
plants that controlled a woman's menses and fertility.
By then, Rapina had to sneak out to see Auntie at her
hut in the forest because Rapina's mother had been
convinced by the parson's sermonizing that her sister
was not a person children should be around.

After Auntie had been killed, Rapina and her
girlfriends had used the ruins of Auntie's hut as a
secret gathering place. When she was nearly twelve,
Rapina had found a polished agate beneath the hard-
packed earth of the floor of her Aunt's tumbled abode.
Since agates were reputed to bring restful sleep,
Rapina had put the agate under her pillow and she began
having dreams, they were not exactly restful, but they
were a lot of fun.  If father knew what lustful things
she'd done in her dreams he'd have given her a lash for
each of her birthdays with a bull whip instead of a
belt. Rapina liked enjoying herself and didn't care for
the dishonesty of others. Some people were truly chaste
but many, like the despicable parson, were lustful but
hid it behind false holiness.  Were it not for the
lash, Rapina would have been content to openly enjoy
her lusty body.

When she was twelve and her friend Avaine was fifteen,
her friend had told her what the parson had done to her
against her will.  Rapina had been furious with the man
for what he'd done to Avaine, but had hidden it. This
was why Auntie had sold so many curses against the man;
he deserved every one of them.  Avaine had not been the
first young girl he had victimized.  Rapina brewed some
herbs for Avaine to bring back her menses.  Avaine had
been a week late and terrified that she was pregnant
with the Parson's child.  Thankfully, the potion
worked, and Rapina hung on to the learning she had from
her Aunt with renewed vigor.

During the summertime hours she spent at her Auntie's
ruined hut, Rapina and her friends had found that one
of the stone seats by the fire pit had a flat, polished
underside with symbols and letters stained into it.
There was also a piece that could be removed from the
side exposing a compartment that contained a piece of
wood that sat on slippery-stone legs and had a pointer
and a hole in the middle of it . The large stone was a
spirit board.

Rapina and her girlfriends had regularly snuck from the
houses of their parents and spoken to the spirits on
summer nights.  Many spirits had spoken to them,
including Auntie.  One lustful spirit Rapina had
recognized.  It was the one who came through the agate,
the dream stone she that she'd found in Auntie's floor.
The girls were always taken aback by its words, but
after a while Rapina had become able to tell in advance
what it was going to say on the spirit board to make
the girls giggle and eventually tell it, "begone
lustful spirit."  After a time, Rapina found she could
talk to the lustful spirit of the dream stone in her
mind without the board.

At first she'd kept the stone under her pillow, but
When she was twelve, not so long after she'd found the
stone, Auntie's spirit had spoken to her and Avaine
through the spirit board, and had told them where she
had buried a cache of coins.  A gypsy train was in town
then and one of the gypsies was a jeweler. Rapina used
Auntie's money to have the agate set as a pendant in a
light cage of silver with a silver chain. She'd had no
breasts then, actually she'd been a tom-boy and not
considered particularly pretty. As a child, her face
had been perpetually dirty and didn't fit her head. Or
at least that was what she'd been told.

Rapina looked down her blouse, and smiled. Of late, now
that she was fifteen nearing sixteen, it was difficult
to see. Between the glorious swells of her lush,
growing breasts, hung the dream stone, the agate she'd
found in the floor of Auntie's hut.

The spirit within the stone was now largely silent. For
years it had treated her with lustful dreams and
promised to make her into the most beautiful woman in
Claremont.  Rapina had flirted with it a lot. The
spirit had promised her great powers if she would take
it deep into her mind, but she was a headstrong,
contrary child.  She didn't believe all its rants about
powers and so on.  Her line was always, "show me, then
we'll talk." It insisted it could do so much more if
she would let it in, but she would not. She told it
that it would have to prove itself first by making her
the beauty it claimed it could.  Perhaps it was the
dream stone, but puberty had brought auspicious changes
to Rapina's whole body.  In the last four years she'd
gradually grown exceedingly comely, people even told
her that her face had changed.

About half a year back, the dream spirit had been
courting her with tremendous zeal, arguing most
convincingly that it was the reason why she was growing
so beautiful and wanting her to take it into her mind
now that it had delivered on its promises, but Rapina
had always maintained that at age 15, she was not yet
fully a woman, so its work turning her into the most
beautiful woman in Clairmont could by no means  be
finished; its show of power was incomplete. Three
months ago the stone had stopped its flirtation and
manipulative arguing and begun to beg.  It said that
its world was in the chaos of war, that its lord was
losing, and that it might be killed. It needed Rapina's
mind as a safe haven.  Rapina had told it that it had
not done what it promised to do, but said that it could
make its home in the dream stone if its world were
truly so horrible.  Two and a half months ago it
screamed and screamed as if in agony, the stone had
pulsed with new energy but was then mostly silent.

Now the lustful spirit awakened only when she had just
been with a man. Its personality had grown flat and
Rapina found herself supplying the empty meanings it
sent her with words and emotion, and its mind with
personality when she communicated with it sometimes in
lust's afterglow.  In a way she missed it. It had
taught her many delicious things about lovemaking in
the dreams it had brought.  It had been a friend of
sorts, though obnoxious at times.  Now Rapina knew that
the part of it that was personality had largely faded
away.

"Brianna! That is the fifth time you've been caught
with a boy." Rapina's mother screamed as Rapina entered
the kitchen. "You're totally out of hand.  I've just
come from the Thompson's house and Thelma and I agree,
you're too old for us to handle, and Edward's belt
hardly seems to make an impression on you any more.
Thelma dug what happened out of Raymond.  Brazen hussy!
You ought to be ashamed of yourself!  Well you've gone
and brought it down on yourself this time.  Thelma and
I went over and had a consultation with Reverend
Evangeline.  You are going to do penance young lady.
You are going on retreat.  The reverend has set up a
chapel for you in the church basement.  You're going
pray and fast for as long as it takes to get this
lustiness out of your system!

