FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Dawn of Dusk - Part 2: Nun - Chapter 9c: Pilgrimage: Big city, Little life

© 2009 - 2020 Nameless

We stopped for a break. I was surprised when one of the gray sisters opened the flaps that covered the upper part of my face so I could see. We had stopped on a small rise and ahead of us I could see a large city, Marenbruk. It was big, the main city inside the walls was at least twice as big as Savan. And there was a cluster of villages around the city.

When all of us could see, Superior Sister Michelle declared, "Behold Marenbruk, the city of Saints. The main chapter-house of the Sisterhood of Mother Juanita is located here. If you have good eyes, you can see it, it is that big dark gray building set against the outer western wall." I could just make it out, but from here it looked more like a fortress than the headquarter of an order of nuns.

"We will stay there for a few days to start your your training and to visit all the churches." All the churches? I hoped not, even from here I could see a lot of them. The main cathedral (of course a double temple of Uriel and Anita), the seat of the Archbishop of Tukis, looked big enough to seat half the city. And there were at least a dozen big temples and churches, not to speak of the smaller ones. Just visiting all of them would take days.

"You will learn to take your place at the feet of the saints and angels. You will learn to praise them so that you may eventually atone for your sins and be welcomed into their arms again. Some of you may be chosen to serve here in the main chapter-house, the rest will accompany me to the cloister where I serve. Let us pray."

She spoke a short prayer before one of the gray sisters took over. We started forward once more and soon after a gray sister began to recite the Litany. Soon our feet marched in step with the verses and our answers. When the litany was finished we stopped for a short break so each of us could get a little water. We set out and another sister took over reciting the litany again.

We reached the first of the outlying villages halfway through the litany and the city gates shortly after we started the third round. At the gate a troop of soldiers in the colors of Saint George, the main force of the church of Uriel, took over from the soldiers who had 'protected' us since we left Savan.

By now we were surrounded by crowds of people. What surprised me was how few furs there were. In Savan there had been more furs than humans, here at most one in five was a fur. And very few of those wore anything more than the crude attire of a slave, serf or menial servant.

We marched up one of the main streets, reciting the Litany and yet few of the passersby paid us any heed. They hurried out of the way, but I think mostly because they respected (or feared) the warriors of Saint George that surrounded us.

We reached the gates of the chapter-house, where we had to wait a bit (still reciting the Litany) before the gates opened. The soldiers stayed outside and waited until the outer gate closed behind us. This building really looked like a fortress. We passed through the gatehouse where I was surprised to notice that the inner gates could be barred from the outside.

We stopped in the courtyard but kept reciting the Litany. A small group of Superior Sisters, in white robes, one of them with a wide yellow (supposedly golden) stripe across her chest (Sister Michelle had a narrow one) approached and waited for us to finish. A larger group of gray sisters accompanied them. The piercing eyes of the Superior Sister looked us over and I shivered when they met mine.

When the Litany was finally over the superior sisters greeted Sister Michelle. All but one of them left with her, walking deeper into the fortress. We were released from the wagon and had to kneel in the yard. Those of us hitched to the wagon pulled it to the side of the yard before they joined us.

The white sister gave us a long sermon. Most of it were things that Sister Michelle had already told us, much of it repeatedly, but she also told us a few things about the history of the sisterhood and the supposed miracles its founder, Mother Juanita, had worked.

When the sermon was over the gray sisters tied up our hands. Then they led us deeper into the cloister. We went down a dark and narrow corridor until we ended up in a small courtyard in front of a temple.

The white sister began, "You sinners will show proper humility while in the church. You will enter through the sinner's gate. " she pointed at a small opening that looked more like a doggy door than anything else. I was barely a foot tall. "Until you have atoned for the worst of your sins and earned a gray robe, you will stay on all four in the temple and you will only look at the floor. Pretending that you are better than you really are is a serious sin.

Crawl into the temple, one of the sisters will show you to your place. Touch your brow to the floor and remain in that position until you are told differently. You begin." She pointed at the girl closest to the little 'door'.

One by one we approached the tiny entrance, got down on all four and crawled in. Some of the bigger girls had to crawl on their stomach. It did not take long before it was my turn. Once inside one of the gray sisters caught my neck in a kind of big fork and led me to where I was to wait. I ended up with my head between the legs of the girl in front of me, almost under her ass and had to keep my legs far enough apart so the next one could take her place behind me.

