Red Hood's Revenge

torso, his body became that of a snake. Thick as a man’s waist, the long, serpentine tail was covered in horned brown scales that scraped across the stone as he moved.
    He twisted around to face the statues, bowing so low his nose brushed the ground. He turned toward the crowd and bowed a second time. “Greetings, my children.”
    His words were clear, easily filling the church. Faziya had once told her it was a point of pride for Uf’uyan to speak as well as any human. He raised his voice, leading them in a hymn to praise the Path of Salvation and the promise of rebirth, as passed down by the peri themselves.
    Talia mouthed the words, but refused to add her voice to the chorus. She waited impatiently while Uf’uyan led them through several formal prayers.
    Danielle’s hand touched her shoulder. “Try to relax. You look like you’re preparing to fight the entire church.”
    “Faziya came here to learn the truth about Zestan and the Hunt,” Talia whispered, fists tight. “Uf’uyan has to know where—”
    “We’ll find Zestan and your friend both,” Danielle promised.
    Talia wasn’t alone in her restlessness. All around her, people were beginning to stir and whisper.
    Father Uf’uyan drew himself up taller than any human. He chewed his lower lip as he looked about, first at the fairies in the balcony, then at the humans gathered below. “So many new faces. Perhaps this is the first blessing of last night’s events. Those who might have strayed have returned, while others have found the path for the first time.
    “I know you’re afraid. The deev are gone from our world, but their shadow remains. I’ve seen the streets of our city. I know you have lost friends and family. I’ve witnessed the destruction left in the wake of the Wild Hunt, and I grieve with you.”
    He glanced behind, looking through the doorway to the mist-blurred landscape beyond. Illusion, no doubt, meant to convey the impression of bountiful gardens and greenery.
    Danielle leaned close. “He looks nervous.”
    “He’s half snake,” Snow said. “How can you tell?”
    “He’s also half human.”
    Talia studied Uf’uyan. She would have expected a man in his position to choose his words carefully. Yet there was none of the overly polished wordcraft she had heard so often from nobles.
    “My friends. My children. I have failed you. For that, I beg your forgiveness.”
    Talia’s eyebrows rose.
    “Our kind were banished from Heaven for our pride,” he said. “For untold years, we’ve worked to earn redemption by serving mankind. By guiding you along the path toward salvation, by protecting you from sin and evil. In that quest to be a source of good, we forget that fairykind can also be a source of darkness.
    “When the first fairies fell, the peri chose the path of redemption. They fought to help mankind, hoping to earn forgiveness through their actions. Their brothers the deev chose the path of chaos. In their rage, the deev worked to destroy that which God had built. To punish mortal man, whom they resented. Those of us with fairy blood must never forget that we carry the potential for both the peri’s wisdom and the deev’s destruction.”
    Whispers spread through the church, not from the humans but from the fairies gathered above. Fairies could be hard to read, but to Talia’s eye, they didn’t appear happy.
    “We walk this path together, sharing our strength as the trials grow ever greater. The Wild Hunt is but an obstacle to be overcome, a curse descended from the pride and evil of the deev. Do not surrender to fear. Seek neither to fight nor to flee. Find your strength in prayer and in the Path of Salvation.”
    “He knows,” Talia whispered. Uf’uyan was warning his followers not to interfere, pacifying the humans for Zestan’s servants. He knew the Hunt would return and that anyone who tried to fight would be slaughtered.
    Another priest stepped through the mist. This one wore a mahogany helm carved in the shape of a jackal’s head. As he stepped down from the dais, the mist drifted forward, dispersing into the crowd. Talia could feel the cold droplets on her skin.
    Father Uf’uyan raised his arms. “May the waters of Heaven cleanse you of your sins and bring you strength. Guard yourselves from pride, and remember the word of the prophets. Cast sin first from your own heart and then from your home.”
    Talia watched closely. Father Uf’uyan started to say more, then appeared to change his mind. He