Rapina froze. "Not the reverend!," she thought.
Realizing what she must do, she waited until her mother
looked away and ran out the back door. Skirting the
back yard she ran through the woods along the road.
When she was about 300 yards away from the house she
slowed down to catch her breath.  She would have to run
away.  She knew about the reverend. She was glad he'd
left her alone so far, probably because he had killed
her Aunt, but now he had the perfect set-up.  Her
mother had been so stupid. Rapina sped up again,
walking rapidly, covering as much ground as she could.

Suddenly Blitz, the constable's dog came running up
barking and growling. Rapina ran as fast as she could
but the dog was too quick.  He chased her up a tree.
Constable Rasper Grayton arrived a few moments later
chuckling heartily.  "Thought you were gonna escape
penance did ya? Well, we couldn't let that happen."
The constable pulled her down from the tree and marched
her to the church.  Before she knew it, Rapina was in
the basement of the church.  The constable opened up a
door in the back of the basement and pulled Rapina in.
He herded her down the stairs into the church wine
cellar.  Beyond it the constable opened another door
into a storage room.

"Back when this church was built, there was no
constable's office and no jail.  They used to keep the
occasional criminal down here.  The constable lifted a
heavy oak panel from the floor then unlocked an iron
grating beneath it. It hinged open. The constable
pulled a wooden ladder from the wall and slid it down
through the open grating. "Down you go young lady, and
may the lord have mercy on your soul." Rasper shook his
head as he closed and locked the grating after her.

The room below contained not just a cot, but a bed with
a sturdy oak frame. The floor was stone, but was strewn
with straw. There was also a dressing table with a
metal mirror, and a small bureau with a decanter and
basin sitting on top of it. Light emanated from the
mirror, bathing the room in a soft glow. Rapina
shuddered, the reverend must have magic. On the wall
opposite the bed was an alcove with an icon of the
vindicator. Below it a cushion sat on the floor.

Rapina searched the room for a weapon. The decanter and
basin were thin hammered copper, too light to serve.
The dressing table's chair was a flimsy folding stool
made of light wood with a canvas top. The other
furniture was put together too well to disassemble.
The bottoms of the drawers were thin and the icon was
anchored into the stone of the alcove. The drawers were
presently empty save for a small leather-bound prayer
book, a brush, a comb and an acolyte's robe. Even the
chamber pot could not be used. It was a wood frame
anchored to the floor containing a thin hammered copper
pot and lid. Nothing! Rapina paced the room. The
reverend was well prepared for, no, practiced at, this
game.

Rapina pushed her fingers between the fullness of her
breasts and felt the dream stone.  There was still
power there, but the spirit was more like a seed than a
being.  So much of it was lost.  Rapina walked to the
icon, faced it and fished the stone out from between
her breasts by its chain. She concentrated hard on the
stone, trying to thrust her mind into it. Damn! It was
like a hard, dry seed that refused to germinate. The
only time it stirred anymore was when she'd been with a
man. Perhaps since it was a lust spirit, lust brought
it life.  Rapina grimaced.  Were the reverend a man she
desired, perhaps she could bring the spirit back to
life and use its power, let it join with her mind as it
wished, if necessary, but if the reverend were
desirable, she would not want to activate the spirit in
the first place.  She felt caged.

Rapina put the stone back down her blouse. The ceiling
of the dungeon was about fifteen feet high and after
about six feet the stone walls canted towards the
grating which opened above the center of the room and
was about five feet square. The room itself was roughly
fifteen feet square. Presently, a ladder stretched from
the floor to the grating. Rapina tried to pull the
ladder down, but the top of the ladder stuck through
the closed grating and the top rung was held by two
prongs of metal that projected through the grating
slightly and were anchored in the stone beneath the
grating like iron tusks. The ladder could only be freed
if the grating were opened. The constable had locked it
and secured the ladder just after she had climbed down.
Rapina felt so trapped.

She knew the reverend's game; he was a consummate
lecher, dishonest about his lusts to a degree undreamed
of by most.  He controlled the town with charisma and
guile while he preyed on its most beautiful young
women.  Rapina looked up at the grating.  The reverend
smiled down at her from above.  She did not know how
long he'd been spying on her, but imagined that no
matter where she went in the room the reverend could
see her from above.  Rapina willed herself not to
grimace as she looked up. Instead she smiled wanly.
She decided that somehow she would get through this,
somehow.

A key turned in the lock and the grating opened.  The
reverend moved the ladder off the metal prongs, stepped
down onto it and closed the grating after him. Rapina
was silent as the reverend climbed down the ladder,
slid it down and put it against the far wall. "Now
then, do you know why you are here Brianna?" the
reverend said.  Rapina was silent for an instant, then
smiled, "Because I am a very bad girl, and they've
caught me a few times. This time mommy got especially
angry with me, so she asked you to help."

Rapina looked at the reverend in his priestly robes.
Though she could not put it in words, she came to
realize that this man's game was power.  He liked to
rule the town, he enjoyed wielding his charisma and his
lies, like a thug enjoyed wielding his blade, but he
was less honest about it.  He wanted people to bow and
scrape as though he were some mighty nobleman, he
reveled in it, and like a robber-baron, he ruthlessly
removed any who stood in his way, just as he had
removed Auntie.  Young women like Avaine he easily
silenced with threats of violence.  He had his little
kingdom and he was its "legitimate" ruler.

"Now, I want you to tell me just exactly what you've
done and with whom so that a suitable penance can
found." the reverend smiled with a magnificent
facsimile of piety.  Rapina smiled back with an equally
magnificent facsimile of innocence.  You mean just now,
or for my whole life? "All of it, every lusty thought,"
The reverend said sternly. Rapina pushed a lock of
fine, jet black hair back from her face. "All of it?
It's a lot to tell.  The reverend sat down on the chair
in front of the dressing table. "All of it." Rapina
smiled nervously and looked self-conscious. She did not
mention Auntie, or Avaine, or the dream stone but
started with her first innocent experience with boys as
a child and went on from there.