We had to wait for quite a long while, almost a bell. I remembered that the fourth bell had tolled while we walked through the city and the mass did not start until the fifth bell. A few of the gray sisters remained behind to watch over us and make sure we did not move. Not all of us managed to remain motionless for that long and those that failed got a painful reminder. I almost jumped out of my fur when a paddle hit the rump just inches above my head. I soon found out that the sisters preferred what they called 'rulers', long narrow pieces of hard wood. They called them 'rulers' because they were used to 'straighten us out' as one of them put it.

Once the fifth bell tolled the sisters began to assemble in the temple and a short while later the service began. The priest, I could tell from the voice that it was a male, gave a long sermon to remind us of the importance and the 'joys' of serving. The sisters sang hymns, recited long prayers and the Litany.

I was really glad when the service was finally over. We waited until all the higher ranking sisters had left and then we crawled outside through the little sinner's gate. We were led deeper into the complex and through a small gate. It locked from the outside and was guarded by two gray sisters. It looked and felt as if we were taken into a prison.

Once inside our hands were untied. A short while later we stopped in a small courtyard, less than ten paces on a side. The walls that surrounded it were sheer and went up fifteen paces or more. There only windows looking down were small and one side had a number of little holes, they looked as if one brick had been left out every few feet.

In the center was a well. Next to it was a kind of horizontal treadmill where four black robed sinners, three of them had a gray stripe, toiled, locked into yokes like those we had used to pull the wagon. One of them was a fur, from what I could see of her fur, a feline. I could see their feet and their rear end as the back of their robes had been rolled up and tied at the belt. A gray robed sister watched them, a ruler in her hand. The dull to bright red color of the sinner's buttocks testified to her willingness to use it.

The sinners walked round and round to bring up water with an endless chain that had small buckets attached to it. The water ran into a big basin and the overflow ran under the set of toilets set against one wall. They were out in the open, though a small roof kept the worst of the weather off whoever sat on them. There were five holes and we got to use them. Whack! I flinched at the harsh sound of hard wood striking bare flesh.

Once we had all done out business we went down a narrow staircase into the cellar (at least I assumed that it was a cellar, I had no idea how deep it actually was.

We ended up in a large room, approximately eight by twelve paces. There were a few small holes (one could not rightly call them windows) along the long wall opposite the door we had entered through, but they let in so little light that one would hardly notice it, let alone light the room. A gray sister lit couple of lamps hanging from hooks set into the walls.

The white sister sat down on a stool standing in the middle of the shorter wall. Apart from a large cupboard the room was completely bare. At her bidding we knelt in a semicircle around the white sister. She began, "Today you will learn how a sinner recites the litany properly." I wondered what we had been doing up to now.

"First, you will bare your upper body and arms." The gray sisters helped us untie the knots that secured the leather collar and the cuffs. With the belt still tied we soon sat naked from the belly up.

"Each of you will receive a flogger. You will start slowly, using the softest flogger. The pelts among you will always use a flogger one grade higher to make up for their tougher skin. Here are the different grades:" A gray sister had fetched a number of the torture devices from the cupboard and handed them to the white sister one by one so she could show them to us, "The lowest grade is soft leather, then there is regular leather and finally heavy leather. Then we have floggers with knots, again soft, medium and heavy leather." The higher grades also had more knots per strand. "And finally we have floggers with small and large lead pellets. The higher grades seem to work very well when it comes to encourage sinners to better their ways." I shuddered at the thought of having to hit myself with those.

Since there were eight grades of floggers, they were named after the eight major Archangels as follows, from the softest to the hardest: Anita, Belial, Jophiel, Lucifer, Samael, Michael, Gabriel and finally Uriel.

She waited while the gray sisters handed each of us one of those devices. I doubted that any of us were eager to take it, but none dared to refuse.

The white sister pointed at one of the gray sisters, "You will lead."

"Yes, Superior Sister." If she felt any reluctance at having to join us, she didn't show it. She knelt at her superior's feet in the center of our circle and bared her torso. One of the other sisters handed her a flogger.

"You hit your back after your reply. To keep things even, you use the following rhythm: Hold the flogger in your right hand, swing it over the right shoulder." Whack! The gray sister demonstrated it and most of us flinched at the harsh sound. "For the next reply, swing over your left shoulder." Whack!

"Pass the flogger to your left hand. Swing over the right shoulder." Whack! "Swing over the left shoulder." Whack! "Pass the flogger back to your right hand and start from the beginning. Does anyone have questions?" From her tone she didn't expect any and we all shook our heads.

