The Rite was supposed to add the rank of the church to every one of my stats, and with the Sanctity up to level two, that was pumping every measurable ability of mine by about twenty percent.

Imagine you can lift about a hundred pounds over your head with some strain. Going up twenty percent doesn't just mean your limit is up to a hundred and twenty pounds. It also means that the hundred pound is no longer such a strain, so even without pushing your limits, everything is just easier.

Like my ability to make things out in the dark.

The guy standing just on the edge of darkness beyond the flood lights of church had a evil looking shotgun aimed at us with a long strap gathered up and twisted around his left hand which was holding up the gun. And he looked pretty upset.

He had on a unbuttoned, untucked plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up, some battered and faded blue jeans and a heavy set of brown hiking boots. Along with a heavy black belt with a sheath knife hanging from it.

I rose up from the steps, with a noticeable to me lack of effort, and took a half step to put myself in front of Tok. I whispered, "Make a shield behind me so he can't see it." She made a questioning sound from behind me and whispered back. "It doesn't work like that, and i think I can take being shot better then you can. Move."

I ignored her and held my hands up about halfway, less of a surrender then a calm down gesture. "Hi, no need for the gun, everyone is friendly here. I'm Sean, this is Tok, and she just fixed the water heater."

What? Mentioning it couldn't hurt.

The man lowered his gun a little, more confused then anything else. "But, ain't she a alien? Aren't they the people who did this to us?"

I had to think that over a bit, technically I think he may have been right. But the aliens who had did this had been trying to help us, in their own alien way, and in any case they were not the ones down here, on this slapped together new world, with us. Not so worried about being shot for the moment, since he was talking. I got a good look at the guy. Darker skinned, like he was Hispanic or native. Long dark hair, a bit to a lot older then me. Anywhere from a mature thirty to a young forty.

He seemed to come to some sort of conclusion as he shook his head. "That don't matter. This is a church, it's for people. Let her go find a cave or something and leave this place for us humans." He lifted his gun up again and raised it up like he was going to shoot it up over my head. "Start walking you. Your kind aren't welcome here. Not anymore."

Tok whispered. "Why a cave? Is he trying to be insulting in some way?"

By this time I could see the Abb stepping out of the trees behind the man, but only because the old man wanted me to see him. He made eye contact and raised his hand to cover his mouth, then began doing a little dance.

Why? I watched him do a kind of soft shoe and spin around a bit, before doing some poses. Really, I had no clue what the hell he was up too. But he had enough of my attention for the shotgun lumberjack to notice I was staring right pass him.

"What are you looking...?" He managed to get out as he turned, just before the Abb stepped in close, and stood up on his toes to get the height, to put his face up and a few inches away from the guy's own.

Who then shouted in surprise, fumbled back and took a panicked swing at the Abb with his gun.

The Abb brought his stick up, still underneath his cape thing and did some kind of twist with it. That lifted the shotgun up, around and out of the man's hands and left the old man with the bottom of his stick lined up with guy gut.

Abb Olta made a brief chokings sound. "Self defense, so I don't lose this Sanctuary." and rammed his stick into the guy's gut hard enough to send him down on his butt, gasping for air.

Right into the radius of the protection around the church.

Which proceeded to do noting. The guy just wheezed and lifted his shoulder up and down trying to breath as he slowly rolled over to one side.

I felt a slow gradual weakness like I was cooling down from exercising and had just finished watching a good movie and my mind wasn't wrapped up in something. Whatever high I had gotten from being all pumped up by the Rite was easing me down slow since the danger was over. It was nice that it worked that way rather then just crashing.

The Abb looked disappointed. "Huh, no grace. You aren't a demon, just a annoyance. So disappointing." The old man walked passed they guy over to me and handed me the shotgun. "I would guess this is a weapon you are familiar with. A gift. But do show it to Rill and the other so you know what they might have to deal with if other annoyances show up."

He shook his head sadly. "That was nice. I haven't been able to move that way without some pain in years. Thanks you holy one."

I was had been accused of being so many things the last two days, I just let the holy one go without thinking about it.

The Abb wandered back into the church muttering to himself. "I really wanted to find out what I got at second level tonight too. Why couldn't he just be another demon. What a ridiculous person"

I looked at the shotgun for a moment before racking the slide until no more shells came out, then handed it to Tok who looked at it with interest.

Wandering over to the guy, I found him taking deep breaths but still lying on the ground. "See aliens aren't all that bad, he didn't even kick you once you were down."

For a second I though the guy was chokings before I realized it was laughter. "Yeah, real prince there. Was that really like some kind of dragon guy?"

I shook my head. "I though of them of as being more like lizard people, but they call themselves Vercos, the Bluestone clan specifically."