Rapina talked for over an hour, she sat on the bed, or
paced a bit and She made her descriptions more and more
graphic as she related her experiences. The reverend
looked so placid on the outside, but Rapina suspected
he was not so placid inside the confines of his loose
robes.  If he insisted on playing the role of a pious
priest instead of the lustful tyrant he was, he would
pay a price for his performance.

"Your sins are grave for one so young, but there is
always hope. You must strip yourself of all vestiges of
your old, sinful self and be born anew, Brianna." "Yes
reverend Evangeline." "Start with your old clothes. You
can put them on the bed." "Oh what a clever snake you
are reverend," Rapina thought to herself as she bent to
take off her shoes and socks. She took her dress off
next, taking the time to turn around and carefully fold
it before placing it on the bed. She turned back and
faced the reverend as she unbuttoned her blouse, then
turned and folded that as well. Turning back to the
reverend she unbound her high, lush breasts.

The reverend reached up brushing one of her nipples and
pulling the dream stone up. "What do we have here?" he
asked. "It's a pendant, the silver makes the symbol of
the vindicator several times, and the stone is said to
help bring good dreams, but I never noticed that it
worked. I think because I was supposed to have it
blessed. Would you bless it for me reverend? It would
mean so much to me. I've wanted it so, but was afraid
it would be improper to ask you to bless what had hung
between my breasts since I was a child of twelve."
"Certainly Brianna, you should have come forth sooner.
Earlier I saw you pray to the vindicator with this in
your hand. Your breasts are nothing to be ashamed of,
Brianna. The vindicator has bestowed on them the
blessing of bounty."

The reverend reached around her neck and unclasped the
dream stone. He took it up, encanted holy words and
moved his hands in ritual for several minutes, and as
he finished, the room filled with light. "There you are
my child." Rapina looked on with awe, "truly you must
be a priest of the most noble birth to have such
powers," reverend.  The reverend smiled with mock
piety.  "Birth is not important Rapina, it is the
calling that matters. True, I was of gentle birth, the
third son of a worthy lord, but for several years
before I found my true calling, I served as an officer
in the Marquis' army.  Praise the vindicator I was
called away from that thankless vocation to become one
of his chosen.

Now, your holy symbol is properly blessed.  We must
continue with our holy work.  Rapina nodded and took
off her panties, turning to fold them and put them on
the bed. She could feel the reverend's gaze on her
high, rounded bottom.  "I see the mark of a belt." "Yes
reverend, my father beat me for what I did.  It hurt so
bad." "Pain can be cleansing, my child. It is the first
step of penance.  It instills a certain obedience and
seriousness of purpose." "Yes reverend," The reverend
took a thin willow switch from within his robes. "Now,
we must begin your penance, first pain, then
purification.  Your sins are grave, and we must resort
to strong methods. You must tell no one of these
methods, they would not understand.  Should you slip,
you will be punished severely for breaking your
silence. You may even sicken and die like Sarah
Brailings.  Such a shame.  I warned her about the
seriousness of keeping the vindicator's silence, but
she did not see the light.  May the vindicator have
mercy on her soul."

Rapina froze, she'd heard the rumors about Sarah being
beaten and raped by the reverend.  Had he poisoned her
or used some foul magic to inflict on her the disease
that had claimed her?  Evangeline was a cruel lord who
cared only for power and lust.  He was all too
intelligent also.  Rapina realized that the switch
would make no wound that would not heal by the end of
her two weeks of "retreat."  Rapina shuddered, she had
no weapon with which to fight him, only dreams of power
stored up in a worthless stone.

"Lay over the chair, and receive penance," reverend
Evangeline commanded. He started on her buttocks. Soon
she was screaming but he would not quit. After her back
was a ruin of welted red lines, he made her turn over.
Her breasts jiggled just a bit as she turned over and
the reverend's pious expression flickered momentarily,
briefly replaced by an expression of lust.  Rapina's
legs were spread slightly.  The reverend put lines on
her inner thighs, and her nether lips as well. He
struck lines across her belly and three across each
breast, making her scream with pain and torment.

"You understand the seriousness of the situation?," The
reverend remarked. "Yes reverend, yes," Rapina said
through tears. "Good, then you have just a taste of the
pain you will suffer if you go against the vindicator's
will," the reverend laughed evilly.  "You should lie
only with the man the vindicator joins you with in holy
matrimony.  Now your body has been sullied, but there
is a way to purify it.  I will lie with you and lend
you my purity.  It may take much work on my part to
reverse all that you have done, but I will prevail.
"Bastard!," Rapina thought to herself, somehow she
would make him pay for Sarah and Avaine and all the
others... somehow.

Evangeline smiled evilly as he removed his robes,
exposing his naked lust. Rapina grimaced as the
reverend threw her on the bed and entered her roughly.
Rapina cried as he did to her what he had done to
Avaine and so many others.  Desperately she thrust her
crying mind into the dream stone. With all her will she
tried to join the spirit in the stone, far away from
the torment of her body.  The reverend smiled, such a
prize, and she'd fallen right into his hands.  Intense
pleasure welled up from his loins as he prepared to
seed the fallen wench.  His mouth opened to voice his
pleasure, his moan became a roar as his mind
disintegrated with pleasure. The dream spirit stirred
and Rapina's mind enveloped it with a power borne of
desperation; she screamed with agony and ecstasy as
thunder roared in her ears, lights blasted her vision
and her mind was consumed in electric flame.

Some hours later, Rapina awakened. She hurt everywhere
and felt so weak she could barely move.  What had
awakened her was a throbbing pain in her head.  She
tried to think.  Had the vindicator purified her, or
had she merged with what was left of the spirit within
the dream stone.  Certainly something had happened,
though she could not say exactly what.  Whatever had
happened, it had sapped every reserve of energy she
had, but if it was the dream spirit, little of what it
had been remained.  It's otherworldly knowledge, its
perpetual flirtation.  Its entire personality was
nothing more than a few shreds that may have joined
with hers, changing it only subtly, or had the
vindicator's grace wrought the subtle changes she
guessed might have taken place?