"Good. Today we will recite the litany twice. I know that you are all eager to 'pray' vigorously, but I understand that it is a new experience and some of you may have a hard time to do it properly. Don't worry, if you do not get it right, you will be given a chance to try again. And again. And again. If you still can't do it right after five recitations, then you will be given more chances to get it right tomorrow.

Five repetitions take a long time, and if you need that many you will unfortunately be too late for supper and will have to go to bed without food. Is there anyone who would rather satisfy the needs of her body than cleanse sin off her soul?"

All of us shook our heads. I am sure all of us would rather eat than flog themself, but we knew better than to say so.

"Good. Then let us start." She paused for a moment and began to recite, "Holy Mother Juanita, show us the way to redeem our sins. Let us cleanse our souls through work and prayer. Guide us to heaven through hardship and pain."

"Holy Mother Juanita guide us." Whack! It was not a single sound, but a long drawn out series of individual sounds, some loud, some hardly audible. I gasped at the sudden pain.

"Holy Uriel, command us to serve you. Give us work to show our worth. Bless our efforts if you find them pleasing."

"Holy Uriel command us." Whack!

"Holy Gabriel, judge our worth. Judge our work and our prayers. If it pleases you, judge us worthy to enter heaven at the end of our days."

"Holy Gabriel judge us." Whack! The time between the first and the last hit grew shorter with each stanza and by the middle of the litany there was more or less only a single loud sound each time we punished our flesh.

And it hurt. Each individual blow was not all that bad, provided you did not use too much force, but it added up quickly. Even with only two repetitions of the litany I would have hit each side of my back hundreds of times.

By the time we finished the first repetition of the litany my back was afire. We got a short rest and a gray sister gave each of us a little water. Meanwhile the Superior Sister conferred in whispers with two of the gray sisters. About our performance, no doubt, a few times I saw them pointing at one of us.

Eventually they finished and the Superior Sister held up her hand. She showed us a small white circular patch with a red flogger, the symbol of our order, on it, "If you get one of these, it means you did well. When you have two you are finished for today." She got up and and began at the left (her right) of our line. She looked at each of us in turn. She pressed a badge against the right breast of the first girl and it stuck there. Affixing it must have hurt, I could hear the girl gasp. Then she moved the next girl. She considered her and then moved on.

I almost groaned out loud when she moved on without giving me one of the badges. I cursed inside, now I would have to suffer through at least two more repetitions. About half of us got one of the badges but there were only two furs among them.

The Superior Sister sat down and drank some water. Then she clapped her hand and began to recite the litany once more. The second repetition was a lot worse than the first. I hit harder, hoping to earn one of the badges. By the end I could barely see anything from the tears in my eyes. We got a short rest while the Superior Sister conferred with her underlinings. I finally earned my first badge. Getting it affixed to my tit, just above the nipple hurt almost as much as getting branded would have. Thankfully the pain faded quickly. Only three of us earned their second badge right away and were led away by one of the gray sisters.

The third repetition was even worse. Soon after we started I began to smell blood, though I was not sure if it was my own or not. By the end the answers I gave were barely intelligible and I was practically blinded by tears of pain. I didn't dare to wipe them away. At least the pain I inflicted on myself paid off and I received my second badge and was allowed to leave. I almost screamed in pain when I pulled the robe up and the scratchy wool tortured the already burning skin on my back even further. The two patches on my breast continued to hurt; not a lot, but enough to be seriously uncomfortable.

A gray sister tied my wrists to the belt at the back. We, about half our group plus a gray sister, climbed up the stairs until we reached a refectory. We were told to kneel at one of the long benches. Two gray sisters with wide black stripes distributed the food. Each of us got a bowl half filled with watery gruel. The gray sister who had accompanied us got a bigger bowl, a mug of water as well as a slice of bread and cheese. She sat down and spoke a lengthy prayer before we were given permission to eat. I lapped up the gruel and licked the bowl clean and then waited until the gray sister was finished with her meal, looking despondently at her much more ample portion while my stomach growled.

We went back downstairs and out into the small courtyard. The gray sister untied our hands so we could hike up the robe to use the facilities. Then she tied us up again. Then we followed her up a story before we ended up in a narrow corridor.

Along one wall, the one facing the courtyard were holes with doors. The holes were about two foot high and there were three of them were stacked on top of each other. A movable set of stairs allowed egress to the ones higher up. This was where we were supposed to sleep. We had to crawl into the holes one by one and then the door was closed behind us.

