Beyond Redemption Read Online Free PDF

largely one and the same,” she said. “I am Sister Wegwerfen. May I join you?”
    Bedeckt answered before Wichtig. “Yes, of course.” Perhaps the priestess’s presence would drive the young Swordsman away for a time. Bedeckt was tired of Wichtig’s self-centered humor. Once Wichtig fled, Bedeckt could tell her to shove off.
    Stehlen and Wichtig shifted uncomfortably on their wooden box seats. With any luck this will drive them both off and I’ll get some peace.
    The woman seemed ignorant of the discomfort she caused. “The Geborene Damonen has always been more than a philosophy,” she said. “Long has it been the plan to put our ideas into action. But when one sees as far as High Priest Konig Furimmer,such plans take time. Only now are we finally ready to spread the word of the Ascendance of the Geborene god.”
    Bedeckt’s curiosity got the better of him. “Geborene god? I thought the Geborene Damonen believe mankind invented the gods. That they are nothing but our delusions given form.”
    â€œExactly!” She beamed happily, probably excited to have met someone who knew of her crazy religion. “If humanity’s belief created the old gods, we can create new gods.”
    Wichtig grumbled something into his ale, trying not to look lost.
    Stehlen looked back and forth between the priestess and Bedeckt in confusion. Her pinched expression said, There had better be an angle here . Bedeckt gave her the tiniest of shrugs and she scowled openly.
    â€œJoin a damned church,” she said, “I’ll kill you.” She picked at the worn cotton of a scarf wrapped around her bony wrist. It may have once been bright and colorful, but now looked faded and threadbare. When she noticed Bedeckt’s attention she tucked the scarf back up her sleeve and out of view.
    â€œNoted,” said Bedeckt, turning back to the priestess. “Isn’t one of the basic tenets of the Geborene Damonen that the gods—as creations of man—are unworthy of worship.”
    â€œYes, of course! But they are unworthy because they are accidental creations. We have created a new god. A god driven by faith. A god with a purpose. Intent is the key here. We are the first to have designed our god.”
    â€œDesigned?” asked Bedeckt.
    â€œYes. A metaphor, if I may—”
    â€œPlease no,” muttered Wichtig.
    â€œA cave may make a passable home,” continued the priestess, ignoring the Swordsman. “It has a roof, an entrance, and perhaps several rooms. But it hardly compares to a man-made keep. A castle, thoughtfully designed, is a far better home.” She lookedBedeckt in the eye. “You get my point?” When Bedeckt only returned a confused stare, she pressed on. “We are designing our god. Shaping him. Forging him in the fires of our faith.”
    Wichtig stood, dropping his empty tankard to the table. “I’m going to forge the fires twixt some lass’s nethers. That you can have faith in.” He groped at his empty money purse and shot Stehlen an accusing look, which she ignored. “Bedeckt, you can pay for this?”
    â€œAye.”
    â€œNext one is on me, then.”
    Lying sack of pig dung. Wichtig fled, out into the street, Bedeckt’s gaze following him. The Swordsman would look for trouble and no doubt find it.
    Bedeckt turned back to the priestess. “You said you were shaping him.” Even with Wichtig gone, he found himself somehow intrigued.
    She nodded eagerly. “No other god was willfully created. Born of man’s delusions and fears, the old gods are fickle and insane, petty and deluded. By knowing how our god will be when he Ascends, we define him. We are creating the perfect god.”
    Bedeckt lifted an eyebrow as far as the scarring would allow. The beginnings of an idea. A crazy idea, no doubt, but still an idea. “Creating? As in not yet finished? He has yet to . . .