Rapina realized the dream spirit had originally sought
to dominate her mind, to possess her with its will, but
it had fallen on bad times in its own world and by the
time she called on it, little or perhaps none of it had
remained. If it had a will it had broken against her
own like water against stone. Perhaps she had gained
something deeper, better protected, and more basic from
the spirit, or perhaps her experience had been caused
by the reverend's magic.  She could not say.  The
reverend was gone and the ladder had been drawn up.
Rapina pulled a blanket over herself and fell back into
an exhausted sleep.

When she woke, she felt a little better and was able to
stumble to the dressing table.  Rapina looked at her
face, abuse, terror, exhaustion, all were written
there.  She felt sick, dirty, used.  The wash cloth and
basin cleansed her body, but little else.  The welts
from the willow switch still smarted badly.  Her body
was dotted with tiny scabbed-over sores, a few more
serious than the others.  Rapina looked up at the
grating in the dim light, then back at the illuminated
mirror. He had left her face, neck and even the upper
curves of her breasts untouched. The lines on her lower
breasts and nipples were mostly gone now. He'd swung
the switch with more wrist and better aim so as not to
mark her body above her nipples. Rapina cupped the
fullness of her breasts. Perhaps if she had not found
the dream stone and not listened to its promises and
bid it prove them, she would have grown up plain and
safe and would now be whole.

The reverend was too careful, too experienced. He had
made the marks on her body so that no family member who
insisted on a visit would be able to see his handiwork
as long as Rapina was wearing something. He was too
practiced a victimizer, and Rapina was at a loss as to
what to do.  She had kept the dream stone by asking him
to bless it, but she wondered if it had done her a whit
of good.  He had used his snake's tongue to put her in
this prison for two weeks, and there was no telling how
long he might extend that if he had a mind to.  Rapina
did not bother to put on the acolyte's robe that was in
the drawer.  She exhaustedly dragged herself back to
the bed, climbed in and slept despite her roiling mind.


When she woke, she guessed it was morning because she
saw a light and heard the constable opening the grate.
"Brianna, it's time to change your bed, the chamber
pot, decanter basin, towel and wash cloth." The
constable lowered a crate secured in a cradle of rope
and bid Rapina load her bedding and the other things in
turn. Rapina got out of bed, cold air hit her body,
reflexively she reached for a blanket, then realized
the bed was to be changed. There was the acolyte's robe
in the drawer, she realized. Rapina got out of bed and
was about to glare up at the constable. "What was his
part in this anyway?" Rapina thought.

She didn't glare, nor did she bother to dress.
Instead, she walked over to the basin picked it up and
put it in the box.  She arched her back and looked up
at the constable with a steady gaze and pulled twice on
the rope while saying, "okay." The constable stared
down at her naked body. Something tickled Rapina's
nose.  She could not say exactly what it was but there
was a feel to it too. "You haven't got a stitch on,
Brianna." "I've cast off my former self, and I'm not
about to put on a new one until the reverend tells me
to; he's very serious about his penances." "Yes, he
is," constable Grayton nodded.

Rapina retrieved the chamber decanter and put it in the
crate. "What about breakfast?" "Reverend Evangeline has
you on a fast.  It's part of your penance." "Oh
wonderful.  Can't you see, I'm a growing girl? I need
food." "Sorry Brianna, reverend's orders.  Like you
said, he's serious about his penances." "But you're the
constable." "I know that, but the reverend is high-
born.  Evangeline is just the name he took on for the
priesthood. He's the authority in this town.  Just keep
following his orders.  Things will go lots better for
you if you mind, understand?" "Yes sir." Rapina
scowled, even the constable was under Evangeline's
thumb.

Rapina sent up the chamber pot and then the bedding.
Though she'd never experienced the feeling and the
tickle in her nose before, she realized what it was
from the constable's expressions. "You want me, don't
you, constable?" The constable reddened, then looked
around.  He knelt to the grate and whispered, "Well, I
wouldn't be much of a man if I didn't notice a woman
like you." Rapina smiled.  Lust, she could feel it,
smell it, almost taste it.  Funny, she had never
noticed it before, at least not like she did now.  It
was a palpable force, and her body responded to it
despite what she had so recently been through.  The
constable next sent down replacements for all the items
Rapina had sent up.  As the last item came down, Rapina
looked up and whispered, "food" rubbing her hands over
her belly and up to cup and massage her breasts. The
constable said nothing, but Rapina could feel his lust
swell.

The following day went uneventfully.  The reverend
appeared briefly from time to time.  He had her don the
acolyte's robe and helped Rapina read prayers that she
was then to pray over and over until she had them
memorized.  The prayers gave her a chance to exercise
the thin grasp of reading and writing she'd been able
to get from a woman who helped with the children at
Church on Sundays and later from Raymond, who's father
was teaching him letters.  Ever rebellious, Rapina
spent more time reading prayers than repeating them,
but she remembered them as well as a girl of lesser
talents might have had she repeated them a hundred
times.  Her performance seemed to satisfy the reverend
who believed that women's minds were weaker than men's.


Rapina's Aunt Audrey had stressed how important being
able to read magical writings was, and how much she was
unable to do because she had never learned letters.
Rapina had tried to learn so she could help her Aunt,
and after her Aunt had been killed, she continued in
memory of her Aunt's wise counsel.  Now the reading
helped her; it took her mind away from what the
reverend might inflict on her next.  Rapina could not
fathom what might have happened to the reverend when
she passed out beneath him, but she felt only a little
lust from him when she saw him on this day.

Saturday morning Rapina was awakened by a tingling in
her nose.  She sensed lust, and she responded even
before she was fully awake.  She could hear the
constable rush into the room above.  The morning before
he had said nothing, but had smiled lustily down at
Rapina who, because of her rebellious nature and her
enjoyment of her nakedness had decided, as a rule, not
to don her robe until after the Constable's morning
duties.  This day was a little different.  The
replacement chamber pot, the decanter and her new
bedding were all heaped on the crate as the constable
rapidly lowered it, whereas he usually waited until
after receiving the old things before he lowered the
new, one by one.  Rapina smiled, took the things off
the crate and managed to squeeze the old decanter and
chamber pot into one load.  She smiled nakedly up at
the constable as he heaved the load rapidly up.  Rapina
stripped the bed and tossed the old bedding into the
crate before it hit the ground. When it came down again
she was ready with the basin, cup and towels.