I got the top 'bunk' of the second group. I climbed up the stairs, knelt on the small platform on one side, leaned forward and then crawled into the hole. The hole was a little over three foot deep and just a foot high at the far end where my head ended up. A small hole let in some air, but it was placed in the corner where the left wall met the floor and so small I couldn't see much when I tried to look out. The floor was covered by a reed mat. The door clanged shut behind me and then I was alone.

Sleep did not come easily. I was tired but my back hurt terribly. My breasts hurt as well, the patched the superior sister had affixed burned and itched. Soon my knees began to hurt as well and when I tried in vain to find a slightly less unpleasant position, I hit my head on the low roof. From below I could hear the noises as our fellow sinners brought up water from the well. And the occasional slap as the gray sister 'encouraged' them.

Just when I began to doze off noises from outside woke me again. From what I could tell more sinners were being locked into cells for the night. A while later I was woken once more when the final group went to sleep.

I was woken yet again, this time when the door to my cell was opened. I was groggy and did not react fast enough. Hard slaps with a ruler on the soles of my feet woke me and I hissed in pain. I crawled backwards until I could lift my head and then I carefully climbed down. The gray sister who had woken me told me to stand facing the opposite wall.

She released three more of us and then we had to look at her, "I need four volunteers who are willing to sacrifice a bit of their sleep to provide an important service. Who among you is willing to volunteer?" I was anything but willing, but figured that refusing would not be a good idea, so I nodded as did the three others.

"May Mother Juanita bless you. Come with me." We followed her downstairs and out into the yard. We stopped next to the creaking 'treadmill'. The gray sister pulled up my hood and closed the upper flaps so that I was blindfolded.

The creaking of the machinery stopped and I could hear the two gray sisters release the four sinners from the yokes. A few moments later we took their places. My arms were untied from the belt and a few moments later they and my neck were locked into the yoke. The bottom of my robe was rolled up to expose my buttocks.

Soon all four of us were in place and the gray sister told us to start. I hissed when the hard wood of her ruler slapped against my ass. At first we felt the wood almost continuously but soon we moved fast enough to suit her and her 'encouragements' became less frequent, though it never stopped completely.

I have no idea how long we walked around in circles to pump up water that no one needed at this time of the night. It must have been a bell or so, at some point I could hear the church-bells toll the first hour. It was hard work, almost as exhausting as pulling the wagon had been.

I was really glad when other sinners took our place and we were returned to our cells. I crawled into a different one. It was no more comfortable than the first one, but this time I fell asleep quickly, exhausted by the hard work.

Whack!

I woke up suddenly and hit my head on the low ceiling. One of the gray sisters must have whacked the doors to our cells with her ruler to wake us up. I saw a faint light coming from the small 'window' which I took to mean that it was just starting to dawn outside. I heard doors being opened but it was a while before it was my turn. The soles of my feet were hit before I could even move. I groaned but crawled backwards as quickly as possible.

Three gray sisters were busy releasing us from the cells. I faced the wall and waited until all of us were assembled. We went downstairs, passed through the small courtyard without getting to use the facilities. We left the inner part of the cloister, prison might be a better term, and ended up in front of the temple.

One of the gray sisters reminded us that we had to use the 'sinner's gate' and stay on our knees in the temple and look only at the floor. We crawled into the temple one by one and took our places. Then we waited. And waited some more. As best as I could tell, they had woken us just after the fifth bell, but the service began right after the sixth bell. By that time I really, really had to pee.

The morning service was not much different from the evening service yesterday. The priest preached, the Superior Sisters prayed, we sang a few hymns and recited the litany.

When it was over, we crawled back outside and returned to the inner part of the cloister. We finally got to use the outhouse and then we were fed. We lapped up the watery gruel. The portions were surprisingly plentiful, if not any tastier than before. I was glad that my stomach was almost full. The reason for the bigger portions became apparent a few bells later: While we were in the cloister we got only two meals, one in the morning and one in the evening. And some days we got only one.

And then we were finally allowed to wash ourselves. Of course, since this was the sisterhood, they made sure it was really unpleasant for us.

We returned to the courtyard with the well. The gray sisters untied us so that we could take off the robes and then we hung them on a peg. Each of us received a little washcloth, a piece of harsh soap and a towel. I and the other furs even received a second towel, but from long experience I knew that it would not be nearly enough, particularly since the towels were small and almost threadbare.

