A Very Pleasant Way To Die [Dumois]

He sang to himself words that only had meaning to him in a language that he had only ever heard one other person speak as he traversed the maze. Every so often he stopped, looked up and then carried on, his tail swinging listlessly behind him. In truth he had picked the maze because he had assumed it was deserted; somewhere he could go without being asked what he was doing or what he was saying. The “mourning song” as Valentin had called it was an important part of their practice, a prayer of sorts designed exclusively for the priests to cleanse themselves. The song was composed of three verses; His own, Valentin’s, and one from Valentin’s master Ferdinand. The lyrics of the first verse thanked the Loa Ghede the guardian of the afterlife and eroticism, the serpent that no doubt blessed him, and the sweet drugs that eased his mind and gave him access to the crossroads. He only knew the words to the last two verses, not their meaning, knowing what another priest was most thankful for was a sign of disrespect in their religion, instead the lyrics echoed voices of those long past, reminding the spirits that once watched over him what made them happy, in order to prevent them from becoming demons.

He glanced upwards again and continued to stroll, coming up on the last line of the song before his voice caught in his throat. Standing right before him was a female, a rather large and apparently agitated female. His mouth snapped shut, anticipating a “what the fuck was that?” and deciding to cut that off immediately with an overly chipper; “Marning cher!”

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