She heard the ladder come off the wall and saw the
constable lower it down.  There were no weapons on him.
He shut the grating and climbed down, whispering as he
did, "It's Saturday, reverend Evangeline does a service
out East at the farmer's grange hall.  He left word you
were to work on the next two prayers in the book for
this evening.  I brought you some milk.  Best I could
do. The reverend keeps careful tabs on this town and
there are all too many snoops and gossips among his
flock.  The maid who empties the wastes might notice
something in the pot of a girl who's supposed to be
fasting, but she won't notice this."  Constable Grayton
handed Rapina a quart of milk.  "The reverend will
probably let you eat on Sunday; this should help until
then." Rapina had been fasting for nearly two days and
wasted no time uncorking the milk and drinking
ravenously.

A bit of the milk ran over her lips and began to run
down her body. "Hold on girl, you're spilling, don't
want to leave any evidence the reverend might notice."
Rapina stopped for a moment and smiled, "you can sip up
what I've spilled." The constable stared, smiled, then
started at Rapina's belly and licked upwards.  The lust
tingling her nose and mind burned through Rapina's body
like a torch.  When she finished the milk, the
constable had already run his mouth from her belly to
her neck and now seemed to be trying to get additional
milk from her breasts.

Rapina's whole body was flushed. She reached for the
buttons on the constable's pants and made quick work of
them. When Rapina touched his manhood an energy she'd
never noticed before crackled up her arms. It addressed
a hunger that resembled the lust she had known before
the dream stone but was now somehow much deeper.
Rapina let her hips hang over the bed so as not to soil
it with lubrication. She pulled the constable down on
top of her. As he plunged into her, Rapina moaned.
There was something subtly different about her sex.
She had greater sensitivity and greater control inside
her.  She grasped him as he thrust, devouring him. She
felt his energy, she could let it flow into her, or
draw it into herself, pulling it gently or forcefully.
It was all so new to Rapina, yet so much a part of her.


When she came it was so powerful her entire body
shuddered, and she squeezed the constable with such
powerful contractions that he gasped and thrust with
greater vigor.  There was an instant during her peak
that her mind touched the constable's; she left a
message of lusty happiness there. As she came down from
her peak, Rapina felt the constable's erection strain
to its largest as it prepared to fountain into her
greedy loins.  The energy was intense, Rapina drew on
it gently.  The constable's eyes bulged and his mouth
opened.  A long grunting moan came out as energy and
hot seed exploded into Rapina's body.  Rapina's skin
flushed red, her whole body tingled with pleasure.

The constable collapsed onto Rapina's body and panted
for breath. After a few minutes he recovered himself.
When he pushed himself up there was a huge grin
plastered across his face.  "Brianna, I have never been
with a woman who was even half your equal, and I was a
bit of a roust-about as a young soldier, so I've had a
fling or two.  Whew, you really take it out of a man,
but it sure is worth it!" Rapina smiled, looking at the
constable she realized something.  "You were a soldier
in the reverend's unit, weren't you? The constable
smiled, "but I never told you that," the constable
winked.

"Evangeline doesn't talk much about his days as a young
lord, maybe he's got a reason for that," Rapina
frowned.  "Could be," the constable nodded. "Wish there
was something I could do to ease your situation, 'fraid
the reverend's a little outta my league where brains
are concerned.  Whatever else he might be, he isn't
stupid, and he's as unforgiving a man as I've seen."
The constable grimaced.  "I understand, the reverend
has more than just me trapped in his web," Rapina
observed.  "You'd better go now before some gossip
decides you were here longer than usual and tells the
reverend.  The constable got up as if stung.  "Thanks
for the reminder," the constable said putting himself
back together.  "Thanks for the Saturday service,"
Rapina grinned, still tingling.  "My pleasure," the
constable chuckled and went up the ladder.  In a few
moments he was gone.

Rapina put her room back together. One of the blankets
brushed a thick scab from her leg. Rapina wrinkled her
brow and looked at her leg. There had been a few wounds
from the reverend's willow switch that were quite deep,
and this was the worst of them.  It was completely
healed.  Rapina checked her remaining wounds but found
she no longer had any.  Rapina smiled, she had
inherited a few powers from the dream stone after all.
Her body could use a man's energy to heal itself.  Her
own climax had brought her in contact with the mind of
her lover.  Rapina wondered what influence that contact
might bring her and how she might use her powers to
extricate herself from the reverend's web.

Evangeline saw her only briefly early Saturday evening,
for he had to prepare for the next day's service.  He
found her practice on the prayers satisfactory and
promised her that she would have food and a visitor the
next day as long as she promised to behave and to study
two more prayers he assigned her.  She did.  When her
mother visited the next day, Rapina remembered the
constable's warning and tried not to let her pain show
too much.  She stressed that she was just a little weak
from the fast the reverend was using to help her purge
the poisons of sin from her mind.  The reverend had
captured her mother's mind long ago, Rapina doubted
that she had so much as a clue.

Sunday night a light shown above the grating and soon
the reverend was descending the ladder.  He looked
enormously pleased with himself as though he had
deluded each and every parishioner with his silver
tongue and wily wit.  Rapina hated him, but she refused
to show it.  She knew getting herself beaten would not
help her.  She was already helpless enough.  Her nose
prickled and she blinked.  The day's sermonizing had
evidently restored the reverend's evil lusts to full
fruition.  Something within Rapina hungered for him
despite her hatred.  It was as though his lust were
food, and although she hated the cook, she hungered for
his wares.