We had to wash ourselves with the icy cold water from the well. The sun was already up, but the small courtyard was still in the shade and the ground was cold from the long night. The gray sisters watched to make sure we washed every inch of our skin, except for the bits 'protected' by the chastity belts. Needless to say, I was shivering badly when they finally gave us permission to dry ourselves. I squeezed as much water from my fur as I could before I started with the towels, but even so I was still somewhere between damp and wet when both towels were too wet to soak up any more water.

We put the used washcloths and towels in baskets and put the robes back on. Even with the robe on I was really cold.

We were tied up again and led outside (of the innermost part of the cloister, that is) to a building next to the temple to give our confession. A superior sister gave a short speech, which basically boiled down to the fact that since we were all sinners, we must have done things worthy of confession and correction, so we had better confess something.

We knelt on the hard stone floor and waited our turn. When it was my turn, I was led into a small room with the 'confession booth', actually a pillory. I was untied and had to undress. Under the rules of the sisterhood, a confessor was always naked (except for the chastity belt, which stayed on), to allow for easy punishment. Since the priest was not supposed to know the confessor, I had to put on a leather hood that blindfolded me to 'hide my identity'. Then I was locked into the pillory. I quickly found out that the pillories had a spell on them so that the confessor could only hear or be heard by someone who was touching her skin.

I could hear nothing, not even my own breathing, while I waited. I almost jumped out of my fur when a hand touched my shoulder and I heard the priest's voice in my head. He asked me what sins I had to atone for that I had joined the sisters. I told him about my slutty behavior as a tavern wench and he seemed to accept that. If he had any idea what my actual 'crimes' had been, he showed no indication of it.

The sentence he pronounced was this: Twenty blows on my rear, ten on each side. Three recitations of the litany using Belial (the second grade flogger) and then I had to fast and stand vigil for one night, a short vigil, as he called it. He spoke a short prayer to absolve me of my sins (at least partially, according to him it would take years to atone for living in sin for so long) and left. Or he stopped touching me, at least, I had no idea if he performed the first part of the punishment himself or if he left that to the gray sister.

The blows to my bare ass cheeks were very hard and I screamed, or I would have, had the spell on the pillory let me. When one of the gray sisters finally released me, the priest was gone. I put on my robe and she tied me up again. I followed her to another room where several of my fellow sinners were already waiting. Somewhat unsurprisingly, we had to sit to punish us a little even further. As long as I wore the black robe, practically the only times I got to sit were right after my rear had been heated by blows until it was red hot as a punishment for something or other.

A short while after all of us were together again, the sisters led us back into the inner part of the cloister and downstairs to the 'prayer room'. The highest ranking gray sister (she had a white sash) sat down on the stool. Each of us received a flogger and we had to take off the upper part of the robe to expose our backs and then we began.

About half of us got two repetitions, the rest of us got three. Those who had merited only two repetitions still recited with us, but without having to use the flogger. Except one human female who had shown less vigor than expected and had to make it up by having to use the flogger on the third repetition as well. Four of those who had earned three repetitions showed too little vigor during the first two and they had to use a higher grade of flogger for the third repetition.

I was among those unfortunate ones. The third grade of flogger hurt a lot more than the second grade had. Needless to say by the end I was in a world of pain and struggling to keep up with the responses and to force my paw to beat my already burning back even further.

When we were finally done we got a short rest and then we had to put the robe back on, an almost unimaginably painful process.

We went up to the refectory where we received some water (but no food). Then we headed to the entrance where we met a superior sister who told us that we would now go and visit the city and all the famous temples. My paws were tied to the back of the belt, my feet were hobbled and the upper flaps of the hood were closed so I could see the ground in front of me but not much else. A gray robe attached a leash to my collar and led me outside. As best as I could tell, each of the gray sisters led two of us.

At the main gates of the cloister a group of church soldiers met us to 'protect us'. Unsurprisingly I did not get to see much of the city or of the temples apart from the ground. After a short walk we reached the first temple. We had to crawl in through the tiny 'sinner's gate' and kneel with out face on the ground.

One of the priestesses of Anita (this was a major temple, so there were several) told us about the temple and which specific miracles it had been built to celebrate. She stopped her story when one of the male priests of Uriel (her husband, in fact) came over to give us a sort sermon about the joys of serving and such. After he left she resumed her story. We prayed with her, sang one of the hymns to Anita and then she left.

Before we left, we had to recite the litany, thankfully without using a flogger, and then we crawled outside once more.

