Chapter Nineteen

A wisp of sweet smoke rose from the single incence stick,dissipating around the idol of Zab-re. Governor Yinsum of Karum knelt before his patron god and gazed at him,preparing himself mentally for the prayers he was about to make in the small shrine of the governor house. He allowed all his thoughts to melt away and concentrated on the idol. The idol potrayed the War God in one of his traditional forms,a bald, dark skinned tall man with a beard of knives and spear in his right hand. His left hand held a human skull,with scars on his bare chest whiles he stood on human bones.

Yinsum bowed his head and his lips begun to move silently in prayer. The Gods knew he wasn't a very religious man,but the situation at hand required the kind of wisdom that Zab-re could give him. Zab-re had never failed him. Through his childhood,army career,his rise through the ranks and to his appointment as governor ten years ago,the War God had always listened to his prayers.