With him the reverend brought a magic light, a crystal
that he hung from the grating, and a cloth bag
containing a bundle of clothing.  He pulled the ladder
down and smiled.  "Kneel before the vindicator and
recite today's prayers, Brianna." the reverend said,
the elation of the day evident in his voice.  "Yes
reverend Evangeline," Rapina curtsied and knelt before
the icon.  Today she had done a little better studying
the prayers he bid her. She had studied one of those
assigned after each time she rebelliously read some
other unassigned prayer to herself.  She stumbled on a
few words but her performance was much improved over
the previous days.  "Better, the reverend chuckled,
much better.  The lord's day has been profitable for
you as it has for me.  Delivering the words of the
vindicator has a great purifying effect on a man," the
reverend grinned.

"I had an inspiration concerning you today.  I have an
exercise, a ritual we can perform together.  I want you
to put these clothes on.  They were left here by a
harlot who saw the light and shed her evil ways.  Much
as I did for her, I will help you shed these clothes
and purify your body with the light of the vindicator."
The reverend smiled egotistically.  Rapina could feel
and smell the reverend's lust building and her loins
began to respond without her volition. "What is wrong
with me," Rapina thought; "this man is a monster,  and
his lust is twisted."  Nevertheless, Rapina knew the
evil Reverend would have his way, so she tried to
forget about the reverend and joined with her errant
body in concentrating on his lust alone.

"First I will shave your legs, you must hold very still
and put your feet in the basin.  The reverend took a
straight razor from his pocket and a leather strap from
the bag.  Rapina grimaced as he stropped the blade.
The reverend grinned, knowing the young woman would be
at his mercy.  He seemed to have a certain look in
mind, however, as he carefully shaved Rapina's legs.
Sweat rolled from Rapina's brow as Evangeline shaved.
"This is the difficult part," Evangeline grinned evilly
as he shaved Rapina's vulva.  Rapina grimaced but did
not cry out as the reverend cut her slightly. "Oh, how
unfortunate, I had been so successful up until now.
There now, you are all finished."  The reverend rinsed
the razor, closed it and deftly tossed it up through
the grating. Rapina heard it land on the floor above,
well out of her reach.

Now take off the robe and put it in the drawer and don
these clothes.  The reverend thrust the bag into
Rapina's hands.  Some of garments were unfamiliar to
her.  She looked a bit confused as she held a lace and
elastic arrangement with hanging clips.  The reverend
chuckled. "A bustier, the clips hold up the silk
stockings.  Put the scarlet panties on first." The silk
of the panties felt good against her skin, though she
felt a sharp pain every now and then when the cut on
her vulva was disturbed.  "Now the bustier." the
Evangeline commanded. Rapina complied.  "Turn around
and I will help you lace up the back."  Rapina did as
she was told.  The reverend pulled the laces and tied
them in a bow.  Your waist is so beautifully small for
a girl your height," the priest smiled.

Evangeline pointed out the stockings that looked a
little like fish nets and seemed to be designed to
cover almost an entire leg each. "Those next, careful,
they are delicate.  You must roll them on." Rapina
rolled on the stockings and clipped them to the straps
hanging from the bustier. Next she was instructed to
don a scarlet dress. It's skirt barely made it to her
mid thigh. "Splendid, you make such a beautiful
harlot," reverend Evangeline chuckled throwing a mink
stole around Rapina's shoulders.  A wealthy man might
give you a gold imperial, maybe even a gold dragon but
you'll have to spend the night. From a commoner, don't
settle for less than a silver eagle or two. Unless your
customer's a common soldier, then the best you're
likely to get is a few silver sparrows.

Rapina looked a bit confused.  She was out of her
element, but Evangeline obviously was not. "What am I
selling?" Rapina asked. The reverend laughed, "your
body Brianna." "I am a slave?" Evangeline laughed.  You
are selling sex.  If a man pays your price, you let him
have his way with you." "Oh," Rapina said, she could
not quite imagine a man would give her money so that he
could give her energy, but then she realized that most
women were not able to draw a man's energy as she now
could, so the exchange made marginally more sense.

"Now you must solicit me." "Solicit?" Rapina asked.
Evangeline snickered, "act sexy, try to get me to buy
your services." Rapina lifted a long, shapely leg and
set her foot on the chair, she gave the priest a demure
look, and caressed her hands up her leg. Without
realizing what she was doing, Rapina took a hold of the
reverend's lust and tugged on it as she thrust out her
chest and cocked her head back.  "Care for some fun,
reverend?" The reverend looked amazed for a second then
smiled greedily in spite of himself. "Sinner! I am a
reverend of the vindicator!  A pillar of purity, you
must repent your sins and give up your evil ways!" the
reverend replied.

"You are a man, how do you expect me to believe you are
different than other men?" Rapina tilted her head and
opened her mouth mockingly. "Would I know the
difference in the dark?" "I am touched by the
vindicator!" "Hmmph, is your touch more potent than
that of other men?" "Huh! It is! It is indeed!" The
reverend nearly screeched.  There was a crazed look in
his eyes. "What scene from his life am I replaying?"
Rapina thought to herself and shuddered. "I will show
you harlot! I will show you!" the reverend shouted with
conviction.

"My price is a golden crown," Rapina smiled; "but I'll
give it back if what you say is true." "The reverend
looked a bit non-nonplused as he dug in his pockets. "A
gold imperial, no more." Rapina put her hands on her
hips and stood up straight. "No more if you don't mind
me keeping it whether you are touched or not, otherwise
it'll cost you a crown." Reverend Evangeline grinned
like a maniac.  He was enjoying himself.  "You drive a
hard bargain my lady, let us call it a golden dragon
then, shall we?" "Rapina nodded, very well, it's a
deal."  Rapina cocked her hips and held out her hand.
"In advance."  The reverend chuckled and handed over a
gold coin.  Rapina took it, looked at it and bit it. It
was real gold!

The reverend smiled, took Rapina on his arm and led her
around the room. At last he led her to the bed and
began to undress her with a flourish, sure that he was
more than other men.  Rapina concentrated on the man's
lust, trying to forget who he was and what he had done.
She did not like the crazed look in his eye.  He was
obviously full of himself this night and began to
caress Rapina with gusto as he took off her dress.
Rapina began to respond in spite of herself, loosing
her mind in his lust.