A short walk brought us to the next temple where we did exactly the same thing. Almost, this time no male priest found time for us. We visited three more temples before our excursion to the city was over and we returned to the cloister.

We were finally allowed to use the outhouse. Then we went down to the room to recite the litany 'properly'. My back still hurt like crazy from earlier. Thankfully we 'only' had to recite the litany once. A few of us who showed too little vigor had their floggers replaced with heavier ones halfway through. After that all of us did what we could to appear to do our best. By the end I was in terrible pain and probably not far from passing out.

After that self inflicted torture it was time for supper. At least for some of us. About half of us, me included, had to 'stand vigil' and had to fast. To make things worse, I had to kneel opposite a girl who did get food, my nose only inches from the bowl from which she lapped up her meal. Watching her eat while my stomach grumbled was pure torture.

Afterwards the two groups parted ways. We followed a couple of gray sisters deeper into the cloister to a small chapel where we would 'stand vigil'. Kneel actually. We entered through the sinner's gate and knelt with the face on the floor. We spent most of the night in silence, supposedly to reflect on our sins and our desire to better ourselves.

Every now and then the gray sisters (who changed twice or three times during the night) recited a prayer and we had to give the correct responses. They also made sure none of us fell asleep. At every hour they offered to help 'motivate' each of us. All of us knew better than decline the offer. One of them lifted the bottom part of the robe while the other gave each of us ten spanks on each cheek with the ruler.

The vigil ended just in time for us to join the morning services, after which we finally got to break our fast. Thankfully it was only a 'short' vigil. Later I would learn the difference to a 'long' vigil. The difference in time was not much, but the most important difference was that the 'long' vigil ended after breakfast, which meant that we didn't receive any food until the evening meal. Unless it happened to be a day of intense physical work, then we at least received some food at midday.

Not today, as we spent the whole day visiting different temples. Like yesterday we did not get to see much apart from the floor. We listened to inane sermons, prayed, sang hymns and recited the litany at least once in each temple. I can't remember if we visited eight or nine, soon they began to blur together.

Then we returned to the cloister and descended to the room in the basement so we could torture ourselves. Thankfully the gray sisters were satisfied with the vigor I displayed and I 'only' had to use the flogger for two repetitions of the litany. We had to stay for another repetition, but only had to speak the lines. All but three of us were allowed to return upstairs for our meager meal after that.

Then we retired to our cells for another painfully unpleasant night. I was woken in the early morning and 'allowed' to volunteer to operate the well for a bell. I had barely fallen asleep again when we were roused to wait for and then attend the morning service.

The day turned out to be more or less a repeat of the day before yesterday. We went to confess our crimes, took the spanking, flogged ourselves for two or three repetitions of the litany. Then we spent the rest of the day visiting temples. As best as I could tell, today more or less the second half of our group had stand vigil that night. Thankfully I did not have to do that again, but even so the night was less than restful as I had to operate the well for a bell once more.

The next morning, after the morning service and a meager breakfast we were asked to volunteer to help improve the city. All of us volunteered and all of us were allowed to participate. As usual out hands were tied to the back of the belt and our feet were hobbled before we left the inner cloister. Before we left the outer wall the upper flap of the hood was closed so we could see at most a bit of the ground.

Outside a unit of church soldiers waited to 'protect us'. We marched off and left the inner city. We marched for almost an hour before we reached our goal, a quarry. As best as I could tell, to reach good quality rock the quarry had been dug well below the normal ground level. And we were supposed to help carry the rock from the bottom of the pit to a field outside where the rubble was piled up.

I could not tell if all of us had the same job, but I was fitted with a kind of backpack. A heavy and uncomfortable one made of planks of wood. My arms were tied to it and my hobbles loosened a little. One of the quarry workers led a group of us down a spiraling path until we reached the bottom of the pit. Workers there filled the backpack with rubble and then I had to walk back up to the level ground, to the field and then up a ramp until I could empty the backpack.

I received a little water and then had to go down into the pit again. I can't remember how many trips I made, it must have been at least eight until the midday break. By the end I was getting really exhausted and just managed to put one foot in front of the other.

During the midday break we had to kneel in a row and our feet were tied to a long pole. But they untied our hands and we received a surprisingly ample meal: a quarter of a loaf of bread and a slab of cheese. It was not a whole lot if one considered how hard we had to work, but it was a lot better than what we usually got.