The guy rolled over on his back. "There's more then one of them?"

I gave him a nod. "A dozen or so, the younger ones carry big sharpened hooks. The Abb Olta is a older guy so he just had a stick."

After a moment I asked. "So are you done, or does someone from each race have beat you up?"

I guy let out a grunt and sat up. "Why not? That's how my whole day has gone so far. Last night?" he looked around at the now purpling sky. "Or there about, I had a pack of Big foots try to get me to strip down before they kicked me out of my house, then burned it down after I ran off. Then I came to a little medieval village looking place..." he held his hand up at about four feet off the ground. "Like doors that tall little, and a couple of guys that looked like little black devils. As in literal black skinned, horns and hooves devils but just over three foot tall. Told me to keep moving on because it was a place for Ifrits and I wasn't welcome."

He looked up at me, "I'm Vern Locklear, I was at a cabin that had been in my family for three generations, just taking a weekend to relax and fish when this..." He wave one hand all around. "happened."

I held out a hand to help him up, and after a moment of hesitation he took it. I kept a wary eye on his knife as I helped pulled him up.

"Sean Murphy. I was a caretaker at this church. Everyone is welcome here, even you after aiming a gun at me. But stay or leave I think I'll be hanging onto your gun for now at least."

He gave me harsh look, but nodded. "I will want it back at some point, and I'm ain't going no where with out it." His face softened. "Other then what I wearing it's all I got left."

I lead him inside and pointed out the way down to the kitchen where there might be some leftovers and had to inform him. "We're apparently hot bedding the only two mattresses, but if you're polite, Tok might be able to find you some blankets for padding and a pillow of some sort."

He winced. "At least she looks kind of human."

I gave him a sharp look. "Is this really going to be a problem?"

He sighed. "Look, I think you're trying to do the right things here, but..." He looked out the still open center front door where Tok sat loading up his shot gun and racking it until the shell popped out again. "Some of them out there are banding together, and looking for places for themselves. Either to live in, or destroy."

Vern shook his head. "If they send in a few of their own claiming to be alone, it won't take much for them to open up a door, or volunteer to be the only ones keeping a watch. Then us humans loose the place, maybe even die. Some of the people..." he made quotation marks with his fingers. "...might get turned to their side or just jump ship right in the middle of a fight."

"I'm not saying us humans are any better, but we can count on our own kind a lot more then some creatures we don't know nothing about. And like I said, I already ran into two groups that already picked their own sides above everyone else, and we didn't make the cut."

He pointed a finger at me, but managed to hold back from poking me with it. "You really want to save people, real people, give them a place to live? Then you need to kick out anyone who isn't human, and tell any more of them that come by to keep moving on. It's the only way to be sure."

Then he turned and headed down the belfry stairs.

I whispered. "Hope you meet the chef. He's got the knives."

Then I finsihed that line of thought and headed back out tot eh steps. "Tok? I hope you don't take offence. But if our new cook get offended and kills that guy, he won't cook him up or anything will he?"

Tok looked startled. "I don't believe so, it doesn't seem like something anyone of my people would do." She paused. "Is this more of your jokes or is that something your people do?" She seemed a little horrified but mostly curious.

I immediately started shakings my head, then paused. "It's more of horror story about primitive people, all the way up to a hundred years ago or so. But I also read about archeologists finding real evidence of it on old bones."

She though that one over, then asked. "Archeologist? I don't get the meaning of that word? Explain."

That led to a discussion on the differences between our people that helped keep both of us awake throughout the night, during which time I learned the Hazk has gone one better then humanity and messed up their environment so badly that they had to live up in space due to super storms that ran over entire continents down below.

I also learned that she had been modified so that she only recently had entered a delayed puberty and that her hairlessness was a genetic modification. He shook he head at the idea of having hair. "The last thing you need is hair getting everywhere on a space station, only the Remnants who still survive down on the surface still have hair all growing all over them." She shook her head at the thought.

That go my attention. "Wait, like bigfoot?"

Which just confused her until I explained. Then she looked worried. "The Remnants live like primitives, they scour the lost world looking for any remaining signs of the old world to destroy it. They think is will help heal the world."

Tok began loading up the shotgun for real this time. "There is no reason for them to destroy the works of other races, but they are not a reasonable people." She looked out at the tree. "And they are used to trees, more then either of us. They could be out there right now."

I looked out with some concern. "And being attacked by squirrels every second, right?"

She shuttered. "We can only hope, but the Vengeance of the lost world was just a entertainment about the lost world punishing the dependents who wreaked it, the sequels claimed the Remnants were safe for abandoning all tools and machines. So if that hold true in the Context...?"

It turned into a long and nervous night.