Finally he pushed her to the bed and mounted her,
Rapina gasped as the pain from the cut in her vulva
lanced through her.  Pain and pleasure warred in her
mind.  The reverend laughed and thrust vigorously She
desperately needed to heal the torturous cut.  She
needed power to heal the sore. Rapina clutched at the
reverend's plunging lust and drew as hard as she could
on his power.  Rapina alternatively screamed and
moaned.  There was not enough power at once to seal the
cut, every stroke reopened it.

The combination of pain, pleasure and drawing heavily
on the reverend's power put Rapina in a kind of
delirium of sensation.  The reverend laughed as he
thrust powerfully into her, delaying his pleasure in
favor of torturing the beautiful young woman beneath
him.  Finally, Rapina screamed and shuddered as the
reverend brought her to orgasm, her mind reached out
and planted turgid, unwavering lust in the reverend's
mind.  Since that was largely what was there already,
Rapina felt there would be no chance of the reverend
realizing what she had been able to do.

It was not easy for the reverend to put off orgasm
within Rapina, her internal muscles were alive, they
grasped his manhood and sapped his control. He lasted a
few more minutes before Rapina felt the power that had
been gathering within him prepare to gush forth.
Ruthlessly, Rapina drew so hard on the reverend's power
that her head hurt.  Evangeline roared and plunged his
erection deep.  For a moment Rapina was uneasy about
pulling so much power, but she soon realized that the
flow of power out of a man was normally felt as
pleasure.  She was pulling much more than what the
reverend would have given naturally, thus his pleasure
was much greater.  Evangeline's orgasm was long and
intense, when at last he was spent, he collapsed on top
of her.  Rapina fed well, the cut in her vulva was
healed in an instant.  Her body tingled with energy,
her breasts swelled with energy and excitement. They
felt so magnificent.

Rapina thrust her hips beneath the reverend's
insensible body, she hoped to continue to feed on his
power. The man was too violent and volatile. Rapina
needed to keep him occupied.  She hoped her suggestion
of lust would keep him hard so he would continue to try
to prove he was more than other men.  A few moments
later, the reverend's eyes opened and he laughed,
"Brianna you are the most magnificent harlot!  I have
never experienced such intense pleasure.  Truly the
vindicator has blessed this union.  This time I will
prevail! Am I not more than other men?" "To be fair, I
must say you are quite impressive, but I can now only
say that you are more than other men your age.  To
retain your erection even after a first climax is an
impressive feat young men are sometimes able to
attain." "Is that so?" Evangeline frowned and thrust
his hardness into Rapina's lively depths.  "You will
see, wench, I am more than other men, just as you are
more than other women.  The reverend laughed as he
grabbed Rapina's high, flushed breasts and squeezed too
hard.  Rapina squealed and bucked. "Being more painful
than other men distinguishes you not in the least,
Rapina growled."  Evangeline laughed, "My apologies,
you have the most magnificent breasts, and they are now
so plump with excitement. I have never seen them thus."
The reverend began kissing Rapina's nipples as he
thrust into her.  Rapina writhed and cried out as a
second orgasm rocked her mind. This time she
concentrated on the Evangeline's erection, instilling a
compulsion to cum and cum and never grow limp.

As if on cue, the reverend screamed with pleasure, his
eyes bulged, and though it hurt her, Rapina drew on his
energy with every ounce of her strength.  His scream
went dry but his eyes told the story as his orgasm
stretched for over a minute.  Rapina could feel the
jets of cum drench her, as her vagina squeezed him,
milking him in his bliss.  When his orgasm ended, He
dropped like a rock and rolled half off her, his
erection still throbbing as he slept.  Rapina waited,
wondering if he would awaken as he did last time.
Finally, she began to push him off her.  She sat up and
looked at the scene.  The harlot's clothes were spread
here and there, a gold dragon coin sat atop the dress.
Then there was the reverend's robe, the basin...

Rapina remembered the razor was not far from the
grating above, but feared to put up the ladder. The
reverend might wake. As she began to get up, she felt
hands grab her hips and pull. "More," the reverend
laughed, you see! I am greater than other men. "I just
need to catch my breath.  You do the work this time."
Rapina straddled the reverend and rode him.  With the
exception of his erection, he was limp with exhaustion.
A crazed lust flickered in his eyes, moans and grunts
issued from his throat.  He watched Rapina's quivering
breasts as she rode him, and came all over him.  Using
her own orgasms, Rapina reinforced the reverend's lust
as she had done before.  If only she could exhaust him
utterly, she felt sure she could escape.  Her body was
bathed in sweat but she felt strong.  Reverend
Evangeline came a third and then a fourth time before
he again lost consciousness.  Rapina pulled his energy
into herself as hard as she could each time he spent
himself.

After waiting for a while, Rapina dismounted. It
bothered her somehow that his erection was still hard
and throbbing, yet his body was quite limp. She hoped
he was sleeping deeper than before, but she dared not
check lest she wake him. She got the cloth bag from the
floor and began loading the harlot's clothes into it.
She still wore the stockings. The reverend had not
bothered to remove them. She rolled the stockings down
and removed them. Then she put the clothing in the
sack.

When she had the clothing back in the sack, she took
out the acolyte's robe and put the gold dragon coin in
the pocket. Then she found the reverend's robe. There
were several more coins in a leather pouch in the
pocket and the strap for the razor. She transferred the
items to the acolyte's robe. With a final look at the
reverend's limp form, she put the acolyte's robe on,
walked across the room and got the ladder. She stood it
up and leaned it into place. At last she would leave
this horrid dungeon.  Rapina stepped onto the first
rung and was suddenly jerked off her feet.