Then we were allowed to rest a bit. There was a short discussion between the superior sister who accompanied us and the foreman. I could not quite make out what they said, but from what I could understand she wanted us to continue working right away but the foreman insisted that we rest until his workers finished their break as well.

Even so the break was over much too soon. I had to put on the backpack again and my arms were tied to it. And then I had to head back into the pit. We continued the backbreaking work for the rest of the afternoon. By the end my whole body hurt terribly. I did not even want to know how my human sisters' feet looked. There were a number of suspiciously red footprints on the ground. It still surprises me how I managed to keep setting one foot in front of the other. And I was really, really grateful to the quarry workers. The later in the day it got the more delays 'happened' which forced us to take short breaks. And the loads we had to carry got smaller and smaller. I think they did, but even so I could barely carry them. More than once I could hear the superior sister complain about it to the foreman.

He promised more than once to pick up the pace, but unlike her he was smart enough to know that we were all at our limit, and only fear and willpower kept us moving. More than one of us just fell over when the backpack was finally removed. Somehow I managed to stay on my feet. The quarry workers dragged out the whole operation much longer than it should have taken to give us a little rest.

We still had to march back to the cloister at the end of the day. We 'only' had do one repetition of the litany before we headed to the refectory for supper. We got an unusually ample meal. And then it was time for 'bed'. Thankfully I could sleep the whole night. But even so I was still very tired the next day.

The next day we had to confess again. We were spanked and flogged ourselves while we recited the litany several times. Like the days before, we spent the rest of the day visiting temples in the city. As before we saw little apart from the ground. When we returned to the cloister for the night I noticed new scents. At first I was not sure, but once we entered the room in the cellar for yet another repetition of the litany I became sure that a new group of sinners had arrived. They had used the room a short while before us and the scents of their pain were clear enough. After a meager supper half of us had to stand vigil, thankfully I was not among them.

I went to sleep in the little kennels we had to use only to be awoken a short while later so that I could 'volunteer' to operate the well for a bell. Thankfully that meant that I could sleep the rest of the night. Sleeping on my knees had not become any more pleasant than at first, but I began to get used to it.

As we had the days before, we were taken to the temple to wait for the morning service. A short while later the other group of sinners joined us, though they stayed on the other side of the temple so we could not see them directly. From what I could tell from the noises the other group was about the same size as our own, sixteen souls or so. As usual we had to wait for quite a while with out faces on the floor before the higher ranking sisters joined us.

The service was unusual in that the priest held a very long sermon about sin and the punishments we sinners could expect in purgatory if we did not atone for them. He described the hardships of life there and the specific punishments for sins such as lust, adultery, sex outside wedlock and the like in excruciating detail. While I did not doubt that our punishments would be harsh should we end up in purgatory, I had to wonder how much of what he told us was made up.

The sermon was obviously designed to scare us into obedience and to make the hardships and the torture we had to inflict on ourselves look better in comparison. Even though I was certain of their intent, I could not deny that the long sermon did affect me.

We did not get any breakfast but were taken to the room in the cellar to flog ourselves while we recited the litany. Unlike before we had to wait outside the room. We were blindfolded and led into the room one by one. One of the gray sisters led me to my place and told me to kneel. I opened my robe and bared my upper body. A flogger was pressed into my paw and then I waited while the others joined me.

More and more of us filed in and I realized that both groups were in here. Apparently they had blindfolded us so we would not see them. But I could still hear and smell them. And, once we began, I could hear the difference clearly. The other group had much less practice and I could hear the difference. By now we had practiced this self-torture so much all of us hit our backs at the same time, there was only a single loud 'slap', while the other group produced a drawn out stuttering sound.

We had to recite the litany three times. By the time we finally finished I felt faint from the horrible pain.

We went up to the refectory where we received a little water. Then we went back down to the courtyard to use the outhouse. Afterwards we formed two rows and let the gray sisters tie the cuffs around our wrists to the back of the belt. Then they closed the flaps of our hoods to blindfold us, told us to stand still and then we waited.

A short while later I heard more people join us. From what I could tell, the other group of sinners used the outhouse and were assembled to our left. And then we all waited some more.

I heard approaching steps, which meant a superior sister. We sinners went barefoot, the gray sisters wore simple slippers and only the white sisters wore proper shoes.

"Listen up, sinners!" I shivered when I recognized the voice, it was Superior Sister Michelle. "Today we are privileged to watch justice in action. You will be allowed to watch as a pair of devil-worshiping heretics are burned at the stake."

