The greedy priests did nothing without a donation That the priest was pious, I had no doubt
The priest ministered to his flock
The priests paraded through the streets in their ceremonial robes The priests chanted the glories of their gods
The sly priest was destined to rise far and fast in his temple The kindly priest ministered to my wounds and my soul The war god’s priests were skilled warriors
The death god’s priests demanded sacrifice The priest prayed for our success
The priest blessed our quest
The priest offered blessings, but no practical help The priest insisted his god would protect him The priest’s prayers went unanswered
The priest insisted our fates were in the hands of the gods now The priests prayed fervently for our safe return
The worshippers rose as the priest strode to the altar The priest saw me and crossed himself
The shocked priest made the sign of his god
The priest clutched his trembling hands and muttered prayers The priest gestured in the sign of his faith
The priest brandished his holy symbol
The priest dashed forward, holy symbol raised in warning The priest splashed holy water on the foul creature
Hooded and robed, the cult members chanted in blind adoration Without hesitation, the cult members rushed to obey
Cultists came spilling out of the church like cockroaches Frothing spittle leapt from the cultist’s tattooed lips He spoke of resurrecting dead gods from distant suns
He claimed I was “chosen” to be sacrificed in the Ceremony of Spikes He saw my body as a vessel for bringing his devil-god into this world The cult swayed in evil prayer as the first sacrifice was led to the altar The demon idol’s mouth was smeared with blood and excrement
The cult’s victims received no mercy save that of the knife The smiling priestess invited us to join—or die
She promised forbidden delights and the pleasures of the damned They lived in sin, by sin, for sin
The light of unknowable truth burned in the swami’s eyes The mad messiah screamed of prophecy and power
He robbed his followers of everything but their lives He bent to his followers to his fiendish will
The brainwashed mob demanded blood be spilled
The death-chant was on her lips, in her eyes, her very soul
A shared madness hung over the crowd, locking them in its fever-grip He read aloud from a crumbling book inked in human blood
The poisoned wine was served in golden chalices to the grateful fools The cultists drank the poison brew and writhed in fatal ecstasy
oNo one left the cult and lived
The cult was the only family I’d ever known
No one ate or drank without the leader’s permission
The cult’s promise of eternal life became the lie of eternal torment Those who disobeyed the high priest were never seen again
The cults survived by raiding small towns up and down the coast The doomsday cult filed into the temple amid a flaming sea of torches Her eyes glazed in mad adoration for the demon-god
She spoke quickly, her words full of impossible belief
Swaying closer, the Supreme One spoke the Black Rite of the Ancients Black-robed and chanting, the cultists came for me
I had no choice but to join the cult if I wanted to live Their souls were damned, their minds sick with death
The cult leader promised us a quick death if we surrendered Dozens of armed men in black robes barred our way
Daggers glinting, the hooded followers came at me The doomed maniacs danced for the death-god
The branding iron blazed her flesh with the demon’s mark
The Storm God cultist had a lightning bolt tattooed on each cheek The cultist was covered in skull tattoos, one for every man he’d killed He claimed each tattoo represented each soul he’d recruited for the cult Chanting and praying, they worked themselves into a trance
The cultists laughed at our fear
The cult’s leader was a devil made flesh
Greedy lips drank hot blood from the golden cup No shred of sanity remained among the damned
They went from town to town, whipping themselves through the streets
They thought the apocalypse was God’s judgment
The heretic claimed God’s wrath had fallen on our sinful ways The preacher condemned us to be burnt alive
The preacher raved, his face a mask of hate and madness They prayed for a miracle that would never come
The cult claimed salvation was just around the next corner
They told me to have faith and relieve myself of the burden of coin They were on a holy mission to cleanse this land of nonbelievers They had a funny way of showing God’s love
They wore crowns of thorns and carried heavy crosses They spoke in tongues and moved strangely
They told me the “good word” was death
They saw this as their chance to found God’s kingdom on earth They had found their new Eden and were determined to stay They saw all women as weak sinners or witches
What they had done was straight out of the Old Testament They had taken more than an eye for an eye
They could quote Scripture but could not talk sense
If they wanted to meet their God so bad, I would help them
They said this was hell on earth, but they hadn’t seen anything yet They preached that this was the End Times