"Thief! Ungrateful Harlot! The reverend screamed as he
tossed Rapina on the bed and stripped the robe from
her.  Once the robe was off, Evangeline threw Rapina
over his knee and began spanking her with fury.
Rapina's youthful yet well-rounded rump stung and
quivered with the reverend's vicious blows, she
screamed in pain and frustration.  "Steal my money and
run off, would you," the reverend growled.  Evangeline
grinned mirthfully as he heard the results of his
handiwork "Slap! Ahh! Slap! Oou! Slap! The reverend
laughed.  "Do you really think I'd let a lustful
treasure like this escape?" Evangeline plunged two
fingers into Rapina.  "You my dear are the cream of the
crop, the most beautiful, and by far the sexiest young
woman I've ever had, and I've had many.  Think of a
handsome young woman in this town, and you can bet I've
had her.  Oh there were a few like Brenda Dawes who
where so uncooperative they had to have a little
accident, but the dead and the crippled do not count.

"Now, kiss me and perhaps I will forget your
transgressions for at least a moment," reverend
Evangeline laughed harshly.  Rapina groaned inwardly,
got up from his knee and kissed him.  He did nothing
for a few moments, then filled Rapina's mouth with his
tongue.  A moment later he lifted her hips and entered
her, then he pushed her back onto the bed.  Still
grasping her hips, he thrust savagely over and over.
Rapina alternatively screamed or moaned, but inside,
her concentration was unwavering, she drew, drew on his
power so hard it made her see colored lights against
her eyelids. Evangeline grunted and laughed as the
pleasure of Rapina's loins gripped him in their
embrace.  He thrust over and over, then yelled with
pleasure as his energy exploded within her, suddenly
his yell became a shriek and Rapina felt a change,
Evangeline had nothing left to give, to continue
drawing on him was taking energy rather than providing
it. A bit confused, Rapina stopped drawing. Reverend
Evangeline's body was limp. His unblinking eyes staring
into space, his face frozen in the throws of his last,
greatest sexual conquest.

Rapina listened for breath, there was none.  She pushed
the reverend off her, got up and looked at him.  His
manhood was still stiff, but its skin and the skin for
several inches surrounding it of was gray and leathery.
He had no pulse.  Rapina looked at herself in the
mirror, her skin was flushed, her breasts were swollen
beyond their normal size and tingled with pleasure.
Within her, she knew she held a great deal of reverend
Evangeline's energy, and he had been a powerful man.
Rapina had no idea what she might do with that power.
She now knew how to use it to heal herself, but that
was all she knew how to do.  Despite the power she held
stored within herself, Rapina was breathless from
sexual exertion.  She laid down next to the reverend's
corpse for a moment, just to catch her breath.

"Splendid work my dear." Rapina realized she was
dreaming. Her Aunt was speaking to her. "Evangeline was
a scourge on the land, a bane to womankind.  I had
meant for the spirit to possess you and spare you
having to do the work yourself.  There was a spell you
could use to drive the spirit back into the stone when
its work was done and dispose of its connection.  A
priest could have done it, and there was one also in a
charm I gave your mother.  She's probably forgotten
about it.  Things did not work out as I planned.  I did
not realize what a strong girl you truly were to make
the lust spirit prove its promise to make you the most
beautiful woman in Clairmont."

Auntie Audrey smiled, "And I had no idea the spirit's
lord would go to war or that it would loose its body in
the nether world and attempt to preserve its essence by
hiding in the stone, hoping you would let it possess
you before it was completely dead. Nor could I have
realized that you would go into the stone after it,
rather than allowing it to go into your mind.  I am
sorry for the scars you will carry, and the slight
changes merging with it has wrought on your
personality.  I did not expect that you would inherit
its powers, but now they are yours, but always
remember, my dear, you are a woman.  The spirit's
powers were limited by its nature, yours are limited
only by your ability to learn.  You have gained the
power to read, use it. You have gained powers from the
lust spirit. Learn to wield them, but also learn other
magics whenever you can."

"Your situation is a difficult one. Evangeline's family
will delve into the cause of his death, and this time
there will be no lust spirit to blame.  You have killed
him.  Though his death was just, his family will never
see it that way.  You are an outlaw now, Rapina.  You
must change your name and your look, you must run far
and watch your back, for the reach of his family and
their money is long.  You have become a strong and
admirable woman.  You have my love and respect always."
Aunt Audrey faded back into the land of dreams, and
Rapina awoke.  She felt fine, her momentary weariness
was gone, and her body tingled with the energy it
contained, the sum of Evangeline's life force.

Rapina got the acolyte's robe from the floor.  The
money was still in the pocket.  She took the cloth bag
of harlot's clothing and slung it over her shoulder.
She put the prayer book, the brush and the comb into
it.  She drank her fill of water and took the cup and
the hammered copper water decanter.  She dumped the
hammered copper basin and shook it dry. It just fit
inside the bag with the clothes. Though they were too
big, she donned Evangeline's socks and shoes, putting
some straw from the floor in the toes. As an
afterthought she took the reverend's robe, it was still
early summer and the nights could be chill.  Rapina
stripped the rings and the golden holy symbol from the
reverend's body as well. One of the rings bore his
family coat of arms.  She passed that one through the
silver chain that held the dream stone so that it too
would hang around her neck. At least Rapina could find
out what family hunted her.  The other things she
pocketed. They could be sold.

Rapina stood the ladder up, half expecting the reverend
to grab her. He did not.  He could not rise from the
dead.  She climbed the ladder but the grating was
locked.  Where did the reverend keep the key? She
checked the pockets of his robe, there was nothing.
Finally, she stuck her arm through the grating and felt
the floor above. Had she not been a tall young woman,
her fingertip would not have reached. She felt the key
and drew it to her. She opened the grate, left the
dungeon and re-locked it.  Rapina took the mage-light
that hung on the grate and the razor that was on the
floor in the upper storeroom.

The storeroom was also locked, but a search revealed
the reverend's ring of keys and a pouch for the mage-
light. Rapina quietly left cellar and then the church
basement.  Once outside, she stopped briefly at the
well to refill her decanter of water.  The sky was
open, the stars were bright and the moon lit her way.
She left town, carefully avoiding houses with dogs.
She knew the constable would start hunting her in the
morning when he found out, so she hurried for the
creek.