She paused and suddenly I was glad that my stomach was empty. The sick feeling in my stomach got worse when I realized that there was a good chance these 'devil-worshipers' were from Savan and perhaps even people I had known. What sickened me even worse was the exultation I could hear in Sister Michelle's voice.

She went on, "You will behave with the decorum expected of a sinner who aspires to join the Sisterhood of Mother Juanita. I will tell you now how to behave and you will obey. Anyone who does not behave will join the heretics. We have more than enough firewood in the stockpile. Remember, only heretics show any pity to those lawfully condemned by the church.

The burning will take place in front of the cathedral. You will be led there and you will kneel where you are told to. You will not move and remain silent. You will speak to provide the proper responses during prayers and you will sing the hymns as you are able to. You will watch the proceedings, you will not close or avert your eyes. You may pray silently for the souls of the accursed and for your own. Am I clear?"

I nodded.

"Good. Any questions?" Apparently none of us had any. The mere idea of watching this sickened me so much that had anyone asked me, I would have gladly worked in the quarry all day, even without food or water.

The gray sisters opened the lower flaps so we could see the ground and then we followed Sister Michelle out of the cloister. At the outer gate a detachment of church soldiers joined us to make sure all of us behaved.

We reached the main city square after a short walk, One that felt almost as if I was walking to my own execution. At some point we were told to stop. The gray sisters led us to where we should kneel. Once we were all kneeling the gray sisters opened the upper flap and pushed back the hood. I found that we were kneeling almost directly in front of the stakes, I was no more than five or six paces from the nearer one. Only a few church soldiers stood guard between us and the area for the execution.

Novices of the church of Uriel were busy piling up the firewood around the stakes. We watched them work and then we had to wait for a long while, more than two bells.

I finally had a chance to look at the girls in the new group. Carefully, of course, I could not move my head more than a fraction of an inch without risking one of the gray sisters noticing. Still, my field of vision was wide enough that I could see several of their faces. They were a mix of humans and furs of various breeds and they were clearly from Savan. I had seen most of them before, though I knew none of them well very well. I recognized three who I had talked to at the temple or chatted with at the market where they worked. Most of the rest seemed to be from the southern part of the city.

The proceedings began with the noon bell. The bells rang the call to assemble. Several more squads of church soldiers took up positions around the stakes and the platform in front of them. The city folk began to appear quickly and it did not take long before the square was packed.

The so called triumvirate of justice (a priest of Uriel, a priest of Gabriel and a priestess of Anita) took their places on the platform. I did not know the insignia the celestial priests used yet (I would later learn them), but their fancy robes made it clear that they had high ranks.

The priests held a short service, blessed the proceedings and asked for their patrons' wisdom.

And then the two accused were dragged forward. I began to tremble and yet gave a prayer of thanks when I saw them. A married couple, both of them mixed breeds. I knew both of them, but not all that well. They lived in our part of the city but far enough away that they rarely visited our inn. I heard a stifled sob from my left and saw a cat female two rows from me. Tears ran down her cheeks freely, but she managed to remain motionless otherwise. She obviously knew them much better than I did.

The priest of Gabriel read the already decided sentence from a scroll. Burning until dead. The protests of the two were silenced by their guards quickly. The three priests spoke a short prayer to ask the saints and angels to receive the sinner's souls. Then the two were dragged to the stakes. Instead of tying them to the stakes, their paws were nailed to the stake above the head. I shivered at the screams of pain.

The priests recited a long prayer. I barely managed to give the proper responses, not all of us managed that. I had no idea if the gray sisters noticed or not.

And then two novices shoved burning torches into the piles of wood. A minute later the screams of pain began in earnest. I have no idea how I managed to remain still and watch the ghastly spectacle. I prayed silently and trembled, with rage and terror.

Almost the worst thing were the spectators behind us who cheered and cursed the two poor furs. The wood was dry so that the fires spread quickly and the two thankfully passed out soon and stopped screaming. They had used a lot of wood and it took almost a bell before the fires burned down and the crowd began to disperse.

I was really glad when the gray sisters pulled up our hoods and I finally did not have to watch any more. They assembled us and we returned to the cloister.

We stayed four more days in the city. There was not much difference to the days before. We prayed, confessed and tortured ourselves. I stood vigil once. We spent another day in the quarry and visited more temples. The two groups were mostly kept separate. Which, truth to tell, made little difference from the girls in my group as we did not have much contact even among our group.